Summary:
It's hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey,
Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her
mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her
small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey:
17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything
to be like Mandarin. When they're united for a project, they
form an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights
spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town's
animal-head trophies, and searching for someplace magic. Grace
plays along when Mandarin suggests they run away together.
Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds plaguing their Badlands
town. Because all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin's unique
beauty hides a girl who's troubled, broken, and even dangerous.
And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, no
friendship can withstand betrayal.
From the Hardcover edition.