I couldn't wait to read this book as I had read so many great reviews from others, and I was not disappointed. The writing was exceptional, the characters so well-developed I felt I knew them, and the plot evoked a wide range of emotions from me. The journey of these four orphans was difficult and scary and my heart went out to them. The setting of the book during the Great Depression provides the atmosphere and backdrop for the story which takes place over one very eventful summer. Also, Krueger gives some history of the Sioux Indians during this time, as some of the characters are Sioux.

My favorite character was Odie. He was a great storyteller and, since that was his talent, he was the narrator. I admired his courage and determination in the face of so many obstacles. Even though Odie was my favorite, I fell in love with all the children.

The cover of the book is beautiful with the sun casting light over the river.

Many thanks to William Kent Krueger and Atria Books through Netgalley for an advance copy of this book.

William Kent Krueger has done it again! I fell in love with Ordinary Grace when I read it for a book club not long after publication. This Tender Land is Krueger's second stand-alone novel, and what a heartfelt, emotional story it is--a story filled with complex characters, who not only confront daunting obstacles, but also ponder the meaning of life and their roles in society.

Krueger has called This Tender Land his update of Huckleberry Finn, but don't get the idea that this is a contemporary story. Set during the Great Depression, this historic novel provides a multi-faceted view of the times while spinning an unforgettable yarn involving equally unforgettable characters.

Three boys escape from Lincoln School, a brutal, corruptly run Indian school in small town Minnesota. They
set off by canoe on a river journey toward St. Louis where two of the boys, white orphan brothers Odie and Alfred, hope to find a home with an aunt they met only once years ago.. Accompanying them is their Indian friend Mose and little Emmy, the daughter of a kindly Indian school employee who dies tragically.
Krueger spends little time on the river voyage. Instead, he focuses primarily on the children's encounters with people they meet along the way--evil people, suffering people, and generous people ready to lend a helping hand. Among them are the residents of a Hooverville shanty town and the members of a traveling revival meeting, the Sword of Gideon. Along their route, the children are hunted by the "black witch" from the Indian school, who poses serious threats for reasons reasons you will learn as you read.

Readers will see the magic in young Odie's harmonica and little Emmy's fits; they will come to consider God from many perspectives ranging from the "tornado God" to the "tender land," itself. Is God a shepherd who watches over his flock only to eat them one by one, as Albert tells Odie, and as Odie comes to believe, or is God something else?

Will the children reach the little-known aunt in St. Louis or get sidetracked along the way as they meet people with whom they would like to stay? What will happen when the "black witch" finally catches up with them? Don't be surprised as Krueger transports you to another time and brings tears to your eyes. You will come to feel that Odie, Albert, Mose, Emmy, and several others are real. You will hurt with them and hope for them. This is an exceptional novel to remember for years to come.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for providing an Advance Reader copy.

DNF @60%
9.1.2019

IF you go into this book hoping for a book like "Ordinary Grace" was, you are are going to be let down. This book is NOT that book. Not by a long shot. That book was lyrical and gorgeous and the story was amazing. And while this book does have moments where some of that same magic shines, it is sadly, very limited and you have to really search to find it.

This is a tough topic to write about - the depression, Indians who have been taken from their families and brutalized, homeless and starving people roaming the US to find work and food - none of that makes for happy writing in any book - in this book, it just is overly sensationalized and heavily dramatic and superficial. It was just one thing after another and became completely unbelievable. And the end - it was extremely hokey and all tied up with a nice red bow. Which I guess most people like in their books, but with a story as raw as this one could have been, there is rarely such a neat and tidy ending. Rarely am I so disappointed in a book as I was with this one. The one star rating is for the characters of Odie and Emmy and Moses. They deserved a book better than this one to tell their story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This big-hearted novel offers a hope for the power of love, family and forgiveness over the cruelty of even the ugliest of human greed.

William Kent Krueger tells the story of four children, runaways from a government boarding school in the early 1930’s. As they make their way to Saint Louis, by foot, boat and train, they encounter characters who made up the uniquely American Midwest landscape. In modern times, the midwest is famously politically conservative, and it was refreshing to be reminded that the towns along the great rivers were a refuge for many of society’s misfits and oddballs.

I was captivated by the characters of this book, and was sorry to have their interesting lives summarized in the epilogue. I wanted to know more about them than would fit into this already long novel.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

THIS TENDER LAND by William Kent Krueger

You can travel a road your whole life, only to find that you may have found happiness and love long before you arrive where you were headed. Love is not always blood relatives but can be the strongest from the friends you have in your life for many years. Life throws us many twists and turns but it’s what we choose to do with it that truly matters. For four orphan children this life has already dealt them so much love and happiness only to have it ripped away, replaced by horrible heartache and pain... How can anyone do that. How can anyone hurt a child. Take the things that are most valuable to them. Their innocence, views on life, the world, the things they knew before you added so much meanness in there. So much that they may never be the same again.

