Cracks

He was looking for an opportunity to run away from his foster parents. Instead, he embarked upon a journey that would either land him in jail or get him killed.

He was looking for an opportunity to run away from his foster parents. Instead, he embarked upon a journey that would either land him in jail or get him killed. Fifteen-year-old Bodie McCann is on a youth-rehabilitation spelunking trip in the Ozarks of Arkansas when the adult chaperones are killed in an earthquake, leaving him stranded in the wilderness with four other juvenile delinquents. As they struggle to feed themselves and escape the dangers of the wild, tensions escalate, until the discovery of a marijuana farm and a rash decision trap Bodie in a pitch-black cave—all by himself. A classic Mike Klaassen youth-oriented adventure story, "Cracks" is a deftly-woven tale reminiscent of "Hatchet", "Lord of the Flies" and "Deliverance". Thrills and adventure abound in this inventive YA novel.

Mike Klaassen began writing fiction when his sons were teenagers. His first two books, YA action/adventure novels, were influenced by his experience as a Kansas farm boy and as a Scoutmaster. A visit to the site of the Battle for New Orleans led him to write "Backlash: A War of 1812 Novel", featuring five young Americans in the fight of their life. Ongoing research encouraged him to write books about the craft of writing fiction. The use of folktales as examples in his nonfiction books inspired him to begin Klaassen's Classic Folktales, a collection of ancient tales retold as novellas. On the drawing board: a zombie apocalypse.