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Lostman's River
From the highly acclaimed author of The Ghost of Fossil Glen comes a touching tribute to the untouched beauty of wildlife through “strong, vividly evoked characters” and “a contemporary message illuminated by its historical setting” ( Kirkus Reviews).
Lostman’s River is home to Tyler MacCauley and his family, just as it is to thousands of birds and other wildlife that share Nature’s piece of the Earth.
But greed and profit have brought great danger into the swampland, and when Tyler and his family dare to trust a stranger they realize that their worst fear has come true. Their new acquaintance has jeopardized not only the land and all who live there, but their own future as well.
Lostman’s River is home to Tyler MacCauley and his family, just as it is to thousands of birds and other wildlife that share Nature’s piece of the Earth.
But greed and profit have brought great danger into the swampland, and when Tyler and his family dare to trust a stranger they realize that their worst fear has come true. Their new acquaintance has jeopardized not only the land and all who live there, but their own future as well.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Cynthia C. DeFelice
35 books120 followersCynthia DeFelice is the author of many bestselling titles for young readers, including the novels Wild Life, The Ghost of Cutler Creek, Signal, and The Missing Manatee, as well as the picture books, One Potato, Two Potato, and Casey in the Bath. Her books have been nominated for an Edgar Allen Poe Award and listed as American Library Association Notable Children's Books and Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, among numerous other honors.
Cynthia was born in Philadelphia in 1951. As a child, she was always reading. Summer vacations began with a trip to the bookstore, where she and her sister and brothers were allowed to pick out books for their summer reading. “To me,” she says, “those trips to the bookstore were even better than the rare occasions when we were given a quarter and turned loose at the penny-candy store on the boardwalk.” Cynthia has worked as a bookseller, a barn painter, a storyteller, and a school librarian.
When asked what she loves best about being an author, she can’t pick just one answer: “I love the feeling of being caught up in the lives of the characters I am writing about. I enjoy the challenge of trying to write as honestly as I can, and I find enormous satisfaction in hearing from readers that something I wrote touched them, delighted them, made them shiver with fear or shake with laughter, or think about something new.” Cynthia and her husband live in Geneva, New York.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/cynthi...
Cynthia was born in Philadelphia in 1951. As a child, she was always reading. Summer vacations began with a trip to the bookstore, where she and her sister and brothers were allowed to pick out books for their summer reading. “To me,” she says, “those trips to the bookstore were even better than the rare occasions when we were given a quarter and turned loose at the penny-candy store on the boardwalk.” Cynthia has worked as a bookseller, a barn painter, a storyteller, and a school librarian.
When asked what she loves best about being an author, she can’t pick just one answer: “I love the feeling of being caught up in the lives of the characters I am writing about. I enjoy the challenge of trying to write as honestly as I can, and I find enormous satisfaction in hearing from readers that something I wrote touched them, delighted them, made them shiver with fear or shake with laughter, or think about something new.” Cynthia and her husband live in Geneva, New York.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/cynthi...
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 22, 2019
This book was really inspirational. it's about how a boy is going through the situation from his point of view. The father is asked a tough question to help his family. While hiding he decides to either put his family at risk or leave his family. Overall this book is a great reminder for everyone to not take their family for granted.
November 22, 2019
This book is really inspirational. It talks about how families make sacrifices to stay together and make a living. The father makes life changing decisions. Overall it’s a great book to remind you to be great full for everything you have but most importantly your family. :)
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December 16, 2019one copy
January 16, 2021
I enjoyed this story until the ending. It just ends so abruptly and left many questions about Tyler and his family. I hate it when books do that.
May 24, 2013
SEEKING PLUMES AND HIDES
This book takes us back to the Turn-of-the Century Everglades, where 13-year-old Tyler is growing up in his second home. Although innocent of murder, father has fled from the New York City law to squat in anonymity, barely supporting his family off the swamps of the 10,00 Islands. (This story reminds me somewhat of To Walk the Sky Path, because we witness the clash between the Seminole Indians and white "culture.")
But the biggest conflict arises from Plumers (men who kill off exotic birds for their fancy feathers) and Gator Hide Hunters. Only out for profit with no regard for preservaton of species, these mercenary barbarians will kill any humans who oppose them. And the Auduboners are little better in that they have to kill specimens of rare anaimals to preserve them in museums, before the species becomes extinct! Conservation of the Everglades as a habitat has been a 90-year struggle, so the theme is timely.
Tyler is lured into acting as guide to a fancy city type who claims to be a naturalist, but Tyler's Seminole friend is suspicious and regrets that he has confided to Tyler the location of a secret rookery. The "scientific" expedition which hires him to serve as guide and artist turns out to be an elaborate masquerade to shoot the rare birds. This disastrous trip sets in motion a series of events that make Ty question his own values and wonder about the degrees of treachery exhibited by civilized man.
Tyler realizes his growing concern for the watery wilderness; he has grown to love his new home and does not want to be a part of its destruction. Some wrestle alligators for sport, but Tyler's famliy wrestles their own conscience as they face their past and consider their future--living in a web of fear and lies. This is a serious book, but one which will appeal to boys who like Survival and Adventure. On the way they, like Tyler, will also discover the Moral adventure as we look into the heart of men and boys. The attentive reader will recognize greed and ! honor, fear and loyalty, suspicion and integrity all coexisting in the human heart.
(May 6, 2020. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)
This book takes us back to the Turn-of-the Century Everglades, where 13-year-old Tyler is growing up in his second home. Although innocent of murder, father has fled from the New York City law to squat in anonymity, barely supporting his family off the swamps of the 10,00 Islands. (This story reminds me somewhat of To Walk the Sky Path, because we witness the clash between the Seminole Indians and white "culture.")
