Dust by Dusti Bowling

Dust is the story of an asthma sufferer challenged to “use her breath” to fight a wrong.

Dust by Dusti Bowling. Little, Brown, 2023, 328 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 11-15

“My parents tell me that what I choose to do with my breath can change the world.” Breath is powerful—and necessary, a fact that Avalyn has learned not to take for granted. As a toddler, she almost died from a severe asthma attack, incentivizing her mom and dad to move from Oklahoma City to Clear Canyon, Arizona. Here the humidity is almost nonexistent and the air is still and clear except for the occasional dust storm. But one Saturday morning the family is startled to see a wall of dark beige, pulsing with electricity, rolling over the canyon. Out with the inhaler, as Avalyn fights down a feeling of doom: “Something was coming. And it wasn’t just dust.”

Next Monday, there’s a new kid in class, introduced as Adam. He’s very quiet and a bit unkempt—also a natural target for the “Mean Butt Band,” the four kids who delight in tormenting the class losers. Avalyn and her two best friends have taken hits from these meanies for years, but Adam will get much worse. The smart thing would be to keep one’s head down, but Avalyn senses a powerful connection with the boy, in spite of—or because of—the darkness he carries with him. As the dust continues and the air thickens, she struggles to pierce that darkness and fight it off at the same time–meanwhile maintaining her friendship with Nan and Dillon, preparing for the spring spelling bee, trying and failing to stand up to the bullies. Trying, often, to simply breathe. Will she eventually fail at that, too?

Though handled with sensitivity and touches of humor, this is a serious story with grim overtones that might be too heavy for some readers. The bullies are unusually mean and unrelenting, and it’s no surprise that Adam is a victim of abuse (though we don’t get any details). The focus stays on Avalyn as she gathers the courage to use her breath to change the world—that is, speak up, and bring about changes in her own small corner of it. Readers who follow her into the darkness will breathe a sigh of satisfaction as she comes out.

Overall Rating: 4.25

• Worldview/moral value: 4
• Artistic/literary value: 4.5

Read more about our ratings here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: More by Dusti Bowling: Across the Desert, the Aven Green, Sleuthing Machine series, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus (starred review), and Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus.
• Reflection: Meredith Burton and I discuss Fighting Words, a thoughtful story of abuse, sacrifice, and rescue.

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