VISION QUEST

by Pamela F. Service ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1989

A lonely girl helps the spirit of an Indian shaman find peace. After her father's death, Kate Elliott and her mother have moved to a small Nevada mining town. Grieving, withdrawn, and feeling alienated by the bleak landscape, Kate is at first unreceptive to the visions that besiege her of an Indian boy hundreds of years in the past. These visions intensify after she discovers a spirit stone that belonged to the boy and realizes that she must recover its mate so that the young shaman's spirit can rest. To do so, she must overcome her aversion to people and make friends with budding archaeologist Jimmy Fong. Together they steal the second stone from Honest Pete, a part-time Indian grave-robber--and full time marijuana grower--and set the spirit to rest. Part ghost story--with the nice touch that 20th-century Kate and ancient Indian Wadat are each ghost to the other--and part resolution of a young girl's depression and isolation, the story has both freshness and a sense of immediacy. The subplot concerning Jimmy's reluctance to carry on the family restaurant adds little; the kids throwing themselves in the way of a dangerous drug-dealer is implausible at best; still, high marks for imagination and verve.

Pub Date: April 1, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1989

Categories: CHILDREN'S