In a post-apocalyptic world, a group of kids living on a steamboat rescue a downtrodden man and race to uncover a buried treasure before their enemies get there first.

RIVER RATS
by Caroline Stevermer
Open Road, 2022)
(via JABberwocky Literary Agency)

The award-winning author of the Scholarly Magic series delivers the thrilling adventure of a crew of young kids working their way through a post-apocalyptic world on a steamboat they call home . . .

No one knows for sure what caused the Flash. They just know that nothing has been the same since. Cities have been destroyed by pestilence, riots, and fires. The paddleboat River Rat, once a museum, was turned into an orphanage. But a dangerous storm forced the children to flee with the boat to safer waters, making it theirs for good.

Since then, Tomcat, Toby, Esteban, Lindy, Spike, and Jake have traveled, bartered, and performed their way up and down the Mississippi River. One rule that has served them well: no passengers. But after watching a man on shore being pursued by a vicious pack of locals, the group has no choice but to save him.

At every stop, the boat is met by the man’s tireless hunters. They want what the fugitive knows: the location of a bunker filled with guns. A currency more valuable than gold . . . and one that the crew of the River Rat might well pay for—with their lives.

This standalone Middle Grade novel was highlighted as a “Best Book for Young Adults” by the American Library Association (ALA), the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), and the New York Public Library. It also won the Golden Duck Award and the Golden Kite Award, both regional awards in the United States.

Caroline Stevermer is the multiple-award-winning author of the Cecelia and Kate Novels, the College of Magics Series, the Glass Magician Series, and the middle grade novels River Rats and Magic Below Stairs.