The River Keeper - Sarah Martin Byrd

Callie Mae McCauley knows a girl’s got to be leathery, or she’ll be tore to pieces by the weight of all her troubles and trials . . . The tragedy Callie endures will forever change her simple, yet full life in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Orphaned at age eight, she must move to her Granny Jane’s, where she soon realizes the shock of what she’s seen has stolen her voice.

A new neighbor and Granny Jane’s swarm of honeybees help Callie find her tongue. She soon discovers that, although Chloe Combs may be peculiar, Miss Chloe may be her only friend when her uncles come to claim their share of Granny Jane’s land that straddles the New River. 

Her uncles have a plan, and they won’t let anything or anyone stand in their way, certainly not their niece Callie. When Callie ends up in an orphanage, she knows a mountain girl can’t be held inside walls of plaster and wood. A mountain girl’s got to feel the earth beneath her feet and listen as the river makes sweet music in her ears.

But time is running out for Callie to save the New River—her river—from her greedy uncles’ plan.