Moontrug is a big fan of sticky things: toffee, honey, magnets, post-it notes, raspberry jam… But top of the Sticky Things chart has to be STICKY BOOKS – books that stick with you long after you’ve read them, that open your eyes and widen your life with every turn of the page, without you even realising. When Moontrug was little, the Northern Lights series by Philip Pullman had a lot of stickiness about it – as did C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia – they are stories full of adventure, discovery, friendship and hope. Just recently though, Moontrug came across a book that was as sticky as a pot full of treacle, a book this year’s Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize Winner, Katherine Rundell, said this about: ‘I love this book so much that I have about 10 extra copies, to foist on passing children and say “this will make your life larger.” ‘ It’s a book Moontrug’s agent raves about and Michael Morpurgo repeatedly praises: Eva Ibbotson’s Journey To The River Sea.Moontrug can’t help feeling that although she learnt a fair bit at school, there was A LOT of very useless information shoved her way during lessons:Pythagorus’ theorem (still no idea what it is but Pythagorus is potentially quite a cool name for a character)The pluperfect tense (again, still no idea what is it but it’s fun to say)Mg – the chemical symbol for Magnesium (irrelevant and nothing cool about it)If only the teachers had passed me Eva Ibbotson’s books back then – because often the real lessons in life happen when we don’t realise we’re being taught – when we’re thrown headlong into adventures like Maia’s in Journey To The River Sea. Maia, an orphan, can’t wait to reach her distant relatives a thousand miles up the Amazon. She imagines a loving family with whom she will share great adventures. Instead she finds two spiteful cousins who see the jungle as the enemy and refuse to go outdoors. But the wonders of the rainforest more than make up for the hideous Carters. And when Maia meets a mysterious boy who lives alone on the wild river shores, she begins a spectacular journey to the heart of an extraordinary world.Maia is a gem of a character. Although life has dealt her a tricky hand – she’s an orphan who is bullied and neglected by those she hoped would love her – she is kind, loyal, humble and FULL of adventurous spirit: ‘ “When I get to Brazil I still have to travel a thousand miles along the river between trees that lean over the water, and there will be scarlet birds and sandbanks and creatures like big guinea pigs…” She broke off and grinned at her classmates. “And after that, I don’t know, but it’s going to be all right.” ‘ You wouldn’t catch her playing Angry Birds on an iPad; she’d be out in the jungle exploring hidden lagoons and swinging from twisted vines… Unlike her spectacularly odious cousins – the kind of materialistic girls who today would spend all their time taking selfies in the girls’ loos. Ibbotson creates two clones of Violet Elizabeth from Just William – and Moontrug LOVED the way the Carter twins hoarded their money from each other and ‘smelled violently of Passion in the Night perfume’ at the Keminsky’s party…Ibbotson’s characterisation is stunning; she manages to conjure whole characters from single sentences. Take Aunt Jones, The Basher, known so because ‘she bashed people’ or Westwood’s previous heir, Dudley: ‘he rode horses with large behinds, he shot things – and of course he was the apple of his father’s eye.’ But perhaps Ibbotson’s most memorable character creation is the brilliantly dreadful Mr Carter – a character who collects the glass eyeballs of famous dead people! So sinister… Set alongside him and his awful wife, we have Miss Minton: ‘the tall, gaunt woman looked more like a rake or a nutcracker than a human being… with a fearsome hat pin in the shape of a Viking spear.’ Her austere exterior is fabulously enriched by her sense of humour though. When Maia asks how she broke her umbrella, Miss Minton replies: ‘I broke it on the back of a boy called Henry Hartington.’ But contrary to how Miss Minton first appears, she is the gateway to adventure for Maia – how could she not be with a trunk packed full to the brim of books. Her words are imbued with a proverbial wisdom: ‘People make their own worlds’ and ‘Nonsense… Anyone who can walk can go on expeditions’ – and Moontrug was just delighted when she sent a certain something floating away down the Amazon…Perfectly contrasting the Carter’s world of insect disinfectant and silk dresses there is the jungle, and Ibbotson’s descriptions conjure up exotic birds, slinking rivers and long-hidden lagoons – even if you’re reading the book on a London bus: ‘Then he set the canoe hard at the curtain of green and vanished into his secret world.’ Maia’s sense of wonder at the beauty of the rainforest is tangible: ‘she heard rushes making a dry sound against the side of the canoe, felt branches brushing her arm… They were in a still lagoon of clear, blue water, shielded from the outside by a ring of great trees. The only entrance, the passage through the rushes, seemed to have closed behind them. They might have been alone in the world.’The book may not be filled with the magic of dragons and pixies – but the magic that lies at its heart is a very real one – the magic of having adventures, forming unlikely friendships, being brave and living life to the full. As Finn’s father told him: ‘Seize the Day. Get the best out of it, take hold of it and live in it as hard as you can.’ And that’s a magic worth believing in… Ibbotson doesn’t sugar coat adventures though – she owns up to the unexpected difficulties life often deals us but as Maia so wisely realises: ‘We mustn’t only remember the good bits… We must remember the bad bits too so that we know it was real.’
