And of course my parents said I couldn’t just go off and leave him here alone. But I know you and John can handle camping. She was responsible for him and he was only twelve. At first we thought we might still go and take Alex. We were going to camp along the banks, fish, snare rabbits and live off the land. Because of him my friend John Sun and I couldn’t go downriver on the trip we’d been planning all year.

He’d only been with us a week when I discovered that he’s a whiner and a show-off and I think probably a big liar, too. First and worst, my cousin Alex had come up from Los Angeles to spend the summer in Rivertown.

The summer wasn’t turning out the way I’d planned. Or am I blaming the Blackwater when I should be blaming myself? CHAPTER 1 I didn’t know there would be deaths, and disgrace and misery, and that the river would be to blame for it all. I always knew how terrible it could be, but I didn’t know how, one summer, it would change my life. My parents taught me to respect the Blackwater. I’ve seen it run gently and I’ve seen it angry and hateful. I’ve lived with that river for thirteen years, ever since I was born. THE BLACKWATER RIVER flows through our town.

Download free call to arms blackwater