The Stick

This is the story of a young girl, Max, who has a coming of age experience, similar to a "walkabout". She is taken by her parents to meet her grandmother, who lives alone on an island somewhere in the Puget Sound. The grandmother tells Max an old family legend that has been passed on through generations of women and gives her a magic driftwood stick. The girl is unimpressed and unhappy. Her adventure begins when Max goes exploring on her own looking for berries, taking the magic stick with her. She gets lost and finds help from the animals who's spirits are in the stick. By the end of the story, the girl has learned to appreciate nature and her own place in her family's history. She has found unexpected strength in herself.

This is a sort of a walkabout