I WEAR THE MORNING STAR

The third and final installment in The Ghost Horse Cycle presents the life of young Sitko, grandson of the capable Northern Plains Indian woman Amana, whose life was chronicled in the earlier two books. After the breakup of his family, Sitko is lodged in a repressive children's home. When he and his brother Reno are reunited there, Sitko is overjoyed but finds himself increasingly in the shadow of his attractive brother. Their mother takes up with a movie actor and the children are moved onto his beautiful estate, but it is the spiritual nourishment of grandmother Amana which sustains Sitko. The shadowy figure of Sitko's improvident father, Jamie Ghost Horse, appears from time to time as both a prophetic warning and a threat; and after Sitko has endured several beatings and punishments, been ostracized from the mainstream American culture of his school and the movieland industry, the book culminates in a bloody Hollywood-type murder. Throughout, Sitko's artistic consciousness and talent as a painter develop; it is as a dreamer, a visionary, that he will overcome the obstacles of personal and social tragedy. Highwater's storytelling is dramatic and energetic, reading at times like the action in a vigorous adventure film: Sitko will prove a most appealing character to young readers.