Leepike Ridge

Marley received several books as Christmas gifts and one was Leepike Ridge by N.D. Wilson. I asked her if I could read it, and she said that would be fine.

I liked it a lot, and I think she will enjoy it. Despite some of the creepy things, and some of the nasty characters, it was a good story that moved right along and didn't stop to linger on the "ick" stuff.

This is the story of Tom, a boy who lives with his widowed mother in an old house chained to the top of a mountain. One evening while floating (in the river at the base of the mountain) on a piece of foam packing that came in a refrigerator box, he is poured through a hole, down a waterfall, and into the bowels of the mountain. There he spends an indeterminate amount of time (more than hours, but less than weeks) trying to figure out how to get out and meets up with a dead body, a live dog, a trapped man, and treasure from an ancient civilization. In the meantime his mom is searching for him and she gets harrassed by a group of bad cavers (that was a new category of villains for me), and finds out what a piece of work her "boy friend" really is. Tom gets out of the mountain (with the dog and the trapped man) and there's a happy ending.

Mr. Wilson acknowledges Homer's Odyssey, Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and some friends and family members for inspiration. I was also reminded as I read of Alice in Wonderland, The Hobbit, several characters from Charles Dickens's novels, and the Coen brothers' film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? This book is probably one that David, Sarah, and Joan will also want to read, and one that I'll recommend to adults and children.