Synopses & Reviews
This rapid-paced story for young readers from best-selling author Jonathan London churns with heart-stopping beauty and terror. Twelve-year-olds Aaron and Lisa and sixteen-year-old Cassidy join their fathers on an epic float trip down the Green River and learn what they are made of. Full of suspense, action, and adventure, crazy-frightening characters, and overcoming terrible physical and mental odds, this page turner immerses young readers into the wilds of nature and is destined to become a classic.
Review
"Once you plunge into this thrilling white-water adventure you will not be able to stop until you are safe back on shore. . . . A Class 6 white-water read!" --Roland Smith, NYT best-selling author of PEAK
Review
London's (The Seasons of Little Wolf, 2014) middle-grade novel follows six people on a transformative rafting trip. Twelve-year-old Aaron and his father have embarked on a white-water rafting trip down the Green River in the Desolation Canyon area of Utah. Joining them are their guide, Roger; his 12-year-old daughter; Lisa, Wild Man Willie; and his 16-year-old son, Cassidy. In 1991, the three fathers served together in the Iraq War. Since then, they've raised three very different children. Aaron is lanky and thoughtful; Lisa is a veteran river rafter, and Cassidy is a genuine juvenile delinquent, who entered a detention center after beating a man with a baseball bat when he was 14. They clash early. Cassidy's penchant for bullying (i.e. hurling large rocks) and risk-taking worries the other kids. To complicate matters, Aaron develops a crush on Lisa, whom he hopes to impress by mastering his first rafting experience. When Cassidy disrespects Aaron's dad both physically and verbally, the trip starts to fall apart. Eventually, these two couple up in their own raft, only to vanish around a bend. A suspicious scrap of evidence nearly confirms Aaron's worst fears as the group frantically searches the river and surrounding desert. The latest from YA author London is a wise and wonderful reading experience for anyone who loves--or is just learning to love--natural history. The briskly flowing narrative contains great details about desert life, always offered in lovely prose: "Here and there sparse forests of pinyon pine and juniper were clinging tenaciously to the high slopes and cliffs." Elsewhere, London delivers some vivid characterization; we're told that Cassidy has more "tattoos on his body than teeth in his head." Most importantly, London provides space for sublime moments to blossom, including the nighttime scene when "the river flowed by, mirroring the Milky Way." This coming-of-age tale also features enchanting illustrations by the author's son, Sean. A grand, well-rounded adventure that mixes nature, Native American lore, and history of the Desolation Canyon region. --Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
This rapid-paced story for young readers from best-selling author Jonathan London churns with heart-stopping adventure as rafting novice Aaron confronts more than just white water on a life-changing trip in the wilds of Utah's canyonlands.
About the Author
*Jonathan London is a best-selling author.
*Illustrated by Jonathan London's son, Sean.
*Supports Common Core and includes Discussion Questions.
*Addresses bullying and coming of age.
*Middle Reader category is booming and adventure stories for boys are a top request from parents, educators, and booksellers.
*This "survival/adventure" will appeal to fans of HATCHET by Gary Paulsen.
*Fascinating cultural and natural history references set the scene, such as: scorpians, rattlesnakes, petroglyphs, rushing rapids, wild horses, and elk. *ABOUT: Desolation Canyon is a remote canyon on the Green River in the eastern part of Utah. This popular rafting trip offers outstanding scenery, interesting geologic formations, evidence of prehistoric and historic human activity, and white-water opportunities. The average trip length for boaters is six to seven days. In some places it is deeper than the Grand Canyon.
*HISTORY: Desolation Canyon was traversed by John Wesley Powell in 1869 as part of an expedition that was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. The Major wrote in his journal that this canyon was "a region of the wildest desolation." The name stuck. The weathered remnants of the McPherson ranch are a popular stop for river travelers. It was here that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid often hid out and traded with local ranchers for fresh horses.
*Simultaneously available in paperback, e-book, and print-to-order hardcover.
Table of Contents
Chapter One White Water! Chapter Two The Wild Bunch Chapter Three Rock Slide and High Side Chapter Four Wild Horses Chapter Five Nightmare Rock Chapter Six Rock Art and Rattlers Chapter Seven Little Rockhouse Rapids Chapter Eight The Outlaw Trail Chapter Nine Water Babies Chapter Ten The Blue Sky People Chapter Eleven The Disappearance Chapter Twelve The Search Chapter Thirteen The Nightmare Chapter Fourteen Canyon Spirits Chapter Fifteen Over the Edge Chapter Sixteen The Spirit Trail Chapter Seventeen Runaway Raft! Chapter Eighteen Rock Garden Chapter Nineteen The Thunder Hole Chapter Twenty Racing for Rescue Chapter Twenty-One Time to Go! Chapter Twenty-Two Olympic Champ Epilogue