From the inside front flap: "A light plane has come down on a bush-clad ridge about the Wanganui River. It is the early 1950s and in these uninhabited, roadless mountains of the river's upper reaches, two teenage canoeists are nearest the crash area. Lindsey and Howard Barker have just launched their canoes at Taumarunni on what they expect to be a leisurely 210-km voyage to the coast. This holiday turns quickly into a high adventure after the Air Force Rescue Organisation contacts them with a request to keep a lookout for a missing Auster. To the fun of a pig-tracking, riverside camping and canoe exploration the boys now have added the trills of a life-and-death search in dense New Zealand bush and regular contact with the various planes combing the area. And the boys' talk is not completed with the finding of the crashed plane. Before one of the survivors can get the medical care he badly needs, the Wanganui's most famous rapids must be negotiated in the rescuer's frail and overloaded craft. How the canoeists meet the river's final challenge about Pipiriki forms an exciting climax to this fast-moving tale."
Where do I start? This is a fantastic book, absolutely loved it!
I read this story with my 11-year-old daughter about geography. We like to read stories about places around the world and this year we are focusing on New Zealand. It covers the Whanganui-Manawatu region.
There's an excellent map at the beginning of the book and it's very easy to follow with all major story events marked on it. The book mentions Milson Aerodrome. We live in Milson, Palmerston North. This is now Palmerston North Airport!
It is well written and there are lots of interesting characters. I couldn't get over the first chapter where the local policeman wouldn't let the boys sleep in the park, so he took them home to his wife to look after. In the morning she cooked them breakfast and sent them on their merry way! Those were more innocent times!
The two teenage boys, Howard and Lindsey, are 14 and 16 and they are out on their own canoeing down the river. Everything changes when there is a plane crash and the Air Force makes contact with the boys and asks them to look out for the wreck and the passengers. Now their canoe trip gets interesting. Of course, they make contact and they meet the crash victims, Lorraine and her father. Lindsey discovers that girls are not so "helpless" and they have a big task ahead of them getting her injured father to safety.
I love the pace and adventure, the characters and the dialogue between them. There are lots of planes and flight sequences (if you're into that). The story even addresses PTSD! Since it takes place soon after WWII, the men have all served and they have memories. Lorraine's father was a POW and in his pain and delirium, old memories surface. This is addressed in a gentle way.
I tried to find out more about the author, Ken Saunders (Kenneth). He has written one other book - a picture book called, "Jimmy and the Bridge". There is a copy in the National Library, but apart from there, I cannot get a copy anywhere else. The author is a very interesting man and I will include his burb here. He was in the Air Force himself, a POW and part of the famous "Wooden Horse" escape. I tried to do some research but came up with nothing. If you can tell me anything, I would be thrilled.
I highly recommend the book for boys and girls aged 10 and over.