Thea is a hard of hearing teenager that has been pulled from her school, her friends and her hometown in Ohio after her dad had a dream that told him to move their family to the Colorado desert.

Thea’s parents want to live a more simple life. No technology. No school. Instead, they want their daughters to learn from real life. They want to farm and live off the land by themselves with no help or handouts from others.

Thea knows there is more to life than her dad’s way of living but to obtain it, it’s a risk to go behind his back.

An entertaining coming of age story that has deaf and ASL rep, discusses climate change and encourages you to think about what you’re willing to stand up for.

Thanks to #netgalley for this e-arc. It’s out now!

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC. I genuinely enjoyed this book and was invested in the characters. The way Thea builds her own community and stands up for herself and her life was beautiful to watch. I loved the way the town banded together around her. I will say I felt like the pacing was a little off at times and the end of the book felt very busy. This was also listed as Sci-Fi but I don’t think there were any elements that were sci-fi to me. It felt very dystopian and eerie so maybe that was it. I wish we got a little more glimpse into Thea’s life post dust storm. Overall, this was a great read and so unique!

4.5 stars

This was a really intriguing read. We follow a teen who is deaf in one ear, and the way the prose shows her struggle is quite well done. Along with that the environment is told in a way that it becomes another character. I really felt how she went from being alone to the community that embraced her and became close. I did think the end wrapped up a bit too "neatly" for everything that happened in the book. This should be required reading in high school.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy to form my opinions from.

Dust is a YA speculative fiction coming-of-age novel about a young girl contending with man-made climate change and her family's attempt to exist off the grid. This is a novel about loneliness, self-acceptance, and homesteading with excellent disability rep. Our narrator, Thea, is partially deaf, and the prose reflects this using blank lines within the dialogue to represent the lapses in hearing. This is not a futuristic society or dystopian novel; it imagines a society that did not learn from its mistakes after the 1930s Dust Bowl to revolutionize agricultural practices. Thea experiences bullying, extremely parental control, and the perils of unschooling, somehow managing to rise above it all to become a self-advocating, valuable member of the community. The romance here is a very minimal subplot that only supports our narrator's development but serves very little on its own. Overall a great quick read that deserves to be on school library bookshelves.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Alison Stine, and St. Martin's Press for providing the ebook. This was a deeply emotional and moving story that truly resonated with me, leaving me with a strong connection to the main character. A truly excellent read!

This book had a lot of great moments and characters. My favorite was the town librarian who every time he met someone new is like you get a library card and you get a library card! I liked Thea and her relationship with her little sister, Once Ray comes into the picture I liked how Thea was able to see herself and have someone else see her as a partially deaf person.
Honestly, all the characters in town are pretty great, all except for Thea's parents. Her father is a man obsessed with making sure Thea and her sister only learn the "right" things and are homeschooled using books from like 50 years ago. He doesn't even want her in the library let alone getting a card, and her mom I think isn't in love with their lifestyle but goes along with what the dad wants.
up until a point when a huge dust storm rolls in and something happens that magically makes the dad realize what he's done to his kids and wife.
I felt the quick switch was a bit unbelievable. All in all, I thought this book was fine, but its not one that's going to stick with me

Holy moly, this is the kind of book I wanted to get my hands on when I was younger. This is the kind of book I'll make sure my daughter reads when she gets older. Holy. Moly.

My goodness Dust was a super hard book to put away.
Such a great coming of age story.
With realistic characters.
The characters are well developed and the story really sucked me in.

