Sixteen-Year-Old Celstia spends every summer with her family at the elite resort at Lake Conemaugh, a shimmering Allegheny Mountain reservoir held ...
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Jul 09, 2010
Frezanda
rated it: 
I usually don't like to read story written in verses. I gues that's because of my wariness of poetry. This book ....what can I say about this book...There are several point of views in this book. The verses style actually help and improve the feeling and emotion the characters had at that point of time. It's really poignant.
The story is really good but for me the story went from good to awesome when the flood happened. Instead of reading the story, it feels like you saw it. You were More...
The story is really good but for me the story went from good to awesome when the flood happened. Instead of reading the story, it feels like you saw it. You were More...
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Jun 25, 2011
Emily
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I like novels in verse. I like books told from multiple perspectives. But I don't tend to like books in verse told from multiple perspectives. I find that the free verse doesn't lend itself to establishing different voices for the characters. And that's my major complaint with this book. I found the different stories to be interesting and the historical information at the end to fulfill my requirements--there is a timeline, information on whether characters are real people, modeled after re
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Nov 20, 2010
Kelsey
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I was drawn in by Richards beautiful verse. Her writing style was fabulous and the plot was one I’d never read. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, but I’ve never read about the Johnstown Flood. Richards did a great job of tying historical facts in with a variety of sub plots. There were five different narrators which may seem like a lot, but it worked out well. The reader got to see different peoples perspectives of the flood and how their stories tied together. The romance was sw
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Oct 18, 2011
Kellie
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Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood
By: Jame Richards
This historical novel is based around the devastating Johnstown Flood in 1889. It centers around Celestia, the youngest daughter to a wealthy businessman, and Peter who is the “help” at The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, where Celestia, her family, and the other society families of Pittsburgh spend their summers. The story starts in the summer before the flood, where both Celestia and her sister get into trouble. More...
By: Jame Richards
This historical novel is based around the devastating Johnstown Flood in 1889. It centers around Celestia, the youngest daughter to a wealthy businessman, and Peter who is the “help” at The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, where Celestia, her family, and the other society families of Pittsburgh spend their summers. The story starts in the summer before the flood, where both Celestia and her sister get into trouble. More...
Mar 11, 2011
Heather
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Aug 18, 2010
Jennifer
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Reviewed by McKenzie Tritt for TeensReadToo.com
Johnstown is a quiet, unassuming home for many. During the summer, the residents travel a short distance to the country club to work and earn money. The rich folk spend their summers at the club swimming and relaxing. All seems well for this small area.
In the back of everyone's mind, however, is the dam. Rich men created the dam in order to build a man-made lake. After a heavy rain, news spreads that the dam is breaking, whic More...
Johnstown is a quiet, unassuming home for many. During the summer, the residents travel a short distance to the country club to work and earn money. The rich folk spend their summers at the club swimming and relaxing. All seems well for this small area.
In the back of everyone's mind, however, is the dam. Rich men created the dam in order to build a man-made lake. After a heavy rain, news spreads that the dam is breaking, whic More...
Jul 08, 2010
Margo
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Debut novelist Jame Richards has written a mesmerizing novel in verse set against the shocking backdrop of the Johnstown Flood of 1889. The story of the Johnstown Flood has plenty of juicy ingredients to make a compelling novel: an exclusive resort, where the wealthiest of Pittsburgh society vacationed, an intense storm, the failure of a dam, perhaps due to negligence, the destruction of a working class city, and an enormous national and even international relief effort, which included Clara Bar
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Jun 06, 2010
Diana
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Told in free verse from several viewpoints this quick read provides a glimpse into the lives of young people from different classes living in Pennsylvania in the late 19th century. Celestina, a daughter of privilege, is staying at a resort on the shores of a man-made lake high above the towns where ordinary working folks live. She loves to spend time alone reading and ends up meeting Peter who works at the resort. Because of her position in life, she, like her older sister is expected to remain
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Jun 15, 2011
Megan
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Although billed as a novel of the Johnstown Flood, this is more a story of a society girl who falls in love with a servant. Celestia and her family spend each summer at the resort where Peter works. The two meet in secret knowing that Celestia's family would disapprove of their relationship. When Celestia's unmarried sister becomes pregnant, the family sends her away to avoid scandal and they become even harsher with Celestia to try to keep her away from Peter. Celestia's feelings for Peter
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May 21, 2011
Carrie Abigail
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Three Rivers Rising was an excellent combination of a forbidden romance and major historical event. Books like this really capture my attention because they use something that really happened but weave interesting storylines around it.
This book really resonated with me because my relative survived the Johnstown Flood. However, I don't I ever really realized what happened that day in Johnstown, so this was perfect to provide me with the basic information. I'm now ready to read Davi More...
