River Readers

Cassidy's parents write about ghosts and the paranormal, but do they really believe? Cassidy does. She almost drowned and was saved by Jacob, who is now her best friend. Only thing is...Jacob is a ghost. After her experience Cassidy can now see beyond the veil and is contacted by local ghosts. She photographs them, or attempts to. 

Tabitha Crumb has the worst parents ever. They are headed to South America and plan on sending her to an orphanage. Her only friend is her rat Pemberly and her only interest appears to be Inspector Pensive detective novels. So it is a shock when she is invited to a weekend with a countess along with five other children. Turns out all six kids were adopted and one of them is the countess's grandchild. The only problem is the countess is kind of evil and the children keep disappearing in the mysterious manor house.

Florian and Margaret are back and this time they have to save Marcus. Marcus's first case is tied to a current case and someone is setting him up to take the fall. Florian and Margaret have to use TOAST to find out which one of their suspects is the culprit. Their investigations take them through the library world of Washington, DC and leave them trapped in the Library of Congress.

Augusta has been sent to live with her grandmother in Springdale, Maine. It is the eve of WWII and her mother is working in New York and her father, a union organizer, is on the run from the law. Gusta arrives at Mrs. Hoops home to join the orphans already in residence. She brings very little with her except stories of a missing wish and her French horn. 

Astrid is the little thunderbolt of Glimmerdal. She is the only child and her best friend is an elderly neighbor, Gunnvald. Astrid's life on the mountain seems idyllic. She lives with her father; her mother is away in Greenland studying the icebergs. She spends her days with Gunnvald inventing the most amazing sled or just listening to him play his fiddle. She has the run of the mountains and valleys of her home. That all changes when Gunnvald becomes injured and his estranged daughter comes to Glimmerdal. Suddenly things aren't how Astrid thought they would be. 

Rupert is extremely poor. His family lives on oatmeal and kitchen scraps. He sleeps under the bed and wears all three of his shirts in winter. So it is really surprising when he finds himself at the richest house in town on Christmas. The Rivers family is very rich and very eccentric. They play games for their Christmas presents in a cut-throat fashion. Rupert is ecstatic when he whens all the presents; he is especially excited about the new pair of boots since his sneakers are wearing out. But then he loses it all in the final game and is sent home empty handed. 

Florian and Margaret are back and this time they are going undercover. It seems there have been a series of pranks at a school, which just happens to be the one the president's daughter Lucy attends. They have to figure out who is pulling the pranks and why and if they involve Lucy. Florian and Margaret have their suspects and they uncover that the school has a secret society. Florian meets the president through his new friendship with Lucy and is able to find a missing presidential artifact. 

Florian Bates is new to the Washington, DC area, but that doesn't stop him from getting involved. Both his parents work in the art world so he is well connected when the National Gallery is robbed. Florian uses his TOAST method (Theory of All Small Things) to notice clues others might not be aware of. With the help of new friend Margaret, Florian becomes a special consultant for the FBI and helps them solve the case of the missing paintings. Things get a bit dicey when a Romanian mob boss gets involved however. 

Felicity Montague wants to be a doctor. She knows she will be a great doctor, but she can't get any of the medical schools to take her on. Supposedly women can't be doctors in the 18th century. So Felicity is giving up on Scotland and heading back to London to try and convince her idol, Dr. Platte, to give her a shot. She stays with Percy and Henry while in London, both are trying to make it on their own without the help or support of family. In fact, Percy and Felicity's father has basically disowned both of them. 

Ozzie's parents moved them out to a hidden cabin in Oregon when he was seven. Unfortunately, they never got to explain why or even unpack. They are kidnapped leaving Ozzie on his own. He spends the next several years eating canned food and exploring all the boxes left by his parents. After he meets a girl on the beach he decides to start going to school. Then he sees an ad in the local paper advertising a wizard for hire. Enter Labyrinth or Rin. Rin claims to be a wizard even though he never actually performs any magic. Ozzie and Rin start trying to find his parents.

Ugh! This was brutal and devastating. So many lost in this volume. Not sure we can recover from this one.

I was not impressed by this one. I don't remember a single profound thing Sincero said. Most of it was cliched self-help mantras that you get from so many sources. Being a badass seems to consist of making yourself into who you want to be. Sincero's advice is that if you really want something you just go for it. I am not sure that works for everyone.

Louisiana is woken at 3 am by her Granny as they pack up and head out of town. Before she realizes it they have left Florida and entered Georgia. Louisiana isn't happy about leaving home. She misses her friends and her cat and dog. They end up at a motel in a small town in Georgia where Granny has to have her teeth pulled. Louisiana is mostly on her own and ends up making friends with local boy Burke Allen. She tells him all about the curse of sundering on her family and enlists his help when Granny takes off.

Griffin lives with his father tending a lighthouse on the Oregon coast. His mother died a few years ago and it has just been Griffin and his dad. Their peaceful life is interrupted by an alarm going off and the arrival of a team of people in strange outfits. Griffin follows them to the lighthouse and sees his dad get sucked into the glass. Turns out the lighthouse is connected to other worlds; worlds not necessarily friendly to Earth. Griffin manages to follow his dad to the world of Sumi. There he encounters enslaved resisters who bring him into their group.

Mina is eagerly awaiting the hatching of her egg. In this world dragons control different aspects of the weather like rain, snow, wind, sun and lightning. Children are paired with the dragons and control all aspects of the weather. When Pixit hatches and it is revealed he is a lightning dragon Mina's family is skeptical. They can't believe she is fiesty enough for lightning. But soon Mina is at the lightning school learning how to work with Pixit. It is at school that Mina learns some interesting information about what the controlled weather is doing to the lands around them.