When flooding washes out the bridge by Addy's house, she must find a way to get to Survival Camp. Addy has planned to attend Survival Camp for a long time; it's where her parents met. With the help of her neighbor, Caleb, Addy finds out how to take risks and trust others to help her.

For fans of survival books like hatchet. The book hits many deep topics in a well written way. Readers will relate to the characters in the story making it more real. Loved the length. Easy to recommend

A huge storm knocks out the bridge to middle schooler Addy's town, and with it Addy's chances to get to Survival Camp. In the meantime, her mom's depression, the search for a missing elderly neighbor, and navigating an unexpected new friendship weigh on Addy. When the time comes to make the trip to camp, Addy wants to test her limits - both at trusting others and taking care of herself.
This is a quick and plotty read that will be a great match for kids who love survival stories. Addy has undeniable strengths, but her places to grow will keep her relatable to young readers.
As an adult, my biggest quip with this title is that in some ways it moved too quickly for the character growth to make sense. Addy and her mom are both largely healing from their complex emotional traumas by the end of the book. However, I don't think kid readers will bothered by that aspect - and action lovers will appreciate Addy's exciting but also fraught journey down the river.

I really enjoyed this book. This is a fast paced adventure book for middle grade students. The characters were easy to connect too and the story portrayed so many emotions. Addy and her mom were grieving the death of Addy's father while also being put in a scenario similar to what caused his death. I really liked how by the end of the book Addy and her mom found the support of the community and were on the way to making new friends. This is definitely a book that will keep the attention of my middle school students and that they will connect too and enjoy!

This is a coming-of-age story about Addy, a young girl whose plans to attend a survival camp are threatened by a severe storm that isolates her remote mountain town. The storm triggers her mother's grief over Addy's father's death, and the isolation forces Addy to confront her lack of connection with her community. When she repeatedly encounters her classmate Caleb, whom she previously considered an enemy, she begins to see him in a new light. Caleb's concern for a missing neighbor and his ability to rally community support impress Addy. He offers to help her reach the camp, leading her to question her preconceived notions about him and prompting her to take a leap of faith. Their journey by canoe becomes a test of her survival skills and a catalyst for personal growth. Addy learns the importance of community, trust, and overcoming her fear of vulnerability, ultimately realizing that she is not alone in life's challenges.

Ann Braden is a masterful storyteller who brings so much emotion to her story and characters. Readers will be rooting for Addy in this story of grief, resilience, and community.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for this honest review.

While the intensity of the subject matter (traumatic death of a parent, panic attacks…but also finding community and living after trauma) would cause me to choose carefully the middle schooler to whom I would recommend Into the Rapids, the storyline was fast-paced and engaging.
4⭐️. When considering this for my school shelves though I would need to weigh the pull of a well-told story against theology presented that is contrary to what I teach about the hope of eternal life.

