The Journey Back

Wed, 01 May 2019 12:09:42 -0700

Do you have a taste for adventure, suspense, bravery, and mystery? Then, The Journey Back by Priscilla Cummings is a book for you! The book takes place in modern times, and has many different locations in which the main character travels, such as the Cliffside Youth Detention Center, a bustling highway, the forest, a Virginia canal towpath, a campground, and a horse farm. The protagonist is Michael Griswold, a.k.a, Digger. The main antagonist is Michael’s mind, along with the police, and a gambler named Sherwood Hawkins. Two conflicts of the story are a prank Michael pulls on his neighbor's son, accidentally leading to the boy’s death. For this, he gets driven all the way to Maryland’s western border, and thrown into the Cliffside Youth Detention Center. However, after a visit from his mother, Michael finds that his family is still suffering from severe abuse by his father. Another conflict. Michael does something crazy, wanting to travel across the state to stop his father. This leads to the police on his tail, and deception from his mind if he made the right choice. The turning point in the story is when he finds friends and stays with them at a campground. The friends bring comfort, but one friend’s father, Sherwood Hawkins is willing to call the police at any slip up or refusal to do his bidding. Things take a turn for the worst when Sherwood steals all the money Michael has, disabling him from going anywhere. With guilt from the accident, the police on his tail, and nowhere to run, what will happen to Michael? Find out in The Journey Back, by Priscilla Cummings. I would recommend this book to anyone in 7th grade and over. My reasoning is that this book includes very mature material and lots of violence