1) This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. Krueger wrote Ordinary Grace, which I loved (and highly recommend). This Tender Land is the story of four children who, in 1932, were all in the Lincoln School in Minnesota. The school was one of the schools where children (mostly Native American) were placed after being taken (often by force) from their homes. Lincoln School was known for its cruelty and abuse. Odie and Albert O'Banion were placed there after their parents had died-they were only among the few who were not Native American.
Odie is the narrator of the story, which took place four years after the boys had been at the school. Albert was about to age out of the place, but Odie was only twelve. That summer Odie, Albert, their mute friend Mose, and a small girl named Emma fled the school in an old canoe and headed for the Mississippi River, hoping to eventually reach St. Louis.
The story is told in two time periods, with flashbacks and present time. On their journey, they met up with some people who sought to take advantage of them, but more importantly, met others who were also on a journey and seeking a home. It is a book of courage and hope and reminds one a bit of Huck Finn!
2) Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. I picked this up at Barnes and Noble where it was featured at the cafe counter for $5. I didn't realize until I began reading it that it was a Young Adult book. But by then, I was interested in the story and wanted to keep going.
This is a historical novel based on the sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff. This story is about three young refugees, each from a different country, along with a young German soldier who was stationed on the ship. The story is set in East Prussia during the winter of 1945 as the three refugees travel through the bitter winter to reach the ship that was set to take people to safety. Each of the three young people have secrets they were carrying with them.
This was a good read and I learned a piece of history that I had never heard of before. Ms. Sepetys is an excellent writer!
[from Wikipedia: MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a German military transport ship which was sunk on 30 January 1945 by Soviet submarine S-13 in the Baltic Sea while evacuating German civilians, German officials, refugees from Prussia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Estonia and Croatia[3] and military personnel from Gotenhafen (Gdynia) as the Red Army advanced. By one estimate,[4][5] 9,400 people died, which makes it the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history.]
3) The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti. Just to throw this out there, this book has been compared to The Twelve Labors of Hercules, which were said to take him (Hercules) around the world to perform impossible talks.
In this book, Samuel Hawley has taken his daughter Loo back to Olympus, MA, where her deceased mother (Lily) was from and her maternal grandmother still lived. Loo had been raised on the road as Samuel apparently ran from his own demons, but once she came into her teen years, he wanted a more stable life for her, so they moved to Olympus. Loo became interested in her father's past and began to try to learn more.
Every other chapter is titled Bullet Number One, Bullet Number Two, etc., up to Bullet Number Twelve. Over his live, Samuel had been shot twelve times and each time had a specific story about Samuel's life. It was an interesting way to tell the story of the book. I liked the book quite a bit. It was named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR in 2018.
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