Customer Reviews

Journey to the River Sea

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you want ghosts and witches, then read any one of Ibbotson's other novels - they're all great, and perfect for Harry Potter fans. However Journey to the River Sea has its own kind of magic, and it's just as good as the stuff with wands and potions.

Maia, an orphan, is sent with her formidable but loving governess (shades of The Little White Horse) to stay with her unpleasant relations on the Amazon. They're being paid to take her in, and hate everything to do with the extraordinary country in which they find themselves as much as Maia loves it. Luckily for her, she makes friends with two boys - one a child actor playing Little Lord Fauntleroy on the boat over, the other a mysterious boy who lives in the jungle, who turns out to be the heir to a great title and fortune back in England. Maia's evil twin cousins and relations are soon plotting how to kill her and capture the boy, for whom a huge reward is being offered. But the love of her governess and friends may yet save her....

This won the Smarties Gold Prize in the UK and is expected to win the Carnegie too. It's unputdownable, packed with old-fashioned story-telling virtues from a great plot to characters you'd love to know.

Set mostly along the Amazon River, this newest book by acclaimed author Eva Ibbotson (Which Which?, Island of the Aunts) was a wonderful, enjoyable read. It is the story of the orphan Maia who leaves her British boarding school to move in with some distant relatives who live on the mighty Amazon River, or "river sea." Before she arrives, Maia imagines beautiful wildlife and exiciting adventrues, as well as being greeted by a wonderful family who will love her as one of their own. Unfortunately, this is not how things turn out, as her aunt and cousins are extremely xenophobic, and will not allow any bit of Amazonian culture to infiltrate their household. Her uncle, on the other hand, is almost completely oblivious due to his fascination with his collection of glass eyes.

Just as things are getting to be truly unbearable, Maia meets a young "Indian" boy who has a secret and needs her help to keep him from the place of his father's youth. With the help of her governess, the museum curator, and a young actor fearing his demise due to his adolescense, Maia is able to help her new friend and find the true Amazon. I highly recommend this book to all children ages 8+, and adults would probably enjoy it as well. The reading level is not difficult, and the story is definitely a page turner.

Happy reading!

This comfortable, winding story will keep you reading. Maia leaves the security of her boarding school to live with relatives in Brazil after the death of her parents. She is hoping to find a loving family and is apprehensive about leaving everything she knows to live along the wild Amazon River. Her courage is further tested when she meets Miss Minton, the serious governess who is traveling with her. The wildlife, color and scents of the Amazon are thrilling her. Unfortunately her new family smells like bug spray and they live in fear of the very Nature that amazes Maia.

The story has some fun characters, Clovis, a young English actor longing for England, Finn, a mysterious and exotic boy who lives in the jungle, and a Miss Minton, a governess who recognizes Maia's sharp mind and nurtures it. The comical twins, Beatrice and Gwendolyn, are the proverbial "ugly stepsisters."

The story has an old fashioned feel to it, in the best sense. A missing inheritance, switched identities and the setting of the Amazon rain forest intertwine as Maia and her friends search for home.

Kevin Hawkes illustrates the book, as he has other Ibbotson novels, with humor and whimsy.

OK--so there isn't a missionary anywhere in this book, but it is the type of thing that every person who has ever been on the mission field can relate to...
Before Maia leaves England to go to Brazil to live with some long lost relatives, her friends tell her about all the "bad" things she will encounter. The crocs, the piranhas and headhunters, however she does her own research and quickly finds some good to look for and tries to enlighten her friends about how she is not going to the "ends of the earth" but rather a new and exciting country where she will have great adventures.
Most of the people that Maia meets in Brazil are typical of those you will meet in a any "foreign" embassy, company, mission agency, etc. You will have those who miss trivial things about their homecountries and will never be happy. You will find those who refuse to have anything to do with the natives and their way of life and thus make both their lives and the ones of those around them miserable. You will have those who reject their native land totally (for various reason) and totally inculturate themselves...and finally you will have those like Maia and her governess who decide to look for both the good and bad, the beautiful and the ugly to make it all "real" but also live a fuller happier life.
I am so glad that a friend suggested this book to read and while it made me homesick for the Amazon, it also gave me something that I can share with my daughter about the glories of just "living" rather than simply existing.

Journey to the River Sea is the story of Maia, and orphan that is sent to Brazil to live with her aunt, uncle, and twin cousins. Maia is excited about moving, and ready to explore the Amazon and make new friends. Unfortunately, things don't turn out picture-perfect as she'd hoped. Her cousins are absolutely terrible, and her aunt and uncle are nasty people who go beyond being condescending. Maia's life is ridiculously confined for someone living in a place presenting so many opportunities for adventure. However, things begin to look up as she finds wonderful companions and stumbles into a dazzling quest. Journey to the River Sea is one of those extremely satisfying adventure stories, and while the way it's put together is familiar, it is still an original read. Those who think that it is boring must learn that not all good books are laugh-and-explosion-a-minute stories. This book is filled with charm, and you won't regret reading it. Pick it up with an open mind and you will be very pleased, trust me!

