"The River" By Gary Paulsen is sort of like a follow up to his earlier award winning book "The Hatchet". In this epic thrilling book Brian, the main character, is headed back to the wilderness to do it all over again. Of course he's not doing this under his free will, the government has asked him to do go back so that they can study the techniques that kept Brian alive. These techniques will be used by the military and astronauts who need these skills to survive. But Brian isn't going alone, he is accompanied by a government psychologist, Derek, who is observing him and taking notes.
Derek doesn't really understand the true methods of survival. He has brought along with them food and emergency supplies that will be of much help. But Brian refuses to use any of these items, becuase he knows that in a real life stuation, they wouldn't be there. The wilderness is not fit for Derek. The mosquitos devour him at night and the sun beats down all day. Brian catches all the food and builds the shelter. One night, during a horrific storm, Derek is struck by lightning. This is no longer a simulation in the woods, its now life a or death situation. Brian needs to transport Derek to a hospital because he's in a coma. The only way to do this is by building a raft and sailing down the treachorous river to get to the nearest trading post. if his map his accurate he might succeed but if not, Derek will surely die.
In an incredible effort to save Derek Brian travels for days finding the trading post. He goes through many obstacles but succeeds and saves Derk's life. I thought this was a great book because now Brian not only had to care for himself, but he had to care for Derek who was in a coma. He had to take on the extra burden of another person as well as himself and he did it. The plotline of the story was excellent and I liked how it developed. A real page turner indeed