Page 31 - AT

A31
PEOPLE & ARTS Monday 16 SepteMber 2019

'This Tender Land' is an affecting story

about growing up

By OLINE H. COGDILL treatment at the Lincoln In- er with their final goal being
Associated Press dian Training School in Min- St. Louis. There, the broth-
"This Tender Land: a Novel" nesota where they were ers hope their Aunt Julia,
(Atria Books), by William sent after their bootlegger whom they have only seen
Kent Krueger father was murdered. The a few times, will take them
Strands of the adventures brothers stand out as the all in. But the trip is fraught
of Huck Finn and Tom Saw- only white children among with peril — from the rivers
yer on the Mississippi River the Native Americans at themselves and from the
echo throughout William the school where Odie is law. Newspaper accounts
Kent Krueger's lyrical, com- the rebel while Albert tries to maintain that Emmy was
passionate "This Tender go by the rules. Their closest kidnapped and law en-
Land" in which four children friends are Mose, a teen- forcement officers up and
try to escape their brutal life age Sioux whose tongue down the river are on the
by taking a canoe down was cut off when he was a lookout for them, as are the
the Minnesota River. child, and Emmy, a bright cruel owners of the school.
Best known for his series little girl whose mother is a Except for the naive Emmy,
about private investigator teacher at the school. Em- the children have learned
Cork O'Connor, Krueger my's mother and an ethical not to trust adults and, for
delves deep into his sec- janitor are the only adults the most part, that is rein-
ond stand-alone novel for at the school who are kind forced on the trip.
an affecting story about to all the children. Krueger's Cork O'Connor
growing up and overcom- Fed up with the abuse and stories have earned the
ing a childhood filled with trying to escape the after- author several awards and
neglect, abuse and racism math of a fatal incident, his stand-alone "Ordinary
during the Depression. the four set out on the ca- Grace" won numerous
"This Tender Land" opens in noe on the Gilead River awards including the Ed-
1932 when narrator Odys- that will connect to the gar and Anthony for best
seus "Odie" O'Banion and Minnesota River. They plan novel. "This Tender Land"
his brother Albert endure a to eventually make their should earn Krueger more This cover image released by Atria shows "This Tender Land," a
novel by William Kent Krueger.
constant barrage of brutal way onto the Mississippi Riv- accolades.q Associated Press