Having grown up only twenty minutes from Niagara Falls both the point of interest and setting resonated with me; a connection with human endeavors and the Falls always held much allure for me as a young person. Unfortunately, it felt as if Walters was adamant about the ills of teenage drinking and substance abuse. At times, it overshadowed and even competed with Jay's narrative and attempts to find a connection to his family's historic past. Recommended for Grades 7-10. ( )

Jay Hunter lives in Niagara Falls, but wishes he didn’t. An exciting night consists of drinking, chatting with an attractive girl, and staring at the river. Jay finds out that his father’s side of the family have a history connected to the Falls, and he discovers the actual barrel that his great, great grandfather used to go over the falls. He rents it to Boomer, the owner of a local history museum, and in the process gets to know the man. Jay decides that he wants to go over the Falls as well so he uses the money from the antique barrel to build a modern version, and he gets Boomer to give him advice. Then, near the end, he changes his mind MUCH too quickly to be believable.
I didn’t like that the book seemed to be telling two stories; one about the problems associated with drinking alcohol, and the second the Falls story. The two ideas are not merged well in this book. I felt like the author was trying to cram in as much information about AA and AlaTeen as he possibly could fit on the pages. The reader also never has a clear understanding of why Jay thinks that going over the Falls is going to garner him a lot of money. The characters are not as well developed as I’d like; Jay’s friend Timmy alternates between an empty headed drunk and petty thief to a sensitive, intelligent friend with a conscience. Only if you are a) an Eric Walters fan or b) fascinated with the Niagara Falls area should you have more than one copy of this book available in your library. It’s just not that good. ( )