Red Planet by Robert A Heinlein.
From WikipediaWikipedia:
Beecher, the unscrupulous colonial administrator of MarsMars has been colonized by humans, but is governed by an administrator appointed by an Earth-based company - the colonists have no political power. Colonial teenagers Jim Marlowe and Frank Sutton travel to the Lowell Academy boarding school for the start of the academic year.
Beecher, the unscrupulous colonial administrator of Mars... has secretly planned to prevent the annual migration of the colonists (to avoid 12 months of severe winter weather) in order to save money.
The boys set out to skate the thousands of miles on the frozen Martian canals to their homes. During the trip, Frank gets sick. On the third night, they are forced to take shelter inside a giant Martian cabbage-plant (nearly suffocating when it folds up at night)
... has secretly planned to prevent the annual migration of the colonists (to avoid 12 months of severe winter weather) in order to save moneyThe flashlight saves them from suffocation...
The boys set out to skate the thousands of miles on the frozen Martian canals to their homes. During the trip, Frank gets sick. On the third night, they are forced to take shelter insideThere's also a giant Martian cabbage-plantmajor plotline revolving around Jim's pet (nearly suffocating when it folds up at night)- a native Martian lifeform known as a "bouncer"