Peace Like a River

A "reminder of why we read fiction to begin with" (San Francisco Chronicle), Peace Like a River is Leif Enger's extraordinary debut novel--a heroic quest, a tragedy, a love story, and a haunting meditation on the possibility of magic in the everyday world--with over one million copies sold

Raised on tales of cowboys and pirates, eleven-year-old Reuben Land has little doubt that miracles happen all around us, and that it's up to us to "make of it what we will." Reuben was born with no air in his lungs, and it was only when his father, Jeremiah, picked him up and commanded him to breathe that his lungs filled. Reuben struggles with debilitating asthma from then on, making him a boy who knows firsthand that life is a gift, and also one who suspects that his father is touched by God and can overturn the laws of nature.

The quiet Midwestern life of the Lands is upended when Davy, the oldest son, kills two marauders who have come to harm the family; unlike his father, he is not content to leave all matters of justice in God's hands. The morning of his sentencing, Davy-a hero to some, a cold-blooded murderer to others-escapes from his cell, and the Lands set out in search of him. Their journey is touched by serendipity and the kindness of strangers-among them a free spirit named Roxanna, who offers them a place to stay during a blizzard and winds up providing them with something far more permanent. Meanwhile, a federal agent is trailing the Lands, convinced they know of Davy's whereabouts.

With Jeremiah at the helm, the family covers territory far more extraordinary than even the Badlands where they search for Davy from their Airstream trailer. Sprinkled with playful nods to biblical tales, beloved classics such as Huckleberry Finn, the adventure stories of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the westerns of Zane Grey, Peace Like a River unfolds like a revelation.

Author: Leif Enger
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Published: 08/07/2002
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780802139252
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.3
Point Value: 18
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 64033 / Peace Like a River


Award: Alex Awards - Winner


Review Citation(s):
BookPage 09/01/2002 pg. 28
Christianity Today 12/09/2002 pg. 63
Christian Century 05/04/2010 pg. 33

About the Author
LEIF ENGER was raised in Osakis, Minnesota, and worked as a reporter and producer for Minnesota Public Radio before writing his bestselling debut novel Peace Like a River, which won the Independent Publisher Book Award and was one of the Los Angeles Times and Time Magazine's Best Books of the Year. He is also the author of So Brave, Young, and Handsome and Virgil Wander. He and his wife Robin live in Minnesota.