The main character was Cusi. Cusi learns three things about himself. The first thing he learned was that he has a family, but has no clue, who or where they are. Cusi learns that he is royalty and an Inca. The last thing he learns is that he must keep the secrets of hidden valley with him and the next chosen one.

The conflict that Cusi faces is that he is missing a family. He resolves this by looking for a family in Cuzco. He realizes that he had a family all along, Chuto was his family.

Chuto’s role in the story was being Cusi’s guardian. He was strict because he was afraid that Cusi would be tempted in the outside world, Chuto gave him a choice at the end of the story, to stay with him or to stay in the outside world. Chuto’s job was to teach Cusi about the secrets of hidden valley, but Chuto did not tell him, Chuto wanted Cusi to figure it out by himself. Chuto was successful in his role because Cusi chose the right decision. Chuto taught him correctly, Cusi decided to stay with Chuto, and resisted the grip of the outside world.

Cusi is a young shepherd boy; he lives in Hidden Valley, with his “father of his heart” Chuto. Cusi begins to wonder beyond Hidden Valley. He notices a family and wonders why they are there. Cusi has never seen other people and start to think he also has a family. An unfamiliar person comes to Hidden valley, minstrel shows up and teaches Cusi a lot of things. As Cusi gets older he begins to ask more questions about his family.

Chuto decides to take Cusi on a trip to the salt pits, to help Cusi see the outside world. After they come back, the minstrel had to go back to the city. A few moons pass and he misses the minstrel, and his stories. When Cusi gets old enough Chuto decides to let Cusi take the llamas to the family on the valley below. Cusi gets surprised when he sees that no one is there. Cusi goes back to Chuto and tells him that he will go to Cuzco to find a family. After Cusi leaves he takes Misti and seven other llamas, to barter with. Before he reaches Cuzco he finds a little village where people feed him and his llamas.

The next day he departs again, he finally reaches Cuzco, but the Spanish guard does not let his llamas spend the night in the city. An old man tells him that he will meet him again tomorrow. Cusi spends the night outside the city walls. Once morning comes he greets the sun and begins his day at the market. He buys two of everything, since he still misses Chuto. When the old man tells him that he will hold his llamas so Cusi could go and find a family Cusi gives him the llamas without hesitation. He finds a Spanish family and thinks that he could fit in but, he was wrong. They try and rename him with a Spanish name, but Cusi does not like it. He then runs off in the middle of the night to go back with his llamas. When he reaches the old man the llamas are still with him.

Cusi then tells Misti that they are going back to Hidden Valley to their family. When he reaches Hidden valley Chuto is there waiting for him and gives him one last option, to stay in hidden valley or to stay in the outside world. Cusi responds with all his heart and tells Chuto he will stay with him. Chuto makes sure he is not hesitating, and tells Cusi to take a vow. After the vow is done he takes Cusi to a hidden cave filled with golden dust. Cusi must only speak of this with the new chosen one he will receive, to keep the tradition of the shepherd of the Hidden Valley.

”Grieve not if searching in circles” means that Cusi should not get upset if he does not find a family. He will soon find out that he has a family, back in Hidden Valley. Do not get sad if you search in circles. If you start out in Hidden Valley and go to find a family in Cuzco and you notice your family was at Hidden Valley all along do not get sad. That is what the quote means.

When I was reading this book I felt amazed. At the end of every chapter I tried to figure out what might happen next. This book kept me at the edge of my seat; every chapter was filled with mystery and drama. I kept asking myself why Chuto was so mysterious; will Cusi ever find a family? There was an unexpected twist at the end. I never thought that the end would be so shocking.

Cusi establishes believability when he said “Chuto father of my heart” in returning to Hidden Valley, because he means that although Chuto is not his biological father, he is his father in a very different way. He means that Cusi listens to his heart, but he would listen to Chuto, the father of his heart.

No, I do not think that Cusi is too young to make such a commitment. I know this because Cusi does not know what jealousy, envy and selfishness is. He would not think about spending the gold because he does not know the value of gold. He is also caring and he would never betray the Inca secrets.

If I was to rate this book I would give it 5 out of 5. I really enjoyed this book and it was fascinating. It kept me thinking about each event. Every chapter was wonderful and very mysterious. I wanted to keep reading every chapter and I thought of an ending and I was pretty close. This book kept me captivated from chapter to chapter and page to page. The ending was also a big surprise; it was a twist that made me wonder.