Books published by publisher Stillwater River Publications

This vivid, compulsively readable memoir of courage, grief and redemption illuminates the life of Mai, a young girl from Vietnam’s rice fields, who risks everything to escape poverty, abuse and war. Her battle is not against soldiers but against her neighbors and a thousand years of tradition. Born during Ho Chi Minh’s revolution against the French, she was just a baby when his followers in the village, out of spite, came to her home one night and murdered the men in the family, driving her mother mad with fear and rage. She was fourteen when her mother forced her to marry and have a child with a brutal man who beat and tortured her, finally leaving her for dead beside the road. Recovered, she ran away with her infant son, only to discover there was no place for them. To save her baby’s life, she returned home in disgrace, only to face the Viet Cong. In desperation she escaped again, leaving her child in safety, she thought. On Saigon’s deadly streets, with no identity papers, she became an outlaw, hiding from her ex-husband, grieving for her lost child. Homeless, penniless and pursued, only her dream of freedom kept her alive. Then one day she would meet a saintly woman, who gave her hope, and an Irish-American naval officer, who gave her love. Crossing the Bamboo Bridge is a tale of mothers and daughters, and of their children. It is a tale of war, and grief, and a young girl’s dreams. It is a stunning epiphany of hope where there is none, of courage in the face of despair, of love, respect and freedom.

THANK YOU CORNERTo everyone who continues to support Ava in her mission: her family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, and friends—especially the church ladies who helped with their handmade knitted items.Change can only happen when people care more about others than themselves!Ava is that shining example that brings out the best in all of us!# GO AVASpecial thanks to Ava’s Auntie Karen, who provided her with the opportunity to fulfill her dream.A portion of the proceeds from this book will be set aside to help various shelters so Ava can continue her quest to bring them healthy snacks.Ava hopes that someday the children she has helped will pay it forward and follow in her footsteps to continue to provide healthy snacks for others.

There are ghosts waiting in the water and Tom has made a bargain with a crazy old man who claims to be a 300-year-old pirate. Captain Swift wants Tom to find the magic island where he hid his treasure.But the paperboy has his own plan, to sail to his dad in Florida, before he’s sent off to boarding school. So he’ll put up with Captain Swift’s stories, and his ill-tempered dog, while they fix the little boat that’ll take him there. But what if Tom starts to believe Swift, who knows more about his family than he should? Tom saw the ghosts and now nothing will ever be the same. History and magic collide as Swift tells his tale about the golden age of piracy and how he came to be cursed on the shores of Purgatory Cove.