Reviews

"Beautiful prose that draws us into the rhythms of a landscape that, like adolescence itself, is both fertile and harsh . . . This is coming of age in the truest sense."                            --the National Book Foundation

"Notable for well-drawn characters, an engaging plot and, especially, hauntingly beautiful language, this is an outstanding book."
                                                                         --Kirkus (starred review)

"A gorgeous, graceful story of love and loss, of pathos and sweet innocence. . . a beautiful example of a crossover novel, one that appeals to teenagers and adults."                                  --the North County Times

"In 30 years at California newspapers, I've read, edited and even reported fire stories – the dangers, the heroics, the losses. But I'm hard-pressed to recall one written from the point of view of a teenager. Is there ever an age when we are more impulsive, more driven by feeling than thinking?"                 --the Sacramento Bee

"A complex and thoroughly likable teen who follows her heart to grave consequences."                        --the San Diego Union-Tribune

". . . criminally underappreciated . . . Any relationship between Pearl and Amiel is not only taboo it is outright forbidden. Culturally it just cannot be done. This is a fact that Pearl brazenly ignores but Amiel never forgets. " --Michelle Cavalier, Cavalier House Books, Denham Springs, LA

Winner of the San Diego Book Award
Fifteen-year-old Pearl DeWitt and her mother live in Fallbrook, California, where it’s sunny 340 days of the year, and where her uncle owns a grove of 900 avocado trees. Uncle Hoyt hires migrant workers regularly, but Pearl doesn’t pay much attention to them . . . until Amiel. From the moment she sees him, Pearl is drawn to this boy who keeps to himself, fears being caught by la migra, and is mysteriously unable to talk.  And after coming across Amiel’s makeshift hut near Agua Prieta Creek, Pearl falls into a precarious friendship—and a forbidden romance.

Then the wildfires strike. Fallbrook—the town of marigolds and palms, blood oranges and sweet limes—is threatened by the Agua Prieta fire, and a mandatory evacuation order is issued. But Pearl knows that Amiel is in the direct path of the fire, with no one to warn him, no way to get out. Slipping away from safety and her family, Pearl moves toward the dark creek, where the smoke has become air, the air smoke.

First published by Knopf in 2010, Dark Water is also available as an unabridged audiobook by Audible.