This is the story of many children. Many who were ripped from their families and placed in “schools” to be taught how to be “white”. Children who lost their whole families who were forced to live in these “schools” as orphans. Hurt and abused. Made to work in the worst of conditions and put in places where no human should be put, especially children, for punishment. Half starved while others eat well and make money from them being there. It’s the story of four orphans in particular who tried hard to keep believing things might get better.

I learned a lot while reading this book. I never learned about how awful the Indians, who owned this land before the white man ever came here, were treated like they were the lowest scum of the earth. How they were gathered up and their children taken from them. Many human beings were tortured, abused and murdered just because the color of their skin was different and they OWNED this land. I will never believe any other race was treated as bad as the American Indian. While much prejudice has always been and is very high again now, back then it was more than that. It was simply hatred because they owned something that man wanted and would do ANYTHING to own. It’s very sad what the Indians had to endure. It’s quite heartbreaking. At least to me it is and I truly hope it is to others. There is no excuse for prejudice in this country. We are all humans and should be kind to each other. But it does not happen and when it comes to children it makes my skin crawl. Breaks my heart. Makes me have many many tears.

This book tells the story of what happens to four orphan children. Two who are brothers, one Indian boy and a little orphan girl, who all need to escape the “Lincoln Indian Training School.” That was the name of the place they were forced to live. Forced to work farms for nothing but possibly a dry sandwich and a sip of water. In scorching heat or freezing cold weather. It didn’t matter to the woman running this “school”. School is a term I use very loosely here. It was more like a prison for children who had nothing and were basically forgotten by society. A society who didn’t really care. Yes there were a few, a very few, who tried to help but most just used these children.

This is the story of abuse, murder, helplessness, cruelty and yes there is happiness in here too. A story that will make you shed many tears. Very few laughs but a few. You meet people along the way that will make you believe that someone cares but also some who use and still hurt children just because they are different. From very evil men to some religious caring people, you will have opinions about them all. Question what they are truly after.

These four children endure so much but keep on going. They don’t give up completely though at times they sure want too. A woman and husband who are after them and want them back no matter what. They will do anything to bring them back to the hell they were living. To them, mostly the wife, it’s personal. You’ll find out everything reading this book. More than you might want to know but it’s so worth it.

I enjoyed this book so much. It was filled with lots of heartbreaking things but also some beautiful things that will make you feel you are there. I felt the pain and beauty these children went through. The travels they took you are right there. You will feel the same feelings they feel with each of the people they meet along the way.

Whether they make it or not I can’t tell you. It’s ending truly blew me away. I was shocked at the things I found out at the ending of this wonderful story. Well not the very end, but the end of the line for the children. One in particular.

I loved the main characters in this book. I hated the couple running the “school.” I loved most of the people along the way and some that I thought I would hate turned out ok.
This book was obviously well researched. It had a few stories told within the main story. It’s the story of love and loss. Cruelty and happiness. Hate and love. It’s the story I think everyone should read. It’s so well done.

There are some mistakes in this book that I hope the author fixed, only because I know how cruel some people are when they read a book with errors in it. Me personally, I can read right past them. If a book is this good, errors do not bother me. But there truly are some people who will leave bad reviews based on mistakes in a story. That is their prerogative when they buy, read and review a book but I would hope they can overlook some and see this story for what it is.. A heartfelt story told from the heart of this author.

This is my first book by this author but will not be my last. I’ve already bought one and hope I can get ahead on my TBR list and get it read. I’m looking forward to more by him for sure.

This is an excellent book.

A few things in this book really jumped out to me.
1) I think now how unfitting it was to force children who had no freedom, whose freedom had, in fact, been ripped from their people decades before, to take part in this observance. (Referring to Independence Day) I agree with this wholeheartedly too!!
2) THERE IS A river that runs through time and the universe, vast and inexplicable, a flow of spirit that is at the heart of all existence, and every molecule of our being is part of it. And what is God but the whole of that river?
3) perhaps the most important truth I’ve learned across the whole of my life is that it’s only when I yield to the river and embrace the journey that I find peace.
4) of all that we’re asked to give others in this life, the most difficult to offer may be forgiveness.
6) In every good tale there is a seed of truth, and from that seed a lovely story grows.
7) Our eyes perceive so dimly, and our brains are so easily confused. Far better, I believe, to be like children and open ourselves to every beautiful possibility, for there is nothing our hearts can imagine that is not so.

Be sure and read the Author’s notes at the end of this book. Very interesting.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Atria for the ARC of this wonderful book in exchange for my complete and honest review. It was a wonderful book.

