River Readers

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping young-adult novel about one girl's struggle for justice.

Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed. -Fantastic Fiction

This Promise of Change is the story of Jo Ann Allen Boyce who was one of the Clinton 12 who fought for the right to be allowed to go to the same high school as the white students in Clinton, Tennessee. It takes place right after the Brown vs. The Board of Education decision by the Supreme Court. The school district made the decision to desegregate and follow the letter of the law. Things start with just a few minor protests but as word gets out and outsiders come in the protests grow and become violent. Jo Ann becomes the unwitting spokesperson of the students involved.

For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved.

Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to 12 years for a crime Celestial knows he didn't commit.

Elfin Brangwain Spurge is catapulted into goblin territory in order to present an artifact to their leader as a peace offering. At least that's what he believes. In reality, the artifact is a bomb, and he the unwitting bomber. Why would elves offer peace to such a brutal society?

In the 1930s, Appalachian midwife Patience Murphy, who, while dealing with her own secrets, faces seemingly insurmountable conditions - disease, poverty and prejudice - as she strives to bring new life into a cruel world. (general fiction). -Fantastic Fiction

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African-American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments.

Pete Banning started his day like most others, until he enters the Methodist church and shoots the pastor to death, refusing to defend or defend his actions to anyone. Set in 1940s, Grisham returns not only to the town of Clanton, Miss., but also to World War II, and how Banning survived to become the town's war hero. The story explores the immediate and long-term ramifications of a decision on the Banning children, an institutionalized wife, a sister, and Clanton.

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 book is set in India just prior to the exit of British rule in 1947. Nisha is a twelve year old who's deceased mother was Muslim and her father is Hindu. With the exit of the British, the religious factions are quarreling over representation and who will settle well. It is decided that they will partition India with the Muslims in part and the Hindu's in the other part. Thus is born India and Pakistan. Nisha's family, who practice Hinduism, will need to leave and travel to the "new India" in order to be safe.

This was a fun sequel and I really wish there would be more. I loved how Felicity was fearless and resourceful. I would love to know what happens to Felicity and her two best friends. Females of much more substance than normal and full of force, humor and understanding. Making a life of their own, these three chart a path most men couldn't follow.

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

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.

Long-listed for the YA National Book Award this book takes place in 2002, just after 9/11 and it chronicles the path of a young Muslim girl named Shirin. Shirin and her family have just moved, again, and once again she must endure the awkward stares, rude and racist comments and even some physical abuse because of the hajib she chooses to wear. Keeping her battle armor up and her head down is the only way Shirin knows how to maneuver through her day. That works for her until she meets Ocean. Ocean works to get Shirin to let him in even though she knows it will end in disaster.

"We are a family on a journey to a place called wonderful" is the motto of Deza Malone's family. Deza is the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, singled out by teachers for a special path in life. But the Great Depression hit Gary hard, and there are no jobs for black men. When her beloved father leaves to find work, Deza, Mother, and her older brother Jimmie go in search of him, and end up in a Hooverville outside Flint, Michigan.