Day one in California was a total blast!  The boys built a sand castle, we rode some massive waves, and I finished TWO books.  So far, that’s the perfect vacation.  One of the books I read was Miracle Country by Kendra Atleework.  The book is part loving memoir of her family, part natural history of her hometown. It is interesting to read while sitting on a beach in California since so much of the story centers around California water rights and native displacement.  “The greatest good for the greatest number” is a heartbreaking truth.  Learn more about this wonderfully written book and enter to win your own copy in a GIVEAWAY below!

Synopsis

Kendra Atleework grew up in the Owens Valley of the Eastern Sierra Nevada, where annual rainfall averages five inches and in drought years measures closer to zero.
 
Kendra’s family raised their children to thrive in this harsh landscape, forever at the mercy of wildfires, blizzards, and gale-force winds.  Most of all, the Atleework children were raised on unconditional love and delight in the natural world. But it came at a price. When Kendra was six, her mother was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease, and she died when Kendra was sixteen. Her family fell apart, even as her father tried to keep them together. Kendra took flight from her bereft family, escaping to the “enemy” city of LA first, then on to Minneapolis, land of all trees, no deserts, no droughts, full lakes, water everywhere you look. 
 
After years of avoiding the pain of her past, she realized that she had to go back to her hometown.  The desert was the only place she could live. Like Wild, Miracle Country is a story of flight and return, bounty and emptiness, & the true meaning of home.  It also speaks to the ravages of climate change and its permanent destruction of the way of life in one particular town.  As weather around the country is 

Thank you to @algonquinbooks for sending me a copy of the book and teaming up with me for a great giveaway! Order your own copy via the link on my blog.  Or follow these steps to win your own copy:

Giveaway

– Head over to Instagram and follow @mommaleighellensbooknook, @algonquinbooks,  @kendra.atleework,  and @storygramtours

– follow the directions on the post for this book!

For EXTRA entry

– visit @agingerlyreview tomorrow to enter again! 

RULES

– Giveaway ends July 20th at midnight EST

– US ONLY

– not affiliated with Instagram

-must be 18 or have parents permission + have a public account

#MiracleCountrytour #MiracleCountry #kendraatleework #algonquinbooks #storygramtours 

Order the book HERE!