One storm. One winter. One girl's fight for survival.

A contemporary My Side of the Mountain, Stranded is the story of a wilderness-hungry Black girl from Manhattan whose journey in the Adirondack mountains becomes a nail-biting story of courage, independence, and survival.

Eleven-year-old Ava Adams is looking for something different. The tall Manhattan buildings around her feel like walls closing in. And what if she doesn't fit in with her city-loving friends or busybody family who think Black folks "don't do nature?" But in a twist of fate, Ava is shocked to learn that her parents are actually allowing her to stay with her Aunt Raven in the Adirondacks for the summer.

In her Auntie's simple cabin, living off the land with nature's beauty filling her senses, the woods feel more like home than Manhattan. As Summer comes to a close and Aunt Raven has to leave for the winter, the dream has to come to an end. Or does it? When Aunt Raven leaves, Ava expects her parents' truck to arrive any moment. But as the hours go by, the reality sinks in. They're not coming.

That night, one storm will change everything. When lightning strikes a nearby tree just before it lands on the cabin, the roof and the water tank of Aunt Raven's cabin are instantly destroyed. With no cell reception and no neighbors for miles, Ava begins to realize what she's up against: A frozen garden, a diminishing supply of food, an abandoned neighboring farm, and mountains blanketed with snow and ice mean Ava is on her own-literally. And her newly developed survival skills might not be enough. It's the ultimate test, but this isn't just about proving something to her parents. It's about proving it to herself.

Nikki Shannon Smith