Module 7: The Raft

Summary

The Raft by S. A. Bodeen is a survival story set in the pacific ocean somewhere in between Hawaii and Midway Island. The main character of the story is a teen girl named Robie who is vacationing on Hawaii at her aunt's house. Her aunt has an unexpected business trip to the mainland and Robie convinces her to let her stay at her house while she is on the business trip. Robie's aunt agrees on the condition that her friend visits her everyday to check on her. However, once Robie's aunt leaves, the friend is unable to check on her, which leaves Robie all by herself for an entire week. 

On the first night alone, Robie decides to go get something to eat and ends up being harassed by a strange man. She runs all the way to her aunt's house and realizes that she's not fit to stay by herself, so she decides to catch a cargo flight to Midway back to her parents. Robie is able to hitch a ride on a cargo plane to Midway, but the pilots and airport staff forget to weigh her and put her on the manifest. On the way to Midway, the plane loses one engine to a storm and ends up crashing in the middle of the Pacific ocean. One of the co-pilots, Max, saves Robie by pushing her out of the plane with a raft and both end up on the raft.

Once on the raft, Robie and Max face many obstacles and challenges to survive for several days on a raft, when they finally come upon an uninhabited island. For the whole time on the raft, Max is drifting in and out of consciousness and when they finally come on to the island, it is revealed that Robie actually killed Max when she put him outside of the raft when there was too much weight on the raft, and she was actually imagining him to be alive the whole time because she was too scared to survive on her own. Eventually, Robie is rescued by a research team who go to the island on a boat and they take her back to Midway. 

Reference

 Bodeen, S. A. (2012). The raft. New York: Feiwel and Friends. 

Impressions

Being a fan of survival stories, I really enjoyed this book because it was very interesting to see how Robie coped with her situation and how she changed because of her experiences. In the beginning of the book, Robie is portrayed as a teen who worries about what normal teens are worrying about, but when she is put in a survival situation, she realizes how much she took for granted in the regular world, but she also realizes a strength she never knew she had. These two elements of the story are why I like survival stories. First, it reminds me of how much I take for granted everyday and reading stories like this one remind me to appreciate what I have. Second, I am usually afraid to step out of my comfort zone, but when one is put into a survival situation, one must go beyond self-imposed limitations and that is exactly what Robie does. Some of the things Robie does like killing Max to save herself is a bit shocking to me, but she does what it takes to survive. 

Professional Review

Bush, E. (2012). The raft. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 66(2), 73. Retrieved from https://libproxy.library.unt.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1313181660?accountid=7113

Library Uses

This book could be used as a conversation starter in a workshop on outdoor survival for teens and adults. Even though the story takes place on a raft and a uninhabited island, some of the story can assist in teaching what to do and what not to do in a survival situation.