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Lost in the Barrens is about two boys who set out to try and help a neighborly tribe, and end up having to face the harsh winter in Canada’s north with few supplies.
Jamie and Awasin (the two boys) both change throughout the book. Jamie begins as a city boy who is very eager and a bit of a thick head until an unfortunate event where they must turn back for more supplies. This went very well with the sequence of events. Awasin has lived up north for his whole life and is very sensible and knows lots about the ways of the wilderness, he was also very cautious. Awasin does not change very much, but he does become less cautious when Jamie brings some gifts from the graves. I personally like the characters and think they were very well planned out, although I think Awasin could have changed more throughout the book.
The plot is definitely a good one because whenever the problem is solved plans change and you’re back to phase 1. The book flows incredibly well like as soon as they get water they look for food and they look for food until they find food they don’t all of a sudden go looking for shelter. The intro sets a beautiful picture in my head it may not be a field with lots of flowers and the sun shining high but the picture is crystal clear. The tension is great, one minute they are safe at home the next they are going through a river full of rapids.
Farley Mowat has very descriptive writing style. Ex.
Far below ran a narrow valley whose walls were slopes of broken boulders like hills, but the valley floor was a paradise. A dozen tiny lakes lay along it in a chain and they shone like green mirrors.
I would not recommend this book to anybody under the age of 9 maybe 8 because there are lots of long words, difficult names and very small writing. I would rate this book 7.5 out of a 10 (1 being not very good 10 being very good).
Posted by 24168 on 4/12/07; 1:37:13 PM
from the Corey dept.
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