Raft of Stars - Andrew J Graff Gebunden

A rousing adventure yarn full of danger and heart and humor. -Richard RussoAn instant classic for fans of Jane Smiley and Kitchens of the Great Midwest: when two hardscrabble young boys think they've committed a crime they flee into the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Will the adults trying to find and protect them reach them before it's too late?It's the summer of 1994 in Claypot Wisconsin and the lives of ten-year-old Fischer Fish Branson and Dale Bread Breadwin are shaped by the two fathers they don't talk about.One night tired of seeing his best friend bruised and terrorized by his no-good da d Fish takes action. A gunshot rings out and the two boys flee the scene believing themselves murderers. They head for the woods where they find their way onto a raft but the natural terrors of Ironsforge gorge threaten to overwhelm them.Four adults track them into the forest each one on a journey of his or her own. Fish's mother Miranda a wisewoman full of fierce faith his granddad Teddy who knows the woods like the back of his hand Tiffany a purple-haired gas station attendant and poet looking for connection and Sheriff Cal who's having doubts about a life in law enforcement.The adults track the boys toward the novel's heart-pounding climax on the edge of the gorge and a conclusion that beautifully makes manifest the grace these characters find in the wilderness and one another. This timeless story of loss hope and adventure runs like the river itself amid the vividly rendered landscape of the Upper Midwest.