When 17-year-old Willa “borrows” her uncle’s Cessna without asking, she expects to transport medical supplies to her mother in a northern Ontario native village and to take a much-needed break from school. Things have been tough for Willa since her older brother was killed in a Ski-Doo accident five years earlier. When she crashes the plane, Willa must draw on all her physical, emotional, and mental resources in order to survive. Her resourcefulness in building everything from snowshoes to fishtraps to a toboggan, from the plane’s wreckage, is interesting and reminiscent of Hatchet and other books usually featuring boys. The female protagonist in an overwhelmingly male-oriented genre is a nice twist, and The Winter Road will appeal to girls and boys alike. However, the portrayal of Willa is inconsistent: sometimes the hot-tempered rebel, sometimes the popular honor student. Some emphatic interjections and a mature protagonist push the interest level a little higher.