Helpful Score: 1
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger is about children - four orphans - in the harshest and more dire of circumstances. It is an epic story of one summer that seems to extend so far beyond the time period it covers. For its horrific events, the story has at the same time an almost idyllic and philosophical feel. The result is a haunting tale of the dark history of the treatment of Native Americans and at the same time of the resilience of children and the joy of creating a family.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2020/03/this-tender-land.html
Reviewed for NetGalley.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2020/03/this-tender-land.html
Reviewed for NetGalley.
A good page turner, heartwarming story.
What an amazing book! The tale of Odie and his travel companions was a real page turner. Their âjourneyâ during the Great Depression was so interesting and told the story of those days in the Midwest. This is my second book by William Kent Krueger-highly recommend.
Pamela C. (pj-s-bookcorner) reviewed This Tender Land (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on + 885 more book reviews
Four orphans on a life changing trek during the Great Depression.
"1932, Minnesotaâthe Lincoln School is a pitiless place where hundreds of Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to an orphan named Odie O'Banion, a lively boy whose exploits earn him the superintendent's wrath. Forced to flee, he and his brother Albert, their best friend Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own.
Over the course of one unforgettable summer, these four orphans will journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an enÂthralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole."
"1932, Minnesotaâthe Lincoln School is a pitiless place where hundreds of Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to an orphan named Odie O'Banion, a lively boy whose exploits earn him the superintendent's wrath. Forced to flee, he and his brother Albert, their best friend Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own.
Over the course of one unforgettable summer, these four orphans will journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an enÂthralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole."
Okay, right off the top - I did enjoy Huckleberry Finn. But this book reminds me more of Odysseus' travels in The Odyssey. I loved the Minnesota tie-in too. Due to some horrible happenings, four children take to the River, canoeing the Gilead and Minnesota Rivers. They are searching vagabonds who experience a multitude of hardships during their journey to find out who they are or trying to find home. It is a bit long, but I didn't want it to end.
Eadie B. (eadieburke) -
1932 #Minnesota 4 orphans (Odie Banion, Albert (Odie's brother), Mose, (their friend), Emmy (broken-hearted little girl) on life-changing odyssey during the Great Depression. A big-hearted epic that shows how the American landscape connects us all. Krueger is a master storyteller with beautiful prose. Well-plotted and imaginative with endearing characters. Recommended for adult and YA readers.
A different flair from my favorite author. For me it wasn't up to the caliber of his other stand alone novels such as Ordinary Grace. In some ways I am very partial to his Cork O'Connor series, so it's tougher for me to be unbiased. This one was a slow starter and takes awhile to get off the ground, and almost felt like it covered a subject that was brought to light in other novels. Still it was a fresh take with strong characters that you came to enjoy and root for. It also gave you a taste of the hard times during the depression and a huge slice of that life. If you looking for an easy read or something that might be suitable for a teen or pre-teeen this might be the book to recommend. For myself I am looking forward to the next Cork O'Connor mystery.
Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
This Tender Land is so much more than an homage to Huckleberry Finn. William Kent Krueger is so immensely talented at creating living, breathing characters and setting them in a landscape that you can see and hear and touch.
Mose's Indian name means "broken to pieces," and so many things are broken to pieces in this marvelous book, first and foremost the lives of the characters. It's how hard they try to put those pieces back together that warms your heart.
More and more, I'm coming across books that are set during the Depression. It's such an incredible time period, and Krueger brings it to life. Rootless people with no money, no hope, and no homes. One cataclysm after another that they must endure. No wonder thirteen-year-old Odie believes God is a tornado. Another of the strong elements in This Tender Land is showing what so many children were forced to endure in Indian boarding schools throughout the United States and Canada.
With a rock-solid foundation of a setting, I couldn't help but be swept along with those four children in their canoe as they paddled down one river after another. On the run, hungry, scared, encountering people from all walks of life, and being placed in all sorts of situations. Krueger is superb when it comes to depicting the strength of the human spirit and the beauty of the land. If you want to be fully immersed in the next book you read, pick up a copy of This Tender Land.
Mose's Indian name means "broken to pieces," and so many things are broken to pieces in this marvelous book, first and foremost the lives of the characters. It's how hard they try to put those pieces back together that warms your heart.
More and more, I'm coming across books that are set during the Depression. It's such an incredible time period, and Krueger brings it to life. Rootless people with no money, no hope, and no homes. One cataclysm after another that they must endure. No wonder thirteen-year-old Odie believes God is a tornado. Another of the strong elements in This Tender Land is showing what so many children were forced to endure in Indian boarding schools throughout the United States and Canada.
With a rock-solid foundation of a setting, I couldn't help but be swept along with those four children in their canoe as they paddled down one river after another. On the run, hungry, scared, encountering people from all walks of life, and being placed in all sorts of situations. Krueger is superb when it comes to depicting the strength of the human spirit and the beauty of the land. If you want to be fully immersed in the next book you read, pick up a copy of This Tender Land.
This is one of my least favorite books that we've read for the NASW Book Club. It's just too . . . dramatic. There are parts that really spoke to me and pulled at me, and then there was too much. Just unrealistic drama ALL.THE.TIME.
The point at which is said out loud "You've got to be kidding me, I just can't with this book" is when the snakes got knocked over.
Everything about Julia was so predictable and I figured out before it was revealed (except her & Mrs. Brickman and their last tiff).
Ugh. I'll choose to take the good parts, recognize it is meant to be an 'epic journey' and just leave it at a 2-star "it was okay" rating.
The point at which is said out loud "You've got to be kidding me, I just can't with this book" is when the snakes got knocked over.
Everything about Julia was so predictable and I figured out before it was revealed (except her & Mrs. Brickman and their last tiff).
Ugh. I'll choose to take the good parts, recognize it is meant to be an 'epic journey' and just leave it at a 2-star "it was okay" rating.
For those that might like this book then I'm happy for you but for me it was just too long, draggy and boring and like reading Huck Finn
