River Readers

Jerome is twelve years old when he is shot by the police and killed for playing with a toy gun in the park. Jerome was a good kid who never got in trouble. Loved by his parents and little sister, his spirit rises from his dead body and tries to find some meaning behind his death. Along the way, he encounters the ghost of Emmett Till and together they try to navigate the troubled waters of finding out if there can be any good to come out of their murders.

Jordan Reeves was born missing the lower half of her left arm. She and her mother have written this book to give insight into her life and her philosophy of her disability. Her positive attitude and advocacy for differently abled led to the publication of this book with the hope of giving others help in navigating their own path. It is full of advise, hope and promise and is an inspirational read.

This is a story about Izzy and Bri. Izzy is creative and love theatre and to act. Bri is the complete opposite, she loves science and math. Bri is known as Bri the Brain. Bri's mom longs for her to be in the drama club, which definitely is not Bri's thing but when the opportunity arises to help her mom out, she consents.

Izzy puts theater before everything, including her studies. Conflict with her mom ensues when she forgets to do a take-home test and her mom finds out about it and grounds her from performing in the school talent show.

It's that time of summer again. Time for Abby to go back to summer camp but when she gets there, nothing is the same. Her best friend, Rose, is now a cabin assistant and has very little time for her. Her other friends from years past are boy crazy and they share few interests. It's not until Shasta comes to camp that she finds anyone to talk to but the other girls don't like Shasta.

Ben De Backer came out as non-binary to their parents they kicked them out of the house. Suddenly homeless, they turned to their sister whom they hadn't seen or talked to in ten years. Their sister and her husband welcomed Ben with open arms. They enrolled them in a new school and an especially charismatic boy named Nathan was chosen to show them around.

Nahid has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and given six months to live. During her final days, she reflects on her life, her mistakes and her regrets. She and her husband, Masood, fled their native Iran during the revolution in the '80's with their young daughter. Filled with rage and resentment at the hand her fate has dealt her, Nahid tries to come to terms with her life and find some of the happiness that has alluded her all her life.

In Haley's school there are two boys named Martin Nathaniel Munroe II (it's a long story). So when one of them texts her about a history assignment, she asks which one she is talking to. The response, "The good one" leads to a case of mistaken identity.

This book has a unique format in that it is told entirely as text messages with lots of cute twists and turns. It is a lighthearted teen novel that I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend!

Deya is the oldest of her sisters being raised by their strictly traditional, Palestinian grandparents. As Deya nears graduation from high school, her grandparents have amped up the desire to see her married. The constant parade of potential husbands has Deya feeling trapped and hopeless, afraid of the same fate her mother met.

In The Language of Fire, Stephanie Hemphill has"reimagined" Joan of Arc's tale and told it not only in verse but in Joan's own voice. She elects to refer to Joan as Jehanne, which is how Joan referred to herself in documentation of the time.

There was so much about Joan of Arc I didn't know and this book really enlightened me as to her journey, how she became a soldier and led the French Army and of her downfall and ultimate execution. It is not light reading but well worth the time to read.
 

Thirteen years ago, Bennie Rosato took on Jason Lefkavick, a twelve-year-old boy who was sent to a juvenile detention center after fighting a class bully. Bennie couldn't free Jason, and to this day it's the case that haunts her. Jason has grown up in and out of juvenile prison, and his adulthood hasn't been any easier. Bennie no longer represents those accused of murder, but when Jason is indicted for killing the same bully he fought with as a kid, she sees no choice but to represent him.

As an inmate psychologist at a state prison, Frank Lundquist has had his fair share of surprises. But nothing could possibly prepare him for the day in which his high school object of desire, Miranda Greene, walks into his office for an appointment. Still reeling from the scandal that cost him his Manhattan private practice and landed him in his unglamorous job at Milford Basin Correctional Facility in the first place, Frank knows he has an ethical duty to reassign Miranda's case.

A husband's secret life, a wife's new beginning: escape to the Caribbean with New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand.

Addie is waiting for normal.

But Addie's mom has an all-or-nothing approach to life: a food fiesta or an empty pantry, jubilation or gloom, her way or no way.

All or nothing never adds up to normal.

All or nothing can't bring you all to home, which is exactly where Addie longs to be, with her half sisters, every day.

In spite of life's twists and turns, Addie remains optimistic. Someday, maybe, she'll find normal. -Fantastic Fiction

Mason Buttle is the biggest, sweatiest kid in his grade, and everyone knows he can barely read or write. Mason's learning disabilities are compounded by grief. Fifteen months ago, Mason's best friend, Benny Kilmartin, turned up dead in the Buttle family's orchard.

An investigation drags on, and Mason, honest as the day is long, can't understand why Lieutenant Baird won't believe the story Mason has told about that day.

The friendship between Jillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski begins in the postwar era of the 1950s. As they grow up, their circumstances, their choices -- and their mistakes -- take them invirtually opposite directions. Lesley gets pregnant and marries young, living a cramped life defined by the demands of small children, not enough money, an unfaithful husband. Jillian lives those years on a college campus shaken by the Vietnam War and then as an idealistic young lawyer in New York City.