Dnf at 30%. I was not invested in this book at all, and in the end the only option was to dnf it. The characters were not enjoyable for me, and the plot even less so. This just wasn't for me.

Alone in the Woods by Rebecca Behrens is a gripping survival story that explores friendship and resilience. The plot follows two friends as they navigate the dangers of being stranded in the wilderness, with tension building as they face both external challenges and their own personal conflicts. The setting is vividly described, immersing readers in the dangers of nature, though some moments feel predictable. Despite this, the emotional depth and themes of trust and perseverance make it an engaging read, especially for fans of adventure and survival stories.

This was such a harrowing read! So much excitement and action that I couldn’t put it down! I really enjoyed reading this narrative.

This was a nice book about two kids, former friends, trapped in the woods together. I enjoyed the plot and the way the story played out. The woods were described well, and I also liked the side plot of friendship. This book is a great read for readers ages 9-12.

Friendship and survival is an excellent theme for any middle grade story, but throw in being stranded in the wild and you've got an excellent adventure waiting to unfold. An excellent read, gripping from the first line, Alone in the Woods is perfect for fans of Alison Hughes Lost in the Backyard and The Skeleton Tree by Iain Lawrence.

Alone in the Woods was a fast paced, exciting and emotionally riveting tale of friendship and survival. Highly recommend!

Thank you so much NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Kids for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an amazing middle grade novel and a great addition to any classroom or school library. This adventure book about survival and friendship was such a page turner. In this book, we meet Jocelyn and Alex. friends that have outgrown each and stuck alone in the woods trying to survive, I loved every minute of this book and will definitely purchase for my classroom.

<p>She presents the story told between the voices of Alex and Joss. Behrens does this so realistically, that the characters become true to the reader. I can really see readers feeling the emotions presented here. As a middle school teacher of ten years, I can say just how true to life their voices are. Alex and Joss have fallen on a rough patch, a growing apart, although even their families are close, going on vacation together. At camp, Alex found a new friend, but is there still room in her heart for Joss and their friendship? Put this together with a dynamic story about getting lost and relying on themselves for survival. </p>

<p>Behrens really gets that middle school voice and tells a fast paced tale that students will enjoy. Teachers shouldn't hesitate to stock this in the class library as it will be well-loved and worn out before you know it. For readers that love books like Paulsen's and George's, it is a new voice more representative of the students in the classroom.

Alone in the Woods is a thrilling survival story that tests the friendship of two girls. Stranded in the wilderness they must work out their differences to survive. I loved how this book shows that not every friendship is perfect and that sometimes friends grow apart or make new friends. This survival story reminds me of 96 Miles by J.L. Esplin. I will definitely be adding this title to my school library.

Jocelyn looks forward to her family vacation with her best friend’s family at the lake every year — and especially this year, when things have been so weird and distant with Alex, she’s hoping these weeks of bonding will bring back their old closeness. Alex, though, doesn’t seem interested in doing anything but texting her new cool friends, even while tubing down the river. A rip in the tube leaves the girls stranded on the shore, and when they try to find their way to the next bend in the river to flag down help, they end up lost in the woods in their swimsuits and water shoes with just Jocelyn’s wet backpack to see them through.

Anyone who’s spent any time in the Northwoods will appreciate the setting (and Jocelyn and Alex’s constant efforts to evade the bug brigades!) of Alone in the Woods, and Jocelyn’s heartbreak at the loss of her friendship is achingly familiar to anyone who has ever lost a close friend. Unfortunately, Alex hardly seems worthy of Jocelyn’s feelings — even in the chapters she narrates, she comes across as selfish and shallow, and she does nothing to make their survival efforts in the woods more successful. Jocelyn deserves a better friend, but maybe that’s part of the point. I did like the fact that their relationship isn’t neatly resolved at the end — Jocelyn still wants to be Alex’s friend, Alex still isn’t that interested in being close to Jocelyn, and it’s clear that there’s no easy path forward. The survival story is compelling in a low-key way — this is no Hatchet, and while it’s cold and scary, the girls aren’t in any immediate life-and-death situations. I’d definitely pass this on to any middle grades reader who likes gentle adventure or who is dealing with a friendship break-up.