Addy and her mother have kept to themselves in their somewhat remote home in the Green Mountains of Vermont ever since her father's death when she was a toddler. The two don't even interact with their nearest neighbors, the Tollands, even though the son, Caleb, goes to school with Addy. He hasn't been all that nice to her, calling her "batty Addy", and she doesn't have other friends. She is excited about going to middle school at Windhaven Regional, which is a 40 minute trip. When a bad storm knocks out a nearby bridge as well as the power in the area, it makes things a bit difficult, although Addy and her mother are fairly well prepared. Addy is concerned that she won't be able to get to the school to participate in the Survival Camp, and since that's where her parents met, she really wants to go. Not only that, but she's been practicing the recommended survival skills, and wants to do really well. She keeps running into Caleb on a hill near their homes, since cell signals are hard to get. Keeping lines of communication open is important, since Addy's mother isn't doing well with the weather situation, especially since Addy's father died when the car the entire family was in got swept into a rain swollen river. Addy helps by texting Marcy, her mother's therapist, a letter her mother has written, and getting a response, which seems to help. The skills she's acquired helping her mom come in handy when Caleb has a panic attack. He's been obsessed with death, and since a neighbor, Ike Horvath, is missing in the flood, and his mother wants him to go to a high pressure private school, Caleb has been spiraling into fears about the shortness of life. The neighbors are pulling together to get supplies, and are even building an emergency bridge to get water to the community, but while Caleb and his family are in the thick of these plans, Addy and her mother are isolated and know nothing about them. When he finds out that Addy really wants to get to the survival camp, he plans an elaborate route for her to get there, which includes going with his firefighter father across the bridge, getting a ride from a woman who is visiting her sister, and canoeing part of the way. Her mother is doing well enough that she agrees that Addy can go. Since Addy has not canoed much (although she has practiced her skills on dry land), Caleb starts the trip with her. When she goes off on her own, it doesn't take long before Addy capsizes the canoe, is injured, and must use her survival skills to actually survive. In the meantime, the entire community is looking for her, and her mother takes her predicament better than expected. When she returns, injured, her mother steps up to take care of her. Ike has been found dead, and Addy goes to the funeral. The community rallies around Addy and her mother, with Eileen the firefighter helping Addy's mother repair the generator and car, and encouraging her to attend the local Labor Day picnic. Addy's discussions about panic attacks helps Caleb talk to his mother about his fears, and she is okay with him not going to the private school, and even arranges therapy for him. Even though climate related extreme weather is an ongoing concern, Addy is glad to have finally connected with her community.
Strengths: This is a quick read, and comes in at well under 200 pages, which is something a lot of middle grade gatekeepers have been requesting. Braden draws on her own experience of having been in a plane crash that killed her father, and having to navigate life under those circumstances to draw a nuanced portrait of Addy, who has cut herself off from her community as a way to cope. Caleb is a nice foil for her; he has more social skills, but fewer coping mechanisms, and the two help each other out quite a bit. It was good to see the community finally step up to help Addy and her mother. Survival stories are always popular, and readers who were enthralled by Richard's 15 Secrets to Survival, Philbrick's Wild River or Hashimoto's Off the Map will enjoy reading about Addy's ill fated canoe trip.
Weaknesses: I wish there had been another reason that Addy took off in the canoe, rather than getting to survival camp. Given the horrible weather, I can't imagine her mother agreeing to let her go alone, since the mother didn't seem to have a cell phone of her own. As much as Addy wanted to go to camp, it also seemed like she wouldn't have wanted to leave her mother when she was in a fragile state.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who are fans of Braden's work (The Benefits of Being an Octopus (2018), Flight of the Puffin (2021), Opinions and Opossums (2023) )or like survival stories with a foundation of grief or family and mental health issues like Rose's The Burning Season or Pla's The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn.

I was given this book to review and give my honest opinion. This book was a quick read. The chapters were short. This book touched on many things- loss, grief, single mom life, panic attacks, purpose of life and more. This would be a good book for a child that has lost a parent. A thought from the book is “Life isn’t infinite. That’s why I’ve got to make it count”

I LOVED reading Into The Rapids! You have done it again! Accessible characters dealing with situations we all do to some extent! Mid Grade readers will love the adventures and the friendships/sense of community that Addy (and her mom!!!) cultivate in the book. I loved when she did not leave/stayed with Caleb for the funeral - she was so mindful about her growing friendship with him!!!! This story is also a great example/lesson in relative problems in ones' life - others may have it "worse" but that does not mean your situation is not less worse to you. I wrote down the quote... "It can always be worse but that doesn't mean it's good"

I think I should probably stop requesting books about survivalism, because they never seem to hold my attention.

