BEARDANCE

Ute teenager Cloyd Atcitty undertakes a spirit journey while caring for the last two grizzly cubs in the Colorado wilderness. Still smarting from his part in the death of the great bear in Bearstone (1989), Cloyd heads for the hills with old prospector Walter Landis, searching for a fabled gold mine. Hearing a rumor of another grizzly sighting, Cloyd excitedly goes off on his own; with the help of a naturalist who calls herself ``Ursa'' and fills him with bear lore, he finds a female and three cubs. Tragedy strikes when the mother and one cub die in an avalanche; to keep game wardens from removing the survivors to captivity, Cloyd dons the mother's pelt and lures the cubs deeper into the wild. Teaching them to survive and prepare for hibernation becomes a grueling rite of passage, but Cloyd gets through, finding food, shelter, and even the gold mine thanks to helpers both human and visionary. With a sturdy conservation message, a survival story that will find a ready audience in Gary Paulsen and Jean Craighead George fans. (Fiction. 12-14)