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A review by aundie27
The Riverman by Aaron Starmer
3.0
Plot
Alistair doesn't really have any friends, but Charlie down the street calls one day and has Alistair confirm they are best friends, and Fiona give him a cassette tape and blazer and asks him to write her story. With a reluctant yes to both, his life is about to change. Charlie is weird, and Al doesn't really want to be around him. Fiona is also strange, but as Alistair starts recording her stories about a different land that she goes into, he wonders if the Riverman and the magical place are really just Fiona trying to tell Alistair about her being abused. After all, she has a list of other kids that the Riverman has abducted. Surely this has to be a real person taking the kids. Right?
Review
This book was interesting, but dark. I like that you can't really tell if it's magical realism, fantasy, or realistic fiction as you read. I will probably read the next in the series at some point. I was surprised to see the grade level was 5-8th. I don't think I would booktalk this to 6th graders, but if they check it out on their own it would be fine. There's nothing super bad that happens, but it just didn't feel like 5-7th grade.
Contains: underage drinking, swearing, physical and gun violence, and talk of mental/sexual abuse.
Alistair doesn't really have any friends, but Charlie down the street calls one day and has Alistair confirm they are best friends, and Fiona give him a cassette tape and blazer and asks him to write her story. With a reluctant yes to both, his life is about to change. Charlie is weird, and Al doesn't really want to be around him. Fiona is also strange, but as Alistair starts recording her stories about a different land that she goes into, he wonders if the Riverman and the magical place are really just Fiona trying to tell Alistair about her being abused. After all, she has a list of other kids that the Riverman has abducted. Surely this has to be a real person taking the kids. Right?
Review
This book was interesting, but dark. I like that you can't really tell if it's magical realism, fantasy, or realistic fiction as you read. I will probably read the next in the series at some point. I was surprised to see the grade level was 5-8th. I don't think I would booktalk this to 6th graders, but if they check it out on their own it would be fine. There's nothing super bad that happens, but it just didn't feel like 5-7th grade.
Contains: underage drinking, swearing, physical and gun violence, and talk of mental/sexual abuse.