Poetry. Native American studies. These poems of close observation deeply reflect Bruchac's Abenaki Indian heritage. Like Thoreau, he is a scrupulous student of nature. In addition, he brings his unique cultural concerns to all he experiences--especially the need to preserve a vulnerable ecology while affirming native traditions. In this collection we find an ancient village ruin, kingfishers and red-tailed hawks in flight, burial places and a cedar flute. This is vintage Bruchac, a voice of hope and promise in a dark time. "The comforting power of silence within is a palpable presence in ABOVE THE LINE. Bruchac's work reminds us that beyond age, loss, and grief, the earth abides forever"--Paula Gunn Allen.

Novelist, short story writer, memoirist, and anthologist Joseph Bruchac is the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Writers Circle of the Americas and also has received both the Traditional Storytelling and the Prose Writing Awards from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. He is the author of over 100 books for both adults and young readers.