Well, this was blooming amazing! I think this may be my favourite Emma Carroll book so far. Drawing on Iva Ibbotson's journey to river sea, we enter the world of the rapidly deforested Amazon.
Rosa Sweetman has been transported to England during the war, all because she is a Jew and her mum and sister want to keep her safe. When all the animals (and children) are evacuated to a big country Manor House, she gets to raise and look after an amazing jaguar with the help of the zoo keepers son. However, once the war is over, and most of the children have gone back to their big cities, she has the job of helping get the animals back to the zoo. One animal doesn't want to go and takes a leap to the wild. Rosa is wracked with guilt and her friend doesn't talk to her. With no sign of her family her life once again seems unhappy and uncertain, that is until an amazing woman, and professor, Yara comes to visit the houses owner and Rosa gets to begin the journey of her life into the amazon. She sees amazing things there, makes wonderful friends and integrates herself into Yara's family, but all is not as it seems and with her new family she has to go on an adventure to solve the mystery of the Giant Sloth, and what has happened to it. Is it really extinct or is it still out there in the Jungle somewhere? This was a wonderfully fun adventure, with a loveable bunch of characters and Emma's characteristic fantastic writing! 100% 5 stars from me, and I will be recommending it far and wide on it's release date! Thanks Netgalley and Thanks Emma!

When you pick up an Emma Carroll novel, you know what to expect. Feisty heroines, unlikely friendships and breath-taking adventure, set in a perfectly rendered historical timescape and written at precisely the right level to engage, educate and entertain middle grade readers. I am happy to report that Escape to the River Sea, her latest novel due in June 2022, will not disappoint her legions of loyal fans. In fact, it is likely to have even more upper Key Stage 2 children flocking to it like tropical moths to torchlight. This quest which takes its main protagonist from a bleak, run-down manor in the West Country to the exotic dangers and delights of the Amazon rainforest will appeal to all children of 9+. Having followed Emma’s career since meeting her nearly 10 years ago on her debut book tour, I am delighted that she has shown the confidence to write this book in her own unique style, rather than trying to produce a pastiche of Journey to the River Sea, the book which inspired it. For fans of that classic work, you will find links to the original characters, location and birthplace of the author, but Escape to the River Sea can be read and enjoyed on its own merit, as a standalone novel.

This story centres around Rosa Sweetman, a child who has been serially displaced in her first twelve years. As a kindertransport child she arrived in England, from Vienna, only to find that her sponsor was too ill to collect her and was subsequently rescued by an elderly gentleman from a London station. She has spent the war years at the dilapidated West Country mansion house owned by Sir Clovis and Lady Prue, surrounded by the girls from an evacuated London school and the animals from the local zoo. The return to peacetime has rendered Rosa’s life lonely and empty, leaving her yearning for news of her mother and older sister who were supposed to follow her from Vienna. The school girls have returned to their city homes and on the day that the zoo owners arrive to reclaim their animals and the black Jaguar, Opal, escapes to the nearby moors, Rosa’s predicament seems more hopeless than ever. With the zoo owner demanding compensation from Sir Clovis, Rosa is torn between guilt at her carelessness and joy at seeing the majestic beast run free.

The arrival of a young female scientist, Dr Yara Fielding, is the catalyst which sparks a chance to escape her loneliness and open new horizons of discovery. After a shared exploration of Yara’s grandfather’s writings in the library and the discovery of his notebook detailing his expeditions to track down the mapinguary or giant sloth, Rosa accompanies Yara to her family home in Manaus to become reborn in the company of a found family who reside in a home named Renascida.

As the adventure unfolds in the steamy jungle setting, Rosa learns that not all monsters are eight feet tall with fearsome claws and teeth, and begins to understand the fate that might have befallen her family. She faces her fears, forms relationships based on respect, shared responsibility and courage with twins Vita and Enzo and their cousin Orinti, and realises the power of hope in propelling life forward.

