When her best friend dies, Girl, the 17-year-old street-punk narrator ofCrashing America, leaves San Francisco for the heartland in search of a place where she can breathe again. Torn between her innate restlessness, an overwhelming longing for a sense of home, and a desperate fear of impending death, Girl seeks to link herself to almost anyone she crosses paths with: a bored housewife in Salt Lake City casting a net for illicit thrills, a born-again Christian punk rocker and his girlfriend, a teenage waitress in a small town with a horizon so endless Girl is terrified to leave her hotel room. On a farm in Nebraska with her old friend Randa, Randa’s boyfriend Bill, and Bill’s extended family, Girl finds something that seems awfully close to what she is seeking. But as the harvest progresses, what at first looked like salvation becomes something darker, and Girl hits the road in a stolen car headed for Memphis and one last chance for survival. Katia Noyes’ brave debut is a story about seeking the still point in an ever-turning world. With hell-bent accuracy, Noyes spins a tale about the forgotten people at the heart of America as revealing as an impromptu detour off an interstate highway.

Katia Noyesleft home at the age of 15. She has worked as a roofer, math tutor, factory worker, and go-go dancer. An arts reporter and former columnist forSF Weeklyin San Francisco, her fiction has been published inHome Stretch,Sex Spoken Here, andParamour. She has twice been a finalist for the Astraea Lesbian Writers Fund grant. Noyes currently develops content for educational publishers and remains involved with organizations that serve runaway youths.