I loved this book! Shelterwood is an amazing, well researched book that gripped my attention from the first page to the last. Lisa Wingate weaves a story set in Oklahoma in 1909, centered on two young girls, stepdaughter Ollie and Choctaw ward Nessa who escape an abusive home to live in the woods near the Winding Stair Mountain. They band together with other abandoned, abused children, as they all struggle to survive. The alternate chapters focus on Valerie, who becomes the sole female ranger on a team in a newly created park in the Winding Stair Mountain area in 1990. She soon finds herself in the midst of an investigation into a local teenager who has disappeared. The book is a heart wrenching story of the abuse, corruption and fraud committed against children in both eras by adults pursuing wealth by destroying precious woodland areas, as well as stealing the lawful rights of the children meant to inherit those rights. But it is also heartwarming story of Ollie, Nessa and Valerie, all of whom face life with courage and tenacity, and carry on despite overwhelming odds. The character development is outstanding, with characters that I will long remember. The author skillfully blends both actual historical writings and characters, as well as the dual story lines into an unforgettable book. The author notes at the end are a must read. Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book. The opinions of my review are my own.

What a story! Thank you to the publisher and to netgalley for the arc! Lisa Wingate remains one of my favorite authors with her ability to tell stories in an engaging and moving way. This story follows Ollie and Valerie while also highlighting a tragic part of Oklahoma/ American history. Ollie and Valerie are very well developed and their stories overlap very effectively once the connection becomes clear. I will read whatever Lisa Wingate writes but this one will stay with me for a long time.

I absolutely LOVED Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate. My heart ached for the brave Ollie fleeing to the wilderness with six year old Nessa. Ollie will do anything to protect Nessa from their wicked stepfather and begin the many journeys that lie ahead towards Winding Stair Mountains. The story is Ollie's Oklahoma in 1909 and a ranger, Valerie in 1990.
Beautifully written and all of the emotions.
Thank you Net Galley for this AMAZING book.

Amazing book! Huge fan of Lisa Wingate books they leave me speechless & are heartbreaking at the same time, following Ollie & nessa on their journey broke my heart and reading past and present was a great reading experience this book truly broke my heart and makes you stop and think about the little’s in this world that get pushed aside an failed! Such a great read per usual

Lisa Wingate always writes a story that, even though it’s based in truth, feels like fiction. It was at turns heartbreaking and lovely, and I was compelled to find out what happened to the children in the story. The two storylines take place close to 100 years apart and the chapters are alternating timelines. Both of the timelines were interesting and I wanted to find out more. The way they came together at the end was very satisfying. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I read Lisa Wingate's prior books and fell in love. I immediately thought that Shelterwood would be no different.

I am sympathetic to this story and ultimately absolutely loved the connection in the end, but it took a really long time for me to make this connection between the two POVs in the book. It wasn't until I was 80% into the book that I couldn't put it down.

I would definitely recommend it because it is part of our history, and we should all be knowledgeable in our history even through books and Lisa does a great job at explaining. However, it was a bit too slow for me and took me much longer than usual to finish.

I love when I can find historical fiction about a subject I know nothing about. This story was told in a dual timeline format from the turn of the 19th century and also at the end. My favorite part of the story was the one that took place in 1909 and featured Ollie. She is eleven and knows she has to get away from her step-father. She runs away with a younger Choctaw girl, Nessie, who has been a ward along with her sister, Hazel. at her home. Hazel has disappeared and they fear that Ollie's step father was the reason. The two of them have to struggle to survive. Their story was based on real Oklahoma history and even featured an important woman who had a huge impact of the development of the state.

