Follow the River

Gr 3-6–Could you canoe down a river, by yourself, for over 100 miles in four days to get help for your friend and his father? Could you do it in unfamiliar terrain? Could you do it in the midst of a forest fire? Welcome to Tom’s life; he’s having a rough go of it. While it is not necessary to have read Surviving Bear Island, it would help readers understand Tom and the life events that have led up to this trip with his best friend, Billy, and Billy’s father. In this action-packed adventure, chapters are very short, contain some illustrations, and often end on a cliffhanger, making this a solid choice for reluctant readers. Greci toes the line between abrupt and drawn out, with the action seemingly never slowing down for Tom throughout the entire book, but chapters end quickly and often switch time and perspective to other characters. Tom is an unrealistically rational child suffering through one event after another, which readers may find unbelievable. No characters are really described, but Tom is depicted as white on cover art.