Five Survive
Kids say
Based on 1 review
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Five Survive, by Holly Jackson (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder), is a thriller that takes place over only eight hours. Six friends (four in high school and two in college) are traveling in an RV from Philadelphia to Gulf Shores, Alabama for spring break. In rural North Carolina, the RV breaks down and they find themselves stranded in the darkness with no cell service. And it's not long before they discover they're not alone. They've been targeted by a gunman who wants only one thing from them -- a secret one of the six has been keeping. Violence and the threat of violence are a constant in this story. The friends never know when one of the bullets fired into the RV might kill them. Red is haunted by the execution-style murder of her mother and there are brief but graphic descriptions of people being shot ("Her head undone, leaking out and soaking into the road"). There's frequent strong language ("f--k,""s--t," "a--hole," and "bitch"). Characters drink and one gets drunk. Most of the time, the six friends manage to work together as a team under terrible and stressful circumstances, and some can be really courageous, even if their courage sometimes borders on the reckless. Characters are White, Mexican American, and biracial (White and Asian American).
What's the Story?
FIVE SURVIVE plays out over eight terrifying hours. Over spring break, 17-year-old Redford (Red) Kenny is driving from Philadelphia to Gulf Shores, Alabama, with five of her friends -- Maddy Lavoy and her college student brother Oliver, his girlfriend Reyna Flores-Serrano, and two high school friends, Arthur Grant and Simon Jinsan Yoo. At 10:00 at night, they find themselves lost on a dead-end road in rural North Carolina. The RV has broken down, and with no cell service, there's no way to call for help. Help they desperately need as they find themselves targeted by a shooter hiding in the darkness. Then the shooting suddenly stops. Could the gunman be gone? Not only has he not gone, he's placed a walkie talkie inside the RV and his voice tells them what he wants -- a secret one of them is keeping. He wants it before the night is over, and if they try to escape from the RV, he'll shoot them. Maddy and Oliver are certain it must involve the two of them, as their mother's an assistant district attorney prosecuting a killing involving the Mafia. But that's not the secret the gunman wants. As the friends begin revealing their darkest secrets, the gunman keeps rejecting secret after secret. And as the hours pass, the friends start turning on one another and paranoia begins to set in. How could the gunman have known about their travel plans, and how could he have gotten a walkie talkie into the RV? Is one the six actually working with the gunman?
Is It Any Good?
This dark and gripping thriller with a head-spinning number of plot twists features a cast of complex characters whose secrets will forever change their lives. Fans of Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series won't be disappointed in Five Survive and its never-saw-that-coming ending.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about about how the characters managed to work together as a team in Five Survive. Have you ever been on a team where no one got along? Did you manage to overcome your differences?
Do you think any of the characters made a good decision in deciding to keep their secret?
Would you rather read a thriller or watch a film or TV version of the book?
Book Details
- Author: Holly Jackson
- Genre: Mystery
- Topics: Brothers and Sisters, Friendship, Great Girl Role Models
- Character Strengths: Courage, Teamwork
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Delacorte Press
- Publication date: November 29, 2022
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 14 - 17
- Number of pages: 388
- Available on: Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: December 3, 2022
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