Leepike Ridge,Used

Before he wrote the bestselling100 Cupboards trilogy and Ashtown Burials series, N. D. Wilson delighted readers with his first unforgettable actionadventure 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 SharingThis 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, StarredWilsons debut is a literate, sometimes humorous pageturner in the classic tradition. Wellread adventure lovers are in for a treat looking for echoes of The Odyssey and Tom Sawyer.Kirkus ReviewsToms 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 wellcrafted suspense and fascinating survival detail. . . . [M]iddlegrade readers will also relish the physicality of the journey: underwater swims, tight passages, and rock climbing. . . . [An] appealing and easytobooktalk package.BooklistWilson 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 fastpaced adventure and Toms determination to make the impossible journey back home.The Horn Book MagazineWilsons rich imagination and his quirky characters are a true delight.School Library Journal