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Wild River
Daniel Redmayne is fast asleep on the first night of a white water rafting trip, when he's awoken by screams. The dam has failed. The river is surging, and their camp will be under water in a matter of moments.
As the shrieking roar of the river rushes closer, the kids scramble to higher ground. They make it; their counselors do not.
Now they're on their own, with barely any food or supplies, in the middle of the Montana wilderness. Do Daniel and his four classmates have what it takes to stay alive until they can get rescued? Alone in the wild, they forge powerful bonds -- but develop dangerous disagreements. If nature doesn't break them, they might just destroy each other.
As the shrieking roar of the river rushes closer, the kids scramble to higher ground. They make it; their counselors do not.
Now they're on their own, with barely any food or supplies, in the middle of the Montana wilderness. Do Daniel and his four classmates have what it takes to stay alive until they can get rescued? Alone in the wild, they forge powerful bonds -- but develop dangerous disagreements. If nature doesn't break them, they might just destroy each other.
208 pages, Hardcover
Published March 2, 2021
About the author
Rodman Philbrick
67 books389 followersAka William R Dantz, Chris Jordan, W.R. Philbrick.
Rodman Philbrick grew up on the New England coast, where he worked as a longshoreman and boat builder. For many years he wrote mysteries and detective novels. The Private Eye Writers of America nominated two of his T.D.Stash series as best detective novel and then selected Philbrick's 'Brothers & Sinners' as Best Novel in 1993. Writing under the pen name 'William R. Dantz' he has explored the near-future worlds of genetic engineering and hi-tech brain control in books like 'Hunger', 'Pulse', 'The Seventh Sleeper'. And 'Nine Levels Down'.
Inspired by the life of a boy who lived a few blocks away, he wrote 'Freak The Mighty', the award-winning young-adult novel, which has been translated into numerous languages and is now read in schools throughout the world. The book was adapted to the screen in 1998 as 'The Mighty', starring Sharon Stone, Gillian Anderson, James Gandolfini, Kieran Culkin, and Elden Henson.
Philbrick, a screenwriter as well as a novelist, is the author of a number of novels for young readers, including 'The Fire Pony', 'Max the Mighty', 'REM World', 'The Last Book In The Universe', 'The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds' and 'The Young Man And The Sea'. His recent novels for adults include 'Dark Matter', 'Coffins', and 'Taken'. He and his wife divide their time between Maine and the Florida Keys.
Rodman Philbrick grew up on the New England coast, where he worked as a longshoreman and boat builder. For many years he wrote mysteries and detective novels. The Private Eye Writers of America nominated two of his T.D.Stash series as best detective novel and then selected Philbrick's 'Brothers & Sinners' as Best Novel in 1993. Writing under the pen name 'William R. Dantz' he has explored the near-future worlds of genetic engineering and hi-tech brain control in books like 'Hunger', 'Pulse', 'The Seventh Sleeper'. And 'Nine Levels Down'.
Inspired by the life of a boy who lived a few blocks away, he wrote 'Freak The Mighty', the award-winning young-adult novel, which has been translated into numerous languages and is now read in schools throughout the world. The book was adapted to the screen in 1998 as 'The Mighty', starring Sharon Stone, Gillian Anderson, James Gandolfini, Kieran Culkin, and Elden Henson.
Philbrick, a screenwriter as well as a novelist, is the author of a number of novels for young readers, including 'The Fire Pony', 'Max the Mighty', 'REM World', 'The Last Book In The Universe', 'The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds' and 'The Young Man And The Sea'. His recent novels for adults include 'Dark Matter', 'Coffins', and 'Taken'. He and his wife divide their time between Maine and the Florida Keys.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 178 reviews
October 1, 2024
I was really looking forward to this book and it disappointed me. For me the problem was the characters and just how it was written. The characters drove me crazy and how they acted under their circumstances was just annoying and nonsensical. I highly enjoy survival books but this was just not right.
