Willa Raedl is a typical teenager, which is to say that she is totally and entirely obnoxious in every way imaginable. At least, she is for the first 2 chapters, anyway. The book opens with her taking a sledge hammer to her shop class project and then storming out of school for no apparent reason, then bemoaning her existence and whining about life in general. Fortunately she actually turns out to be an awesome character, it just seems that the author went overboard trying to convey to the reader that she is a teenager, and uses some heinous stereotypes that, fortunately, do not last after the 2nd chapter.

Willa, upon finding her uncle passed out drunk, decides to take his plane to fulfil the duties he has rendered himself incapable of doing, and subsequently crash lands in deep in the Canadian wilderness, potentially hundreds of miles from the nearest hovel of human habitation. What follows is a YA survivalist that brought back a truckload of childhood memories.

One of the earliest book-without-pictures I remember reading in elementary school is Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I don't remember much of it now, though I remember being totally enraptured by it for several weeks somewhere between the age of 7 and 9. I would be terrified of reading it now, as an adult, for fear of marring my memory of it, which is why this was so perfect. The Winter Road was similar enough to incite that sense of nostalgia, and for that I am very glad I stumbled upon it!

The book itself is enjoyable enough. As previously stated, the first 2 chapters should have been revised a bit, and the chapter titles spoil everything that's about to happen, which is incredibly annoying. Beyond that, I think the author sufficiently captured that feeling of desolation and hopelessness that makes for a good survival story. ( )

When 17-year-old Willa “borrows” her uncle’s Cessna without asking, she expects to transport medical supplies to her mother in a northern Ontario native village and to take a much-needed break from school. Things have been tough for Willa since her older brother was killed in a Ski-Doo accident five years earlier. When she crashes the plane, Willa must draw on all her physical, emotional, and mental resources in order to survive. Her resourcefulness in building everything from snowshoes to fishtraps to a toboggan, from the plane’s wreckage, is interesting and reminiscent of Hatchet and other books usually featuring boys. The female protagonist in an overwhelmingly male-oriented genre is a nice twist, and The Winter Road will appeal to girls and boys alike. However, the portrayal of Willa is inconsistent: sometimes the hot-tempered rebel, sometimes the popular honor student. Some emphatic interjections and a mature protagonist push the interest level a little higher.