River Readers

Rain's family is reeling after the death of her older brother. Her mom tries to keep busy to forget the pain and initiates the family moving to a big city away from their past. Her dad is so depressed that he can hardly get out of bed. And Rain blames herself for her brother's death.

The new neighborhood and school are a challenge because Rain is the only one with her skin color and she is afraid to open up to anyone about her family. Thru running and required community service, Rain realizes that she is not alone.

A captivating novel of family, fame, and religion that tells the story of the seventeen-year-old daughter of an evangelical preacher, star of the family's hit reality show, and the secret pregnancy that threatens to blow their entire world apart.

This was an interesting twist on the original story. A mixed race, blended family is at the heart of this rendition appropriate for a 150th anniversary. The graphics are good and the modernization doesn't take away from the original.

This was a nice story about a young girl's journey to find her place among her friends. Olive has lots of friends which is great for a fifth grader, but when a talent show is scheduled, relationship change quickly. At such an awkward age, finding the right spot is never easy, but when Olive does, she goes for it with a gusto.

A debut graphic novel about friendship and finding where you "click" in school.

This story continues to flesh out the three Hudson sisters, their aunt, and the men who are crossing their paths. Des and her love for dogs, especially those who've been abandoned, plays a large part in this story. This connection leads to her reevaluating what she wants in life, where she wants to be, and most of all, who she wants to be with. The glimpses in to the past of the theater and how it's being restored are intriguing too. I can't wait to see how this all wraps up and especially what is going to break the destructive cycle that Allie is living in.

After Viji and Rukku escape their abusive father, they find themselves struggling to survive under an abandoned bridge in Chennai, India. They bond with two boys also on the bridge and together they eek out an existence pilfering the trash pits in and around the city.

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

Jasmine and Chelsea go to a progressive high school in New York City where they study social justice. They are growing tired of the hypocrisy and double standards they see within their school that is supposed to be a model of inclusivity and intersectionality. When the after school clubs they are required to be a part of tries to pigeon hole them into the stereotypes the school supposedly doesn't adhere to, the girls respond by forming their own club to promote feminism, equality and justice.

I wanted to like this book. It just didn't work for me.

Being a child of the vinyl record age, I had to laugh at the idea of a fight club of girls. But now in today's arena, it would be much more of an idea. Who knows maybe I would have been intrigued to join this type of group back in the day.

Thirteen urban and paranormal tales of strong women, armed with weapons they are not afraid to use, as well as fists and feet of fury, who face monsters and bad guys-and are not above rescuing men in the process. goodreads.com.

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.

Muse is trying to live a normal life, but as half-demon half-human, she is Not normal. Her ex-lover, Prince of Hell, may be attempting to assassinate her.
Allthough other reviews are quite positive, I had a difficult time staying with this story - maybe too many betrayals. Because I really like Pippa DaCosta I finished it, but just not as interesting as her other work.

In this second of the Truly Devious series, Stevie finds herself back at Ellingham Academy after striking a deal with Edward King, the loathsome senator that stands for everything Stevie hates. Their deal involves King's son, David, who he thinks Stevie can influence to make better decisions.

The academy is still reeling from the events that happened prior to Stevie's exit and return. Stevie is determined to get to the bottom of the events from the past and the ones in the present.

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.