This book really resonated with me because my relative survived the Johnstown Flood. However, I don't I ever really realized what happened that day in Johnstown, so this was perfect to provide me with the basic information. I'm now ready to read Davi More...
Jan 08, 2011
Randi
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Novel in verse...can't wait to discuss this with the Challenge Book Club students. I love learning history from fiction!
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Aug 30, 2010
Christina
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Wonderful book in verse set during the days leading up to and during the 1889 Johnstown Pa Flood. Having lived there three years, I'm always interested in this particular event and have read several nonfiction books on it. I enjoyed this fictional account very much, as it depicted what it must have been like to live through it from the point of view of several people: 16 year old Celestia, a wealthy girl who summers at the Hunting and Fishing Club where the flood began, and falls in love with a
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Sep 06, 2011
Khornberger
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This historical novel written in verse is a perfect selection for any student but what a great find it would be for someone required to read historical fiction! Jame Richard's knowledge and research is impressive; she weaves her wealth of knowledge (gathered on this one specific event in history since she was a child) into verse which is simple yet draws readers immediately into the various characters lives and situations. The class differences are interesting and they illustrate how money doe
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Dec 05, 2011
Erin
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Three Rivers Rising
by Jame Richards
Guys, what if you met a beautiful girl who fell for you, and you fell for her? You'd start dating her as soon as possible right? Not if you lived in Johnstown in the early 1900s you wouldn't. You see, in this novel Celestia comes from a family that has money and class. Meanwhile, Peter is just a guy who works at the resort hotel where she and her family stay ever summer. In order to spend time together, they must sneak around—which isn't good. If th More...
by Jame Richards
Guys, what if you met a beautiful girl who fell for you, and you fell for her? You'd start dating her as soon as possible right? Not if you lived in Johnstown in the early 1900s you wouldn't. You see, in this novel Celestia comes from a family that has money and class. Meanwhile, Peter is just a guy who works at the resort hotel where she and her family stay ever summer. In order to spend time together, they must sneak around—which isn't good. If th More...
Mar 27, 2011
Sherry
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This verse novel tells the story of Celestia and Peter, who meet and fall in love at the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club the summer before the Johnstown Flood. Celestia is the daughter of a wealthy businessman who disapproves of her budding relationship with Peter, the son of a miner and summer employee of the club. After Celestia's sister is disowned and spirited off to Europe following a disastrous affair with a wealthy tycoon, the Whitcombs do everything they can to prevent Celestia from
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May 24, 2010
Briony
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This was an interesting perspective on a historical event. The author's purpose was to create an account that did not solely focus on the actual event but rather integrated it into her story line. While I immensely enjoyed the book, it was not what I originally expected.
Richards created a book that was beautifully written and smoothly transitioned from one person to the next. I also found it to be a very quick read and I had a hard time putting it down, but the book only received fou More...
Richards created a book that was beautifully written and smoothly transitioned from one person to the next. I also found it to be a very quick read and I had a hard time putting it down, but the book only received fou More...
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May 13, 2011
Heidi
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Been wanting to read this when it first came in as a new book and I realized it was based in my good friend's home town. And I really, really liked it. It was fast and short. Though I hadn't expected it to focus more on the characters than the actual flood, I actually liked that. I liked the different walks of life portrayed, and how what they did during the flood, and how the flood affected them. I liked the happy (possibly too happy for some) ending. The audio's narrators were very good. It to
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Jul 05, 2010
Abby
rated it:
Three and a half stars - sometimes a girl needs a half!!
I love historical fiction about events that I didn't know anything about and this book absolutely fits the bill. Lake Conemaugh was a man-made reservoir, stocked with fish for the pleasure of rich tourists. Though the dam showed signs of wear, the owners neglected to make the necessary repairs, even though tons of water threatened thousands of people living in the valleys below the resort. In 1889, the dam broke, flooding the va More...
I love historical fiction about events that I didn't know anything about and this book absolutely fits the bill. Lake Conemaugh was a man-made reservoir, stocked with fish for the pleasure of rich tourists. Though the dam showed signs of wear, the owners neglected to make the necessary repairs, even though tons of water threatened thousands of people living in the valleys below the resort. In 1889, the dam broke, flooding the va More...
