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Red Dirt

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Small towns hold big secrets

Lake Bittersweet, Oklahoma, ain't no paradise, but Sammy Lester has lived there her whole life, and she'll most likely be buried there, too. Don't matter that she barely graduated high school, or that money's tight, or that her ex-con father's on the verge of losing custody of her six-year-old half sister, Decca. Sammy can't leave Lake Bittersweet. She's got nowhere else to go.

When she meets charming city boy Brayton Foster, things start looking up for once. Then one dark night, her father, Bobby Ray, goes missing, and she knows in her bones who's to blame. Local drug kingpin Redbreast Tuller and his family of criminals have unfinished business with Bobby Ray, and it seems they finally caught up with him. But the sheriff is in the Tullers' back pocket, and nobody in law enforcement cares about finding Sammy's dad.

As she struggles to keep her family—and her new relationship with Brayton—from falling apart, Sammy realizes that if she wants answers, if she wants someone to pay, she'll have to handle it her damn self. Because in a place like Lake Bittersweet, justice ain't something you're given—it's something you take.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 19, 2017
      Sammy Lester has just graduated from high school and has no plans for the summer or beyond, other than helping her father, Bobby Ray, keep partial custody of her half-sister, Decca, and spending time with her best friend before Kenley leaves Lake Bittersweet, Okla., for beauty school. Things get a little more exciting (and complicated) when Sammy meets Brayton Foster, a wealthy city boy and the stepson of the man trying to turn Lake Bittersweet into a luxury resort. When Sammy’s father goes missing and the prime suspect is Redbreast Tuller and his band of unruly drug dealers, she takes the law into her own hands. Through Sammy’s colloquial, hard-edged narration, Jarzab (the Many-Worlds series) persuasively evokes life in a small, poor town where most people live in trailers, work odd jobs, or do manual labor. She gives equal weight to the budding romance between Sammy and Brayton and the mystery of Bobby Ray’s disappearance in what gradually builds into a violent, high-stakes story. Ages 14–up. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary & Media.

    • Kirkus

      May 1, 2017
      Eighteen-year-old Sammy was born in Bittersweet, Oklahoma, and suspects she will die there. But while the red dirt of her home keeps her grounded, she wonders if there is more beyond the county line.Sammy Lester's life plan involves partying, hooking up, and spending time with Decca, her young half sister, but when her father mysteriously disappears, everything changes. Suspecting that the unpredictable Tuller family is to blame, the white teen seeks the help of local law enforcement. But the sheriff, fearing retribution, refuses to help. Sammy's former stepmother takes advantage of the situation and presses to take Decca out of state. With nowhere to turn, Sammy decides to find her own justice. Only the appearance of the incredibly sexy, rich, white Brayton Foster offers any respite from her trouble. Nonstop action and an intriguing mystery will keep pages turning, but the portrayal of rural Oklahomans as drunk, violent, amoral, and foulmouthed is at best reductive and at worst simply offensive. Sammy is strong and loyal, but her reckless behavior, including unprotected sex, heavy drinking, and proclivity for random acts of self-destructiveness, makes her a less-than-ideal heroine. The onslaught of brutal violence, animal mutilation, and attempted rape shifts this narrative from story to shock fiction. Manipulative and unpleasant. (Fiction. 14-18)

      COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • School Library Journal

      July 1, 2017

      Gr 9 Up-Having grown up in Oklahoma and lived in the backwoods town of Lake Bittersweet her entire life, Sammie Lester is one tough cookie. She doesn't expect to ever leave her hometown, nor does she want to. It may not be the life Sammie's brother has, going to college, or the life her friends want, leaving to discover something new, but it's what she knows and loves-until someone turns it upside down. Her father is missing, and the longer it takes to locate him, the less likely he is to be alive. Sammie has to find not only her dad but also herself in the process. This is a coming-of-age novel for the modern-day Western fan, written with an Oklahoma twang. The mystery of Sammie's father's disappearance is just a small part of the teen's journey to womanhood. Sammie's past, present, and future clash, leaving readers wanting more. Themes of sex, abortion, and murder are woven throughout. Voice and tone are authentic, and fans of the author won't be disappointed. VERDICT A good choice for libraries serving mystery lovers and reluctant readers.-Rena Gibson, Ralph Ellison Library, Oklahoma City

      Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • The Horn Book

      July 1, 2018
      Sammy doesn't think she'll ever leave Lake Bittersweet, Oklahoma, but at least summer is looking up after she meets charismatic visiting city-boy Brayton. Then Sammy's ex-con father disappears, and the teen sets out for answers and vengeance while trying to keep her six-year-old half-sister--and Brayton--in her life. Two-dimensional characters nevertheless have a roughness that feels at home in the well-evoked gritty setting.

      (Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

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