This book was an unexpected pleasure. It's not about war but about a struggling family (unwed mom with two young kids) who make their home by the Salton Sea. This remote and starkly beautiful outpost in the desert attracts odd characters who bond in unusual ways with surprising results. It's a coming of age but more lyrically written than most and a pure joy to read.

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I'm not sure if the description writer read the book. There's drugs, a little violence, and almost no sex. The book is a very well thought out portrayal of the young man.

I would recommend that everyone visit Bombay Beach (a real place), if you want to know the true meaning of desolate and forgotten.

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Interesting book, I think she catches a feel for Bombay Beach, and she catches a lot(but not all) of how a 12 year old would feel in that situation. She takes some liberties with time and place (Niland, where he and his brother attend school, is 15 miles as the crow flies from Bombay Beach, more like 20 miles on the only highway connecting them, I doubt whether even this mom would let her 12 year old and 6 year old sons ride bicycles to school every day)(the 6 year old in 1978 becomes a 38 year old in 2007)

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