The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

The narrative opens with Coyote making the decision to adopt a kitten. In the process, she reveals to the reader that it will help to combat the loneliness of her existence. The reality of her aloneness is demonstrated when she elects to break off contact with Fiona, her would-be friend, knowing that her father and their way of living will not be acceptable to Fiona’s parents. The isolation with which they live is enforced by Rodeo who views any attachment, even a kitten, as a possibility for loss and grief. His attitude is, if you do not love anyone, you cannot lose anyone.

This underlying reality is established before others begin to join them on the bus, each of whom has lost someone in some way. Val has lost her parents, who have rejected her sexuality. Concepción has lost a boyfriend. Esperanza and Salvador have lost his father, whom they still love despite him being a physical abuser who seemed to be unconcerned about their leaving. Lester has lost his girlfriend, Tammy. In choosing to get her back, he is choosing to lose his band.

The bus ride comprises a symbolic journey for each of them in which they must share and face the reality of their loss and abandonment. Expressed as an abstract principle, Gemeinhart’s lesson about grief is that loss and loneliness is unique to a person, but people are not alone in grieving and sharing our grief helps to move through it.

The most obvious example of denial in the book is Rodeo’s unwillingness to return to Poplin Springs, to be called by his given name, or to allow his daughter to call him “Dad.” Other forms of denial are also causing difficulties for others on the bus. In leaving his Florida band and setting out to Idaho with no money and no plan, Lester is in denial, not only about his chances of making it safely across the country, but also about his true feelings. Salvador and Coyote take turns confronting one another about denying their own feelings and end up apologizing for provoking each other with the truth.

There is ample caution about the consequences of facing truths people so often deny. Val stopped denying her sexuality and, upon admitting it, faced rejection from her parents. Concepción stopped denying the charming treachery of her boyfriend and Esperanza stopped denying that the physical abuse she was receiving was unacceptable and unloving. As a result, the women found themselves moving across the country with few possessions headed toward a single, uncertain promise a job.

Each of the characters discovers, however, that recognizing and moving through the wall of denial, while painful and unpredictable, opens doors to empowerment. Perhaps the most poignant example of this growth is Val. The fact that her parents drove through the night from Minnesota to Washington to retrieve her is an indication that having her in their lives was more important than denying her sexuality. This did not mean, as Coyote noted, that everything was suddenly perfect, but that there were new, hopeful possibilities: “when I said goodbye to Val the next morning, she seemed okay. And sometimes you gotta take okay, because it’s way better than terrible and can sometimes turn into pretty darn great” (page 334).