Into the Rapids
Ann Braden
Addy’s father attended Survival Camp and wrote his name on the ceiling. He and Addy’s mother met at the camp. For years Addy has planned to go the same Survival Camp; she wants to sign her name on the ceiling next to her father’s. Addy wants to connect with her father in some manner. Her father died in a Superstorm when she was a baby.
A superstorm hits the small mountain town in Vermont. The storm leaves the area without power, the bridge was washed out and the area flooded. Caleb was a classmate of Addy; they weren’t friends, as a matter of fact she thought of Caleb as an enemy. He is concerned about the welfare of Ike, a neighbor, who is missing and presumed dead. The town is searching for Ike. Addy and her mother have secluded themselves from everyone. While they live in a community, they have never allowed themselves to become part of the community. Addy is shocked to see people helping each other. When Caleb formulates a way to get Addy to her camp, she is amazed to see people caring about each other.
Addy is concerned about leaving her mother at home alone. The storm has brought back bad memories. Without power her mother has no way of contacting her therapist. Addy is amazed that so many people would help her, a person they do not know.
This is a beautiful story. The intended audience is middle school age students. Author Ann Braden offers readers a realistic tale of fiction. The topic is relevant and will touch many. Readers will be touched by the distress, anguish, apprehension, and despair shown in this tale. But fear not there is also promise, family, acceptance, and closeness in this tale. The characters are amazing. There is a lesson to learn from this tale “People need people and its ok to ask for help.”
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Loved this latest Ann Braden novel about bravery, trust, survival, friendship, and resilience. Addy can’t wait to go to Survival Camp and sign her name just like her parents did even though her dad is gone now. When the bridge is washed out near her home Addy finds out she won’t be able to leave. She ends up talking to Caleb who was mean to her once, and they slowly become friends. When Addy’s travel plans change she and Caleb take off in a canoe. When they get to one point, Caleb jumps out but Addy takes off. Little does she realize there are challenges ahead with the rushing river. Will she be okay? Does she ever get to camp?
Thanks to the publisher and Nancy Paulsen books for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Nancy Paulsen Books for the advanced review copy!
This is a fantastic middle grade survival book! It's short overall and has short chapters, which my students gravitate towards. The pacing is also really fast - there are no filler chapters here, everything is written with the goal of advancing the story. I loved all the characters and that Braden didn't shy away from having tragic events unfold. There were also so many beautifully written lines that I highlighted while reading - the writing in here is really well done. This was my first Ann Braden book, but I will definitely be checking out more of her novels, and will be purchasing this book for my classroom library once it releases.

#IntotheRapids #NetGalley

Resilient.

It's what came to mind when describing the main character, Addy. What she survived as a toddler and what she hopes to achieve at the Survival Camp requires resilience. Nature tests this when it unleashes heavy rains and gusts of winds on her town. Roadways are destroyed.

As much as this is a test for Addy in pitting herself against nature, the story teaches that no hu(man) is an island. And, that I think, was the best lesson of all. This will appeal to the young reader as it imparts lessons in a meaningful way.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Once again, I didn't like the writing style. I think I'll not request anymore books like this. They're just not my style.
However; I did like the idea of going camping and learning survival skills. This is what truly made the book interesting and kept me turning the pages.
Addy is a remarkable character that strives and works for what she wants. I did like that about her.
Caleb is another interesting character. At first I didn't like him. But he turned out OK.
In this story it takes time and patience especially with mother nature when she's at her worst!
The cover is cute as a button. I can just imagine Addy's expression.
I'm giving this 4.5 stars simply for the adventure.
I love coming of age novels. I just wished that it weren't written in this way.
I'm recommending it regardless because others might like it.
My thanks for a copy of this book I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine.

I'm a long-time Ann Braden fan, and have loved all of her books for different reasons (I love how she's always able to pack a huge emotional punch in a nice, slender, accessible MG package!) - but this one is especially powerful. I love the survival and outdoor aspect of it, and love the nurturing and supportive mother-daughter bond in this story. Like all of Ann's MCs, Addy is a relatable, likeable character who is forced to deal with SO much - but handles it with patience, calm, and grit. LOVED Into the Rapids!