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Overview
Aaron’s latest thrill-packed adventure takes him river kayaking with his dad in the remote Canadian wilderness. The trip tests his confidence, perseverance, patience and survival skills in encounters with bears, moose, and life-threatening accidents. For more of Aaron's Wilderness adventures, read Desolation Canyon and Bella Bella.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781943328772 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | TURNER PUB CO |
| Publication date: | 02/07/2017 |
| Series: | Aaron's Wilderness |
| Pages: | 174 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d) |
| Age Range: | 8 - 12 Years |
About the Author
Sean London received a BFA from CalArts in Character Animation and has done animation for Disney. He has collaborated with his father on Desolation Canyon, Bella Bella, and the upcoming Pup, the Sea Otter.
Read an Excerpt
Day Four: ROLLER COASTER
We swirl and weave down the Chute and enter a 90-degree curve to the right that might be too tight for our long lake kayak. We get swept beneath some snags and sweepers—low overhanging tree branches—and when I dig in my paddle near the stern, so we can pivot to the right, the upper blade tangles in the branches.
Our kayak stops but the water keeps pushing and suddenly the boat swings sideways to the current.
We’re going over!
At the last second I wrestle the paddle free from the overhanging branches and straighten the boat out. We duck beneath the limbs and break loose. The current takes us away.
But the bank is rushing up fast. A back-eddy tries to pull the nose of our kayak around but we battle our way through it.
Now we see the bow of the busted canoe poking straight up between two boulders.
We’re headed right for it.
Water gushes over it and up the sides of the boulders. The bow of the canoe trembles in the turmoil, but it’s stuck there.
And we could get stuck too.
Twenty feet. Ten.
It rushes up at us like an angry gravestone, but I dig my paddle in, hard, and at the last second we slide around it.
Then we’re at the inside elbow of the bend—waves pounding our hull and forcing it down, under water. We almost stall.
“Paddle, Dad!” I yell. “Paddle harder!”
He does what I ask. Maybe I’m the captain now.
And straining our arms, shoulders, backs, legs, we drive our blades through the churning waves...
…then burst out and rocket down the other side of the Chute.
A broken canoe paddle sticks out of a pile of rocks near the cutbank, like an amputated arm waving goodbye.
And then as quickly as we entered the Chute, we’re all the way through it.
We glide for a moment in easy water and I’m about to let out a shout of victory, when we’re snatched by the “Roller Coaster,” as Dad called it.
I’d forgotten about the Roller Coaster!
Once again, the current grabs us and sweeps us away.
Immediately, I see how it got its name. It’s fast and furious, with barf-inducing drops.
But also like a roller coaster, it’s fun!
But we’re not on rails and once again our fate is in our own hands, not some machine’s.
And I’m in the back, guiding the two of us.
And we don’t want our kayak to end up like the broken-in-half canoe.
The good news is that there are no more boulders and no more bends, just huge standing waves. So I drop the rudder in and we hold a straight course down the center of all the crazy turbulence...
…until, at last, we glide out into smooth water at the far end.
Can I breathe now?
Interviews
Q: What inspired you to write your Aaron's Wilderness series?
I was inspired to write Aaron's Wilderness series by events in my life, and experiences with my own sons, Aaron and Sean.
Q: Are there elements of the stories that relate to your own life?
These books are works of fiction, but I did go with Aaron (at age 11) to Desolation Canyon for a week with friends, and Aaron did keep a diary. I also did go to Bella Bella with friends, and encountered a fishing boat where a diver of East Asian birth offered us a large geoduck.
This was at a time when hundreds of undocumented immigrants from China were being found stowed away on boats coming into British Columbia.
And finally, I did paddle the Bowron Lakes of GRIZZLY PEAK with my wife and friends and had many of the experiences Aaron and his father encountered—including paddling back into camp and being confronted by a grizzly bear who ran off with a bag of our food.
In addition, with his illustrations, these books have also been a labor of love for my son Sean, who has lived many of these experiences with me (and sometimes Aaron) on wilderness trips along the Snake River, the Rogue River, the islands off the northwest coast, and the lakes and rivers of California, Washington and British Colombia. As Sean says, "Enjoy the ride!"
Q: What will kids relate to?
I think many young readers still have an appetite for true life adventure in this age of dystopian novels.
My sons' favorite novels when they were growing up include Gary Paulsen's Brian Saga, which were an influence on my own writing. I include a strong girl character, Lisa, so that girls, too, can relate more closely to these adventures.
But adventure is only one major element of these novels. At the heart of DESOLATION CANYON there is a mystery.
What has happened to Aaron's father and the young teenage bully, Cassidy? They have disappeared and traces of blood have been found. Only one set of footprints leads up the beach from the site of an overturned raft: Cassidy's.
Q: What are some of the tough issues and life events covered in the books that librarians could use in recommending the books?
In BELLA BELLA, in addition to the adventure of sea kayaking and island hopping off the coast of British Colombia—living off the sea—there is the major and compelling issue of undocumented immigration. Desperate people fleeing impossible conditions, risking their lives in the hopes of finding a better life. With thousands drowning in the Mediterranean, this is a very current and tragic problem, and one not easily solved.
In GRIZZLY PEAK, besides the adventure of kayaking a 70-mile chain of lakes through the Canadian wilderness, there is the coming of age story of Aaron, kicked out of school just before the end of 8th grade and locking horns in growing conflict with his parents. Is saving a parent's life sometimes a way of saving your own?
Added to this, the character of the boy Cassidy is woven into all three novels. In DESOLATION CANYON he appears to be a hopelessly dangerous bully. What do you do with a bully? Is the answer always simple? Can a bully turn his or her life around? Is there maybe a winner hidden in everyone? These questions, and others, are addressed in my trilogy, in the hopes of telling a larger truth about growing up in these complicated times.
In GRIZZLY PEAK some of these questions come to—may I say?—a peak. Aaron—haunted somewhat by Cassidy, missing his close friend Lisa—is entering a stage of rebellion. He wants to rebel while his parents want him to excel. I think many boys and girls go through this stage—some earlier than others—and would relate to Aaron's troubles, and his efforts to find self-confidence in a world where his own demons might be stronger than any threat from outside. In this story, he wants to blame his father for controlling his life, and he comes to fear the real grizzlies—and the ones of his dreams. But in the end, he finds himself redeemed, loving his father, and in control of his own life.
Q: What will educators and parents find valuable in Grizzly Peak?
In all three books, I believe that educators and parents—as well as young readers—will find Aaron's working out of these themes and issues valuable. And—like many adults have told me—I hope young readers will find this trilogy to be "a good read. A page-turner with substance, beautifully written."