Three Sisters and National Parks

Gill, David. Macinnis. Three Sisters
March 10, 2026 by Greenwillow Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Harper Anderson is not happy that her father is dragging her and her sisters Jentry and Riker to the Three Sisters mountain range in Oregon to hike to the top to spread her  mother's ashes. Their mother, a nurse, drowned in a flash flood trying to get home from work, and Harper has had to step in and deal with her sisters since their father is so grief stricken. The girls are constantly bickering in the car, but are glad to be at Truman's Lodge and see longtime friend Garis, who owns the lodge. They start their hike with a scuffle over who will carry their mother's ashes, and of course Harper steps up. When they stop at a lake on their way to the top, they are a little alarmed to see dead fish and smell sulfur in the air, but keep hiking. In between chapters, the reader gets to see reports from the park service about seismic activity in the area. Harper has kept her phone with her even though her father didn't want her to, but there is rarely a signal. Since the park rangers have all been furloughed, and the family wasn't able to register, you would think that they would turn around when they feel tremors, but they don't. As they are scattering their mother's ashes, there is a tremor and a landslide, and they all barely escape with multiple scrapes. Their path down is wiped out, and they have to find another way down. The girls are angry at their father that he lost the ashes, but things get even worse and the family is plunged into a dire fight for survival. There's pumice ash in the air, a bulge in the mountain that sends them to higher ground, and an injury when Jentry is kicked by an injured deer she tries to help. Harper hears a little from Garis, who is trying to get them down off the mountain, especially since there is an evacuation order. The family manages to call 911 and request a helicopter to be evacuated, but are not happy that the wait could be 6 hours, since lots of people need rescued, and there are few available resources. They finally have help sent, and shelter in a nearby cabin, but when the helicopter comes, the father tries to board it midair from the roof, and falls. He's trapped, and the girls have to amputate his thumb to free him. The 911 dispatcher says that no one else will be coming after the father's escapade, so the girls have to get him down the mountain by themselves. Will they be able to survive? 
Strengths: There aren't many survival novels that deal with escaping volcanoes, although there is Barone's nonfiction Mountain of Fire, about Mount St. Helens. The details about what it would be like to be outside when there is a volcano erupting were fascinating, and I now know to include a bandana and possibly a face mask in my survival kit if I ever go hiking. I liked that the girls all had different scientific interests and knew a lot about medicine, weather, and natural phenomenon. The deer attack was a good twists on the standard bear attack in middle grade novels, and made sense. Deer are cute and wouldn't hurt people, right? I really liked Garis, and her lodge sounds like a good place to visit. Including a government shut down and furloughed park rangers made the survival aspect even more stark. 
Weaknesses: The bickering that the girls did was realistic, but got a bit old, as did the description of allergies. I found it a little hard to believe that seasoned hikers would have continued after all of the warnings like dead fish and tremors, but it makes for a good story. Could definitely have done without the dead parent trope, but that is always the case for me. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Brorsen's Wilderness Hacks, Downing's Just Keep Walking, or Floyd's Survivor Mountain. 
 

Rigby, Alexander M. and Lan, Qu (illustrator)

The Nature of Our National Parks
April 14, 2026 by Tra Publishing

While there are lots of guidebooks to National Parks, like Ward's Lonely Planet Kids America's National Parks and Leighton's National Parks Maps, this book offers a more personal look. The author spent ten years traveling to different parks, and offers his insights and observations about them. All of the parks as of the publication date are included. In addition to Rigby's thoughts on each park, there are facts about Flora and fauna in each one, as well as a kid friendly hike mentioned. The illustrations are gorgeous, and have a sort of paint-by-number feel that I really enjoyed. 

I do wish there had been a little more information about the author's process at the beginning of the  book. Not everyone can manage to see all of the National Parks, and while there is a note at the back with some of the details, I would have felt more invested had I known more. I would have enjoyed the pictures of the parks more without seeing Rigby in all of them, but maybe if there were more about the traveling, it would have made more sense to include him.