The Raft

by S.A. Bodeen
Lexile:  680
Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Robie doesn't have an ordinary life.  Growing up on Midway Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean can be quite exciting, but it can also get boring.  Each summer, Robie gets to spend a month with her aunt in Hawaii.  Unexpectedly, her aunt is called out of town, so Robie is left on her own.  Robie decides to head home early and books herself a flight on a supply plane that's heading back to Midway Island.  The problem is that the phones on the island aren't working so her parents don't know she's on her way home.  Halfway there, the plane encounters a storm so severe that one of the engines stalls.  As the plane plummets to the ocean, Robie wonders if she will ever see her parents again.  Then, suddenly, she's in the middle of the ocean, alive, but in a raft...with nothing...