FOLLOW THE WATER

The account of a plane crash survivor and her journey through the rainforest to safety.

Turbulence rocked the plane; luggage fell from compartments. Seventeen-year-old Juliane Koepcke drifted in and out of consciousness as the plane hurtled through the air; her fall was broken by the rainforest canopy. Thus began the teenager’s harrowing struggle. In 1971, the plane on which she and her mother, Maria, were traveling was struck by lightning while crossing the Andes Mountains. Utterly alone (she would later learn that Maria likely made it through the crash but died waiting for help) and wounded but mobile, she set out in search of help rather than await rescue. Cochrane chronicles Juliane’s 11-day trek, spotlighting the wilderness skills that the teen had developed growing up on the rainforest research station run by her parents, zoologists who had relocated from Germany to Peru before her birth. Moving through the Amazon, Juliane ate nothing but a scavenged stash of hard candy, weighed the risks of drinking river water, sterilized maggot-infested injuries with gasoline, and followed small streams toward a larger river in search of human contact. Fascinating sidebars provide finer focus on rainforest animals, the dangers that Juliane faced, and Peruvian culture. Concluding chapters explore the trauma Juliane confronted and her own career as a zoologist specializing in bats; tips for aspiring scientists are appended. Journalistically direct, occasionally graphically grisly, always compelling, this tale is more riveting than any work of fiction. Final art not seen.

Gripping and unforgettable.