Our Time on the River

by Don Brown, Don Brown, Don Brown

1968. Steve's older brother has just broken the news that he's quit college to enlist in the army. Before David departs for Vietnam in September, their father decides to send the brothers on a canoe... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618311165
• ISBN13: 9780618311163
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Our Time on the River

After David, a nineteen-year-old from Cooperstown, New York, enlists in the military during the Vietnam War, he and his fourteen-year-old brother, Steven, are sent to canoe down the Susquehanna River, where they must rely on each other to survive. When they first set out on the river, the two brothers don't get along well, but as they encounter problems, they start to look out for one another. As they canoe down the river, they frequently make stops either to camp for the night or to purchase food in the cities they come across. One night, raccoons eat all of their food. Another night, they don't go to sleep for fear that a stranger would attack them. On one occasion, they take shelter from a storm, but their supplies and extra clothes get wet. Fortunately, they find a Laundromat in the next city. They experience many new things and, in one city, even get paid to help set up a carnival. In another city, Steven gets a gash down his chest while playing around in a junkyard and they must get to a doctor for a tetanus shot. Then, in one of the last cities they stop at, they upset some men in a bar, who then chase them away. They barely escape and are hit by rocks as they paddle away. Then, after their canoe capsizes and they almost drown, they call their dad to come and take them home. Later, David is sent to Vietnam, but returns home a while later, after a missile hit the building he was in and caused his eardrums to burst. Our Time on the River is a great adventure that any reader would enjoy. This story is filled with suspense. One night, David and Steven find that there is someone in the woods near their camp. They take turns being lookout all night because they were afraid the stranger would attack them. In one town they upset some men at a bar and are chased back to the river. They get away just in time, but still are pummeled with rocks as they leave. Later, strong current makes it impossible to steer the canoe and they hit a tree stump, capsizing. David gets stuck on the root of a tree and Steven must scramble to save him from drowning. This story has interesting characters. David is a tough-guy and enlists in the military even though the Vietnam War is being fought. His younger brother, Steven, is a shy fourteen-year-old and the two don't get along very well until after their adventures on the river. Their mom is always worried about them, telling them to be careful, but their dad is always encouraging them to have fun. He is the one who sends them on their adventure. The relationship between the two brothers seemed very realistic. At first, they don't get along at all and neither one wants to canoe with the other. Their first night, they start to play around and David ends up chasing Steven, but when he catches him, he holds him underwater almost drowning him and they end up mad at each other. Later they start to look out for each other. When Steven gets cut at the junkyard in one city, David makes sure they find