Reviews

Stealing by Margaret Verble

thejoshdenk's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

alykat_reads's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.5

Residential schools were not a thing of the past, but were operating until 1996. While this tale takes place in the 1950's, there was still 45 more years of this.

This journal entry style writing gave the POV of Kit, the events that led her to be sent to the boarding school and her planned escape from it. Its a heartbreaking, tragic reality that too many Indigenous families have faced. While there are some pretty graphic scenes (CW: child sexual abuse), I feel like what was written in here was only a fraction of the real horrors these stolen children had to face.

namsmommy09's review against another edition

4.0

This was the heartbreaking story of a girl who is thrust into a life she no longer recognizes. It shines a light on the "schools" that many native American children were forced in to. This book is a reminder that people always see the worst in others. The conclusion that was taken about this girl and her neighbor isn't a pretty one and has such high costs. 

warrentr8340's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

egould1's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

While I struggled with the time-hopping at first, I really came to like that style and understand how it helped the plot. I really, really liked Kit as a character. The story itself has a lot of sad things, and the end doesn’t have a clear resolution, but I have hope because of Kit. 

mnstaples4's review

5.0

“I know what the people in this place are up to, and Susan and Linda are going to need all the help they can get. I couldn't save their hair. That was already chopped off before I'd ever seen then. That's the first thing they do to you here. But it's not the last by a long shot.”

“If there's anything I've learned here, it's that you can't argue with Christianity. That just makes people crazy. I don't want to make anybody crazy because I want to get out of here.”

jules32reads's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

booksandnailz's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I chose this book for the Diversity Baseline challenge. I’ve been wanting to read more indigenous authors so this prompt motivated me to research some authors. This book is set in the 1950s from the pov of an 11year old half Cherokee girl, Kit. This is a bittersweet story about the events leading up to her being removed from her family to live at a religious boarding school. Stealing is about loss, perseverance and Christians forcing their beliefs on others. I enjoyed the telling of this story and the changing of narratives as she remembers the events of the past and then tells of her current situation in the boarding house. She is a bit of an unreliable narrator due to her age and memory issues. I rated this 4 stars, I read this all is one sitting because it’s only about 230 pages. However, I felt the ending did not makes sense in light of the events that we’re told Kit has experienced. This book really left me pondering what was left unsaid in story and the many meanings of the word stealing used in the book. Very well done and I’ll definitely read more of Margaret Verble’s books. 

twilde's review

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

selwood0830's review

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.25