This Tender Land

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They are paddling their canoe down rivers to their destination, often with no food. Along the way they meet people both good and bad.

Book review: 'This Tender Land' a harrowing Depression-era coming-of-age tale". Sun Sentinel . Retrieved 2022-08-05. Discuss the role that he played in the book with specific scenarios that made you wonder about his altruistic abilities. That first night in the quiet room, I barely slept a wink. It was April, and there was still a chill in the wind sweeping out of the empty Dakotas. Our father was less than a week dead. Our mother had passed away two years before that.We had no kin in Minnesota, no friends, no one who knew us or cared about us. We were the only white boys in a school for Indians. How could it get any worse? Then I’d heard the rat and had spent the rest of those long, dark hours until daylight pressed against Albert and the iron door, my knees drawn up to my chin, my eyes pouring out tears that only Albert could see and that no one but him would have cared about anyway. Characters: These four children! :::::sigh::::: I cared about their well being, wanted to protect them, and cheered for them to find a forever home. They have a common goal to escape their dire circumstances at the Lincoln School, but they each have individual struggles, too. The story also features a cast of colorful and memorable (some unlikeable) supporting characters. If you loved books like Where the Crawdads Sing or Peace Like a River, you’ll love This Tender Land. Below, I’ve provided book club questions and a recipe for This Tender Land, so if you are looking for food ideas and more, keep reading!Odie wrestled with God throughout the book. Why does Odie trust Sister Eve and not her partner Sid? What is likable about Sister Eve? How does Odie’s judgment of character affects those around him? Home is where the heart is.” And Odie, Albert, Moses and Emmy are all looking for their own versions of home. Odie, Albert and Moses are all orphans at the start of the book and never really had homes. Emmy loses her mother in a freak accident. When they’re all forced to flee, they take to the river. Told over the course of one summer, the book paints a perfect picture of the 1932 Midwest - farmers desperate to survive, faith healers, folks living in Hoovervilles. The school calls this the training part of the curriculum, but it's really free labor for the surrounding farms. Strappings and abuse appear to be part of the curriculum, too, especially the kind rendered by a teacher named Vincent DiMarco. If you liked Where the Crawdads Sing, you’ll love This Tender Land ...This story is as big-hearted as they come.” — Parade Minnesota—the 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.

What follows is a series of adventures and missteps with the children, underfinanced and out-resourced, often relying on the intermittent kindness of strangers as they make their way slowly toward St. Louis by way of Nebraska. Their aim is to locate Aunt Julie, a relative who Odie barely remembers but who apparently sent money to the school for the boys --- money that they never saw. There are many surprises along the way, but none so great as when Odie reaches his final destination, and a chain-link series of events change everything for him. Do you agree with this statement? Also, have you ever witnessed any particular event in life that made you agree with the above statement? The Flats is like no other place the vagabonds have been on their journey. What makes it so unusual? When John Kelly is stopped by a policeman, why does he feel he has to say he is from a different part of town? Despite making a new friend, why is Odie so unhappy during the time he spends there?

The novel centers around two young brothers and their two friends, a mute American Indian and a sweet-hearted girl with a mysterious gift. Fleeing further down-river, the boys learn from news articles they are being accused of kidnapping Emmy and may be executed. Drawn by beautiful music and food, the children join a revival meeting of the Gideon Crusade, a snake-handling church led by Sister Eve, who performs faith healings. After Odie catches camp manager Sid paying off the recipients of "miraculous" healings, he confronts Sister Eve about her frauds. This startles Emmy, who accidentally releases rattlesnake Lucifer, who poisons Albert. As they wait for antivenom to arrive, Sister Eve explains that she had cured the actors once and let Sid convince her to hire them to "prime the pump" in new towns. The antivenom arrives just in time, but the story's publicity forces the children to flee again. Mr. Krueger’s magic is indeed evident in THIS TENDER LAND and is a book that needs to be read by every book club and everyone who loves becoming engrossed in the lives of the characters in a book and an era. Anyone wanting a feel for Middle America at this time, with its tent revivals, faith healers, shanty towns, and the river life will want to add this book to their reading list.” The Lincoln School was a boarding school for Native American children. Its primary purpose was to assimilate the Native American children to American culture. Odie and Albert were the only white boys in the school for Indians. Why do you think the author made the two brothers white?

I also enjoyed the twist that was thrown in at the end. That twist made me all fuzzy inside and left me with a light heart. For fans of Before We Were Yours and Where the Crawdads Sing, a magnificent novel about four orphans on a life-changing odyssey during the Great Depression.

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The Lincoln School, an orphanage with horrible caregivers who beat the children and subjected them to even worse daily working conditions, is where we meet Odie, Albert, Mose, and then Emmy. Odie was likeable and good at heart. I liked that he questioned God throughout the book. This was part of his journey, trying to find his identity. We see him at the beginning of the book, mad at God, and painting the water tower with “God is a tornado” to being almost a man by the end of it. Dead, that’s where. He is no longer present to read you stories. The stories you hear now are the ones I tell you. And they mean just what I say they mean. Do you understand me?” Chapter 51 – Lentil soup and bread the first night at Gertie’s plus sandwiches of bread, cheese, sliced beef, tomatoes and lettuce for the workers and rice pudding as John Kelly’s mother labors