Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Protagonist archetypes
Synopsis
After 40 years in the Sonora desert, Albert and Hallie Ryder discover that tailings from abandoned copper mines have poisoned their groundwater. In order to protect the desert animals they love from drinking water that may kill them, the Ryders foul their cistern, the only reliable water source in the area. This triggers a crisis of survival for a coyote Hallie has named Brand X. Brand X begins a quest for water, for the mythical Skywater, which attracts a cadre of coyote followers and brings him into contact with a number of two-legged desert dwellers. This book explores in intimate detail the southwestern desert life of coyotes from the point of view of the coyotes themselves.
Is Skywater appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 10 and up.
A coyote embarks on a quest for water after humans contaminate the only reliable source in the desert. Features animal survival challenges and environmental themes with mild peril but no graphic content.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, no sexual content, and clean language. Content notes include animal death, environmental destruction, and survival.
Who'll love this
Readers who love animal stories and nature adventures will be drawn into the desert world through the eyes of coyotes on a life-or-death quest.