3 out of 4 stars
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River Rocks: A West Virginia Adventure Novel, by Steve Kittner, is a story about two 14-year-old boys going on a modern-day treasure hunt, following a town legend about a local train robbery to find stolen – and hidden – confederate gold, which was dubbed The Southern Jewel. The two main characters, Josh and Eddie, are boys who live on the river and love to spend their time camping and fishing, and sometimes biking. One day, while fishing, they come across an old-fashioned milk can, and as they begin to clean the mud off of the can, they hear that something is inside it. When they open the can, they find a clue regarding the location of the confederate gold that was stolen from a train in 1903. The legend said that the train was flagged to stop, the five men on board were killed, and the gold was stolen – but the gold was never found. Josh and Eddie take their clue and begin researching – through the library and through talking with locals whose families have lived in the town for generations and whose relatives were somehow involved in the legend – and face obstacles in the form of other town members who were also on the hunt for this lost confederate gold.
This book is a great one for young kids, boys especially, probably between the ages of 10 and 12. It makes spending time outside, without technology, very appealing, which is important for young boys these days to learn. It also holds some very important lessons regarding the treatment of others. For one, there is another young boy, named Brad, who is included in the story, and he is rather mean, however, it is pointed out in the story that Brad does not have a very good home life and his level of meanness depends on how his father has treated him that day. Josh and Eddie take note of this and include Brad in their adventure, and they take his meanness in stride, knowing what the cause of it is. Another example is when they visit a “mountain man” who is said to be very mean and scary, but when the boys encounter this man, they find that he is actually very kind and fun to be around and learn from.
Part of the reason I think the River Rocks would be best for kids between the ages of 10 and 12 is because of the structure: this book is rather long for that age range, but it is broken down into decently sized chapters and there are occasional reviews of what has happened so far. These reviews are done by the characters within the context of the novel (for example, when Josh and Eddie meet Burl Otis, the mountain man, they recount everything they’ve done and learned up to that point). I think these review points would be beneficial for kids reading this long book. I also think that the descriptive phrases in this book work best for this age group; for example, Josh and Eddie had a place that was “…their favorite fishing spot whenever they felt the need to drown a worm or two.”
The only downfall of this book is a smattering of technical errors. There are several instances of comma misuse, including a few commas that are very awkwardly placed a few words before or after where they should be in the sentence. The novel also contains a few instances of repeated or missing words and poorly arranged sentences. The errors in this book are small, but there are several of them. However, I don’t think that these errors would distract a younger reader as much as they would an adult reader.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I think it includes a great story and good lessons for young readers, but there are enough technical errors to detract from the overall quality of the book, and there is also a limited audience.
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River Rocks
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