Behrens crafted such an intense friendship and survival story that left me in pain, agony, and the desire to reach out and help Jocelyn and Alex.

Jocelyn and Alex were the best of friends, but that was before Alex befriended the sixth grade’s most popular girl, Laura. So everything was a little “off” between Joss and Alex on their traditional summer vacation trip with their families. And, it was quite awkward. It got even worse when they were floating downstream with their families and soon they were detached and… lost. A survival story that will leave you desperately wanting to help and hoping that the two can become friends again and make it alive.

There's a subset of authors that love survival scenarios as a catalyst for addressing emotional or interpersonal issues. It becomes apparent pretty early on that's where this book is headed. We have livelong friends in their middle school years finding that their paths are diverging in a big way. Their interests have become vastly different and the things that they once shared are no longer enough. Small hurts are quickly blown out of proportion. One has become interested in fashion and popularity, the other in ecology. The portrayal of their flaws is unbalanced, Jocelyn getting significantly more positive traits than Alex. We do see a fair amount of guilt on both sides and ways they both can make more of an effort. A decent read with enough action to keep the reader engaged.

I LOVE a good survival story. And they always seem to hit a sweet spot with my MG readers; those who prefer fantasy like the high stakes, while my historical fiction lover appreciates the soul searching and portrayal of skills seldom considered in our day to day lives.

But Alone in the Woods is more than just a great survival story–it’s a beautiful story of friendship lost and re-gained, and the dual-perspective POV allows her to really dig into the complications that come along with maintaining childhood friendships while navigating the strange world of growing up. If surviving in the woods of Wisconsin is hard, that’s nothing to middle school.

3.5 Stars

Jocelyn and Alex are about to enter eighth grade when their adventure takes place. As such, the book is full of all the middle-school emotions and drama that you’d expect. Alex went away to summer camp and came back a different person. Jocelyn didn’t change at all. Where they used to be inseparable, now, the former friends are incompatible.

While the friendship dynamic is compelling, it’s not what draws readers in. Instead, it’s the setting and the journey the two take in the wilderness.

Author Rebecca Behrens does a fantastic job setting the scene. I could practically feel bugs crawling all over me and the pain of sunburn and tick bites. The sense of confusion that overtakes the girls as they progress is particularly moving.

As an adult, I struggled to connect with Alex. I found her more than a little annoying. She comes across as very self-absorbed. I think this will be less of an issue for the intended audience, however, I have a feeling, readers will immediately find themselves on either Team Alex or Team Jocelyn. For that reason, I suggest checking it out from the library before purchasing.

I was granted access to this title in order to conduct an interview with its author, Rebecca Behrens. You can read the complete interview below.

1. Alone In The Woods is your fifth novel, following When Audrey Met Alice, Summer of Lost and Found, The Last Grand Adventure and The Disaster Days. From the first daughter discovering the diary of Alice Roosevelt to a girl becoming enthralled with the mysteries of Roanoke and its lost colony, one of the many things I adore about your work is that each of your novels has a unique and exciting premise completely unlike the book that came before. Where do your story ideas come from and how do you know when you have an idea that’s worthy and capable of developing into a full-length novel?

Thank you! My ideas come from all over the place — childhood obsessions with history mysteries, places I’ve traveled, or even magazine articles I’ve read. (A New Yorker article sparked my idea for The Disaster Days, and I’ve published a short story inspired by a piece in Smithsonian. The power of print journalism!)

A couple of years ago, I started to work on a lost-in-the-wilderness story, which I’d always wanted to write — one of my childhood favorite books is Hatchet, and when I’d go hiking in the woods by my house as a kid, I’d pretend to be a survivalist. I love reading about wilderness adventures now. But the problem was, the book I was outlining had a lot of plot but not enough heart.

