Leepike Ridge by Nathan (N. D.) Wilson

Leepike Ridge by Nathan (N. D.) Wilson is about Tom, an eleven year old boy who lives with his mother in a house chained to the top of a rock. Tom's father died three years earlier, and his mom has been seeing another man lately. When their new refrigerator arrives with a huge box and packing material, Tom goes out to play around. He ends up throwing everything into the stream that runs past his house and is told to retrieve everything. That night at dinner, Jeffrey asks his mother to marry him, and Tom loses it. He climbs to the top of his house, then later that night, sneaks out of his bedroom. He ends up by the stream's edge and finds the huge piece of packing foam from the fridge box. He hops on the foam and takes the ride of his life down the stream. Getting bashed and bruised by rocks is the least of his worries when Tom gets stuck in the face of the rock cliff. Eventually, the current pulls him under the face of the cliff and into a hidden cave. He rides the current over waterfalls and through the caves until he is hopelessly lost under the mountain. No one knows he left and no one know where he is, except the two strange men on the shore of the stream who yelled at Tom just as he was pulled under.

This was a great adventure story with a lot of twists and turns! Some of the plot twists were predictable, but some were surprising! There was a bit of mystery and some interesting ancient history woven into the story as well. This is one of the 2009 - 2010 Maud Hart Lovelace nominees.