Coming of Age

The novel begins with Coyote Runs celebrating his coming of age. Coyote Runs is an Apache teenager who has just learned he will be going on a raiding party. This means that if Coyote Runs does well, he will be considered a man by the people of his village. Coyote Runs has believed for a long time that he was ready to prove his maturity and this raiding party will give him the opportunity to do so. However, Coyote Runs dies before his people can tell him he is a man, leaving his spirit in a kind of limbo as he waits to return to his people and become one with them once more.

At the same time, Brennan Cole is growing up in modern El Paso. Brennan has no father to guide him and to tell him when he is a man. However, Brennan is...