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Joyce Yarrow
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Sandstorm Paperback – July 6, 2021

by Joyce Yarrow (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 28 ratings
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GOLD MEDAL WINNER - Cipa Evvy Award for Women's Fiction
When you trade the straight and narrow for the crooked pathways of crime, it's likely to become a permanent arrangement. Unless, like Sandie Donovan, you're a born grifter, determined to use your knack for deception and crime to restart your life and achieve success as an actor.

A pitch-perfect, heartfelt, and enthralling story of survival, coming-of-age and redemption. Sandstorm is a suspenseful, pacy read about a compelling character whose adventures and misadventures are dramatic and exciting.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    262 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    D. X. Varos
  4. Publication date
    July 6, 2021
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.59 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1955065004
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1955065009
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Sandstorm is entertaining every step of the way." - Independent Book Review


"Readers seeking solid urban fiction settings and the spunky but struggling character of a young adult who changes immensely through her experiences and choices will find Sandstorm the worthy and intriguing journey" - D. Donaovan, Midwest Book Review

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ D. X. Varos (July 6, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 262 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1955065004
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1955065009
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.59 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 28 ratings

About the author

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Joyce Yarrow

Joyce Yarrow

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A New York City transplant now living in Seattle, Joyce Yarrow began her writing life scribbling poems on the subway and observing human behavior from every walk of life.

Joyce is the award-winning author of the Zahara Series and, according to Library Journal, her literary novels of suspense “appeal to readers who enjoy unusual mysteries with an international setting.”

ZAHARA AND THE LOST BOOKS OF LIGHT (book 1 in the Zahara Series), was awarded 5 Stars by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and chosen as a Best Book in the Historical Fiction category by the PenCraft Awards (Spring of 2024). It has also been translated into Spanish and Portuguese. The second book in the series, STOLEN LIVES earned the 2024 Firebird Award for International Suspense.

In 2022, her coming-of-age novel SANDSTORM, won a the 2022 gold medal in Women's Fiction at the CIPA/Evvy Awards.

Joyce's other published novels of suspense include ASK THE DEAD, RUSSIAN RECKONING, and RIVERS RUN BACK (co-authored with Arindam Roy).

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
28 global ratings
An enjoyable adventure-ride coming of age tale
5 Stars
An enjoyable adventure-ride coming of age tale
This novel feels like an adventure ride through life. A realistic urban journey of making it on your own as a young adult, when abandoned by those who are supposed to care for you. With just the right amount of grit for the story to be credible and relatable.Sandie, the main character, is abandoned in her teen years by a neglectful father and she needs to source the resilience to survive, ultimately re-establishing herself in the big city. Wiser than her years, Sandie’s path toward the straight and narrow is circuitous; even when she desires to succeed at regular life, drawing inside the lines.An enjoyable adventure-ride of a coming of age tale, with a sympathetic relatable main character. I appreciated how the author didn’t tie everything up too neatly in an unrealistic way in the final chapters. Don’t be misled by the lightness of the cover; this novel is powerful urban fiction.
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Top reviews from the United States

Lee
5.0 out of 5 stars You'll never forget these people
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2023
Verified Purchase
The people in Sandstorm, the challenges they face, the solutions they come up with to navigate through their difficult lives, caught me, kept me reading. Terrific book, honestly drawn characters! I felt like I knew Sandie. I feel like she was so honestly drawn and I was so captured by her, I was protective, sometimres frustrated, sometimes proud of her. Great book.
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L Cameron
5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable adventure-ride coming of age tale
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2021
Verified Purchase
This novel feels like an adventure ride through life. A realistic urban journey of making it on your own as a young adult, when abandoned by those who are supposed to care for you. With just the right amount of grit for the story to be credible and relatable.

Sandie, the main character, is abandoned in her teen years by a neglectful father and she needs to source the resilience to survive, ultimately re-establishing herself in the big city. Wiser than her years, Sandie’s path toward the straight and narrow is circuitous; even when she desires to succeed at regular life, drawing inside the lines.

An enjoyable adventure-ride of a coming of age tale, with a sympathetic relatable main character. I appreciated how the author didn’t tie everything up too neatly in an unrealistic way in the final chapters. Don’t be misled by the lightness of the cover; this novel is powerful urban fiction.
Customer image
L Cameron
5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable adventure-ride coming of age tale
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2021
This novel feels like an adventure ride through life. A realistic urban journey of making it on your own as a young adult, when abandoned by those who are supposed to care for you. With just the right amount of grit for the story to be credible and relatable.

Sandie, the main character, is abandoned in her teen years by a neglectful father and she needs to source the resilience to survive, ultimately re-establishing herself in the big city. Wiser than her years, Sandie’s path toward the straight and narrow is circuitous; even when she desires to succeed at regular life, drawing inside the lines.

