Three Rivers Rising

I first saw this book at the library. It was standing by itself, just beckoning me to open it's cover, and voila! "Be amazed," it said, "because I am written entirely in free verse!"

"No," I replied. "You must be mistaken. No one really writes in free verse these days unless you're a reincarnation of Walt Whitman. And no matter how admirable it may be that you're a nineteenth century poet back from the dead, there's no way you would get published."

Luckily, though, my snarky comments and I were both wrong! This book may be one of poetry but it's very readable and doesn't require a degree in literature to understand what's within the pages.

Three Rivers Rising is written from the perspective of many characters. Thus, as a reader, you get to see both sides of the story as wealthy sixteen-year-old Celestia and hired boy Peter fall in love with each other. You get a glance into the intrigue of high social class and all its snobbery in Pennsylvania in the late nineteenth century. Then there are the thoughts and dreams of minor characters that bleed through the pages, and you, dear reader, are privy to them all.

Based on the true event of the Johnstown Flood in May of 1889, I was truly impressed by this story, not only because the words flowed like water, but because each character followed an arc and had their own unique voice. Plus, it was about an event I had never even heard of before, so I came away more educated than when I began! Give this book a chance, everyone. Plunge in, and just see where the current takes you.

Appropriate for ages 15+