River Readers

There is a lot going on in this graphic novel. There is a group of thieves trying to steal an artifact. There are forces of good and evil at war with each other. There are giant killer locusts. There are gods and demons and holy sacrifices. They all fit together in a complicated story that needs a second volume!

A retelling of Little Women starring four Muslim sisters. Dad has to take a job in another country and little sister gets cancer. The family has to find a way to work through all the difficulties they are having. Jameela is a budding journalist and wants to make her dad proud while he is away. The family is supported by a wonderful group of family and friends. We also meet Ali whose father has died so he was sent to live with aunt and uncle in America. He becomes part of the family as well even though there are tensions after an article mixup in the school newspaper. 

Charlie is on a Christian hike up a mountain with a group of girls. The only issue is that she is the only person of color on the trip and the only queer kid. Until she realizes Sydney is trans and one of the guides is half Dine. She is uncomfortable with the fact that she sticks out and that the main guide uses discriminatory language. The hike is a spiritual retreat that was started a hundred years ago by a group of women. It is interesting that this retreat up the mountain continues today. 

I can't believe I am saying this but this was not my favorite Lumberjanes. I really disliked the art/illustrations and it detracted from the story. I like my Lumberjanes stories to have an equal balance of weird/crazy stuff and personal tidbits from the characters. This story was heavy on the weird and really light on the personal. We get a bit more about Molly's terrible life at home, but that is it. No one else really gets a chance to shine here.

This series is going to be just like the Illuminae Files where I am going to wish I hadn't discovered it until the entire series was published. I devoured this book in a very short amount of time and I am already ready for the next one. 

Hannah Hart shares her story of growing up with a mom with a mental illness. Her story is not one I am personally familiar with, but it is something I think anyone can relate to. She details her childhood where she was more the parent than her parent, where she helped raise her younger sister, where her home and personal hygiene were not the best because of neglect. She also talks about her absent father who chose being a Jehovah's Witness and his religion over protecting his daughters.

Drest is the only one left after a raid takes her father and brothers. They are bound for Faintree Castle where they are to be hanged in 5 days. Also left behind is a wounded knight named Emerick. Drest is determined to use Emerick to free her family so they set off to Faintree Castle. They are joined on their journey by Tigg and have many adventures along the way, including freeing a witch about to be burned at the stake and discouraging a bandit from following them. This is not just a journey to free her family though.

This is probably the best decluttering book I have listened/read. Not only does Dana White give you ideas on how to declutter, she helps you set your mind on the path of decluttering. Her advice is practical and useful. First off you have to think of everything as having a container, whether that container is a box or a drawer or a closet or a house. Once the container is full, it is full and you must remove something in order to add something. I found this particularly useful.

The Black Bull of Norroway is based on a Scottish fairytale of the same name. A knight has been cursed to be a bull and in order to break the curse he needs a wife, a sword and a shield. Sibylla is told she will be the bull's wife after she gets her fortune told by a witch. So when the bull comes to claim her she is not surprised. They head out on the quest and along the way meet the bull's brother and sister who are also cursed.

More than anything Amara wants to go to New York and visit her dad's family there. When she finally convinces her dad to take her for her birthday, she is excited. She meets her family in New York and learns a bit more about why her dad and grandpa are estranged. She also learns a lot of history through walks around the city with her dad and grandpa. This was a fabulous family story that educates not only Amara but every reader. I loved all the historical tidbits about New York and Harlem.

Published September 2019

It is 1914, and the world has been on the brink of war so often, many New Yorkers treat the subject with only passing interest. Eliza Ferriday is thrilled to be traveling to St. Petersburg with Sofya Streshnayva, a cousin of the Romanovs. The two met years ago one summer in Paris and became close confidantes. Now, Eliza embarks on the trip of a lifetime, home with Sofya to see the splendors of Russia: the church with the interior covered in jeweled mosaics, the Rembrandts at the tsar's Winter Palace, the famous ballet.

Rose Mae Lolley is a fierce and dirty girl, long-suppressed under flowery skirts and bow-trimmed ballet flats. As "Mrs. Ro Grandee" she's trapped in a marriage that's thick with love and sick with abuse. Her true self has been bound in the chains of marital bliss in rural Texas, letting "Ro" make eggs, iron shirts, and take her punches. She seems doomed to spend the rest of her life battered outside by her husband and inside by her former self, until fate throws her in the path of an airport gypsy---one who shares her past and knows her future.

This ninth volume of Phoebe and Her Unicorn is just as cute as the first eight! A must read for Phoebe fans!
 

Volume Two of this series finds Peony in the Cannibal Coliseum where the rules are simple, "cook or be cooked!"

This is a cute second volume in the series. A must read if you read the first!

Peony suddenly finds herself in outer space selected to compete in Space Battle Lunchtime to see who the best chef in the galaxy is. Mayhem ensues as sabotage is not discouraged.

This was a cute beginning to this series, highly imaginative and creative.