The River Between Us

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Peck, Richard. THE RIVER BETWEEN US. New York: Dial Books, 2003.

PLOT SUMMARY
THE RIVER BETWEEN US is a story about a young boy who travels with his father back to his father’s hometown. When he gets there he is told the story of his elders’ pasts. The story of the past consumes most of the book telling of harder times. “Grandma” Tilly tells about when she met Delphine, a girl of mixed descent and the struggles they went through together. In the end the boy finds out that Delphine is in fact his real grandmother.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
THE RIVER BETWEEN US is a historical fiction book focused around one family. While the narrator of the book is a young boy, it soon changes as Tilly begins to tell him the story of her past. Tilly and Delphine are the main characters. The two characters are so different that it is easy for anyone to relate to at least one of them. Tilly was a young girl who worked hard and cared little about the way she looked and acted in front of others. Delphine on the other hand was a wealthy girl so she did less work and more worrying about appearances. The characters, though very old now, recall a time in their lives that children can relate to even in the present day.

The events taking place during the duration of the book are quite serious. America was in the midst of the civil war and racism was a huge issue. While the plot did not sugar coat the severity of the time, it also did not go into extreme detail about the hardships so that a young student could easily read it without being overcome with fear. The author did however go into detail when describing the setting. For this particular period of time the location the people lived had a great deal to do with their opinions and involvement in the war. The author used dialect and phrases that would have been unique to the location and time period. This added to the visualization of the characters to the reader.

The theme of the story is that while the world was going through a time of segregation and fighting, two girls found their similarities to help each other get through life. In the end the girls become family despite their very different backgrounds.


REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
In this thoroughly researched novel, Peck masterfully describes the female Civil War experience, the subtle and not-too-subtle ways the country was changing, and the split in loyalty that separated towns and even families. Although the book deals with some weighty themes, it is not without humor. A scene involving strapping on a corset is worthy of Grandma Dowdel herself.-SLJ

Peck's spare writing has never been more eloquent than in this powerful mystery in which personal secrets drive the plot and reveal the history.-BOOKLIST

CONNECTIONS
History-This book is a great resource to use as an insight into racism during the Civil War.

LA-This would be a great book to use when teaching about context clues. The students should use information gathered in the book to hypothesis what will happen next.