Awards and Reviews
Call of the Desert: Crossing
The Bookfest Award Winner
I'm pleased to announce that
Call of the Desert: Crossing won Second Place in Fiction-YA-Fantasy at The BookFest the weekend of October 26–27, 2024!
BookLife Prize 2024 Quarterfinalist
"This mystical adventure, set in 1970s Saudi Arabia, follows Claire as she settles into her new life in the desert, facing typical adolescent hurdles—including first love—and more unconventional challenges, like biblically proportioned plagues ..."
BookLife Review 9/2024
"Beautiful coming-of-age fusing foreign culture with biblical stories."
"Vogel crafts a magical world in this YA debut, inspired by her own childhood experiences, that follows 12-year-old Claire Hamilton, who has just moved to Saudi Arabia with her family."
The Prairies Book Review 10/2024
"A raw, evocative, and atmospheric coming-of-age story."
"Vogel delves into the complexities of self-discovery through a young girl’s journey in a new culture in her compelling novel."
"A must-read."
Call of the Desert: Exile
IPPY Award Winner
I'm pleased to announce that
Call of the Desert: Exile tied for the Bronze medal in the Young Adult Fiction - Fantasy category of the 2025 Independent Publisher Book Awards!
Foreword Clarion Reviews
"A girl in chronic pain learns to stand up for herself and be honest with her friends in the warm novel Call of the Desert."
"A complex, compelling novel about strength and trust, Call of the Desert tackles self-discovery, tested friendships, and the realities of scoliosis."
BookLife Prize 2025
"Vogel's sequel to Call of the Desert: Crossing once again meets up with the gifted Claire Hamilton, now 14 and in 9th grade, who adores her new home in Saudi Arabia but is dreading the end of the school year, when she and her boyfriend, Luke, may have to split up for boarding school."
Lord of All Hopefulness: Waking
Booklife Review 5/2026
"Nuanced, introspective journey
from outsider to true self."
"Claire Hamilton returns in Vogel’s latest Beloved Daughter book, following the events of Call of the Desert: Exile. Now 15-years-old, Claire is thrust into the rarified air of the 1973 American Academy of Switzerland, uprooted from the familiar heat of her home in Saudi Arabia."