May 14, 2024
I think this was a great story. What a triller, super fast paced. Fantastic morals.
This might be the newest middle school age book I've read. There's stuff in here I've never heard talked about before in a kid's book. Like Daniel's dad's bipolar. Like that's so cool.
This might be the newest middle school age book I've read. There's stuff in here I've never heard talked about before in a kid's book. Like Daniel's dad's bipolar. Like that's so cool.
September 9, 2025
"[W]e start to run. None of us need to say a word. We know what the stakes are.
Life or death. Run or die."
✏️ Review ✏️
While it's isn't as thrilling as Rodman Philbrick's other survival novel Wild Fire, Wild River still offers a realistic, fast-paced survival adventure. I enjoyed this story and I also didn't. The urgency and suspense featured in Wild Fire, the first book of the Wilds Series, seems to be missing in many parts of this story. So Wild River does tend to lean more on the slower-paced side at times. What I did like was the realistic action, which did quicken the storyline's flow.
Philbrick's writing style is straightforward and authenticly articulated. It invokes the survivalist atmosphere of the story well and captures the voice of the MMC effectively.
Yeah, the characters aren't the best in terms of development; sometimes they didn't feel too deep or emotional, especially during the aftermath of some disturbing events (too spoilerish to describe). But the varying display of personalities allows for a thought-provoking illustration of how different character qualities react to a crisis: leaders, bullies, people pleasers, thinkers. This novel impactfuly depicts how those who act carelessly and foolishly during a crisis can bring harm to others and damage upon themselves (poor Tony 😥).
Wild River is a short but engaging story of what can happen when natural disasters strike without warning.
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
📊 A Quick Overview 📊
👍🏼 What I Liked:
• Most of the plot — it's fast-paced and realistic.
• The writing style — it's straightforward and quickly sets the atmosphere for the story.
• The diverse character personalities — makes for a thought-provoking read.
👎🏼 What I Did Not Like:
• A few parts of the plot lacked the sense of urgency that keeps the storyline moving at a brisk pace.
• The lack of emotional depth to the characters, especially after a few disturbing events.
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
❓ To Read or Not To Read? ❓
— Would I recommend this book? Yes.*
— To whom? To those who enjoy realistic contemporary survival stories that illustrate the importance of teamwork and the dangers of selfishness and foolishness during a crisis.
*(Note: I leave it up to each individual to decide the maturity and discernment level required to read the books I recommend, based on my content warnings below [in my Book Breakdown]. My content warnings [if any] should always be considered alongside my recommendations when deciding who these books are best suited for.)
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
📖 BOOK BREAKDOWN 📖 (Overall: 3/5)
~Fundamentals: (1=worst; 5=best)
— 📈 Plot: 3/5
— 📝 Writing: 3/5
— 👥 Characters: 2.5/5
~Content: (0=none; 1=least; 5=most)
— 🤬 Language: 1/5
• Just one vain use of God's name in Spanish and one use of "heck."
— ⚔️ Violence: 2/5
• A few scenes of mild peril and action-adventure violence; briefly discusses injuries (mentions blood).
• One potentially disturbing instance involving child death (may not be suitable for sensitive readers; discretion advised).
— ⚠️ Sexual: 0/5
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
📣 Random Comments 📣
• Content note : The MCs do lie once to others about certain events on their survival adventure. The way the story leaves this, though, is that the reader gets to decide whether or the MC's falsehood is right or wrong.
• There is one scene in which the main characters happen upon a bear. In this scene the MC tells one of the other characters that "[i]f it [the bear] attacks, fight back! Don't play dead! Never play dead!" While this is good advice in response to a predatory bear attack (the bear sees you as a food source), the author should have clarified in the "Afterward" that playing dead is almost always the most effective strategy in avoiding other life-threatening situations with bears.
