Hautman, Pete. Hole in the sky.HAUTMAN, Pete. Hole in the sky. Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster U.S. publishing company. It was founded in 1924 by Richard L. Simon (1899–1960) and M. Lincoln Schuster (1897–1970), whose initial project, the original crossword-puzzle book, was a best-seller. , Pulse. 215p. c2001.0-689-84428-X. $5.99. JS To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, May 2001 : In the year 2036, a mutant strain of flu has wiped out most of the Earth's population. Civilization has broken down, and people live in tiny isolated communities, fearful of contact with anyone who might carry the virus. Ceej, age 16, lives a lonely life on the north rim of the Grand Canyon Grand Canyon, great gorge of the Colorado River, one of the natural wonders of the world; c.1 mi (1.6 km) deep, from 4 to 18 mi (6.4–29 km) wide, and 217 mi (349 km) long, NW Ariz. , with only his uncle and his older sister Harryette for company. Harryette is one of the Survivors, those few who contracted the dreadful flu and were not killed by it but only damaged: she can no longer hear or speak, but communicates using sign language. Their only contact with the outside world is a trader named Hap, who comes by with supplies once a month, bringing along his 16-year-old son Tim, Ceej's only friend. Hap and Ceej's uncle are worried about the Glen Canyon Dam Glen Canyon Dam, 710 ft (216 m) high, 1,560 ft (475 m) long, NE Ariz., on the Colorado River. The key unit of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Colorado River storage project, it is one of the world's largest concrete dams (larger in bulk, though not in height, than upriver from the canyon, which is in danger of overflowing and creating a dangerous flood. The two go off to try and open the sluice gates the sliding gate of a sluice. See also: Sluice , but when they don't return in a few days, and Harryette goes missing too, the two boys head into the canyon in search of them. There they encounter a Hopi girl named Isabella, on a quest to find a sipapu (hole) in the sky that her grandfather had spoken of as a holy place, and pass through it to another world. The three team up to find the missing family members, locating them in the clutches of a fanatical fa·nat·i·cal adj. Possessed with or motivated by excessive, irrational zeal. fa·nat  i·cal·ly adv. group of survivors called the Kinka. Ceej and Isabella fall in love, and so do Tim and Harryette, whom they manage to rescue. Though infected in·fect tr.v. in·fect·ed, in·fect·ing, in·fects 1. To contaminate with a pathogenic microorganism or agent. 2. To communicate a pathogen or disease to. 3. To invade and produce infection in. with the virus, Isabella and Tim find the hole she was searching for, as the floodwaters rush down toward the canyon. This strange but involving SF adventure story incorporates mysticism mysticism (mĭs`tĭsĭzəm) [Gr.,=the practice of those who are initiated into the mysteries], the practice of putting oneself into, and remaining in, direct relation with God, the Absolute, or any unifying principle of life. in its discussion of the sacred Hopi belief in the sipapu. The four main characters each relate a section of the book, so we see the characters from different angles and get to know them well. Hautman, author of the YA novels Stone Cold and Mr. Was as well as books for adults, writes lyrically about the Grand Canyon, and the tense plot will keep readers turning the pages, Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT |
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