Living reclusively in the Arizona desert since the death of his girlfriend, Erin Neal suddenly finds himself back on the international stage when a number of important Saudi oil resources are threatened by a mysterious new bacteria with a voracious appetite for oil.

"A surreal, lyrical work of narrative nonfiction that portrays how the largest domestic oil discovery in half a century transformed a forgotten corner of the American West into a crucible of breakneck capitalism. As North Dakota became the nation's second-largest oil producer, Maya Rao set out in steel-toe boots to join a wave of drifters, dreamers, entrepreneurs, and criminals. With an eye for the dark, absurd, and humorous, Rao fearlessly immersed...

"Engaging images accompany information about oil field workers. The combination of high-interest subject matter and light text is intended for students in grades 3 through 7"--

During the 1920's, the mad rush for oil changed Tulsa from a sleepy plains town to a bustling metropolis. It seemed as if Tulsa became the oil capital of the world virtually overnight, but at what cost? Cherokee Lansing, a beautiful cattleman's daughter, loses her father in a freak oil mining accident. Determined to save her ranch, she attempts to single-handedly challenge a powerful oil mogul, only to become one herself.--Container.