Once upon a River

Written by: Bonnie Jo Campbell

First line: The Stark River flowed around the oxbow at Murrayville the way blood flowed through Margo Crane's heart.

Why you should read this book: Fans of Campbell's will recognize how this novel builds upon material from all of her previous books, while creating a rich and landscape and full-bodied characters that stand alone in a powerful narrative about one girl's quest "to figure out how to live." Margo Crane is an achingly beautiful teen, slow to speak, a deadly shot with a rifle, born and raised on the river, and in love with the old ways: self-sufficiency and simple living. Her quest will catapult her from her family home, through the arms of men good and bad, around the moral quandaries of life and death, and up and downstream, until she chooses for herself the path of the heroine in a story that very nearly defines the phrase, "Great American Novel."

Why you shouldn't read this book: Some sexual and physical violence may be disturbing to sensitive readers.