Fitzpatrick, Becca. Black Ice. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2014. 978-1-4424-7426-0. 392 p. $19.99. Gr. 9+.

Britt has been planning her Spring Break hiking trip to Teton National Park her entire senior year, and she’s bringing her best friend Korbie along for the ride. Calvin, Korbie’s brother and Britt’s first love, will be their chaperone … luckily Britt is totally almost over him. But all of Britt’s careful preparations are derailed when she and Korbie are stranded in a snowstorm. Seeking shelter for the night, they find a hunting cabin with two cute but cagey guys who take the girls hostage. When Britt discovers the body of a missing girl in the cabin’s storage closet, she realizes that she will have to outsmart her captors if she hopes to survive, and maybe worst of all, Britt begins feeling an undeniable attraction to one of the men. What follows is a heart-pounding survival story with twisty turns, unexpected romance, and an aggressive grizzly bear. Readers may figure out who the murderer is before Britt does, but the story unfolds with more than enough suspense to hold their interest. Some over-to-top scenes toward the book’s end are forgivable in a physical and psychological survival story this compelling.

Realistic Fiction (Suspense)            Amy V. Pickett, Ridley High School

Readers should note that the first chapter, set a year prior, depicts a brutal murder of a young woman without revealing the killer’s identity.