The River’s Daughter: A Memoir

“Rivers have shaped not just my calloused hands but the course of my life,” writes white water rafting guide Crocker in her inspiring debut. After surviving a fall into Wyoming’s Snake River as a girl, Crocker felt protected and understood by the river’s current in the midst of her turbulent childhood. (Following her parents’ divorce, Crocker bounced between their homes in Wyoming and California, and endured physical abuse from her father.) Through adolescence and into adulthood, Crocker habitually sought solace in the water, including after she was sexually assaulted as a teenager by an older acquaintance. Eventually, she followed her boyfriend’s lead and became a certified rafting instructor, making good on her dreams of visiting southern Africa’s Zambezi River and leading excursions on the Kern and Snake Rivers. Throughout, Crocker makes a convincing case for outdoor adventuring as a tool for teaching people to trust their intuition: “Over the years, I had spent a lot of time ruminating about what my family had not given me, overlooking what I had inherited as my birthright: the ability to transform suffering, rise up, and survive.” It’s a triumphant road map for following one’s passions. Agent: Lauren MacLeod, Aevitas Creative Management. (June)