Journey to the River Sea

This was a fun adventure story with a memorable setting and characters, well-crafted language that was by turns evocative, suspenseful, funny and heartwarming. The twists and turns of the plot kept it exciting, ringing some clever changes on the usual “orphan stranded in nasty family” story, and rewarding us in the end with the perfect ending for everyone. The books of Frances Hodgson Burnett are an obvious inspiration–Little Lord Fauntleroy is explicitly referenced, but A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and even The Lost Prince are in the background too. Ibbotson makes the genre her own, though, with her own excellent storytelling. The romantic, somewhat patronizing view of the “Indians” is an unfortunate flaw, but the powerful sense of the wonders of nature will hopefully make an even stronger impression on young readers.