Ten­year­old Pearl Spence is a daydreamer, playing makebelieve to escape life in Oklahoma0;s Dust Bowl in 1935. The Spences have their share of misfortune, but as the sheriff0;s family, they0;ve got more than most in this dry, desolate place. They0;re who the town turns to when there0;s a crisis or a need-and during these desperate times, there are plenty of both, even if half the town stands empty as people have packed up and moved on. Pearl is proud of her loving, strong family, though she often wearies of tracking down her mentally impaired older sister or wrestling with her grandmother0;s unshakable belief in a God who Pearl just isn0;t sure she likes. Then a mysterious man bent on revenge tramps into her town of Red River. Eddie DuPre is dangerous and he seems fixated on Pearl. When he reveals why he0;s really there and shares a shocking secret involving the whole town, dust won0;t be the only thing darkening Pearl0;s world. While the tone is suspenseful and often poignant, the subtle humor of Pearl0;s voice keeps A Cup of Dust from becoming heavyhanded. Finkbeiner deftly paints a story of a family unit coming together despite fractures of distress threatening to pull them apart.]]> | A Cup of Dust by Susie Finkbeiner, Paperback | Indigo Chapters