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WORK TITLE: Devils unto Dust
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.emmaberquist.com/
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COUNTRY: New Zealand
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Emma Berquist is a writer and novelist who grew up in Austin, Texas. She currently lives in New Zealand. She credits her upbringing in Texas with helping her with her debut novel, Devils unto Dust. “I definitely drew on my experiences in west Texas to write this book. Knowing what the landscape looks like, knowing how the sun feels in the summer, knowing how people talk, knowing what it smells like—all of that helps to create a setting that feels real and lived in,” Berquist told an interviewer on the website Book People.
In Devils unto Dust, Berquist combines the “excitement and harsh beauty of the frontier with a straight shot of zombie terror,” noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Set in the year 1877 in an alternate history version of Texas, the story centers on Daisy “Willie” Wilcox, a seventeen-year-old girl struggling to take care of her three younger siblings and deal with the harsh environment around her. Willie and the other residents of Glory, Texas, a walled stronghold, strive to avoid exposure to the disease that creates real-world zombies, known as shakes, mindless creatures that feed on the dead and spread the disease by attacking the uninfected. Willie’s mother was killed by the disease, and other members of the Glory community have died from it as well.
Things get worse for Willie when her father runs away from Glory, allegedly taking with him $400 that was supposed to go to someone else as a bounty. The two men who lost the money give Willie two choices: either she finds her father and recovers the money or she must pay it back herself. With no other option, she sets off across the desert in the company of two shake hunters, the brothers Benjamin and Curtis Garret, in search of her hard-drinking gambler father. Along the way, Willie and her companions will have to deal with the harsh Texas environment, wandering shakes, other hunters, and obstacles that could prove deadly with no warning. The shake hunters she hired might even turn out to be an obstacle themselves, as hunters have the reputation of turning on their employers.
“Berquist’s debut, genre-bending novel is sure to entice the zombie-loving crowd as well as adventure seekers,” observed Stephanie Wilkes in a review in Voice of Youth Advocates. Zombie fans “will find a new, carefully hewn setting to sink their teeth into and a gritty protagonist to root for,” remarked a Kirkus Reviews contributor. “Dark and gritty, this dystopian novel doesn’t shy away from death or danger,” commented School Library Journal writer Rebecca Greer.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, December 1, 2017, Beth McIntyre, review of Devils unto Dust, p. 53.
Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2018, review of Devils unto Dust.
Publishers Weekly, March 5, 2018, review of Devils unto Dust, p. 74.
School Library Journal, February, 2018, Rebecca Greer, review of Devils unto Dust, p. 97.
Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2018, Stephanie Wilkes, review of Devils unto Dust, p. 68.
ONLINE
BookPeople, http://www.bookpeopleblog.com/ (April 5, 2018), “Teen Thursday: Q&A with Local YA Author Emma Berquist.”
Emma Berquist website, http://www.emmaberquist.com (July 9, 2018).
About
Emma Berquist grew up in Austin, Texas and sunburns easily. She currently lives in New Zealand and avoids the beach. DEVILS UNTO DUST is her first novel.
Teen Thursday: Q&A with local YA author Emma Berquist
eugevela Teen, Uncategorized April 5, 2018
We’re thrilled to host local debut author Emma Berquist on Saturday, April 14 at 6 p.m. to discuss her YA book, Devils Unto Dust. Mark your calendars and check out our Q&A with the author below!
Emma Berquist.jpg
BP: What has been the biggest surprise about publishing your debut novel?
EB: How long it takes! I didn’t realize how much time it would take for my book to go from a draft on my computer to an actual physical copy in my hands. There’s multiple rounds of edits, then picking the cover, then the advanced copies before you finally get to hold the finished product in your hands.
BP: Who are your YA influences?
EB: Some writers that are currently inspiring me: Kendare Blake, Mindy McGinnis, Sabaa Tahir, and Leigh Bardugo.
BP: Your book Devils Unto Dust has been described as “The Walking Dead meets West World”. What two pop culture connections would YOU use to describe your book to potential readers?
EB: I would say it’s a combination of True Grit and 28 Days Later.
9780062642783
BP: How did your Texas upbringing affect your writing style, specifically in writing this novel?
EB: They say “write what you know,” and I definitely drew on my experiences in west Texas to write this book. Knowing what the landscape looks like, knowing how the sun feels in the summer, knowing how people talk, knowing what it smells like — all of that helps to create a setting that feels real and lived in.
