"When Tallulah Jones was thirteen, her grandmother plucked her from the dank Oakland apartment she shared with her unreliable mom and brought her to the family ostrich ranch in the Mojave Desert. After eleven years caring for the curious, graceful birds, Tallulah accepts a job in Montana and prepares to leave home. But when Grandma Helen dies under strange circumstances, Tallulah inherits everything--just days before the birds inexplicably stop laying...

"Former L.A. executive Nell Walker finds herself on a bus bound for Twentynine Palms, California as the emptiness of her jampacked life threatens to ruin her. There, she meets small-town car mechanic Monkey Burnett, with whom she has nothing in common--except, she comes to realize, an impossible longing for each other, their constantly questioning and volatile minds, and a bone-deep love for a tiny hard-scrabble desert town. When corporate greed and...

"In the tradition of startling debuts such as We, the Animals by Justin Torres, Desert Boys follows the life of Daley Kushner, growing up, coming out, and grappling with the remnants of his childhood in California's Mojave Desert. This series of powerful, linked stories illuminates Daley's world--the family, friends, and community that have both formed and constrained him, and his new life in San Francisco. Back home, the desert preys on those who...

"There's a saying in Barstow, California, a decaying city in the scorching Mojave desert...The Interstate here only goes in one direction: Away. But it's the only place where ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade, after a staggering fall from grace, could get another badge - and a shot at redemption. Over a century ago, and just a few miles further into the bleak landscape, a desperate stranger ended up in Calico, a struggling mining town, also hoping for...