River Readers

This was a very different take on the Peter Pan story. Tiger Lily was usually a minor character and here she gets her day in the sun. However, she also has a relationship with Tinkerbell that is very different from the one Peter and Tink are always shown having. This was sad, yet strangely satisfying too.

This was awesome! It was like a Broadway play on audiobook. Full cast, musical numbers, sound effects, and the narration of Jim Dale all in one fantastic book. It is basically the traditional story of Rumplestiltskin with just a bit extra. The actors are fantastic, the songs are hilarious and the entire productions was just a treat to listen to. I highly recommend this short audiobook.

Pages are approximate as this is audio only.

A highly fictionalized version of Maria Rasputin, daughter of the "Mad Monk", Robert Alexander follows the last week of Rasputin's life through the eyes of his eldest daughter, Maria.

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be. -- Goodreads

This is the third installment of Jason Reynold's Track series. This edition follows Sunny who is the team's distance runner. When Sunny decides he hates running but loves feeling a part of the team, he has some things to figure out. He needs to confess to his dad that he is only running because of his mother and he needs to find his own place in his life and do his own thing, whatever that may be.

Thyme wasn't happy about moving to New York from San Diego but whatever it took to help her brother, Val, was what needed to be done. Val was suffering from a type of cancer and needed to enter a special medical trial to try to keep the cancer at bay.

This is a wonderful coming-of-age book about a sibling dealing with a sick brother and how the illness can affect the whole family. It explored the conflicting emotions of guilt and anger at the situation which sometimes manifests toward her parents and little brother.

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

Twelve-year-old Amal lived a rather ordinary life in her small Pakistani village with her mother, father and sisters. She dreamed of continuing her education and becoming a teacher. As the oldest, it often fell to Amal to help out with her sisters during her mother’s most recent pregnancy. When her mother gave birth to yet another girl, she fell into a deep depression forcing Amal to delay her education and care for her family. The world as she knew came crashing down one fatal afternoon when she disrespected a member of her village’s ruling family.

This book reminded me of the real life story of Jaycee Dugard who reappeared after 18 years. She had two children and quite a story. This one makes sense because of the guilt Amy feels, both for having gone meekly along instead of resisting and for the act that results in her return. The secrets she keeps and the fear she feels are believable. It is also nice to see someone trying to make decisions that protect someone else and not taking the easy route to save one's self or make life simple. Not an easy read, but worth it.

Listening to this second book gave me new insights into my favorite series. I keep uncovering things I don't remember reading or have forgotten since watching the movies after reading the book. Jim Dale once again transports the listener back to Hogwarts and makes you feel such a part of the action. I can visualize the characters and the places with ease - even ones I had forgotten about. As always it was fun to rediscover Dobby, the Forbidden Forest and the beginning of Harry and Ginny's love.

Another Phoebe and Marigold adventure! This one was perhaps my least favorite but I still loved it!
This volume is back to being in comic strip form with the subject jumping around but it is still easy to follow. Perhaps one of the biggest disappointments in this volume was there was no educational excerpt at the back. This has been one of my favorite features of the series. The glossary is there (because of Phoebe's exceptional vocabulary, of course).

I am anxiously awaiting Volume 5 to become available at my library because it is another graphic novel.
 

Another Phoebe and Her Unicorn Adventure down and I think it was my favorite yet! The other volumes have been compilations of comic strips which sometimes jump from subject to subject. This one was an actual graphic novel!
I enjoyed following an entire story with Phoebe, Marigold, Dakota and Max trying to discover the cause of a power outage.

This is not your mother's Nancy Drew! While there have been a lot of updated Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys stories, this one is definitely more adult. The cops are tougher, the plot is personal and the surprises are plentiful. The noir look is much darker, but fits the theme. I did like how their were ties back to the younger stories though. I will read another volume with no problem.

I just happened upon this book while shelving in the Teen Zone. It was an interesting take on Peter Pan. I couldn't imagine losing my younger brother to an accident that I caused, so it makes sense that Wendy would need time and maybe a dream to accept this new reality.

Emma has always taken care of her younger sister Katy. So when Katy buys a restaurant in the Ozarks sight unseen she goes reluctantly along to help. Bitsy's B&B turns out to be Bitsy's Bait and BBQ and offers quite the challenge to the sisters. The biggest challenge is that neither of them know a thing about BBQ. But the town wants them to succeed and helps them out.