River Readers

Candice was spending a few months in her grandmother's home town of Lambert, South Carolina. She was going there with her mom while their house in Atlanta was being renovated for sale. A lot had been going on in Candice's life. Her parents were divorcing and she had lost her grandmother to a heart attack. Candice did not want to go to Lambert and be uprooted from her friends and father. Yet, there was an even bigger reason. Her grandmother had been fired from her job as city administrator for digging up the tennis courts for no apparent reason and then left town in shame.

This was a very strange take on the journey of Norma Jean Baker to Marilyn Monroe. While I'm sure some of these "monsters" were very real. Not sure, but maybe that was how Norma Jean saw her life before it spun out of her control.

The famous Hollywood Hills. A strange spooky forest filled with freaks and old trailers. This is where movie stars are born in this alternate world. Determined to become one, shy Norma Jean Baker (Marilyn Monroe) comes to this ghost-town with hopes and dreams. She'll have to face all kinds of monsters to reach her ultimate goal.
Goodreads.

Since I am a huge Batman fan especially when it involves Catwoman, this graphic was a must read. I was slightly disappointed that there wasn't more of the couple, but the collection of stories about the others who would be a part of this wedding were quite intriguing. It was a bit disconcerting to have Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood in the same set of stories, but understandable too, since they each have a giant place in Batman's life/wedding. I'm going to be on the lookout for the wedding volume.

Sounder is a loyal family dog, determined to help his owners through thick and thin. This is the story of a great coon dog and the poor sharecroppers who own him, and of the courage and love that bind a black family together in the face of extreme prejudice from the outside world. -Fantastic Fiction

The imaginative tale is told from two perspectives. Livy is a girl who is visiting her Gran in Australia for the first time in 5 years. Bob is the creature who has lived in the closet for the same five years, awaiting Livy's return.
Livy doesn't remember much about her last visit since she was only five and she certainly doesn't remember Bob. However, as the two of them start trying to piece together where Bob came from and how to get him back, the bits and pieces of Livy's past creep slowly back.
This book was a delightful tale full of family, friendship and love.

Mason Buttle was a big kid, who was not very good in school and who sweat....a lot. He lived with his Gran, his uncle and a stray girl his uncle brought home one day. They lived on an orchard that had been in the family for generations. However, after the family had dealt two tragic blows it became hard for Gran and Uncle Drum to deal with the orchard operations. Things fell into disarray and soon Uncle Drum had to sell off parts of the orchard.

Dietrich BonHoeffer was a preacher during the rise of Hitler to power in Germany. He knew from an early age that he wanted to spread the word of God and his faith was strong. When the atrocities of the Hitler regime came to light, he knew he could not stay silent. He spoke out against the Nazi practices and started his own church. As the Nazi threat grew worse, he became involved in a spy ring whose ambition was to assassinate Hitler.

Set in the post-Great War Long Island/New York world of the rich. The narrator, Nick Carraway, sympathetically records the pathos of Gatsby's romantic dream which founders on the reality of corruption, the insulated selfishness of Tom and Daisy, and the cutting edge of violence. -Fantastic Fiction

I like this story a lot. It was light and fun. Also it seemed to be realistic in how a person must try to rectify family expectations and personal desires. I guess this normal coming of age would be even more stressful for teens of Indian heritage who want to try to stay true to both.

This was a quick read. I knew the general plan, having seen tons of movie previews, but enjoyed it the same. I want to see the movie since the beasts are always worth viewing. I'm looking forward to see how Rowling is going to continue this story and reconcile it with what we know from the Harry Potter series.

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 was an intriguing story about a boy, his father and his baseball hero. Since I have always been a Cardinals baseball fan, I had to allow myself to internally root for a Cubs player, however, I did like the way this story played out. Not your typical John Grisham legal story, but well worth the listen.

Whatever happened to Calico Joe?

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!

Book review by Terreece Clarke, Common Sense Media

WHAT'S THE STORY?
GHOST is Castle Cranshaw's new nickname -- he gave it to himself and it sticks when he challenges a track team's best sprinter to a race. Running is as easy for him as breathing, probably because he's been doing it all his life. An emerging track star with a past, Ghost has to figure out why he runs -- is it toward what his life could be or away from his past? Luckily, he has new friends on the team, his coach, and even his mom to help him figure it all out.

IS IT ANY GOOD?

Brangwain Spurge is an elf who has been nominated to take a rare relic to the goblin world as a gift of "peace" to the goblin ruler. Werfel is a historian in the goblin world and he has been selected to be host to Brangwain during his stay. However, all is not as it seems with this excursion.