River Readers

Jingwen, his brother Yanghao and mother have just moved to Australia. The plan has always been to move but things were put on hold when dad died in a car accident. Now mom has decided to move them anyway. They leave behind grandma and grandpa and the family bakery. Mom starts working in a local bakery and the boys start school. Yanghao picks up English fairly quickly and starts to make friends. Jingwen is very different. He doesn't understand what anyone is saying and feels like he is on a different planet. He makes very little effort to learn English or to get along in school.

Vietnam has fallen to the Vietcong. The American forces have fled and many in Vietnam are afraid of what is to follow. That is why Lam and Dee Dee are put on a boat and sent out to see. Their family hopes they will find refuge and make their way to their father in America. The voyage is filled with danger as their boat experiences problems and they are not granted refuge. They are shuttled from one refugee camp to another and on one occasion sent back out to see on a sinking boat. They are helped along the way by a kind family who adopts them as their own.

In this second book of the Rose Legacy trilogy death and war have come to the nation. It has been a year since horses were reintroduced to the world and those with the Way have moved into the public light. Thea, Jilly and Finn have been acting as messengers for the King and Queen to prove their worth. Then "the Dag", a sickness, overwhelms the country and seems to start in places where the horses are stationed. They are recalled to the Farm to regroup and to find a cure. Many of the riders become ill and some die. The Queen sends a group of women doctors to the Farm to investigate the Dag.

Cat is all set to spend three weeks in Atlanta with her best friend Rishi. Unfortunately, plans change and she finds herself in North Carolina visiting grandparents she has never met. Cat and her brother Chicken have a special bond. It seems like only Cat can calm Chicken down or understand him. Mom is teaching a class and is always busy writing the Caterpillar and Chicken books. While on Gingerbread Island with Lily and Macon (the grandparents), Cat learns that she can rely on other people to help out with Chicken and that she doesn't always have to be the responsible one.

Viji and her sister Rukku flee an abusive father and find themselves in the city on their own. The city is a scary place and they encounter people who could hurt them. However, they also find friends. There is a friendly teashop lady who gives them food and supplies. They also meet Arul and Muthu, two boys living under a bridge, who help show them the ropes. They learn to pick recyclables out of the trash heaps around the city and sell them. They also learn how to survive on the streets on their own. But then the rainy season comes and Rukku and Muthu get sick.

It is the last day of seventh grade and Jaime and her best friend Maya are on the outs. Ever since Celia joined their group things have been getting awkward for Jaime. She doesn't like the same "mature" things the others like. So on the last day of school, Celia makes Maya break up with her. Jaime is heartbroken but finds there are other kids who have similar interests to her and who she has been ignoring while in her group.

The Island of Sanlagita is not a happy place. There is a drought and not enough water to feed the people or the plants. People get sick and don't get better. They keep sending their strongest boys on sailing trips across the sea to find the mystical Isa, but none have ever returned. Lalani is a curious girl who wants to help her people. One day she finds herself on the mysterious mountain Kahna where she meets a man who grants her a wish. Of course the wish turns out badly and things get even worse for the Sanlagitas.

Olly lives with her artist mom and dad in a Soho loft in 1981. Dad has run off to France with a new girlfriend and mom has gone to bed with no intention of getting up. Olly relies on her friends Richard and Alex and a network of adults to help her out. Of course she doesn't tell them about her mom or how difficult life at home has become. It doesn't help that a mysteries man is trying to contact her dad and his partner Apollo about a missing piece of art. There is a lot going on for one young girl to keep track of. 

Walter Mortinson is an inventor in a town that does not appreciate anyone doing anything outside of the ordinary. His mother would like him to join the family mortuary business but Walter is not interested. He wants to be like his father who was also a great inventor and made life interesting until an unfortunate accident. When he finds a letter inviting him to meet the great Horace Flasterborn on Flaster Island he decides to make the cross-country trip. He is joined by Cordelia who has her own reasons for going to Flaster Island.

The Raxter School for Girls in Maine has been put under quaranteen. The girls there are being transformed by the Tox. Some girls come out of it ok, but others do not survive their transformations. Food has been getting scarcer and things have been going on for a long time. The girls form groups to help each other survive because the Tox isn't just transforming them but the world around them as well. When Hetty's best friend Byatt goes missing she is determined to find out what happened to her and what is going on at Raxter. 

Lucy and Fred are working on a Field Guide during their summer vacation. They write up any animals they encounter. When a white shark is caught in a fisherman's nets they decide to include it. The shark leads them to Lucy's mom who was a marine biologist and died several years ago. She was an expert on sharks and had many papers for them to refer to. Then tragedy strikes Lucy's young life for a second time. She is left on her own and turns to the sharks in her grief. She follows the trail laid down in her mom's last research paper.

Illeana lives with her parents in Bucharest at the height of power for the Communist Regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu. Her family's flat was demolished to make way for his grand palace and they now live in a much smaller place. They have to be careful of what they say and do since you never know who could be spying on you. After an bugs are discovered in their apartment, Illeana's parents decide she will be better off in the country with her grandparents. She has never met her grandparents nor been outside of the city before.

Callie has Tourette's Syndrome but has been told not to tell. So she just seems weird when she makes noises or does strange movements. Callie is starting her 11th school. Her mom moves them every time she breaks up with a boyfriend. So Callie has no stability in her life and is always starting over. Despite that she is optimistic in her new school. She meets Jin, her neighbor and classmate, and hits it off right away. Only problem is Jin is embarrassed to know Callie at school and only wants to hang out at home. 

Melly is always in her best friend Olivia's shadow. She lets Olivia take the lead in most things and is just happy to follow along. That is how she ends up at Camp Rockaway. Melly plays the drums and Olivia the bass and they assume they will be paired together for camp. They are in the same cabin, but get put in different bands. Olivia is soon enamored with the lead singer of her band and ditching Melly. Melly is in a band that doesn't seem to fit together musically but she does enjoy getting to know singer Adeline.

Margaret lives at a convent on an island. Her only companions are the nuns until William and his mother arrive. They are exiled from the mainland because of his father's politics. Turns out the island is actually a political prison for those who go against the crown but who's crimes are not bad enough to be executed for or sent to a real prison. All the nuns are prisoners as well. This all comes to a head when Eleanor, the exiled queen, comes to the island. Margaret and Eleanor discover they have a lot in common and get to know each other.