An enjoyable adventure-ride of a coming of age tale, with a sympathetic relatable main character. I appreciated how the author didn’t tie everything up too neatly in an unrealistic way in the final chapters. Don’t be misled by the lightness of the cover; this novel is powerful urban fiction.
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Saralyn Richard
4.0 out of 5 stars Overcoming Obstacles
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2022
As a teacher and administrator in an urban high school setting, I know the reality of what many of today's young people suffer at the hands of a sometimes cruel and selfish society. Yarrow nails the insecurity and grief, the poverty and temptations, and the ill-intentioned people who prey on those who fall into their paths. Sandie is an unusual heroine--never perfect, but ingenious and resourceful. Her journey will grab hold of you and twist you into knots--and sometimes tie you into bows--just like in real life.
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scm
5.0 out of 5 stars Relax and enjoy
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2023
Verified Purchase
Thoroughly enjoyed the fast pace and complicated worlds created for these characters. I cringed and cheered for Sandie as she fought her way through the twists of art and theater careers. Rough and heartwarming moments all at once.
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Mae Z
5.0 out of 5 stars Sandstorm is a fast, engaging ride of a story
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2021
Verified Purchase
Sandi Donovan is an at risk teen living on her wits. She is confronted with situations and characters that test her abilities to cope while asking the question "Is this worth the risk?"
As we follow Sandy's path she matures, but we're never sure she will land on her feet. She shrewdly calculates each situation.
I loved Sandy's spunkiness and grit which crackles throughout the story.
Excellent rhythm moves Sandstorm along which I found to be fast paced and engaging. Joyce Yarrow always does her research. Here we learn about New York theaters and theater cosmetology.
I recommend Joyce Yarrow's Sandstorm as I think readers will be rooting for Sandi Donovan.
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Rachel V
5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2021
Verified Purchase
I'm embarrassed to say that I was late for work because I allowed myself to read "just one more chapter"...and then the next, and the next. This is a beautifully-written story that kept me turning the pages because I was so fascinated with Sandy and curious about what she'd encounter next. My teenage daughter asked to borrow it and I'm excited she'll get to experience this story, too. Sandy's grit, persistence, empathy, and street-smart savviness make her a character I'm excited to share.
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Lesego Malepe
5.0 out of 5 stars Great coming-of-age story
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2021
Verified Purchase
Yarrow is a master story-teller. Sandie Donovan, the main character in Sandstorm, is a character every reader is guaranteed to care about. Yarrow has given us a sympathetic character who rises from her childhood as an orphan, through various struggles, and at the end survives and takes charge of her life. The pace is brisk and the story held my attention from beginning to end. Other characters such as Tiffany and Russell are also well-developed and interesting.
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Elizabeth Gauffreau
5.0 out of 5 stars When Coming of Age Does Not Come Easy
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2021
The opening chapter of Joyce Yarrow’s coming-of-age novel Sandstorm is titled “Runaway Train” after the 1990s power ballad that gave voice to the desperation of children forced to run from their homes. Fifteen-year-old Sandie Donovan is one of those children. When we first meet her, she is on a train to Arizona, having run away from her aunt’s house in New York City, where she had been dumped by her father after he ran away himself not long after the death of her mother.

When Sandie arrives at her father’s place, he refuses to take her in and dumps her once again, this time at a bootcamp style ranch for delinquent teenagers. A year into her stay, trouble ensues, and she has to make her escape, this time to California. Three years later, she’s on the run again, ending up back in New York City, where she finally has to stop running and decide what kind of woman she wants to become.

What I found particularly intriguing about the book were the elements of the picaresque, albeit with a female protagonist. Sandie travels from place to place encountering a varied cast of characters from different social classes with whom she must interact by chance or through necessity: Tiffany, a meth addict at the ranch, Russell, an antique jewelry counterfeiter in Malibu, Curtis, an “ageless black man” on the verge of dying in Haight Ashbury, and Ben--not to mention various fences, art dealers, movie business people, and a particularly nasty pedophile.

Getting by on her good looks and charm, Sandie does what she has to do to survive, including perpetrating a whole slew of crimes. To her credit, we come to discover that there are some moral lines that she ultimately will not cross.

Another particularly intriguing aspect of the book for me were Sandie’s relationships with men, from the handsome stranger she had sex with on the train who listened to her story in the opening chapter to her fraught relationship with the counterfeiter who took her in after she went on the run to her affair with a married man with whom she hoped to find love. And of course her relationship with her father.

I would highly recommend Sandstorm to readers who enjoy urban fiction and coming-of-age stories that do not come easy. Sandie will be sure to steal your heart!
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Top reviews from other countries

Rita Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read
Reviewed in Canada on August 12, 2021
Verified Purchase
If you read all the well deserved reviews for SANDSTORM, a great read by Joyce Yarrow, I can say little more.

I began the book with a feeling that it was not my kind of story. And so I needed to ask myself, ‘what is my kind of story’ The answer is simple—A story well written. A story that holds my attention from beginning to end. A story with depth. A story with a ring of truth.

Well, it is all there, in one book. Well written. Holds my attention from beginning to end. Depth. Truth plus imagination and heart. As well, it is a fast read, the story doesn’t slow down from beginning to end. And the realism makes you hold your breath more than once, so if your heart is weak, beware, the characters will burrow their way inside it, holding it captive as the story progresses.

I don’t know what more I can say except, I enjoyed every minute of this great read.
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