Read it once, retain fond memories.Read it twice, and feel the love be rekindled.That's pretty much what I went through when I "rediscovered" this little gem from my elementary school years. For ages, I'd passed it by on the library shelves, always putting it on the reread list for when I had time - and a lack of new, shiny titles to discover. It wasn't until I discovered that our library had gotten rid of BOTH COPIES (I mean, who does that to classic children's literature!) that I took the initiative to revive my childhood memories.And what memories they are.Journey to the River Sea is centered around Maia, a sweet young orphan who finds herself abruptly shuttled from her peaceful life in a British boarding school into the hands of unknown relatives, the Coopers, dwelling within exotic, untamed Brazil.What at first seems like a blessing in disguise - a new family, cousins to be played with and an entire new culture to absorb - soon turns out to be something quite different. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, each with their both hilarious and slightly disturbing obsessions, need Maia simply for the money her parents have left behind. The twins are self-absorbed and quite nasty, and as a result of contact with the despicable Coopers, the locals are sullen and quite unwilling to open up to newcomers.And of course there is Miss Minton - the stern-faced, unusual governess with an authentic replica of a Viking spear for a hatpin.The story hardly ends up there, however. Maia isn't one to let her misery keep her from adventure. A young actor in dire straits due to impending puberty, an heir on a mission to escape the shackles of wealth waiting for him back in England, and two persistent crow-like investigators, not to mention the late author's constant dedication to research and beautiful detail - make each page literally breathtaking. It might be marketed for children, but believe me, if you are young at heart and like a good tale of kind hearts and determination winning over...well, not evil, but not very nice people either...this book will not disappoint you.This is definitely one book that's going on my wish list to share with my children in the future.
What do You think about Journey To The River Sea (2003)?
When i saw this book here i got an explosion of memories. I remembered with dewey-eyed nostalgia about getting this book for christmas. Being male i looked at the book a bit taken-aback. The protagonist was a GIRL (gasp). I can't tell you how funny the book looked amongst all my other books on my bookshelf. It was as if it was a loner being stared at by my closely knit groups of Roald Dahl books, Harry potter books and other book series's. When i started to read the book, i was shocked to find that i really liked the main character. She really endeared me to her with her bravery, and her good nature. Also, i was learning things not against my will, but i actually looked upon all the geography and learning about new cultures with vigour. The book changed me and my attitudes towards girls, to be honest. From then on i have read plenty of stories tjat are girl-centric. great book and the imagery is striking. it was like i was actually there , and for me that does not often happen.
—Darragh
Journey to the River Sea was another amazing book by Eva Ibbotson! In this book, a girl named Maia, who lives at her school, is awaiting a letter from the Amazon telling what will happen in her future. She learns that she will soon move in with her aunt and uncle, and her twin cousins, Beatrice and Gwendolyn, and she is overjoyed. She is nervous about living near the Amazon, but is excited about all she will see. On her journey by boat, she meets the woman who is to be her governess, Miss Minton. Miss Minton is a strict, intimidating woman who becomes one of Maia’s closest advisors. Maia also meets Clovis King, a homesick actor in a cruel acting troupe. When she arrives, she learns that life with her cousins won’t be as wonderful as she first thought. She also learns of a missing boy from England, and eventually meets him. Maia has many exciting adventures by the “River Sea”.This book is very well written, and once I began, I couldn’t put it down. There are several points in it where mysteries are unraveled, and more than once I went “Oh!”, because I had I realization. The language is beautiful. I loved when Maia first begins to like Miss Minton. Maia and Miss Minton are boarding the boat, and the porter who carries their luggage has trouble carrying Miss Minton’s suitcase. Maia inquires as to what was in it. She says, “ ‘Was it books in the trunk?’ ”, and Miss Minton replies, “ ‘It was books.’ ”, to which Maia says, “ ‘Good.’ ” (p. 12). I also loved the characters. I found Maia charming, Miss Minton kind and reassuring, Clovis funny, and Mrs. Carter (Maia’s aunt) infuriating. I could really relate to the character’s feelings, and really enjoyed it.I would recommend this book to most people, though most specifically people around eight or nine and up years old, because of the complicated plot.
—Jane
A very fun read. Eva Ibbotson has become one of my favorite writers recently. She's a British author who was born in Vienna and emigrated to England as a child in the early 30s. I raced through her adult historical fiction/romances (which are currently being re-released as YA) and enjoyed all of them, even though I was familiar her plot pattern by the third book.This is the second children's/YA book of hers that I've read. (The first was The Star of Kazan, which I also liked a lot.) Following the usual pattern, the main character, Maia, is bright, intellectually curious and eager to embrace life. She's an orphan and goes from England to Brazil to live with some cousins who only take her in because of the allowance she brings. The cousins are truly bad guys, with no redeeming qualities, but they're funny - the mother who attacks all insects with imported bug sprays, the twins who don't like each other, or anyone else, but are inseparable, the father who collects glass eyes of famous people. (Kevin Hawkes's illustrations add delightfully to the atmosphere of the story.)While Maia doesn't get along with her cousins, she has the company of her sympathetic, but mysterious, governess, and she makes friends with the local Indians who work for her cousins. She also becomes friends with a boy about her age whose European father recently died and who plans to go deeper into the interior of Brazil to find his Indian mother's people. Maia desperately wants to go on this adventure too, and, eventually, she does.I think this is where the magic is in this story. Sure, the responsible-adult, realist part of me knows that 2 pre-teens couldn't possibly make a journey up (down?) the Amazon by themselves without falling ill or being unable to handle their boat or being eaten. But Eva Ibbotson has faith in her protagonists and their dreams, and her belief in them makes you happy to believe in them too.
—Debbie
