This time, Troy promises, the trip will not be just about him.

Troy wants to prove that he has changed, so he plans a trip back to the Grand Canyon for another rafting adventure and invites his friends: Jessie, Adam, Star, Rita, and Pug. River Thunder is the exhilarating sequel to Downriver. Otherwise it is a decent read and one that will help the reader to pass the time quickly if such is needed. Although they now have a guidebook only the main trip points are repeated that were named in the first read.Īs a standalone I think that it could be read as such although that would take away from enjoying the much better original book. Second of all I was also disappointed that the book almost never mentioned or gave names to the parts of the trip that were included at the beginning of the first trip such as the whitewater where Troy almost flipped his raft before inviting Jess over or even the ones that flipped the raft with the others. And although things turned out right in the end and that there was a bit of a turnaround it just takes away from the story while reminding the reader of the never-ending alternatives of the 'Hatchet' books. Unfortunately this book was too much a repeat of the first including for the majority of the portion of the book the same emotional tension that could be found within the first one. So it was a bit of a surprise that the background was basically the same while the cast of characters for the most part also stayed the same although sadly Freddy never showed up. I have always loved the original book and as complete as the ending was for the original book I couldn't quite figure out how this one would be a continuation of that one. Will's books have won many other awards, including the California Young Reader Medal, the Western Writers of America Spur Award, the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award, the Colorado Book Award, and nominations to state award lists in over thirty states. He lives with his wife, Jean, in Durango, Colorado. A graduate of Stanford University and former reading and language arts teacher, Will has been a full-time writer since 1990. In outdoor stories that appeal to both boys and girls, Hobbs has readers discovering wild places, sharing adventures with people from varied backgrounds, and exploring how to make important choices in their own lives.

Ghost Canoe received the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1998 for Best Young Adult Mystery. ALA also named Far North and Downriver to their list of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of the Twentieth Centrury. Seven of his novels, Bearstone, Downriver, The Big Wander, Beardance, Far North, The Maze, and Jason's Gold, were named Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association.

WILL HOBBS is the author of seventeen novels for upper elementary, middle school and young adult readers, as well as two picture book stories.

River Thunder by Will Hobbs