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All the Wind in the World

In this novel set in the not-too-distant future, Sarah and her boyfriend, James, are working in the southwest, cutting maguey plants with other jimadors and saving their money in hopes of going east. They dream of raising horses. When an accident forces them to flee their jobs, they find work at a desert ranch rumored to be cursed. The two have learned not to let anyone know they are a couple—it can too easily be used against them—and in fact make a point to have James show interest in someone else. As laborers, Sarah, James, and other workers are at the mercy of landowners, and of one another. Knowing whom to trust can be a matter of life and death, and both Sarah and James manipulate others to survive, sometimes doing awful things. But do they also manipulate each other? Readers of this first-person narrative are allowed inside Sarah’s head—an exercise in both sympathy and abhorrence. James’s thoughts, feelings, and motives remain to some degree a mystery by story’s end, much like the seemingly supernatural elements also woven into this compelling narrative. With much potential for satisfying debate at the conclusion of this richly told tale, one in which the setting is a character as riveting as any other, the element that is undeniable from page one is the power and pull of its story. ©2017 Cooperative Children's Book Center

CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 13 and older
Age Range: Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13) Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format: Novel
Subjects: Class Issues Dystopias Economic Hardship and Poverty Love and Romance Magical Realism Speculative Fiction Trust Work and Labor
Diversity subject: Brown Skin Unspecified

Publisher: Algonquin
Publish Year: 2017
Pages: 264
ISBN: 9781616206666

CCBC Location: Fiction, Mabry

All the Wind in the World