The Riverbank Otter

By Sarah Lean

Meet animal lover, Tiger Days! A brand-new young fiction series about animals, friendship and adventure by bestselling author Sarah Lean.

Beautiful black-and-white illustrations throughout.

When Tiger Days visits her grandmother at Willowgate House, she never knows what to expect…
Tiger meets Lucky – an injured otter who can’t survive by himself. Tiger has an important job to do – feeding and caring for Lucky, and also exploring the riverbank in search of the perfect place for him to live. She desperately wants Lucky to get better, but saying goodbye to her new friend won’t be easy…
No day is ever dull for Tiger!

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Jan 25, 2018
• ISBN: 9780008165765

Sarah Lean

Sarah Lean grew up in Wells, Somerset but now lives in Dorset with her husband, son and dog. She has worked as a page-planner for a newspaper, a stencil-maker and a gardener, amongst various other things. She gained a first class English degree and became a primary school teacher before returning to complete an MA in Creative and Critical Writing with University of Winchester. A Dog Called Homeless was her first novel.

Book preview

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Tiger Days loved tigers. She lived in a busy town and spent a lot of time indoors where she liked to draw pictures of tigers. But ever since Tiger had been visiting her grandmother, May Days, at Willowgate House in the countryside, she was beginning to be more adventurous outdoors. May Days used to live on a wildlife reserve in Africa, and even now she sometimes looked after animals that were in need of helping hands.

Tiger was on her way to Willowgate with her dad. She never knew what might happen during her stays and was often nervous about new things. But she was looking forward to sharing the summer weeks with Holly the cat and her friend Tom, who stayed with his grandfather next door during the holidays too.

While driving along the country road, all of a sudden Mr Days slammed on the brakes.

What happened?! said Tiger, frowning. Her tummy was now turning in a worried twirl even before they had arrived.

Mr Days asked Tiger to stay put while he got out of the car and walked cautiously around to the front. No need to panic, Tiger, he said. Come and look.

Toddling across the road in front of the car was a duck with an emerald green head and orange beak and feet. It could have been unfortunate for the duck crossing the road at that moment.

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You are a very lucky duck, Tiger said and sighed with relief.

Animals have no road sense, said Mr Days, hurrying the flapping, quacking duck to the verge on the other side. Nobody teaches them to cross the road.

They need to go to duck school, Tiger said, and laughed thinking about lessons for ducks: Feather Fluffing, How to Waddle Nicely, and How to Land on a Pond Without Doing an Embarrassing Roly-poly.

Hopefully you won’t have any more unexpected surprises at Willowgate, her dad said as they set off again.

Tiger wondered about this and felt annoyed at herself for always feeling wobbly when something unexpected happened. Tiger decided that this visit would be different. She would stop feeling worried and instead be prepared for anything. Tiger made a plan …

"This time I am going to surprise May Days," she told her dad.

How will you do that? asked Mr Days.

I’ll think of something, said Tiger. She would have to wait for a good opportunity, but she was very determined she would surprise her grandmother for a change.

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Willowgate House looked as raggedly grand as ever, with its tall chimney pots and the conservatory on the side that leaned slightly to the left. Tiger asked her dad to park the car at the end of the drive, so they could go quietly up to the house.

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The grass was even longer than the last time they visited and they had to lift their legs up high to get through.

I am going to surprise May Days straight away, Tiger said.

Tiger crept around to the back of the house. May Days was in the kitchen putting biscuits on a plate. Holly the cat was sitting on a chair staring at the open back door, her eyes wide like green glass marbles, as if she already knew her favourite friend was about

Reviews for The Riverbank Otter

[heatherlinc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a lovely story about 15-year-old, Rowan, who is trying to hold her family together after the death of her older brother, Jack, in a drowning accident. Her father has left the family home and her mother is suffering from a severe nervous breakdown so it left to Rowan to take care of the house, her mother and her little sister, Stroma. However, Rowan's life becomes even more complicated when a teenage boy hands her a negative claiming that she dropped it while in the checkout queue of the grocery store.This book deals with personal identity, bereavement, friendship and the difficulties of growing up. Rowan is a very engaging, likeable character who is struggling to survive. She is stubborn, introspective, brutally honest with herself and lonely. Although quite sad in parts, the book doesn't wallow in gloom and the thread of mystery throughout the story adds to a satisfying plot with an unexpected twist at the end. A worthwhile read.

