Totem — Charlie Sheldon

...an undeniable page-turner....An engaging and thoughtfully conceived finale to an impressive series. - Kirkus ReviewsA land of history, magic and legend.... Sarah Cooley, 14, and her friends want to return to Bear Valley in Olympic National Park before Buckhorn begins mining erbium, a substance rumored to detoxify coal. Carl Larsen, saddled with his difficult niece Laurie, is investigating mysterious elk kills on nearby National Forest lands. Victoria Oldsea, Buckhorn's project manager, hopes to take her son Jared camping as a break from work before the mining begins. A terrible windstorm upends everything. Strange, inexplicable animals appear. Ancient visions of an ancient people, perhaps dreams, possibly memory, are reported. Are the Olympics more mysterious than anyone knows? Does the answer lie in Bear Valley? Totem is the third and concluding tale in the Strong Heart series, starting in Strong Heart, continuing in Adrift, and now following Sarah Cooley and her friends to an astounding conclusion as they face conflict, danger, mythical legend, and ancient truth.*Praise for Totem: The mark of a great story is when you don't want it to end. Totem is such a story. Weaving Ice Age challenges with contemporary climate demands, we care about the people and the planet, dire wolves and short-face bears, bullies and memories wrapped in wonder. Most of all, I kept saying as I read: this is the way it must have been...and perhaps still is. Thanks for the journey into the Olympic Peninsula's past and the way it shapes the present. Well done, master yarn spinner Sheldon. -- Jane Kirkpatrick, Award-winning author of Something Worth Doing