The Books

The Raft

by Jim Lamarche

One Potato Review

There’s a lot of good stuff here – art and nature, a sullen tween and a lively grandmother – yet as much as this is a story about a city slicker learning some good ol’ country wisdom, it’s really most persuasive when detailing one boy’s lunges at independence. Interesting: the boy in these pages is always wearing a life vest (and usually glasses) where the boy on the cover is advertising a more scenic approach. You know where this story is aiming from page one, though you might want to see how it gets there. It’s a halting journey finally – summer always gives way to the demands of school and after-school and after-that – but here is a landscape worth revisiting.