Rift

by Libby Hathorn

When Vaughan Roberts' parents go overseas, he is dumped with his grandmother in an isolated coastal town. Vaughan longs to join the local gang of boys, but before he can, he must complete a frightening initiation - a seemingly impossible swim. Little does Vaughan know he is a pawn in a terrifying ritual&he must fight for his very survival.

Genres: Young Adult

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Libby Hathorn is an Australian writer who produces poetry, picture books, drama, novels, short stories, and nonfiction for children, young adults, and adults. Best known in the United States for her critically acclaimed novel Thunderwith, Hathorn has created works ranging from serious stories of troubled youth to lighthearted, fast-paced comedies. She writes of powerful female characters in her novels for junior readers, such as the protagonists in All about Anna and The Extraordinary Magics of Emma McDade; or of lonely, misunderstood teenagers in novels such as Feral Kid, Love Me Tender, and Valley under the Rock. As Maurice Saxby noted in St. James Guide to Children's Writers, "In her novels for teenagers especially, Hathorn exposes, with compassion, sensitivity, and poetry the universal and ongoing struggle of humanity to heal hurts, establish meaningful relationships, and to learn to accept one's self—and ultimately—those who have wronged us."

Reviews

[Sarah Thornton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a longer book than it appeared but the passage of time and sometimes the voice of the narrator was unclear. The romance felt clumsily jammed in there, and the reconciliation with the parents didn't feel natural either.
Much more could have been made of the creepy ambience of the town/compound, and the escape.
It was great otherwise, very chilling with some deeply beautiful sentences.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a definite The Gathering kind of vibe going on here, although I didn't find Rift quite as awesome. The changing third person perspective occasionally got a little confusing - neither Rob nor Vaughan had THAT distinctive a voice so it was easy to get them mixed up. Still nicely creepy and atmospheric though.

Vaughan's a newcomer in a small town, sent to live with his grandmother while his parents try to make it big in America. There are a group of boys he wants to join in with, but to join their gang he has to do this particularly scary swim. Rob starts training him up, but then the gang kind of dissolves so Vaughan won't need to actually do the swim.

But then along comes the town's creepy pastor, who's pretty much sucking everyone into his cult. And as part of their ritual, there needs to be a sacrifice... someone to do the swim at high tide... and yep, Vaughan is picked. Lucky he knows how to do the swim, but at high tide the necessary air pocket will be missing so it's certain death...

Or it would be if not for clever Nona, who hides an air tank in the rocks so Vaughan can hide underwater and breathe for twenty minutes, let everyone think he's drowned, and then swim free when they're all gone.