
Author: Maddy Lederman
Genre: Young Adult Literary Fiction, Coming-of-Age
Number of Pages: 183
Publication Date: September 9, 2013
Summary: Edna is a precocious trouble-maker wreaking havoc at her Beverly Hills school. Her therapist advocates medication, but her parents come up with an alternative cure: Edna will spend the summer in the desert with her grandparents. Their remote cabin is cut off from cell phone service, Internet and television. Edna naturally finds this arrangement unacceptable. She’s determined to rebel until she meets an older local boy and falls in love for the first time. How can she get to know him from the edge of nowhere?
Edna in the Desert is an incredible story about an unruly teenager named Edna who discovers more than she could have ever imagined during her summer expulsion to the desert.
After being a disciplinary nightmare, 13-year-old Edna finds herself in the middle of nowhere sentenced to spend the entire summer with her grandparents. Edna has no idea how she will survive, but quickly discovers that her teenage dramatics have no effect on Grandma Mary. She attempts to runaway and "die" in the barren desert, but is rescued by a boy named Johnny. Ultimately, this encounter with Johnny changes everything and Edna experiences a summer she will not soon forget.
Edna in the Desert is a story that is very close to my heart. After experiencing many of the same teenage attitudes Edna's parents dealt with in the story, we also sent our daughter to spend time with her grandparents. This decision essentially changed the outcome of her life, an outcome we are all very proud of today. It is easy to say that I greatly enjoyed this story. There is humor, love, and ultimately an awakening that effects the entire family. As a teen, Edna experiences the most dramatic change but her grandmother undergoes a change that can only be credited to the summer spent with Edna.
Edna in the Dessert is a well written story with easily likable characters that help create a story that is difficult to put down. I highly recommend picking up a copy. Available on Amazon.
As a side note, my daughter graduated top of her class from The Paul Mitchell School for Hair and is a talented hair stylist. As parents, my husband and I are extremely proud of all she has overcome to achieve her goal and we could not ask for a better daughter!

Edna In The Desert is Maddy Lederman's first novel, and she's working on its sequel. Other writing has appeared in The Huffington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The Sun Runner, a magazine about California deserts. Maddy has an M.F.A. in Theater from Brooklyn College. She works in the art department for films and TV shows, recently on The Amazing Spiderman 2, Darren Aronofsky's Noah, and The Dictator. She's a native New Yorker who loves to travel, hike, drive, go out to eat and be in the desert.
You can find out more about Maddy Lederman by visiting www.maddylederman.com.