River Readers

Lowen and his family apply to buy a house in Millville for $1. They are ready to move out of the city because Lowen's friend was recently killed in a shooting. When the family is accepted to the dollar program they are not all excited to move, but life in small town Millville quickly grows on the kids. 

This book tells the story of Dexter's survival of the Joplin tornado. Living in Missouri the Joplin tornado is something I am pretty familiar with. I remember seeing pictures of the destruction on the news. These stories are written so that kids can understand these terrible events as they experience them through the eyes of someone their own age. Are they the best written books? Not really, but kids love them. They are fast-paced and full of action. I actually enjoyed this story a bit more than I did the others I have read.

Tajo has been rescued after the events of the last volume and is now back in Salus. She is trying to find Roln's daughter to stop her from blowing up the dome. Of course that doesn't work so she then has to convince the people to rise up against the Senate and take the dome to the stars. I like where this story is going, but I will admit that the art is not my favorite.

Tinsley Jensen survived the torturous clutches of an elusive masked killer dubbed the Skull, only to be held hostage by her nightmares. She’s terrified of leaving her cottage on Seahawk Island, knowing that the madman is still out there. FBI special agent Wyatt Camden knows it too. He may have rescued Tinsley, but her captor got away. Now he’s driven by guilt, the need for vengeance, and the desire to protect—at any cost—the woman he’s come to love.

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be. -- Goodreads

We are introduced to Toby Day, half fae-half human. She's been enchanted as a goldfish for 14 years after a botched investigation for her liege. Initially she tries hard to avoid all things fairy and live in the mundane world. Unfortunately, the death of her sometimes friend Evening Winterrose, pulls her back into the fairy realm.

In the charming rural town of Trail Stop, Idaho, accessible to the outside world by only a single road, young widow Cate Nightingale lives peacefully with her four-year-old twin boys, running a bed-and-breakfast. Though the overnight guests are few and far between–occasional hunters and lake fishermen–Cate always manages to make ends meet with the help of the local jack-of-all-trades, Calvin Harris, who can handle everything from carpentry to plumbing. But Calvin is not what he seems, and Cate’s luck is about to run out.

Mackenzie Cooper took her eyes off the road for just a moment but the resulting collision was enough to rob her not only of her beloved daughter but ultimately of her marriage, family, and friends―and thanks to the nonstop media coverage, even her privacy. Now she lives in Vermont under the name Maggie Reid, in a small house with her cats and dog. She’s thankful for the new friends she’s made―though she can’t risk telling them too much.

Dr. Cameran Young knew her assignment wouldn't be easy. As lead biologist on the Environment Impact Assessment team, her findings would determine the future of a large mining project in the northern Canadian bush. She expected rough conditions and hostile miners--but she didn't expect to find a dead body her first day on the job.

Ellie and Melvin are back in this followup to The Fourteenth Goldfish. Melvin has been on the road for the past year and tired of it. He is also tired of "the puberty". So he and Ellie team up for the science fair. They have an axolotl that seems to have extra appendages so they feed bits of it to fruit flies to see what happens. Of course Melvin also experiments on himself. 

Cam discovers a mysterious Hotel Between one day in a place that never had a hotel before. The Hotel is a magical doorway that connects all over the world through a central hub. Cam's mother and father used to work for the Hotel but never told Cam or his twin sister Cassia. Mom died and dad disappeared leaving only wooden coins for the twins. They are being raised by their grandmother Oma who has to deal with Cassia's medical issues. Cam takes a job with the Hotel in the hopes that it will help him find his father and a cure for Cassia's spina bifida. But who can he trust?

One night Mateo sees a couple of skunks stealing his old tricycle. Of course no one believes him. His family thinks he has hidden the tricycle so his little sister won't get it. So Mateo finds the skunks and discovers they talk! 

Mateo is also having problems at school. His old best friend Johnny has moved on and become friends with the class bully. Mateo has befriended Ashwin, but they are kind of loaners at school. They are both interested in knights and medieval weaponry though. 

Married for just over a year, Roy and Celestial are still navigating their new dynamic as husband and wife. Then their lives are forever altered when they travel to Roy's small Louisiana hometown for a visit, and Roy is falsely accused of a harrowing crime and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The strain on their relationship is intense during Roy's incarceration, especially once Celestial's career takes off while he struggles with loss and feelings of abandonment. Nearly halfway through Roy's sentence, his conviction is vacated.

Xar is an self-centered younger brother, son to the Lead Wizard, whose wizarding powers haven't come in yet. Wish is a Warrior princess daughter of the Queen of Warriors, who struggles to be warrior-like. They live in opposing settlements, who long ago defeated and drove out the evil witches, but now these 2 factions battle each other. Wish and Xar will learn that witches still exist and they may need to help each other to survive the witches as well as their demanding parents. An enjoyable read.

This is the third installment of Jason Reynold's Track series. This edition follows Sunny who is the team's distance runner. When Sunny decides he hates running but loves feeling a part of the team, he has some things to figure out. He needs to confess to his dad that he is only running because of his mother and he needs to find his own place in his life and do his own thing, whatever that may be.