The Last Salmon
Phil Davis, Billy Frank Jr
Paperback
(CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Dec. 18, 2015)
Our story is set along the banks of the Chuketna River where people have come together to celebrate the season's first returning Chinook salmon. The children gather to hear a remarkable tale of how this mighty run was nearly extinct years before. We are submerged into a watery world as we follow Buck, Spring, and their schoolmates in their intrepid journey from river to ocean and back again; a voyage filled with discovery, adventure, loss, and renewal. We are reminded of the power of compassion and determination joined with an unwavering sense of purpose in the salmon's struggle to survive and in one boy's resolve to help. In our complex debate about the fate of this dwindling icon, "The Last Salmon" challenges us to find common ground around the simple notion of taking only what abundance can spare.