Pre-Reading Prompt
The book blurb:
Small towns have big secrets. In New Hannah Cove, the lives of five teenage girls will be forever altered by one reckless decision. River should be Popularity’s poster child: he’s on the football team, and he lives in a mansion. The students of Covenant High, though, keep score of his anger issues, and treat him like an outsider. Except Brielle, who falls in love quickly with him. But when young love fades, a betrayal leads to tragedy and New Hannah Cove becomes a monster’s playground.
An obsessed father bent on revenge targets the girls who bullied his son. He stalks them, learns their greatest fears, constructs a soundproofed shack, and kidnaps them one by one. He calls the shack “The Radical Redress,” a place where wrongs can be made right. He customizes their torture to their specific fears. There’s Brielle, who fears being lost. Sierra, the star pole vaulter and the only Black person in her family, fears dying at the hands of a racist police officer. Willow, the school journalist, questions whether River was truly bullied, and believes beauty brings acceptance. Eden, who is top in the class, dreams of becoming a scientist, but fears the dark. Her dad is a felon, and her family is made up of Pretenders. There’s also Sage. Unconnected to the tragedy at Covenant High, she already knows abuse: her fear is water.
When the girls realize they’re not alone, they hatch a daring escape plan. Some are disfigured, some are homeless, and some are angry. In a town where no one suspects your kidnapper, they have to fight for their own survival. Not all of them come home. From the author of “Dance for Me,” “River’s Rowan” examines themes of abuse, racism and what determines who is a bully and who is a victim.
River’s Rowan is a story of a small town with big secrets. It’s a story that examines many themes (secrets, abuse, bullying, teenage suicide) and how these themes connect the characters in the story. Examine the cover of the book, and read the blurb on the back. What stands out to you? What kind of clues do you think might be present on the cover and what are you curious about? What do you think about the title of the book: what kind of symbol or clue could exist within the title?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Tiffini Johnson 
Is there anything to the boy’s name? River?
Hi Amara! The word “river” makes me think of water… and water is life sustaining, which is interesting. There’s a story behind the word “rowan.” Rowans are berries that as known for healing. So, when put together the title, “River’s Rowan,” could mean “healing life” ?
I find it curious that it’s a man on the cover and not one of the girls.
Yes! I struggled with that, actually. But I went with it because River precipitated everything that happened with the girls. What happened to him was kind of a trigger for Jonathan — do you think most serial killers or kidnappers have something that kind of “pushes them over the edge” to do what they might otherwise not have done?
Thinking of people like Dahmer, I don’t think he had a trigger? I think he was kind of always that way. I kind of think there are some people born predisposed to evil.
Hm. That’s an interesting one. Nature vs nurture…so you would think then that someone capable of torturing teenage girls was predisposed to evil… would you expect someone like Jonathan to have had red flags in his past?
Yes.
I’m excited to read this. Thank you for offering it. I see what looks like a chimney in the bottom corner of the cover, it kind of looks like a plume of something coming up from it. I wonder if that’s on purpose.
I love that you caught that! There’s lots of clues. What do you think it could mean?
The back of the book says not all will survive. That’s probably not a good sign.