and "She needed to swim. To be deprived of swimming would be like a perverse kind of drowning. She loved the sensation of power and speed, the feeling of glistening in a bed of foam. and " Jess is a passionate distance swimmer, and has been looking for a unique water challenge to test her endurance. But when her adored grandfather, an irascible artist, suffers a heart attack, she focuses all her energy on making him well. Though weak and perhaps dying, her grandfather insists that the family still take their planned vacation - a trip to the rural countryside where he spent his boyhood. There, Jess finds a river that is perfect for swimming, the same river that is the inspiration for her grandfather's latest painting, titled River Boy. As the shadowy image of a boy takes shape on her grandfather's canvas, Jess encounters her own river boy, a mysterious young man who seems to be able to swim as well as she does. In discovering how the two and "river boys and " are related, Jess finds both the swimming challenge she has been searching for and a graceful way to cope with her grandfather's passing. British author Tim Bowler gently illustrates the fear of a loved one's passing by using a river's timeless flow as a metaphor for the journey of life. Teens will relate to Jess's frustration with her lack of control over her grandfather's situation, while being moved to a better understanding and acceptance of death. River Boy is the winner of the 1998 Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's literature. (Ages 11 and older) - Jennifer Hubert