Soonchild

Russell Hoban's poignant final novel tells the story of Sixteen-Face John, an Arctic shaman who feels disconnected from his traditional ways. His pregnant wife faces a crisis: their soonchild refuses to be born because she cannot hear the World Songs, the vital music that inspires all newborns. John must embark on a perilous, shape-shifting quest through the spirit world and the realm of the dead, encountering mythical creatures and his ancestors, to rediscover these lost songs. This book, while marketed for young adults, offers a deep, lyrical exploration of identity, connection, and the enduring power of cultural heritage, making it a rich read-aloud for younger children and a thought-provoking independent read for older elementary and middle schoolers.

In the cold north, when Sixteen-Face John, a shaman, learns that his first child, a soonchild, cannot hear the World Songs that inspire all newborns from their mother's wombs, he sets out on a quest that takes him through many lifetimes and many shape-shifts, as well as encounters with beasts, demons and a mysterious benevolent owl spirit, Ukpika, who is linked to John's past.