A review by asims723
Dust by Alison Stine

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

Dust is a YA speculative fiction coming-of-age novel about a young girl contending with man-made climate change and her family's attempt to exist off the grid. This is a novel about loneliness, self-acceptance, and homesteading with excellent disability rep. Our narrator, Thea, is partially deaf, and the prose reflects this using blank lines within the dialogue to represent the lapses in hearing. This is not a futuristic society or dystopian novel; it imagines a society that did not learn from its mistakes after the 1930s Dust Bowl to revolutionize agricultural practices. Thea experiences bullying, extremely parental control, and the perils of unschooling, somehow managing to rise above it all to become a self-advocating, valuable member of the community. The romance here is a very minimal subplot that only supports our narrator's development but serves very little on its own. Overall a great quick read that deserves to be on school library bookshelves.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!