I was all at once angry with Josh for ignoring me and scared that he was leaving me. Tears started their well-known course down my face with that thought, and I tried to bury it deep into the fissures of my broken heart.

If I ignored it, maybe it wouldn’t happen. Truth be told, if he didn’t open his eyes again, I felt that there was nothing in this world worth me seeing.

If he didn’t walk again, then why should I have to take one more step on my own? Joshua is fighting for his life after jumping into a dangerously cold river to rescue some kids from a school bus accident. His sister is sitting vigil by his side at the hospital and slips into slumber, dreaming of their childhood and how they got there.

The siblings are inseparable growing up in a rural farming town, together with their best friend, Jude, who faces a dismal future thanks to his alcoholic single father. When the family moves to Africa, they are met with both adventure and danger in a new and fascinating world that changes them forever.

Told through the eyes of Josh’s tenacious little sister, this coming-of-age fictional memoir follows their astonishing childhood adventures and subsequent tragedies, which serve to forge her fearless, unbridled spirit. But all she really wants is the love of their sweet but troubled friend, whom they’ve known since they were kids.

Joshua’s Tree is a captivating story that will leave you delightfully surprised as you discover veiled parallels of an allegory within its pages. .