Review by Frank Plowright

Frank is a shy and cautious bear not keen on being away from home, and his friend Ricky is a more enthusiastic raccoon. They’re both at Camp Jay Bird, and in The Forest Beckons were told a story of people who disappeared after seeing a giant jay. Shortly afterwards they discover a hidden cave, but when exploring it they experienced a shock, and the aftermath of that is shown in the sample art, also featuring Jake and Spud, two slightly older and mean-spirited kids. To Jonathan Schnapp’s credit, though, he’s already shown Spud’s family circumstances explaining reasons for his poor behaviour. As before, Frank frequently recasts what he’s experiencing in comic form via his alter-ego Super Bear.

While ghost stories are a summer camp tradition, the end of the previous book showed Frank and Ricky releasing something definitely on the spooky side, and that’s reinforced by an early event here. Frank’s timidity means he’s inclined to leave well enough alone, but Ricky has been enthused by the strange event.

Schnapp established a successful formula in The Forest Beckons, and there’s no need to depart from it here, so this is another heartwarming adventure punctuated by puzzles, information and spotlights on the assorted campers showing their backgrounds and personalities. As the title suggests, the centrepiece sequence is a canoe trip over a couple of chapters. This introduces a pair of new characters, and influences the direction Order of the Night Jay takes thereafter. The spooky stuff is real, and it’s something Frank and Ricky have to deal with.

By the time The River Rises ends Frank and Ricky aren’t alone in realising that the Order of the Night Jay isn’t just a silly story Ricky’s making up. Shnapp, though, has a clever ending turning everything on its head.

This is another winner, charming, warm-hearted and with unpleasant occurrences toned down to age-appropriate levels. The only sadness is the time to wait for the conclusion, in 2028 if the gap between the previous book and this is an indication.