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Nov 02, 2010
Jbachelder
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Good historical fiction! In 1889 heavy rains caused a dam in Pennsylvania to break, resulting in one of the worst floods in our nation's history. The entire town of Johnstown was washed away in a matter of minutes. Our story begins the summer before the tragedy as we meet two star-crossed (fictional) lovers, Celestia and Peter -- Celestia from a high-society family who summers at the resort where low-born Peter works. Celestia's secret gets out, and her family sends her off to a boarding scho
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Mar 08, 2011
bjneary
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What a great way to learn about the Johnstown Flood of 1889 than soaking up a novel in verse! Richards novel is powerfully told through protagonists Celestia, a young teen whose family are members of the prestigious South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club; Peter, who works summers at the club rather than joining his father in the mines in Johnstown. We learn about the rigid class system that exists in this society that would never agree to a relationship between Celestia and Peter. Maura is the w
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Oct 22, 2010
Sarah
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Dec 10, 2010
Ms. Mulhern Gross
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This marking period my seniors are focusing on environmental and engineering disasters. We just read Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People and our next book is David McCullough’s The Johnstown Flood. When I received a review copy of Jame Richards’ Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood over the summer, I knew I would want to read it closer to when we were focusing on the Johnstown Flood disaster. Over the holiday weekend I finished the book and I can not wait to share it with my seniors.
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May 12, 2010
Karen
rated it:
Historical fiction AND written in verse...destined to be a hard sell to junior high kids. I didn't care for this at first- I felt like I was reading "Dirty Dancing, The 1890's version". Then I got further into it and realized we were dealing with a different movie comaprison all together: Titanic. Upper-class/ Lower-class star-crossed lovers and a historical disaster: check. I like the multiple voices, but I would have preferred hearing more from the others besides Celstia and Peter. T
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Dec 03, 2010
Peg
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Richards' free verse story of the flood is told through 5 voices, including the high society Celestia, two working class women, her beau, and her father. We learn about class distinctions through the romance of Celestia and Joseph while they are staying or working at the Club currently responsible for the dam. At first it is not clear why the other two women's story is being told, but then the dam breaks and the pieces all come together. The tale becomes most involving just before the flood.
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Feb 10, 2011
This book is about the Johnsotown Flood of 1889. It is told as a novel-in-verse, which is the story from multiple viewpoints. The format of the story is different than what I am used to reading. Instead of it reading in whole sentence and paragraphs it reads like this:
Father says he comes for the fishing,
but in truth he comes to keep an eye
on other businessmen.
I have never seen him hook
a worm or tie a fly.
(pg 3 by Jame Richards)
I recommended More...
Father says he comes for the fishing,
but in truth he comes to keep an eye
on other businessmen.
I have never seen him hook
a worm or tie a fly.
(pg 3 by Jame Richards)
I recommended More...
Aug 05, 2010
Amber
rated it:
I am a sucker for historical fiction. So when I read a few reviews about Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards, I knew I had to get my hands on it. This book is set during the Johnstown Flood of 1889, but keep in mind that it is a novel OF the Johnstown Flood, not a novel ABOUT the Johnstown Flood. This differentiation is what made it an enjoyable read. Well, that and the author's ability to write in verse from the perspective of many different characters, making each one a distinct characte
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Feb 28, 2011
Minnie
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I love verse novels and here we have a spectacular addition to the genre and it's the first I've read and known to tackle historical fiction through poetic forms! Yea! At times, the poetry reads like beautiful prose, so it is amazingly accessible to all readers if if you think you don't like free verse.
Second, romance...what else could I ask for?
Third, alternating POV! Love, love, love this. Most of the novel alternates between Celestia and Peter, but it also includes More...
Second, romance...what else could I ask for?
Third, alternating POV! Love, love, love this. Most of the novel alternates between Celestia and Peter, but it also includes More...
Jan 01, 2010
Mariah
rated it:
This book was obviously historical, but I really enjoyed it because it was a story of something I had never heard of before, and the story was so heart-breaking that I did not feel that I was learning. The story was fiction but the events were all real.
Celestia was a very like-able character, she fell in love with someone below her class, and decided to follow that love, regardless of what her parents thought. While this was reckless, it shows the strictness of that society, and how More...
Celestia was a very like-able character, she fell in love with someone below her class, and decided to follow that love, regardless of what her parents thought. While this was reckless, it shows the strictness of that society, and how More...
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Jun 29, 2010
Mary
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This book should have been a tear-jerker, but wasn't. Maybe it was just my mood today - am I too happy to be crushed on this nice summer afternoon? - but though I liked the characters and the plot was compelling, my heart never tore like it should have for a book set agains the backdrop of such terrible loss as the Johnstown flood. Also, everything worked out with happy endings for each of the characters, so I never really felt the loss that I knew was supposed to come. Real life never gives
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May 02, 2010
Mevurah
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I was surprised by how fast i managed to read this book! But of course, it would have to be due to the fact that it is written in verse form. In Three Rivers Rising we learn about the events that lead to the famous historical event of the Johnstown Flood of 1889, through the different views of the fictional characters: Celestia, Peter, Maura, Kate and Celestia's father.
We are first introduced to Celestia, a 16 year old is who is vacationing with her family at an elite resort at Lake More...
We are first introduced to Celestia, a 16 year old is who is vacationing with her family at an elite resort at Lake More...
