Turtle Dream: Collected Stories from the Hopi, Navajo, Pueblo, and Havasupai People

Each of the five stories in this collection depicts a young Native American at a moment of epiphany, when profound truths are glimpsed. Lisa, a 12-year-old Navajo, has a vivid dream of a turquoise horse; how she chooses to share her dream reveals her calling as a poet. Sam, half Havasupai, returns to his people's canyon after years away and confronts a paralyzing childhood fear. Beth makes her peace with the afterlife, embracing and even rejoicing in change. Contemplative rather than strongly active, these are lyrical, quietly forceful pieces that effectively portray their characters' links to both the physical and spiritual worlds. Readers are invited to probe such mysteries as visions and ghosts and are also given insight into the tensions between the ways of ``the people'' and the demands of the modern world. Ages 12-up. (Nov.)