Cactus QueenBy: Lori Alexander Illustrator: Jenn Ely A 2025 Bank Street College of Education Cook Prize Silver Medalist The Nature Generation's 2025 Green Earth Book Award Short List How did the Joshua Tree National Park in California come to be? Meet Minerva Hamilton Hoyt, an artist, activist, and environmentalist, whose determination saved the desert and helped to create the park, in this STEAM picture book. Long before she became known as the Cactus Queen,