Cathryn, I also read RC and liked it...maybe a year ago. HD has gone back to work on her novel; she started it when she was about 12 or 14; she is 20 now. She got 2 short stories published in UCSC literary magazines; not as difficult to do as commercial literary journals, but she does write very well. But, when I last saw it, the first chapter of the novel was a mess.
I just read for the first time 2 of the novels that she read; man, "parable of the sower" is good but depressing. I can't really recommend it for that latter reason. It is what the LA region will be like in about 2025. It was written in the year 2000 and early in the novel the author kind of nailed what the Gulf Coast could be like (Katrina, 2005).

Chris