The Canyon's Edge - Dusti Bowling

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Nora's birthday marks the one-year anniversary of the worst day of her life. To distract them both from the memories of the horrible shooting that killed Nora's mom, her dad surprises her with a trip to explore a slot canyon deep in the Arizona desert. But in the twisting, winding depths, the unthinkable happens. Suddenly, Nora finds herself lost,

alone,

at the bottom of a canyon,

in the middle of a desert.

Separated from her supplies, she faces dehydration, venomous scorpions, deadly snakes, and, worst of all, the Beast who has terrorized her dreams for the last year. To save herself and her father, Nora must conquer her fears - and outsmart the canyon's dangers."

Oh my god. This book. It's a bit long for a middle grade book, just over three hundred pages, but after part one (about thirty pages in) it shifts to being a novel written in verse and is a pretty quick read. (I read it in less than a day, but I also could not put it down.) It is a beautiful book - different blends of poetry styles, incorporating images, just...so evocative.

We see a bit of Nora's dad in the book, but for most of it the reader is alone with Nora. Through her reflection and flashbacks, we get to know more about her parents, her best friend, and another woman who was involved in the shooting when Nora lost her mom. I was impressed with how well-developed her friendship with Danielle and her connection with both her parents were, given that we pretty exclusively get to know each of them through Nora's memories. Solid writing.

I was also blown away by the atmosphere Dusti Bowling created in this book. Setting the scene, building up tension and fear, generating a sense of urgency...maybe it's because I spend a lot of time hiking in the desert, just started getting back into rock climbing after not doing it since I was a teenager, and, like Nora, am terrified of heights, but I was biting my nails this entire book. There was one point in particular, after Nora's encounter with a bark scorpion, where I was terrified out of my mind for her. Just incredible. If you, like me, enjoy the occasional stressful surviving-in-nature realistic fiction, I highly recommend picking this one up.