title: Desert Crossing: A Novel
author:  Elise Broach 
description: Grade 8 UpFrom the dramatic opening scene, in which three teens driving across the New Mexico desert in a blinding rainstorm hit something on the highway and go back to investigate, to the satisfying conclusion, when they resume their overdue spring break, this book is a gripping page-turner. Fourteen-year-old Lucy Martinez, her 18-year-old brother Jamie, and Jamie's friend Kit are on the way from their Kansas home to spend their vacation with the siblings' father in Phoenix when the accident occurs. Expecting to see a dead animal on the road, they are horrified to find a dead girl close to their own age. The nearest resident is Beth, a middle-aged, somewhat reclusive artist who summons the local sheriff and allows Lucy and Kit to stay at her house while Jamie, the driver, is taken into custody. As the investigation progresses, they learn that the girl was clearly dead before being placed on the road. Although the teens are now free to go, Lucy is determined to stay and try to discover more about the victim. She insists that Kit accompany her on a wild and eventually dangerous journey in pursuit of clues leading to a local man whom she becomes convinced is the killer. Although at this point the plot becomes somewhat improbable and filled with convenient coincidences, readers are so caught up in the story that suspension of disbelief is easy to achieve. Subplots involve a mild romance between Lucy and Kit and a more intense and far-more-troubling one between Jamie and Beth. A great choice for booktalking to middle and high school students.<i>Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  # Arctic Dreams
  
  
  ## Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape
  
  
  ### Barry Lopez
  
  
  ### ![logo](logo.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # **BARRY LOPEZ**
  
  
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