Twelve year-old Harumi is unhappy when her mother and grandmother decide to leave Tokyo to reopen a family shop in a cold hill town. The shop is full of dusty boxes and cabinets and everywhere she turns, are fragile old things. She discovers a ‘shishi’, an ancient lion-dog and her adventure begins. Harumi is transported to another time. She meets an odd old woman and an enormous bear, who it seems have a mission for her. Thousands of child souls are stuck between this world and the next, being tortured by a demon Harumi’s quest is complex and physically demanding. She encounters dream-eating baku, stone jizo, witches hags and all manner of strange creatures before her journey ends.

The River Sai is a Japanese ghost story, set thousands of years ago. Harumi travels from the ‘now’ world to a very different time. There she is asked by a large bear to undertake a quest at the River Sai which separates the living from the dead. A witch has trapped children’s souls on the bank of the river. Harumi encounters extreme evil but also unexpected friendships as she seeks a way to free the souls. This is an exciting hero quest with a young girl as reluctant heroine. Although the Japanese mythology may be less familiar to readers than perhaps Greek or Roman equivalents, there are plenty of familiar archetypes here. There is a lovely richness to the word images, enhanced by the authors own illustrations throughout. Recommended for upper primary readers.

The River Sai, by Rebecca Edwards
UQP 2007

ISBN: 9780702236112

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