cover image The Spirit Line

The Spirit Line

Aimee Thurlo, David Thurlo. Viking Books, $16.99 (216pp) ISBN 978-0-670-03645-5

David and Aimee Thurlo keep to their familiar setting but leave behind their usual whodunit format for The Spirit Line, an emotional tale of a 15-year-old Navajo girl who yearns to discover life beyond the reservation. Crystal Manyfeathers's mother died a year before the story opens, and her father has grown increasingly distant. As Crystal prepares for her Kinaald -a grueling Navajo coming-of-age ceremony and the novel's climactic scene-her faith in the traditional ways begins to wane.