All the Wind in the World

Since their families died and half the United States turned to desert, Sarah Jac and her boyfriend, James, have been scraping by working in the maguey fields and dreaming impossible dreams of saving enough money to move east. Everything changes, however, when they find themselves on a ranch called the Real Marvelous that has a reputation for being cursed. Soon, their biggest problem may not be saving money but finding a way to save themselves and the love they have fought for.

All the Wind in the World is a unique YA book with undertones of magical realism and hints of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. In lyrical prose, Samantha Mabry chronicles the harsh lives of migrant farm workers, who must accept whatever pay is being offered and can only acquiesce to poor camp life conditions as they find them. Through the trials, however, the protagonists have always been able to rely on each other—until now. The book skirts the line between suggesting the characters are bewitched and suggesting they are responsible for their own decisions, which forefronts issues of trust, accountability, and means to survival. This is a must-read novel for anyone looking for something new in YA.