When young Baird thought about the upcoming summer, he saw a near-perfect season. His dream job, as a guide for climbers on Mt. Rainier, looked like a nearly sure thing. But he didn't get the job, and worse, another guide got his girl. The consolation was a solo trek in the Alaska wilderness. The trip started out well--until he met a gang of juvenile delinquents led by a violent killer. Now all that stands between Baird and certain death are his skills and his wits. Author John Foley researched Lost Frontier at Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, which accounts for the accurate depiction of the arctic wilderness. A former newspaper reporter in Alaska and Chicago, Foley is now a high-school English teacher in Arizona. He has written other short stories and novels, including Hoops of Steel, which was named a Book for the Teen Age in 2008.