River Rats

Tomcat and a handful of friends live on the steamboat River Rat, which they pilot up and down the river, taking mail from town to town in barter for food and goods. It's twenty years after the Flash, and life is hard; but the Rats know how to handle themselves. Only when they break one of their own rules and rescue a man from the poisonous river do things start to go bad. The book is lively, fascinating, and well written. The post-apocalyptic world is fully (and realistically) invented, as are the characters.

When I borrowed this book from a friend's younger sister, I thought it would be an easy read to take my mind off things before I did my homework. Well, I read it.. and then I read it again. While the plot could be a little contrived at times, the characters were vivid and real, and the relationships between them left me wishing for a sequel. I bought the book for myself, and it has a permanent place on my bookshelf for those rainy lonely days when I need some cheering up.

This book is set in post-apocalyptic times, after a Nuclear Holocaust called the Flash. It is about six children who are living on a paddle wheel steam boat. To make a living, they play Rock-and-Roll from before the Flash and carry mail. Absolutely No Passengers! The kids rescue a man out of the river who is being pursued by a band of men who think he has something they want. This book may sound to you like the classic "Kids on their own", adventure story, but, it's not. Even though the plot becomes a bit unrealistic at times, it is still enjoyable. The characters come alive, and not only are they believable, sometimes you can even identify with them. It is as if you're on the boat yourself. Also, you're being told the story in the first-person by one of the kids. I enjoyed his descriptions and his thoughts. I highly recommend this book, and if you read it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. By the way, I've read about four (Sherlock Holmes, Watership Down, The Goats and this.) really great books in my time, and I consider this to be one of them. Yours, Dogspaw

Caroline is a wonderful writer. River Rats was very enjoyable and hard to put down. She needs to make a sequel to this well-written book.