The first novel manuscript I ever wrote was an (overly) autobiographically inspired friendship-breakup story, which went on submission multiple times but never sold. That book had a lot of heart but not quite enough plot. It had been years since I’d put it aside, but I realized that I could incorporate the heart of its friendship drama with this new idea I was struggling with, and suddenly I had this great new concept for Alone In The Woods — a novel about surviving both the woods and the wilderness of middle-school friendships. So sometimes developing an idea into something worthy and capable of a full-length novel takes almost ten years and a few false starts! (But I do think this supports the idea that no writing is ever wasted.)



2. Each of your books thus far have been written for a middle grade audience. What are some of your favourite things about writing for this age group? Are there any particular challenges about writing for this target audience?

I love middle-grade readers. It’s the age of discovery, and middle-graders have so much curiosity about the world around them — they’re eager to go on a journey with the characters, and they have such empathy for them. The middle-grade years were also the point in my life when I really fell in love with books, so it’s a delight to get to revisit that time in my own writing, and hopefully enable some kids today to fall in love with reading and storytelling. And middle-grade fiction is just so much fun. There is such creativity, honesty, bravery, and wonder in the category — it’s a really exciting category to read and write.

A challenge is that middle-grade readers are very keen, and they can always sense when something isn’t authentic — whether it’s the outdated slang an author might try to use, or an emotional response from a character that isn’t earned. So being a couple of decades removed from the middle-school experience, I’m always wary about getting the details right — from the clothes kids are wearing now to the way social media and tech is part of their emotional lives to their concerns about big issues in the news, like climate change and environmental issues.



3. Alone In The Woods is written from the perspective of both Jocelyn and Alex as the novel explores moments in their lives both before and during their time spent lost and stranded in a national forest. Jocelyn’s perspective was a particular delight, as her passion for nature and wildlife is infectious, and she always has a new and informative fact to share about the world around her. I was able to learn so much from her, and I loved that she never felt awkward or ashamed of her zeal for knowledge. Did you learn any interesting facts about nature, science or wildlife while researching and crafting Jocelyn’s character? Was there one perspective you enjoyed writing more than the other, and was it difficult to draft and organize the alternating timelines of the story?

I loved writing Jocelyn’s passion for nature and Wisconsin wildlife, in part because it gave me an outlet for all the research I did to create the setting. While I was visiting the Nicolet National Forest while working on the book, I talked to the rangers and learned about all the animals that live in the Northwoods (like the moose, bears, and the local wolf packs), and I was really surprised to hear that mountain lions do pass through the area! I had no idea they were ever in the state. I also enjoyed researching all the plants that could be harmful to those wandering the woods. My favorite source was an encyclopedic PDF titled “Outdoor Hazards in Wisconsin: A Guide to Noxious Insects, Plants, and Wildlife” published by the University of Wisconsin. I had no idea there were so many. It definitely made me committed to wearing long pants whenever I hike. I agree with Jocelyn that wild parsnip should really be called something like DANGER DANGER BLISTER WEED.

I’m probably more like Jocelyn than Alex, so her perspective was probably easier to write. But in some ways, I enjoyed writing Alex more. She definitely could have been a villain in the story, so it was really important to me to write her passages well and give her a voice in the girls’ story, too. I started by writing all of Alex’s passages first, since they are flashbacks, and then I wrote Jocelyn’s narrative. Once I placed Alex’s passages throughout Jocelyn’s story, I did a lot of revising to make sure I was revealing details about the events leading up to their friendship breakup at the right points. That was tricky — I wanted to create a little bit of tension but also needed to make sure that the reader understands what’s going on.



4. When Jocelyn and Alex become lost in the forest, their situation is made even more difficult because their friendship is not what it once was. The once-inseparable best friends have grown apart as Alex has made new friends and the girls feel they no longer have anything in common. Because of this, Jocelyn and Alex have to navigate complicated feelings of resentment, guilt and hurt in addition to surviving the elements. Do you have any advice for young readers currently experiencing a friendship breakup or who are otherwise dealing with feelings of disconnection or conflict with a loved one in their own lives?

