First published 2019
Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle sits in her grandparents' car as they drive from Ohio toward Idaho. She values her Native American heritage and rural background. To pass the miles, she recounts the strange tale of her friend Phoebe Winterbottom. Phoebe discovered cryptic notes, encountered someone she deemed dangerous, and watched her mother vanish without warning. Sal's grandparents listen as the peculiar details of Phoebe's experience unfold. Yet as Salamanca narrates her friend's troubles, her own deeper story emerges. She carries her own grief about a missing mother. The road trip becomes more than entertainment for elderly relatives. Salamanca hopes this journey will lead her back to the person she needs most. Two parallel stories of loss and searching intertwine as the car moves west.
Genres: fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, grief
Setting: Idaho, Ohio
Period: 20th-century
287 pages · Paperback · Thorndike Press Large Print