RIVER OF NO RETURN

Even the remote Rio Bravo town of Guerrero has paid a price for Mexico's war of independence from Spain. Gripped by drought and depression, Guerrero is changing. Sixteen-year-old Rosita Treviño dreams of a better life, as does fifteen-year-old Maria Alvarez, the book-loving stepsister she barely knows. When Father brings home a rich old suitor who chooses Rosita as his bride, she is determined to flee before it's too late!

The next day, to everyone's surprise, a gringo named Austin, from Mexico's colony of Texas, arrives on a steamboat sailing down the river. Desperate, Rosita runs away to the strange boat, carrying only her precious violin, and is taken aboard as ship's musician and cook. That night, a young boy sneaks on board and warns the crew about a group of bandits planning an attack. It is Maria, in disguise! Neither girl can imagine the dangers that lie ahead...killing heat, drought, illness, and pursuit by Father. Sisters, yet strangers, all they have is each other as they face the dangerous, unpredictable Rio Bravo, and a terrifying new world....