Grizzly Peak

by Jonathan London, Sean London (Illustrator)

Overview

Aaron’s latest adventure takes him river kayaking with his dad and tests his perseverance, patience and survival skills in encounters with bears, moose, and life-threatening accidents. For more of Aaron's Wilderness adventures, read Desolation Canyon and Bella Bella.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781943328840
Publisher:	Graphic Arts Books
Publication date:	02/07/2017
Series:	Aaron's Wilderness
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	174
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	8 - 13 Years

About the Author

Jonathan London has written more than one hundred picture books for children, many of them about wildlife. He is also the author of the popular Froggy series. He lives with his wife in northern California. www.jonathan-london.net

Sean London received a BFA from CalArts in Character Animation and has done animation for Disney. He has collaborated with his father on Desolation Canyon, Bella Bella, and the upcoming Pup, the Sea Otter.
Sean London received a BFA from CalArts in Character Animation and has done animation for Disney. He has collaborated with his father on DESOLATION CANYON, BELLA BELLA, and the upcoming PUP, THE SEA OTTER.

Read an Excerpt

Day Four: ROLLER COASTER

We swirl and weave down the Chute and enter a 90-degree curve to the right that might be too tight for our long lake kayak. We get swept beneath some snags and sweepers—low overhanging tree branches—and when I dig in my paddle near the stern, so we can pivot to the right, the upper blade tangles in the branches.

Our kayak stops but the water keeps pushing and suddenly the boat swings sideways to the current.

We’re going over!

At the last second I wrestle the paddle free from the overhanging branches and straighten the boat out. We duck beneath the limbs and break loose. The current takes us away.

But the bank is rushing up fast. A back-eddy tries to pull the nose of our kayak around but we battle our way through it.

Now we see the bow of the busted canoe poking straight up between two boulders.

We’re headed right for it.

Water gushes over it and up the sides of the boulders. The bow of the canoe trembles in the turmoil, but it’s stuck there.

And we could get stuck too.

Twenty feet. Ten.

It rushes up at us like an angry gravestone, but I dig my paddle in, hard, and at the last second we slide around it.

Then we’re at the inside elbow of the bend—waves pounding our hull and forcing it down, under water. We almost stall.

“Paddle, Dad!” I yell. “Paddle harder!”

He does what I ask. Maybe I’m the captain now.

And straining our arms, shoulders, backs, legs, we drive our blades through the churning waves...

…then burst out and rocket down the other side of the Chute.

A broken canoe paddle sticks out of a pile of rocks near the cutbank, like an amputated arm waving goodbye.

And then as quickly as we entered the Chute, we’re all the way through it.

We glide for a moment in easy water and I’m about to let out a shout of victory, when we’re snatched by the “Roller Coaster,” as Dad called it.

I’d forgotten about the Roller Coaster!

Once again, the current grabs us and sweeps us away.

Immediately, I see how it got its name. It’s fast and furious, with barf-inducing drops.

But also like a roller coaster, it’s fun!

But we’re not on rails and once again our fate is in our own hands, not some machine’s.

And I’m in the back, guiding the two of us.

And we don’t want our kayak to end up like the broken-in-half canoe.

The good news is that there are no more boulders and no more bends, just huge standing waves. So I drop the rudder in and we hold a straight course down the center of all the crazy turbulence...

…until, at last, we glide out into smooth water at the far end.

Can I breathe now?

Interviews

"An adventure trip in British Columbia's Cariboo Mountains may be the best chance for a father and son to reconnect. . . When a life-threatening accident incapacitates his father, Aaron is forced to find the very qualities that his father was demanding all along. The richly realized setting makes the familiar story of a headstrong white teen squaring off against his father fresh. Aaron moves from arrogance to humility and a calm assurance. But his father also grows, realizing Aaron is yearning for the same respect and freedom that he craved from his own father. Pencil illustrations accompany the text. Nail-biting journey with a heart." —Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

"Brief on character development but brisk on pacing and action, this is an adventure/survival novel set in the Cariboo Mountains in Central British Columbia. Aaron and his dad set off for two weeks of canoeing through a series of lakes after Aaron’s expulsion from school. Aaron has had previous wilderness experiences, and while he doesn’t relish the time spent entirely alone with his father, he is excited for the outdoor adventure aspect of the trip. The expedition is fraught with typical, but exciting, perils of nature, from white-water rapids to grizzly bears. Along the way, father and son attempt to reconcile, but the path is not smooth. Both characters must rely on each other, and the climax of the story is intense and dramatic. This is a fast-paced novel that is not overwhelming in terms of length or depth and will be enjoyed by fans of Gary Paulsen and Will Hobbs. Knowledge of the previous titles in the series might be helpful in relation to some secondary characters mentioned but is not a prerequisite for this episode. VERDICT A thrilling wilderness quest with typical father/son interactions that don’t get in the way of the dangers of the journey. More than one reader will be looking at the map and trying to convince a grown-up to take them to Bowron Lake Provincial Park." –John Scott, Friends School of Baltimore, School Library Journal

From the Publisher

01/01/2017
Gr 4–6—Brief on character development but brisk on pacing and action, this is an adventure/survival novel set in the Cariboo Mountains in Central British Columbia. Aaron and his dad set off for two weeks of canoeing through a series of lakes after Aaron's expulsion from school. Aaron has had previous wilderness experiences, and while he doesn't relish the time spent entirely alone with his father, he is excited for the outdoor adventure aspect of the trip. The expedition is fraught with typical, but exciting, perils of nature, from white-water rapids to grizzly bears. Along the way, father and son attempt to reconcile, but the path is not smooth. Both characters must rely on each other, and the climax of the story is intense and dramatic. This is a fast-paced novel that is not overwhelming in terms of length or depth and will be enjoyed by fans of Gary Paulsen and Will Hobbs. Knowledge of the previous titles in the series might be helpful in relation to some secondary characters mentioned but is not a prerequisite for this episode. VERDICT A thrilling wilderness quest with typical father/son interactions that don't get in the way of the dangers of the journey. More than one reader will be looking at the map and trying to convince a grown-up to take them to Bowron Lake Provincial Park.—John Scott, Friends School of Baltimore

School Library Journal

2016-12-06
An adventure trip in British Columbia's Cariboo Mountains may be the best chance for a father and son to reconnect. After being expelled from school for carrying a pocket knife, eighth-grader Aaron strikes a deal with his parents. Rather than attending a camp in Montana for juvenile delinquents, Aaron agrees to a kayak trip with his father. The only problem is he and his dad can barely stand to be in the same room together. How are they going to survive two weeks alone in the wilderness? From the start, the trip becomes a contest of wills, each loath to allow the other to take the lead. The sound of their kayak paddles clacking together is a constant reminder of just how out of sync they have become. But when a life-threatening accident incapacitates his father, Aaron is forced to find the very qualities that his father was demanding all along. The richly realized setting makes the familiar story of a headstrong white teen squaring off against his father fresh. Aaron moves from arrogance to humility and a calm assurance. But his father also grows, realizing Aaron is yearning for the same respect and freedom that he craved from his own father. Pencil illustrations accompany the text. Nail-biting journey with a heart. (Adventure. 8-11)

Kirkus Reviews