Published by She Writes PressSeries: Silver Mountain #2
Date Published: 4 June, 2019
Pages: 256
Genres: Children's Fiction, Fantasy
Format: Paperback
Source: Booksparks
Purchase: Amazon~ B&N
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A mysterious hospital deep in the Oregon woods is sending marauding ambulances into the countryside, looking for new patients. Mowing down anything in their path, the deadly ambulance drivers have forced the people and animals of the land into hiding. Twelve-year-old Chloe Ashton has returned to Fairfax and is desperate to find her mother. Together with her friends―the magical cook Mrs. Goodweather, carpenter Brisco Knot, and clever white rat Shakespeare―she hatches a plan to enter the hospital and stop the bloodshed. At the same time a rumor reaches them from the east: Silas the Stargazer is coming, and he is bringing an army. An animal army.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Author/Booksparks and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.
My Thoughts
This is my first Diane Rios book and it’s not going to be last, that’s for sure! This is the second book in her Silver Mountain series, and while I wish I had read book 1 first, just because I’m a stickler for reading a series in order, this was not overly confusing. It’s beautifully written and definitely engaging for those middle grade, and young adult readers.
Rios creates her characters with a true to life feel. I love that in any book, but especially in a middle grade novel. It gives the readers a chance to become the characters while reading, and feeling what they go through. The fantasy element of Chloe’s story, really spices up the story for the young readers. The mystery is beautifully woven into the page-turning plot and the characters jump of the page.
This is a story that I highly recommend for readers of all ages. It’s perfectly chiseled, captivating and definitely worthy of 4 star praises and two thumbs up. Ms. Rios is going on my list of must read authors and I am looking forward to going back to the beginning of Chloe’s story. Well done, Ms. Rios! Bring on the next!
About Diane Rios
2017 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award-winning author Diane Rios lives and writes in Portland, Oregon. Her passion for the state’s forests and coastline stem from her own childhood spent living in the woods and on the road with her artisan parents.
Real-life Oregon places mix with fantasy in her debut novel “Bridge of the Gods”, Book One in the Silver Mountain Series, which was named a Finalist in the 2017 Best Book Awards for Children’s Fiction, and was a finalist for an OREGON BOOK AWARD in Children’s Literature. And it was just announced that “Bridge of the Gods” has been shortlisted for the 2019 Chanticleer Gertrude Warner International Book Award for Middle Readers.
Diane has been published as illustrator for Gayle Forman’s 2006 travel diary “You Can’t Get There from Here” on Rodale Press, and wrote and illustrated the whimsical picture book about a dog who wants to be a photographer in “Dizzy’s Dream”, available on Blurb.com. A long-time writer and blogger, Rios worked for three years at Powell’s Books in downtown Portland, where she “greatly increased her personal collection of middle readers” and was inspired to write this series.
Book 2 of the series – “Return of the Evening Star” is available for pre-order now on Amazon in paperback and e-book formats, and will be published June 4th, 2019.
“Bridge of the Gods” has gotten stellar reviews from Kirkus, the School Library Journal, and has been featured in PopSugar’s roundup of “Top Middle Grade and YA Novels of the Summer”, BuzzFeed’s “Five Reads To Send You Back To School”, and Working Mother’s “17 End-of-Summer Books To Read While You Still Can”.
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