96 MILES

J. L. ESPLIN

JL Esplin is a writer of books for kids and teens. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband and kids. Her first middle grade novel, 96 Miles, will be out February 11, 2020, from Starscape (Tor/Macmillan). She is represented by Andrea Somberg, literary agent at Harvey Klinger Inc.. 

JL Esplin lived in four different states by the time she turned 13. As an adult, she moved back to the place she was born, Las Vegas, Nevada, and immediately knew she was home. She lives on the edge of town with her husband and kids. When not writing, she enjoys teaching guitar the fun way, traveling to new places, and coming back home to the desert.

Growing up in a family of six kids, her dad, a US Secret Service agent, was passionate about emergency preparedness. They had food and water storage that took up half the garage, emergency backpacks with survival gear in the hall closet. And the family slept soundly each night knowing that, in the event of a house fire, Dad had secured a rope to the foot of each bed with which they could escape their second-story bedroom windows. It was important to him that his kids were self-reliant, and on that note, he gave her and her siblings a survival tip that she never forgot: If you’re ever in a desperate situation, it’s okay to drink the water in the toilet, you just have to boil it first.

After years spent contemplating this revolting bit of advice, imagining scenarios in which she might have to drink toilet water, wondering if she’d be willing to do something like that to survive, she sat down and wrote the first sentence of her debut novel, 96 Miles.

For fans of Gary Paulsen’s classic Hatchet and Lauren Tarshis’s bestselling I Survived series, J. L. Esplin’s 96 Miles is a story of survival and desperation as two young brothers confront the worst in humanity—and themselves. 

Dad always said if things get desperate, it’s okay to drink the water in the toilet. I never thought it would come to that. I thought I’d sooner die than let one drop of toilet water touch my lips. Yet here I am, kneeling before a porcelain throne, holding a tin mug for scooping in one hand, and my half-gallon canteen in the other.

The Lockwood brothers are supposed to be able to survive anything. Their dad, a hardcore believer in self-reliance, has stockpiled enough food and water at their isolated Nevada home to last for months. But when they are robbed of all their supplies during a massive blackout while their dad is out of town, John and Stew must walk 96 miles in the stark desert sun to get help. Along the way, they’re forced to question their dad’s insistence on self-reliance and ask just what it is that we owe to our neighbors, our kin, and to ourselves.

From talented newcomer J. L. Esplin comes this story of survival and determination as two young brothers confront the unpredictability of human nature in the face of desperate circumstances.

• Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection!

• Winner of the Whitney Award for best debut novel

• Winner of the AML award for best middle grade novel

• Junior Tome Society “It List” 2021-2022!

• Finalist for the Reading the West Book Award

• South Carolina Junior Book Award list 2021-2022!

• Oklahoma Library Association’s Sequoyah Masterlist 2022!

• Kansas National Education Association Recommended Book!

• Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award nomination for 2021-2022!

• Maine Student Book Award nominee 2021-2022!

• Nevada Young Readers’ Award nominee 2022!

• Idaho Battle of the Books Selection 2021-2022

• Mississippi Magnolia Book Award nominee 2022

• South Dakota Teen Choice Book Award nominee 2021-2022

• Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award nominee 2022-2023

• William Allen White Book Award Selection 2022-2023

• Louisiana Young Reader Award nominee 2022-2023

• Missouri Truman Readers Award nominee 2022-2023

• Georgia Children’s Book Award finalist 2023

• Walk a mile for a burger activity

• JL Espin endorses TPT set

• Desert Survival

• Common Sense Media Discussion Questions