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
💬 Favorite Quotes 💬
• If you're going to be a good writer, you have to take it seriously, you have to be fully committed, no matter what. You have to understand that nothing is guaranteed, that things can go wrong. Mistakes get made, accidents can happen. And you can't let that stop you. (p. 187)
Life or death. Run or die."
✏️ Review ✏️
While it's isn't as thrilling as Rodman Philbrick's other survival novel Wild Fire, Wild River still offers a realistic, fast-paced survival adventure. I enjoyed this story and I also didn't. The urgency and suspense featured in Wild Fire, the first book of the Wilds Series, seems to be missing in many parts of this story. So Wild River does tend to lean more on the slower-paced side at times. What I did like was the realistic action, which did quicken the storyline's flow.
"The shrieking roar [of the water] gets louder and louder, and then comes around the last bend in the river, exploding into the moonlight, and an enormous wave of broken trees and rolling boulders surges right up to the lip of the ledge, pounding the cliff, threatening to snatch us away.
I close my eyes, expecting to die."
Philbrick's writing style is straightforward and authenticly articulated. It invokes the survivalist atmosphere of the story well and captures the voice of the MMC effectively.
Yeah, the characters aren't the best in terms of development; sometimes they didn't feel too deep or emotional, especially during the aftermath of some disturbing events (too spoilerish to describe). But the varying display of personalities allows for a thought-provoking illustration of how different character qualities react to a crisis: leaders, bullies, people pleasers, thinkers. This novel impactfuly depicts how those who act carelessly and foolishly during a crisis can bring harm to others and damage upon themselves (poor Tony 😥).
Wild River is a short but engaging story of what can happen when natural disasters strike without warning.
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
📊 A Quick Overview 📊
👍🏼 What I Liked:
• Most of the plot — it's fast-paced and realistic.
• The writing style — it's straightforward and quickly sets the atmosphere for the story.
• The diverse character personalities — makes for a thought-provoking read.
👎🏼 What I Did Not Like:
• A few parts of the plot lacked the sense of urgency that keeps the storyline moving at a brisk pace.
• The lack of emotional depth to the characters, especially after a few disturbing events.
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
❓ To Read or Not To Read? ❓
— Would I recommend this book? Yes.*
— To whom? To those who enjoy realistic contemporary survival stories that illustrate the importance of teamwork and the dangers of selfishness and foolishness during a crisis.
*(Note: I leave it up to each individual to decide the maturity and discernment level required to read the books I recommend, based on my content warnings below [in my Book Breakdown]. My content warnings [if any] should always be considered alongside my recommendations when deciding who these books are best suited for.)
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
📖 BOOK BREAKDOWN 📖 (Overall: 3/5)
~Fundamentals: (1=worst; 5=best)
— 📈 Plot: 3/5
— 📝 Writing: 3/5
— 👥 Characters: 2.5/5
~Content: (0=none; 1=least; 5=most)
— 🤬 Language: 1/5
• Just one vain use of God's name in Spanish and one use of "heck."
— ⚔️ Violence: 2/5
• A few scenes of mild peril and action-adventure violence; briefly discusses injuries (mentions blood).
• One potentially disturbing instance involving child death (may not be suitable for sensitive readers; discretion advised).
— ⚠️ Sexual: 0/5
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
📣 Random Comments 📣
• Content note : The MCs do lie once to others about certain events on their survival adventure. The way the story leaves this, though, is that the reader gets to decide whether or the MC's falsehood is right or wrong.
• There is one scene in which the main characters happen upon a bear. In this scene the MC tells one of the other characters that "[i]f it [the bear] attacks, fight back! Don't play dead! Never play dead!" While this is good advice in response to a predatory bear attack (the bear sees you as a food source), the author should have clarified in the "Afterward" that playing dead is almost always the most effective strategy in avoiding other life-threatening situations with bears.
