Review: Dust Girl (The American Fairy 1) Sarah Zettel

Callie LeRoux lives in Slow Run, Kansas, helping her mother run their small hotel and trying not to think about the father she’s never met. Lately all of her energy is spent battling the constant storms plaguing the Dust Bowl and their effects on her health. Callie is left alone when her mother goes missing in a dust storm. Her only hope comes from a mysterious man offering a few clues about her destiny and the path she must take to find her parents in “the golden hills of the west”: California.

Along the way she meets Jack, a young hobo boy who is happy to keep her company—there are dangerous, desperate people at every turn. And there’s also an otherworldly threat to Callie. Warring fae factions, attached to the creative communities of American society, are very much aware of the role this half-mortal, half-fae teenage girl plays in their fate.

I have to say this is one of the most unique books I've read this year. I read as many fae books as I can get my hands on, but I've never read one set in dust-bowl Kansas. I loved it.

The imagery and language were so vivid I felt like I'd been transported back in time, listening to an old jazz band and wiping away the newest layer of dirt. Callie's desperation, confusion, and fear all felt very real. But they were nothing compared to the portrayal of the fae. In Callie's world, there are no clear cut "Good" or "Bad" fairies.They all tell her bits of the puzzle, woven in with their own version of the truth.

Callie is a great lead for this story. Her voice is a bit younger than what I normally read, but it really works here. She has spent her whole life in seclusion, hiding her bi-racial heritage, and now she is out on her own, trying to find out who she really is. She makes several mistakes, pushing even Jack, the only person who really wants to help her, away. But as she starts to figure out her own strength, she is willing to do whatever it takes to save those she loves.

Rating 5/5 stars

YA notes: none