Diamonds at Dusk

by Catalina Claussen

Overview

It's hard to miss Cassie. She's the one in the cowgirl boots who up until this morning wasn't interested in boys. But on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, something inside her knocks loose. His name is Chad Holbrook. He's a prep school boy from Albuquerque and Cassie's "fair weather" friend. He promises to stay for Cassie's sixteenth birthday. Just when Cassie thinks she can count on it, Chad breaks his promise. But he leaves behind a treasure hunt that convinces her Chad may be sweet on her, too. Cassie becomes jealous when she discovers her best friend Ahzi knows all about the treasure hunt. To make things worse, Cassie meets Maverick, a charming misfit, who threatens to steal her heart and the gold Grandpa has kept quiet about all these years. Maverick has a dark secret that draws Cassie and Ahzi into the perilous world of gold mining and drug dealing. Cassie must risk trusting Maverick if she and her friends are to get out alive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781944277451
Publisher:	Progressive Rising Phoenix Press, LLC
Publication date:	03/18/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	228
File size:	772 KB
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Author Catalina Claussen believes that there's no greater feeling than getting lost in a book, in an experience. She likes to hike, hunt, dance, fish, garden, ski, scuba dive, write, sing, swim, speak French, travel, read and do just about anything that gets her out into the world. Her happiest moments are spent feeling connected, present, both as a participant and a witness to the human experience. She writes to indulge her curiosity and spark others. She is a founding English teacher at Aldo Leopold Charter School and writes poetry, short stories, YA novels, and memoirs.

Editorial Reviews

So many novels for YA deal with a world coming apart at the seams. Diamonds at Dusk avoids the pitfalls of dystopia and depicts a world not in chaos but rather in an older form of harmony. Here is a story of life on a ranch in the Southwest, a girl who loves horses, a boy, well, not really a boy, a young man who is not there, and yet is. He is present in the notes or clues he leaves behind. Therein the plot simmers -- the clues. Does he love her? Does he not? Is he coming back or will he not? The story is steeped in sunshine and cloud, question and answer and characters of a bygone time. For those of us who grew up on Marguerite Henry and visions of the sunburnt West, this novel is a fun read. It will especially appeal to teenage girls. And anyone else who remembers what it was like to ride a horse for the first time

From the Publisher