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
💬 Favorite Quotes 💬
• If you're going to be a good writer, you have to take it seriously, you have to be fully committed, no matter what. You have to understand that nothing is guaranteed, that things can go wrong. Mistakes get made, accidents can happen. And you can't let that stop you. (p. 187)
Read
December 19, 2021My 5th grade daughter had to read this book for a school book club, so I picked it up when she finished and read it quickly so we could discuss it. It took maybe an hour, hour and a half. The story follows a group of kids who were chosen to go on a white water rafting trip, but right at the start things go all wrong. Their adult guides decide to take them on the Crazy River instead of the one they were scheduled to take, and their first night camping a dam fails. The adults sacrifice themselves saving the kids, but that leaves 5 kids who are strangers to figure out how to survive. They have options, but not many. Can they trust one another to make the best decisions, or will they screw up and cause their own deaths?
My daughter really liked it. It is very simply written, perfect for her grade level. It is intense and each chapter ends on a cliffhanger. The kids are all different, all have secrets and they butt heads. One character was terrible, and they do not all get out unscathed. It had very Hatchet vibes. I think it was a great choice for a kids’ book club.
My daughter really liked it. It is very simply written, perfect for her grade level. It is intense and each chapter ends on a cliffhanger. The kids are all different, all have secrets and they butt heads. One character was terrible, and they do not all get out unscathed. It had very Hatchet vibes. I think it was a great choice for a kids’ book club.
January 30, 2021
Lots of action and adventure from beginning to end.
March 29, 2023
This book unlocked a new fear in me though it was really good.
December 19, 2025
Amazing
January 11, 2022
It was an amazing book I deferentially recommend it.
April 14, 2023
A very action packed book. Very suspenseful at times. I liked it!
January 23, 2021
This MG nail biter is perfect for reluctant readers and comes out March 2! Essential purchase for fans of WILDFIRE, also by Rodman Philbrick (our 3 copies are almost never in!). Thx to @scholasticinc for the free book to review!
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Daniel Redmayne is on a whitewater rafting trip in the Montana wilderness with other teens and two adult supervisors when a dam breaks in the middle of the night and they are stranded. The adults are washed away along with their raft. The teens have only a handful of freeze-dried meals and must ration them if they will survive, but two of the teens disagree and try to steal the meals. The wilderness is dangerous, but so are the teens’ disagreements. Will they all get out alive?
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.
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With short chapters that all end in cliffhangers, this book will get kids turning pages eager to find out what happens next. Character development is a bit light, but I guarantee your readers won’t care.
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.
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The river is aptly named Crazy River and readers are going to love the crazy adventure in this book! Are survival books popular in your library? They’re crazy popular in mine!
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.
.
#middleschoollibrarian #middleschoollibrary #library #librarian #futurereadylibs #iteachlibrary #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #librariesofinstagram #librariansofinstagram #librariesfollowlibraries #librarylife #librarianlife #schoollibrarian #middlegrade #middlegradebooks #iteach #librarylove #booksbooksbooks #amreading #bibliophile #schoollibrariansrock #bookreview #bookrecommendation #igreads #malibrary #msla #mediaspecialist
.
.
.
Daniel Redmayne is on a whitewater rafting trip in the Montana wilderness with other teens and two adult supervisors when a dam breaks in the middle of the night and they are stranded. The adults are washed away along with their raft. The teens have only a handful of freeze-dried meals and must ration them if they will survive, but two of the teens disagree and try to steal the meals. The wilderness is dangerous, but so are the teens’ disagreements. Will they all get out alive?
.
.
.
With short chapters that all end in cliffhangers, this book will get kids turning pages eager to find out what happens next. Character development is a bit light, but I guarantee your readers won’t care.
.
.
.
The river is aptly named Crazy River and readers are going to love the crazy adventure in this book! Are survival books popular in your library? They’re crazy popular in mine!
.
.
.
