Jess has always been close to her crotchety grandfather, even though other people are a little bit afraid of him. She understands his passion for painting and he, in turn, understands her passion for swimming. After Grandpa has a heart attack, his health steadily declines. He insists on returning to his boyhood home so that he can finish a mysterious painting he calls “River Boy.” There Jess immediately sees--and swims in--the real river that inspired Grandpa’s painting, but there’s still no boy in the painting, or in reality. Or is there? Who is the strange boy with black hair that Jess sometimes sees swimming in the river? Is he somehow connected to Grandpa’s past? Bowler’s quietly emotional novel has a sense of intrigue that gently pulls the reader along, just as the river and the enigmatic stranger gently pull at Jess. (Age 12 and older)

She didn't know how fast the current was moving her. It could take many more hours yet, perhaps more hours than she had the strength for. But she must not stop. She must keep going. She must try to catch the river boy, even though she was frightened at the thought of what he was.

Jess's beloved grandfather has just had a serious heart attack, but he insists that the family travel as planned to his boyhood home on the river so that he can finish his painting, River Boy. As Jess helps her ailing grandpa with his work, she becomes entranced by the scene he is painting. Then she becomes aware of a strange presence in the river -- a boy who asks for her help and issues a challenge that will stretch her swimming talents to their very limit. Jess knows that Grandpa and the river boy are connected, but how? Can she take up the river boy's challenge before it's too late for Grandpa?
Tim Bowler's gripping narrative flows like a river itself -- gentle and calm at times, turbulent and deep at others, always fluid, always alive. Readers will be swept along by the magic of the river and the mysterious river boy -- and changed forever by Jess's unforgettable journey.