Rodman Philbrick

While this review indicates a 2019 read date, I have read it every year since then.

I read this over and over in middle school. Freak and I had so much in common! Not the same condition, though. I was a sick kid who is now a sick adult, but thanks to Disability Twitter and Disability YouTube, I have a community. I didn't before, so I lived vicariously through Freak, or tried. When I read this again today as an adult, I thought I'd pick up on things differently. Not really. The book is accessible to both kids and adults, which feels kind of rare. I admire the author for this. The movie adaptation is really faithful and it was so great to see the book come to life. The author's fine with it, even. I watched some of his videos on YouTube. The book warmed my heart, made me laugh, gave me hope, made me nervous and scared, then broke my heart. I remembered everything that happened but oh, I was still so sad. As an adult, I realized something I hadn't as a kid: Freak knew. He knew the whole time, and he made up an elaborate story to cope. I have so many feelings. I'm so glad this book was written, that I read it as a kid, and now.… (mer)

One thing I really enjoy about Rodman Philbrick's books is the reality of them. So many authors who write for middle grade students create an ending that is satisfying yet often lacking. In Philbrick's books characters are injured, go through hardships, catastrophes, and yes, some of them even die. They have to fight for survival. In this book five kids are chose to go on a white water rafting trip as part of their school's new "Project Future Leaders". Their two guides on this trip don't get a chance to teach them much about survival. On their first day they change their entry point into the river. They are unable to get their satellite phone to work so they have not been able to call anyone and let them know of their new location. They raft down the first leg of the river, make camp and get to know each other. Sounds like a nice story so far doesn't it? Each of these kids have things the others don't know about them. Some of them are fears, some of them are cover ups for hurts they have experienced. In the middle of the night they are awaken by their two guides and told to run to higher ground because the dam has broken. They are pushed to the top only to watch their guides washed away. Now they are on their own. That is where I will end my summary. These kids show what they are made of. They show who they are in desperate times. They show what it means to build friendships and rely on each other. My husband looked at me and asked, "You're done with that book already?" when books are as good as this one is you can't help but read it straight through. I can't wait for the school year to start so that I can put this in the pile for my first week activity that introduces students to my large collection of books. This is definitely on the top of my list of loved books for this year.… (mer)