As a young teenager
My best friend and I loved
Stand By Me

I adored Wil Wheaton
But I also just loved the story
The boys’ journey

Stand By Me is a classic
Coming of age movie
One filled with nostalgia
For people of a certain age
It takes me right back
To being 13

Just like Lesley Parr’s
Where The River Takes Us
Takes me back to my
1970s / 1980s childhood

To the time when I grew
From baby to child to teen
To a time of
Parkas and Choppers
Penguins and Wagon Wheels
Cup A Soups and Crisp Sandwiches
A time of Toffos and Midget Gems
Ip Dip Dip and songs about
Baked Beans!

Lesley has penned a new
Coming of age classic
A story of those fierce friendships
You have when you are 13
A story of danger and adventure
A story of self discovery
And cementing friendships

An unforgettable journey
One where the destination
Is not actually important
It is what happens
And what is learned
Along the way

The physical journey
Also represents the
Emotional journey
For the children in
Where The River Takes Us
A grief journey
A complex quest
To bring friends together
To better understand one another
And the life they are all living

This incredible story is set
In Wales in the 1970s
Young readers learn about
The miners’ strikes
The three day working week
Energy rationing and power cuts
This is a stunning social history novel
And a brilliant page turner of an adventure

“BIG CAT SIGHTING REWARD:
£100 FOR CLEAR EXCLUSIVE PHOTO

Whispers echo through the valley – tales of a wild beast roaming the mountains.

When a reward is offered for proof of its existence, Jason and his friends are determined to find the creature first. But for Jason it’s more than a quest – the money is a way for him and his brother to stay together.

So the four friends ser off, following the river north, not realising that this journey will push them to their limits,

An extraordinary adventure awaits …”

Jason, age 13, has lost both his parents
They died in a car accident
Jason lives with his older brother
And they are doing everything they can
To survive and stay together
But life is hard in the small Welsh village
Where everyone knows everything
About everyone’s business

The boys are struggling
They are grieving and
With the reduced working week
Lack of coal and power cuts
It is hard to make ends meet

The boys are desperate to stay together
And Richie, Jason’s older brother
Falls into doing things he shouldn’t
For people he shouldn’t
To try to keep them together

The boys do have their mum’s Godmother
Looking out for them
But she is old and grumpy and
They do not want to have to live with her

As the story unfolds we find that
Aunty Pearl is not as bad as she seems
And see that she is grieving too

I love how the story of the family dynamics change
As they begin to come to terms with their loss
And learn to live with their personal and shared grief

Jason’s grief sometimes manifests in anger
He is lucky to have Catrin
His amazing female friend
She is there for Jason no matter what
Everyone needs a friend like Catrin
When times are hard and life is tough

Jason has two other friends
Jinx and Tam
He needs them all
They all need each other
Their journey through this story
Is a wonderful celebration of true friendship
It shows young readers that
While our relationships sometimes need careful navigating
They are worth fighting for
Worth working hard at and knowing
That sometimes we can get it wrong
And that is okay
A bump in the road is not the end of the journey
We keep on going and growing together
Whereever The River Takes Us

This story is filled with tender moments between friends
Showing a whole range of emotions from rage to shame
Sadness to joy and everything in between
Lesley creates characters you walk alongside
And take into your heart
I loved Jason and all of his friends
The portrayal of friends
Dealing differently with Jason’s loss and grief
Was incredibly moving

Jase, Catrin, Jinx and Tam
Will walk beside me now
My whole life long
Joining Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern
And I know that I will
Stand by these kids
And their stories
For the rest of always
In my heart
In my memories
Of two very different times in my life
They have all taught me

While our relationships sometimes need careful navigating
They are worth fighting for
Worth working hard at and knowing
That sometimes we can get it wrong
And that is okay
A bump in the road is not the end of the journey
We keep on going and growing together
Standing by one another
Wherever The River Takes Us