This is a delightful take with a strong southern flavor. I found "Twixt the Road and the River" to be a wholesome story full of impressive, good people. Joann Ellen Sisco has written a fabulous tale with characters who will keep you glued to the pages. I enjoyed the story and the characters for their rich lives and personalities. Here is a well-done story full of good family values and clean entertainment. Amy is a sixteen-year-old girl who lives with her parents and grandma in a small town. She has a boyfriend and her Gran counsels her to get a commitment from him before another girl takes him. Her grandmother has touching talks with Amy that help her become a more mature person. When she gets Johnny to agree that he needs to consider her in all his decisions, they embark on a journey that will help them both grow closer together. Johnny wants to buy the right piece of land before he gets married, and they start to look together for a piece of land. All the places they see have a problem in his eyes and he is not keen on having Amy help him pay for a more expensive place. Still the girl finds herself a job, and now they are both on the same page.

This is a rich southern story that comes alive in front of your eyes. Great writing by Joann Ellen Sisco gives this story an awesome flavor that many will enjoy. It is a must read for young adults and adults alike. I loved it all the way to the end.

“Twixt the Road and the River” by Joann Ellen Sisco is a heart-warming – and sometimes heart-breaking – tale of the process of growing up in the small-town South. Amy Catherine Darnell, the 16 year old youngest child and only daughter in her family, is deciding to marry Johnny Scott, 3 years her elder. She relies heavily on the advice of her Gran, who has favored Amy since her birth, and has taught her what she needs to say and do to basically wrap Johnny around her little finger. Gran teaches her well, too, as she listens to Johnny spouting “his” great notions, knowing those ideas originated with Amy, who learned from Gran how to discuss such plans with him so that he would believe HE thought of them.

This is a true-to-life rendition of what life was like for poor dirt farmers in the hill country of northwest Arkansas. Although no time frame is mentioned in this story, it apparently is set in the early twentieth century, before automobiles were commonly owned, and soon after the advent of treadle sewing machines. It was a time and place where neighbors helped one another, just because they were neighbors. The author has perfectly captured the local vernacular in her writing, lending another layer of authenticity to the story. You will find yourself picking up that jargon, using it in your own conversations. This tale is a classic piece of Americana, brilliantly depicted for the edification of the reader. I would not hesitate to place “Twixt the Road and the River” right alongside “The Grapes of Wrath” as a must-read, as a superbly portrayed slice of American history.

"Twixt the Road and the River" by Joann Ellen Sisco takes us to the Southern Ozarks. The War Eagle river is one that starts like many do, small and underground. As the river goes along its natural path it comes off rocks, joins with pools and streams and becomes bigger and more powerful. Eventually it grows and travels so that it can power the large grinding wheel at the Applegate’s Grist Mill and continues on as rivers do. The town of River Bend could be any small town in the world that is based on a river, full of hard working people who are just trying to get by in life and come together as a community.

The writing of this book is done in such a way that you cannot help but feel warmed with each word. Yes there are parts that will make you wish to cry as well, but overall it is a heartwarming story taking place in a beautiful small town. You cannot go wrong when reading a book about hardworking people and their dreams. It is such a real feeling story that I think everyone could find something in common with Amy, Johnny, Gran or anyone else within the town of River Bend. Joann Ellen Sisco has created a book that anyone is going to enjoy if they like a story that is so real you can almost feel yourself putting down roots in the town it tells the story about. I would recommend this one to any reader and personally think that all ages will find it enjoyable.

"Twixt the Road and the River", Book 1 of the 'War Eagle Series', is the story of Amy Catherine who just turned sixteen and has her life ahead of her with marriage during early America. She promised herself to Johnny, who swore to purchase land before they get married, but he is slow to find something he really wants with the money he has. Amy gets wise advice from her Gran who lives with them and is helping her make her life quilt. Johnny works hard to carry coal and Amy works at the mercantile store while studying for her teaching certificate so that they can earn the money they need to buy the bottom land Johnny dreams of. Gran has a special surprise in store for her granddaughter that she has kept a secret for years.

Author Joann Ellen Sisco is a charmingly old fashioned writer and her books about early America are reminiscent of "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her characters are well-developed with a strong moral character that teaches viewers the values of family, working hard, love, and commitment to the land. They go through life’s dilemmas with support and guidance from their relatives and grow stronger for it. She writes the best of America’s values and traditions as it once was and the reader can’t help but wish that America was still that innocent and hopeful as it once was back in those days. I recommend this series to anyone who wants to go back to the simple, old fashioned ways of good old American values.