Journey to the River Sea

‘To live among savages?’

‘No. To explore and discover and look for giant sloths and new melodies and flowers that only blossom once every twenty years. Not to find them necessarily, but to look ...’

She broke off, remembering what they had planned, the four of them, as they sailed up the Agarapi. To build a proper House of Rest near the Carters’ old bungalow and live there in the rainy season, studying hard so that if Maia wanted to go to music college later, or Finn to train as a doctor they would be prepared. And in the dry weather, to set off and explore.

Mr Murray had risen to his feet. He walked over to the window and stood with his back to her, looking out at the square.

‘It’s impossible. It’s madness.’

There was a long pause.

‘Or is it?’ the old man said.

Maia had been sitting absolutely still on a chair in the hall, waiting.

Now she heard a loud peal on the street bell and turned to see a dark, wild-haired boy running up the steps. Taking no notice of the flustered maid, he came up to Maia.

‘I’m going home, Maia,’ shouted Finn. ‘I’m going home!’

Upstairs a door had opened and Miss Minton came slowly down the stairs, dabbing her eyes.

Then she drew herself up to her full height. ‘

We are all going home,’ she said.

Eva Ibbotson lives in Newcastle upon Tyne and has four grown-up children. She has written many other books for children. Journey to the River Sea won the Nestlé Gold Award, was runner-up for the Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. The Star of Kazan won the Nestlé Silver Award and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.

For more information about Eva Ibbotson and her books visit:

www.bebo.com/evaibbotson

and www.panmacmillan.com/evaibbotson

Praise for Journey to the River Sea

‘Enchanting and inspiring. Any reader presented with this book will be enriched for life’

Anne Fine, Children’s Laureate

‘The most perfect children’s book of the year ... captivatingly told, funny and moving’ Nicolette Jones,

Sunday Times

‘Journey to the River Sea is pretty much perfect. A richly satisfying, superbly written adventure’ Dinah Hall,

Sunday Telegraph

‘A bubbly and fantastical adventure ... Driven by humour and warmth, Journey to the River Sea has an irresistible charm’ Julia Eccleshare,

Guardian

‘A plot too exciting to put down. Sheer pleasure’ Sarah Johnson,

The Times

‘This is a wonderful adventure story, told with energy and imagination’

Mail on Sunday

‘Journey to the River Sea is funny, wise and true’

Philip Pullman

Eva Ibbotson writes ...

Many years ago, a friend, who had been travelling in Brazil, told me that a thousand miles from the mouth of the Amazon river, in a city called Manaus, there was a fantastic opera house with grass growing through cracks in the stone and howler monkeys screeching on the roof. I immediately felt that little kick inside the head which means that you have found something that is yours. For years I researched that part of the world. I learned about the ‘rubber barons’ who became so rich from harvesting rubber trees that they could wash their carriage horses in champagne. It was they who built Manaus and sent for famous entertainers to perform in their beautiful opera house. Yet all the time the untamed jungle was on the doorstep, waiting to take over if they failed.

I have written books for children about wizards, witches, harpies and ghosts, and books for adults about all sorts of things, but my interest in the exotic world of the Amazon has never left me. Journey to the River Sea is my attempt to share this world with you.

Books by Eva Ibbotson

The Dragonfly Pool

The Star of Kazan

Journey to the River Sea

The Beasts of Clawstone Castle

The Great Ghost Rescue

Which Witch?

The Haunting of Hiram

Not Just a Witch

The Secret of Platform 13

Dial a Ghost

Monster Mission

For older readers

A Song for Summer

The Secret Countess

The Morning Gift

First published 2001 by Macmillan Children’s Books

This edition published 2008 by Macmillan Children’s Books

This electronic edition published 2011 by Macmillan Children’s Books

a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

20 New Wharf Rd, London N1 9RR

Basingstoke and Oxford

Associated companies throughout the world

www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-0-330-47744-4 EPUB

Text copyright © Eva Ibbotson 2001

Foreword copyright © Michael Morpurgo 2011

The right of Eva Ibbotson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.