The River of Kings

The Altamaha River (sometimes known as the "Little Amazon") takes center stage in a novel that weaves in and out of multiple plotlines and time periods. Over five days, Hunter and Lawton Loggins kayak downriver to spread their father's ashes while looking for the truth behind his mysterious death. The young men's journey becomes intertwined with the story of their father, a river shrimper, and the historical figure Jacques le Moyne, an artist who traveled with French colonists in an attempt to settle northern Florida in the 16th century. The specter of a mythological water serpent rears its head in both the past and the present as Brown artfully blends historical fiction, realistic literature, and magical realism. Though some readers might consider the narrative slow going, the graceful prose is effective and will have teens questioning what is real and what lives only in the subconscious. Reproductions of le Moyne's art will spark discussion about historical perspective.