NCW Libraries

While using a public library computer to find help for her mother who is addicted to pain medicine, twelve-year-old Jolene witnesses a friend's livestreamed crash-landing in the Arizona desert and embarks on a journey to rescue her.

"Separated from their group during a sixth-graders geocaching trip, Jen Chiu and her mortal enemy, Martin Diaz, are caught in a dust storm in the desert near Las Cruces, New Mexio desert. When their van gets a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, they decide to bike off on their own to get a head start, Without warning, a blinding wall of dust and debris barrels toward them, Separated from their field trip group and in the desert alone, they will have...

"Naira Khoum has only known life in Lagusa, a quiet village at the desert's end. But to the rest of the world, Lagusa is a myth, its location shrouded in secrecy. While war rages to the north led by power-hungry Sothpike and his army of undead monsters called Dambi, Naira's people live in peace. Until the impossible happens--Lagusa is attacked by a Mistress sent to do Sothpike's bidding with a hoard of Dambi under her control. The Mistress is looking...

Maya, who lives in the dusty desert, opens her eyes wide to find the colors in her world, from Papi's black hair and Mami's orange and purple flowers to Maya's red swing set and the fiery pink sunset.

"In her third story, Luciana and her family are headed to Chile for winter break. Luci can't wait to see her cousins - but the reunion doesn't go as planned, and Luci feels like an outsider in her own family. Just then she receives a surprise invite from Claire Jacobs, her frenemy from astronaut training camp, to join her at the Mars habitat in the desert and watch NASA scientists at work. It's an offer too good to refuse, so Luci decides to leave...