A Nightmare

Not the book itself.  I enjoyed Blackwater.  Eve Bunting is an awesome, diverse writer.  I especially loved Smoky Night and Fly Away Home and In the Haunted House but I don't include picture books in my blog or on goodreads.  If you have read Smoky Night and Fly Away Home, you know that Bunting's books aren't always happy books.  They are real books, that deal with tough topics, but they aren't preachy.  They are just real.  Blackwater was so real it was scarier than Dracula.
Brody is responsible for the death of one fellow classmate and the disappearance of another in the violent river that runs through their town.  The book is set in California, and I know they name another river, but it reminds me of the song, Kern River.  Brody doesn't tell of his actions at first and so he is tortured because everyone keeps calling him a hero, but he knows the truth.  His cousin, a troubled kid from San Fran, has told his heroic story about how Brody tried to save the kids and now Brody believes he is trapped in the lie.
Brody's dad is the town preacher.  As a former church pastor, I feel that Brody's dad isn't as involved as a real pastor would be and he offers terrible theological advice, "God never gives you more than you can handle."  Really?  But the pastoral part of the book is an interesting addition, if not realistic from the platitude said by Brody's dad and the minimal involvement of the local pastor in such a tragic event. This book is great but man it is tough.