Canyons

Booktalk:

Canyons is the compelling story of two boys with intertwined lives and histories--Brennan Cole, a teenage boy growing up in modern-day El Paso, Texas, and Coyote Runs, an Apache boy living in the El Paso area of yesterday.

While on a camping trip with his mother and her new boyfriend, Brennan finds a human skull. Feeling strangely drawn to the skull, he brings it home with him, determined to uncover its mysterious origins. With the help of a biology teacher at his school, Brennan researches the skull and finds that it belonged to Coyote Runs, an Apache boy his own age, who had been murdered by U. S. troops on a raid.

Brennan feels a bond with the boy and sets off on a quest to return the skull to its rightful place in the desert. Along the way, his relationship with his family and his understanding of himself grow and change. His journey draws the reader into one boy's journey into adulthood--and finding himself.

This book, targeted to middle-school age readers, could help open discussions of Apache history and culture, as well as the history of Texas and the American Southwest. Additionally, the story features coming-of-age themes that could prompt a discussion of rituals of initiation into adulthood in different cultures. Runs with Horses by Brian Burks, also reviewed on this site, is another book that focuses on Apache coming-of-age rituals.

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