Riverbend Bookclub Reads - September

RIVERBEND READERS + KNITS & NOVELS

HORSE

by Geraldine Brooks

A discarded painting in a roadside clean-up, forgotten bones in a research archive, and Lexington, the greatest racehorse in US history. From these strands of fact, Geraldine Brooks weaves a sweeping story of spirit, obsession and injustice across American history. Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South, even as the nation reels towards war. An itinerant young artist who makes his name from paintings of the horse takes up arms for the Union and reconnects with the stallion and his groom on a perilous night far from the glamour of any racetrack. New York City, 1954. Martha Jackson, a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance. Washington, DC, 2019. Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse - one studying the stallion's bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success. With the moral complexity of March and a multi-stranded narrative reminiscent of People of the Book, this enthralling novel is a gripping reckoning with the legacy of enslavement and racism in America. Horse is the latest masterpiece from a writer with a prodigious talent for bringing the past to life.

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

THE STARDUST THIEF

by Chelsea Abdullah

 Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights, The Stardust Thief weaves the gripping tale of a legendary smuggler, a cowardly prince and a dangerous quest across the desert to find a legendary, magical lamp. Neither here nor there, but long ago... Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp. With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan's oldest son to find the artefact. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen and confront a malicious killer from Loulie's past. And, in a world where story is reality and illusion is truth, Loulie will discover that everything - her enemy, her magic, even her own past - is not what it seems, and she must decide who she will become in this new reality.

THE TEACHER LIBRARIAN BOOKCLUB

PICTURE BOOK

THERE’S NO SUCH BOOK

by Jessica Dettmann + Jake Minton

There's No Such Book is a funny and heartwarming that will resonate with anyone who has experienced the frenzy of Book Week.
It's the night before the Book Week parade and Ellie announces that she needs a costume by the morning. Mum, who is taken by surprise, desperately tries to piece together a costume from what’s lying around the house …
They went into the bathroom.
‘Hmm,’ said Mum. ‘Don’t I remember once reading you a book about a monster whose skin looked like it was made of bright green towels?’
‘No,’ said Ellie. ‘There is no such book.’ Ellie heads to bed only with Mum's promise that she’ll have a costume sorted by the morning. Mum stays true to her word, but perhaps not in the way that Ellie was hoping.

JUNIOR FICTION BOOK

HOW TO BE PRIME MINISTER AND SURVIVE GRADE FIVE

by Carla Fitzgerald

Imagine your dad gets the top job but isn't exactly up to it. Then he sneaks off on holiday, leaving the country without a leader. What would you do? When Harper's dad becomes the prime minister of Australia he's terrible at it. He was thrust into the top job after a heroic boogie-board rescue of two kids (and a labradoodle) from a shark attack, but surviving government is proving hard. Their family is a laughing stock, and Dad disappears to a 'conference' - but he leaves his phone behind. With her little sister, Lottie, Harper must secretly take his place and decide on a new policy by the end of the week. She finds herself torn between ideas - should she ban plastic bottles? Or make weekends longer? Can she prove a kid can lead the country better than a grown-up?

MIDDLE FICTION BOOK

ANSWERS IN THE PAGES

by David Levithan

Donovan is excited to read The Adventurers, the new book Mr Howe has assigned his class. But before he can dig in, his mother gets her hands on it--and she is not excited by what she reads. Soon the whole town is freaking out about whether the book's two main characters are gay, and Donovan is caught in the middle. Rick and Oliver are the two main characters in The Adventurers. They're trying to stop an evil genius from acquiring the Doomsday Code and destroying life as we know it. Meanwhile, Gideon and Roberto have been paired up on their own book project, which draws them closer and closer together... With Answers in the Pages, bestselling author David Levithan delivers a bold, fun story about taking action (whether it's against book censors or killer alligators), being brave (in love and in adventure), and standing up for what's right, no matter the circumstances.

SECONDARY FICTION

THE STRANDED

by Sarah Daniels

A gripping, near-future thriller - The Hunger Games meets Station Eleven. Welcome to the Arcadia. Once a luxurious cruise ship, it became a refugee camp after being driven from Europe by an apocalyptic war. Now it floats near the coastline of the Federated States - a leftover piece of a fractured USA. For forty years, residents of the Arcadia have been prohibited from making landfall. It is a world of extreme haves and have-nots, gangs, and make-shift shelters. Esther is a loyal citizen, working flat-out to have the rare chance to live a normal life as a medic on dry land. Ben is a rebel, planning something big to liberate the Arcadia once and for all. When events throw them both together, their lives, and the lives of everyone on the ship, will change forever . . . Complete with love triangles, betrayals, and fights for freedom - this is the unmissable YA debut of 2022.