Years ago I read a novel called Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger, which was a becoming of age story about a young man who in the course of one summer is confronted with lies, betrayal and murder and yet manages to find grace in the midst of it all. It was  powerful and unforgettable and reminded me a lot of Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead.  Krueger’s new book, set in the Great Depression, is just as compelling and powerful and may in turn become a modern classic.

The Lincoln School, located in Minnesota in 1932, was where Native American children, forcibly removed from their parents, were sent to be “civilized.” The school, however is anything but civilized and the children sent there are used mercilessly, beaten for the littlest infractions and given little food, while the superintendent profits from their labor and embezzles donations meant for the school and children. Among the children is Odie O’Bannon, a white child, who along with his brother, Albert, were sent there as orphans making it the only home they have known. Odie, is a boy whose exploits and irrepressible nature make him a hero to the kids but gets him nothing but hatred and punishment from the superintendent. But this time his exploits have gone to far and he has landed in something that he may not survive and so with his brother Albert, their friend Mose, and a special little girl named Emmy, they decide to escape using a canoe heading to the Mississippi River and the city of St. Louis.

As they make their way  down the river, they meet struggling farmers, Indian shamans, a traveling band of faith healers, families on the move and others who like them are lost and trying to find a place to call home. Wanted by the superintendent with their pictures in the newspapers offering a reward if they are found, the children must quickly learn which adults they can trust and how to find a place that each of them can belong.

Krueger, has written an epic that encompasses not only the egregious horrors of what happened to the Native American children separated from their families and culture, but also the displacement caused by the Great Depression. By 1933  a quarter of the work force or 15 million people became unemployed, lost their homes and sought refuge in  “Hoovervilles” or shanty towns like Krueger describes that sprang up on the outskirts of larger towns and cities all around the country. Yet it is Krueger’s unique ability to be both clear eyed and sympathetic (not maudlin or polemic) that makes this book so compelling. Most of the people in this book are broken in some way, either with grief, mental illness, alcoholism or just by the sheer bad luck of their circumstances and yet Krueger is able to make their full humanity shine through, allowing the reader to see both nobility and pathos in each one. Truly a gifted author, Krueger’s unspoken questions on what makes us human, what do we owe each other and how do we find a place to belong resonate throughout the book making us ask ourselves those very same questions.

Brenda’s Rating: *****(5 out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Everyone!

Book Study Worthy? Yes!

Read in ebook format.