Why am I passionate about this?
As a child, I was an avid reader and particularly fell in love with historical fiction. My favourite corner for reading was on top of the woodbox by my grandmotherās cookstove. Warm and cozy, I delved into such books as Geoffrey Treaseās Cue for Treason and Jack Schaefferās Shane. How wonderful to land for a few hours in the world of Shakespeareās London or the grasslands of the frontier west. When I worked as a childrenās librarian and then began writing books myself, this early love has remained with meāso it factored into the books I chose for schoolsāand some of the novels I wrote such as The Runaway and Firebird.
Glen's book list on historical fiction featuring journeys
Why did Glen love this book?
Iām always on the lookout for fiction in which the writing itself is dazzling. Eva Ibbotsonās prose is truly something to savour and this novel is the jewel in her crown. Maia, an orphan, is sent from England to stay with distant relatives, the Carters, in Manaus, Brazil. The family is weird and mean but Maia finds two young friendsāClovis, an actor, and Finn, who is partly a Brazilian native, but heir to his British grandfatherās fortune. Clovis longs to return to England and Finn happily changes places with him. Finn and Maia journey down the Amazon (the āRiver Seaā) to live with his Xanti people. Expect humour, high adventure, and a richly-detailed look at life in early 20th century Brazil.
1 author picked Journey to the River Sea as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.
It is 1910 - Maia, orphaned at 13, travels from England to start a new life with distant relatives in Manaus, hundreds of miles up the Amazon. She is very unhappy with her exceptionally bizarre new family but befriends Finn, a mysterious English boy who lives with the local Indians and shares her passion for the jungle. Then Finn's past life catches up with him and they are forced to flee far upriver in a canoe, pursued by an assortment of brilliantly eccentric characters that only Eva Ibbotson could invent.