This delightful novel takes place in 1910, and tells the story of Maia Fielding, an orphan living in a boarding school in England. Maia receives news from her guardian that she has relatives living in Brazil, on a plantation near the exotic Amazon River. Maia is sent to live with them, accompanied by her governess, Miss Minton. Once there, Maia finds that her relatives, the Carters, are not what she expected. Mr. Carter, a cadaverous man with a collection of glass eyeballs, is heavily in debt, taking Maia in only for her wealth. Mrs. Carter is a plump woman, obsessed with money and keeping Brazilian influences out of her household. Their twin daughters, Beatrice and Gwendolyn, are like their mother in their love of money, and in their fear and dislike of the jungle and its natives. Maia, however, is enthralled by the jungle.. She befriends the mysterious, half-Indian boy, Finn, and a young actor named Clovis, who is worried about losing his job in adolescence. Soon, Maia, Miss Minton, Finn, and Clovis are caught up in a plot involving Finn's relatives at Westwood (an estate in England), two unpleasant Englishmen, and a trip down the Amazon River. This wonderful story provides a likeable heroine, easy-to-dislike villains, and a host of various other characters, all easy to relate to. Kevin Hawkes' ink illustrations are interesting, and provide clear images of the story.

I'm almost done with this book, and I am really enjoying it. I have read all of Eva Ibbotsons books expect Dial-A-Ghost, which I plan to read soon. Because it doesn't have magic, like the others, I was a little disaponited. But it's a wonderful adventure story and I highly reccomend it.

Orphaned Maia is sent to live with her creepy relatives in exotic Brazil. This wonderful story has great characterization, especially of the twins (who remind me of the twins in Gormenghast.) It also boasts excellent research and description of life and scenery near the Amazon. It's a good story, though the end is a bit hard to believe.

LOoking for an adventerous but challenging book? Eva Ibbotsons book Journey to the River Sea is and exciting story about a young girl named Maia who is sent to live in the Amamzon because of all of her money as well as because her parents passed away. She is nervous about her journey when she finds out how different her governess or nanny/teacher is far from her daydreams of a pleasent and exciting mentor. But, she soon learns to love her governess, Miss Minton or "MInty." With many exciting journeys and daydreams that really do come true, like traveling down the Amamzon river and many other exciting journeys, this book is one that you'll never want to set down- and I really mean it! I was thrilled to find a book that had so many different ways of keeping your attention,from one chapter to the next. With happy, sad, and thrilling parts, this book is a great chioce for skilled and active readers. Enjoy this exciting journey to the Amazon!!

Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson is a great book. It includes adventure, suspense, friendship, a missing heir, nasty twins, jungles, and money hungry relatives. This book is set in Brazil and along the Amazon River in 1910. The main character, Maia, is sent from her boarding in London to live with her distant relatives in Brazil. Maia's travel mate is a strict looking woman named Miss Minton. Maia is excited to meet her distant aunt and uncle and becomes even more excited when she hears they have twin girls who are about her age. While onboard the ship taking them to Brazil Maia and Miss Minton meet a young boy named Clovis who works for a theater troop. Clovis is beginning to grow up and is beginning to have problems playing young children because his voice begins to crack. Maia befriends Clovis and the two part sadly after Clovis tells Maia when to see his show. Maia expects to see beautiful jungles and wonderful animals at her aunt and uncle's plantation and is surprised when the plantation turns out to be as British as the home she left, with the trees cleared away, a British style house, and food imported from England. Still Maia has hope that her relatives might be as wonderful as she imagined, but is proved wrong. Her aunt and uncle, the Carters, end up only wanting Maia for her money and the twins hate Maia from the start. Miss Minton proves to be a true friend to Maia and helps her get out of the boring strictly British school lessons that she is forced to take. Maia befriends the natives who work on the plantation and soon meets a boy named Finn. But there is a mystery behind Finn, the son of a famous naturalist, involving a terrible place called Whitehall and people hired to find him and bring him to Whitehall. Clovis comes back into the story when his acting troop performs at the local theater. He is playing the part of a little boy and his voice cracks in the middle of the most touching part of the play. He comes to Maia and Miss Minton for help after his theater troop kicks him out. He gets acquainted with Finn and a plot begins to evolve between Clovis who wants to go back to England and Finn who wants to escape England and those hunting him down. Will Maia escape the Carters? Will Finn get caught? What will happen to Clovis? You have to read this book to find out.
I would recommend this book to everyone because it includes everything necessary to make a great story. It is also mysterious and suspenseful and had me guessing till the end. I would recommend this book to any gender because it includes aspects appealing to boys and girls such as adventure and mystery. I think Journey to the River Sea is most appropriate for people ages 10 to 14. I would not recommend this book to somebody who likes a predictable safe and short book because Journey to the River Sea is anything but that. I would recommend it to anybody who likes mystery, adventure, friendship, and relatives of the same ilk as the Dursleys from Harry Potter. Journey to the River Sea is an amazing book that I think everyone will enjoy.