Description: "...a dramatic, compelling story with appealing characters." -- HI-RISE newspaper "The novel is based on a Kwakiutl transformation myth which centered on the belief that, when the salmon were scarce, a warrior could call them back by diving into the water and turning into a salmon. Well researched, the novel transmits a powerful sense of ancient native culture and values and an understanding of aboriginal life before European contact. The award-winning author of If I Just Had Two Wings , Virginia Frances Schwartz evokes a strong reverence for the natural world and makes a plea for conservation to save the endangered migrating salmon. Young readers will relate to the challenges of the three remarkable protagonists on the threshold of maturity who question the traditional roles their society expected them to fulfill." -- CM Magazine "Grounded in the myths and legends of the Northwest Indians, Schwartz's story contains lots of details of daily life infused with reverence for the natural world." -- School Library Journal "At its best Schwartz's prose is lyrical, concrete and sensual in a way that evokes the salty, watery life of B.C.'s coast and conveys vividly the longings of her characters...plays beautifully with the metaphor of female transformation, of a freedom that comes through joining the animal world...there's something potent and haunting about this imagining." -- The Toronto Star "Beautiful language and a strong sense of place and history combine to make Initiation a vivid and memorable book. Grounded in pre-contact Kwakiutl culture, this powerful novel centres on three young people whose passage into adulthood will change the fate of their tribes. Virginia Frances Schwartz has crafted a superb fantasy novel, resonant with the strength of myth and timeless in its examination of the human heart." -- Sunburst Award jury

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