by Betsy James
First published 2005
Kat carries the burden of her parents' forbidden union between Hill and Upslope peoples. At sixteen, she knows how others see her mixed heritage as shameful. During the ceremonial week of the Long Night Dance, she discovers a Rigi man struggling in the churning waters and drags him to safety. This stranger from across the sea looks nothing like the people she knows. His rescue forces Kat into contact with someone her community would reject outright. As she tends to his recovery, Kat watches how others treat this outsider. She sees their assumptions about his worth based on his foreign appearance and unknown origins. The encounter challenges everything Kat believed about how people judge each other. Through caring for this man, she starts questioning whether bloodlines and appearances truly determine someone's value.
Genres: romance, coming-of-age, fantasy, cultural
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Hill, Upslope, Rigi
Period: Long Night Dance
217 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Simon & Schuster Inc