The Whisper: The Riverman Trilogy, Book II (The Riverman Trilogy, 2) - Hardcover

Starmer, Aaron

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374363110 ISBN 13: 9780374363116

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2015

Synopsis

Twelve-year-old Alistair Cleary has washed up on shore. But where? It seems to be Aquavania, the magical realm where children create entire worlds from their imagination. There's something wrong, though. The creators have disappeared and the worlds are falling apart. All Alistair wants is to find his friend Fiona Loomis and go home. Easier said than done. Animals made of starlight, a megalomaniacal boy king, and astronauts who peddle riddles are hard enough to outwit, but they're only the beginning. To find Fiona, Alistair must travel from world to world. He must confront the mistakes of his past. And he must face countless monsters, including the soul-stealing stalker that some people call the Riverman, the merciless but misunderstood servant of Aquavania who refers to himself as the Whisper.

About this title

About the Author

Aaron Starmer was born in northern California, raised in the suburbs of Syracuse, New York, and educated at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. His novels for young readers include The Riverman, Dweeb, and The Only Ones. He lives with his wife and daughter in Hoboken, New Jersey.

From School Library Journal

Gr 6–9—In this second part of the trilogy, Aquavania, a complex web of worlds, is beset by destruction. The Riverman, also known as the Whisper, is destroying worlds by sucking the souls of their creators when they ask for "an end to it all," tired of their own creations and unable to readapt to the real world. When their souls are captured by the Whisper, the kids go missing in the real, or "solid," world. Readers of the first book will enjoy the layers of history of Aquavania, revealed through creation stories that are interpersed between Alistair's quest to find Fiona and battle the Whisper. Meanwhile, newcomers to the series won't be too far behind (there's plenty of exposition woven skillfully through the first few chapters). Readers will savor the (at times) gruesome encounters with monsters, and the unraveling mystery of who Alistair and Fiona really are. The trilogy explores the dark nature of lies—written, told, and enacted—and the surprising pain of truth. Jealousy, revenge, opportunism, and their consequences, also loom large in the lives of characters, be they swimmers (those able to enter and exit portals into different worlds), daydreamers (those who create the worlds), figments (those beings created by the daydreamers), or ciphers (terrifying creatures molded by the Whisper to destroy). Penning something of a cautionary tale, Starmer has constructed a multitude of worlds here, all tied to power of creation, and the boredom that ultimate power ultimately bestows. VERDICT Ending with a staggering twist, readers adept at navigating this atemporal telling will clamor to get their hands on book three.—Sara Lissa Paulson, The American Sign Language and English Lower School, New York City

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0374363110
• ISBN 13: 9780374363116
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368