Be Not Far from Me

Hatchet meets Wild in this harrowing YA survival story about a teenage girl’s attempt to endure the impossible, from the Edgar Award-winning author of The Female of the Species, Mindy McGinnis. The world is not tame. Ashley knows this truth deep in her bones, more at home with trees overhead than a roof. So when she goes hiking in the Smokies with her friends for a night of partying, the falling dark and creaking trees are second nature to her. But people are not tame either. And when Ashley catches her boyfriend with another girl, drunken rage sends her running into the night, stopped only by a nasty fall into a ravine. Morning brings the realization that she’s alone—and far off trail. Lost in undisturbed forest and with nothing but the clothes on her back, Ashley must figure out how to survive with the red streak of infection creeping up her leg. Lost in the Woods: After a night of partying ends in betrayal, a nasty fall leaves Ashley completely alone and miles off-trail in the unforgiving Smoky Mountains. A Harrowing Test of Grit: With a gruesome leg injury and a creeping infection, her extensive survival skills are pushed to the absolute limit in a desperate race against time. Strong Female Protagonist: Ashley Hawkins is an expert at surviving nature. But as she’s forced to make an impossible choice, she learns that the most dangerous enemy can be your own body. Unflinching YA Realism: This raw and visceral story, perfect for fans of Hatchet and Wild, explores the brutal truths of self-reliance when there is no one left to count on but yourself.