The Valley of No Return

Written by John Tomerlin
Illustrated by Michael Lacapa

Havasu Canyon, an Arizona branch of the Grand Canyon, is famed for its natural beauty. However, it is less well-known that floods occasionally rampage through the valley on their way to the Colorado River.

Two young people set out one afternoon in the autumn of 1909 to visit " Dead Man’s Falls," north of the Supai Village. A prank played on them by a young member of the Havasupais Indian tribe becomes potentially lethal when a flash flood cuts off their return.

For the next several days the pair must endure cold and hunger while attempting to make their way to safety; the situation grows yet more deadly when they discover they are being stalked by a hungry mountain lion.

This is a story of two young people from diverse backgrounds—one, the son of a mining engineer; the other a daughter of the tribal chief whose people are threatened with exile from their ancestral land—and of the lessons learned as they struggle for survival.

Spanish translation available.

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