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The River
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Plot Summary of The River
"It has been two years since Brian Robeson survived in the Canadian wilderness with only a hatchet, and now, two government employees knock on his door. They come to inform Brian that he has to survive in the wilderness once again. They say that they will send a psychologist with him named Derek Holtzer, to take notes on all of Brian's activities. The purpose of Derek is so when he returns, he can show army scouts survival skills. After a long discussion with his mom, Brian convinces her that he must do this, since he is the only one who can. Derek has never been in the wilderness, while Brian loves it; however, he is very shy, which means that it will be hard for Derek to take notes. From here, the two take a private plane, and are left in the wilderness alone. Derek has his pen and notebook, while Brian has his weapon of choice - a hatchet. Soon after arriving, a fierce thunderstorm erupts. In the midst of this natural occurrence, Derek is hit by lightning. At first, Brian thinks that the psychologist is dead, but soon after that, he figures out that Derek is in a coma. Brian predicts that under the circumstances, Derek has only six days to live. So Brian decides to build a raft, and paddle 119 miles down the river to Brannock Trading Post. From this point on, the story revolves around Brian's fight against nature on a weak raft, and one fierce river. "
Walid Khalid, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The River
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - upbeat
Time/era of story - 1980's-1999
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Exploring into the wild Yes
kind of story - water adventure

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - student
Age: - a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - Canadian (Aboot!)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - natural phenomena
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 8 (a significant amount)
The Americas (not US): Yes
The Americas: - Canada
Forest? Yes
Water? Yes
Water: - peddle boat

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to The River
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Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
Backpack by Emily Barr


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Gary Paulsen Resident Scholar Profiles

 TOP SCHOLAR:
  Jeff Geddes  

SCHOLARS: Walid Khalid  Margaret  John  Joshua Kissell  Ashley Nobis  


Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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