BP: What books did you love as a child?
EB: I loved fantasy as kid (still do!) and my favorite series were the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede and anything by Tamora Pierce.
BP: What is the hardest thing about writing?
EB: Having to actually sit down and get the words on the page. It’s easy to come up with an idea but a lot harder to turn that idea into an entire book.
BP: What’s the best thing about writing?
EB: I love that I get to create my own world and all the players in it. And it’s the best feeling when other people like visiting the world you’ve created. (Also, it’s pretty sweet that you get to write off books on your taxes.)
BP: What’s your favorite word?
EB: I like beautiful words that mean awful things, like “abattoir” or “oubliette”.
BP: What’s a sentence you’ve loved and remembered from a book?
EB: A line that’s repeated in Garth Nix’s Abhorsen books: “Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?”
BP: What would you be doing if you weren’t a writer?
EB: Probably working at a library!
BP: What are you currently reading?
EB: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao and People Like Us by Dana Mele
Come meet Emma Berquist at BookPeople on Saturday, April 14th at 6 p.m. Can’t make the event? You can still preorder a signed copy online!
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Print Marked Items
Berquist, Emma. Devils unto Dust
Stephanie Wilkes
Voice of Youth Advocates.
41.1 (Apr. 2018): p68.
COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
4Q * 4P * J * S
Berquist, Emma. Devils unto Dust. Greenwillow/HarperCollins, April 2018. 496p. $17.99. 978-0-06-
264278-3.
In a world where The Walking Dead meets True Grit, sixteen-year-old Willie has become the head of her
family, keeping her siblings alive and out of trouble and stepping in for her dead mother and drunk, deserter
father. In Glory, Texas, the walls are high to keep out the infected people, known as "shakes," who feed off
of any living creature. The shakes are not Willie's only problem, however, because inside the walls of the
town, a local shake hunter is after her to pay her fathers debts. She has no choice but to leave Glory and
head into the shake-infested desert to seek her father. After hiring two young shake hunters to be her guides,
Willie sets off and discovers that shakes are not the only thing to fear in the desert.
With a setting unlike any other in young adult fiction--where horror meets western--and a fast-paced
narrative with strong characters, Berquist's debut, genre-bending novel is sure to entice the zombie-loving
crowd as well as adventure seekers. --Stephanie Wilkes.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Wilkes, Stephanie. "Berquist, Emma. Devils unto Dust." Voice of Youth Advocates, Apr. 2018, p. 68.
General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536746188/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=5bf2d79d. Accessed 24 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536746188
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Devils unto Dust
Publishers Weekly.
265.10 (Mar. 5, 2018): p74.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* Devils unto Dust
Emma Berquist. Greenwillow, $17.99 (496p)
ISBN 978-0-06-264278-3
In Berquist's blistering debut, it's 1877, and strong-willed 17-year-old Daisy "Willie" Wilcox is struggling to
support her three younger siblings in the desert town of Glory, Tex. The sickness that killed Willie's mother
has ravaged the country, creating "shakes," the cannibalistic infected people who roam outside Glory's
protective fences. Willie's father has run off, and when two men claim that he stole $400 from them, Willie
is given a week to find and retrieve him. She reluctantly hires two shake hunters, brothers Benjamin and
Curtis Garrett, to accompany her across the unforgiving desert. Willie narrates, taking readers on a
harrowing journey across a searing desert filled with ghost towns and the walking dead. Exploring the
bonds of loyalty, friendship, and bravery in the face of impossible odds, Berquist cleverly riffs on the work
of Cormac McCarthy, blending the excitement and harsh beauty of the frontier with a straight shot of
zombie terror. This wild western will delight horror and adventure fans alike. Ages 13-up. Agent: Heather
Flaherty, Bent Agency. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Devils unto Dust." Publishers Weekly, 5 Mar. 2018, p. 74. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A530430356/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=4c1d1ad4.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A530430356
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Berquist, Emma: DEVILS UNTO DUST
Kirkus Reviews.
(Feb. 15, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Berquist, Emma DEVILS UNTO DUST Greenwillow (Young Adult Fiction) $17.99 4, 10 ISBN: 978-0-06-
264278-3
After her father gambles the family into debt, Willie traverses a desert crawling with the undead to find him.
