by
Seventeen-year-old Vi Sinclair’s roots run deep in the Missouri Ozarks, where, in some areas, it can still be plenty dangerous to be a girl who likes girls. Her greatest wish is to become a veterinarian like her boss, Claire Campbell. Fitting in at school wouldn’t be so bad, either. Only one obstacle stands in the way: She may not live long enough to see her wishes fulfilled.With help from her only friend, Junior, Vi unravels a mystery that puts her in conflict with a vicious tormentor, a dog fight syndicate, and her own mother. Vi’s experience galvanizes her strength and veracity as she overcomes the paradox of mountain life, in which, even today, customs and mores seem timeless, and where a person can wake up dead simply because of being who she is.
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Gerald Duff, Author of Playing Custer and Nashville Burning wrote:"FIVE STARS... Beulah Land is a brave, refreshing novel that offers a message of hope... Nancy Stewart has produced a tough, courageous novel that belongs on the shelf next to young-adult survival stories like Hatchet and Bridge to Terabithia. [It is] an accurate portrayal of what it's like to grow up in a place where your very existence is challenged, as well as a reminder that the willingness to push on wins the day, every time. Beulah Land is a much needed story of queer resistance and courage in the face of bigotry and intolerance."
Shannon Hitchcock, Author of Ruby Lee & Me wrote:"Nancy Stewart writes from the heart about a young woman of true grit in Beulah Land. Violette Sinclair, shaped by the culture of the Ozarks where she struggles to create her own selfhood, will not be limited by circumstance and definition by others. Stewart tells Violette's story with grace, vigor, and charm. Violette Sinclair wins through, and so does Nancy Stewart in creating this powerful tale of a young woman's personal 'favored land of Beulah.'"
"In Beulah Land, Nancy Stewart has crafted a winning combination--a fast-moving plot, and a fierce heroine worth rooting for!"