#middleschoollibrarian #middleschoollibrary #library #librarian #futurereadylibs #iteachlibrary #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #librariesofinstagram #librariansofinstagram #librariesfollowlibraries #librarylife #librarianlife #schoollibrarian #middlegrade #middlegradebooks #iteach #librarylove #booksbooksbooks #amreading #bibliophile #schoollibrariansrock #bookreview #bookrecommendation #igreads #malibrary #msla #mediaspecialist
August 9, 2026
I will always be lured by a “ survival” story!!! Reminiscent of The Hatchet, this book takes place in rural Montana on the Crazy River. Five students are chosen for a leadership white water rafting trip, where a major event turns everything upside down and survival skills come in to play. Teamwork matters and right relationships play a big role in this nail biter!!
Also, though I appreciate the loyalty, forgiveness, and bond created by the characters at the end of this story, I don’t agree with their decision to lie about a very unfortunate situation that occurred. I do think it could have been handled a bit better.
Also, though I appreciate the loyalty, forgiveness, and bond created by the characters at the end of this story, I don’t agree with their decision to lie about a very unfortunate situation that occurred. I do think it could have been handled a bit better.
April 28, 2021
What a fun adventure! Daniel and his friends must survive the Crazy River after a dam fails and their whitewater trip turns deadly. Learning to make friends and work together is challenging in the best circumstances, let alone when you’re fighting for your life. I was happy to see growth in several characters. As always, Philbrick keeps you on the edge of your seat and turning pages!
September 13, 2021
I think that this is a great book, the point of view is from Daniel. I loved how different all of the characters are, and how they survive the flood, the struggles they face, I could feel how the characters felt. It is awesome! (the secret they revel is awesome too)
February 5, 2022
Two stars for me personally - I didn’t really care for the lack of character development and choices that were made.
Four stars for my students - they would love the action and would be kept in suspense at the end of each chapter.
Love the thought-provoking question at the end too.
Four stars for my students - they would love the action and would be kept in suspense at the end of each chapter.
Love the thought-provoking question at the end too.
September 29, 2021
it aws0]fjo
November 16, 2021
Porter was happy that people died, that makes things more intense.
January 10, 2022
This is a good story with well developed characters. There are a lot of important messages in this book. About teamwork, being prepared, bullies, friendship, redemption.
February 5, 2024
Fast-paced and fun (excluding the dying parts)! The dialogue is a little bit corny...12 year olds don't talk to one another like this...but it didn't hold back the plot.
Grades 4 and up.
Grades 4 and up.
January 11, 2025
Good book, characters can be infuriatingly stupid.
August 20, 2025
Great story, something different. Book is interesting and I would recommend to children who like this style of book, just not my cup of tea.
January 10, 2026
it was amazing. would not read again.
July 22, 2026
teared up a bit at the end!
August 12, 2023
Fast paced, highly engaging, thrilling, and easy to read
January 15, 2022
I'm definitely not the target audience. I get the impression this novel is for reluctant middle grade boy readers.
This was an easy read but not deep, memorable or very developed. I couldn't connect to any of the characters. I was completely indifferent to I was hoping for bigger 'secrets' from characters.
I didn't like the bully plot line at all. It really didn't add to the story. I would have preferred the elimination of the bully plot line and instead, the characters had fewer survival supplies and had to forage, hunt or deal with infection.
It was never explained why
This was an easy read but not deep, memorable or very developed. I couldn't connect to any of the characters. I was completely indifferent to I was hoping for bigger 'secrets' from characters.
I didn't like the bully plot line at all. It really didn't add to the story. I would have preferred the elimination of the bully plot line and instead, the characters had fewer survival supplies and had to forage, hunt or deal with infection.
It was never explained why
June 7, 2021
We listened to this book on a road trip. Perhaps reading it would have been better because it was really dramatic. A bunch of kids were selected by their school to go on a leadership rafting trip. There was a dam failure and disaster hits and the kids need to survive. I felt much of this was really unrealistic. There is a bully and his sidekick and after this really horrible, scary thing happens, the kid is immediately still a jerk. I felt he would probably have changed a bit. I also didn’t realize until the book was almost done that these kids are going into 6th grade, 11-12 year old kids. There is no way that kids of that age could do all that they did and figure things out as well as they did.
