This fictional story by Eric Walters takes place in a very unique setting: the Sahara desert. Ethan Chambers is a teenage drunk who couldn't care less about anything, except maybe his not-so-great relationship with his uber-busy business father. After a drinking incident that gets Ethan expelled from his prestigious high school in England, he is sent away to NYC where his dad lives. Or so he thought. Ethan's dad has a different plan for him. After passing out from another drink, Ethan wakes up hung over in the Sahara desert.  According to his father's letter, he must walk all the way to a city called Tunis. Once there, he will receive a large sum of money as a reward. Ethan finds himself accompanied by three enthusiastic teens who, like him, are walking to Tunis. Led by their guide named Larson, Ethan will face many challenges socially (working as a team), internally (finding the strength to not give up), and physically (the drastic climate, the extreme blisters, the venomous species). He will have to push himself like never before to achieve what so few can do.

Ethan is a well-written character whose goals, fears, hopes, and motivations are well described and shown throughout his journey. I could not put the book down. The sub plots are appealing and will make you keep wondering what will happen next. Eric Walter's writing flowed nicely and the themes were evident. This would make a great choice for book report because you can write about how Ethan changes or about the lessons he learns. In my opinion, Just Deserts is a fantastic book that readers can connect to. I recommend this book to teens who like happy endings, humour, survival, and achieving personal goals.