River Readers

When your parent is an alcoholic, what is normal? That is what Kira is trying to find out after her dad has to go to rehab. Kira's mother is out of the picture so while her dad is getting help, Kira has to leave her home in Texas and live for nine months with her aunt. The upheaval of Kira's life was sudden and tramatic. She had to leave behind her friends and boyfriend. When her dad gets out of rehab, Kira goes home to find he has opened their house to some friends he made at the facility to try to help them get on their feet. Kira is resentful and angry at her new living arrangement.

Trapped in his tiny mountain cabin, she didn't expect to fall for his big heart.

Harzfeld's was a department store that we shopped at when I was growing up. It was a higher end store and saved for special events so trips there were always a treat. I was thrilled to find this brief history of the founding of the store. I loved the pictures and the artwork and especially the memories of various employees and often their children that was at the end. It was a delightful trip down memory lane.

Caroline Kaufman pens with a rawness and rare insight into these powerful poems about teenage depression and sexual abuse and the struggle for recovery.

Ever since his rescue op off the Pacific Coast, Mountain Mercenary Gray Rogers hasn’t been able to forget his latest “job”—Allye Martin. Any other woman would have panicked during a rescue, but the wily dancer kept her cool—even after being kidnapped by an elusive human trafficker. And Gray couldn’t be happier when a grateful Allye follows him home to Colorado Springs…

This is a new collection of poems by former Missouri Poet Laureate Walter Bargen depicting people and places and times that are and have been.

In 1772, the rift between Britain and its American colonies has put a frightening word into the minds of all concerned: revolution. Violence has already reared its ugly head in rural North Carolina, as cabins have been burned to the ground. To preserve the colony for King George III, the governor pleads with Jamie to bring the people together and restore peace. But Jamie has the privilege, although some might call it a burden, of knowing that war cannot be avoided.

Poppy is the mean girl, Wink the odd loner girl, and Midnight the teen boy who used to adore Poppy, even though she treated him like dirt, and now wants to disentangle himself from her, perhaps Wink will help him in this endeavor. I did Not care for this story. It has been compared to We Were Liars, which I've read and liked much better than this story.

This graphic novel that is an adaption of the podcast of the same name is delightful. I am not a listener of the podcast but the creativity and humor of this novel may convert me. It is filled with beautiful artwork and plenty of snark as well as a inventive story line that is sure to delight.

Life on his ranch could be their future. If they can overcome their past.

Felicity’s life story reads like the script to a bad soap opera. Girl’s high-school boyfriend becomes a drug addict. Girl falls for boyfriend’s best friend. Girl leaves them both behind only to return home years later for murdered ex-boyfriend’s funeral. Now she’s back home in Montana, ready to start fresh. She’s got a long list of amends to make and relationships to rebuild, including one with the man who has owned her heart for sixteen years.

Lieutenant Alexander Colton and February Owens were high school sweethearts. Everyone in their small town knew from the moment they met they were meant for each other. But something happened and Feb broke Colt’s heart then she turned wild and tragedy struck. Colt meted out revenge against the man who brought Feb low but even though Colt risked it all for her, Feb turned her back on him and left town.

Fifteen years later, Feb comes back to help run the family bar. But there’s so much water under the bridge separating her and Colt everyone knows they’ll never get back together.

Kevin Young recounts his experiences following his father's death and his son's birth through two decades of soul-stirring poetry.

Despereaux is an unusual mouse right from the very beginning. He is tiny with huge ears and he doesn't act like other mice. He doesn't scurry and he doesn't eat paper. He is more likely to read a book than eat it. But his biggest transgression is the fact that he loves a human. He fell in love with Princess Pea the moment he saw her. And because of that love he spoke to her and let her touch him. These are big no-nos for mice so Despereaux is banished to the dungeons to be eaten by rats.

Annie is the youngest of nine children in a poor Catholic family. Her dad works three jobs and is almost never home. Her mom suffers from depression, hoarding and is abusive. Annie has pretty much been raised by her older sisters and brother, some of whom are nice and others are definitely not. Luckily she has friends at school in Kristin and Jordan. Annie is very smart but has dyslexia so she has problems reading. It is 1985 and there isn't really a lot of help for her in school. 

A plane traveling across the globe experiences a freak accident. The plane is torn apart and everyone on board disappears in a strange electrical storm. Everyone except eight kids. They survive the crash and find themselves in the middle of a tropical jungle. How can that be when they were flying across the arctic? Stranger than the disappearing passengers and the jungle is the fact that it is like nothing on earth. There are two moons in the sky. The animals and plant life are very dangerous and very different than normal. The kids also discover an anti-gravity machine in the plane.