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Young Adult Fiction General (see Also Headings Under Family)

Desert Crossing

A Novel

by (author) Elise Broach

Publisher
Henry Holt and Co.
Initial publish date
May 2006
Category
General (see also headings under Family), Death & Dying, Death & Dying
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780805077629
    Publish Date
    May 2006
    List Price
    $38.99

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Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 12 to 17
  • Grade: 7 to 12

Description

There are some kinds of trouble you never see coming, like those thunderstorms that start from nothing at all. One minute the sky is bright blue and distant. Then, all of a sudden, it's dark and thick with clouds, pressing down right on top of you. The leaves turn silvery and twist in the wind, the air starts to hum, and the rain comes, so heavy and fast you can't even see. You almost never make it to the house on time.
A dead body on the road—who is responsible and how will it affect the lives of three teens?
For fourteen-year-old Lucy Martinez, the moment when everything changes comes one night during a long car trip with her older brother and his friend Kit. They are on their way to visit Lucy's father for spring break, but never make it. While driving across northern New Mexico through a blinding rainstorm, their car hits something—an animal, they think. But when they backtrack, they find a dead body on the side of the road.
With amazing insight and compelling prose, Elise Broach charts a suspenseful journey full of danger, loss, and painful self-discovery. What will happen to the lives of three teenagers who can suddenly no longer pretend innocence?

About the author

Awards

  • Winner, NYPL Books for the Teen Age
  • Winner, NYPL Books for the Teen Age
  • Books for the Teen Age, New York Public Library

Contributor Notes

Elise Broach is the New York Times bestselling author of books for children and young adults, including Masterpiece and Shakespeare's Secret, as well as several picture books. Her books have been selected as ALA notable books, Junior Library Guild selections, an E.B. White Read Aloud Award, and nominated for an Edgar Award, among other distinctions. Ms. Broach holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in history from Yale University. She was born in Georgia and lives in the woods of rural Connecticut, walking distance from three farms, a library, a post office and two country stores.

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