A deaf girl finds her life uprooted when her father moves her family into the dusty valleys to become homesteaders and to be homeschooled... but finds an unlikely friendship and community to support her while dealing with her father who is determined to isolate her from everything. Thea is partially deaf and when her father moves their family to the Bloodless Valley of southern Colorado to become homesteaders and to take Thea and her sister out of school to be homeschooled, she is devastated to be so isolated, forced to work and to be without internet, friends, or education. Her father refuses to let her go to the library, refuses to help her or even help her with her partial deafness. Instead he wants her to be isolated, to have her change herself to fit into what he wants. Yet all Thea yearns for is friends, to learn, to find someone to listen to her to acknowledge and accept her for herself. So when she discovers another teen in the town who is also partially deaf and opens her to a new world of friendship.... she'll do anything to keep it, but with a storm coming and her father watching her every movement, Thea's new support and friends might be lost to her if she doesn't find a way to change her father's mind. This book was such a beautiful coming of age story, it was so touching and heart wrenching. You absolutely feel for Thea, you want her to be loved, to be supported, to tell her that she is perfect the way she is. I got so angry for her and only wished gor her happiness and I just thought the author so beautifully portrays Thea's journey. It's a gorgeous story and one I would absolutely recommend for anyone looking for a story about finding acceptance, friendship, and community.

Release Date: December 3,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This is one of "those" books. You finish reading it and you just want to tell everyone they "have" to read it. This young woman follows her family to a remote area that is already sufferring from mismanagement and poor judgement causing the farmland to just blow away as DUST. Her family is here because her parents believe they are keeping their family safe from an apocalyptic event. It's hard to see the hardships, knowing they are just trying to keep the family safe. Thea is hearing impaired, but her family acts as if it's a disease. As Thea finds work to help the family, she will meet the world as she's never know it.

The story is emotional and will pull you into the hearts of the young people who struggle through their lives trying to find their way ahead. Alison Stine does an excellent job of blending their hearing impairment through the story. Now, I'm recommending the book then researching Stine's back library for titles TBR.

Unique characters with nice representation. I enjoyed the writing style and the pacing of the story. The narrative was compelling and kept me wanting more.

Dust by Alison Stine is a captivating read. Through her skillful prose, Stine intricately weaves together the threads of Thea's coming-of-age story. The narrative gradually builds a sense of impending dread, akin to a gathering storm. This gripping and emotional tale will surely leave a lasting impact on readers.

Alison Stine’s Dust is a poignant and atmospheric coming-of-age story that beautifully captures the struggles of identity, isolation, and resilience in an unforgiving environment. Set against the haunting backdrop of Colorado’s Bloodless Valley, the novel explores what it means to find connection and self-worth in a world seemingly stripped of hope.

Thea, the partially deaf protagonist, is a compelling narrator. Her journey of self-discovery—spurred by meeting Ray, a deaf teen who introduces her to signing and a sense of belonging—is both heart-wrenching and inspiring. Stine expertly portrays the nuanced challenges of living with hearing loss in a family that pressures Thea to conform, and the result is a deeply empathetic depiction of her yearning for freedom and community.

The setting is a standout character in its own right. The harsh, drought-ridden landscape mirrors Thea’s emotional desolation, while the café where she meets Ray becomes a rare oasis of possibility. Stine’s prose is lyrical, painting vivid images of both the bleak environment and the moments of beauty Thea discovers as she starts to break free from her parents’ restrictive control.

The novel’s pacing occasionally falters, particularly in the middle sections, where the plot feels repetitive at times. However, the emotional depth and richly drawn characters more than make up for these minor shortcomings.

Dust is a powerful exploration of identity, love, and the courage it takes to grow in the face of adversity. It’s a perfect read for fans of speculative fiction with a strong emotional core. Thea’s journey will stay with readers long after the final page.

