River Readers

Aster and his family are adjusting to his unconventional talent for witchery; unlike the other boys in his family, he isn't a shapeshifter. He's taking classes with his grandmother and helping to keep an eye on his great-uncle whose corrupted magic wreaked havoc on the family.

Meanwhile, Aster's friend from the non-magical part of town, Charlie, is having problems of her own -- a curse has tried to attach itself to her. She runs to Aster and escapes it, but now the friends must find the source of the curse before more people -- normal and magical alike -- get hurt.

When Lana and her father return to their seaside hometown to help clear the debris of a storm, the last thing she expects is to discover a colony of Aquicorns—magical seahorse-like residents of the coral reef. As she explores the damaged town and the fabled undersea palace, Lana learns that while she cannot always count on adults to be the guardians she needs, she herself is capable of finding the strength to protect both the ocean, and her own happiness.

(--Goodreads.com)

Jetta and her family are the most talented shadow puppeteers in Chakrana, mainly due to Jetta's unique supernatural abilities. She is able to bind the souls of the dead to her puppets, creating spectacles never before seen. As impressive as her talents are, she must never let anyone outside of her family know what she can do since necromancy is illegal. Nevertheless, she and her family hope to parlay their increasing fame in shadow puppetry into a trip to Aquitan, the overseas seat of power.

When Elli was a young child, she was identified as the next Valtia, or queen of Kupari. The Valtia is the only person in the kingdom to have perfect mastery over both fire and ice magic. To this end, the Valtia is the primary protector of the entire country. The Kupari don't even have a military, such is their trust in the powers of the Valtia. When the current Valtia dies, Elli will be her successor and has trained for it her entire life. Unfortunately, when the current Valtia does actually die, the magic fails to move into Elli as its supposed to.

One of the last things that the farm boy Worstley expects is to have a surly pixie bestow Chosen One status upon him. Although the pixie giving his goat the ability to speak was also unexpected. Worstley and the goat, Gustave, head off to meet their destiny at a nearby bramble-encased castle containing a sleeping princess and her equally unconcious court. It seems like as good a place as any to meet one's destiny.

This was not my childhood Sabrina, the teenage witch! Very dark and a bit more horror than I usually like. Not sure I appreciate the very dark witches in this story. I always liked that most of the ones in Sabrina were likable and made me wish being a witch was an honest possibility. Not this group!

High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness. Angry and alone, he takes refuge in his imagination and soon finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a world that is a strange reflection of his own -- populated by heroes and monsters and ruled by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book, The Book of Lost Things.

Jack and Annie are ready for their next fantasy adventure in the bestselling middle-grade series - the Magic Tree House!

Where did the tree house come from?

Before Jack and Annie can find out, the mysterious tree house whisks them to the prehistoric past. Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark . . . or will they become a dinosaur's dinner?

When the King and all the men of the castle die, it’s time for the women to knight up.

When King Mancastle and his mighty vassals ride off on a crusade, the women left behind are not at all put out—that’s a lot less armor polishing to do. Of course, when the men get themselves eaten by a dragon and leave a curse that attracts monsters to the castle . . . well, the women take umbrage with that.

This was a truly creepy book to read before Halloween. The black and white illustrations just make it more startling when color appears. These are not your everyday fairy tales or even the normal twisted ones I enjoy.

'It came from the woods. Most strange things do.' Five mysterious, spine-tingling stories follow journeys into (and out of?) the eerie abyss. These chilling tales spring from the macabre imagination of acclaimed and award-winning comic creator Emily Carroll. Come take a walk in the woods and see what awaits you there...
Goodreads.

This is P. Dj̀eli Clark’s debut novella, after having his writings appear in Daily Science Fiction, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly and Lightspeed and other publications. Born in New York primarily raised in Houston, he spent much of his formative years in Trinidad and Tobago. Clark brings a fresh look at New Orleans in this alternative history story.

When Asami is kidnapped, Korra sets out to the Spirit Wilds to find her. Now teeming with dark spirits influenced by the half spirit-half human Tokuga, the landscape is more dangerous than ever before. The two women must trust in each other and work together if they are to make it out alive. Their fate is revealed in this stunning, action-packed conclusion to The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars!

Something is wrong with the Castle Glower. It has been acting strange, adding rooms, shuddering without warning. Then all of a sudden Celie, Lulath, Pogue, Rolf and Lilah were transported in to a world with wild griffins, ruins of the Castle and two deceptive wizards. The five must figure out how they got there and what it will take to get back home.

This is the third in the Castle Glower series and it was just as entertaining and intriguing as the first two. I anxiously await the fourth installment!

Ragmatic engineer Anna works as a psychic in the Samson Brothers Circus, but she doesn't believe in anything supernatural—until her twin sister Kat is murdered and comes back as a very demanding ghost. Sharing a room with her sister was hard, but now they're sharing a body while trying to identify the killer. With few leads, a troupe full of secretive folk, and strange paranormal occurrences popping up around the circus, solving the case seems near impossible. But the murderer in their midst may be the least of their problems... (Goodreads.com)

Eager for glory and heedless of others, Sir Yvain sets out from King Arthur’s court and defeats a local lord in battle, unknowingly intertwining his future with the lives of two compelling women: Lady Laudine, the beautiful widow of the fallen lord, and her sly maid Lunette. In a stunning visual interpretation of a 12th century epic poem by Chrétien de Troyes, readers are — at first glance — transported into a classic Arthurian romance complete with errant knights, plundering giants, and fire-breathing dragons. A closer look, however, reveals a world rich with unspoken emotion.