CLIMBING TO THE SUN

Following an avalanche on their Montana Rockies slope, three mountain goats must seek safer ground, and their problematic quest, troubled by hungry predators and foul hunters, is the plot of this supersensitive first novel. Carroll's style is wholly inappropriate for children interested in the simple story--a sesquipedalian vocabulary and sentences as winding as a mountain trail: ""The three goats moved as if one, all dashing to their left in simultaneous leaps, telepathic choreography--Seo eluding Oll's rush, Tum Tsoy, favoring his shoulder, making room for her dash, and Turn Lum, with the old protective instinct infusing his legs with energy, running directly in front of all."" A caring Indian boy, Musk the fox, and Pask the wind make cameo appearances. Ba-a-ah.