What's that book: The only river in the world dries up
April 5, 2018 10:18 AM Subscribe
Help me recall a young adult book I read in the late 1990s/early 2000s, about a girl's journey to the source of the only river in her world.
What I remember:
The world has only one source of water, the river, and it's drying up. Everyone in the world lives on or around this one river.
The main character journeys up the river and at one point comes to a huge dump that is being picked over by children. I think the she eats fruit from the dump that is rotten.
The main character has dark skin that is described as very beautiful because it is as dark as river mud. She meets people who are not from her home and they are paler, so she thinks of them as 'sand' colored. I believe the implication is that the people of the world were literally created from the earth and dirt.
The main character has a pet mouse who gets pregnant. When the river dries up, she gives the mouse the very last drop of water in the world. Then it starts to rain. She hears the rain on the metal roof of the building she is in and doesn't know what the sound is.
It's possible that there is a younger brother or sister who goes along for the journey.
Context: I would have read this book in Ireland before 2002 at the latest, because I definitely read it before I went to college. In all likelihood I read it during the late 1990s.
What I remember:
The world has only one source of water, the river, and it's drying up. Everyone in the world lives on or around this one river.
The main character journeys up the river and at one point comes to a huge dump that is being picked over by children. I think the she eats fruit from the dump that is rotten.
The main character has dark skin that is described as very beautiful because it is as dark as river mud. She meets people who are not from her home and they are paler, so she thinks of them as 'sand' colored. I believe the implication is that the people of the world were literally created from the earth and dirt.
The main character has a pet mouse who gets pregnant. When the river dries up, she gives the mouse the very last drop of water in the world. Then it starts to rain. She hears the rain on the metal roof of the building she is in and doesn't know what the sound is.
It's possible that there is a younger brother or sister who goes along for the journey.
Context: I would have read this book in Ireland before 2002 at the latest, because I definitely read it before I went to college. In all likelihood I read it during the late 1990s.
Response by poster: It must have been really obscure! Next time I'm in Ireland I will speak with a librarian, perhaps it was a local author.
posted by DSime at 7:48 AM on April 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by DSime at 7:48 AM on April 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm really curious about it now!
posted by sarcasticah at 8:49 AM on April 10, 2018
posted by sarcasticah at 8:49 AM on April 10, 2018
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posted by sarcasticah at 3:59 PM on April 6, 2018