Elizabeth's Landing

Port Winston, Texas--home to sun, sand, and shopping. What's not to like? Everything, to 14 year-old Elizabeth Barker. It's the middle of her 9th grade year and Dad's uprooted the family, returning to his Gulf coast hometown. A once-bustling fishing community, Port Winston is pushing every boundary, vying to be the state's premier tourist destination. A far cry from quiet, Coulter City, Missouri where Elizabeth used to be somebody and family meant something a whole lot different. Between Mom's story assignment in Mexico, Dad's 14-hour workdays and weekends minding Grandpa at the docks, their once close-knit life is in shreds. Taunted as the newbie camera geek at school, Elizabeth's given up trying to fit in. When Grandpa, who's got more judgments than the Old Testament, pronounces her 10˘ shy of worthless and headed for trouble, Elizabeth bolts for Wayward Landing beach--the county's last wild haven. Her impulsive defense of an endangered, nesting sea turtle against a trio of bullies ignites new purpose, a challenging friendship, and troubles even Grandpa couldn't predict. Her fight to save the Landing unearths complex family ties to the powerful developer and a long-buried tragedy that catapults Elizabeth against those she loves. When the Deepwater Horizon oil slick threatens the Louisiana coast and the turtles' feeding grounds, Elizabeth's journalist mom hits the front lines. And Elizabeth's fears and plans hit overdrive. Elizabeth's Landing is a compelling environmental and family saga, bridging risk and loss with hope and hearts--human to human, human to animal, human to world. A portion of book sale profits supports sea turtle conservation and education programs. Awards: 2014 Nautilus Book Awards SILVER-Young Adult Fiction; Mom's Choice Award-GOLD Young Adult Fiction; 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Awards-CATEGORY WINNER-Children's/Juvenile Fiction; 2013-Writer's Digest Self-Published e-book Awards-FIRST PLACE in Fiction.