Desert Echoes
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
From Abdi Nazemian, the award-winning author of Like a Love Story and Only This Beautiful Moment, comes a suspenseful contemporary YA novel about loss and love.
Fifteen-year-old Kam is head over heels for Ash, the boy who swept him off his feet. But his family and best friend, Bodie, are worried. Something seems off about Ash. He also has a habit of disappearing, at times for days. When Ash asks Kam to join him on a trip to Joshua Tree, the two of them walk off into the sunset . . . but only Kam returns.
Two years later, Kam is still left with a hole in his heart and too many unanswered questions. So it feels like fate when a school trip takes him back to Joshua Tree. On the trip, Kam wants to find closure about what happened to Ash but instead finds himself in danger of facing a similar fate. In the desert, Kam must reckon with the truth of his past relationship—and the possibility of opening himself up to love once again.
Desert Echoes is a propulsive, moving story about human resilience and connection.
What really happened that night in the desert, and what secrets was Ash hiding?
A Gripping Missing Person Mystery: Two years after his boyfriend Ash vanished in Joshua Tree, Kam returns to the desert searching for answers—and finds only more danger.An Unforgettable First Love: Kam is still haunted by his whirlwind romance with the enigmatic Ash. But to move forward, he must confront the shocking secrets buried in their past.Powerful Themes of Grief and Healing: A moving exploration of trauma, loss, and the resilience it takes to open your heart again after it’s been broken.Complex Family and Friendships: With his best friend Bodie by his side, Kam navigates the difficult truths about addiction and the secrets families keep.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A teen's grief over his boyfriend's disappearance becomes all-consuming in this poignant novel from Nazemian (Only This Beautiful Moment). Iranian American Kam Khorramian started dating artsy, white-cued senior Ash Greene during the pandemic, when Kam was 15. But while on a trip the pair took to Joshua Tree National Park, Ash disappeared. Two years later, Kam has been having trouble navigating mental health-related challenges, his grades have plummeted, and he clings to the belief that Ash might still be alive despite gentle pushes from his movie-star handsome best friend Bodie—also gay and Iranian American—for Kam to move on. When it's announced that the school's annual gay-straight alliance trip is planned for Joshua Tree, Bodie, Kam's mother, and the GSA adviser worry that the trip could be triggering for him. But Kam insists on going, hopeful that returning to the park will help him understand what happened. Dual timelines detail the looming Joshua Tree trip alongside flashbacks to Kam and Ash's blazing, rocky relationship, all of which culminates in a heartfelt story about a teen struggling to accept painful realities. Ages 14–up.
