This stunning first novel fuses breathless adventure, a bittersweet love story, and an intriguing role reversal--all played out in an unusual (and thoroughly researched) Native American setting. On the Great Plains in the 1700s a young girl yearns to prove that she, and not her dead twin brother, is destined to become the Great One. Among her people, the Apsaalooka (also known as Crow), women warriors are rare but not forbidden, a tradition that allows the girl to train fiercely and set out on a journey to prove her greatness. She finds it in Yellowstone--where the land itself steams--in a hair-raising battle with a grizzly bear that finally yields its hide and claws as trophies. But the fight leaves her wounded and weakened, and she is taken prisoner by a band of Pawnees. Strangely, they treat her with respect and tenderness. The boy, Wolfstar, who has been assigned to be her keeper, is especially kind, despite her harsh and angry rejection of him. Through a long summer of close companionship, love grows between the strong, fiery girl and the wise and gentle boy. Suddenly, her illusions of acceptance are stripped away when she discovers she has been groomed to be the Morning Star sacrifice. Can she escape? And can she trust Wolfstar to help her? The breathtaking conclusion will have young adults closing the book with tremulous but satisfied sighs.

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