Dust by Alison Stine, 320 pages. Wednesday Books (St. Martin’s Press), 2024. $20.
Language: PG (5 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: SOME
At first, unschooling was a relief—Thea no longer had to deal with those who made fun of her and her disability. But then unschooling became an excuse for Thea’s father to move the family to a failing farm in Colorado, and living a simple life turned into doing everything the hard way. As Thea (16yo) fights to understand the world around her, she discovers that it may be too late and that the dust storms might kill them all before she ever gets a chance to really live.
The world around Thea is dry and bleak with nothing around, and the feeling of that landscape is felt through the slow-going, expository writing. It isn’t boring per se, but most of the book is not action-packed as the challenges pile up gradually. Thea is hard of hearing, somewhere between hearing and deaf, and Stine gives readers that experience through Thea’s perspective. Overall, the story was well-written, and persistent readers will see that.
The majority of characters are implied White. The mature content rating is for kissing, scary elements, mentions of CBD oil and nudity, and innuendo. The violence rating is for child abuse and mentions of guns and murder.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Thea and her family move to the dry and desolate Bloodless Valley of southern Colorado for a fresh start and to get away from everything. Her dad had a premonition and a deep distrust of anything and everything. He's decided that they'll be completely off the grid and his daughters will be unschooled. This means Thea and her little sister not only get no schooling whatsoever, they're also forbidden from any form of media and talking to other people. But they're so poor that Thea and her mom are forced to work outside the home and her world opens up to the possibilities of community and even a boy like her who understands what it's like to be deaf in a hearing world. But dark clouds are gathering on the horizon and Thea is having her own apocalyptic dreams, will she be able to get through to her parents in time to save her family?

I spent the vast majority of the book wanting to rescue Thea and her little sister from the horrid abuse their parents were inflicting upon them. The dad has serious issues and should not be in charge of children, but that is neither here nor there. Knowing that there are poor kids that actually live like this is enough make me angry, so a novel that's all about the damage it does was a little hard at times. Thankfully, it's a piece of fiction that's resolved as only fiction can but with infinite care by Stine to keeps things as grounded in reality as possible. It's that founding that makes everything Thea experiences in the Valley feel real. You can almost smell the dryness and breathe in the dust.

Overall, I found it a bit despondent but powerful in the way it touches on so many emotional topics. There's no way you're reading it and not walking away with a million thoughts to process, which is great every once in a while.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the fascinating read!

Yes a deaf protagonist! I can't even express how much I love this. I also love how this author handles parents who are maybe not doing their best. She never makes them the ultimate enemy. They're merely part of the story. It is realistic. The protagonists aren't bitter. It is unique and I am into it.
This story was perfect. Lots of firsts for our protagonist. I love the way she explores the history and handles her fears.
I love it.

My thanks to Wednesday Books/St. Martins Publishing for the ARC of 'Dust' in exchange for an honest review.
So much of this book did truly haunt me and pull on the heart strings with its depiction of a teen girl besieged by both a catastrophic climate and parents who've essentially imprisoned her from the outside world.
Set in what I'm assuming is the not too distant future, the book offers up a preview of dreaded coming attractions - overwhelming floods in one part of the country and terrible droughts and dust storms in another.
Thea's father, obsessed with premonitions, has taken her, her little sister and mother away from the floods of Ohio to try farming amid
, the stark arid plains of Bloodless Valley in Colorado. It's an unforgiving landscape of little or no water for crops and afflicted with whirlwinds of dust that build into cataclysmic storms the rival those that swept across the land in the 1930's depression.
Even worse for Thea, whose hearing is partially impaired, her father imposes a 'live off the grid' life for his family.. Meaning no friends, no phone, no internet, no social contact with outsiders unless necessary and only the most amateur attempts at home schooling. that don't interfere with farm chores.
Allowed a part time job in their little town to help family finances, Thea begins to experience everything she's been denied - friendships, the town library, a sense of empathetic community and the sweet stirrings of first love with a deaf boy who can teach her how to converse with ASL. And even as the brutal existence in Bloodless Valley reaches near Biblicial proportions, Thea faces a reckoning for her to break free of her father's severe constraints, and for better or worse rejoin the world at large.
Author Alison Stine vividly creates a bleak, nightmarish environment surrounding Thea and all the well drawn charcters who fall into her orbit, forever changing her. 'Dust' must have really kept a grip on me when I realized how fast I found myself racing through it. That's the sure sign of highly recommended read.

