Shelly's Book Blog

Swift Rivers, by Cornelia Meigs, was a Newbery Honor book in the 1930's. The author writes about Native Americans using dated, insulting stereotypes, but I don't think this fault should keep kids from reading the book because this is a great adventure story. Chris, the teen protagonist, decides to transport by river a load of logs he and his grandfather chopped down on thier property in Minnesota. His destination is about 100 miles downstream to St. Louis. Along the way he suffers setbacks and has adventures that kept the pages turning so quickly for me that I finished the book in one day. I bought this for my son and I feel confident that he will enjoy this well-written, exciting book.