Braving the outdoors to head up to his family’s camp in Northern Ontario, Nate has a mission. His friend Dodge went missing several months ago when his family decided to deliver a refrigerator to their own camp, down the road from Nate’s. In a terrible accident, the boat capsized. Dodge’s dad and brother were found dead in the lake, but Dodge never was. Nate is determined to find Dodge.

Burl, Nate’s dad, made sure that Nate and his friend Paul were trained and ready to handle anything being up at camp alone. Paul has pulled out of the trip, which Nate didn’t tell his dad. So Nate heads up to camp anyway. But what Nate comes across when he gets there, even Burl couldn’t have planned for.

I was captivated by The Starlight Claim. Wynne-Jones has created a story that will hold you captive until the last page. Nate is your typical teenager. Dodge as well. They are very real characters encountering extraordinary circumstances. It’s an adventure from start to finish. I would highly recommend this suspense novel to anyone looking for a good read.

This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com close to publication date.

This book was so good I will be recommending it to all my regular customers when it comes out!!!!!!!!!!

The Starlight Claim was an exciting survival adventure. Nate didn't intend to make the trip to the cabin alone, but when his friend is grounded, he decides not to back out. But a blizzard sets in and in subzero temperatures, Nate must not only survive the weather, but must outwit escapees from a maximum security prison who have taken refuge in his family's cabin. Thanks to his father, Nate is not without resources, both physical and mental.

from description: Four months after his best friend, Dodge, disappeared near their families’ camp in a boat accident, Nate is still haunted by nightmares. He’d been planning to make the treacherous trek to the remote campsite with a friend — his first time in winter without his survival-savvy father. But when his friend gets grounded, Nate secretly decides to brave the trip solo in a journey that’s half pilgrimage, half desperate hope he will find his missing friend when no one else could. What he doesn’t expect to find is the door to the cabin flung open and the camp occupied by strangers: three men he’s horrified to realize have escaped from a maximum-security prison. Snowed in by a blizzard and with no cell signal, Nate is confronted with troubling memories of Dodge and a stunning family secret, and realizes that his survival now depends on his wits as much as his wilderness skills. As things spiral out of control, Nate finds himself dealing with questions even bigger than who gets to leave the camp alive.

Nate discovers an unexpected ally, but not a benevolent or selfless one.

Although the main character is a teenager, I didn't realize at first that this was a YA novel; however, as with any good book, The Starlight Claim will grab your interest and hold it throughout.

Read in May; blog review scheduled for Aug. 31, 2019

NetGalley/Candlewick Press
YA/Suspense. Sept. 10, 2019. Print length: 240 pages

Really enjoyed this book, very unique and interesting concept and plot! I love the cover, it looks really cool and that is one of the reasons why I requested this book.

Nate and his friends Dodge and Paul had been planning to hike to Nate's family's cabin for almost a year. Dodge and Nate had met up that way as Dodge's family had a cabin nearby. But then Dodge, Dodge's brother, and father die in a horrific accident on the water, Nate starts to spiral, plagued with nightmares. With the help of some amazing parents, he starts to get better and think about the hike they had all been planning. He and Paul plan to do the hike by themselves, only Paul gets grounded and cancels the night before.

Against his better judgment, Nate decides to go alone. He feels that because Dodge's body was never found, he could still be out there. While it is Spring, the brutal weather brought in by winter hang on tight in their part of Canada, still getting deep into the negatives at night. It's a foolish decision for Nate to go alone, especially if his family's camp isn't how they left it when they closed it up in the Fall.

This was a really fun read because once the action started, it was non-stop. Nate was great at thinking on the fly and that's due to his parents teaching him essential survival skills. Even Nate says that his father wasn't the type to just answer questions, he would make Nate puzzle it out, and that proves very helpful for him. The Starlight Claim was well-written, and once I started reading, I found it near impossible to put down. Nicely done!

The Starlight Claim is a good action-adventure thriller of a survival story. Shadows of Gary Paulsen, though with more interference from the outside world. Nate has gone to his family's summer cabin (correctly called a camp throughout) in early March, when there's still feet of snow on the ground up in that part of Canada. He expects to spend an adventurous weekend at his family's camp, but something quite different transpires. The camp has been broken into, and the trespassers are still there. With guns. And they seem quite ready to use them. Nate must use his wits, all the wilderness training he's gotten from his father, and a quick mind to stay ahead of fatal disaster. Add in the mental ghosts of friends who died last fall, and you've got a very good page-turner of a YA here. I read it in one sitting. Didn't want to stop.

I enjoyed The Starlight Claim so much that I sat up most of the night reading it. Nate, haunted by nightmares and guilt, feels he has to try to find his friend Dodge. Nate takes an emotional & physical journey against the elements and some unexpected issues hoping to find his best friend whose body was not recovered with the others after ac accident.

Nate and his parents have a good honest relationship, but he goes to their family cabin / camp alone (horrible idea) and misleads his parents into thinking a friend accompanied him. A very unexpected mess. I appreciated the small flashbacks sprinkled throughout the story which highlight the boy’s (Nate & Dodge’s) friendship since childhood. Enough family and friendship history is provided to carry the story along. Just the right amount of suspense and a sprinkle of humor.

My complaint (as a person raised around guns) is that IF you are somewhere secluded with BEARS and other dangers ... it is a little unbelievable that he didn’t HAVE a weapon on him at all times. It also took him way too long to retrieve the gun his neighbor kept knowing his life was in danger. Even though ... still a 5 star read in my opinion.

Plus moment ... You can’t go wrong with a reference to The Walking Dead (no it’s not a zombie story, but I did wonder if or how Dodge would appear. No spoilers here.