Justin's Notes
Dec. 28, 2025
This book tells the story of a girl named Leni and her family, heading to Alaska to escape the world and live in the bush; no running water, electricity, or much of any kind of civilization. In hopes that the wilderness will save her father's anger from the war, Leni and her mother must bear the weight of his trauma alone as the crushing winters of Alaska take their toll.
I am sold on Hannah as a writer. I have seen her books all over, including on our own bookshelf because of Syd getting them in the past. What has intrigued me the most about her books is Hannah has quite a few historical fiction books from the points of view of women, which seems a little more unique since most war books I have read and seen are following the men in the war, not the women alongside or at home during or after. While I wouldn't consider this historical fiction, I did enjoy the point of view primarily being the family of a Vietnam prisoner of war and the impact the war had on them.
Her writing is great. It is fast-paced and engaging, with enough to draw you in chapter after chapter to cause you to read one more. The descriptions and scenes in the Alaska wilderness were incredibly written. Hannah effectively builds the emotional isolation of Leni and her family through the physical location of the town. The characters in this book are quite good. I love any story that makes me so heavily for and against different characters. The overarching theme of survival touched so many aspects of Leni's life, from the emotional and mental aspects to the physical survival of the harsh wilderness itself.
I would recommend this to basically anyone. It isn't a happy book, but it is a great story about a girl growing up in a land that both gives and takes away.