The other story was also interesting as it followed a single mom trying to make a new start for herself and her son. She knows something is not right as she tries to find a missing person and a cave with three sets of children's bones. I loved how her story was tied into the other story. Overall, this was an emotional and compelling look at Oklahoman history involving children, Native Americans, and good triumphing over evil.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

Lisa Wingate always writes about interesting historical topics related to children. Her latest book on the "Indian concern" that pervaded some areas of the country in the late 1800s/early 1900s is really well done. The story alternates between Oklahoma in the 1990s and in the early 1900s, with connections between the time frames becoming clearer as the plot progresses. She does a brilliant job of bridging the gap between the two storylines and keeping both engaging and interesting, while providing a lot of insight into what children went through during that time period.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. This was such an important and informative read! I’ve always loved the way Lisa Wingate can weave a story along with history. Thank you again! I enjoyed it

Lisa Wingate has a special way of bringing life to characters, past and present, as well as teaching us along the way.

Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate is a heartbreaking and poignant story describing a point in Oklahoma's early statehood that was omitted from a schoolchildren's history books. It is a story of greed and corruption of men who took advantage of Native Americans and the poor robbing them of their land and even murdering to get what they want. Lisa's story takes place in two time periods--1909 (shortly after Oklahoma became a state) and 1990 in a National Park in southeastern Oklahoma. I wondered how the two stories were going to tie together as I read the book, but they tie together nicely and the ending is very satisfying.
I love reading historical fiction and learning something I never knew and I was not disappointed with Lisa's novel. I learned about Kate Barnard, a little known and forgotten pioneer for the rights of children and workers. She was elected as the state commissioner for charities and correction and the first woman to hold a statewide office even though women could not vote at the time she was elected.
Readers will not be disappointed when reading Shelterwood. The story is compelling, well-researched, and thought provoking.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader ebook of this novel.

Lisa Wingate tells the stories of Ollie and Valerie while also sharing a tragic part of American history. Yes the story is heavy but intricately told. The alternating timelines work and add to the reader’s experience.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much of a page-turner this was! The changing POVs did a little jumping that took a moment to adjust to at the beginning of each chapter, but once this story got moving, the end of each chapter felt like a cliff-hanger. The end tidied up a little easier and quicker than I tend to appreciate, but the journey to get there was exciting and tense and more thrilling than I anticipated. I definitely recommend this novel!

Sometimes, secrets don't want to be discovered. In 1909, in Oklahoma, Olive Augusta Radley could tell her stepfather looked at the young Choctaw girl differently than he looked at her. She didn't understand what he was going to do but she knew she couldn't talk to her opium-addicted mother about it. So Olive and the girl left and began a journey to Winding Stairs Mountains, the last place Olive had been happy. Two young girls in the wilderness could be dangerous. Could they be captured by outlaws? Will Olive's stepfather track them down? Is there anyone who would help two runaways?

Valerie Boren O'dell is the only female law enforcement ranger at Horsethief Trail National Park. It is 1990 and Val's boss is unhappy having a woman on his staff. As the park opens, a hiker goes missing. Can Val locate the missing person? While investigating, she learns that her boss has not informed her of the three skeletons found in a cave on the mountain. Why? Val wants to prove herself capable and settle into her new job. Will people begin to open up to her?

Whether 1909 or 1990, women have been underestimated. Lisa Wingate explores the resilience of women. Val and Olive rely upon themselves to navigate tricky circumstances while proving they have the inner fortitude to survive. This beautiful story will be enjoyed by historical fiction fans and those who enjoy strong women characters.

Shelterwood offers protection for a band of children, most of them orphans, in 1909 in Oklahoma, in Lisa Wingate’s latest novel Shelterwood, coming out June 4. Alongside the 1909 story is one told in 1990 about a female park ranger, Valerie Boren-Odell, a widow who is trying to start over with her young son in the Horsethief Trail National Park, which is about to open. The two timelines grow toward one another when three children’s bones are found in one of the caves within the park.

Eleven-year-old Ollie Radley leads the children toward Shelterwood in the Winding Stair Mountains after she and a six-year-old Choctaw girl escape Olive’s predator stepfather. Along the way, more Choctaw children, the “elves“ of Oklahoma, join the two girls on their way to the haven Olive once lived in with both her parents. The children were victims of guardians who only took them in for the oil rights granted to Choctaw children at that time.

