Nancy Lee Bausch

GOLD DUST KIDS can be purchased  in either Paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon.com.

Gold Dust Kids in the Superstitions

 

Gold Dust Kids in the Superstitions

Gold Dust Kids in the Superstitions (May 2010) is a suspense novel featuring a plot that revolves around disabled children at a ranch for equine-assisted therapy in the Superstition Mountains in Tucson, Arizona.  The fable of the Lost Dutchman Mine plays a major part in the plot.

 

The kids are: 

Cassidy......8...deaf with cochlear implant

Jeremy.......8...spina bifida with electric wheelchair

Tony.........9...blind due to eye tumors; uses echolocation to “see”          

Justin.......8...Asperger’s autism; extraordinary artist

Sammie.......8...higher order autism; loves horses, assists with equine therapy

Jefferson....8...middle-range autism; reacts with fear and panic to the outside world

                                                                                    

Secondary characters; A widowed ranch owner; a head wrangler with a secret; an unscrupulous rich neighbor who puts the kids in a life-threatening situation; one of the kids’ companions whose insensitivity and amorous intentions create havoc, especially for Jefferson; a billionaire company owner who brings his autistic grandson to the ranch and provides the treasure for the Lost Dutchman; the equine therapy horses, and an extraordinary black stallion with an impact on several of the lead characters.

 

Plot lines include:  The kids’ ingenuity used to survive by themselves in the desert; adventure in an Apache gold cave; a pony cart race with an unlikely winner; carnival for parents, and dangerous outlaws that turn a treasure hunt into a life-or-death situation.

 

This book has humor, thrills, and a focus on the abilities and sensitivities of the disabled children, all with a southwestern flavor and a desert backdrop featuring descriptions of Mexican foods, desert locales, animals and plants, with the kids and the mystery of the Lost Dutchman Mine at the forefront.

 

The author has lived in the desert and worked with young people for most of her life and depicts her love and admiration for them in the setting, language, plot and characters. She is a licensed therapist and adjunct instructor at Arizona State University West.

Nancy Lee Bausch