This part of the book was very personal for me. When I was a young teen, one of my best friends friend-dumped (or as I called it, “fumped”) me, and I was pretty devastated by it. Decades went by, and when I started working on this book, that hurt felt like a memory and not a wound.

Then, as a thirtysomething, I was blindsided by a friendship fade-out while drafting and editing this story. I was somewhat surprised to realize the emotions of a friendship ending are ageless. The timing, in a strange and bittersweet way, was sort of perfect, as it really helped me put my characters’ emotions to paper.

So my first piece of advice for anyone experiencing a friendship breakup, fade-out, or conflict is to remember that, unfortunately, they are universal. If any reader is feeling alone in the experience, know that most people have or will experience something similar. It’s not just you! And others have a lot of empathy for what you’re going through, so don’t be afraid to reach out for help or comfort.

My second piece of advice is to understand that while some friends really are forever, many aren’t, in the sense that the ebb and flow of friendship is normal and natural. We need different people at different seasons in our lives. When a friendship changes, it often doesn’t mean that either person did something wrong; it may just be that you’re growing in different directions. That’s true whether you’re a kid or an adult.

And my third piece of advice is that focusing on gratitude for a friendship after it’s ended can be really helpful. It’s okay to miss a person you’re no longer friends with, and it’s okay to feel hurt about the way things ended. But that doesn’t mean you can’t also look at the good times you shared, and be grateful for them, even if the friendship was fleeting. This can be hard to do, and sometimes it just takes time until you’ve healed a little — be patient with, and kind to, yourself.



5. Your description of the conditions faced by Jocelyn and Alex in the forest are harrowing, including everything from severe dehydration and tick bites to sunburns and potentially dangerous encounters with wildlife. Do you have any experience with camping or wilderness survival? How were you able to bring the challenges and dangers Jocelyn and Alex face to life in such a visceral and tangible way?

My camping and wilderness experiences have all been very safe and rather uneventful, thankfully! I am a worrier, though, so I do always anticipate what could go wrong—this is part of why I chronically overpack. My backpack is like a pop-up Walgreens. Maybe I need to give credit to my overactive imagination for helping me come up with so many worst-case scenarios for my characters.

I hadn’t even seen the TV show Naked and Afraid before I wrote the first draft of this book, but I have watched many episodes since a friend blurted out, “You just wrote a middle-grade Naked and Afraid!” after I told her the plot of my book (and the fact that the girls unfortunately become lost while wearing swimsuits). I really enjoy reading nonfiction narratives about wilderness and survival situations, and they’ve definitely helped me try to recreate realistically harrowing settings and challenging obstacles for my characters.

Although any of the scenes in Alone In The Woods that involve vicious mosquitoes and flies in the Northwoods — those are directly from personal experience. I remember on one tubing trip as a kid, I had to keep diving into the ice-cold river water to escape the merciless deer flies. Why do they love wet skin/hair so much?!



6. There seems to be an emphasis on environmental conservatism and appreciation in Alone In The Woods. Jocelyn is always careful to respect and preserve the forest around her, even when lost and stranded within it, and remarks more than once that she and Alex must be careful never to leave anything behind in the wilderness that they’ve brought with them and that doesn’t belong there. Can you speak a little about this aspect of the story?

Yes! One of the best ways we can preserve and protect wild spaces is by making sure we don’t disturb or overuse them. That’s become an even-more important issue in these pandemic times, when a lot of people are spending a lot more time in nature. Jocelyn is concerned about the fact that, because they’re lost, they’re traveling through untouched parts of the deep woods, and she tries her best to make sure they disturb the environment as little as possible. But it’s equally important when you’re hiking a trail or visiting a more accessible natural place to make sure you respect and are a good steward of the environment: never litter, stay on the trails, give wildlife space, and don’t pick wildflowers or remove other plants or natural objects to take with you as souvenirs. “Leave it as you found it” is a good motto — even better, you can leave it better than you found it by picking up any litter you happen upon while in nature.



7. From new friends and first crushes to Jocelyn and Alex’s ever-evolving friendship, one of the central themes of Alone In The Woods appears to be accepting and navigating the inevitability of change. How do you deal effectively with change in your own life, and what do you hope readers will take from Alone In The Woods?

