River Magic by Ellen Booraem

 Long ago I fell in love with Ellen Booraem's Small Persons with Wings and have never quite loved anything she's done as much. Still, I can appreciate a good, non-series fantasy for younger middle grade as much as the next person, and this book has a mixed bag of tropes that make it a quick, fun, and thoughtful read.

Donna is going through more than your usual tween struggles. After the death of her beloved aunt, Annabelle, in the river by their home, nothing seems to be going right. She's lost her close friendship with Rachel, her sister Janice is constantly mean to her, and their mother is working herself to death trying to make ends meet.

When Donna starts hearing Annabelle's voice in her head and gets a job cleaning for the strange old lady who's recently moved in next door, she hopes things will get better. Instead they just get more... complicated... with magic, gold, dragons, a possible new friend, and luck all mixed up together. The thread of the river runs like a poem throughout the book, as Donna struggles to move on from her grief over her aunt's death and the changes she's facing in her own life. She has the usual friend struggles, although not everyone has to deal with a former best friend turned into a chicken, or cursed gold when they're trying to keep their family home!

I was frustrated that Donna's sister, Janice, is so consistently cruel to her without repercussions; I've never understood why people are ok with siblings being nasty to each other. The resolution of the book, giving everyone good luck, was unrealistic, but a satisfying end to a story that blends humor, magic, and the realism of dealing with family and friendship challenges.

Verdict: This is a nice break from the endless series fantasy books and the only criticism I can see my readers having is that there's not more information about the dragons!

ISBN: 9780525428046; Published April 2021 by Dial Books for Young Readers: Purchased for the library