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At fifteen, Iris is a hobo of sorts – no home, no family, no plan. After her mother’s early death, Iris’s father focuses on big plans for his new shoe stores and his latest girlfriend, and has no time for his daughter. Unbeknownst to her, he hires Iris out as housekeeper and companion for a country doctor’s elderly mother. Suddenly Iris is alone, stuck in gritty rural Missouri, too far from her only friend Leroy and too close to a tenant farmer Cecil Deets, who menaces the neighbors, and Iris suspects, his own daughter.

Iris is buoyed by the warmth and understanding the doctor and his mother show her, but just as she starts to break out of her shell tragedy strikes. Iris must find the guts and cunning to take aim at the devil incarnate and discover if she is really as helpless, hopeless, and homeless – as she once believed.

Read the prologue

Book trailer

Press

• Starred Kirkus Review
  June 15th, 2010
  …Stuber’s tender, evocative style aptly portrays both the evil and the good while remaining emotionally true. Characters are rounded, the plot slow but steady and the imagery engaging in this noteworthy debut.
• School Library Journal
  Summer 2010
  …Thought-provoking and tender-hearted, Iris’s story is one of a mature young woman who faces life with courage and common sense. This thoughtful novel offers strong character development and an engaging protagonist.
• Pilates1901 Video Interview
  …If you love to read, are looking for a fabulous summer book or topic for your next book club, Crossing the Tracks check out the latest praise for Crossing the Tracks. (Read article)