Customer Reviews

Backwater

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I enjoyed "Rules of the Road" more, but this book has much to offer as well. I like the emphasis on being able to make your own decisions about your life and on facing your fears. It also discusses the importance of family (present and past) and good communication. As always, Bauer's central character is a strong-minded female who has more on her mind than boys and being popular. But romance isn't exactly the last thing on her mind, either! A fine sense of humor, both Bauer's and her characters', is evident throughout.

If I could, I'd give this book 3.5 stars rather than 3. But I found it a little too didactic and overstated at times to rate it higher. Bauer sometimes simply worked too hard when making her points. And the editing is very poor. I'm not sure if the possessive "its" is used correctly anywhere in the book. Instead, we get "it's". We also get spelling errors such as "peek" for "peak". One grammatical/spelling error in a book can be overlooked, but a dozen can't and shouldn't be.

"Backwater" By Joan Bauer

Reveiw by Emily

If you like an adventure story you would love this one. When the author Joan Bauer writes her books she must love to write about a main character that wants an andventure. This book was one I would definitely write an excellent review for.

This book was about a girl about 16 named Ivy. She was brought up in a family of lawyers because thats what almost everyone in the family was. Except her mother. Her mother was a social worker for a big company named New York's Department of social services. But her mom died when she was about 6 years old. Ivy to me is a very adventurous but a little secretive about her true feelings of being a lawyer. Insted of being a lawyer she wants to be a Historian.

The setting in this book starts when she is at her home and ends when she is at home. But in the middle she is very far away from home. Through the book she is set out to find a long lost aunt, Aunt Josphine. Her aunt didn't want to be a lawyer either. Her aunt had always liked birds. No one in the family ever talked about her much, just a few words here and there. When family members discribed Ivy they would say "Just like Josephine". Ivy of course didn't know a lot about her just that being compared to Josephine wasn't meant to be a compliment.

I like the way Joan Bauer writes this story because it's about a girl with an unusual problem. Not a problem that many people would have to deal with in their everyday life.

One thing that I didn't like about the book was how you would read one section but have to go back and read it again to understand it to the fullest.

I would categorize this book in the adventure section. I would do that because of all the problems the main character faces. Also way Ivy deals with the problems. The story was full of adventures.

I would defiitely recommend this book to someone that likes an adventurous story. It seemed the pages just kept turning as you read. I plan on reading other stories that Joan Bauer has written like "Rules of the Road."

Ivy's living in a family full of lawyers, and they all want her to become a lawyer too. She doesn't want that. She wants to become a historian. She's making a family tree of the Breedlove family and she finds a missing aunt, Josephine. Nobody in her family will talk about Josephine except for Tib. Her whole family says that Jo is "stuck in the Backwater." Ivy wants to talk to her aunt so she goes on a hunt into the mountains to find her with some help from Mountain Mama. It's a very good story and it has humor, adventure, and a little romance. Joan Bauer writes another great story!!!

Thsi book is awesome! Stuck in a family that have been lawyers for generations, Ivy Breeedlove feels out of place. How couldn't she? For insted of wanting to be a lawyer, Ivy has a passion for history and wants more then anything to become a historian. When her Great Aunt asks her to complete the family history, Ivy jumps for her chance at finally starting to become a historian. Soon Ivy realizes that there is an aunt that no one talks about, another person who broke the mold of lawyers. An aunt who's missing a few screws and is stuck in the "backwater." It is then that Ivy, determined to find her aunt, sets out for a journey through the mountains and finds her aunt, as well as wolves, love, birds, and the danger that the mountain can bring. Read this book and become sucked in with the vivid descriptions and great dialouge.

Ivy Breedlove is sixteen and she has made up her mind that she will become a historian, despite what her family wants. The Breedloves have been lawyers for generations. Only one aunt broke the mold, that aunt knew, like Ivy, that she couldn't become a lawyer, and she knew it wasn't fair of her family to force her to do so. Backwater teaches lessons, about family, history, life, and expectations. Backwater is also really exciting and suspenseful. All the characters in Backwater, are realistic and each have unique traits that make the book more interesting.

Ivy feels no one in her family understands her, and she may be right, her family is full of characters, but none quite understand her. Her father, a lawyer with an ego, strongly believes, and preaches that law is the only acceptable profession. His brother Archie is also a lawyer, and they enjoy debating which of them is the best. Neither Ivy's father nor his brother have any interest in history, but Fiona, Archie's wife is the worst. She thinks that history is a waste of time, and that family histories should be short, videotaped, and unhistorical. Ivy's cousins are no different; they all want to be lawyers and couldn't care less about the past. Ivy feels quite alone and misunderstood, even her best friend thinks history is a waste of time. One day over Christmas break, Ivy is doing research in the family graveyard and notice wreaths on the Breedlove family graves. An old family friend tells Ivy it was her aunt that decorated the graves. Ivy knows what she has to do.

