THE LASTLING

Two young people from different cultures find themselves living on the edge when they struggle to protect an endangered life. Worldly Paris, 14, is excited when her uncle Franklin invites her on a Himalayan hunting expedition. She admires Franklin, who tells her “they are members of the same species,” but is disillusioned to find he’s illegally hunting endangered animals. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Tahr and Shengo, the Buddhist monk who raised him, embark on a journey from their mountain hut, but Shengo dies en route. Lost and alone, Tahr stumbles into Franklin’s camp where Paris befriends him. When Franklin learns Tahr has seen a prehistoric yeti-type creature in the forest, he becomes obsessed with capturing it. Tahr and Paris unite to save the young yeti, and hunters and warring rebels pursue the three unlikely companions. This fast-paced adventure raises troubling moral and ecological issues, as Paris realizes the importance of kindness, compassion and friendship in a world racked by greed, cruelty and violence. Provocative and edgy. (Fiction. 12-15)