The Distance Between Lost and Found

December 8, 2014
A youth group retreat turns into a test of physical and spiritual endurance for Hallelujah and two other teens. Tension is already brewing at the Hiking with Him camp before the three hikers get lost in the woods. Luke, the minister’s son, has told a lie about Hallelujah, trashing her reputation and costing her friends. Hallelujah has a hard time trusting anyone now, even new acquaintance Rachel, who has made friendly overtures. After Rachel, Hallelujah, and her former friend Jonah are separated from the others in the Smoky Mountains, lies, snubs, and grudges pale in comparison to the immediate concern of not being able to find a way back to civilization. In this absorbing debut, Holmes—as well versed in survival tactics as she is in the teenage psyche—delivers plenty of excitement as her characters confront dehydration, starvation, and hypothermia, and nurse wounds caused by accidents off the trail. While eventful, the novel remains reflective in nature, showing Hallelujah’s emotional growth as she considers the past, copes with the present, and bonds with her companions. Ages 13–up. Agent: Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Trident Media Group.

November 1, 2014

Gr 7 Up-When high school sophomore Hallelujah attends a church camping trip in the Great Smoky Mountains, she does not expect much. Over the past few months, her life has been reduced to a series of negatives. She used to have friends. She used to be confident. She used to sing. She used to be good friends with Jonah. She used to have faith in God. Now she is sad, quiet, insecure, and lonely thanks to the ruthless slandering and bullying campaign headed by the handsome and seemingly perfect preacher's son, Luke. When Hallelujah, Jonah, and another girl, Rachel, become separated from the group while hiking, the trio become lost. As hours pass and then days, the teens find that staying alive is only part of their struggle. In addition to the cold weather, torrential rain, hunger, and sundry health crises, the characters deal with a host of emotions involving their pasts-guilt, resentment, fear, forgiveness, hate, and love. Into the story of survival are woven the protagonist's flashbacks that reveal in poignant detail the eviscerating effect of unremitting bullying on the human psyche. Hallelujah is Everygirl. Her physical appearance is never described, so it is easy for readers to see themselves in her. Hallelujah is likable and believable. Readers will come to care for her and cheer her on her journey. This is a perfectly balanced novel wherein the heroine wrestles with survival of not just her body but of her spirit as well.-Jennifer Prince, Buncombe County Public Libraries, NC

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2014
Hallelujah thought that if she kept her head down, pastor's son Luke, the popular boy she once crushed on, would stop bullying her and spreading humiliating lies about what happened between them. Instead, her refusing to defend herself has allowed Luke's lies to go unchallenged and estranged Hallie from her friends. Compounding her isolation, her naive, deeply religious parents accept Luke's account of her behavior and enroll her in a church-sponsored, spring-break camp in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains, where Luke's bullying continues. Mistrustful, immobilized by despair, Hallie avoids former close friend Jonah and rebuffs friendly overtures from a new girl, Rachel. When Rachel quits a contentious hike (no cellphones allowed) to return to camp, Hallie and Jonah join her. Inexperienced in the wilderness, they head in the wrong direction, then-in a heavy rain squall-lose the trail altogether. No one's brought a flashlight; provisions are lunch leftovers, water and a can of soda. They move instead of staying put, fail to recognize poison ivy, freeze at night. The struggle to survive is terrifying but galvanizing, even cleansing. In calmer moments, they ponder life's unanswerable questions, and faith (there are no atheists in foxholes) is proven a power in its own right. Readers will root for Hallie, a compelling original, to find faith in herself. Vivid, gripping and believable from beginning to end-a strong debut. (Fiction. 13-16)

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July 1, 2015
After months of bullying regarding "indiscretions" with the preacher's son, Hallelujah is sent on a church camping trip with her tormentors. Then Hallelujah and two others (one is her former friend), become stranded alone the woods. In order to survive, they must learn to rely on one another, regardless of past hurts. This poignant survival story is carried by its believable protagonist.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from January 1, 2015
Grades 7-10 *Starred Review* Hallelujah doesn't want to be at her church's youth group campout. The kids giggle about her; she isn't speaking to Jonah, one of her best friends; and Luke, the pastor's son who spread the nasty rumors, is still in control of everybody and everything. For a year, Hal has been silent, ashamed, and resentful, and she can't see things getting better. Then everything gets much worse. Along with Jonah and Rachel, a girl new to the group, Hallelujah gets lost in the Tennessee mountains. What follows is an intense story of survival that brings the trio close as they learn whom they can trust, what they believe, and whether they can endure. First-time author Holmes stretches her material a little, but she writes with the skill of a far more experienced writer as she plots the teens' struggles to keep going, and offers vivid descriptions of nature and its sometimes terrible beauty. Equally well-handled are the story's personal elements: letting people in, reconciling mistakes, and showing how standing up for oneself can be the hardest stand to take of all.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)