Pretty good read. Fast moving and simply written. The boys liked it and stayed interested throughout. Should appeal particularly to boys who are on the geeky side rather than the athletic side as it is the story of a geeky computer game loving boy who saves his older more athletic sporty brothers life on a canoe trip. ( )

good story ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr. 3-6

Plot Summary: Tanner's camping buddy canceled on him so he convinced his parents to let him bring his younger brother on his kayak trip down the Boulder River instead. Ryan has no desire to go, and tries to tell his borther he'd rather play video games, but Tanner gets his way. When they arrive at the drop off point, their mom confirms when their father will pick them up and goes through the checklist of items they brought: kayak, food, no cell phone, etc. They set off on their inflatable kayak, Tanner confident and excited, Ryan dreading the trip. The first set of rapids freaks Ryan out, especially with the giant boulders on either side of them. As they get father down the river, another set of rapids is quickly approaching, this time with very little space between the two boulders. The kayak gains speed and before Ryan knows it, the kayak gets stuck and his brother is flying through the air. Scrambling to the surface, he sees his brother in the water, not moving. After dragging him to shore, he tries to come up with a plan to get both of them out of there alive. Will he succeed?

Setting: Boulder River

Characters:
Ryan - 12 y/o, loves video games
Tanner - Ryan's older brother, 16 y/o, went on a camping trip with his friend down the same river last year but there was very little water and they had to carry their kayak at times

Recurring Themes: survival, kayak, outdoors, white-water rafting, video games

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: I read this so quickly to find out what happened next that I skimmed some of the action parts that explained what happened, which led me to have a hard time understanding the details. This book had basically no character development except for Ryan loving video games but it somehow worked, maybe because it was short. A great action/adventure book for younger readers.

Genre: action/adventure

Pacing: fast
Characters: very little
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: ( )

Two brothers end up going on a canoe trip? Exciting? Maybe for the beginning. As you get deeper in the story it gets tense and scary. As the older brother falls making it harder to live, the younger brother must bring him to safety. How though? They are stranded! Stressful and harsh I recommend this book for someone who loves canoeing and survival situations. ( )

Tanner and Ryan are brothers. Tanner is like a hero and Ryan is only good at one thing Video Games. When Tanner takes Ryan on a camping trip and Tanner gets injured Ryan has to take over... Can he save his older brothers life?
It's a Golden Dragon Book. ( )

In this book, Tanner and his little brother go kayaking. A log is in there way. They blown up kayak explodes and Tanner is badly hurt. Can his brother save him? Well, maybe because he starts using his knowledge of videogames. He fights against the River Demon and the Mountain Demon. He also meets a bear in the night eating something.. ( )

A "Big brother-Little brother" kayaking trip turns into a nightmare when the pair hit rough water on the river and big brother, Tanner, gets seriously injured. Usually Tanner is the hero. Can his little brother find a way to save him? This fast-paced story uses examples from video games to help the main character figure out his plans.

Considered lazy and unathletic, twelve-year-old Ryan discovers a heroic side of himself when a kayak trip with his older brother goes horribly awry.

If you love Gary Paulsen, you will love this coming of age tale of a young boy whom wins a kayak adventure but get more than he bargains and finds out more about himself than he ever thought possible.

grades 4-8 ( )