Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 12/01/2015 Gr 2–5—Using concrete language and evocative watercolors, Ray tells the story of anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 voyage to prove his hypothesis that the ancient people of Peru traveled by raft to settle in Polynesia. Heyerdahl and his five-man crew sailed on the Kon-Tiki, a raft made of hemp and balsa wood that was named for an ancient Incan god. Their equipment consisted of a sextant, shortwave radios, and cameras to document their travels, and they subsisted mostly on fish. This extraordinary 101-day passage began at a harbor near Lima, Peru, and ended on an uninhabited island in Polynesia. Excerpts from Heyerdahl's own descriptions of frightening storms and calm and lonely days at sea appear in bold type on almost every page and greatly enhance the author's slightly dry narrative. A colorful map of the voyage on the endpapers complements the text. A short section, "Aftermath of the Impossible Voyage," explains that Heyerdahl and the crew were hailed as heroes for proving that a primitive craft could cross the Pacific Ocean—but recent DNA studies have not proven the Heyerdahl theory. A one-page biography of Heyerdahl is appended. VERDICT An intriguing and useful account of a remarkable journey.—Jackie Gropman, formerly at Chantilly Regional Library, VA - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.