White Water [Hardcover]

P.J. Petersen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1997 | Age Level: 8 and up

Greg's rafting trip with his father turns into a life-and-death ordeal when Greg's father is bitten by a rattlesnake, and the boy must find a way to overcome his fear of the rapids and get his father to a doctor."

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7. Greg's parents divorced when he was very young, and he lives with his mother in San Francisco. His father lives 200 miles away with his second wife and son. Once a month, Greg and his Dad spend a Saturday together, alternating the choice of activity. Greg, a smart but fearful kid, is appalled when his father announces plans for a two-day, character-building, white-water rafting outing with both sons. Soon after the trip begins, when Greg has barely had time to learn the basics, his father is bitten by a rattlesnake, and the boys' real adventure begins. Realizing that they can't wait for help to come to them, the youngsters pull together and push forward on a course that will test their courage, ingenuity, and physical strength. Petersen creates and sustains sympathetic characters, and involves them in situations where their mettle can be truly tested. Readers will be quickly caught up in the action and carried along through the rapids and boulders to the very end. It is particularly pleasing to find an excellent adventure story written at a level that younger readers can handle, and that will keep older readers fully engaged.?Darcy Schild, Schwegler Elementary School, Lawrence, KS
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. This white-water rafting adventure skims along at a breathless clip. Apprehensive about being on the river in the first place, hundreds of miles from his comfortable San Francisco home, wimpy Greg suddenly finds himself in charge when his father is bitten by a rattlesnake. Knowing that the landing is a long day's journey away, but that it will be at least two days before anyone else comes along, Greg chooses the lesser of two evils; with the help of his younger half-brother, James, he drags his semiconscious father into the raft and heads downstream. With no snakebite kit on board, the two boys watch his condition steadily worsen as they struggle to navigate unknown rapids, then face near disaster when the raft overturns. So tightly does Petersen pull the tension that the late appearance of a bear comes as an anticlimax. It's a wet, wild ride, but all turns out well, and when a serious earthquake hits months afterward, Greg discovers that he's learned how to keep his cool in an emergency--an inner change that wraps his story up neatly. John Peters

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; 1st edition (June 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689806647
• ISBN-13: 978-0689806643
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,039,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting and realistic for the middle schooled reader, January 7, 2000

By 

jwinter - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Water (Paperback)

White Water is a story about a boy named Greg whose parents are divorced. He only gets to see his father one weekend a month. When he visits his father each month, they both switch off and pick what they are going to do. This time it was his fathers pick and he picked to go white water rafting, at first he was against Greg was against the idea of going so was his mother. When his parents found out he was listeningin on their conversation about this they made him go. To find out what happens on this adventure i strongly recommend getting this book and reading it u won't regret it.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest book ever, February 11, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: White Water (School & Library Binding)

I thought this book was very action-packed.It really made me want to go white water rafting.When I read the first page of that book,I knew it was going to be really cool.So,if you like white water rafting books,then this is the book for you.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He and His Father's Vacation, October 15, 2003

By 

Brandon Frenzel (Falls City, NE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Water (Paperback)

I like this book because it had a kid in there just like me that helped his father out. His father got bitten by a snake and his son rafted all the way back to the yellow bus. Then his father went to the hospital and the two sons went to see him. His father said "Next time when we go on vacation, you can pick where ever you want to go."