I am sure that Escape to the River Sea is going to be a huge hit in primary school classrooms and libraries. Children will be swept along by the thrill and spirit of adventure, the exotic location and the exploits of the child protagonists. Teachers are likely to find so many topic links from this narrative too, from the ecological themes of land exploitation in both the UK and the Amazon basin; the geography of South America; the study of rivers; the ethics of keeping animals in captivity; or the fate of child refugees whether during WWII or in the present time. A shoutout must also be made to the stunning cover artwork by Katie Hickey which in my opinion will make the hardback version of this book a hugely desirable addition to bookshelves everywhere. I have only read the electronic ARC, thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Books, but I will certainly want to add the hardback to my own Emma Carroll collection when it becomes available in June 2022.

A fantastic tale inspired by Journey to the River Sea! This is a beautifully written adventure, following the main character, Rosa, from a sad, but boring, existence in England, all the way to the hot and humid jungle. Almost from the moment she steps off the boat, we are whisked on a nail-biting adventure full of suspense and intrigue. Will they find the giant sloth? Who else is looking for it? What is the evil Mr Carter up to? Why is Yara being so secretive? I couldn't put this book down, and really enjoyed catching up with some familiar characters from Journey to the River Sea, whilst being totally caught up in Rosa's new adventures and her backstory of the atrocities of WW2. Brilliant!

It was a huge privilege to be allowed to review this adventure. Thank you to Emma Carroll, MacMillan Children's Books, and NetGalley.

Plot summary.

The Nazi occupation Vienna finds eleven-year-old Rosa Sweetman separated from her mother and elder sister, and evacuated to the crumbling stately home of Westwood, in the north of England.

Seemingly deserted by her father, and separated from her mother and elder sister, she makes the most of her time under the guiding hand and watchful eyes of Lady Prue and Sir Clovis, owners of Westwood. Ever hopeful of news of her family that never comes, she is soon joined by other evacuees from all over the country.

Along with the children comes a rather more unusual set of evacuees – the residents of a nearby zoo. Rosa soon takes on the role of helping Billy, the zoo owners son, look after a puma called Opal. But seven years on, when the war ends, both children and creatures return to their parents and homes, leaving Rosa once more alone. When Rosa accidentally lets Opal escape, her life seems to become even more unbearable than the scratchy tweed clothes Lady Prue has her wear.

When Westwood's driver is sent to collect a foreign lady from the station, Rosa thinks her mother has come for her. From the disappointment of discovering the lady isn't her mother, but a family friend of Sir Clovis comes an adventure that takes Rosa across the ocean and to places beyond her wildest hopes and imagination and to a land where wild pumas roam free. More than that, what should have been a break away from Westwood, turns into a highly dangerous adventure that will surely captivate young readers everywhere.

*****
My thoughts.

Escape to the River Sea is quite probably the best, most captivating, informative, beautiful and thoroughly entertaining period adventure I have had the pleasure to read in many, many years. Never for a minute did I not feel a part of the people of the world we are transported to and travel through. It held my attention with the elegance of the scene-setting, the strength of the characters, the plight of the forests, and of course the carefully unfolding adventure. All of which left me unashamedly crying at the end.

This is a story that is truly as powerful, beautiful and as big as the mighty River Sea — the Amazon, in which it is set. Thoroughly recommend for all young readers and their parents.

My father travelled the Amazon in ships, not unlike those featured in this book. The black and white photographs that we keep have been given an extra dimension through this story. Emma Carroll surely is at her best with tales such as this!

Every minute of this book was a joy to read.
Journey to the River Sea is my favourite children's book, so I was very excited to hear that Emma Carroll was writing a sequel. Carroll is the perfect choice for capturing the essence of Ibbotson's original work, and taking readers on a new adventure.
This book follows Rosa, a half-Jewish child sent to England as part of the Kindertransport of WWII. She waits out the whole war in the house of Sir Clovis, but now that the war is over she has heard nothing of her mother and sister who were left behind in Austria.
Rosa then gets the opportunity to travel to the Amazon with Yara, the daughter of Maia and Finn, and her adventure leads her on the trail of the Giant Sloth.
I loved revisiting the places and people that Ibbotson captured in her original story. Carroll's style of writing was so close to Ibbotson's that it felt like Ibbotson could have written this new adventure herself. I was gripped to every page and I didn't want it to end.
I will definitely be buying a copy when it is published and will be recommending it to everyone!

