Sailing an Alien Sea

Book excerpt: Cindy Gold's novel about two tough girls growing up in New Mexico is sometimes scathingly funny, sometimes poignant, but always honest. Santa Fe is no place for a girl like Sylvie, a thirteen-year-old tomboy, introspective loner, and Kokopelli hater. When she meets Nola, an older girl with an unusual and very visible disability, Sylvie discovers it's impossible to stay in the shadows when her best friend draws stares wherever she goes. Each has made her own battle plan for thriving in the harsh environs of Santa Fe in the Sixties, with some plans decidedly more successful than others. Forget what you think you know about friendship, outsiders, sisterhood and The Land of Enchantment. Let Sylvie and Nola be your guides down Santa Fe's famously convoluted streets.