Journey+to+the+River+Sea

Maia was a young girl living in England. She had no parents and so one day her guardian, Mr. Murray told her that she would be staying with her aunt and uncle in the Amazon Rain forest. Maia was so excited about living in the wild. She was given a governess named Miss Minton. So Maia and Miss Minton set off on boat to Brazil. On the boat, Maia and Miss Minton met a young male actor. His name was Clovis. Clovis longed so much to be back in England, but instead he must travel to Brazil to take part in the theater there. When Maia and Miss Minton arrive, to their surprise, Maia's aunt and uncle, along with two female twin cousins, were nothing like they imagined. They were proper English people who wanted nothing to do with the wildness of the Amazon. Mrs. Carter, Maia's aunt, was a neat freak and spent huge money on cleaning supplies and bug repellents. Life became so boring for Maia. Because of Mr. Carter's job with making rubber, the Carter family also had Indians working for them to collect rubber. The rubber industry was failing for Mr. Carter, so the only reason the Carters ever considered letting Maia stay was because if they did, they would be paid to do so by Mr. Murray. Maia, one day, meets a boy named Finn who is a lost prince. Two men were sent to find him, but Finn was reluctant. He and Maia, along with Clovis who escaped from the theater, came up with a plan. Their plan was for Clovis to hide in a museum and pretend he was the lost prince. Clovis so badly wanted to go back to his home in England. Maia would tell the twins "accidentally" where Clovis is. Then Clovis would be sent to England, and Finn would travel to find the Xanti, the tribe Finn was actually born from. This plan actually worked, but after Finn left, the Carter's house burned down. In the distance, Finn saw the smoke from the house and quickly went back to find Maia. Maia was lying in a pile of rubble, so Finn took her on his boat and there he set off again to find the Xanti. Meanwhile, Miss Minton was searching desperately for Maia, and she couldn't find her, but thanks to the help of a naturalist working at a museum, Miss Minton finally found Maia with Finn. So all four of them set off towards the tribe of the Xanti. They found the tribe, and they were having a wonderful time until men from England found the four of them and brought them back to England. Maia was afraid that she would never go back to the Amazon again or get to see Miss Minton, but Miss Minton persuaded Mr. Murray to let them go back to the Amazon. So in the end, Miss Minton, Maia, and Finn were able to find what they were looking for. A home.

I learned about the culture of the Indians in the Amazon. The Indians there lived in small little huts with a dirt floor. They lived all together as one whole family, rather than a bunch of separate families in one community. They ate what you would expect to in the Amazon, lots of tropical fruits and exotic animals. They loved to sing. They sang songs while working and playing. They traveled around the Amazon in little boats, like the one Finn had. They also slept in hammocks because it was very warm outside. -Abbey

I enjoyed this book. There wasn't so much action, but there was enough happening in the plot in order to keep me reading. I really liked the strong characters in the story. They had really unique personalities. I enjoyed the setting of the story because I think the Amazon is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Mrs. Carter was a very interesting "villain." She was very proper and well dressed, but she gave Maia so much grief, and the only reason Maia could stay was because Mrs. Carter was so greedy, and she wanted money. -Abbey