BLOG TOUR! Trapped by Michael Northrop: Guest Post + GIVEAWAY!

Posted December 6, 2012 by Asheley in Uncategorized / 18 Comments


Trapped by Michael Northrop
Published by Scholastic
Publish Date: February 1, 2011
232 pages
Source:  Publisher for Review

“The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive. . . .

Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn’t seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision…” –(summary excerpt from Goodreads)

I’m so excited to be hosting today’s stop on the
Trapped by Michael Northrop Blog Tour
to celebrate the release of Trapped in paperback in early December 2012!

My Thoughts: I live in Eastern North Carolina, which is about halfway up/down the eastern coast of the United States in a place where IT NEVER SNOWS. Seriously. In this area, we are the crazy/embarrassing people on your television sets that are snapping pictures of the one tiny snowflake that may fall every other year and posting it to our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds – just like everyone else on our Friends list. We go out and completely buy all of the milk, bread, and eggs at the grocery store when we get a “light dusting” of snow that almost never covers all of the grass completelyalmost never ends school/work days early, and usually melts before mid-afternoon. I live among these people!

Sometimes I am that person too, you guys: the one snapping the picture.
Because I LOVE the snow. I really and truly do.

In all honesty, we really don’t use the word “blizzard” around here and I’m not completely 100% positive exactly what a “nor’easter” is. (although I did look it up while I was reading and now I feel a bit educated)

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In Trapped, seven young people face days and days stuck inside of their high school in the worst snowstorm in the history of the continental United States. There is no hope for help until the storm ends at the very earliest. Cell phones are not getting any service at all. Power is out due to the storm. No one at all is driving by the school; there are no cars in sight anywhere. In fact, the roads aren’t even visible underneath all of the snow outside. Before long, the snow is almost as high as the windows that run from floor-to-ceiling. Things are not looking good for the guys and gals stuck on the inside of Tattawa High School. 

Trapped is a short survival story that is both realistic YA and survival story. I’m calling it realistic to the young adult genre because the seven young people trapped inside of the school are all freshmen and sophomores, I believe, and they absolutely think and act like freshmen and sophomores typically do in terms of maturity and intellect. Throughout the story, this group has to band together and survive – I mean, they really have to work hard to survive. Things deteriorate rapidly in this abnormally horrific storm and this group is not one that would normally find themselves hanging out together, so tensions run high in a few instances. This just adds to the realism of the story, I think, and makes it seem even more imperative for this group to work together to keep one another both sane and alive. 

Of course, this is also a survival story. None of the students has heard from any of their family members because they lost cell phone service pretty early in the storm. They have no idea if anyone even realizes that they are trapped at the high school. They end up having to do basic survival things: break into the school cafeteria for food, search rooms for a radio and blankets, things like that. When the water pipes freeze and they lose all of their water supply, the students become pretty inventive both for toileting needs and finding drinking water. There is a point at about halfway to two-thirds of the way through the book in which the story picks up tremendously in terms of the survival – people are stressed and they’re becoming weak and hungry. There are countless feet of snow on the ground. The group realizes that it is time to make a huge, huge decision and it could be pretty dangerous…

Trapped had me wide-eyed and holding my breath at times. I have no concept for a storm like the one Michael Northrop has written of in this book. This storm and the survival portion of this book had my stomach in knots and had me turning the pages pretty fast. I found it fascinating, absolutely fascinating. The characters are all very different – some are more fully developed than others, but they all brought something interesting to the group. I found Northrop’s style to be very easy to read and very much like a group of young freshmen/sophomore students, particularly those under the stress of being stuck together for several days under crisis circumstances. 

And the ending! My heart was pounding for the last chunk of the book, and as I approached the end I was increasingly nervous for everyone AND for how the author would end his story. Out of every possible final-ending-situation, Northrop’s ending was abrupt but well-rounded, and I like that it was hopeful!

I recommend Trapped for fans of YA contemporary stories, particularly survival stories, and fans of stories that have male leading characters. 


Trapped will appeal to fans of:

YA Contemporary with Suspense
Survival Stories
Male Leading Characters
Standalone

Trapped by Michael Northrop
is currently available for purchase.

**I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion and review. I received no compensation for my thoughts. Thank you Scholastic!

LINKS/Where To Buy Trapped:  Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | IndieBound 

