When the small private airplane crashed into the mountainside above their Austrian farm home, Toni and Trudi Hoffman were concerned first of all for the pilot, parachuting slowly down toward the sunlit snowfield. But then they heard the ominous roar and saw the solid white wave of snow, and the pilot was forgotten as the twins raced to tell their grandfather that the plane had started a huge avalanche of snow—an avalanche that even now was rushing straight toward the farm!

With this as his opening, Arthur Catherall goes on to build a gripping and suspenseful tale of survival after the avalanche completely buries the Hoffman farmhouse, making the family prisoners in the snow. There are delightful moments of humor as Toni, Trudi and Grandfather lead the cattle and their pony, Gretl, into the parlor for safekeeping. And there are scenes of high tension as Toni slowly mounts a tall ladder under the creaking roof of the cowshed in an attempt to free the pilot, trapped in the rafters high above.

Throughout, there is a moving sense of a tightly knit family under stress. Each one, young and old, is aware of the terrible dangers they face, but each is also aware of his responsibilities to the others, and of the need not to give in to fear or despair.

Mr. Catherall's first adventure story for a younger audience, PRISONERS IN THE SNOW is also one of his finest.

From the dust jacket