A huge 5 stars and would be more if I could. I HIGHLY recommend this book.

This book is not what I was expecting at all. The characters are flat and stereotypical. The plot line is gratuitous, and the entire thing feels like a sermon.

I adored Ordinary Grace by Mr Krueger and had high expectations for This Tender Land, and it did not disappoint! Reading through the struggles of these three children traveling was extraordinary. The detail put into his writing style is incredible and draws you in. Will highly recommend this one!

This book was just lovely from start to finish! It was my first book by William Kent Krueger, but now I definitely need to go back and read more of his work. This Tender Land shares the tale of Odie and Albert and Mose and Emmy. A group of four vagabond children who escape from a school for orphans in Minnesota and make the perilous journey by canoe down the Mississippi during the Great Depression. This is both a heartbreaking and heartwarming story, reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn in many ways.

While reading this book, I decided that I really enjoy "journey" stories, where the characters are making their way through some sort of journey, encountering dangers and difficulties and all sorts of interesting people along the way. I loved reading about the good, kind people that these kids met along with the more dangerous and not so kind people. And sometimes the people appeared to be good at first only to discover that they can't be trusted or they appeared to bad but turned out to be a friend. I just loved it all!

I honestly was a little nervous that I would not like this book when I first picked it up. It looked long, and I was worried that the pacing may be too slow and it may not hold my attention. Yet I was hooked from the very first page and didn't find it to be slow at all. I cared deeply for these kids and the experiences they encountered; something dangerous or exciting took place on nearly every page! There were also so many passages that were thought-provoking and beautifully written. It was fascinating to read about the difficulties of life along the Mississippi during the Great Depression, the conditions of the shantytowns, the way Indians were viewed by white people, Odie's thoughts on God and religion, and so much more.

This is an expertly written novel about friendship, family, forgiveness and resilience. A book to savor and remember long after the final page has been turned. The book will be released on September 3, and it is a September pick for Book of the Month. I highly recommend it!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books/Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Being a fan of William Kent Krueger's Cork O'Connor mystery series I was anxious to see what he would do with another stand alone novel. I wasn't disappointed. Somewhat inspired by Huckleberry Finn, this youthful adventure on the Mississippi river had amazing characters, a well paced plot and some interesting surprises. Highly Recommended

There are few books that have made me wish that I could read them all over again for the first time. *This Tender Land* does it for me. I really loved this book. Having come down from the “Crawdad high” my reader soul has been craving another atmospheric novel about characters I care about. I followed Odie and Albert and Mose and Emmy on their canoe and loved every single word! I am definitely going to recommend this book to other readers and feature it on my shelves!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC of this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books, and William Kent Krueger for the opportunity to read this amazing book - 5 stars for a beautifully written story.

This is the story of 4 orphans, all looking for their version of home, and their quest to find it. Set in Minnesota in 1932, they meet at the Lincoln School, which is a home for Native American children forced from their parents where they were to be educated. Instead, it was a grim, mean environment of forced labor and beatings. Arthur and his brother Odie (the main subject of the book), along with their friend, Mose, and a young girl, Emmy, set off on their journey to find home. Along the way, they will meet characters that will change their lives, for better or worse. They will see signs of that time - faith healers, desperate farmers, shantytowns, brothels - and learn a huge lesson of forgiveness.

This is a tale of resilience, friendship, and all that home means. Beautifully written, these characters will stay with you. Highly recommended!

A wondrous new novel from the Minnesotan author of "Ordinary Grace.” I fell in love with the writing and with the two young boys, Albert and Odie, full of vim and vigor yet unable to lead a normal life at the punishing Lincoln Indian Training School; akin to a labor camp for mostly Native American children forced from their families, truly a place of wrath and tears. This tale takes place over one summer during the Great Depression as the boys and two other lovable orphans escape and launch off on their own in a canoe down the mighty Mississippi River with the American landscape as a haunting, dangerous yet beatific backdrop. This story is riveting and an absolute must-read.
Reminiscent of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn.

Amazing. My heart soared. I cried. I laughed. I wanted to be there with them. I wanted to avenge them. All the lovely feels for this amazing, heartbreaking, beautiful story.

William Kent Krueger is a master storyteller. This Tender Land has shades of a Huck Finn written throughout. The river is the vehicle to tell the adventures of four “vagabonds” trying to find a home. They escape from an Indian School and set off for St. Louis. On the way we view many hardships of the Great Depression. We see the wickedness and goodness in people. I laughed, cried, and at times got angry with some of the characters. This book would be an excellent choice for any bookclub. Well done Mr. Krueger! My thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An intelligent coming-of-age story that incorporates adventure, faith, survival and growth. The writing is imaginative, the development of characters facing numerous challenges along a downriver journey well done. Orphans Odie and Emmy were my favorites. Loved their unique POV’S, their spunk, tenacity and devotion.

