I had read other fiction books about Native Americans being forced to adjust to white culture, but this... this was one of the most moving historical fiction books I've ever read. It does not hesitate to tell the truth about what these children went through. Here is the good, the bad, and the everyday of what it was like for so many Native children to go to "Indian" schools run by white people. Inspired by the experience of author's great aunt (in-law) in a similar school. ( )

Told in free verse poetry. *SPOILER* Sarah and Mattie are two Mohawk girls sent to a boarding school off the reservation. It is a cold place run by the hard, stern Mrs. Dwyer. The children are forbidden to speak their native language and connot keep items from home such as Indian crafts. The girls are among the other Indian children but even with the few friends they make they are never at ease in this environment. At first the older Mattie seems to thrive academically and loves her teacher Miss Weston, while the more reticent Sarah struggles. But when Mrs. Dwyer accuses Mattie of stealing her brooch, the accusation weighs heavily on her and she runs away. After several days of cold and wet she is returned to the school to face cruel punishment. Mattie becomes ill from her journey and broken spirit and dies in Sarah's arms.

Two sisters, Mattie and Sarah, had to experience life off of their Mohawk reservation after their mother's death. Through their experiences, they learn how to hold onto their culture and beliefs. This is a powerful and impacting novel that intertwines real experiences of Native American children.

I chose to read this because as a verse novel it is outside my comfort zone. However I found the use of free verse tremendously effective – the sparseness of the text gave me a strong sense of emotional restraint, a sense of the tight control these two sisters had exert to keep their personalities intact under the cruel administration of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The neglect and malice Sarah and Mattie experience is more vivid than that in My Name is Seepeetza, even thought it is not graphically described. The sense of foreboding I felt from the beginning proved to be accurate when Mattie becomes ill and dies through neglect.
I really like the way the sister's voices were distinguished, not only by different fonts, but by their different means of coping at the school. I also like that things are not clear cut. Not all of the teachers are actively cruel, some of the staff take great risks to help the children. A teacher that Mattie trusts and is especially fond of fails to act in time. Poor farmers do their best to shelter Mattie when she runs away. While it seems he doesn't like to send them away, their father entreats them to get an education, telling them it will help their future.
I was surprised to discover that the author isn't a member of the Mohawk nation described in the story, but I was relieved to see that Beverly Slapin approves of the book, and even praises it. (Slapin 2007) ( )