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Hello, I’m Michael Northrop, and I’m here to talk about two snowy experiences that helped inspire my wintry survival tale Trapped. You may want some hot chocolate for this . . .
1. This one is more general, part of the inspiration for the book as a whole. It was an enormous blizzard that hit my hometown when I was a kid. Now, I grew up in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains and my hometown’s most prominent landmark is, debatably, a ski jump, so I was definitely no stranger to snow. As soon as I was old enough to walk, my mom was stuffing me into a snowsuit, little-brother-in-A-Christmas-Story-style. But this storm was big by anyone’s standards. We got something like four feet of snow. I was maybe four feet tall myself at that point, and I still remember sitting inside and watching the snow climb the first-floor windows. I also remember the weird contrast of knowing that I was safe and warm inside, but that if I went outside into all that snow, I would literally disappear.
2. This one is more specific. It provided fuel for a critical scene near the end of the book. (When you get there, you’ll know which one.) I was still in my snowsuit days, and my brother and I were sledding out behind my grandfather’s house. We were taking turns with one of those old-fashioned Radio Flyer sleds, the kind with the wooden slats and long metal runners. It wasn’t that much of a hill, but the snow was icy and slick. Being an idiot, I went to the very top of the hill and went down headfirst, belly-down on the sled. I started picking up a surprising amount of speed. (It surprised me, anyway.) I was all for that until I realized I was heading straight for a tree at the bottom of the slope. Headfirst. I tried to steer the sled, but the metal runners were cutting through the icy surface of the snow and creating, in effect, train tracks. It never occurred to me to bail out. Instead, at the last second, I attempted to tip the sled over by grabbing the sides tightly in my mittens and rocking all the way to my right. All this did was change the angle at which my forehead hit the tree. I had a huge scab above my left eye for weeks (still being an idiot, I kept picking at it), an unfortunate precursor to my acne-scarred teenage years. Which, frankly, I’m lucky I lived to see.

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Michael Northrop is the author of two YA novels—Gentlemen, one of the American Library Association’s “Best Books for Young Adults” for 2010, and Trapped, a Spring 2011 Indie Next List selection—and the new middle grade novel Plunked. He spent 12 years chasing stories at Sports Illustrated Kids, the last five as baseball editor. His articles and stories have been published widely.


Connect with Michael Northrop:
Goodreads | Author Website|  Twitter | Facebook 


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GIVEAWAY!

One Finished Copy of TRAPPED
by Michael Northrop 

(Open Worldwide!) * (Ends 12/13)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure you check out the rest of the Blog Tour
for additional chances to win! 

December 1                      BookNerd
December 2                      Escaping…One Book @ a Time
December 3                      Doodle’s Book Blog
December 4                      Words, Pages, and Books
December 5                     
 Book Loving Mom
December 6                    
  Into the Hall of Books
December 7
                     Justin’s Book Blog

Asheley

About Asheley

Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.

You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.

Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!

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18 responses to “BLOG TOUR! Trapped by Michael Northrop: Guest Post + GIVEAWAY!

  1. I haven't heard of this book before but I really like the sound of it. Sounds interesting and I haven't read a lot book with male leading character! 🙂
    Thanks for the giveaway 🙂

  2. I live in Michigan and it is usually snowy. We often get snowed in and trapped by the heavy snowfall. I've always looked at it as a chance to do nothing but drink hot chocolate and watch the snow!

  3. I live in New Hampshire and we get a ton of snow every year. I don't really have fears of getting snowed in anywhere though because I rarely leave the house if I know it is going to snow. Also, I live on a big hill and once you go down in the snow, you aren't getting back up lol. I wouldn't mind getting snowed in at home though as long as I had plenty of food and water and warm blankets. And books! Can't forget the books 🙂

  4. Christina K.

    It snows A LOT where I live, which totally sucks because I hate it – and I'd be terrified of being trapped like that. I lived through an ice storm which was terrible.

  5. Wow, this blizzard in the book sounds INTENSE. Though it's a completely different type of weather, it kind of makes me think about last month's Hurricane Sandy, which kept everyone trapped in their homes, and has left people without power, homes or even heat and water. This story would creep the hell out of me while I read it, but I think I'd still give it a try just to see what happens to the kids!

  6. I live in Mississippi, so I COMPLETELY understand what you mean about the crazy people taking pictures of a few snowflakes. We had almost a foot of snow a couple of years ago (mind you, this hasn't happened in Mississippi in my lifetime!), and the whole town shut down. Haha. This book sounds interesting!

  7. I. Want. This. Book.

    We live farther south than you do, and occasionally we get enough snow (i.e. fluffy ice) to shut down schools and some business. I enjoy snow, and love the southern-cold weather, but being trapped for days on end…no thanks!

  8. Ohh. I have not heard of this one at all, but I'm going to add it to my list. I sort of hate snow. I remember a few bad storms we had when I was a kid. (It was like the worst snowstorm ever in NJ or something.) But I can't imagine facing something like this. For some reason it reminds me of This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers.

    Thanks for bringing to my attention!

  9. It doesn't snow in my area. I don't mind being trapped in a snowstorn as long as I'm not in danger and I'm warm and have enough food.
    Thank you for the giveaway, the book sounds interesting!

  10. Ileana A.

    I live in Central America, so we never have snow, only when I go to NY and visit my family there. But I think i'd probably scare the pants out of me if I get into a snowstorm! So, yes, it is scary!

  11. I live in New England, so I'm used to the snow. I was trapped (!) at my grandparents' house for days during the Blizzard of '78. (Yes, I'm that old.) Snow is pretty to look at, but not fun to shovel or drive in.

  12. I'm legit just commenting to say that I could not stop laughing at your description of the reaction to snow in North Carolina. Because it's obviously the same in Georgia. And I crack up every time!

    Also, I love snow in theory but could never live somewhere that legit got FEET of snow every winter instead of inch(es). Seriously. Couldn't do it. I feel sad when the wind blows and it's that sharp kind of cold that makes your eardrums hurt so I already know that once-a-year or visiting snow is more than enough for me 🙂

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