The Tears Of Power is a fable for all ages from ten to eternity about a mouse named Victor who lives in Edgeville, a mouse town located at the edge of everything: the river, the fields, the forest, the mountains, and the sky. Victor is entirely unlike his nine brothers and sisters, having an innate courage and belief in himself that compels him to be an inveterate wanderer into areas not at all suited to mouse longevity. His secret forays into the town dump yield treasures too numerous to bring home, thus requiring ingenious extraction and storage solutions of pack-rat proportion often resulting in life-endangering adventure. Edgeville quickly becomes too small for his restless soul, so he ventures out into the world of the great unknown, learning to repair boats, pilot tugboats, fly helicopters, and be a real friend to those he meets along the way. Victor makes unusual friends like Oddie the Otter and Mo the musical Mole who teach him to be street-wise in the face of a deceitful world. Minkie, his flight instructor, teaches him to overcome fear with thorough training, practice, and constant vigilance. It is Eagle, though, who teaches Victor to think, and introduces him to the inner powers of his soul finally telling him what the Tears of Power really are. Both versions of the book are masterfully illustrated with 24 illustrations by Scott Peck.