The River (A Yearling book)

Customer Reviews

• The River- by Gary Paulsen  May 16, 2005 (5 of 5 found this helpful)

  This book continues the saga of Brian and his survival adventures. When you think that Brian can't be challenged by anything more than he was the first time in Hatchet, he finds himself stuck the wilderness again but responsible for another person, not just himself. This arouses new feelings of responsibility, fear, and resentment. But of course, Brian overcomes these obstacles and saves the day once again. It is quite short in comparison to its predecessor, but it is still very exciting. The pace is as fast as the river they have to flow down, but then he keeps hitting obstacles that makes the reader "tense" and worry that they won't make it. It is not as satisfying as Hatchet, but still good and Brian's character is consistent with how the reader thought he would be, if they got another chance to check in on his development. It is a good book for Boys and girls. Good suspense!
  
  

• Okay But Not the Best  Jan 29, 2008 (5 of 5 found this helpful)

  Having read other books by Gary Paulsen like Tracker, Woodsong, Dogsong, The Monument, The Island, Night John,and the Hatchet series,ect, I realized that The River is not one of Paulsen's best work. The River seemed a little unrealistic and it had a very basic polt, Brian has to go back to the Woods, something goes wrong, he takes a trip down a river to a trading station and gets rescued. Its all very predictable. The part that seems un realistic is the part where Derek gets struck by lightning and Brian happens not to have been hit, and the radio happens to break. Also building a raft can be harder than Paulson makes it sound.
  
  But to all Gary Paulsen fans, don't stop reading Gary Paulsen books just because this book has lowish ratings. Hatchet is the most wellknown book by Gary Paulsen and many who have read Hatchet haven't read many of the other great books by Gary Paulsen. I remeber a few years ago when I was in fourth grade, The River was the second Gary Paulsen book I read, But I still decided to keep reading books by him. I read Night John when I was in fifth grade adn it still is my favorite book by Gary Paulson now. You may have noticed that I'm not Ralf Kiehl, I'm his daughter, a 13 year old kid, but I still really like to read Gary Paulson.

• This book is freakin sweet!!!  Dec 13, 2006 (7 of 8 found this helpful)

  This book is pretty kewl. It is filled with action and leaves you on the edge of your seat the entire time you are reading it. In the last book "The Hatchet" his plane crashed and he was forced to survive in the wilderness alone! In this book a government official named Derek comes to his house to ask him to do it all over again... just without the crashing part! So he agrees and they go out there and the guy is struck by lightning and is in a coma, and Brian knows the only way to save him is to build a raft to go down river to the trading post so he can get medical attention. The rest you will have to find out by yourself!!!

• The River  Feb 23, 2005 (4 of 4 found this helpful)

  The river
  By: Gary Paulsen
  Review By: Cole Lundgren
  
  The river is a sequel to the book, Hatchet. In this book Brian Robeson is asked by the government to go back and do the same thing he did in Hatchet. They wanted to have Brian go out in the middle of the forest with Derek Holtzer. Derek was a psychologist that was going to go with Brian and take notes on what he did to survive. Then Derek was going to re-teach these methods to people.
  Of course when Brian got asked this he was a little skeptical if he wanted to go or not. His mom didn't really want him to go because she thought it would be dangerous. They had planned to bring pretty much everything besides the kitchen sink. His mom approved on letting Brian go on this adventure.
  They set off to the lake that they had picked out. It was a big lake with a river flowing out of it. Brian was a little nervous of being in a plane again. The last time he was in a plane it crashed and he was stranded. This time he would just get dropped off in the woods. When Brian and Derek got to the lake Brian realized something. He realized that it just wouldn't be the same. If they had just about everything they needed it just wouldn't be the same. Brian told Derek that they needed to leave everything. Derek agreed with Brian. The only thing they kept was a radio for emergencies.
  As soon as the plane left they set off around the lake searching for things to eat, make fire with, and a nice shelter. They found a nice shelter that was near the lake. It was an old tree that had grown into a hill and it left an overhang. They thought it would be perfect. The first night there they didn't have a fire. They got ate alive by mosquitos. Brian asked himself why he was living through this hell again. Then he thought of all the people he would be helping by doing this. The second day they found a great amount of food, and got a fire going. That night the sky was clear but Brian could hear off in the distance some rumbling. He realized it was going to rain.
  While they were sleeping a huge CRACK woke Brian and Derek up! It was right on top of them. The lightning was striking all around them. Derek reached up to get the radio and at that instant he was stuck by lightning. It sent him into an instant coma.
  Brian is thinking of what he is going to do. The radio was burned out because the lightning hit that too. The day before Derek had checked in on the radio and they said that they would only check in once a week. They had 6 more days to wait before anyone would even know that they were in trouble.
  Brian then decides to make a raft and go take Derek down the river. The raft is made out of big logs that the beavers had cut perfectly for him.
  Brian had to make it down the river in 2, or 3 days before Derek would get dehydrated. There are many obstacles on the way. If you want to see if they make it down the river with Derek still alive you will have to read this book and find out.
  
  "That's exactly it. We have trouble. That's what this is all about. You want to learn, but if you have all that backup, it's just more games. It's not real. You wouldn't have that if the situation were real, would you?
  -This is a quote from Brian. He is talking to Derek about leaving all the stuff on the plane. He is saying that if they had all of it the trip would be pointless and they wouldn't learn anything.
  
  Characters
  Brian- Brian is a smart athletic boy. He is about 15 years old. He has great common sense, and can react fast in critical situations.
  
  Derek- Derek is a psychologist. He is in about his young 30's. He is not very athletic and he doesn't have the greatest common sense ever.
  
  Pilot- The pilot is a young kid about in his 20's. When he is flying the plane it soothed Brian because he realized that he wouldn't have a heart attack li

• A Great Adventure  Jun 4, 2005 (3 of 3 found this helpful)

  The River by Gary Paulson is one of my favorite books. I can't believe that Brian Robeson would actually go back into the wild! Brian will be going with a man from the U.S government. He is also going with lots of equipment. When they get at the lake, Brian decides he will leave all the stuff on the plane. All was fine until a giant thunderstorm comes. The man gets hit by one and is put into a coma. Brian will have to travel down a river 100 miles to a trading post.
  I liked this book because it had a ton of action and adventure. I hope you liked this book as much as I did!
  Glen, R.I