January 28, 2023
I love this book with all my heart ❤️❤️ I love it so much. This book actually got me into reading. Which I thank this author for, this book was such a good story. but I do wish it was a bit longer. I've re-read it 8 times. And each time I know what's going to happen but it feels like a new time every time. And that's what makes it such a good book. The story it's self is just *chefs kiss 😩🤌🏼* I truly loved this book and I think you would to. ❤️
Read
December 11, 2025Read this book along with my 5th grader and a small group of his classmates. I had the great privilege of leading the students in book club discussions. The book had plenty of action to keep their attention and they were able to relate to the actions of the character and think about how they would react if they were in situations that happened throughout the story. Pretty entertaining for the kids!
May 31, 2024
Daniel and 4 other kids (Deke, Imani, Tia, and Tony) have been selected for a special leadership white water rafting camping trip in Montana, which is very far from his New Hampshire home. He's pretty sure this was a mistake in 2 ways. 1) He isn't sure he's leadership material. 2) Is he really ready for this much wilderness stuff? And then the trip gets rerouted to a different river, a dam breaks, the adults just barely get the kids to high ground with 1 backpack of supplies before they are swept away, no one knows where they are, none of them has survival training, and one of the girls (Imani) is mature beyond her years and the pack was handed to her but one of the boys (Deke) is a big bully who challenges her every decision and wants to take the supplies for himself. As if nature and surviving on their own wasn't dangerous enough, they aren't sure just how low Deke will stoop to get his way.
From the outset Daniel, the narrator, tells you not everyone will survive this disaster so you at least have some forewarning that things will get deadly serious. All of the kids have secrets and baggage which make them withhold things from the others, from having a parent with a mental disorder to being the child of a very famous person, and those secrets eventually have to come out so they can learn to work together. The survival bits felt realistic for a group of middle schoolers and the area they were in. This was a decent survival story; I didn't hate it but I also didn't love it, it was middling for me. I have a feeling kids might like it more.
Notes on content:
Language: There might have been 1-2 minor swears. I don't remember clearly.
Sexual content: None
Violence: 2 people are swept away in the river , another person is in a fatal accident. Rocks are thrown by some kids at some of the others.
Ethnic diversity: One of the girls is Black, I don't remember ethnic descriptors of others.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: The kids have to decide whether to tell a kind lie about how one person died or a scarring truth. Daniel is wrestling with his dad's bipolar disorder and how that has impacted the whole family. Bullying is a huge topic, but the bully learns a big lesson by the end.
From the outset Daniel, the narrator, tells you not everyone will survive this disaster so you at least have some forewarning that things will get deadly serious. All of the kids have secrets and baggage which make them withhold things from the others, from having a parent with a mental disorder to being the child of a very famous person, and those secrets eventually have to come out so they can learn to work together. The survival bits felt realistic for a group of middle schoolers and the area they were in. This was a decent survival story; I didn't hate it but I also didn't love it, it was middling for me. I have a feeling kids might like it more.
Notes on content:
Language: There might have been 1-2 minor swears. I don't remember clearly.
Sexual content: None
Violence: 2 people are swept away in the river , another person is in a fatal accident. Rocks are thrown by some kids at some of the others.
Ethnic diversity: One of the girls is Black, I don't remember ethnic descriptors of others.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: The kids have to decide whether to tell a kind lie about how one person died or a scarring truth. Daniel is wrestling with his dad's bipolar disorder and how that has impacted the whole family. Bullying is a huge topic, but the bully learns a big lesson by the end.
July 23, 2025
Quick synopsis
: After a storm causes a dam to collapse and flood a river they're camped next to, five kids have to try to survive as they wait to be rescued.
