Front Country

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Front Country) through Raincoast Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂

A new-fangled counseling system, a teenager frightened by an exasperated teacher, and a family lacking in empathy is the basis for Front Country.  A trip to the backcountry is in store for a group of teens, to help them be ready to face the Front Country again.  St. Antoine gives us a story that feels real, with complicated characters and real-life conflicts.

The Basic Details of Front Country

Sara St. Antoine, along with Chronicle Books, has put together a 332 page hardcover book.  Geared for youth 10 years old and up.  20 chapters with interesting little drawings make it a bit fun.   

The protagonists center around Ginny and five teenage boys up in the backcountry with their two counselors.  Ginny’s family plays a pivotal role, plus scientists, bears, and pikas.  The idea behind Front Country is that they take teens into the backcountry to help them deal better with life in society.  Society is called “Front Country”. 

Reviewing an ARC version for Raincoast Books. 

Looking a bit deeper

You will find that this is such an easy read.  Understandable language, with good flow, and just the right amount of tension.  

The teens had to engage in a variety of activities from writing home, engaging in meditation, or even going for very long hikes.   Some page breaks help highlight this as well as changes in font for letters etc.  It’s very easy to keep it all straight. 

One of the things I thought was predictable but fun, since the story revolved around Ginny and her fear about Pikas being eradicated, was the addition of the pikas showing up.   I thought this cartoon was so much fun!  It told the story so well I laughed!   Isn’t laughter while reading a good story such a great thing to have? 

So What Did I think?

Hmm…. There is much I liked in this read.  Front Country takes troubled teens and puts them in the middle of nowhere to camp, hike, and learn new ways of living.  The teens who go to this new counseling venture all have real issues.   Those issues include gender confusion, worry over the future, a bullying brother, a media addiction, loss, and what I think was a mental problem. Not all issues were clearly defined.  All the issues felt real.

I did struggle with some of the camp rules and how not prepared they were for some of the things that popped up in the course of the tale. But for a middle school read, I don’t know if youth will catch those concerns. 

I also really disliked the cluelessness of Ginny’s parents and how they weren’t honest with her. But sometimes parents are clueless and this was a particularly bad case.  Hard to know.  But wow….just not happy with that scenario at all. 

But the story, the way truth came out in the end, and how healing started.  That was good, very good.  and made Front Country worth reading.