[weener_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

15-year old Rowan's world is still shaken from the death of her outgoing, lovable older brother Jack. But she's not reeling. She doesn't have time for that. Jack's death has left a hole in her family that has plunged her mother into a deep depression, broken up her parents' marriage, and left her to singlehandedly run the household and care for her 6-year old sister, Stroma. Then something weird happens at the grocery store, and her life starts to change. A guy she's never seen before tells her that she dropped something and hands her a photo negative. It's definitely not hers. She doesn't even have a camera. So she throws it away. But the curiosity of a schoolmate, Bee, who witnessed the exchange compels her to fish it out of the trash and develop the photo. It's really not hers. But it's of her dead brother. Where did it come from? And who was that guy? This is one of the most mature and realistic "journey of healing" type books I've read. It wasn't gimmicky at ALL, and this book had the potential to be extremely gimmicky. It wasn't wrapped up too nice and neat at the end. The 15-year old narrator matures visibly throughout the course of the book. I especially liked the way the romance was handled. Rowan didn't bore everyone by spending page after page pining after her crush when she clearly has other things on her mind, and yet it managed to feel natural, not cheap or tacked on. It was a minor part of the book, but added a nice element. I would definitely recommend this book to teens looking for a realistic read.

[bluejulie_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was one of the more touching YA books I've read. No wonder that it received awards and great reviews.Occasionally, I felt that the style of writing was a bit too distracting, pulling one's attention away from the story to the more stylistic, verbal elements, instead of emphasizing the plot, the characters and the message.The characters in the book are all very memorable. Particularly Rowan with her big heart, tolerance, acceptance and understanding for everything and everyone. She's a much better person than I am and I wished, many times throughout the book, that I could be a bit more like her.Reading this story will leave a mark.

[4sarad_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First I should say that I did like the characters and cared about them. That being said, I didn't like much else. The plot varied between being unbelievable (coincidences, etc.) to being way too predictable. Also, the formatting of the dialogue was annoying. I guess I've just read so many books like this that this one doesn't stand out in any way for me, other than the fact they're in London rather than in the US.

[thursohighlibrary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the most exciting voices in young adult fiction, Jenny Valentine succeeds again with this story of a family coping with the death of a child.

[lisagibson_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rowan is holding the family together, after the death of her brother Jack. Problem is, it's been several years since Jack's passing. Her mother is beyond help at this point and doesn't even realize Rowan and her sister, Stroma are there half the time. While in the store on day, a boy gives Rowan a photo negative. It's not hers and the small piece of film is the first piece of a mystery that leads everyone to some amazing, life altering truths. What will happen with the boy, Harper who gave Rowan the negative too? As everyone holds on to their pieces of Jack, yet tries to get on with life, while not completely losing him. I loved this book. Rowan was a strong character with a terrific voice. I also loved the fact that it's set in London so I get little pieces of the British slang. I guess I should say, "I love this book to bits!"

[jennie_103 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a good case of "never judge a book by its cover". I bypassed this one for a while because the cover just looked too teenage (I'm an adult who just happens to still read a lot of children's/YA fiction). And yet when I did get round to it, I found it completely absorbing. One of those can't-put-it-down books. And I absolutely hadn't guessed the twist at the end!

[edgoldberg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In Broken Soup, three freaky things happened to upset fifteen-year-old Rowan’s life. The first thing was that her older brother died from a freak swimming accident in France. As a result, her mother withdraw into herself and her father withdrew from her daily life, moving out of the house, leaving Rowan to care for her mother and her younger sister, Stroma. The second thing was an unknown boy standing behind her at the local coffee shop handing her a photo negative which he said dropped out of her bag. She knew she didn’t drop it.The third occurrence was Bee, a high school senior she never knew or socialized with, coming up to her at lunch and asking about the negative. She was also in line at the coffee shop. This confluence of events and their later unraveling, leads to totally unimagined and unforeseen results. You see, the negative was a photo of her brother, looking extremely happy. The boy, Harper, who gave Rowan the negative, is a New Yorker traveling around Europe (Rowan lives in London) whose current address is an ambulance with all the creature comforts of home. And Bee, well, I’ll let you find out who Bee is.Jenny Valentine has written an intriguing second novel. The main characters are interesting and, in some cases quirky: from Stroma, the precocious six-year-old, to Harper, living in an ambulance, to Carl, Bee’s father who smokes marijuana and is more like a father than Rowan’s own father. There is some intrigue as Rowan seeks more information about the photo and about her brother. There is love on many levels: boys and girls, mothers and fathers, parents and children. And finally, there is the realization that not all burdens should fall on the shoulders of a fifteen-year-old. Broken Soup is a quick but fulfilling read.