Initiation

NWinner of the Silver Birch AwardWinner of the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction 2005 Diamond Willow Award Nominee Shortlisted for the 2004 Sunburst Award I am prey, caught in a spider's web. Every time the spider creeps, hemakes me whirl around and around. My life is spinning without me. I cling to the web withmy hands and feet. I look for a place to leap. Nana's future is certain, and she dreads it. Daughter of a proud Kwakiutlchief, she will become a weaver, marry the son of a chief from another tribe, and leaveher beloved home forever. Nanolatch, Nana's twin brother, will be chief one day, and hewelcomes it. He will be a warrior and a strong leader, just like his father. Together, thetwins will enter their initiation to adulthood, and fulfill the roles that have beendetermined for them since the day they were born. But when the chief leads a warring party to destroy another tribe'svillage and capture a slave, the fortunes of the Kwakiutl tribe begin to turn. Convincedthat they must make amends, the chief casts about for a way to undo the curse that hasdescended on their people. The young slave, Noh, has been mute since the day she was torn from hervillage. Daughter of a shaman, she has already seen visions of the twins. Only graduallydoes she understand that her own emergence as a shaman is inextricably linked with thetwins and their approaching initiation. Through her sympathy for Nana and her growing lovefor Nanolatch, she understands that she must help them fulfill their true destiny. But canshe save them, knowing that it will take a terrible sacrifice to restore them all to theirrightful place?Schwartz, Virginia Frances is the author of 'Initiation' with ISBN 9781550050530 and ISBN 1550050532.