Product Description

It is 1910 and Maia, tragically orphaned at 13, has been sent from England to start a new life with distant relatives in Manaus, hundreds of miles up the Amazon. She is accompanied by an eccentric and mysterious governess who has secret reasons of her own for making the journey. Both soon discover an exotic world bursting with new experiences in this highly colourful, joyous and award-winning adventure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #637 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Journey to the River Sea, Eva Ibbotson's tale of an orphaned London schoolgirl and her formidable governess's journey to South America will touch the hearts of generations of children. Thanks to a thrilling story-line, a cast of richly drawn characters, and a voyage through the emotions of childhood, it is destined to join the A-list of children's classics, perennial stories undiminished by the passage of time and the changing world in which children grow up.

Set at the turn of the 20th century, this is an adventure story full of magic and discovery--without a witch or a wizard in sight! It's about real people, good and bad, and a journey to another world. Maia, accompanied by the straight-backed Miss Minton, leaves the familiar comforts of her boarding school to start a new life with distant relatives who live 1000 miles from the mouth of the Amazon. Both soon discover an exotic world bursting with new experiences beyond their imagination. More importantly, they learn one of life's hardest lessons--to conquer their fears and embrace the unknown. And along the way they learn about tolerance, acceptance and trust.

Ms Ibbotson has put together a fine assembly of characters that all children will warm to. From gentle, trusting Maia, intelligent and mature beyond her years to her stern but caring governess with her hat-pin shaped like a Viking spear, her trunk full of books and a few secrets hidden up her sleeves--there are the good, the bad, the peculiar and the downright wicked. While Maia's new family are not at all what she was expecting, she finds friendship in the most unlikely places, with the most unusual people. Clovis, a child actor roaming the world with a travelling theatre troupe, yearns for cold weather and stodgy puddings, while Finn, a half-English, half-Indian boy, would do anything to avoid his aristocratic English destiny.

An intricate, cleverly paced plot, with plenty of clues for children along the way, makes this a real page-turner--exciting enough to appeal to boys and girls alike. Journey to the River Sea is an inspiring read. Ms Ibbotson's beliefs that children need challenges, that they need to think big and that they must be encouraged to believe in themselves, shine through in this enchanting book. For children aged 9 and over Carey Green

Review
'A plot too exciting to put down. Sheer pleasure.' Sarah Johnson, The Times; 'A splendidly suspenseful, richly characterised drama.' Children's Book of the Week, Sunday Times

TES Teacher
A rollicking good adventure story with stunning descriptions of nature.

Customer Reviews

How to lose yourself in a enchanted world of adventures
'Journey To The River Sea' by Eva Ibbotson has to be the best book I have ever and will ever read. It's full of surprises and never fails to delight me or anybody else who reads it. Even though I read it again and again I still get that deep down tickling feeling of excitement. It's a touching story of loyalty and love mixed with adventures. A small girl accompanied by a strict governess travelling down the Amazon while making good friends and helping them in times of need. Eva Ibbotson has a special gift and uses it to it's best. When I got this book as a present I got it with another book called The Thief Lord. At the bottom of the cover is a comment by Eva Ibbotson. I followed her judgement and really enjoyed the book, but although it is good it is only my second best book. It is no match for 'Journey To The River Sea' which is brilliant story and if you don't buy it something is wrong with you.

Utterly brilliant - buy it!
My daughter (9) has read this book 3 times and so have all the girls in her class. Each time it gets better. Maia, the orphan heroine of the tale who travels to Manaus (also the setting of one of Ibbotson's adult novels, Company of Swans) in Brazil is like Mary in The Secret Garden one of those splendid, intelligent and courageous girls you feel is a friend. Her governess, who like Maia refuses to be cowed by the ludicrously conventional Carters, Maia's uncle and aunt, is an equally captivating character. Impoverished by their unsuccessful attempts at planting rubber, these mean-spirited, snobbish adults and their spiteful twins almost succeed in their plans to control Maia and her inheritance - only a young boy-actor and a mysterious English boy hiding in the jungle help to overcome them. Funny, wise and completely compelling this is a classic in the best sense. So are Ibbotson's other children's novels.

An enchanting tale of adventure by the Amazon
I've just discovered Eva Ibbotson and can't think why she isn't better known because I couldn't put it down and neither could my daughter! Maia, the enchantingly brave and resourceful heroine is forced to journey to the Amazon with her governess, an intelligent woman armed with a formidable hat-pin. They meet up with a boy actor playing Little Lord Fauntleroy with a group of travelling players on board ship, who becomes Maia's friend. Maia falls in love with the Amazon, but her relations are both boring and sinister - obsessed by money and convention. Her twin cousins and aunt live in terror of the Amazon, and before long only the mysterious boy Maia meets on the river can save her from evil.

The wit and pace of this delightful book never flags. It has a marvellous plot, the last detail of which is satisfyingly worked out. I can't think of a child who wouldn't enjoy it, unless he/she is as dull as Maia's cousins.