Journey to the River Sea

Eva Ibbotson. Journey to the River Sea. Dutton, 2001. ISBN: 0-525-46739-4

Plot Summary

Maia is an orphan who is sent from London to live with relatives in the Amazon. Maia and the Carters' new governess, Miss Minton, are excited to be in an exotic country, but the Carters are nasty people. The twins are mean, the mother is greedy and the father is a cheat. It seems they are going broke and only offered to care for Maia because her guardian offered them money.

Maia and Miss Minton make friends, including Clovis who is also an orphan and an actor for a traveling company that is going bankrupt. Clovis wants nothing more than to return to England and his foster mother. On the other hand, Finn Taverner, who was born in the Amazon has no desire to go to England. His father had only bad things to say about his home. So when a pair of detectives show up looking for Bernard Taverner's son, Maia, Finn and Clovis hatch a scheme that will make everyone happy. If it succeeds, Finn will be on his way up river to live with his mother's tribe but first they must trick the detectives and fool the townspeople. There are more adventures in store, including the professor's search for a giant sloth and Maia's own journey up the Amazon.

Critical Evaluation

Evan Ibbotson's Journey to the River Sea is an adventure, a mystery and a travel journal all in one. Set along the Amazon river in the early 1900's the scene is at once romantic and dangerous. All of the characters are connected in a way that is both surprising and delightful. Thrown together in an exotic location, the residents of Manaus, Brazil know each other's secrets. The plot is clever- unlikely but not impossible, which makes the story more fun. There are so many secrets and questions, but Ibbotson answers everything by the end of the novel.

Reader's Annotation

Set in the city of Manaus, Brazil, around the turn of the previous century, Journey to the River Sea is the story of Maia, an orphan sent to live with awful relatives. But she'll meet Miss Minton, a governess with a sense of adventure; the Professor, who dreams of finding a giant sloth that is supposedly extinct; Finn who is on the run from detectives who want to take him back to England; and Clovis, who is on the run from his acting company and wants nothing more than to return to England.

About the Author

Eva Ibbotson has a daughter and three sons, all grown. She lives in the north of England. Her books have been New York Times Bestsellers and her book The Secret of Platform 13 was a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year.

Genre

Historical Fiction

Adventure

Curriculum Ties

English colonization of South America

Booktalking Ideas

How Maia and Miss Minton have tricked the Carters, especially the twins.

Reading Level/ Interest Age

Grades 5-7

Controversial Subject Matter and Defense of Ideas

None

Why Book was Included

Appeared on a list of recommended titles for 5^th and 6^th graders, compiled by the Sacramento Public Library