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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Thea’s hearing parents, especially her individualist homesteader father, ironically rarely listen to her or her younger sister Amelia. Kept home from school, discouraged from discussing her lack of hearing in her left ear, exhausted by her daily allotment of neverending farm chores, Thea is living her father’s dream of self-sufficiency, which is more of a nightmare of regressive gender roles and limited access to community or education.
Thea is easy to root for - she’s strong, perceptive, and increasingly determined to speak up for herself - and her gaps in hearing, beautifully represented by underscores, let us feel the impact of her disability acutely. But she knows how to listen better than her parents do, and if they are to survive their newest climate change threat, she must get them to hear that reciprocity and connectivity are the keys to survival in the dust.
Grappling with themes of disability, climate change, and the gender inequality that so often underpins the male ideal of “getting back to the land”, Dust is a fabulously devourable YA book.
Thea is easy to root for - she’s strong, perceptive, and increasingly determined to speak up for herself - and her gaps in hearing, beautifully represented by underscores, let us feel the impact of her disability acutely. But she knows how to listen better than her parents do, and if they are to survive their newest climate change threat, she must get them to hear that reciprocity and connectivity are the keys to survival in the dust.
Grappling with themes of disability, climate change, and the gender inequality that so often underpins the male ideal of “getting back to the land”, Dust is a fabulously devourable YA book.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
slow-paced
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was really solidly enjoyable and I am really surprised this didn't have any holds on this at my library! I don't read much YA literature anymore, but this book honestly feels less YA than some adult fiction I've read. The story centers around Thea, a teenage girl living with her family in the desert of southern Colorado. Originally from Ohio, they moved to a homestead (or rather what her father is trying to make into a homestead) in Bloodless Valley after being decimated by a flood. In an effort to go back to "simplicity" she and her sister are taken out of school and "unschooled" by their mother, which does not actually happen. Things are tougher and tougher for their family, and in an effort to bring in more money, partially-deaf Thea is allowed to have a job at a local cafe but forbidden to do anything else with anyone outside of the immediate family unit, particularly go to the library or use the internet. One day her boss at the cafe sends her on a delivery to the library across the street where Thea meets Ray, a boy her age, who is also hard of hearing; he introduces her to ASL, which she has never been allowed to learn, and she slowly gets to meet and trust other people struggling to make it work in Bloodless Valley.
This book feels important, both because it's a very realistic depiction of the struggles of people trying to make it in the midst of climate change and because of disability representation. Thea is hard of hearing, and the way the writer shows this to the reader is to drop words from sentences in the way that Thea may not be able to hear them if the speaker's head is turned away from her or they're speaking toward the wrong side for her to hear. Ray is hard of hearing in a similar way, but has the advantage of having family and friends who support him, access to ASL classes, and a deeper understanding and less shame. Meanwhile, Thea's parents will not even admit to her being hard of hearing or using the word deaf within their family, much less support her or broach the idea of communicating via sign. Education, or the lack thereof, is a huge part of this story - Thea and her sister were originally in public school, then homeschooled but part of a co-op so they could learn and make friends with other homeschooled children, to being unschooled and not allowed to associate with anyone outside of their immediate family unit. While Christian fundamentalism isn't part of the story, the parallel idea of withdrawing from modern society to live a "simpler" life that frequently pairs with it is extremely strong.
I'm so happy to have read this and I hope others do; I'm looking forward to reading more from this author. I get most of my books from the library and my ultimate rating system is, "Would I spend money on this?" And yes, I'd absolutely purchase this book and will definitely recommend it to others.
This book feels important, both because it's a very realistic depiction of the struggles of people trying to make it in the midst of climate change and because of disability representation. Thea is hard of hearing, and the way the writer shows this to the reader is to drop words from sentences in the way that Thea may not be able to hear them if the speaker's head is turned away from her or they're speaking toward the wrong side for her to hear. Ray is hard of hearing in a similar way, but has the advantage of having family and friends who support him, access to ASL classes, and a deeper understanding and less shame. Meanwhile, Thea's parents will not even admit to her being hard of hearing or using the word deaf within their family, much less support her or broach the idea of communicating via sign. Education, or the lack thereof, is a huge part of this story - Thea and her sister were originally in public school, then homeschooled but part of a co-op so they could learn and make friends with other homeschooled children, to being unschooled and not allowed to associate with anyone outside of their immediate family unit. While Christian fundamentalism isn't part of the story, the parallel idea of withdrawing from modern society to live a "simpler" life that frequently pairs with it is extremely strong.
I'm so happy to have read this and I hope others do; I'm looking forward to reading more from this author. I get most of my books from the library and my ultimate rating system is, "Would I spend money on this?" And yes, I'd absolutely purchase this book and will definitely recommend it to others.
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
i thought this was a super interesting take on cli-fi :D the romance went a little fast for me though, and i wish Ray had had more of a personality.
really loved the portrayal of being disabled in an abled family honestly. im also the only disabled person in my family and, while they’ve always been so much better than Thea’s parents in this book, how her experience was written still hit hard
really loved the portrayal of being disabled in an abled family honestly. im also the only disabled person in my family and, while they’ve always been so much better than Thea’s parents in this book, how her experience was written still hit hard
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated