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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Philbrick, Rodman

Wild River

208 pp. | Scholastic | March, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-338-64727-3 $17.99
(2) 4-6 Somehow, Daniel Redmayne, a pale, skinny sixth grader with glasses, is selected for a "Project Future Leaders" whitewater rafting adventure in Montana, involving five kids and two adult supervisors. The tone is set on day one, when the leaders decide to abandon their planned destination and head instead for the (ominously named) Crazy River. However, the group’s phone isn't working, and no one at home base knows where they are. That night, after they've made camp, a nearby dam breaks, the river floods, the adults are washed away, and the quest for survival begins. Like characters in a downriver Lord of the Flies, the kids divide into two warring parties, one side attacks with sharpened sticks, and the social contract is abandoned. It's not exactly survival of the fittest, though, as Daniel is hardly the rugged type, but he finds that "having two wicked smart, courageous girls for friends is totally great." As demonstrated in Wildfire (rev. 9/19), Philbrick is a master of the fast-paced easy read adventure story, keeping the sentences short and the action verbs plentiful. Daniel's first-person narration is divided into seven days and recounts how mountain lions, bears, a bully, hunger, and death stalk the group. The simple-seeming story raises moral questions that might get readers pondering big ideas. What is the nature of right? What is a hero? Can a lie be a good thing? The back matter includes survival tips (best read before heading out to the river).
Reviewer: Dean Schneider

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