After the Snow by S.D. Crockett

Fifteen-year-old Willo was out hunting when the trucks came and took his family away. Left alone in the snow, Willo becomes determined to find and rescue his family, and he knows just who to talk with to learn where they are. He plans to head across the mountains and make Farmer Geraint tell him where his family has gone.

But on the way across the mountain, he finds Mary, a refugee from the city, whose father is lost and who is starving to death. The smart thing to do would be to leave her alone -- he doesn't have enough supplies for two or the time to take care of a girl -- but Willo just can't do it. However, with the world trapped in an ice age, the odds of them surviving on their own are not good. And even if he does manage to keep Mary safe, what about finding his family?

Goodreads Summary


Willo is an unusual character.  He is wild in his own way, raised in a world where there is only one season-winter.  He knows what he has to know, but isn't particularly educated...resulting in the book's slightly stilted dialogue.  However, the author does a wonderful job with this odd dialogue, the reader will be placed more firmly in the situation the book portrays.  The story starts when Willo returns home to find his entire family gone.  Willo decides that he might try his sister's husband, a wily and untrustworthy man, first.  He sets off and encounters an immediate obstacle-two starving children.  Willo has to decide if he should save his own meager supplies or if he can help the two children...he must also think about his family.

Willo's character, though unusual, was fun to read about.  His descriptions of events and scenes make the whole novel seem much more real to the reader.  He has a way of describing the environment that will paint that perfect picture in the readers' mind.  The other characters are not focused too much upon.  The young girl, one of the starving children, soon becomes a sort of companion to Willo.  She eases his loneliness and appears to be dependent on him for the most part. 

The plot itself was fast-paced and interesting.  Endless winter?  Most of us cannot imagine that sort of environment, but the author manages to make it seem very possible.  The scenes will drag in some parts and fly by in others.  Overall, this book is worth at least one read-through and recommended to young adult/teen readers.

3 1/2 Stars

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