OMG, this book. Get out your tissues.

If you are a fan of William Kent Krueger, or if you enjoy a moving historical fiction about siblings and what it means to be a family, this one is for you.

This Tender Land tells the story of two brothers, Odie and Albert, and their close friends Mose and Emmy. Each kid, like all of the kids at the Lincoln School, has a sad history that led them to being placed at the boarding school. The school, based in central Minnesota, was originally intended as a school for American Indian children in the 1930s. Due to financial constraints many of those children live at the school year round. Some of the children are orphans, while others are simply the children of poor families during a difficult period in American history.

Of course this school would not be complete without the mean headmistress, and abusive staff members. Trigger warning for my fellow readers: there is physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of children in this story. The sexual abuse is not graphic; it is acknowledged, but not discussed in detail.

After reaching their breaking point the group of four leaves the school, for a journey back to St. Louis, where Odie and Albert remember having an aunt. The journey takes them through struggling cities, an evangelical road show, and introduces them to both friends and foes. There are parts of the book that will simply break your heart, and others that make you feel the love between the group of friends. Ultimately each person has to take their own journey to reach what they desire, and along the way they learn what it means to be a family.
This is a perfect selection for book clubs, your September BOTM pick, or for anyone looking for a solid emotional ride.

*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy via NetGalley.

Once upon a time in a land suffering from hunger and desperation, four young vagabonds (one a mighty giant, one a wizard, one a fairy princess and one an imp) escape from the clutches of the Black Witch and set off on a journey to find a home in a city faraway.

No, no, no, this isn't a fantasy story or a fairy tale. It's actually historical fiction and a wonderful coming-of-age story set in 1932 in the depths of the Great Depression. The four children, Odie, Albert, Moses and Emmy, are orphans who live in the Lincoln Indian Training school in Minnesota who are being terribly mistreated by the couple who run the institution.

The desperate children escape in a canoe and begin an odyssey on the river that will change their lives, teaching them about the world at large but also the meaning of family, God, forgiveness, and bravery.

The story is being told by Odie, who is now a great-grandfather, about the adventures he had the summer he was almost thirteen. The children call him a liar but Odie protests he's not a liar, he's a storyteller. And this is a ripping good story, an adventure in the age-old tradition of other odysseys.

If you didn't have parents or grandparents who lived through the Great Depression and had tales to tell of the suffering and hunger they lived through, this story will help you understand what it was like in those days. Some people were driven to do horrible things to survive but it also brought out the best in many others who shared what little they had, finding joy in the small things and momentary escape from their troubles in music. This story will have you asking yourself, What would I do in this situation? Could I be as brave as these children were?

I received an arc of this story from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review. Once again the author has delivered a terrific story that will draw you in from page one and dishes out a few surprises along the way. Many thanks for the opportunity to meet these strongly-drawn characters I won't soon forget.

Excellent book about four orphans making their way down river. In the process they create among themselves a family and try to find their own version of home. This book seems to get its inspiration from Huckleberry Finn, but is set in the 1930's. Highly recommend. Good story and well written.

This is an epic tale, set in The Great Depression, and tells the story of four orphan children over the course of the summer of 1932. After escaping ill treatment by the 'Black Witch', the Superintendent of the school the children attended, Odie, Arthur, Moses and Emmy ('the Vagabonds') travel by canoe along the Gilead river, hoping to make it to the Mississippi and then on to Saint Louis where they hope to make a new home. Initially they are simply happy to finally be free but their journey is not all plain sailing. They suffer great hardship and not everyone they meet is friendly. Perhaps they would have been better off remaining at school.

This a beautifully written, extremely atmospheric book with many unforgettable characters. A little overlong and far fetched towards the end perhaps but still a wonderful piece of storytelling.

The year is 1932. The Lincoln Indian Training School in Lincoln, Minnesota, is a school where hundreds of Native American children who had been taken away from their families are sent to forget their Native American languages and customs and learn to be “white.” Children who spoke their native languages were beaten and put into solitary confinement until they learned not to do that. Thelma Brickman is the school superintendent and runs the school strictly for her own gain, stealing money, food, and gifts intended for the students. She is cruel to all the children, but especially to the two orphaned O’Banion brothers, the only white children in the school. After an evil groundskeeper at the school is killed, the brothers are forced to flee down the river, along with two of their friends.

Incredibly good - wonderful characters, even Faria the rat who lives in the school's solitary confinement cell.. Even though it's almost 500 pages, I read This Tender Land in three days - I could not put it down, I had to find out what happened next to Odie and his friends.