Imagine for a second the worst snow storm you’ve ever experienced. Then imagine something ten times worse. You think it might be impossible, but as a midwesterner, I promise you it is. That is what Michael Northrop’s Trapped is about, seasoned with the flavorings of the classic film The Breakfast Club.

Everyone went to school the day the storm began; even though the news spoke of doom and gloom, everyone assumed that it was over-hyped media sensationalism and that the storm could not possible be that bad. These kids live in rural New England and are used to storms coming through regularly. Scotty, our main character, continues planning for practice later in the day, even though it’s likely to get canceled — that is, until Pete and Jason, his best friends, convince him that he should come help them work on Jason’s flammenwerfer in the shop after school closes rather than hit the court. I won’t tell you what this flammenwefer is because I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time when I got to this in the book. Best experienced first hand.

As the day goes on, administration gets worried at the rate of snow and the worsening road conditions, so everyone is being sent home early. All after school activities are canceled. Scotty would be content to head home but being easily swayed as he is, he sticks around with Pete and Jason (concocting some creative storytelling to the teachers who question them) and eventually, they’re all locked inside.

And they discover that they aren’t the only teens left there alone. Let’s just say that being stuck inside your school during the worst snow storm on record isn’t the place you want to be.

Trapped is part survival story and part comedy. It’s realistic and has a fresh, funny, and strong voice through Scotty. Northrop’s writing is smooth and conversational, and it is spot-on guy speak. He manages to squeeze in a million very funny references and allusions and while at times it can become over-the-top, that’s perfectly fitting with Scotty’s personality. In a book that’s focus is on this big event, there’s little time for strong character development from the beginning, so having this voice was essential to drawing the reader in and keeping them hooked.

Since this is a modern setting, you’re probably wondering why the kids don’t just call home or hop on the internet. Well, when the storm hit, power lines went down — they were iced over and snapped. That killed the computers and the lights. Anyone who has been inside a thick walled building like a school knows, too, that cell phone reception is dicey on a sunny day, so the weather certainly contributed to their inability to reach out. Likewise, all of the kids became aware that even if they could reach out, they had no idea what value it would have: they didn’t know whether their parents were home from work before the storm hit or dead in a ditch some where. They certainly couldn’t come out and save them. Again, speaking from snow survival experience, all of these things were really plausible to me and I think any person who lives in a snowy environment will understand and accept these things without question.

If you’re familiar at all with The Breakfast Club, you’ll get a good idea of what happens to these teens trapped inside. They all have very different backgrounds and personality quirks, and it’s through Scotty’s perspective we get them. Add to that the snowpocalypse and you have an even more fascinating story of personal dynamics.

Although I loved this book — the fresh voice and plot in particular — the entire last chapter bummed me out. I suppose it had to happen as it did, but for me as a reader, I felt almost cheated. Perhaps had the book been longer I’d have been okay with it, but because I had gotten to know Scotty and trust him well enough, I wanted something less satisfying.

This is a fast paced story, and it’ll have strong appeal for more reluctant readers who will attach easily to Scotty. Hand this book to your guy readers, though there’s also little doubt on the appeal to girl readers. For fans of witty main characters, survival stories, and books that tackle those questions that live on everyone’s minds (“What would happen if we got snowed into school?”), this is a no-brainer. While reading this, I couldn’t help but think that this is the kind of book made for teen creative writing classes; Northrop’s story line is one that we’ve all thought about and gets to the heart of the idea of taking those questions and fears and writing about them.

And this probably can go without saying, but fans of The Breakfast Club will no doubt see the parallels here and embrace them. That was precisely what drew me in.