A twelve-year-old mute boy sets off to find his mother in a blizzard, and becomes the captive of an evil woman in the Half-a-Moon Inn. ?A suspenseful tale with archetypal characters and a haunting atmosphere. . . . The brisk pace and steady accumulation of events build tension, while Fleischman's fine writing begs to be read aloud." ?BL. <P> <awards> 1980 Children's Reviewers' Choices (BL)<br>Notable Books of the Year 1980 (NYT)<br>1980 Golden Kite Award Honor Book for Fiction (SCBW)<br>Children's Books of 1980 (Library of Congress)<br>1980 Silver Medal for Literature (Commonwealth Club of California)</awards>