She gave it over and her spindly fingers touched my hand. When I returned to the dormitory, I intended to use the lye soap in the lavatory there to scrub that hand until it bled.

The children hide on an island near Mankato, Minnesota, discovering a murdered Indian child. This deeply disturbs Mose, who asks to be called by his Sioux name Amdacha (Broken-to-Pieces) from then on. Papers in the local library reveal his namesake great-uncle was killed in the mass execution there during the Dakota War of 1862. Odie gets lost in a Bonus Army riot. Following harmonica music to a local Hooverville, he joins the Schofields, an extended family of dispossessed Kansas farmers fleeing the Dust Bowl. The children eventually reunite, and Albert repairs the Schofields's car while Odie develops a romance with their girl Maybeth. He gives their alcoholic father gas money, and the groups separate. When Albert, Odie, Mose and Emmy left the Lincoln School, they encountered the depression of the 1930s in the outside world. Do you think the author did a accurate job in portraying The Great Depression era? Odie’s journey begins with a yearning for a home and family that he lost when his parents died. However, as he travels with his makeshift family, he begins to realize that home and family can take many forms. The group of misfits that he travels with becomes his family, and the adventures they share together become his home. By the end of the novel, he has realized that the best relations are not that via blood, but via understanding. Do you think Mose’s story is a reminder of the resilience and strength shown by marginalized communities, even in the face of great adversity?The Great Alone: Join the Allbright family as they embark on a perilous journey to Alaska, seeking refuge from their troubled past. In the unforgiving wilderness, they discover the true meaning of survival, love, and the untamed spirit that resides within.

Chapter 61 – Scrambled eggs, ham, toast and raspberry jam, grits, and fried green tomatoes—breakfast at Aunt Julia’s the morning after Odie arrives He said?” Now there was something different in the way she spoke. As if she were struggling to cough up a fish bone caught in her throat. “ He said?” She’d been sitting on a stool that raised her up so everyone in the dining hall could see her. She slid from the stool and walked between the long tables, girls on one side, boys on the other, toward where I sat with Albert. In the absolute silence of that great room, I could hear the squeak, squeak of her rubber heels on the old floorboards as she came. The boy next to me, whose name I didn’t yet know, edged away, as if trying to distance himself from a place where he knew lightning was about to strike. I glanced at Albert, and he shook his head, a sign that I should just clam up. She was in a rowboat on a river. I was in a boat, too, trying to catch up with her, trying to see her face. But no matter how hard I rowed, she was always too far ahead.”This Tender Land is a story that will gather you in and transport you to the world of Odie and Albert… the story is intricately plotted and compellingly written… The story will grab your heart and draw you in and is lushly and poignantly written. Bravo Mr. Krueger, you have gifted us with a gem!” Richly imagined and exceptionally well plotted and written, the novel is, most of all, a compelling, often haunting story that will captivate both adult and young adult readers.” Krueger does a good job in developing Odie’s character as he travels on the Mississippi. Odie was only 12, almost 13, and some of his decisions and how he feels about something was reflected in the story realistically.

I stood, folded the thin blanket, and hung it across a rod attached to the wall so that it would be available for the next child who occupied the room, knowing that, like as not, it would be me again.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. Trying to understand the nature of God is one of the many struggles for Odie during his experiences in the summer of 1932. Is Odie the only one struggling with this issue? What sense do you have concerning the way the other vagabonds feel about the nature of God? What about the people they meet on their travels? How does Odie’s relationship with God change over the course of his journey? This book woke up my anger against unfairness, my unconditional love to the all children, my concerns about never ending fight for the justice, equality and changing the system to create a better world.