School Library Connection
"Eleanor is a very believable heroine, with faults typical of any middle schooler. In the end she has to solve the problem herself and does so."
Kirkus Reviews
"The important topic of physical and emotional abuse in families is sensitively portrayed."
Booklist
**STARRED REVEW**
"A narrative that challenges the stereotypical stories of domestic violence, Riverland is painful and heartwarming all at once . . . A must-read."
Publishers Weekly
"Wilde (Updraft) skillfully blurs the lines of fantasy and reality in a haunting middle grade story of sisters connected through trauma and a shared mythology . . . Beneath the surface of Wilde’s fantastical metaphors lies the far more chilling and profound portrayal of domestic abuse and the lengths to which people can go to deny the most painful of truths."
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Wilde concocts a heartbreakingly anxious story as Eleanor walks on eggshells to protect herself and her sister from their abusive parents . . . The lens of house magic for physical and emotional abuse acts as a buffer, allows the story to avoid a preachy tone while still accurately depicting the hurdles a child in a stifling household must face."
Shelf Awareness
**STARRED REVIEW**
"Wilde approaches the difficult subjects of domestic violence and emotional abuse with the care and respectful treatment that they deserve, using the fantastic to symbolize and illuminate the complex emotions her characters experience. About courage and truth overcoming denial and fear, Riverland is an important book."
From the Publisher
**STARRED REVEW** "A narrative that challenges the stereotypical stories of domestic violence, Riverland is painful and heartwarming all at once . . . A must-read."—Booklist
**STARRED REVIEW** "Wilde approaches the difficult subjects of domestic violence and emotional abuse with the care and respectful treatment that they deserve, using the fantastic to symbolize and illuminate the complex emotions her characters experience. About courage and truth overcoming denial and fear, Riverland is an important book."—Shelf Awareness
"The important topic of physical and emotional abuse in families is sensitively portrayed."—Kirkus Reviews
"Wilde (Updraft) skillfully blurs the lines of fantasy and reality in a haunting middle grade story of sisters connected through trauma and a shared mythology . . . Beneath the surface of Wilde’s fantastical metaphors lies the far more chilling and profound portrayal of domestic abuse and the lengths to which people can go to deny the most painful of truths."—Publishers Weekly
"Eleanor is a very believable heroine, with faults typical of any middle schooler. In the end she has to solve the problem herself and does so."—School Library Connection
"Wilde concocts a heartbreakingly anxious story as Eleanor walks on eggshells to protect herself and her sister from their abusive parents . . . The lens of house magic for physical and emotional abuse acts as a buffer, allows the story to avoid a preachy tone while still accurately depicting the hurdles a child in a stifling household must face."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Booklist
**STARRED REVEW** "A narrative that challenges the stereotypical stories of domestic violence, Riverland is painful and heartwarming all at once . . . A must-read."
Kirkus Reviews
2019-01-15
Two sisters who use stories and spells to cope with family dysfunction discover a river-dominated dream world.
Twelve-year-old narrator Eleanor reveals that Poppa is a batterer. Momma, his enabler and most frequent victim, replaces what Poppa breaks and rigidly disciplines the girls. Wilde perceptively etches Eleanor's attempts to insulate Mike, 7, within their violent, secretive home, where "house magic" prevails if the girls obey the rules. When a mysterious river infiltrates their under-the-bed hideout, the girls enter a world with a caretaker Heron, nightmare horses, leak-patching crabs, and more. Anassa, a snake-headed monster working to breach the boundary between worlds with the ‘mares, exploits Eleanor's anxieties. Leaks appear in the sisters' and neighbors' homes, mirroring Anassa's fractious progress. The sisters' back-and-forth questing to reconcile both worlds by replacing Momma's old glass fishing float—a "witch ball" broken by Poppa—vividly culminates during a storm, in which netherworld birds help the girls fight back invading Anassa. The real-world plotting—including a tentative new relationship with their mother's mother and Eleanor's growing friendship with neighbor Pendra—is finely wrought. The allegorical fantasy elements, while propulsive, lack a strong controlling logic and require considerable credulity from readers, as Eleanor uncannily navigates the river world's inchoate dangers. The sisters are assumed white, while Pendra is described as brown and is probably of South Asian descent.
The important topic of physical and emotional abuse in families is sensitively portrayed; the intertwined fantasy is at times a distraction. (Fantasy. 10-14)
