Riverland

Sisters Eleanor and Mike live in a house where reality and magic blur at the edges. During the day, they maintain their family's outward appearance of perfection while enduring their father's volatile temper and their mother's passive acceptance. At night, the sisters escape to a secret place they call Riverland - a dream world accessed through an old bed. In Riverland, they discover they must protect the boundary between dreams and nightmares, keeping the real world safe from dark forces that threaten to break through. As tensions escalate at home, Eleanor and Mike's responsibilities in Riverland become more urgent and dangerous. They must decide how to handle both their real-world struggles and their magical duties, knowing their choices will have consequences in both realms. The story explores themes of sisterhood, courage, and the power of imagination as a survival tool. Through its parallel narratives, Riverland examines how children process and cope with difficult domestic situations while maintaining hope and finding strength in each other.

Readers describe this middle-grade fantasy as an honest portrayal of domestic violence through a child's perspective, using magical elements to process trauma. Readers appreciated: - The realistic sibling relationship between Eleanor and Mike - How fantasy elements mirror real-world situations - The sensitive handling of difficult themes - Strong character development - The incorporation of dreams and folklore Common criticisms: - Pacing feels slow in the middle sections - Some found the fantasy world confusing - Several note it may be too intense for younger readers - Magical elements take time to fully emerge Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 4.0/5 (1,000+ ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (100+ ratings) BookBrowse: 4.5/5 (50+ ratings) One reader noted: "This book handles heavy topics with grace while keeping hope alive." Another mentioned: "The dream sequences can be hard to follow but the emotional core rings true."

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🌊 Author Fran Wilde drew from her experience working with domestic violence survivors to create an authentic and sensitive portrayal of family trauma in Riverland. 🏆 Riverland won the Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction in 2020. 🛏️ The story's magical elements were inspired by the childhood belief that hiding under blankets keeps you safe from monsters. 🌙 The "dream river" in the book connects to various folklore traditions about rivers separating the world of the living from other realms. 🎨 Before becoming an author, Fran Wilde worked as a sailing instructor, game developer, and professor of interactive design, experiences that influenced her world-building in Riverland.