Customer Reviews

Riding the Flume (Aladdin Historical Fiction)

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History may not be one of the funnest subjects to learn about, but it is certainly one of the most interesting. I have found, though, that I mostly find myself excited about learning only about big and important historical events that had drastic effects on all of our lives and helped shape our country to become what it is today. That is why when I read the back of "Riding the Flume", a story that takes place in 1894 during a time when all the giant sequias were being cut down to provide lumber, I didn't know how interested the book would get me. I had heard nothing but good about it, though, so I decided to read it. "Riding the Flume" has now become one of my all time favorite books. The author took this little known yet extremely important part of history and created a breath taking story that will make you laugh, go red in the face with intense anger, warm your heart and make you cry. The author had a way of tying in human emotions and realistic events in such a beautiful way that one couldn't help but feel like they were there. I felt more like I was watching a film, what with all the detailed description. The story is absolutly moving. When Francie,the main character, looses her sister in a tragic accident, her family is changed forever. But when she and her cousin Charlie discover a tree that looks as though it has been growing since the beggining of time and find that hidden somewhere in the mountains is a will that says the tree belongs the Carrie, her sister, Francie will risk everything she once held dear to keep the loggers away from the tree and keep the spirit of her dead sister alive. I hardly even realized the learning going on in my mind as I read the book, because I was so engulfed in the story. "Riding the Flume" is gorgeous and unforgettable, and I would not hesitate to recomend it to anyone who is looking for a good read and an exilirating, life changing experiance.

Riding the Flume is one of the best books I have ever read! It is about a 15-year-old girl named Francie whose sister died in a landslide six years ago. She lives in California in 1894 where the sequoia trees are being chopped down for lumber. Francie one day finds a note written by her sister in a sequoia stump. She tries to figure out what Carrie's secret is. When Francie finds Carrie's diary, she discovers that a man named Old Robert left the largest sequoia to Carrie in his will. When the huge tree is discovered, the loggers plan to cut it down. Francie has to somehow stop them, so that the last thing left of Carrie is not lost. She must get to St. Joseph so she can show Mr. Court the will to prove that the loggers have no right to cut it down. Francie has no way to get there, unless she rides the flume. Will she risk her life to save Carrie's tree? Will she be able to stop the loggers before the tree is gone? Read this book to find out!

From 1890 to 1903, some of the largest and finest redwood trees in California were cut down, some leaving stumps as big as a 2-car garage, or bigger. Riding the Flume is an exciting fiction story about a logging town where everyone's livelihood depended upon the redwood lumber, and a 15-year-old girl who sets out to save one of the biggest.

The lumber company boss would not believe Francie when she claimed her family's ownership of the tract of land where the towering giant redwood stood, and they planned to start cutting it down in the morning. Her only hope was to get the deed from the land office in St. Joseph, 30 miles away down the mountain, and bring the sheriff to enforce the deed. But it would take a day to get down the mountain on horseback, and another day to get back up. How could she save her precious tree by tomorrow morning?

To get the logs from high in the mountains down to the lumber mills as much as 50 miles below, the logging companies build flumes -- wooden chutes with water flowing in them several feet deep. The flumes were mounted on a framework or scaffolding so that they could bridge out over ravines and have a fairly consistent downhill slope. Their appearance was somewhat like a rollercoaster that is all downhill, and the logs floated -- with occasional log jams -- all the way down.

I have seen these majestic redwood giants, and was horrified to read of the destruction of the 2000-year-old forests. The tree Francie protected still stands, though, and can be seen today.

The story of how Francie saved her tree will delight girls ages 10-15 (and older!)

Riding the Flume is an historical fiction book which is very exciting and suspenseful.This book is about a 15 year old girl, in the year 1894,who finds a note in an old sequoia stump. The note was written by her older sister, who was killed 6 years ago in a land slide. With that note, she embarked on an a whole new adventure to save her sister's tree, probably the largest sequoia tree in world. Soon, she was faced with a choice, between life and death. Either give up, or ride the flume in order to save her sister's secret, a secret that's about to die, that has been presurved in the pages of her sister's diary far too long.

I loved this book because of the suspense of a life threatening choice. One thing I really liked was the main character. She claims she's not like her sister, but she really is. She denies it but at the end she learns to accept it.

Honestly, I dont't think there is anything that I would change in this book. It's absolutely marvelous!

I love this book it is one of the best ones I have ever read.This story is about a young girl named Francie,and she lives in Northern California in 1894.When Francie's older sister Carrie dies in a landslide then their whole family has problems her dad is very upset and her mom is to.When Mr.Court comes to town then he tells Francie to count the rings on the old Sequia tree. When Francie gets to the stump she finds a note from her sister,Carrie wrote the note six years ago. When Francie returns home she goes serching for her sisters diary when she finds it she reads it.Then she found out that someone gave Carrie a tree the only way to find out if it is hers it to find out if the will is real so then Frncie has to go to Mr. Court to see if it is real..To find out what happens in the rest of the story you might want to read it.

In 1894, Francie found a note, written by her sister, in a hole in a stump. This was shocking because her sister had died 6 years before. The note inspired 15-year-old Francie to try to solve the mystery of her sister's past. Francie went to her cousin Charlie for advice. He told her to find and read Carrie's diary. It turned out that Carrie owned a giant sequoia, but a logging company was felling all of these giant trees. Francie wanted to preserve her sister's tree, but she had to prove it was her sister's and get somebody to make the lumber company stop. In the end she had to risk her own life for that tree's life. Did she make it? You'll find out when you read Patricia Curtis Pfitsch's Riding the Flume.

