YES! I am glad you agree :) I really felt almost like Vernon had written Minor Mage as a response to Dragon Pearl, although obviously the dates mean that it can't actually be the case. I suppose there is no shortage of books about preteens doing dangerous things, though.
Riverland is definitely an Issue Book, with content notes for emotional and verbal abuse, with some physical components to it. That's the part I found very intense; someone who didn't have my background might not find it quite as intense (but also might not like the book as much). (I don't think I can call my childhood abusive, it certainly wasn't physically, and in no way was it at the level depicted in the book, but there was enough commonality that I did empathize with the characters.)
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Riverland is definitely an Issue Book, with content notes for emotional and verbal abuse, with some physical components to it. That's the part I found very intense; someone who didn't have my background might not find it quite as intense (but also might not like the book as much). (I don't think I can call my childhood abusive, it certainly wasn't physically, and in no way was it at the level depicted in the book, but there was enough commonality that I did empathize with the characters.)