Downriver

Eleven-year-old Priya is rafting the wild Copper River canyon with her aunt when a storm flips the raft and separates her from the group. Alone in a remote canyon, she must survive and find her way to safety.

The Copper River canyon looked like a giant had cracked the earth open with an axe. Red rock walls climbed so high that Priya had to tip her head all the way back to see the strip of blue sky at the top. Down at the bottom, the river hissed and shoved past a gravel bar where a fat yellow raft sat waiting.

'Welcome to the best three days of your life,' said Aunt Del, tightening a strap with a snap. Del was a real river guide, with sun-cracked hands and a whistle around her neck, and she was the only grown-up Priya trusted to be in charge of anything this loud and fast. 'Priya, meet Sam. Sam's your paddle partner.'

Sam was a skinny kid with a gap in his front teeth and a life jacket two sizes too big. 'I've never done this before,' he admitted.

'Me neither,' Priya said, and felt a little braver just saying it out loud. Eleven years old, she thought, and about to ride an actual river. 'How bad can it be?'

Aunt Del just grinned and tossed her a paddle.