The great sequoias were coming down, but one of them was Francie's sister's, how can Francie save her dead sister's tree? Francie is a girl of about 11 who is totally about saving the sequoias. When Francie discovers a huge tree (That was her sister's), she knows the Lumber Company will want to cut it down. Somehow, word gets out, Francie now has to choose between risking her life and riding the flume, or watching her sister's last treasure fall down. This book was action packed with adventure all over it.
This was a very emotional book. It would have you crying for one second, and jumping for joy the next. When the Lumber Company was about to cut the tree down it was awefully sad. But when Francie rode the flume safely it was wonderful.
You never could tell what was going to happen. You would think you'd know what was going to happen, and then the exact opposite happened. Like when Francie had to ask her Father for permission to climb the mountain, you thought he would say no, but instead he said yes! Or when Francie climbed the mountain, you'd feel sure she'd find the man who wrote the will, but instead she actually finds the tree!
This was a very adventurous book. Francie would never be doing something normal, she'd allways be doing something abnormal. Like instead of just getting a ride to the other town, she rode the flume!
This book was very adventurous with action all around. It was great; anyone would have a great time reading it. As for now, it recieves two thumbs up!
-Anne Marie Lindemann

The great sequoias were coming down, but one of them was Francie's sister's, how can Francie save her dead sister's tree? Francie is a girl of about 11 who is totally about saving the sequoias. When Francie discovers a huge tree, (That was her sister's) she knows the Lumber Company wil want to tear it down. Somehow, word gets out, Francie now chooses between riding the flume to save the tree, or watching her sister's last trasure fall down. This book was action packed with adventure all over it.
This was a very emotional book. It would have you crying for one second, and jumping for joy the next. When the Lumber Company was about to cut the tree down it was very sad. But when Francie rode the flume safely it was wonderful.
You never could tell what was going to happen. YOu would think you'd know what was going to happen, and then the exact opposite happened. Like when Francie would climb the mountain to find the cabin but find the tree instead.
This was a very adventurous book. Francie would never be doing something normal, she'd always be doing something abnormal. Like instead of just getting a ride to go to the other town, she rode the flume!
This book was very adventurous with action all around. It was great; anyone would have a good time reading it. As for now, it receices two thumbs UP!

Book Review


How would you feel if you were living a happy and your family was very close especially you and your sister and suddenly she dies? That is what happened to Rebecca and the thing is that everyone expects her to forget her sister ever exsisted. Since she found her sister's diary Rebecca has been finding very hard to forget about her. This diary leads her to do something so dangerous that it may kill her.....riding the log flume. The task that will not put her in danger, but open her eyes to her sister's secret life. Rebecca has been very unhappy since her sister died. Most of the time she has been find herself just counting the rings of a recently cut down Giant Redwood tree stump. Then one night when she was in her sister's old room she finds her sister's diary and reads it. She finds outher sister had a love affair with a local farm boy who now works cutting down the trees Rebecca loves. Riding is a great book for thoes who love suspense and heartrending story about how a young girl strives to save the trees she loves and at the same time learn more of her sister's secret life. This book is a wonderful read for people of all ages.

Riding The Flume is a suspenseful story. When she was in her sister's room when her mother distinctively told her not to be in there. Then she hears footsteps and you have to wonder if she will be caught or not. One time Rebecca was in the woods when some men had to come cut a tree and where she was hiding was right in the falling path of that massive tree. Also when she was up in the place where her sister and her love went ever so often when she found out that the boy her sister had already moved on just feet away from her.

This book is also an exciting story. It was exciting when she had to decide whether or not to ride the flume or be caught by the workers close behind her. An even more exciting part was when she was actually riding the log flume, because she had to dodge branches that would knock her off the log she was riding and send her falling to her death. When she came to the end of her ride and she had to jump off before she was crushed by the log she was riding.

Riding The Flume is a heartrending story. Towards the beginning when her mother had to tell Rebecca that the sister she was very close to had died.When the beloved trees she had grown to love started being destroyed it hurt her to see them harming she loved. At the end when her mother finally found her after she had been missing and heard the ordeal she had been through she showered her with hugs and kisses.

Riding The Flume is a great and wonderful read for people of all ages. This is the book you must read if you want to read a suspenseful, exciting, and heartrending story that would make you want to read it over and over again.
A. Johnson

Riding the Flume is exciting at times and boring at others but over all it was a good book. I liked it because it was a thrilling mystery and the author puts some historical facts in the book.

It starts out when a girl named Francie is counting the rings of a very old sequoia tree. She was climbing down from the stump and she discovered a letter that looked like her sisters hand writing. The only thing was that her sister has been dead for six years. She then asked her cousin Charlie if he thought it was for him and he said it could have been but he wasn't sure. The letter said to meet Carrie, Francies older sister, at Turkey Fork so thats where Francie and Charlie went. There they found a burned down house and the hugest sequoia tree either of them have ever seen. They didn't tell anyone else about the tree. Fracie thought it would be a good idea to have Carries diary so she could find out a little more information about her sister.She found it in Carries wardrobe in a secret compartment. Francie read just about the whole diary in one night. She found that the giant tree was really Carries. Old Robert, the ouner of the burned down home, gave it to her. The lumber company found it so Francie told them about how the tree was her sisters.She needed more infomatoin to support that statement so the lumber company planned on cutting it down in a couple days.The first thing Francie did was look for a deed to the tree and she found one. Now all she needed was Mr. Court, the person she was counting the rings for, because he was the one who could tell the lumber company they can't cut down the tree. The lumber company was going to cut down the tree the next day so Francie had two choices. Either give up or ride the flume to get Mr.Court. She chose to ride the flume. She made it on time and stopped the lumber company from cutting down her sisters tree. I would recommend this bookto a person who likes suspence and mysteries in a book.