The author adds incidents from his Iditarod races, describes how he made, then learned to hunt with, bow and arrow, then closes with methods of cooking outdoors sans pots or pans. As usual, his real adventures are every bit as vivid and hair-raising as those in his fiction, and he relates them with relish-discoursing on “The Fine Art of Wilderness Nutrition,” for instance: “Something that you would never consider eating, something completely repulsive and ugly and disgusting, something so gross it would make you vomit just looking at it, becomes absolutely delicious if you’re starving.” Specific examples follow, to prove that he knows whereof he writes. Paulsen recalls personal experiences that he incorporated into Hatchet (1987) and its three sequels, from savage attacks by moose and mosquitoes to watching helplessly as a heart-attack victim dies. With a rain forest steeped in beauty and mystery for backdrop, this romp will transport not just Ibbotson’s fans, but legions of Potterites and their ilk as well. And, of course, their prejudiced, mean-spirited adversaries get what they deserve in full measure. While skillfully weaving together numerous plot lines and suspense-intensifying complications-Maia and Miss Minton, for instance, love but do not come to understand or trust each other until nearly the end-the author gives her four central characters the inner stuff to cope with an array of challenging situations, and rewards them all with bright, diverse futures.

Together, Maia and Miss Minton confront the Carters, as dysfunctional a crew as ever was, and also become involved in rescuing two more young orphans-one a penniless actor, the other a scion of a wealthy British aristocrat’s black-sheep son-from unpleasant fates. With her travels a new governess, Miss Arabella Minton, outwardly a cross between Mary Poppins and Atilla the Hun, inwardly a canny, resourceful, big-hearted sort with sadness in her past. Two years after the death of her parents, young Maia departs London’s Mayfair Academy For Young Ladies for Manaus, a remote town on the Amazon where the Carters, distant relatives, have at last been located. 744, etc.) dispenses with magic wands and mythical creatures here and dishes up her best work yet-a topnotch 1910 adventure featuring exotic, vividly evoked locales, a caricature-rich cast filled with likeable (as well as thoroughly despicable) characters, and enough plot to fill an entire trilogy. Known for witty, entertaining fantasies, Ibbotson ( Dial-a-Ghost, p.

Eva ibbotson journey to the river sea