Top 100 Children’s Novels #93: Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson

#93 Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson (2001)
20 points

I adore Eva Ibbotson and think she deserves a place on the top 100 list. – Laura Reed

It is a bittersweet feeling to see Eva Ibbotson on this list at long last. For her fans the following question is akin to torture: What is your favorite Eva book?  And while I will not say whether or not another Ibbotson has made this list, I can say that here at #93 the answer is overwhelmingly Journey to the River Sea.  It’s one of Ibbotson’s more realistic books.  You will not find mermaids or ogres or witches at war.  Just kids and a setting that’s almost a character in and of itself.

Publishers Weekly described the plot in this way: “In 1910, Maia, an English orphan, accompanied by her newly appointed governess, Miss Minton, sets off to Brazil to live with distant cousins. She dreams of exploring the banks of the Amazon and viewing exotic wildlife, but her self-serving cousins and their spoiled twin daughters despise the outdoors almost as much as they despise Maia. The heroine feels like a prisoner, forced to live inside the “dark clinical green” walls of her relatives’ bungalow. Her life would be dismal indeed, if she didn’t sneak out every once in a while to meet up with two other orphans with whom she has crossed paths: Clovis, a traveling actor, who longs to return to England, and Finn, a rich heir, who would rather live with the “Indians” than be sent to the British estate where his grandfather eagerly awaits his arrival. Suspense steadily rises as all three of the children attempt to escape their undesired fates. Thanks to a series of surprising coincidences and strokes of good luck, the orphans manage to change their destinies.”

Of course there’s always the question of race.  Anytime you’ve a white author writing about “natives” the hackles begin to raise almost on their own.  Of all the professional reviews, only Horn Book offered an opinion on the matter saying, “The Amazon natives and their jungle home are romanticized to be sure, making Great Britain seem about as palatable as the Carters’ powdered pudding by contrast. Still, it’s all in keeping with the grand sense of liberation experienced by girl and governess.”

Said Publishers Weekly: “Ibbotson (Island of the Aunts) offers another larger-than-life adventure featuring lovable heroes and heroines, nasty villains, much hilarity and a deliciously gnarled plot.”

School Library Journal said, “Adventure lovers who enjoyed Avi’s The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Orchard, 1990) and Sharon Creech’s The Wanderer (HarperCollins, 2000) will devour this one and wish that it would continue.”

The starred Booklist review said, “The unconventional cast of characters is highly appealing, and Ibbotson does a wonderful job of turning genre themes topsy-turvy in delightfully humorous style, at the same time adding fine details that expand and enrich the traditional orphan-adventure plot. Recommend this to children who enjoy books by Dahl, Langton, Nesbitt, and Rowling; also try reading it aloud in class and at home.”

Horn Book also described it as, “An Amazon adventure with time set aside for tea is what readers get in this rousing tale of an English orphan for whom the Brazilian rainforest becomes a Secret Garden.”

And even Kirkus liked it!  “Known for witty, entertaining fantasies, Ibbotson (Dial-a-Ghost, p. 744, etc.) dispenses with magic wands and mythical creatures here and dishes up her best work yet-a topnotch 1910 adventure featuring exotic, vividly evoked locales, a caricature-rich cast filled with likeable (as well as thoroughly despicable) characters, and enough plot to fill an entire trilogy.”

• Be sure to read Anita Silvey’s summary on her Children’s Book-a-Day Almanac.

And here are the various covers to be found:

Filed under: Best Books, Top 100 Children's Novels (2012)