It's Nothing to a Mountain

The metaphysical atmosphere present in Hite's Dither Farm is more delicately evoked in this second novel, which also offers a cast of boldly defined characters and a great deal of adventure, including a death-defying underground journey. The year is 1969, but in the Sparkling River Valley, it could be any era. Living with her grandparents since her parents' untimely demise, Lisette Sutter ponders mysteries of life and death while her more practical brother, Riley, makes friends with a runaway boy, Thorpe, who is hiding out in a cave. As the story develops, Thorpe saves Riley's life, Riley becomes Thorpe's chief supplier of food and other necessities, and Lisette, who has only glimpsed Thorpe from a distance, becomes convinced that he is her guardian angel. Disasters strike simultaneously when Riley fails to deliver an important message, Lisette loses an invaluable memento and the entrance to Thorpe's cave is sealed by a landslide. A series of coincidences, possibly miracles, brings salvation to all characters and neatly ties together the tangled threads of the plot. Shaped by the author's philosophical digressions, archetypal renderings and appreciation for the absurd, this tale about mortality and immortality will most satisfy readers with a strong imagination and a contemplative nature. Ages 12-up. (May)