"WRITE ON!" Sherry Shahan

When Erin "loses" her bus ticket on the way to visit the mother who abandoned her without explanation a year ago, she accepts a ride with Mae and her brother Levi. Erin, an experienced out-door enthusiast, joins them on a hike along the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. When a deadly electrical storm suddenly descends upon the mountain, everyone scrambles for safety and Erin and Mare are separated from the others. As the days pass, the two stranded and lost girls must rely on their own determination and skills -- as well as each other -- to survive hunger, freezing nights, exhaustion, and injuries. Then they make a horrifying discovery that challenges their already-waning confidence.

Excerpt:

"We have to get away from the trees!" Erin shouted a warning to anyone who could hear. "They're all lightning rods!"

Mae started to move, but a jagged bolt stopped her. She leaned against a trunk, a thick-barked monster. A nearby tree fell with a deep-throaty wail. Erin and Mae crouched lower, pulling the poncho over their heads as if that could save them from the falling giants. The claws of wind and hail ripped through the plastic.

Mae fell to her knees. "Please don't let us die up here!" she moaned.

"A great addition to the adventure-survival genre."