Leepike Ridge

by N.D. Wilson

Most appreciated by 4th through 8th graders

Okay, the other day, I wrote a post about a book just for girls and I shoo'd you boys away. Now it's time to come on back and read about 'Leepike Ridge'. It's got out-of-control refrigerator packing foam, a dead body, boiling crawdads, a lost dog , treasure hunters, and a house on a cliff. Sound interesting?

Tom Hammond's mad. The fourth grade teacher at his school has asked his mom to marry him and Tom can't stand the guy. To escape from the situation, Tom pulls packing foam he's saved from a new refrigerator and begins to float down the river at the base of the cliff. The stars are bright in the night sky, lulling Tom to sleep. When he awakens, he discovers he's floated to the river's edge and under cliffs. Riding the rapids, he lands in a cave, deep inside the cliff. As he tries to find his way in the dark, he feels the leg and boot of someone else. But this someone isn't moving - and hasn't moved for some time.

Tom knows he has to get out of the cave and home. But how? He doesn't even know where he is but he knows he doesn't want to stay. In the meantime, Tom's mom searches for him, convincing no one but herself that Tom is alive.

The trials Tom goes through as he struggles to find a way out of the cave will keep you turning the pages well past dark. Hmmm, speaking of the dark, this story takes place in a cave. To get the full effect of Tom's adventure, try reading it in the dark with a flashlight as your only source of light. Now that's bringing a book to life!