The Riverman by Aaron Starmer

Lately, I’ve been reading more for research than for pleasure; that is, I look up the best selling self-published books and try to figure out what makes them sell.  I can’t say I’ve been terribly impressed by the quality of most of these books, but they’ve earned their authors plenty of cash, so bravo for them.  I hope that I will be clever enough to manage the same thing.  That said, I have managed to squeeze in some legitimate reads including The Riverman by Aaron Starmer.

The Riverman is a middle grade novel with a male narrator, twelve-year old Alistair Cleary.  I love this kid – which is most likely why I enjoyed the book so much.  He is sweet and sincere and well meaning boy trying to navigate the world between being a kid and being an adult.  That world becomes much more complicated when a neighbor, Fiona Loomis, shows up at the door with an incredible story and a request to write her biography.

At first, Alistair is reluctant to get involved in the project.  Fiona is pretty weird (wonderfully weird) after all, but as Fiona tells her tale, Alistair finds himself irresistibly drawn to both the story and the storyteller.  As Fiona tells it, she and a select handful of children, all of whom have disappeared, have access to an alternate universe of their own making, a world where everything would be perfect were it not for the presence of The Riverman, a stealer of children’s souls.

And while Alistair isn’t entirely sure that he believes the story Fiona has to tell, he is certain that she needs protection and that he is just the one for the job.  With his friendships with other boys deteriorating, Alistair’s feelings for Fiona grow providing his life with a meaning he hadn’t realized he was missing – which makes her well-being that much more important. 

Suffice it to say the story comes to an end with a fair amount of excitement, some missteps, and a really sweet exchange between Alistair (did I mention I love that kid?) and Fiona.

LAME FACTOR:  I can’t say I’m big on series books, but I’m actually going to read the next one.  Definitely a zero of five.

YOUR PARENTS WILL FREAK FACTOR: Boys will be boys.  Kids will be kids.  There’s nothing that bad in here and if your parents think so, they don’t know what you’re up to.

BRAIN POWER:  While the story is very well written, it is a middle grade book so no problems.