Pam Withers

I work in a U.S. middle school that has a population that is 25% Latino and growing. When I finished First Descent, I knew that it had to be added to our school library. Books that show strong Latino and Latina characters are hard enough to find, but ones where the Caucasian and Indigenous/Latina culture come together are even rarer.

First, this book is a strong adventure story about a Canadian boy, Rex, who needs to prove something to his Grandfather. He does this by going to Columbia to show more kayak the river that had beaten "Gramps" 60 years before. He needs the help of the Indigenas that had had the (dis)pleasure of helping Gramps previously.

Second, this is a novel of witness. Once Rex gets to Columbia, he finds the tourist board had downplayed the activities of Guerrila and paramilitary forces in the region he plans to kayak. Real news of the situation is hard to find. Reporters who attempt to cover the civil war frequently die doing so. The Indegenas who are helping him are right in the middle of the clash, being tortured, starved and killed by all three militaries involved. As Rex continues on his journey, he finds that proving something to Gramps isn't reason enough to get him over the falls and through the underground passage of the river. However, a better reason finds him. show less

Perhaps it's no surprise that a book about fast-paced whitewater kayaking would be a real page turner. However, it may be a surprise to some that in the end, this story isn't as much about the original hero, Rex, as it is about Myriam, the girl who he hires to be his native guide to the river he seeks to conquer. In many ways, she makes a better heroine than Rex makes a hero! When the river turns out to be an entirely different kind of adventure for Rex, he must learn to adapt and work with show more Myriam and the others he's met since leaving Canada. A fast-paced read that explores privilege, cultural differences, and the sharing of stories as much as it explores the wilds of Colombia and the unconquered river that Rex's grandfather never quite tamed. show less

This is a good resource book for finding other resources. Beyond that, the book seems to be a complex maze of, "For more information on this, see page XXX."

While most of the statistics in the book are things to worry about in today's age with growing boys, I also do not feel like the hard and fast suggestions of how to promote a love of learning and the discipline of respect are anything that are not found in numerous other books already.

There were certainly take away pieces of wisdom from show more this book: Don't censor the types of reading your boy wants to do. Comic Books may be a way to get him interested in words (and onomatopoeia). Center a boy in a circle of as many male mentors as you can, getting him to see reading and learning as something to be proud of rather than something to hide. Focus your words to be meaningful to a boys ears (when you're angry, try to speak in less than ten words at a time).

So, while this is a helpful reference book, it is not necessarily one I would suggest to someone already fluent in the raising of a boy. Rather, this might be a better guide to give to someone with a new son (such a parent by remarriage) or for someone who is completely at their wits end and needs something to prove that raising a boy is not an easy task, especially in today's world. show less

Reviewed from Librarything Advanced Reader's Copy

Once again, this is a book I would never have picked up if it were not for the fact that Librarything sent it to me.

Rex is a champion kayaker who is determined to nab a first descent, the name given to the feat of being the first crazy person to kayak a river. But his heart is set on not just any first descent- he wants to kayak the one river his famous kayaker grandfather tried and failed to complete: the furioso located in Colombia.

Myriam is show more an indigena living by the banks of the Furioso. Her great ambition is to go to University so she can become a journalist and expose the plight of her people. Stuck in between a bloody and ruthless guerrilla war between the rebels and the paramilitaries, her people and her way of life are slowly being exterminated.

When Rex hires her as a guide for his expedition Myriam believes she has finally found the way to make it to University. Together they embark on an adventure replete with white water, cliffs, jagged rocks, minefields and soldiers.

The strength in this novel are the Myriam sections when she is describing the horrors her people have to face as well as their acute poverty. She is a great foil to Rex who is self-centered and single-minded. He refuses to see the political dangers of the situation along the river and doesn't clue in to state of Myriam and her people for way too long. Although irritating, I suspect this might be true to the character of any red-blooded, indifferently educated young american.

A fast-paced gripping read that combines adventure, sports and a glimpse into an under-reported human rights atrocity. show less