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River Boy (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Rafal Olbinski (Illustrator) "It didn't start with the river boy..." (more)
Key Phrases: river boy

4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Hardcover $12.48 Usually ships within 6 to 11 days. Published May 31, 2000	Hardcover	$12.48	$4.95	$0.01
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Paperback, Large Print Available from these sellers. Published February 28, 1999	Paperback, Large Print	--	--	$9.53
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Mass Market Paperback $5.99 In Stock. Published December 31, 2001 Mass Market Paperback: A smaller paperback commonly used for bestsellers and genre fiction.	Mass Market Paperback	$5.99	$0.92	$0.01
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"She needed to swim. To be deprived of swimming would be like a perverse kind of drowning. She loved the sensation of power and speed, the feeling of glistening in a bed of foam." Jess is a passionate distance swimmer, and has been looking for a unique water challenge to test her endurance. But when her adored grandfather, an irascible artist, suffers a heart attack, she focuses all her energy on making him well.

Though weak and perhaps dying, her grandfather insists that the family still take their planned vacation--a trip to the rural countryside where he spent his boyhood. There, Jess finds a river that is perfect for swimming, the same river that is the inspiration for her grandfather's latest painting, titled River Boy. As the shadowy image of a boy takes shape on her grandfather's canvas, Jess encounters her own river boy, a mysterious young man who seems to be able to swim as well as she does. In discovering how the two "river boys" are related, Jess finds both the swimming challenge she has been searching for and a graceful way to cope with her grandfather's passing.

British author Tim Bowler gently illustrates the fear of a loved one's passing by using a river's timeless flow as a metaphor for the journey of life. Teens will relate to Jess's frustration with her lack of control over her grandfather's situation, while being moved to a better understanding and acceptance of death. River Boy is the winner of the 1998 Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's literature. (Ages 11 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

From Publishers Weekly

Jess is 15 years old, the same age as her grandfather was when he lost both parents in a fire and moved away from his childhood home by the river. Now growing frail, his last wish is to return to the river and finish his last painting, entitled River Boy. Grandpa calls Jess his muse; she counts on him to cheer her on at her swim meets. As they commence their vacation, the unfinished painting troubles Jess, more so as she begins to sense a mysterious presence on the river. Then she begins to see the river boy himself, waiting for her, asking for her assistance in a special mission. The narrative builds too slowly, and some of the passages seem out of character or overblown (e.g., a few times Jess's parents mention that they feel they're neglecting her; Jess tells the river boy, "Stay a mystery a little longer. I can't take any more truth right now"). However, Bowler's (The Midget) 1998 Carnegie Medal winner succeeds in conveying the strong bond between Jess and her grandfather; as the novel unfolds, she realizes they have more in common than she'd ever imagined. Ages 12-up. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry; 1st edition (June 1, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0689829086
ISBN-13: 978-0689829086
Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,948,614 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
It didn't start with the river boy. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
river boy

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Citations (learn more)

10 books cite this book:

The Feminine Subject in Children's Literature by C Wilkie-Stibbs on 4 pages
Text Generation: Student Book Level 1 by Frances Gregory on page 11
Storm Catchers by Tim Bowler in Front Matter
Reading and Writing Across Content Areas by Roberta L. Sejnost on page 130
The Complete Guide to Becoming an English Teacher by Mr Stephen R Clarke on page 303

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	89% buy the item featured on this page: River Boy 4.7 out of 5 stars (6) $12.48
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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliantly touching and mystical masterpiece, May 9, 2000

By	Stacey Legge (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: River Boy (Galaxy Children's Large Print) (Paperback)

Tim Bowler portrays the relationship between Jess and her Grandpa with sensitivity but at no time does it become over-sentimental. There are many mystical, spiritual and emotional elements to this book that make it a book which is accessible on so many levels. I am 21 years old and read this book because I had to study it as part of my teaching degree but would definately put it into my top ten - it reminded me so much of my relationship with my own grandad. This will most certainly become a classic in children's literature

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ride the river..., July 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: River Boy (Mass Market Paperback)

The book is about Jess and her ill grandfather. Jess's grandfather just had a heart attack, but before dying, he wishes to complete a painting. To him, painting is like breathing, and w/o finishing it, he would die unfulfilled. The painting is named River Boy, and shortly after, Jess starts seeing this River Boy. For Jess, it is a long ride to let go of her grandfather and to understand the past of this mysterious "river boy".
The book is a good quick read, so that afterwards you can reflect on its meaning. It has a slight deepness that's attractive, but not too much, so that it doesn't make the reader sink. Instead, it is slow, gentle, yet enticing. Enjoy it.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Grandfather Granddaugter Relationship, June 1, 2007

By	A. Luciano (Lowell, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: River Boy (Mass Market Paperback)

Jess' grandfather is acting very strangely. He has always been grumpy and irritable--that's no different from usual. He has always been a painter, too, obsessed with finishing a painting he's started and especially nasty to those around him until he does manage to find the inspiration to finish it. But the painting he's working on now is not in his usual style, and this one has a name: "River Boy." He's never named one of his paintings before. To make matters even stranger, he has insisted his son and daughter-in-law and granddaughter Jess go on a vacation to the place he lived growing up. The family drives for hours and moves into a small cottage by a river that starts up beyond them and eventually flows down into the ocean. Jess, an excellent swimmer who craves time in the water, loves the location and the river.

Jess' parents are worried, though. Before they left, Jess' grandfather had a heart attack. He insisted on being let out of the hospital in order to go on vacation, but their vacaton spot is so secluded, they worry he will have another heart attack and won't be able to get to a hospital again in time. Her grandfather is fixated on one thing--finishing the painting he's started. It seems to be the only goal he has left in life, but it becomes more and more difficult as he gets weaker and weaker. Jess is torn. She doesn't know how to help him or what he needs. Furthermore, there seems to be a mystery surrounding this place. She keeps seeing a boy out in the river at the strangest hours, a boy she suspects is watching her. Who is he? Is he really as mysterious as Jess thinks, or is her imagination simply running away with her?

I really liked the relationship between Jess and her grandfather. They were very close despite his crabbiness. It was nice that Jess was able to look beyond that. I thought the ending of this book was really good. Things really came together and made sense. However, I didn't like the way Jess' grandfather treated her father; that made me dislike the character of the grandfather a little bit.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars river review
The book I chose to read and review was River Boy by Tim Bowler. It is a very interesting book to read which is very surprising to me because the cover made it seem like a boring... Read more

Published on October 31, 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars River Boy
I think that this book is a must read. I found that I could never put it down- it was so gripping! I always wanted to know if Jess and her grandfather was alright. Read more

Published on February 25, 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Brillant and captivating but a bit wishy washy
I am 12 years old and in my veiw this book was a well thourght out master piece ,and you must read it.

Published on December 14, 1998

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