River Secrets by Shannon Hale

In Goose Girl readers were introduced to the land of Bayern and characters who could control the elements of nature. Isi was able to control the wind, and reader’s learned in Enna Burning that Enna can control fire.

In this novel, their friend Razo fears that Enna’s power has caused the burned bodies he has found. Has she either broken her promise about the use of fire, or is she burning in her sleep? His quest to discover the truth about Enna leads him to discover the truth about himself.

Sent in a brigade of soldiers to accompany an ambassador on a peacekeeping mission to the Tiran capital, Razo learns his gift is to see and remember everything, making him an excellent spy. A touch of romance is added as Razo becomes friends with the ambassador’s daughter, Lady Dasha, who also has powers to control the elements of water.

Fans of the two previous novels will be excited to read this latest chapter, and also be happy to know that Hale is working on yet another book set in the world of Bayerne.

My Almost Epic Summer by Adele Griffin

Irene figures with both her friends away for the summer she will be the only one with a boring life. Fascinated by the hairstyles of famous novel heroines, Irene hopes the portraits she is drawing will help her when she opens her own hair salon someday, just like her mom.

But maybe Irene isn’t cut out to be a hairstylist; she can’t even keep her job working for Mom’s shop, and soon finds herself spending the summer as a babysitter for Evan and Lainie Prior. Her summer starts looking a whole lot better when she takes the kids to the local beach where Evan’s almost drowning introduces her to the crazy, but total knockout lifeguard who calls herself Starla.

“If only I could be like her,” Irene starts to dream. The question soon becomes, “Would I really want to be?”

This cute, light-hearted look a romance and summer vacation will be a welcome release in these freezing cold days of winter.

Crispin: At the Edge of the World by Avi

Crispin has escaped those who wanted to kill him at the end of the previous book, but now he and Bear, a juggler Crispin has adopted as his father, must flee those members of the Brotherhood who want to kill Bear.

Fearful that Bear is a traitor to their cause, the three men have already been successful at severely wounding him with an arrow. Although Crispin has removed the shaft, he cannot cure the fever that begets his only source of safety.

Despite his fear of more harm, Crispin must trust Troth, the cleft-lipped girl who finds them in the woods, and Aude, the old hag who is something of a mid-wife physician. Before Bear can completely recuperate from his injury, Aude is murdered and the three men are found to be nearby. There is no choice except for Bear, Crispin and Troth to join together and head for the sea, what appears to be their only escape from their own untimely end.