A review by nuhafariha
Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools by Mary Annette Pember

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available April 2025

Whst I loved the most about Mary Annette Pember's Medicine River is the way she was able to tell a story that was at once a personal ancedote and the story of Native people. Pember skillfully weaves in history, science, religion, and policy to demonstrate the complex legacies of Indian boarding schools in North America, using her own mother's experiences as an anchor. Have a box of tissues ready because you will cry and maybe even want to throw up at the grotesque violence young Native children face (much of which remains unacknowledged in American history books). A necessary read for all those living on Turtle Island.