But the biggest conflict arises from Plumers (men who kill off exotic birds for their fancy feathers) and Gator Hide Hunters. Only out for profit with no regard for preservaton of species, these mercenary barbarians will kill any humans who oppose them. And the Auduboners are little better in that they have to kill specimens of rare anaimals to preserve them in museums, before the species becomes extinct! Conservation of the Everglades as a habitat has been a 90-year struggle, so the theme is timely.
Tyler is lured into acting as guide to a fancy city type who claims to be a naturalist, but Tyler's Seminole friend is suspicious and regrets that he has confided to Tyler the location of a secret rookery. The "scientific" expedition which hires him to serve as guide and artist turns out to be an elaborate masquerade to shoot the rare birds. This disastrous trip sets in motion a series of events that make Ty question his own values and wonder about the degrees of treachery exhibited by civilized man.
Tyler realizes his growing concern for the watery wilderness; he has grown to love his new home and does not want to be a part of its destruction. Some wrestle alligators for sport, but Tyler's famliy wrestles their own conscience as they face their past and consider their future--living in a web of fear and lies. This is a serious book, but one which will appeal to boys who like Survival and Adventure. On the way they, like Tyler, will also discover the Moral adventure as we look into the heart of men and boys. The attentive reader will recognize greed and ! honor, fear and loyalty, suspicion and integrity all coexisting in the human heart.
(May 6, 2020. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)
October 25, 2008
The book itself started out great, telling of the misfortunes and trials of a family who find their home in an incredible setting - Lostman's River. This beautiful place may not be everyone's dream home, but the maze of marshes and swamps of the everglades, with the bright rainbow-colored plume birds, and the lurking crocodiles that hide underneath the water provide an amazing an awe-inspiring adventure. However, the ending was not so good. I felt as if the main character completely messed up, then just left and never righted anything or made anything better. The future was uncertain, and he left behind a horrible mess that could have been resolved and been the basis for more adventures, but was turned down.
(The next bit contains spoilers) In short, he went away leaving a graveyard of beautiful birds that he did not mean to kill, his Indian friend who's last word was him was basically, "We are not brothers anymore!", another friend who he did not even get to say goodbye to, and then left Lostman's River and went home to perhaps jail while the plume birds were still hunted. Basically, he gave up, left everything behind, and decided that he would "Draw a picture for the govener and send it to him about the Everglades."
Good book, terrible ending.
(The next bit contains spoilers) In short, he went away leaving a graveyard of beautiful birds that he did not mean to kill, his Indian friend who's last word was him was basically, "We are not brothers anymore!", another friend who he did not even get to say goodbye to, and then left Lostman's River and went home to perhaps jail while the plume birds were still hunted. Basically, he gave up, left everything behind, and decided that he would "Draw a picture for the govener and send it to him about the Everglades."
Good book, terrible ending.
April 30, 2024
Not bad but not great. This book reads like it was written by a teacher for the classroom. I mean it has a moral, a purpose, definite chapter ends (meaning one chapter doesn't bleed into the next), and enough tension to excite some people but not enough to really drive anything.
One thing that stands out is near the end the parents make a decision that the child weighs in on but then totally ignore his opinion. Something that drives me nuts in real life. If you are going to make decisions that impact the kids and discuss it with them, at least consider the input that is given or don't ask for it.
Overall a mediocre novella that tells a decent story with good characters and progression. If it wasn't impregnated with conservationist mentality it would have been better. Not that conservation is a bad cause, but it was laid on a little thick.
One thing that stands out is near the end the parents make a decision that the child weighs in on but then totally ignore his opinion. Something that drives me nuts in real life. If you are going to make decisions that impact the kids and discuss it with them, at least consider the input that is given or don't ask for it.
Overall a mediocre novella that tells a decent story with good characters and progression. If it wasn't impregnated with conservationist mentality it would have been better. Not that conservation is a bad cause, but it was laid on a little thick.
October 24, 2013
gr 5-8 157pgs
1906 Lostman's River, Florida. 13 year old Tyler MacCauley's family has something to hide. When Tyler's father is accused of murder, the family flees New York to hide in Lostman's River. Tyler's mother hates living so far from "civilized society", but Tyler loves the river and the birds and animals that call it home. When Tyler is hired as a guide by Mr. Strawbridge, a stranger to the area. Tyler jumps at the chance to earn money and help out his family, but it seems that like everyone else on the river, Mr. Strawbridge is also hiding a secret.
Great story, but because a lot of birds are killed and a man is murdered I would recommend this for older readers (gr 6+). I think this story would appeal to readers who like adventure.
1906 Lostman's River, Florida. 13 year old Tyler MacCauley's family has something to hide. When Tyler's father is accused of murder, the family flees New York to hide in Lostman's River. Tyler's mother hates living so far from "civilized society", but Tyler loves the river and the birds and animals that call it home. When Tyler is hired as a guide by Mr. Strawbridge, a stranger to the area. Tyler jumps at the chance to earn money and help out his family, but it seems that like everyone else on the river, Mr. Strawbridge is also hiding a secret.
Great story, but because a lot of birds are killed and a man is murdered I would recommend this for older readers (gr 6+). I think this story would appeal to readers who like adventure.
April 15, 2009
I like this story because its about a boy that likes the place he is in and he fights to take care of his animals and plants. you would like this book if you like books about people that fighting about things they like.You could find this book in a public libery.
March 19, 2011
This was an interesting read. I read it as part of a program with my 5th graders school. I didn't like the ending as it left questions unanswered.
June 18, 2012
This was about the people who hunted egrets for their plumes in Florida during the turn of the century. Great story, especially for nature-loving kids.
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May 21, 20132222222222
July 10, 2008
Great for talking about the Everglades. Caution on language: hell and damn used often
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews