Be aware of the topics of grief, poverty, substance abuse.

This story was so well done. I loved how the narrator told the story; the main character is a great role model for kids today. I can´t wait to see what the author will do next.

3.5 stars

Jolene, is such a determined individual that I think she would inspire many young kids. While Jolene makes questionable decisions (for an adult) she puts her heart into everything she does and in this book that involves SAVING a friend's life, visiting places she's never been before by herself, and changing her family's life for the better.

Great read for those in middle school.
Thank you NetGallery and Tantor Audio for allowing me to review this. :)

Me and my children loves this middle grade book. We listened on audiobook and loved the gentleness that the topics of grief, poverty, substance abuse and self confidence.

Bowling has taken the standard survival story and blended it with a road trip story. We have the fight against nature, the cast of unique characters, and the unexpected complications. Underlying it all is addiction and the affect it has on family. The characters are decently complex, keeping secrets that are slowly teased out adding to the tension. A compelling read for middle grade.

I really enjoyed this book. I felt that the story was believable. In Jolene's world her best and only friend is Addie and she met her online. Having that connection with another person is real even if it's not in person. The struggle with Jolene's mom and her addiction to opioids was handled well. The story was filled with adventure, friendship and dealing with loss. Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for this audio arc in exchange for my honest review.

You think this is going to be a tale about friendship and survival in the desert, but then BAM! The protagonist’s mom is an opioid addict, and Jolene has to deal with that, too! Really hits home (for adult readers) that we never know what our students/patrons are struggling with in their families.

Audiobook narrator is great!

This is the first book by Dusti Bowling I have read. I enjoyed listening to this story. There were a few parts I felt were tough to relate to the characters, but I will definitely recommend to my students.

4.5 stars rounded to 5!

A great middle-grade read. Predictable, but still well written. I wouldn’t haven’t minded a little more character development in some of the secondary characters. Length was just how I like it. I have read other works but the author and they typically don’t disappoint.

Good narration. Emotions and range of vocals were on point. Would recommend to anyone looking for a quick read/listen or lovers of mid-grade novels.

(ALC received from NetGalley in exchange for honest review. Thank you!)

Across the Desert follows Jolene, an impoverished 12-year-old from Phoenix with a love for cartography and a stressful home life, as she embarks on a mission to rescue her online friend, Addy, after Addy crashes her ultralight plane in the desert during a livestream--a livestream that only Jolene has seen. Author Dusti Bowling does a good job of establishing why a preteen is tasked with finding a missing person: Jolene's mother is an opioid addict, the police can't file a report for Addy since Jolene doesn't know her last name, the librarian doesn't understand modern technology, and the impermanence of a livestream prevents Jolene from showing it to anyone else. At times, Jolene's journey feels a bit too drawn out and ill-fortuned (with enough focus on her dwindling water supply to make anyone thirsty), but the build-up is paid off during the last quarter of the book.

Like most adventure stories, Jolene picks up a new companion along the way. Marty, a spunky high-schooler that Jolene meets by chance at the bus stop, takes on the role of a surrogate big sister for Jolene, even as Jolene repeatedly refuses her help. Although Across the Desert embraces modern technology and concerns (namely the opioid epidemic), the story has a certain quaintness that is reminiscent of children's books from the late-20th Century. When Jolene meets Marty, she's about to board a bus to visit her grandfather who lives alone in a trailer park. The two befriend a waitress at a kitschy diner. Jolene is introduced to us as she walks to the library on a hot summer day. When Marty joins Jolene on her desert trek, she uses an old salsa jar for water, since she couldn't find a water bottle. And there are the country music names, which I can only assume were intentional--Jolene, Marty (whose real name is Martina), a pilot named Joanie Cash.

At times, Across the Desert feels like it's juggling too much at once, particularly once Jolene's mother's addiction takes center stage. The narrative takes a slightly preachy tone here, but it is luckily salvaged by the characters' relationships with each other. The bond between Jolene, Marty, and Addy is the highlight of the story, as the girls learn to lean on each other in ways both big and small. By the story's end, both Jolene and the reader are left with a sense of hope--things still aren't perfect, no, but they can and will get better.

Listened to the audiobook version.

The audio was very well done. Great job by Stacy Gonzalez the narrator!

I enjoyed the book, but honestly didn't think it was all that believable. One 12 year old is taking out her father's ultralight trike and has a crash while live streaming; a second 12 year old goes out into the desert to rescue her (alone as no adults are believing her) and a 17 year old ends up aiding. Seems like this book glamorizes risky behavior of middle schoolers.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review Across the Desert in exchange for an honest review. My NetGalley Shelf app needed to be deleted and Across the Desert had already been archived; thankfully Across the Desert was available as an audio on Hoopla (available via my local library). Also thank you to Dusti Bowling (author of Across the Desert and Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus) and Tantor Media, Inc (the publisher).

3.5 Stars Rounded Up

I received a reviewer copy of Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling from the publisher Tantor Audio from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: 12 year old Jolene is lonely and struggling with her mother's ongoing narcotic addiction. Her only source of comfort is watching and connecting with "Addie Earhart" who makes a livestrea f her flying an ultralight plane over the desert. But one day Jolene is watching the live stream when Addie's plane goes down and Addie makes desperate pleas for Jolene to help her. Driven into action, she goes on a mission to find her friend lost in the desert.

What I Loved: Dusti Bowling makes my heart swell. I loved Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. I enjoyed it as an adult and would happily hand it to whoever. This book also touched me and was special and I'm so grateful to have read this one. Jolene's loneliness and feeling of taking on the adult role because of her mother's addiction was deeply felt and you wanted to give Jolene a hug. I loved the friendship Jolene finds with 17 year old Marti that develops over the course of their trip into the desert. I found that a unique contrast to being two kids while being different ages and the balance of being in charge/knowing better, etc.

What I didn’t like so much: This book is a bit unbelievable. A 12 year old rescues another 12 year old in the desert during the summer. Without adult help. Without a car. Without enough resources. It's very unbelievable and a problematic message to send to kids. While I know some of this is the inherent adventure aspect, but I think it sends an unwanted message.

Who Should Read It: People who love middle grade. People who want story about brave outcast/underdogs taking on the world.

General Summary: A young girl treks across the desert to find a friend in danger.

Notes on Audiobook: Narrator was fantastic

I listened to the audiobook with my 11-year old during his spring break, and he was riveted! This is the story of Jolene, a 12-year-old girl struggling to keep her mother's addiction a secret so that she won't be taken away from her mom. She becomes friends with another 12-year-old, Addie, who live streams her flights online and Jolene is so far her only viewer. One day, Jolene sees Addie get into an accident and is determined to try to rescue her, but to her frustration, any adult that can help her won't because they think she's just seen something prerecorded on the internet. There was a lot of fast-paced action involved in the rescue of Addie and the characters were all well developed so from an action and adventure perspective the story was spot on. At one point it was preachier than an afterschool special about Jolene's mom's addiction and the effects of opioids. Then, after a minimum of resistance, her mom goes into a treatment program and an extensive description of her treatment and miraculous progress is provided. This much in-depth content about opioids seemed like it would be better aimed at kids navigating the addiction of someone they know, but since my 11-year-old has had the D.A.R.E. officer visiting class all year they didn't seem to find that part as tedious as I did. The book also had what I call a "Curious George Moment", where after disregarding all advice and directions, there are no consequences and the character is applauded and rewarded essentially for disobedience. But I will defer to the opinion of the target audience and say this book is sheer entertainment. The audio narration was wonderful.

Thank you to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for the ALC.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the audiobook for me. I really struggled to get past the first quarter because the character set up just didn’t hook me in. Maybe it was the narrator? I read the great reviews and praises here, and tried to continue but I just couldn’t connect. I gave it and try and disappointed because there were important subjects here that children need to read.

But, as always, don’t take my word for it.

Format: audiobook
Author: Dusti Bowling ~ Title: Across the Desert ~ Narrator: Stacy Gonzalez
Content: 4 stars ~ Narration: 5 stars

Twelve-year-old Jolene likes to escape her troubled life by going to the library and watching a live stream of Addie flying an ultralight plane through the desert. Her mother is an addict, and she has no friends since her only friend moved away. After she sees her online friend Addie crash her ultralight plane in the middle of the desert, Jolene is determined to save her. A courageous journey where Jolene learns that this act of bravery was not as simple as she thought. But on the way, she meets a new friend and finds hope.

Maybe a bit unbelievable adventure, but, hey, this is a middle-grade book. On the other hand, I can clearly picture a twelve-year-old kid thinking like that and making similar decisions.

The narration by Stacy Gonzalez is excellent for a middle-grade adventure book.

To conclude, kids will enjoy this book. Although, I would appreciate it more if it would cover more online safety.

Thanks to Tantor Audio for the ALC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* 4.5 rounded up, this was a great read! I would totally buy this for kids (or even adults!), actually one of the best books i have read so far this year as an overall book.

This book is full of adventure!

Jojo watches her online friend crash her ultralight and is determined to go save her. She has had a rough time and is happy to make a new friend (Marty) along the way.

I really liked the characters in this book. The overall bravery and drive to help others was a big part in this book. The best part was the new friendships formed.

I listened to the audiobook version and it was pretty engaging. The back and forth blip stream conversion broke up the text a little bit, but was not too distracting.

Overall a fun book!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing acopy of this book for my honest review.

I admittedly started off a little shaky with the start of the book. I mean a girl going off to find someone that she met on the internet but never in person was a stretch for me BUT as the book moved on, I felt myself sucked into the adventure of the book. One of the things I appreciated about the book was given those who have experienced addiction within their own home a voice and the ability to be seen. This was a good read over all and featured so many take aways.
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Twelve-year-old Jolene spends every day she can at the library watching her favorite livestream: The Desert Aviator, where twelve-year-old “Addie Earhart” shares her adventures flying an ultralight plane over the desert. While watching this daring girl fly through the sky, Jolene can dream of what it would be like to fly with her, far away from her own troubled home life where her mother struggles with a narcotic addiction. And Addie, who is grieving the loss of her father, finds solace in her online conversations with Jolene, her biggest—and only—fan.

Then, one day, it all goes wrong: Addie's engine abruptly stops, and Jolene watches in helpless horror as the ultralight plummets to the ground and the video goes dark. Jolene knows that Addie won’t survive long in the extreme summer desert heat. With no one to turn to for help and armed with only a hand-drawn map and a stolen cell phone, it's up to Jolene to find a way to save the Desert Aviator. (less)

In a Nutshell: A wonderful adventure story for middle graders, though the parent in me wasn’t too happy with a few of the decisions taken by the three young protagonists.

Story:
Twelve year old Jolene loves watching the livestream videos of her online friend Addie as the latter flies her ultralight plane over the Arizona desert. Jolene finds Addie’s adventures a virtual escape from her personal issues as her mother battles an opioid addition. Addie, who is struggling to come back to normalcy after the death of her father a few months before, loves interacting with Jolene, her biggest fan and the one person always there to watch her live feed.
During one such livestream, Addie’s plane engine stops and Addie crashes somewhere in the desert. The only witness to the accident is Jolene, whom no one is ready to believe. Will Jolene be able to save her virtual friend using the limited knowledge and resources she has?
The story is narrated in the first person perspective of Jolene.

There is a lot in the story that middle graders will enjoy. Addie’s passion for flying is enthusiastic and her daredevilry seems intriguing. Jolene’s troubles with her mother also strike a chord. There is a lot of humour and emotion in the story. This, plus the adventurous rescue effort, is bound to make them happy.

The story covers quite a few relevant themes, including Jolene’s low self-confidence because of her looks, her mother’s opioid addiction, and the issues of online safety and risks of talking with virtual acquaintances. Most of these are covered well.

Jolene’s efforts to rescue Addie go somewhat predictably and even irritably, what with one issue after another. There’s one line in the story that goes, “This whole ordeal feels like obstacle after obstacle.” Well, I felt the same way. More importantly, the parent part of me wasn’t too happy with some of the decisions taken by Jolene. Granted, she had her reasons to go on this daring sojourn without her mother, but there is always someone to approach for help, ALWAYS. Stealing your parents’ phone and credit card and assuming you can handle the rest, lying about your online activities or whereabouts, making a rescue plan that doesn’t include the safety of yourself too - none of these are takeaways I want kids to have. All of these can be taken as lessons on what not to do, provided kids understand this as such.

The audiobook clocks at 6 hrs 13 min and is narrated by Stacy Gonzalez. She does a fabulous job of bringing all the characters to life and I enjoyed her performance from start to end.

All in all, this is a good story, and I hope kids read it with the right approach and take the correct takeaways from it rather than treating it as a sanction to proceed with ill-advised solo adventures.

3.75 stars.

My thanks to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of “Across the Desert”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

Jolene has no internet, no phone, no friends, her tummy is rumbling, and her clothes are two sizes two small. But what she does have is a library, the internet, and a Blipstream account where she gets to see her online friend, Addy fly across Lake Alamo on her livestream account. During a live video, Addy's Ultra Lite Trike plane goes down, and Jo is the only viewer! When all the adults in Jo's world ignore her pleas for help, Jo does the only thing she can think of- She hops on a bus, determined to find her missing and possibly hurt friend.
Along the way, Jo meets Marty, a 17 year old cool, stubborn, and in-control girl who is skeptical that there is anyone out in the desert. Marty and Jo set out on a journey that is sure to change their lives forever.

I LOVED so many things about this book! One thing I love about Middle Grade Adventure books is the way that kids think of solutions to answers. I love how authors show characters being empathetic and compassionate. This is important for me when reading MG books because I believe it helps children see how others relate to the world around them, and it shows (extreme) problem solving (not that I would ever suggest a child steal a phone, credit card, or bike in real life!) Marty and Jo are forced to Macgyver some things, and I like how they drew from past experiences and worked together to form a solution.

There are some very heavy themes in this book that I think readers should be cautious of before jumping in with their kids. But I am excited to read this with my kids, ages 10 and 11, when this book comes out because I know they will really enjoy it!

Dusti Bowling has an enchanting way of writing and drawing the reader in. She writes relatable characters that will easily draw you into their world. Dusti has many unforgettable characters including Avon Green from her Life of a Cactus books, which are also really well written! Her books are usually centered in Arizona, and her descriptions of the areas bring me back in time to when we used to live there. I love how she describes the landscape and the feel of the book. It makes me nostalgic for the sweaty, dry heat! I can't wait to see what she comes out with next!

Stacy Gonzalez did a fantastic job narrating this book. Her voice worked really well to portray Jo. Gonzalez also did a great job depicting the other characters and it was easy to understand who was speaking in the book. Gonzalez was really able to pull you into the story. The speed was good, and easy to understand. Her pacing was also good! I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I hope to listen to more work narrated by Gonzalez!
As for the Audio recording: The audio editing was seamless, the sound was consistent throughout. There wasn't any broadband or flicker noises, nor were there any narrator background noises apparent. No sibilance or plosives. Overall a great recording and narration!


**Audio book notes do not change my GR book rating, it is only here for reference. This entire review is also cross posted to Amazon and Audible**

https://triggerwarningdatabase.com/

Wow! Such a heart touching story about a young girl, Jolene, who will risk her life for her only friend in the world. Jolene made friends with a young girl, Addie Earhart, who does a live online show of her flying in the desert with her ultralight plane until the day she crashes and Jolene is the only one who sees it. Jolene must save her friend even if no one believes her. I highly recommend this book for kids of all ages. It is a such a wonderful book.