Hudson River

Born as a mountain brook, the Hudson River courses through dan-gerous rapids and waterfalls in a dramatic plunge of 4,000 feet. Then, remarkably, the river slows and widens, becoming over the next 154 miles a massive arm of the sea, with saltwater and powerful tides. One summer Peter Lourie set out to explore this extraordinary river by doing what no one had ever done: he canoed the entire 315-mile Hudson, from its source in the Adirondack Mountains to its mouth at the southern tip of Manhattan, where it meets the Atlantic. This exciting day-by-day account of Lourie's journey, complete with full- color photographs, gives young readers the feel of shooting wilderness whitewater, gliding through the fjordlike Hudson Highlands, and, finally, plying the ocean shipping lanes off Manhattan's shore. Far more than a canoeing adventure, this book paints a vivid portrait of a river that is a nation's treasure.