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tiffasaurusrex's review against another edition
4.0
A bit of a slow start, but fantastic once things got going.
p0laris's review against another edition
4.0
This review was originally published on my blog: The Reading Fever.
"This can't really happen, this can't really happen, there's no way! This can't...." This is what I found myself muttering over and over in my mind, as I read Lost in the River of Grass. It seemed impossible, what these characters went through. I was even compiling a list at the back of my mind of things I would Google to verify they were possible. I mean, things like what I read in this book can't possibly happen! As it turns out, though, they can; and it didn't take Google to convince me of that.
In the book, the reader is reader is taken along as Sarah and Andy work together to survive the Everglades...and believe me: this is about survival! We get to be there as they encounter gators, snakes, wild boars, and are put in many dangerous circumstances. We get to watch as they help each other grow and adapt; an element of the story I think Rorby did remarkably well. I even enjoyed Andy's character, though I initially saw him as a bit of a jerk. In the end I was grateful for that, because he acted like a normal 15-year-old boy. I praise Rorby for not writing a character who was 15, going on 25 (thank you!).
I don't remember the point where I stopped caring if a survival tactic was viable or not, or whether an animal would really react the way the author portrays. I lost all sense of disbelief in this crash-course to the everglades, somewhere between swimming the gator holes and seeing the wild boars. Rorby's writing has an element of truth to it that made everything in this book seem personal, somehow. Reading it was like sitting at grandma's knee, listening to her tell a true story from her past...only this one involves saw grass and swamp trekking. Rorby definitely showed her survival know-how, and earned trust in my eyes. And the fact that reading about it all brought out every phobic tendency I've ever had, made no difference. I was enthralled.
Admittedly, I almost didn't give this book a second chance after putting it down after the first few chapters. It began a little choppy, and I wasn't very attached to the characters. But when I did pick it up again, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found, and ended up finishing it in one sitting. I think I found it hard to read in the beginning because Lost in the River of Grass isn't filled with long, flowing prose. Neither does it use huge words, or attempt to captivate with an out-of-this-world love story. Truth-be-told, it doesn't flaunt many things besides the character's reactions to the dangerous environment around them. But it's that very environment, and their reactions to it, that will suck you in, glue your hand to this book, and make you simultaneously cringe, while speeding up your reading to discover what is next.
I highly suggest Lost in the River of Grass!
Oh, and think this couldn't really happen? This quote is directly from Ginny Rorby's website:
"Lost in the River of Grass is based on the true story of my husband’s ill-fated trip to the Everglades with his then girlfriend in his airboat. While they were ‘visiting’ one of the hunting camps in the Everglades, the airboat sank. It took them three days to walk out. I wrote the original story of that ordeal for Fort Lauderdale’s Gulf Coast magazine, published in the late 1990s."
I was able to review this book, courtesy of Netgalley.com
"This can't really happen, this can't really happen, there's no way! This can't...." This is what I found myself muttering over and over in my mind, as I read Lost in the River of Grass. It seemed impossible, what these characters went through. I was even compiling a list at the back of my mind of things I would Google to verify they were possible. I mean, things like what I read in this book can't possibly happen! As it turns out, though, they can; and it didn't take Google to convince me of that.
In the book, the reader is reader is taken along as Sarah and Andy work together to survive the Everglades...and believe me: this is about survival! We get to be there as they encounter gators, snakes, wild boars, and are put in many dangerous circumstances. We get to watch as they help each other grow and adapt; an element of the story I think Rorby did remarkably well. I even enjoyed Andy's character, though I initially saw him as a bit of a jerk. In the end I was grateful for that, because he acted like a normal 15-year-old boy. I praise Rorby for not writing a character who was 15, going on 25 (thank you!).
I don't remember the point where I stopped caring if a survival tactic was viable or not, or whether an animal would really react the way the author portrays. I lost all sense of disbelief in this crash-course to the everglades, somewhere between swimming the gator holes and seeing the wild boars. Rorby's writing has an element of truth to it that made everything in this book seem personal, somehow. Reading it was like sitting at grandma's knee, listening to her tell a true story from her past...only this one involves saw grass and swamp trekking. Rorby definitely showed her survival know-how, and earned trust in my eyes. And the fact that reading about it all brought out every phobic tendency I've ever had, made no difference. I was enthralled.