Ivy is going on a hunt, a suspenseful quest. She must find her aunt. One suspenseful part was when Ivy consults the town records. Ivy flips through the names to "B", the aunt she is looking for is not registered. But "Backwater" catches her eye because it is an old family saying. The address is in the mountains and because of the snow, the difficult hike, and the wild animals, Ivy will need a guide to find the aunt she's never met. She does all to complete the family history. The guide, Mountain Mama, plans on writing a book about her adventurous hikes. Mountain Mama never yet had lost a hiker and didn't plan to lose one now. Ivy began her hike she meets another hiker, Jack, who is training to become a park ranger. When Mountain Mama and Ivy finally reach Ivy's aunt, Mountain Mama goes off hiking and plans to return two days latter to pick Ivy up. Perhaps the most exciting part was when Ivy meets her aunt Josephine who is a hermit, she lives alone because that's how she likes it. She cares for birds that are injured or sick, she has a pet wolf that was raised in captivity and couldn't be returned to the wild. Every six months she hikes down for supplies and food. She changed her last name to Backwater when she moved because of the way her family treated her.

Ivy learns a lot from her aunt. She learns to enjoy nature. She learns that her father is a very kind man, and that he enjoys law because he likes protecting the innocent. She learns he loves to fish. One night during a fierce blizzard a tree falls on Josephine's cabin, it goes through the roof and crushes Josephine's leg! Ivy uses a first aid book and learns the wound must be treated in a hospital because it can be fatal. Ivy learns a lot about herself while crossing the frozen lake while pulling her aunt on a sleigh. The ice begins to crack, and she learns a lot about bravery. Jack the park ranger in training and Mountain Mama help her from the shore, but all they can do is offer reassurance.

A helicopter comes to rescue Josephine and Ivy, who becomes unconscious. They are both in the hospital, but both come out alive. Over a school break some of Ivy's cousins, aunts, and uncles, Ivy, and Ivy's dad go up to help Josephine rebuild her cabin. Ivy learns a lot of lessons about herself, her family, and history. She goes through some suspenseful parts and meets some interesting characters, in addition to those in her own family. Ivy is very glad to have met Josephine and now knows she can be different then her family. She ends up falling in love with Jack the park ranger in training. Over all it was okay, but a little to unrealistic. I recommend this book to boys or girls, looking for a quick read. Backwater would be best for ages 13-15.

-C.GOGGINS

Backwater.

Fantastic book for all ages! This book was amazing.

ISBN#0-698-11865-0

Wow, this book is a really good book for all ages specially teenagers who have trouble finding themselves sometimes.

Backwater is a book about a girl named Ivy Breedlove and her family.

When her aunt is determined to make a family movie Ivy realizes that is sort of a sore thumb in her family because if the way she thinks about life. Since most of her family is involved in law she is expected to keep what has become a tradition for her family. Ivy starts to realize that she is being compared to some else in her family who everybody despises because she also thought different. Most of all Ivy notices that in her family having your own opinion that might disappoint your family is bad or having a thought of not just becoming an attorney could well be considered that you don't like tradition.

When taking a break during the movie she discovers that there was somebody like her in her strange family of attorneys who happened to not be an attorney. Ivy is now going on a mission trying to find this long lost aunt of hers who thought different about life and what she could do with it. Ivy is on a mission trying to find out why this "Backwater" of aunt is.

In this book it talks about the journey of Ivy and the determination she had trying to find out why this family did this , was it to be different, or was it because she was tired of trying to be the same person everybody else already was.

This book is definitely realistic fiction because this could happen to anyone and it takes you through an adventure that any teenager might have taken.

I recommend this book because when reading this book you will end up finding hidden messages or very good life lessons hat anyone might find useful. Most important of all is that it talks about how being different and having your own opinions is a good thing. Also it talks about how being normal to you might be considered being weird to others but you have the right to think whatever you want to think.

This book might be great at all ages but I really think that this book would be excellent for teenagers because it is hard for them sometimes because you' re afraid to show how you truly feel because of fear or fear of being judged.

When reading this book I was sort of wandering of during the begging but then once the story started to get interesting I think that this book was well written. I think that I wandered of for a bit because it was a slow begging but rather than that it was a well written book.

This book is a delightful quick read, and explores fulfilling personal dreams at the risk of disappointing family expectations. Teenager Ivy Breedlove wants to be an historian, although her family has a proud and extensive tradition of lawyering. Ivy's Aunt Tib encourages her to start with a thorough family history, while her father belittles her aspirations and assails her with threats and challenges to uphold the legal heritage. When Ivy's dogged research reveals that her father's long lost sister Josephine resides in the neighboring mountains, he finally concedes to her wishes. With the help of a memorable wilderness guide known as Mountain Mama, part amazon and part drill sergeant, Ivy succeeds in reaching the remote cabin where Josephine lives. Along the way she meets Jack, a would-be forest ranger who, like herself, is struggling to demonstrate his competence for his dream job. Ivy learns many lessons on the mid-winter hiking trip, especially that holding fast to her dream can be a source of unexpected family pride.

This was definitely one of the greatest books that I've ever read. If you're a female looking for a good read check out Backwater about a girl trying desperately to get her father to understand that she's not just like the rest of her family. On a trip to meet her hermit aunt she ends up learning important life lessons about herself!

While reading Backwater, I couldn't put it down. It kept me entertained, and also gave a special lesson to what is important in life.

This moving adventurous book is about a girl seaking for the missing link in there family. Ivy loves history but is brought up in a family of lawers. Ivy is working on a family history project. She tells her family that she is going to find her missing anut. No one takes her seriouy but her dad decides to let her go anyways. Ivy goes on an adventure to find her anut with a crazy moutain guide. This book has a great adventure stroy line to it but also tells you the real meaning of what family can mean to someone.