Towards the beginning of WW11 on the continent many parents realised it was dangerous to stay because of their views or their race and Fathers especially had to leave their families, but then families too had to leave to survive, often sending young children ahead. Rosa was sent from Vienna to London and arrangements made for her to be met and to live with an acquaintance of the family. Her Mother and sister were supposed to have joined her, but never did. Unfortunately, the acquaintance didn’t show up, but faced with many other evacuees, the authorities were grateful to Sir Clovis offering to house her in his large house in the country. There Rosa lived, later joined by other evacuees, and was educated.
When war ended the other evacuees then left, but Rosa had no other home. Her time had been passed looking after some zoo animals, also evacuated into the open space. In particular, Rosa loved the jaguar Opal. But then the time came for the animals too to return to the zoo. Opal thought differently and made a bid for freedom whilst they were being loaded onto trucks. Despite a search, she could not be located. Rosa worried it was her fault and worried about Opal being shot by farmers wanting to protect their animals. Her mind was only distracted from this by the arrival of Yara who fascinated Rosa with her independence and determination to go into the Amazon in search of the giant sloth. Rosa begged to accompany her, thinking she could see jaguars in the wild and to her surprise Yara agreed.
However, the subsequent search for the giant sloth was not without incident and the danger from the caiman in the river, the scowling Vita, Yara’s younger sister, and the suspicious looking Mr Carter were not the most threatening parts of Rosa’s Amazon adventure.
A tribute to Eva Ibbotson’s original title, this book stands on its own merits. Adventurous females play strong parts and the quick action at the end throws everything Rosa – and probably the reader - had assumed into the air turning it around completely.

Due to the nature of the book this has to be a review of two halves! As a standalone work of fiction it's fine, enjoyable even. Fabulous setting, adventure, mild peril, happy endings for those who deserve them, punishment for those that don't.

But this isn't a standalone work of fiction, it stands on the shoulders of a giant! The ingredients may be the same as in Journey to the River Sea but the results are quite different. The sprinkling of magic that Eva Ibbotson brought to everything she wrote is missing. It's the difference between expecting a gourmet meal and being given a Big Mac. A Big Mac hits the spot if it's what you're craving, but if you expected something more you'd be sorely disappointed.

Inspired by the famous novel “Journey to the River Sea” by Eva Ibbotson, this latest tale from award-winning Emma Carroll stands in its own right as an exciting post-war adventure which at the same time pays hommage to and incorporates some of Ibbotson’s characters and setting. Rosa is sent from Vienna to England and sees out the war rather unexpectedly in a dilapidated house called Westwood. When a young scientist arrives at the house in search of old papers, she is persuaded by Rosa to take her back to the Amazon so they can both hunt for the Giant Sloth. What follows is an Amazonian adventure with new friendships, suspicious men in panama hats and the most wonderful descriptions of river and jungle. As ever with Carroll books the plot is engaging ,the descriptions are vivid and the atmosphere is tense as the tale builds to a satisfying ending. This is such an enjoyable read and would be an excellent story to accompany learning about the Amazon.

My class really enjoyed the original Journey to the River Sea and I was talking to them about this as Emma Carroll is one of the authors on our book battleships reading challenge competition this half term, Wow! Emma Carroll does it again. She has definitely done this justice. When this is published, I know I will have a queue of children lining up to read it! What a beautifully told story. Will definitely be recommending!

Stepping back into the world of Maia, Finn and the Xanti is like a warm, somewhat tropical, hug. It’s an embrace from the old, fused with the excitement of the new.

I was nervous to read Emma Carroll’s take on the world created by Eva Ibbotson. I loved Journey to the River Sea with a fierce and unwavering devotion; could Carroll possibly capture the same escapism, beauty and heart as her predecessor?

I need not have feared. Escape to the River Sea is a real triumph: the descriptions so evocative that the Amazon leaps off the pages, the new characters so intricately created that they fuse beautifully with Ibbotson’s original cast and the storyline so gripping that I couldn’t put the book down. Escape to the River Sea is a new chapter in a much-loved story and it retains all of Ibbotson’s charm and finesse as an author.

It’s a classic adventure story, woven with mystery, friendship and some mild peril. I thought the way Carroll weaved in post World War 2 themes was genius and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Rosa and the twins. The impact and threat of deforestation is, quite rightly, placed at the heart of the story, leaving a lasting impact on the reader.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this sublime book and thank you to Emma Carroll for bringing an old favourite back to life.