Hoffmeister, Peter Brown

The author of the acclaimed memoir The End of Boys and award-winning fiction collection Loss has written an excellent coming-of-age debut novel. He skillfully interweaves the story of modern-day life in Yosemite with the the area's turbulent and tragic history in the 1850s when Native Americans lost control of the land, but the author's attempt to link Tenaya and Lucy to the biblical story of Samson and Delilah is a bit heavy-handed and unnecessary. Still, the book's sense of place is strong, capturing Yosemite's wild beauty. Both adult and mature young adult readers and lovers of literary ecofiction will enjoyed this fast-paced love story.