Willie, a white teen, lives with her Pa, younger brother Micah, and 7-year-old twin siblings in Glory, a small
town fenced off from the surrounding desert. Her mother passed away from the sickness that turns people
into shakes--zombie analogs. Shakes roam the desert, and their disease spreads easily; only hunters and
barbed wire keep them in check. One day hunters arrive at Willie's door looking for her gambling Pa--he's
stolen $400, and if it's not returned, it's on Willie and her siblings. Willie's full of gumption, so it isn't long
before she's decided to go after her Pa. She sets off with a couple of hunters, bluffing that she can pay their
full fee. Danger comes at them from all sides--shakes, hunters, heat, and dust storms pummel them along
the way. And though Willie thinks she's risking an awful lot venturing into the shake-filled desert, she has
no idea of the unthinkable surprises in store. Die-hard fans of the zombie genre will find a new, carefully
hewn setting to sink their teeth into and a gritty protagonist to root for. Tropes abound, but an audacious
climax and Willie's nerves of steel elevate this suspenseful adventure.
A refreshing genre-bender. (Western/horror. 14-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Berquist, Emma: DEVILS UNTO DUST." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A527248103/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a971d1f7.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A527248103
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Devils unto Dust
Beth McIntyre
Booklist.
114.7 (Dec. 1, 2017): p53+.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Devils unto Dust.
By Emma Berquist.
Apr. 2018. 496p. Greenwillow, $17.99 (9780062642783); e-book, $17.99
(9780062642806). Gr. 9-12.
The west Texas desert in 1877 holds harsh enough conditions without the spread of a mysterious illness that
turns people into "shakes," crazed flesh eaters who prey on the healthy, but that is exactly what has
happened. Daisy "Willie" Wilcox has seen the sickness ravage her community, kill her mother, and turn her
once-peaceful town into a walled prison. When her father disappears with a bounty he stole, Willie and her
siblings will pay the price unless she tracks him down. With the two young shake hunters she hired for
protection, she sets out across the desert to find him, battling dust storms, coyotes, and the living dead.
Willie is a strong, smart girl who has seen and participated in her share of horror before the journey even
begins. The plot moves at a steady pace but becomes repetitive a few times over the course of this debut
novel's nearly 500 pages. Themes of family and compassion shine through the light gore, and descriptions
of attacking shakes are handled with both empathy and gleeful grossness.--Beth McIntyre
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
McIntyre, Beth. "Devils unto Dust." Booklist, 1 Dec. 2017, p. 53+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A519036301/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=4dee4fae.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A519036301
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BERQUIST, Emma. Devils Unto Dust
Rebecca Greer
School Library Journal.
64.2 (Feb. 2018): p97.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
BERQUIST, Emma. Devils Unto Dust. 496p. Ha rperCollins/Greenwillow. Apr. 2018. Tr $17.99. ISBN
9780062642783. POP
Gr 9 Up--This debut novel is set in an alternate history of the American West. People live in fear of
"shakes," who become infected after getting sick and then feed on other humans and spread the infection.
Sixteen-year-old Daisy "Willie" Wilcox and her family live in the relative safety of Glory, TX, where she
cares for her three younger siblings after her mother dies. Glory, a fenced-in town, is ruled by The Judge--a
much-feared figure who doesn't care that his people are struggling to pay the monthly fee for his protection.
When Willie's drunk father steals money and flees, it becomes her responsibility to get the money back.
This sets her off on an adventure with the Garrett brothers, shake hunters who also act as guides to track
down her father. Hunters aren't known to be trustworthy, often killing the very people they were paid to
protect. Dark and gritty, this dystopian novel doesn't shy away from death or danger. Berquist wonderfully
balances the pace of the plot. The main characters are realistic and avoid pitfalls of instant love and abrupt
personality changes; even when learning to trust one another, the protagonists stay true to themselves. Full
of surprising twists and turns, this is a story of determination and perseverance as well as survival--in hard
times. VERDICT A great addition to any YA collection.--Rebecca Greer, Hillsborough County Public
Library Cooperative, FL
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Greer, Rebecca. "BERQUIST, Emma. Devils Unto Dust." School Library Journal, Feb. 2018, p. 97.
General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A526734099/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=9d9fbad9. Accessed 24 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A526734099