Seventeen-year-old Johnny Least-Weasel knows that his grandfather Albert is a stubborn old man and won’t stop checking his own traplines even though other men his age stopped doing so years ago. But Albert Least-Weasel has been running traplines in the Alaskan wilderness alone for the past sixty years. Nothing has ever gone wrong on the trail he knows so well. When Albert doesn’t come back from checking his traps, with the temperature steadily plummeting, Johnny must decide quickly whether to trust his grandfather or his own instincts. Written in alternating chapters that relate the parallel stories of Johnny and his grandfather, this novel poignantly addresses the hardships of life in the far north, suggesting that the most dangerous traps need not be made of steel.
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From School Library Journal
Grade 6-9–Johnny Least-Weasel worries that his grandfather hasn't returned home from checking his trapline. The elderly Indian packed ample supplies onto his snowmobile, but has been out far too long in the plummeting temperatures of the Alaskan winter. Cultural pride and reluctance to disrespect an elder get in the way of search plans until Johnny's grandmother can wait no longer, and she sends him out to find her husband. Only readers know that Albert Least-Weasel has caught his leg in a trap, several feet away from his supplies, and is unable to free himself. Chapters alternate between Albert's dilemma and Johnny's failed attempts to raise concern among his uncles, creating a suspenseful page-turner in which the old man's survival becomes a race against time. Albert's wilderness skills are sharp and described in detail, such as fending off wolves with a spear made from a cedar branch and creating a rabbit snare from a shoelace. Excerpts from a folktale about a warrior named Blackskin appear at the beginning of each chapter, illustrating how present-day life for the Least-Weasel family is still the same, in many ways, as it was for their ancestors. A great addition to survival/adventure collections or Native American fiction.–Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
“An unforgettable story. Brilliant!”—Ray Bradbury
“In THE TRAP, John Smelcer takes his readers into a frozen world, and keeps us there with a gripping example of talented storytelling. Unforgettable.”—Tony Hillerman
“THE TRAP is a lovely story, beautifully told, the kind that makes you wade in and sink warmly into the cold, cold north of Alaska.”—Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump
"First novelist John Smelcer takes readers to the Alaskan Arctic Circle for an unforgettable survival tale."—The Horn Book
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First Sentence
Back before white men were searching for gold in the hills and streams of this North Country, there was a village much like any other small village nestled along the great river. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Back before white men were searching for gold in the hills and streams of this North Country, there was a village much like any other small village nestled along the great river. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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4.8 out of 5 stars
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully mesmerizing!!!
Jan 9 2007
By Chris Murphy
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
John Smelcer is one of the most underrated authors of our time. This inspirational tale of courage in the midst of difficult circumstances was difficult to put down! The story serves to captivate the imagination while educating the reader into the unfamiliar traditions of Native Alaskan culture. This book is one of those rare works that is worth every moment spent reading! This poignant, heart-wrenching tale is worth keeping forever in your personal library.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wolves, Cold, or Fear?
Nov 6 2010
By imaloserdude
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
If you got caught in a trap that you had laid, and you couldn't escape, what would you do? If it was cold outside, below freezing, way, way below freezing, and wolves were threatening, could you focus on staying alive, doing what is necessary to survive another day? Or, would you panic like a wild beast, gnaw through your leg when faced with the possibility of death?
The Trap is a captivating story, the two main characters so real, the dangers so intense. I found myself telling the grandfather and his grandson what to do. I felt as if I were there, in Alaska, feeling the cold and the wind and the steel, hearing the wolves, sensing the dangers. It was simply written, jumping back and forth between the isolated grandfather who was in danger and the concerned grandson who wanted to help those he loved.
How does it end? Does the grandson arrive in time to save his grandfather? Read the story and find out...
The Trap is a captivating story, the two main characters so real, the dangers so intense. I found myself telling the grandfather and his grandson what to do. I felt as if I were there, in Alaska, feeling the cold and the wind and the steel, hearing the wolves, sensing the dangers. It was simply written, jumping back and forth between the isolated grandfather who was in danger and the concerned grandson who wanted to help those he loved.
How does it end? Does the grandson arrive in time to save his grandfather? Read the story and find out...
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review of The Trap
April 3 2009
By Nancy A. Caldwell
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is a must read. It is an excellent, original, and compelling story, written authentically, that is told in the voice of an old-fashioned story teller. I liked its simplicity, as though the book itself were a part of Alaska's landscape, its portrayal of nature's indifference. And how the book spotlights family relationships. Also, the Indian mystical stories that begin each chapter juxtaposed with reality, really bring it home. Read it, you won't be disappointed.
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4.8 out of 5 stars
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