Ash’s Cabin, the newest graphic novel from Jen Wang (Author/illustrator of Prince and the Dressmaker, Stargazing, and In Real Life) tells the story of a non-binary youth, Ash, who is mourning the loss of their grandfather and the time they would spend with family, and alone, at his ranch in upstate California. Ash knows their grandfather Edwin had a secret cabin getaway near the ranch yet secluded enough to give him privacy and peace so they go on a wilderness survival trek to find the cabin and “live there forever” with their loyal German Shepard, Chase.
In the wilderness survivalist tradition of authors Scott O’Dell (Island of the Blue Dolphins) and Jean Craighead George (My Side of the Mountain and Julie of the Wolves), classic adventure books for many millennials, Ash’s Cabin brings useful wilderness survival skills to the next generation in a world where it is increasingly harder to get away in nature and disconnect from technology.
Ash learns their survival skills from library books and YouTube videos saves up money for supplies and practices wilderness skills such as fire-starting on a camping trip before their excursion into the wild. This book does not encourage children to run away from home but models a young person saving money, developing a complex plan, and learning valuable wilderness survival and life skills. Ash learns how to build a fire, forage, fish, and trap and prepare wild animals, among other essential wilderness survival skills. Ash’s pursuit of their grandfather’s cabin gives them tremendous hope and something to look forward to and work for which I think is a valuable lesson and inspiring to readers of any age.
The genre of young people’s wilderness survival is historically fraught with poor or offensive representation of world cultures and Native peoples; including some famous, classic books that feature protagonists of color written by white authors such as in the case of several Scott O’Dell books. Ash’s Cabin sets a new standard by being a good example of representation; Jen Wang, a Taiwanese-American author writing a part Asian protagonist in a book in which race is not commented on, just stated as fact and does not factor into the contents of the survival story.
Some of the books included on the list below do not follow that standard, as they are from an older time, and feature protagonists or surrounding characters of races and cultures merely researched by the white author. These books, however, are cornerstones in this genre and serve to prompt a discussion with young people about how we understand, learn about, and write about Native people from a respectful and humble perspective. In the meantime, Jen Wang has delivered a modern, tender, and exciting new entry to the genre in the form of this mid-grade Graphic Novel. Ash’s Cabin is a must-read for all ages.
Wilderness Survival Fiction Chapter Books that serve as Ash’s Cabin’s predecessors and read-alikes include…
- A Week in the Woods by Andrew Clements
- Water, Water by Cary Fagan
- My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- Far North by Will Hobbs
- Survivor Diaries; Lost! By Terry Lynn Johnson
- The Skeleton Tree by Iain Lawrence
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
- Jungle of Bones by Ben Mikaelson
- Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
- Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
- Stranded Series by Jeff Probst and Chris Tebbetts
- The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Spare
- Wilder Boys by Brandon Wallace