River Readers

Lorenzo lives on a peach farm with his mom and grandpa (Double). His dad was killed in the military. The family is struggling and mom is always stressed about money. When the pig has a litter they are all sold off. Then the dog Bella also has a litter of puppies and it is discovered that the runt pig was missed. Bella raises Marty as her own and he grows up thinking he is a dog instead of a pig. He is Lorenzo's constant companion but his growing size means he gets into trouble quite a bit. 

Dan Harris is an ABC news anchor who has worked on Nightline and Good Morning America. He has a typical celebrity history with drug abuse, stress, adreneline highs, etc. When he is assigned the religion beat he starts researching different religious practices, which leads him to meditation. Harris finds that meditation and mindfulness leads to a happier life, 10% happier in fact. His practices have their ups and downs but he feels he is closer to being truly happy and more mindful in his daily life. 

This story was not what I was expecting. I was much more confused than I like to be. It took me longer to figure out the twist than I liked. I understand how we got to the end, but I'm still not sure I liked it.

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

This was a fun story about wishes, dreams, and desires. Sometimes a person needs to live in another's shoes to truly understand the concept of love, devotion and true friendship. Evie thinks she has her life all mapped out until a fairy named Lucinda turns it upside down. Her best friend Wormy wants more than just being her test subject which results in Evie becoming an ogre with human feelings. It's a twisted tale to find true love, honest friendship, and a meaningful path in life. Along the way you will meet a wide variety of characters, some nice and some not so much.

Madrona's amnesia is still with her, and she is uncertain whether she is a superhero or villain (though the prologue shows us what she herself cannot remember). Madrona and Morgan think they are calling the shots, but in the end they've been led on a merry goose chase, and have been taken for a ride. And the bad guys end up better off. The battle to save the world continues.

Scott, lonely after a divorce he didn't want, could stand to lose a little weight, but, even though the scale shows a steady decrease, he looks exactly the same. He confides in the retired Doctor Bob, who is just as mystified, but at least provides good company. Now if only Scott could resolve his troubles with Deirdre and Missy, new neighbors who have opened a Mexican restaurant.

This is a practical guide to understanding gender pronouns and why the are important. Written by a genderqueer artist and a cisgender man, it offers insights and guidelines of pronoun usage for inclusion of transgender and gender fluid people.

Fridays with the Wizards has Castle Glower all together for the first time in hundreds of years. Back from their adventures in The Glorious Arkower (otherwise known as Hatheland), there is much to do. With the wedding between Lulath and Lila on the horizon, all the new griffins to train and the dilemma of what to do with the evil wizard Arkwright there is never a dull moment in this edition of the Castle Glower series. I enjoyed this installment of the series as much as the others and can't wait to read the last one!
 

Annabelle lived a quiet pleasant life in her little valley during the war. That is until Betty Glengarry came to live with her grandparents. Annabelle didn't know Betty's life story but it must have been a bad one because Betty was mean. Betty started threatening Annabelle if she didn't do what Betty wanted. When the town hermit intervened to protect Annabelle from Betty, things went from bad to worse.

This is a great graphic about a middle grade girl, Vera, who deeply desires to fit in at school or anywhere, really. She finds out about a camp for kids with Russian heritage and begs her mom to let her go. She believes that once there she will FINALLY fit in somewhere. Alas, all is not as it seems and Vera finds she must navigate the waters to becoming her own person herself.

This was a delightful book for middle grade students and has many good lessons to be learned.
 

Penelope (Peppi for short) was the new kid at school. Imagine her embarrassment when right off the bat she trips and splays out in front of everyone. They all laughed and no one helped her, except one boy. The other kids immediately started teasing and poking them both and it was obvious that the boy who helped was the target of the mean kids in the school. So what did Peppi do? She shoved him away and screamed "Leave me alone!" She immediately felt bad and wanted to apologize but couldn't work up the nerve.

This book is a compilation of interviews and stories of people affected by the Vietnam war. Included are the stories of a medic, an army nurse, a refugee, a protest singer and many others. It gives a personal take to horrors of the war and how it affected the lives of many.

Gen, short for Euginedes, touts himself as the greatest thief in the land. When he gets caught the king's magus offers him a deal he can't refuse. The magus knows the location of a magic stone and whoever possesses the stone will be the king. The magus wants the stone for his king. Gen agrees.
This book is full of adventure with twists and turns everywhere. I am re-reading it after having read it many years ago and loved it just as much as the first time. I can't wait to dig into the second book of this series.

Cassidy Blake's parents are The Inspectres, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.

When rogue packs of wolf-hybrid soldiers threaten the tenuous peace alliance between Earth and Luna, Iko takes it upon herself to hunt down the soldiers' leader. She is soon working with a handsome royal guard who forces her to question everything she knows about love, loyalty, and her own humanity.

(--Goodreads.com)