Brief opinion : I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this book! Most of the kids were believable as kids, the disaster and the fallout from it were believable, everything seemed really realistic, especially for a MG book.
Plot : Five kids are chosen to go on a white water rafting trip. None of the five know why they're chosen, especially since they're all so different: The smart 'leader' girl, the bully boy, the follower boy, a quiet girl, and the main character: a geeky boy. The five, along with a couple adult guides, are to go on a multi-day rafting trip.
They find the river they intended to raft to be too low, so they travel on another 100 miles or so to a different one. Due to technical difficulties, they're unable to phone in to the company base to let them know about the change.
During the first night a storm hits, way upstream a dam is destroyed, and the rushing water sweeps the two adults away as they're trying to save the kids. It's pretty clear what happened to the two.
The next week or so is the kids trying to survive, made all the harder by the bully and the boy-turned-his-follower.
Writing/editing : Both were very good. The end of the book had a mini survival guide, which was interesting to read.
What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like : The only thing I didn't like was how quickly the bully changed. After a tragedy on day 4 or so, the bully did a 180. That's the sort of thing that would be nice if it happened, but I suspect in real life the bully would have doubled down and gotten worse. But this is a MG book, so it's more understandable the author took that route.
Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½ - Liked it a lot. An adult version of this book would be really interesting to read.
Brief opinion : I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this book! Most of the kids were believable as kids, the disaster and the fallout from it were believable, everything seemed really realistic, especially for a MG book.
Plot : Five kids are chosen to go on a white water rafting trip. None of the five know why they're chosen, especially since they're all so different: The smart 'leader' girl, the bully boy, the follower boy, a quiet girl, and the main character: a geeky boy. The five, along with a couple adult guides, are to go on a multi-day rafting trip.
They find the river they intended to raft to be too low, so they travel on another 100 miles or so to a different one. Due to technical difficulties, they're unable to phone in to the company base to let them know about the change.
During the first night a storm hits, way upstream a dam is destroyed, and the rushing water sweeps the two adults away as they're trying to save the kids. It's pretty clear what happened to the two.
The next week or so is the kids trying to survive, made all the harder by the bully and the boy-turned-his-follower.
Writing/editing : Both were very good. The end of the book had a mini survival guide, which was interesting to read.
What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like : The only thing I didn't like was how quickly the bully changed. After a tragedy on day 4 or so, the bully did a 180. That's the sort of thing that would be nice if it happened, but I suspect in real life the bully would have doubled down and gotten worse. But this is a MG book, so it's more understandable the author took that route.
Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½ - Liked it a lot. An adult version of this book would be really interesting to read.
September 17, 2021
Super action packed but super emotionally distant for the intensity of the story (people die way early on & there LOTS of trauma in general). Interwoven in through the action are moments where we learn about the protagonist's home lives and this is where things start to feel the tiniest bit shoe horned . While the action is indeed nonstop in such a way that might entice reluctant readers to press on to the next chapter, I found that the constant barrage of actions with no reflections or many trips into our narrators mind made the story feel robotic or at least sapped of most of the emotion Philbrick clearly wanted to get across. So much so that I don't think I'll bother to booktalk this one (I'd say it's aimed at younger readers but it has some mildly graphic death scenes. I'll be leery to put this in a kids hand without a disclaimer). Also, while I'm picking a bit (good naturedly I hope, I did enjoy bits of the book), the epilogue was super abrupt & felt like it was designed by those people who write the discussion questions at the ends of reading textbooks. Like I can actually see the fifth-grade English teacher asking their class to take sides and present textual evidence on the final decision (this is not particularly a bad thing, just a funny thing).
In all, a very fast and exciting read that I found lacking in feeling but might be perfect for the disaster interested tween in your life!
In all, a very fast and exciting read that I found lacking in feeling but might be perfect for the disaster interested tween in your life!
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