River Run

After the Dust Settled

by Deirdre Black

All Freya can remember is her sister, the basement, and the Man Upstairs. She has no memory of the world outside or of being warm or of not feeling hungry. And now her sister is gone. An unlikely ally shows her how to break out of the basement, but on the frozen banks of the Mississippi, Freya quickly discovers things worse than the Man Upstairs.

Freya is lucky to find Finn. He has a canoe, some supplies, and a vague idea about a place down south called Norlins. If they can dodge the slavers and avoid starving to death, the two of them might just have a shot at survival.

Genres: Survival, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Adventure

ebook

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[Yareiliz Galo · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the dust settled river run by Deirdre Black is quit an interesting book about a girl who lives in the basement with her sister cat and the man upstairs who seem be the one feeding them but only raw things. He doesn't seem to be such a good guy more like a kidnapper, this book is a series but I feel by reading just one book you'll want to read the rest.

I really liked this book because in almost every page it would make you want to know more in a way like if the book were to give you something to look forward to on each page making you feel nervous and also cringe sometimes at the characters in the book, my favorite character had to be Freya because she knew nothing about the world since she was closed in almost all her life yet she was so cruages acting like nothing scared her and not scared to defend herself she showed so much emotion throughout the whole book.

I feel if you want to read this book you should at least be a teenager to understand most of what is going on because it can get out of hand sometimes but if you want adventure and like a book that gets straight to the point this book is definitely for you I also love the cat she has a companion through the book.

I give this book a 4/5 just because I feel like at some points in the book I was lost and wasn't given enough information.

[Spencer Brightman · Rating 3 out of 5]

River Run is a story about a young girl who escapes a basement after being held captive for many years. Her life after this gets even more interesting. She meets a boy named Finn, likely slightly older than she is. They journey together down a river with a black cat. The main character, Freya, believes this cat is an omen of her sister. Her sister's name is Kat ironically. This short story tells a tale of two unfortunate children who have to make their way through the harsh ways of this world.

[Leigh Collazo · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews at Mrs. ReaderPants.

REVIEW: I really enjoyed River Run, but I wish it were about 300 pages longer. That's right, folks, I actually think a book should be much longer! That never, ever happens--if I complain about a book's length at all, it is usually to say it was overlong. But as I approached the books final pages, I found myself disappointed that it was ending. I wanted to know more about how the world ended up so horrible, how Freya got to the basement in the first place, what happened to Kat before, during, and after she lived in the basement. I love the characters of Freya and Finn, and I have tons of questions about what happens next. The ending does wrap-up the story, but Finn and Freya's adventures are nowhere near finished by the last page.

I love Deirdre Black's simple-yet-descriptive writing style. I'm not sure what has happened to the U.S. before Freya's escape, but I am going to guess it was something apocalyptic because times are really quite desperate. Even in cities, people live in makeshift tents, and money appears to be nonexistent or at least has no value. Oil and gas and food are valuable, and slavers capture and sell both men and women, young and old, either for work or sex or both.

I couldn't help noticing the nod to Twain's classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It surely could not be a coincidence that the boy protagonist is called Finn and that, for a large part of the story, they are floating from the upper-Midwest in a canoe on (presumably) the Mississippi River towards the deep south. Or that, like Huck, Freya escapes a life of abuse early in the story. As in Huck Finn, the woods surrounding the river are dangerous and full of slavers attempting to capture the protagonists. The only safe and free place for Freya and Finn is on the river or along its muddy banks.

THE BOTTOM LINE: I really did enjoy reading River Run, but I wish wish wish it were longer and more in-depth. Interesting story, endearing characters, and a well-paced plot.

STATUS IN MY LIBRARY: We don't have it, but I will get it. I think my MS students will enjoy the story, and more reluctant readers might give it a shot because of the pacing and short length.

READALIKES: River Run makes me want to reread The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain) to see what other similarities I can find. Kind of a cool connection that I didn't expect.

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 4/5--could have easily been a 5 if more developed and longer
Creativity: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Engrossing: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Appeal to teens: 5/5
Appropriate length to tell the story: 2/5


CONTENT:

Language: none
Sexuality: mild; hand-holding, a very chaste top-of-head kiss, some vague references to sex slavery
Violence: medium--slavery, kidnapping, murder by gunshot
Drugs/Alcohol: none

[Andrea King · Rating 3 out of 5]

Freya’s whole world has always been the basement, her sister Cat and the man who sometimes takes her sister away for a while. But one time Cat doesn’t come back and the man tells Freya she’s gone forever. Completely alone for the first time, Freya is happy when a cat appears in her basement and soon comes to think of the cat as her sister reincarnated (you know, Cat and cat…). The cat shows Freya shows a crack in the wall and she makes her escape. She runs into Finn, a loner who is traveling the Mississippi in hopes of finding his family. The two bond and end up on the journey together.

This was a short story; so short that there was very little time to develop the world or most of the characters. I really wanted to know how the sisters ended up in the basement in the first place and who was the man holding them there? Where were they before they wound up in the basement? Why was the man holding them prisoner? What was his personal life like, that he was so sick to do something like that? What happened to Cat? Where were the girls’ parents? Not knowing the answers made it difficult to pay attention to the book, I kept wondering about them

I also kept hoping for more insight into the minds of the characters, but it just wasn’t there. Even Finn, who hadn’t been locked up in a basement for as long as he could remember, wasn’t a very rounded character. Although we did learn more about him than Freya, he remained a bit of a mystery.

The main bulk of the book consisted of Freya and Finn on their journey along the Mississippi, and the dangers they faced along the way. There wasn’t a lot of talk or action, but there was a lot of telling. Again, the book was just too short to really flesh out the story. Learning more about the slavers, Finn and the world around them would have made the novel a more enjoyable and full experience.

The dialogue was simplistic, though with Freya’s background, that’s no big surprise. And I’m going to say it one more time, there just wasn’t enough room to explore all of the facets of the story. Where somebody might have discussed something or someone else might have thought about something, they just did it and moved on.

The cover reminds me of a stylized rat poison symbol. It’s okay, but not super exciting.

The sum up:
A longer book would have made this interesting idea much better. There just wasn’t enough story to be satisfying.

[Carrie Ardoin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Freya has been living in a dank basement with her older sister Kat for as long as she can remember. But one night Kat does not return to her, and Freya knows it is time to make her escape. She meets up with Finn, a boy who is also on a journey. Together they will try to travel down the Mississippi River to find a home.

This story took me less than an hour to read. There wasn't much there in world building or character development. I didn't fully understand the setting--I'm not sure if the text of the story ever said Minneapolis directly, like the book's synopsis did. I only figured it was up north somewhere. I couldn't get a feel on the time period either. I believe this story is supposed to be in a dystopian world but I didn't sense that at all.

I'm happy that the story ended well for Freya and Finn, but I am a little WTF about the whole thing.

[Amy]

takes place after some unexplained catastrophic event has wiped out society. those left are living in chaos. story of freya who has been kept in a basement as long as she can remember. lots of hints about ominous, troubling things that happen to children in this world. slavers, raiders. quick pace, lots of action and danger. for low readers. grades 6 up.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this series for reluctant readers. This story is about a girl who has been trapped in a basement and held captive with her sister. When her sister doesn't come back she escapes and meets a young boy named Finn and together they try to make their way to New Orleans.

[Lavabearian (Jessica) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I support voting for this whole series after reading Plague Riders. This was interesting enough to keep reading. I think they meet the criteria of QP.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blah.