Valerie has left Yellowstone Park where her ranger husband died while trying to retrieve the body of a hiker. Former military, she is well trained and experienced in ranger work, but she finds some of the men in the ranger office reluctant to accept her, quickly chasing her away from investigating the remains found in the cave. Instead, she finds a friend in a Choctaw Tribal policeman, one who has a wealth of knowledge about the area. They partner in their search for a missing teen, which leads them to a discovery that will reveal the outcome of Ollie and the other children.

Lisa Wingate is the author of Before We Were Yours, which remained on the bestseller list for more than two years. The book was based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country. Wingate lives in Texas and Colorado with her family.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting April 3, 2024.

I would like to thank Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House Publishers, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

This book did not grab me. I tried to get into it and I just couldn't. I don't like books about abused children and I didn't realize that was what this was about.

This is a very interesting story. I am not familiar with the Indian plight over the years, more of my knowledge was from earlier in their history. And interesting to note that my relatives came not far from that area in the early 1900's.

The strength of these children is astounding. I keep looking at myself and my children and realize how weak we are, how our strength is a different kind. Ollie is a tough cookie, one who wants to help those around her. The things she goes through, the grit she has, is just amazing. I really enjoyed the historic part of this book.

The modernish day storyline did not hold me as strongly. It was interesting, and the two did tie together, but it was Ollie that I enjoyed the most.

Shelterwood brings ilght to a time period in the US that I have not read really anything about and a topic I truly had no knowledge of. I think it was because of this that I felt a bit confused/lost for about 40% of the book. I couldn't really figure out where Wingate was going with this whole idea of "elves" and how the children's story was going to come together with the 1990 timeline. I found Valerie's chapters to be more compelling, as she was such a unique character (female park ranger), but the historical chapters did bring a lot of depth to the story.

Lisa Wingate has done it again, What a great book. The reader is introduced to two main characters in alternating timelines. In 1990, Valerie, a young single parent has taken a job as a Park Ranger in Oklahoma. She is having to deal with the typical old boys club and has to prove herself on the job. Inadvertently she finds out about a cave where three sets of children's bones have been discovered. Instantly she is drawn. Into the mystery. In 1909, Olive is a young girl living with an abusive stepfather and a drunken mother. She along with another little Choctaw girl know they have to escape before something bad happens to both of them. They run away and find adventure and other orphans join them. Throughout the years these two timelines converge in an unbelievable conclusion. The author brings to light how Orphan Indian children were swindled, even murdered and cheated out of there land by “guardians” that pretended to have their best interest at heart, This is a tale that tugs at your heartstrings and really makes you realize how the innocent were taken advantage of.

I've been a fan of Lisa Wingate since I stumbled across "Before We Were Yours." It was actually my top pick for 2017 and on my top 10 all time reads. Since then, I also loved "The Book of Lost Friends" so I knew I would have to read "Shelterwood" as soon as I saw it.

The dual timeline novel features 1909 Olive, a young girl abused by her stepfather and concerned for her Choctaw foster sisters, who takes the youngest and runs away into the Winding Stair Mountains to protect them. "Present" day is 1999, where widowed Park Ranger Valerie has moved to Oklahoma with her young son to take a position at Winding Stair. When the bodies of three young children are found in the mountains and a couple of local teens disappear, Valerie is transported into the middle of decades old dilemmas involving the Native American lands, the tribes who lived on them first, the natural resources at the park, and those hungry for more power and money.

This book was definitely another winner from Lisa Wingate! The story is compelling along with illuminating a period of history I didn't know much about at all. The 1909 years highlight the issues in Oklahoma for the Native Americans after the land seizures, along with the problems for orphans of all races. The contemporary years provide insight into the land problems still today, along with the potential environmental impacts. Both sides really focus on the human aspect for the people in these areas and the tragedies they went through in the past that still are not properly resolved.