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sverville's review
5.0
This book surprised me. From the start, it was really quality writing, and the plot was fairly interesting. But the more I got into it, the more I got the sense of it being something bigger than itself. It gave me the same kind of feelings as The Outsiders, with the 50's-60's era teens just trying to survive high school and societal expectations. While these kids are stuck in a way-back town in a very typical high school setting, you start to get the sense that even with all the clicks and groups and 'boxes,' the biggest thing for young adults and teens is to just know that they are individuals, not just part of another box. This book really amazed me, and the ending was moving. Make sure to stick it out all the way through!
elizabethnunes's review against another edition
4.0
Ricochet River is a beautifully written story about friendship and growing up in a small town. Wade meets Jesse, an Indian who is as graceful as he is quirky, and despite the town's barely hidden animosity, the two become good friends. Calamus is a town of loggers, proud of their history and critical of outsiders. Wade loves Calamus and struggles to understand why his girlfriend, Lorna, is so eager to escape town lines, though she tried to explain to him that the small town has put everyone in a category, a box, and unless they were leave it's impossible to break free.
Jesse—wild, reckless, idealistic, soon-to-be-rich, full of natural athleticism—does not let himself be governed by the same rules that apply to others. When Wade gets sick, Jesse stole medicine for him. Upset that the salmon's paths were blocked by the spillway, Jesse used dynamite to blow it up, inadvertently killing all the salmon eggs. The town sits in judgement on Jesse for these actions, and others. Wade understands that Jesse is a good person and that though his actions were bad, his intentions were good. Jesse can fish for salmon in a dry ravine and make an old man weep tears of joy. Wade begins to believe there is something to what Lorna believes about Calamus putting people in boxes.
Jesse died in the same way he lived: graceful, in the public eye, and without fear of consequences. Watching his best friend plummet to his death was enough to send Wade into a "white blizzard" of something like depression. In talking it out with Lorna, he realizes that Calamus had never really gotten Jesse. "Calamus just coughed and spit him out, dead but unhurt. Jesse never stopped being Jesse."
This story is about friendship more than anything else, about how one person can enter your life and open your eyes to things you would never notice otherwise. Through Jesse and Lorna, Wade learned a lot about his town and himself; Jesse especially influenced Wade to get out of Calamus before he got stuck in his box. He needed to break free.
Jesse—wild, reckless, idealistic, soon-to-be-rich, full of natural athleticism—does not let himself be governed by the same rules that apply to others. When Wade gets sick, Jesse stole medicine for him. Upset that the salmon's paths were blocked by the spillway, Jesse used dynamite to blow it up, inadvertently killing all the salmon eggs. The town sits in judgement on Jesse for these actions, and others. Wade understands that Jesse is a good person and that though his actions were bad, his intentions were good. Jesse can fish for salmon in a dry ravine and make an old man weep tears of joy. Wade begins to believe there is something to what Lorna believes about Calamus putting people in boxes.
Jesse died in the same way he lived: graceful, in the public eye, and without fear of consequences. Watching his best friend plummet to his death was enough to send Wade into a "white blizzard" of something like depression. In talking it out with Lorna, he realizes that Calamus had never really gotten Jesse. "Calamus just coughed and spit him out, dead but unhurt. Jesse never stopped being Jesse."
This story is about friendship more than anything else, about how one person can enter your life and open your eyes to things you would never notice otherwise. Through Jesse and Lorna, Wade learned a lot about his town and himself; Jesse especially influenced Wade to get out of Calamus before he got stuck in his box. He needed to break free.
amhanchar's review against another edition
3.0
If you're looking for a coming of age story set in the 1960's then this is the story for you. If you're also looking for a story with strong imagery, then this is the story for you. As someone who just moved to Portland not that long ago it was fun to read a story set in the place that I'm living. When Wade and Jesse rafted down the river I felt like I was there with them or when they rode in Wade's truck I felt I was on the seat next to them. The characters as well as the scenery come alive in this book.
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