River Thunder

Jessie, Troy, and the rest of the crew from Downriver have returned to the Grand Canyon for adventure down the Colorado River. In the year since they last were together, each has changed; each feels more mature. But how will they interact now that they are facing new challenges—challenges greater than anything they've had to deal with at home?

For Troy, it is a chance to prove he can be a team player, someone worthy of friendship and love. For Jessie, the river is the ultimate test. Does she have what it takes to row down the mighty Colorado? The only way to find out is to get into the raft and set off to face the thundering rapids and the powerful emotions that the river unleashes.

Despite some reservations, sixteen-year-old Jessie joins her companions from the previous year's adventure on the Colorado River for a legal rafting trip through the Grand Canyon.

Jessie, Troy, and the rest of the crew from Downriver have returned to the Grand Canyon for adventure down the Colorado River. In the year since they last were together, each has changed; each feels more mature. But how will they interact now that they are facing new challenges—challenges greater than anything they've had to deal with at home?

For Troy, it is a chance to prove he can be a team player, someone worthy of friendship and love. For Jessie, the river is the ultimate test. Does she have what it takes to row down the mighty Colorado? The only way to find out is to get into the raft and set off to face the thundering rapids and the powerful emotions that the river unleashes.

VOYA

Thanks to some secretive wheeling and dealing, the self-proclaimed "Hoods in the Woods" group from Downriver (Atheneum, 1991) is back for a second attempt at conquering the mighty Colorado River-this time without the aid of a professional counselor or guide. Fans of Hobbs's earlier whitewater adventure tale will be disappointed in this uninspired sequel. None of the characters are more fully developed than they were the first time we met them, and the interaction among them seems forced and trite. Young adults who appreciate veracity in their fiction may find themselves questioning how realistic it is, from a safety standpoint, that the group is allowed to continue its journey through the Grand Canyon despite unusually dangerous and turbulent weather conditions. The detailed blow by blow descriptions of how the group tackles various rapids combine with a host of technical terms to make this a must-read for only a small group of YAs, those with a strong interest in whitewater rafting. Even Troy's attempt to rekindle a romance with Jessie fails to raise any genuine interest in what happens to either of them. VOYA Codes: 3Q 2P J S (Readable without serious defects, For the YA with a special interest in the subject, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).

Will Hobbs is the award-winning author of several novels, including the Avon titles Bearstone, Kokopelli's Flute, and Far North, and the American Library Association has recognized four of Will's novels as Best Books for Young Adults. His novel Downriver was chosen as one of the ALA's 100 Best of the Best Books of the past 25 years. Winner of the California Young Reader Medal, Downriver was an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists. Downriver has been nominated for state awards in Texas, Utah, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington. Hobbs lived in many places during his youth, including Alaska, Texas and California. He and his wife, Jean, now live in the mountains outside of Durango, Colorado. Downriver and River Thunder draw heavily on Hobbs' own experience rafting down the Colorado and also demonstrate his tremendous love of and respect for nature.