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A review by mhinnen
Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
"Shelterwood is an obscure forestry term for older, larger trees that protect the smaller, younger growth beneath."
I read this book in a week that children in Gaza are being burned alive. It is heartbreaking that children's lives hold so little value among the greedy and powerful. In this novel, Lisa Wingate puts names and stories to the little-known (to me anyway) history of Native American children who had an unintentional and tragic role in the rise of wealthy white men in Oklahoma in the early 1900s. In this novel, they learn to survive and form a community, watching out for one another in the woods even though they are just children. She also highlights the women whose compassion and kindness made a difference against all odds to change a system of abuse and exploitation.
The story is told in a dual timeline in the same place 80 years later (1990). We see how past and present connect for better or worse. And how children still so often are tossed aside.
It was a hard heartfelt story and the turns of phrase were mesmerizing. Val's story in 1990 was a bit distracting. I felt like the 1909 storyline would have been better on its own. An epilogue could have brought us to the current time to tie up loose ends.
Overall, it was a good book and has important information about US history including Kate Barnard a "politician who had the broadest influence on the state’s constitution and then went on be elected to statewide office by the largest majority of any candidate on the ballot was … a woman - in an era when women couldn’t even vote."
I read this book in a week that children in Gaza are being burned alive. It is heartbreaking that children's lives hold so little value among the greedy and powerful. In this novel, Lisa Wingate puts names and stories to the little-known (to me anyway) history of Native American children who had an unintentional and tragic role in the rise of wealthy white men in Oklahoma in the early 1900s. In this novel, they learn to survive and form a community, watching out for one another in the woods even though they are just children. She also highlights the women whose compassion and kindness made a difference against all odds to change a system of abuse and exploitation.
The story is told in a dual timeline in the same place 80 years later (1990). We see how past and present connect for better or worse. And how children still so often are tossed aside.
It was a hard heartfelt story and the turns of phrase were mesmerizing. Val's story in 1990 was a bit distracting. I felt like the 1909 storyline would have been better on its own. An epilogue could have brought us to the current time to tie up loose ends.
Overall, it was a good book and has important information about US history including Kate Barnard a "politician who had the broadest influence on the state’s constitution and then went on be elected to statewide office by the largest majority of any candidate on the ballot was … a woman - in an era when women couldn’t even vote."