Bobbi Miller Publishes Adventure Novel for Young Readers

The cover of Miller's new novel, "Big River's Daughter."

Bobbi Miller, an adjunct instructor in the Hillyer College English Department and the Department of Rhetoric and Professional Writing, A&S, has published Big River's Daughter, an exciting new novel about a young girl adventurer (Holiday House, April 2013, historical fiction, tall tale, for ages 8+).

"This here story is all true, as near as I can recollect. It ain't a prettified story. Life as a river rat is stomping hard, and don't I know it. It's life wild and woolly, a real rough and tumble. But like Da said, life on the river is full of possible imaginations. And we river rats, we aim to see it through in our own way. That's the honest truth of it."

So says River Fillian as she begins to tell her story in Bobbi Miller's new book, Big River's Daughter. Raised by her pirate father on a Mississippi keeler, River is a half-feral river rat and proud of it. When her powerful father disappears in the great earthquake of 1811, she is on the run from buccaneers, including Jean Laffite, who hope to claim her father's territory and his buried treasure. But the ruthless rivals do not count on getting a run for their money from a plucky slip of a girl determined to find her place in the new order.

Filled with down-home humor, raucous hijinks, and one-of-a-kind characters, this historical American Fantasy novel captures the Mississippi River at a time when its denizens were as untamed as its waters. Award-winning writer and storyteller Eric Kimmel, author of over 70 books for children, says of Big River's Daughter, "The richness of Bobbi Miller's language is matched by the excitement of the story. I often had to stop and read the words aloud to myself just to savor the rhythms of the author's unique voice. It's one of the few books worthy to share a shelf with our two other great river classics: Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn."

Miller also has published three children’s picture books:

– One Fine Trade (Holiday House, 2009) and Davy Crockett Gets Hitched (Holiday House, 2009) were listed on the Bank Street College of Education Best Books of 2010.

– Miss Sally Ann and the Panther (Holiday House, 2012) was selected to the Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2013 list, a cooperative project of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children's Book Council.