Admittedly, I almost didn't give this book a second chance after putting it down after the first few chapters. It began a little choppy, and I wasn't very attached to the characters. But when I did pick it up again, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found, and ended up finishing it in one sitting. I think I found it hard to read in the beginning because Lost in the River of Grass isn't filled with long, flowing prose. Neither does it use huge words, or attempt to captivate with an out-of-this-world love story. Truth-be-told, it doesn't flaunt many things besides the character's reactions to the dangerous environment around them. But it's that very environment, and their reactions to it, that will suck you in, glue your hand to this book, and make you simultaneously cringe, while speeding up your reading to discover what is next.
I highly suggest Lost in the River of Grass!
Oh, and think this couldn't really happen? This quote is directly from Ginny Rorby's website:
"Lost in the River of Grass is based on the true story of my husband’s ill-fated trip to the Everglades with his then girlfriend in his airboat. While they were ‘visiting’ one of the hunting camps in the Everglades, the airboat sank. It took them three days to walk out. I wrote the original story of that ordeal for Fort Lauderdale’s Gulf Coast magazine, published in the late 1990s."
I was able to review this book, courtesy of Netgalley.com
nerfherder86's review
4.0
Great book about survival and learning how to respect nature. Sarah is not having a good time on her field trip to the Everglades, so when she invited on an airboat tour by Andy, a boy she meets who lives in the Glades, she decides to ditch her class (fakes being sick) and go with him on this secret and possibly forbidden excursion. She's never done anything exciting or against the rules like this before! But the trip quickly goes from fun adventure to life-or-death situation when the boat sinks and she and Andy must walk--seven or more miles!--out of the swamp! With the wrong clothes and shoes on, very little food and fresh water, and crazy afraid of even the spiders in the swamp, not to mention the poisonous snakes and ALLIGATORS they encounter, how will Sarah ever survive? I enjoyed this book for its realistic depiction of the flora and fauna of the Everglades, from the humidity to the sawgrass to the myriad creepy-crawlies and flying things. Sarah is a character you learn to like as she matures through her adventure. And readers will definitely be asking themselves, "could *I* survive three days on foot in the Everglades?"
debrichmond's review against another edition
4.0
Not the typical kind of boom I enjoy, but I really loved this one. I think it will appeal to my girls and boys!
chwaters's review against another edition
3.0
Sarah didn't really want to go on the weekend field trip to the Everglades, but her parents genuinely believe that she'll get something out of it, so she goes anyway. Taunted by the other girls on the trip and ignored by the boys, Sarah attempts to keep to herself. She meets the boy whose parents own the camp, Andy, and agrees to go on an airboat ride with him. She pretends to be sick to avoid the next day's outing and then takes off with Andy. The ride is awesome, even if there are tons of mosquitoes and the saw grass keeps cutting Sarah's exposed flesh. The pair take a break at an old hunting cabin, but when they get ready to depart, they discover that their boat has now sunk. They are completely stranded and well over 10 miles from their camp. Worse, no one knows where they've gone. Their only option is to begin an epic trek across the everglades in the hopes of making it to the levee before nature takes its toll. Sarah and Andy brave alligators, water moccasins, wild boars and all kinds of nasty insects. Sarah starts out a bit on the whiny side, though we understand her reluctance and fear. She does grow considerably as a character throughout the course of her ordeal. This was a nice survival tale, made all the better by being completely plausible. The descriptions of the Everglades are spot-on and give the reader a real sense of place. A nice choice for the Truman Award list.
rrats's review against another edition
5.0
Second time reading and it was still amazing.
Love the adventure and love the characters.
Love the adventure and love the characters.
maidmarianlib's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting premise with lots of great action, but the character development is lacking.
librarydosebykristy's review against another edition
4.0
Quick, heart pumping read. Very well done adventure survival story about a girl who gets stranded in the Everglades with a boy she just met. They have to walk out, on their own, with minimal food and water supply. The 14 year old girl's voice was believable and not one extreme (super angsty teenagery) or the other (emotionless, hard). She rang true to me and I enjoyed her perspective.