A lengthy California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, turning Alyssa's quiet suburban street into a warzone, and she is forced to make impossible choices if she and her brother are to survive.

In the isolated desert kingdom of Achra, sixteen-year-old Princess Kateri flees the palace and trains with the rebel Desert Boys to overthrow the cruel captain of the guard in this retelling of Frank Stockton's short story, "The Lady, or the Tiger?"