about the book
Fifteen-year-old Robie is well versed in travel, having made the trip from the Midway Isles— where her parents work as research biologists —to Honolulu many times, staying with her aunt in Hawaii whenever research life gets too much.
Her recent Hawaiian vacation ends when she gets a little scared of living in her aunt’s house all by herself. Hopping on the first cargo plane for Midway that she can find—without anyone’s knowledge that she was coming— Robie settlesin to the routine of a passenger. This time there is only one difference—Max, the new co-pilot.
It is this difference that maybe saves her life.
A storm hits. The plane’s engines malfunction. Before she knows it, Robie is told to put a life- jacket on and Max is fumbling with a life-boat. Then they are in the water, surrounded by sharks, without clean drinking water, and only a bag of Skittles for food between them.
about the author
A native of Wisconsin, S.A. Bodeen (Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen) has lived many places. She is now living in Oregon with her two daughters. In addition to being an author, she has also taught creative writing.
Stephanie joined the Peace Corps and spent time in Tanzania, where she lived in a mud hut, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and went on safari. She enjoys traveling and loves the feeling of “stepping on a plane and getting off it halfway around the world.”
Stephanie has been writing picture books for ten years. The Compound was her first published novel (though it was the tenth book she has written). She enjoys reading suspenseful stories, like those written by Stephen King and Michael Crichton.
The Raft was inspired by her own scary flights. Stephanie lived for about three years on Midway Island. To get there, she had to take a small turbo-prop plane, which took about five hours over nothing but ocean. She began to wonder what would happen if the small plane went down.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview : Cynsations
Author page : Macmillan
Author journal
Also by S.A. Bodeen:
Shipwreck Island. Feiwel and Friends. 2014.
Fallout (Compound, Book 2). Feiwel and Friends. 2013.
The Gardener. Feiwel and Friends. 2010.
The Compound. Feiwel and Friends. 2008.
read more!
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