Ancient cliff dwellers. A thirsty land. Secretive strangers. And in the middle of it all, Cliff Bird, an orphan girl of the Long Ago People who can run from everything except her thoughts and feelings. Halfway between earth and sky, her people seek to sustain their way of life beneath the caprock of the Colorado plateau. What does Cliff Bird mean to her people, and will she—lonely, lanky, and independent—be able to stop what is about to happen the place she calls home?
Amazon.com listing (First Edition & Second Edition)
Royal Fireworks Press, 2015 1st edition, 2021 2nd edition
Mesa Verde was once home to the Ancestral Puebloans—the Hisatsinom, or Long-ago People. Here at the mesa, these people—rich in culture and wise in their knowledge of the earth—once farmed and hunted; built homes, gathering places, and irrigation systems; and raised their families. Halfway between earth and sky, in a place where eagles soar and quiet reigns, their dwellings still nestle beneath the cap rock of the canyons. Circa 1300 A.D., they began a great migration and, within the span of a few short years, the Colorado Plateau lay essentially uninhabited. But recorded in the masonry of their dwellings and the thousands of artifacts they left behind are life stories long untold.