Canyons — Gary Paulsen

Two boys, separated by the canyons of time and two vastly different cultures, face the challenges by which they become men.

Coyote Runs, an Apache boy, takes part in his first raid--the one that will usher him into manhood. He is to be a man for but a short time...

More than a hundred years later, while camping near Dog Canyon, fifteen-year-old Brennan Cole becomes obsessed with a skull that he finds, pierced by a bullet. He learns that it was the skull of an Apache boy executed by soldiers in 1864. A mystical link joins Brennan and Coyote Runs, and Brennan knows that neither boy will find any peace until Coyote Runs' skull is retumed to an ancient sacred place. In a grueling run through the canyon to retum the skull, Brennan faces the challenge of his life.