As a tribal citizen, it hurt my heart to see first hand accounts of the boarding schools meant to “kill the Indian, save the man.” Though I knew of their existence and the terrible things that happened there, the reiteration and dramatization of these real events was heart wrenching. I took much longer to read this novel because of certain plot points. They show that family is more than blood, and strength in numbers is more than brute force. With ages from six to nearly adult, the foursome each have flaws and skills that prove useful to the group. The characters are superbly well developed. But it is the one more thing they have little control over, and plays an important role. At times it is their ally, other times their foe. Beautifully depicted, the setting for the story is a character unto itself. This novel reads like a love letter to the landscape. He slips easily between his twelve year old self and his matured self looking back, which is an elegant way to include foreshadowing. Throughout the novel, future events are alluded to and hinted at, giving a glimpse at who the young man narrating would become. The narrator is well established, yet looking back on events over fifty years in the past. From the first line, this novel had me hooked.
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