Mark Twain wrote: I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn't know.
Category: Nonfiction: General
Average Rating: 4.0
On Christmas Eve 1971, seventeen-year-old Juliane Koepcke and her mother boarded a plane in Lima, Peru, bound for their home at the Panguana Research station deep in the Amazon. Twenty minutes from landing, the plane was struck by lightning, and Juliane hurtled two miles down through the rainforest canopy, crashing on the jungle floor.
She woke up the next day with a broken collarbone, missing her glasses and one shoe, but incredibly, miraculously, alive. Pulling on every bit of knowledge her rainforest-studying parents imparted to her, she journeyed through the danger-filled jungle for eleven days. She was the sole survivor.
Follow the Water is a powerful and unforgettable true story of survival against all odds.
Rating: 4
Follow the Water by Ellen Cochrane tells the remarkable true story of Juliane Koepcke, a seventeen-year-old who survived a two-mile fall from a plane and then spent eleven days making her way through the Peruvian Amazon. The book also follows Juliane's life after this horrific experience, giving the story a satisfying sense of completeness.
What makes this audiobook somewhat unusual is its straightforward, undramatic approach. Cochrane doesn't sensationalize Juliane's ordeal or dwell unnecessarily on the more horrifying details. Instead, the story is told simply and clearly, with just enough information to explain what happened and how Juliane managed to survive. That approach makes Follow the Water particularly accessible to younger listeners, and it would be an appropriate choice for children interested in true survival stories. The book was, in fact, published as children's nonfiction for roughly the middle-school age range.
The simplicity is both a strength and a limitation. Readers looking for a deeply emotional or suspenseful account of Juliane's ordeal may find the presentation a little too restrained. There is an incredible story here, but the writing doesn't always convey just how extraordinary the experience must have been. On the other hand, the concise treatment keeps the book from becoming unnecessarily graphic or melodramatic, while the later chapters provide a useful look at Juliane's life beyond the crash.
Aimee Lilly gives a competent, appropriately understated narration that fits the material well. She keeps the story moving without trying to manufacture drama that isn't present in the writing.
Overall, Follow the Water is a brief, accessible account of an astonishing survival story. It probably won't satisfy listeners looking for a gripping, intensely emotional survival narrative, but its clear, uncomplicated approach makes it a good introduction to Juliane Koepcke's remarkable story and an especially suitable choice for younger listeners.
Copyright © 2006-2026 by MyListens.com