Adrift

by Paul Griffin

Overview

Matt and John are best friends working out in Montauk for the summer. When Driana, JoJo and Stef invite the boys to their Hamptons mansion, Matt and John find themselves in a sticky situation where temptation rivals sensibility. The newfound friends head out into the Atlantic after midnight in a stolen boat. None of them come back whole, and not all of them come back.

Worlds collide when the group ventures out to sea aboard a small boat that Stef sneaks out from her dad's dock. As the waves rise and the fragile vessel weakens, things go horribly wrong. Adrift at sea for days, who will have what it takes to survive?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545709392
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	07/28/2015
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	120,935
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.30(h) x 3.50(d)
Lexile:	HL580L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Paul Griffin loves being out on the water - in a boat with a working engine. Once, when he was a kid, his uncle's leaky old boat stalled. He was adrift less than an afternoon and in the relative safety of Long Island Sound, but this was scary enough to get him looking for higher ground. Now he lives in northern Manhattan, two hundred and fifty feet above sea level. He wrote the novels Ten Mile River, The Orange Houses, Stay With Me and Burning Blue, all for young adults. Paul can be found online at paulgriffinstories.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 05/04/2015
In a terrifying survival story in which past traumas are as visceral and intense as present circumstances, five teenagers try to stay alive after becoming lost off the Atlantic coast. Raised in a blue-collar neighborhood in Queens, friends Matt and John are working in Montauk, N.Y., for the summer when they meet 17-year-old Driana Gonzaga, her Brazilian cousin Estefania, and Estefania’s boyfriend, João. After Estefania attempts some daring night surfing, the other teenagers attempt to rescue her in a small, ill-equipped boat; engine problems soon strand them. Griffin (Burning Blue) gives his characters just enough know-how to keep them from being completely helpless, but the situation is clearly beyond their control. Police emails and other communications provide brief respites from the rapidly degrading situation on the boat. Profound moments such as when Matt realizes that the “cruel” sun “was just being what it was. A mindless, merciless star that would shine on whatever got in its way” will haunt readers as much as the lethal injuries, worsening weather, class friction, and psychological instability the teenagers face. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (July)

Publishers Weekly

* "[Will] haunt readers as much as the lethal injuries, worsening weather, class friction, and psychological instability the teenagers face." -- Publishers Weekly,  starred review

From the Publisher

Best friends Matt and John are making extra summer cash by working in the Hamptons. Matt dreams of going off to college and escaping his neighborhood, where he sees the ghost of John’s father that reminds him of a past secret. When they meet Driana, Stef, and JoJo and are invited to a party in a mansion, the last thing they expect is to end up stranded in a stolen boat on the Atlantic Ocean. The five teens have to rely on one another and their instincts to survive. With a blossoming romance between Matt and Driana and nothing but the solitude of the open water, the secrets of Matt and John’s past are bound to come out, and survival instincts cannot save everyone. This story seems like a missed opportunity. What should have been an action-packed story filled with deep character examination ends up being quite slow paced and shallow. The characters are weak and undeveloped, even though the idea of being stranded on a boat lends itself to deep introspection and revealing conversations. There is a backstory between Matt and John that involves the death of John’s father, but it is told sporadically through unrealistic dialogue and dragged out throughout the entire book. The backstory also does not have much effect on any of the characters, so it seems unnecessary. The possible romance between Driana and Matt seems forced and unnecessary, only really being used as a way to get the five characters onto the same boat. The action definitely picks up toward the end of the story with a huge storm and great action detail, but the book is ultimately a slow and mundane read with a disappointing conclusion. Reviewer: Blake Norby; Ages 11 to 15.

VOYA, August 2015 (Vol. 38, No. 3) - Blake Norby

04/01/2015
Gr 9 Up—Matt and his childhood friend John have summer jobs in the Hamptons before their last year of high school. The summer has gone well, and there are only a few weeks left before school starts again. Matt will return to the selective public school in Manhattan that he has attended since freshman year, and John to the neighborhood public school. Matt hopes to get into Yale, where he wants to major in forestry so he can man a solitary outpost away from people. John wants to get his certification as an electrician like his father. Hoping to make some extra money on their day off, the boys take a couple coolers and fill them with sodas and ice cream bars and head to the beach. They meet Driana, João, and Estefania. What should have been a brief and anonymous exchange alters their lives when Driana invites them to a party she's having. Estefania decides to go out surfing at midnight and thus begins a tragic series of events. Clues about the characters are revealed in a leisurely manner, leaving readers to guess about their true intentions. This contrasts with the rapidity in which the plot progresses, evidenced by Matt's immediate willingness to help people he met only a short time before. VERDICT Recommend to teens who enjoyed Matt de la Peña's The Living (Delacorte, 2013) and other survival stories.—Suanne B. Roush, formerly at Osceola High School, Seminole, FL

School Library Journal

2015-03-25
Two buddies who have been through trauma together before find themselves with three relative strangers out on the open Atlantic, where survival becomes extremely uncertain. Matt and John work at a state park, where they meet the three, and are working-class in a way that the others don't understand. Stolid John is mechanically minded and still suffers from the death of his father years earlier. Matt is determined to get into Yale and puts his energy toward saving and studying with that goal in mind. Dark, dreadlocked Driana is visiting the park with her cousin Estefania and Stef's boyfriend, João. The latter two are from Rio de Janiero and have a carefree aura of entitlement—though Stef was adopted from the favelas by Driana's uncle after her mother was gunned down in front of her. Griffin explores their individual psychologies and interactions with nuance. Stef has a reckless streak, and her sudden jaunt on a windsurfer leads the others into danger as they go to her aid with a small, open boat. With no radio or gear for the open sea, the craft offers little help for survival as hours, then days pass, the pressures mounting on each in ways designed to test their limits. While the danger is real, the book's at its most riveting as the characters interact and implode. This fast-paced survival adventure makes an excellent crucible for Griffin's examination of class. (Adventure. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews