Miss Minton and Maia are sailing to the city of Manaus, a thousand miles up the mighty Amazon river. Maia, a lonely orphan, is excited to be starting a new life with relatives she's never met. Mysterious Miss Minton has secret reasons of her own for making the journey. But years of living in the jungle have sent Maia's uncle and aunt slightly mad. And their twin daughters are definitely not like normal children... In her wildest dreams, Maia could never have imagined the extraordinary adventures that await her on the shores of the River Sea. Eva Ibbotson's latest novel, for readers of all ages, is one of the richest, funniest, most touching, most satifying books you will ever read. Nominated for the 2002 Children's Whitbread Award