Journey to the River Sea

When Maia, an orphan at a boarding school in England, learns that she has distant relatives who live thousands of miles up the Amazon River and who have agreed to take care of her, she is very excited and can't wait to travel out to live with them in such an exotic location. Accompanied by the very competent Miss Minton, a governess employed to travel with Maia and, once they get to their destination, teach her and her cousins, Beatrice and Gwendolyn, Maia arrives at her destination filled with enthusiasm and optimism for her new life. However, Maia's relatives, the Carters, are cold, unfeeling people who have only agreed to take Maia in because they need the money her trustees are prepared to pay them, and Beatrice and Gwendolyn are not the friends Maia hoped they would be, but are spiteful, snobbish girls and jealous of their bright and pretty cousin. However, enjoying the lush scenery around her and keen to make the most of her situation, Maia plans to get to know the area and make friends with the native people who lives in huts on the Carters' land, but she is forbidden to venture further than the verandah of the house and is put into a small, hot room at the back of the property - which, like every room in the bungalow, Mrs Carter sprays continually with super-strength insecticide. In spite of these restrictions, Maia soon finds an opportunity to explore and, in doing so, makes friends not only with some of the locals but also with a young English orphan boy called Finn who has been brought up on the Amazon and intends to stay there, despite being hounded by two officials keen to discover his whereabouts and take him to England to claim his inheritance. Maia, entranced by the sights, sounds and colours of the Amazon and totally understanding why Finn doesn't want to leave, promises to help him - but when the greedy twins learn there is a reward for information leading to the whereabouts of the young boy, they are determined to discover his hiding place and collect their reward...Set in 1910, this is a beautifully written and exciting children's adventure story that is filled with some wonderful descriptions of situation and setting and with some very engaging - and not so engaging - characters. I very much enjoyed reading about Maia's and Finn's exploits and also those of her intrepid governess, Miss Minton (who is nowhere near as starchy as we think when we first meet her), who throws not only caution to the wind when necessary, but also (and rather shockingly for the time) throws away her bone-crushingly uncomfortable corset when the need arises. Although a children's book and I left my childhood behind a long time ago, I really enjoyed this story and was captivated by Maia and her adventures - I've now lent the book to a friend's daughter and she absolutely loves it. I've only read a few of Eva Ibbotson's books, but there's not one that I haven't enjoyed and, as I have several of her titles in one of my bookcases, I'm certainly keen to read and review more of them soon.5 Stars.

A very classic feeling modern story set in times gone by. I was skeptic all to start with that the ‘olden days’ setting would be engaging enough to keep children entertained, but the story gets going quickly, and I found myself invested in Maia and her story and where it would go very quickly. It doesn’t dwell too much on the time in which it is set, but gives constant clues and reminders of this.It reminds me very much of the Secret Garden, but a very different plot. Very nice to have an adventurous, inquisitive young female protagonist. Quite predictable storyline as an adult, but one that I think children will enjoy. There’s enough complexity and different tangents, without being too confusing for readers.Can’t wait to share with children in my class! Really accessible!

The book is fantastic, I loved every page. The characters were varied and interesting, the description rich enough without being waffly. The storyline was really engaging and I loved the ending. I bought it because I'll be teaching it to a year 5 class next term. I read it because it was great!

Bought this as part of the whole class reading for my daughter who is learning from home. She has LOVED it.... we take turns in reading, her vocal has increased, and she forever wants to read on. It's an amazing story, written beautifully and we will be looking at more of the authors titles when we are finished.

This is a wonderful story I bought it to read with my ten year old son as they were going to read it at school and we both really enjoyed it.