Tim Garvin
Reviews
Arizona Librarian
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Delightful Adventure in Alaska!
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2015
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I highly recommend Killer Whale Rock - a book for all ages. It is an exciting tale of two young brothers living in the temperate rainforest of Alaska. The author draws a beautiful picture of the magnificence and capriciousness of nature. The relationship of the two brothers is a mixture of competition, humor and tenderness. The episodic chapters are filled with adventures of the wild and humorous situations with the neighboring children.
This book would jump off the shelf in any school library.
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Sara J.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Boys don't always think things through!
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2021
Tim Garvin captures an Alaskan boyhood in masterful, poignant, and funny ways. I was right with 12 year old Sam as he climbed Killer Whale Rock to save his brother and as he and his little friend Irene Popov lash together a raft and fish for halibut as the clouds darken and the waves begin to slosh. (What happens next is a mother's nightmare.) A scavenger hunt of adventures helps Sam consider others and forge a path in our amazing world. I love this book.
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K. Hill
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent intro to the SE Alaskan coast
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2015
I gather this is intended as juvenile reading, but I can't imagine anyone who would not enjoy it. I lived several years in the same part of Alaska, and the author captures the magic of the Alaskan wilderness beautifully. The main characters are children who are free to explore the seasonal wonders of the temperate rainforest, with its fauna (like bears) and its flora (like devils club). It's a great introduction to the vast loveliness and richness of the region. As with other readers, I could have happily continued for many, many more pages.
Max Reif
5.0 out of 5 stars
Growing Up in Southeastern Alaska Vicariously By Reading These Stories!
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2015
Verified Purchase
I want to thank the author, Tim Garvin, for sharing his childhood with me! Such rich stories. Every childhood is rich in its own way, I suppose, but these six stories take us into nature and the life-lessons it provides, in a way that not all of us have in our memories. Each story is unique in its arc and characters, but all of them have both action and the kinds of experiences that bring growth of character as a result of that action. I thrilled to Sam's courage as he ascended a dangerous precipice to save someone; laughed uproariously at El and Al, two neighbor boys who seem to have been of some barbarian stock; appreciated the early male/female dynamics with Irene, another neighbor; and gained a feeling of this wonderful community, the homes separated from one another by, I think, several miles, but still thinking of one another as neighbors, there in the wilderness 20-some miles north of Juneau, "whales in our front yard and bears in our back yard," as the author says in his afterword. He also says that he's traveled widely and still regards the forests of southern Alaska as the most beautiful place on earth. Having been in, I think, a similar terrain briefly (British Columbia), I can picture this lush environment. What a place it must have been for children! And now, having read the stories, I feel I've been there too!