This Tender Land

 By William Kent Krueger

Adult Fiction (audio)

Reviewed by Cathy-SCRL Director

    Set in the rural Mid-West during the Depression, the author's writing of the novel is poignant and reminiscent of classics such as Steinbach's "Of Mice Men".  Three teen boys and a young girl escape in a canoe and travel from their residential school trying to reach safety in St. Louis.  They find both hardship and misery as well as compassion from those they encounter along the way.  Touching on some of the society's worst struggles during the 30's, it is still a hopeful story that doesn't gloss over the issues of the time.

    I listened to "This Tender Land' on Playaway Audio.  It was extremely well written and I enjoyed the narration from the point of view of the  younger brother Odie and how he spoke of his relationships with his brother and friend Mose and young Emmy.

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