Leepike Ridge

Before he wrote the bestselling100 Cupboards trilogy and Ashtown Burials series N. D. Wilson delighted readers with his first unforgettable action-adventure story of survival. . . . Thomas Hammond has always lived next to Leepike Ridge but he never imagined he might end up lost beneath it! The night Toms schoolteacher comes to dinner and asks Toms mother to marry him Tom slips out of the house and escapes down a nearby stream on a floating slab of packing foam. The night and stars lull Tom to sleep and when he wakes he has ridden his foam raft all the way to the ridge where the stream dives underground. Flung over rapids and tossed through chasms Tom finally hits shore sore but alive. What Tom finds under Leepike Ridgea dog a flashlight a castaway a tomb and buried treasurewill answer questions he hadnt known to ask and change his life forever. Now if only he can find his way home again. . . . In the grand tradition of Robinson Crusoe Hatchet and Tom Sawyer N. D. Wilsons first book for young readers is a remarkable adventure a journey through the dark and back into the light. A New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing This is a ripping good adventure yarn. . . . Heres the perfect remedy for any summer thats been disappointingly short on thrills.The Bulletin of the Center for Childrens Books Starred Wilsons debut is a literate sometimes humorous page-turner in the classic tradition. Well-read adventure lovers are in for a treat looking for echoes of The Odyssey and Tom Sawyer.Kirkus Reviews Toms adventures have several literary ancestors including Tom and Huck in the cave and the inventive Swiss Family Robinson but this is solidly set in the present standing on its own with well-crafted suspense and fascinating survival detail. . . . Middle-grade readers will also relish the physicality of the journey: underwater swims tight passages and rock climbing. . . . An appealing and easy-to-booktalk package.Booklist Wilson sets the scene vividly from Toms home to the labyrinth of tunnels and caverns under the mountain and the central characters emotional lives develop both naturally and affectingly. Readers will appreciate both the fast-paced adventure and Toms determination to make the impossible journey back home.The Horn Book Magazine Wilsons rich imagination and his quirky characters are a true delight.School Library Journal