Backwater

by Joan Bauer

Book Overview

Ivy doesn't want to be a lawyer. Who cares? Well, her father, for starters, who expects his daughter to take up the Breedlove family profession with dedication and enthusiasm. But Ivy wants to be a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0698118650
• ISBN13: 9780698118652
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.5" x 7.2"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5

Customer Reviews

Backwater

"Backwater" By Joan Bauer Reveiw by Emily If you like an adventure story you would love this one. When the author Joan Bauer writes her books she must love to write about a main character that wants an andventure. This book was one I would definitely write an excellent review for. This book was about a girl about 16 named Ivy. She was brought up in a family of lawyers because thats what almost everyone in the family was. Except her mother. Her mother was a social worker for a big company named New York's Department of social services. But her mom died when she was about 6 years old. Ivy to me is a very adventurous but a little secretive about her true feelings of being a lawyer. Insted of being a lawyer she wants to be a Historian. The setting in this book starts when she is at her home and ends when she is at home. But in the middle she is very far away from home. Through the book she is set out to find a long lost aunt, Aunt Josphine. Her aunt didn't want to be a lawyer either. Her aunt had always liked birds. No one in the family ever talked about her much, just a few words here and there. When family members discribed Ivy they would say "Just like Josephine". Ivy of course didn't know a lot about her just that being compared to Josephine wasn't meant to be a compliment. I like the way Joan Bauer writes this story because it's about a girl with an unusual problem. Not a problem that many people would have to deal with in their everyday life. One thing that I didn't like about the book was how you would read one section but have to go back and read it again to understand it to the fullest. I would categorize this book in the adventure section. I would do that because of all the problems the main character faces. Also way Ivy deals with the problems. The story was full of adventures. I would defiitely recommend this book to someone that likes an adventurous story. It seemed the pages just kept turning as you read. I plan on reading other stories that Joan Bauer has written like "Rules of the Road."

Really good book.

Ivy's living in a family full of lawyers, and they all want her to become a lawyer too. She doesn't want that. She wants to become a historian. She's making a family tree of the Breedlove family and she finds a missing aunt, Josephine. Nobody in her family will talk about Josephine except for Tib. Her whole family says that Jo is "stuck in the Backwater." Ivy wants to talk to her aunt so she goes on a hunt into the mountains to find her with some help from Mountain Mama. It's a very good story and it has humor, adventure, and a little romance. Joan Bauer writes another great story!!!

I think it was very good.

I thought it was very good. I read Rules of the Road and thought that one was good, so they really compared. it was really complex and Ivy was a real heroine. It was set in upstate New York. Ivy is a member of the Breedlove family. The Breedloves are all lawyers. She wants to be a historian. Ivy goes up in the Adirondacks to find her aunt Jo who has become a hermit. There she realizes her dreams, brings jo back, rescues people, finds love, changes he dad, and finds the true meaning of life. If you have read Rules of The Road or are reading this review, you should definitely read Backwater. You'll Love It Bookworm 38

A girl searches for truth in her family.

This is the story of a teenager's attempt to make sense of her family. Ivy is bright, well-spoken and interesting - a great role model for young adults. The mountain climb is symbolic and literal, and successful as both. Vaguely reminiscent of Jean C. George's _My Side of the Mountain_. Enjoy!

Backwater: Put it at the top of your reading list

An outstanding piece of young adult literature that follows young Ivy Breedlove through her quest to complete a family history. Ivy searches, and finds, her long lost Aunt, and through her interactions with Josephine, begins to understand her self. Outstanding read. The book is dominated by female characters; however, as a male, I found it very easy to identify with most of the females, something quite unusual. Highly, highly recommended.