The Extraordinary Pupfish of Calaveras County

Outside of town Eliza Hewlie, a 65-year-old widow brokering the sale of an abandoned gold mine just upstream from Lester, has to contend with the threat of the deal contaminating the town's groundwater. As Jeremy and Lester design a project which becomes a huge environmental scavenger hunt, involving dozens of high school students and half their parents, the tale of a town galvanized into action is told in alternating chapters by Jeremy and Eliza. In parallel coming-of-age stories, both begin feeling frustrated and trapped at the opening of the story but free and in control of their lives at the end for the first time.

"There were many things about your book that got to me. I cared about the characters; the life messages and the environmental issues; and the open-ended ending (hitting the road as I did) "

- Pattie DeMatteo from online distributor Mendocino Stories