Long ago in a mountain village far away, a baby girl was born who was “as black and silent as wonder.” Her parents called her Shining, and were worried when she didn’t talk as she grew older. Suspicious of her silence, when Shining was two, her parents took her to see the village wise woman, know as The One. They learned from her that silence was a natural thing for Shining. The other villagers are less accepting, however, and when Shining turns 12, they elect to exclude her from the coming-of-age ceremony. The wise woman returns to inform them that Shining is destined to be her heir, the next wise woman in the village. John Clapp’s striking charcoal and watercolor illustrations add a sense of eerie mystery to the story. (Ages 7–10)