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readcharlotte's review against another edition
1.0
Read aloud to my kids as part of their school curriculum. Worst book of the year by far. Boring beyond belief. Skip it!
roseleaf24's review against another edition
3.0
I was prepared to trudge through this book; the long chapters and the comments describing it as boring and man vs. nature got my guard up. I was pleasantly surprised. There is quite a bit of plot to this story of taking logs down the river, and the characters were pretty well-developed and engaging. But of course, in this frontier story, we have Chippewa and the accompanying racism. There is a main character who is half-Chippewa and half-French who falls into the noble savage category, but groups of indigenous people are derogatory caricatures.
rheren's review against another edition
5.0
I was pleasantly surprised, this looked like a long book and I read some slightly negative reviews, so I was prepared to cut this one off early if attention was waning, but actually everybody really liked it. You get to follow the protagonist as he works hard, meets fascinating people, has adventures, and looks out for others. The kids found it fun to listen to and I liked the message and the story. It's a little long-winded, so maybe younger kids would get bored, but it didn't bother us. And I read some reviews saying it disrespects Native Americans but I don't get that at all: actually the Chippewa near his home are described very positively, and the primary mentor figure that he looks up to and who is the main source of wisdom throughout the book is half-Indian, and is a terrific guy. Anyways, great book, we all liked it.
amandawill's review against another edition
4.0
Read to my kids. We all liked it. Good pacing and nice character development.
kmdahlgran's review against another edition
4.0
I read of other Sonlight users not loving this book, saying it was hard to get into, but my daughter and I really enjoyed it. We couldn't wait to see where the adventure would lead next.
storiesandsours's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
tamarayork's review against another edition
5.0
Newbery Challenge 182/415. I can’t believe how much I enjoyed this Newbery Honor book from 1933! The story follows 17 year old Chris as he runs logs from Minnesota to St. Louis on streams and the Mississippi River. It’s full of adventure and the pages fly by. I loved how Chris learned about hard work, honor, friendship, forgiveness, and honesty along the way. But the message never seemed preachy. This adventurous tale is fantastic. Appropriate for age 8+. Even though the main character is 17, there isn’t anything too adult or intense for younger kids. Highly recommend. It would pair well with Paddle to the Sea by Holling C. Holling.
tealmango's review against another edition
3.0
Read the full review here: http://newberyandbeyond.com/newbery-reviews-1933/
mistree's review against another edition
5.0
There is a reason this is an awarding winning book. This is a look back at 1830's America, specifically from the upper edge of the Lousiana Territory to St. Louis. Those early settlers were tough. It was a wonderful book about a time and place so removed from our present times.