Dust by Alison Stine is an engaging young adult novel set in Colorado.

Sixteen-year-old Thea Taylor and her family traded one bad situation for another after moving from Ohio to Colorado. Her father decided they needed to leave Ohio following a flood. He bought the farm in Colorado sight unseen and their living conditions are harsh. Under the unrelenting sun and no water source on their property, the family is working hard to grow crops when the dust storms begin.

Thea works in town in a small diner while her mom works in the adjacent store. Thea’s life is immeasurably improved by the opportunity to leave the farm five days a week. Her father is very controlling and she is chafing against his unrealistic worldview. With the help of the diner owner, Louisa, and outreach worker, Sam, Thea begins meeting residents on the outlying ranches in the aftermath of the first dust storm.

Thea and her younger sister’s education is lacking due her parents’ decision to “unschool” them. They are supposed to carve out time to learn, but the work on the farm is too demanding. Through Louisa’s generosity with time off, Thea’s trips to the local library provide her with the chance to learn about historical events that are relevant in the present. Thea’s relationship with Sam’s great nephew Ray leaves her yearning for a better life.

Dust is a captivating young adult novel with true to life themes. Thea’s father is trying to protect his family but he is instead isolating them as he shuns outsiders. His stubbornness hinders Thea’s ability to take advantage of things that could help her with her hearing loss. The dust storms and lack of water show the hazards of ignoring scientific evidence of climate change. While the Bloodless valley is fictional, there are parallels to the real-life area. The unforgiving setting springs vividly to life and the dust is as much a character as the people. Alison Stine brings this compelling novel to a hopeful conclusion.

4.5 stars

This is an intriguing YA novel with a captivating m.c., poorly behaved parents, a nearly post-apocalyptic environment (probably our reality by the end of next year), and a welcome dash of hope.

Thea, the m.c., is dealing with a number of challenges that are all made worse by her parents' bad decisions. Her father - who gives creeper/prepper/gets his news from YouTube early on type o' dude - decides that the family (his wife, Thea, Thea's younger sister, and he) should become farmsteaders, participate in unschooling, and engage in that kind of "religion" that requires women to stop wearing jeans and start dressing like Duggars. It's scary, to say the least, to see how quickly their imperfect but relatively typical life turns bleak based on the deep misdirection of a patriarch. Again, more to dread!

On top of parental challenges (and there are many), Thea is partially deaf. An absolute highlight of this read was getting to understand her experiences in this area from her perspective. Stine really nails some nuance here in relation to how Thea's disability impacts her interactions, and I think a lot of readers will either feel seen or really build empathy depending on how they connect to Thea's identity.

The relationships are also fulfilling. Thea's mom is obviously facing some shortcomings of her own, and it's so interesting to begin to see the differences between her internal and external thoughts about her deteriorating husband. The relationship between Thea and her younger sister is really moving, and Thea has some great friendships - old and new - that make her character feel round and offer hope in an otherwise dire situation.

It's important to note that the environment is an active character in this novel, too,

There is so much to like about this book, and my one wish for a slight alteration is a good one - I wish there was a bit more of it. I'd have loved to see a bit more development of Thea's relationships with all of these great characters.

I'll definitely recommend this one to students and will look forward to more from this author.

Thea’s father moves his family to Colorado, hoping to live off the land as homesteaders but the river is dry and the crops dying. Thea is lonely and isolated, her parents ignoring that she is hard of hearing and not giving her the support she needs. When she meets Ray, who is deaf, he begins to teach her sign and introduce her to a new community.

I love a good coming of age story, especially when one is dealing with adversity. This was a slower paced book for me but in the end I did enjoy it. I felt very frustrated for the main character given her lack of power and control. The story builds up to an event at the end where it all comes to a head. The story also sheds light on climate change and the affect it has on farming and agriculture.

“In the valley, we had no neighbors. Dust was my company.”

Dust comes out 12/3.