A Gift for Ampato, by New Brunswick writer Susan Vande Griek, weaves together the stories of three Incas: a pubescent girl, Timta, who is chosen unwillingly as a sacrifice to persuade the mountain gods to send favourable weather; her friend Karwa, serenely devoted to her society’s beliefs and wistful for the honour bestowed on Timta; and an old woman, Riti, who has turned her back on her gods and her people since her daughter was sacrificed. In a carefully constructed plot twist, Timta and Riti band together, and Karwa fulfils her true destiny.

This story is intercut with the gradually unfolding account of the recent discovery in the Peruvian mountains of the Ice Maiden, a mummy of a young Inca girl in ceremonial garb. Vande Griek expertly paces her narratives, disclosing exposition only as the reader needs it to build suspense. Unfortunately, her characters always seem remote from the reader, robbing the denouement of impact.

Vande Griek’s style is generally lucid and polished. She appeals to all the senses, slipping in details of Incan clothes, food, and surroundings. At times, though, her liberal use of Inca words and phrases seems obtrusively didactic. The text is enlivened by Mary Jane Gerber’s vivid pen and ink drawings with stylized borders, which capture the bold esthetic of Incan carvings and textiles.

A Gift for Ampato, runner-up for the Groundwood Books Twentieth Anniversary First Novel for Children Contest, is a perfect teaching tool to introduce Grade 5 and 6 students to Incan civilization. However, it is not as successful as a novel in its own right because the characters are not fully realized enough to engage the reader’s emotions.