We’re all living through a time with a lot of change and uncertainty, and like a lot of people, dealing with change isn’t easy for me. It’s taken me a long time to figure out a few things that personally help me navigate it. One is recognizing when change is happening (because it’s not always obvious) and, once I have that awareness, to cut myself a little slack, because transitions are hard. And I also remind myself that the Big Feelings that change of any kind brings up are normal, and it’s okay to feel them! That’s part of resilience. Some of the conflict Jocelyn experiences in Alone In The Woods — both conflict with Alex and internally — is because she won’t acknowledge the changes that are happening. Once she accepts that things won’t always stay the exactly same but maybe this change can be okay, things get a lot easier and better.



8. If you were going to be lost in the wilderness and could choose one person to be by your side, who would you choose and why?

Definitely Leslie Knope (from Parks and Rec), because I’m sure she’d have a binder full of “what to do when you find yourself lost in the woods” strategies at the ready, and she would have a shelter up and a fire started in record time, and really I wouldn’t be surprised if she whipped up a batch of waffles to cook over the fire.

And if I can’t pick a fictional character, I’d go with Elizabeth Warren, because I know she’d have a plan for that!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read and review.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! It is an incredible tale of two friends, Jocelyn and Alex, and how their friendship changes one summer. The story is told mainly through Jocelyn's point of view, but with added flashbacks from Alex's point of view earlier in the summer. What I really appreciate in this story is how relatable Jocelyn and Alex are. It isn't a complete breakdown of their friendship but a rather realistic view of trying to be true to who you are when you are still discovering who you are. This will make a great read aloud in a classroom.

I loved this survival story with a slice of MG friendship drama. The two girls acted exactly as I would imagine they would when they find themselves trapped alone in the North Woods. As middle graders do they are growing apart and navigating those feelings along with being trapped in the middle of nowhere is messy. I think I'd hand this to kids who enjoy Hatchet and the like.

Soon-to-be 8th graders Joss and Alex have been best friends for as long as they can remember. Their families share a cabin "up north" near the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest of Wisconsin every summer. When Alex goes away to a Spanish camp and becomes friends with a classmate named Lauren, neither she nor Joss knows how to handle the shift it creates in their friendship. Joss is sure that time together at the cabin is just what she and Alex need to rekindle their waning friendship but Alex isn't feeling it. When the girls' raft gets separated from the rest of their group, they end up getting lost in the woods. They each have material items and knowledge that can keep them alive, but only if they can work together. This is a great middle grade book about the ways that friends and friendship change as we grow.

Alone in the Woods is a survival story but it is more of a story about friendship and how friendships change as we grow older. The survival aspects were very realistic and seemed completely plausible for young girls lost in the woods. The friendship was the heart of the story. Anyone who has ever had a friend that you felt was outgrowing you can relate to the turmoil that Jocelyn feels as Alex pushes her away. Luckily we also get Alex's perspective and see how difficult it is to be the friend who is pulling away. This is a story that will resonate with many middle-grade kids as they are trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be. Recommended.

The story of friendship between Jocelyn (Joss) and Alex (Lexie) and how everything changes over a 2 week separation. Told mostly from Joss’s pov it also jumps back to Alex sharing what happened during those 2 weeks and the rest of the summer before 8th grade.

It was a quick read for me and for the most part I enjoyed myself. Towards the end of their time lost in the woods I’ll admit that it kinda dragged on a little. Joss is somewhat of a nature nerd so the info dumping of animal/nature characteristics matched and I did learn some things. Alex is somewhat of a whiny adolescent and honestly I had a hard time feeling any sympathy for her.

The ending wasn’t what I expected but it worked and to be honest it was a more realistic outcome.

This is my first time reading Rebecca Behrens, I’ve added her to my list of MG authors to be on the lookout for.

Alone in the Woods releases Oct 1st and is available for preorder now.

My thanks to Sourcebooks for an advanced copy (via Netgalley) in the exchange for an honest review.