New YA Fantasy Novel Highlights Cherokee History, Myths and Traditions

Holly Springs, NC, March 07, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Hugh Willard, author of the critically acclaimed Middle Grade Chapter Book series "The Goodwill Vultures Club," steps up to the YA audience in this fine debut novel, "Degotoga." Degu is an oversized misfit with borderline selective mutism. He had just turned 18 when El-li-si, his Cherokee grandmother, was brought to live with his family due to her increasingly bizarre behaviors. She recently had taken to flopping around on the ground in a ritualistic dance and then urinating on herself. El-li-si hadn't spoken in 13 years when she turned to Degu with an urgent plea that his brother was in trouble. Degu would soon embark on his first vision quest, entering a parallel world, one in perilous imbalance, to search for his long lost brother, Wohali. Along the way, he will accompany his new friend, Ebony, as she seeks to bring peace to the restless Cherokee souls that died along the infamous Trail of Tears. He will also come face to face with the Raven Mocker, the omnipresent malevolent life force that is seeking to maintain dominion over him. "Degotoga" takes Young Adult readers through a maze of shifting realities to a poignant and triumphant conclusion.