Books like Over and Under the Canyon — picked by fans

I love a book that makes me laugh out loud, and this book did that many times!

Despite the serious underlying topic of eco preservation, this story is truly funny, with so many unexpected twists. There's not just alligators, burrowing owls, and poisonous snakes!

The main character, Roy Eberhardt, is the kind of person anyone would be lucky to have as a friend. And Beatrice and her step-brother are also both characters I cheered for. 

With my fascination for whales, I was taken by Gold's book.

Rio, who lives in London, is sent to California to be with his grandmother, while his violinist mother recovers from a breakdown. Everything is alien to Rio. Gradually, he begins to notice the migrating gray whales.

With his new friend, Marina, and her father, who runs a tourist boat, Rio becomes intrigued with one whale in particular, White Beak. They track White Beak, until suddenly, there's no trace of her. Rio and Marina, concerned that she has gotten entangled in fishing nets, are determined to locate her.

Their strong resolve leads them further out to sea and into a deep involvement with White Beak. 

Dolphin Rescue is a story for 7-9-year-olds about siblings, Maddie & Atticus, who live in a coastal town in Maine.

They love nature and are very ecologically aware. While trying to solve the mystery of household trash scattered on lawns in their neighborhood, they help a pod of dolphins in trouble because of a tangle of fishing line. 

I enjoyed the interesting facts and lovely photos about the area and the nearby waters.

Each of us who has felt the awe of being in a redwood forest will identify with the kids in this book.

Julian is less than happy about having to spend the summer with his Uncle Sibley, CEO of a big company, while his mother is doing research in China. Though he knew it is wrong, he reads his uncle's email and discovers that the company is about to cut down first-growth California redwoods. Irate about both his situation and the prospect of losing the redwoods, he and friends devise a convoluted plan to solve both. 

This story shows the persistence and resolve of the kids in their concern for the environment.

Part scientific expedition, part adventure story, in 1869, the one-armed Civil War veteran descends into the Grand Canyon, the first Euro-American to do so. As the journey progresses down the Colorado and Powell and his men become more fatigued and hungry, his sense of the sublime increases.

Included are amazing wood engravings by artists such as Thomas Moran. Would be good paired with Brave the Wild River, by Melissa Sevigny, about two pioneering women botanists who made the journey in the 1930s to document the canyon’s plant species. 

Having attempted my own Grand Canyon thru-hike, on the largely trail-less north side of the Colorado River, I have walked in Fletcher’s shoes, metaphorically speaking. Mine started to come apart—with their soles delaminating—on day 1; before the end of day 40, I had to have a replacement pair brought in. Those pinched, and I lost toenails.

Beyond the minutiae of long-distance backpacking, the Welsh author of this classic of outdoor literature makes plenty of room for contemplation. At the end of a long, hot, hard, blistering day, I, too, spent many an hour perched on the rim, with a glimpse of the river far below, pondering my role in the grand scheme of things. Then it was always on to supper, which never has tasted better.

Dusti Bowling’s ability to keep you on the edge is incredible.

Nora lost her mom via a random shooting, and now she is trapped in a desert canyon where a flash flood swept her dad away. The stakes are so high. And yet: Nora’s will to survive, her love for Dad, and her inner strength, pull her beautifully through. 

I love a writer who is willing to put his life at risk to solve a mystery. And I love history and biography. The mystery? What happened to Glen and Bessie Hyde, a young couple who vanished on their honeymoon while trying to run the length of the canyon in 1928 in a scow—a boat that looked like a water trough.

Dimock, a Grand Canyon guide and builder of wooden dories, researched this type of craft and, together with his wife, braved the rapids because he thought this would provide clues about the disappearance. Having rowed unwieldy baggage boats in the canyon myself, I emphasized with their plight, and the story of the honeymooners is one guides often tell the clients sitting in camp chairs in the after-dinner circle.  

I once dislocated a shoulder while crossing the canyon’s Thunder River raging with snowmelt; another time, I got lost on the Paria Plateau, separated from my pack, and spent a miserable night in a tee-shirt and shorts while thunder and lightning scared the Bejesus out of me. So, these tales of death and disaster compiled by two canyon veterans cut close to the bone.

They’re not depressing reading, surprisingly. There are accounts of amazing survival, and much can be learned from these cases to avoid getting yourself into trouble. Not something most readers will read cover to cover, but I did and dip into it still on occasion.

I love the artwork: funny, pictograph-style vignettes of the different ways you can die in the canyon (many more than you’d think). 

Although I am originally from the UK, I now live in Australia—home to amazing creatures, many of whom make homes in hollows. This book rams home the importance of protecting habitat because it doesn’t just highlight species like possums, owls, parrots, quolls, snakes, and goannas, but it integrates them with their environment. A Hollow is a Home is designed in a magazine-like format, with illustrations and photos, which I have found connects really well with reluctant readers. The bite-size sections are useful for school projects and, if you don’t live in Australia, this book is a fantastic way to learn about global biodiversity!