Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Would anyone go on a trip down the Mississippi River like Huckleberry Finn? Following Huck (Mississippi Summer Memoir) by S.R. Zalesny takes readers back to the summer of 1959 when six of them floated on the Mississippi River for two weeks on their homemade raft. Their inspiration came from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when their professor challenged them to build a raft and go on a river escapade just like Huckleberry Finn and Jim did on their fictional river rafting adventure. Dr. Fox thought since the river escapade was a figment of Mark Twain's imagination it would be wonderful if they really did it. They held meetings once a week which later on became twice a week and the group became really involved and enthusiastic about Huckleberry Finn and his river rafting. Let us float along with them and see where the exciting journey took them.

The story is exhilarating; the very thought of copying the river rafting mentioned in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an interesting one. The book covers the challenges faced as they go about making the raft and as they embark upon their adventure down the Mississippi River. Water has many moods and these young men realized that and the dangers that can occur once their journey began. Wood absorbs water and the condition of the raft slowly deteriorated. The author shares their preparation of building the raft and preparing it for the trip in detail, plotting their course of travel with the help of river charts, and finally, the trip that will leave readers exhilarated and filled with awe. The memoir is an adventure of a lifetime when it came to not only rafting down the Mississippi River but also when it came to learning more about each other. I found the memoir fascinating and it left me impressed with how six young men actually made the fictional journey of Huck Finn a reality. This book is definitely a must-read for all those who love adventure.