The Riverman

sshans2 - Aaron Starmer found a way to craft a story so fantastical, it seems realistic. So off-the-charts-unbelievable, you find a way to turn it the other way around. Alistair Cleary lives in the village of Thessaly, in northern New York. He's the type of boy who everyone trusts with secrets--but when Fiona Loomis tells him a secret so ridiculous, he thinks she may be crazy, he struggles to keep it. Fiona tells a tale of a magical world, where only the children with an imagination so outstanding, they believe in magic, are invited, and welcomed. This world is her second home. Maybe even her first-- but the children there are in danger. The Riverman is out to steal their souls, and Fiona has no doubt that her soul could be next. Filled with imagination, and the most unexpected plot twists, every word of The Riverman lures you into the next!

March 3, 2014
Starmer (The Only Ones) explores the relationship between creation and theft, reality and fantasy in this haunting novel, narrated retrospectively by Alistair Cleary as he looks back at the autumn of 1989. It's then that a classmate, Fiona Loomis, invites him to write her biography. After 12-year-old Alistair tentatively agrees, Fiona tells him about her repeated trips to a land called Aquavania (via a cylinder of water in her house's boiler), where she and other children can shape reality as they choose. Alistair is understandably skeptical, believing that Fiona has invented this fantasy to cope with some kind of trauma, but the novel's strength is in the pervasive aura of unknowing that Starmer creates and sustains. Is Fiona's uncle a scarred veteran or a menace? Is the Riverman hunting down Aquavania's residents responsible for the disappearance of children in the real world? Starmer makes the possibilities presented by Fiona's stories feel no less improbable (or unsettling) than the scenarios Alistair constructs to explain them away, or the actions he takes in an attempt to protect her. Ages 10â14. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

Starred review from February 1, 2014
When a classmate asks him to write her biography, 12-year-old Alistair Cleary never dreams the story will "change everything." Growing up in Thessaly, N.Y., in 1989, Alistair's a good kid who hangs out with Nintendo-obsessed pal Charlie. His enigmatic classmate, neighbor Fiona, announces she's chosen him to write her biography because he will "dig up the story beneath the story." Fiona tells Alistair she can travel to a parallel world called Aquavania, where "stories are born" and children with imagination create their own unique worlds. However, the mysterious Riverman is causing children to disappear, and Fiona fears she's next. Convinced Fiona's bizarre story hides something bad in her real life, Alistair's determined to protect her and unearth the truth. But what is the truth, especially when Fiona vanishes after warning Alistair about Charlie and swearing him to secrecy? Alistair's first-person voice lends immediacy and realism to a haunting story, progressing in intensity from October 13 through November 20, as he discovers people are not who they seem to be and reality is much more than he imagined. Lines between reality and fantasy blur in this powerful, disquieting tale of lost children, twisted friendship and the power of storytelling. (Fiction. 10-14)

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March 1, 2014

Gr 4-8-This novel built of stories yields nightmares. Alistair's first memory is seeing a drowned, missing child floating in the river. He tells no one and grows into a tween who has a talent for keeping secrets. Fiona, his neighbor, chooses him to share hers: kids are missing, and the Riverman, from the parallel, timeless world of Aquavania, where stories are born, is the accused. Is this some kind of fantasy created to cope with a reality too grim to bear? Or are the missing kids simply runaways? The pace accelerates when Fiona confides in an exhumed letter that she might be next. The portal in this book is not only into Aquavania, through Fiona's stories dictated to Alistair, but also into the characters' convoluted adolescent world. Alistair turns to 18-year-old Kyle, the town's emotionally complex, daredevil dropout, for advice and muscle. Meanwhile, Charlie, Alistair's childhood friend of convenience, has become a gaming addict, and their friendship is unraveling. This writerly, chiaroscuro book is replete with the portent of violence, and thick with ideas about the psychological need for stories, all while questioning the ability of stories to redeem the tellers. Readers will find themselves confronted with deep, unanswered questions regarding the relationship of collective imaginary worlds to reality, the evolving nature of memories and friendships, and the unknowability of people. Those ready to explore darker realities will devour this book.-Sara Lissa Paulson, The American Sign Language and English Lower School, New York City

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2014
Grades 6-9 When Fiona Loomis shows up at Alistair's door asking him to pen her biography and begins to tell him of a strange land she's visited called Aquavania, Alistair isn't sure he believes any of it. But he's intrigued and can't stop himself from wanting to know more. Fiona warns Alistair that the Riverman is stealing the souls of children and that she is next. Alistair, drawn into Fiona's story, wants to protect herif only he can discover the full truth. In this dark, twisting tale, readers are never sure if Fiona's story is true or not, and they won't want to stop reading until they find out. Alistair is a relatable hero, struggling with what to believe while growing up and moving on from old friends. While the ending is left a bit up in the air, this magical tale is sure to please readers of urban fantasy, and with its theme of missing children and changing friendships, it will be perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Charles de Lint, too.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)