From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
Re-read in 2022 - have a much greater appreciation of the indigenous "justice" issues and Erdrich's craft as a storyteller. Bumping up to 5 stars!
From my initial read in 2015: Read Harder - Indigenous culture. A well-told story (wow, Louise really gets into the heads of 13 year old boys!) about difficult topics (rape, Native Amercan government/racism). The ending was heart-breaking - so much loss. I welcomed the glimpses into Joe's life today - they told me that he survived through the ordeal(s) ...more
From my initial read in 2015: Read Harder - Indigenous culture. A well-told story (wow, Louise really gets into the heads of 13 year old boys!) about difficult topics (rape, Native Amercan government/racism). The ending was heart-breaking - so much loss. I welcomed the glimpses into Joe's life today - they told me that he survived through the ordeal(s) ...more
Rich coming of age story. Joe lives on a Native American reservation in North Dakota with his parents. His world is shaken when his mom is brutally raped and there are complications about prosecuting the criminal. Joe, who is 13, grows up quickly as he seeks justice for his mother.
Erdrich does an excellent job of creating the world of the reservation in the late 1980s. She is equally skilled at bringing readers into the mind of a 13 year old boy and showing the friendship between Joe and his fri ...more
Erdrich does an excellent job of creating the world of the reservation in the late 1980s. She is equally skilled at bringing readers into the mind of a 13 year old boy and showing the friendship between Joe and his fri ...more
I enjoyed the ending of this book but I felt like the pacing was a little slow. She takes long digressions to "teach" about Native American culture, which I felt was unnecessary. I wanted the culture to be absorbed into the narrative, to push the story forward. I didn't think she should treat the Native American aspect as "exotic" enough to need teaching. I was willing to look it up on my own time if necessary and read the book for characterization and story. I especially felt this way during t
...more
Some might describe this book as a coming-of-age novel, but it is so much more. It's about something horrific that happens, a mystery, growing pains, tribal lore. Really spectacular writing with a heart wrenching plot.
...more
Mar 09, 2013
Denise Cormaney
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kenmore-st-book-club
Aug 08, 2013
Cari
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
literary,
natl-book-award
Jul 27, 2016
CoCo
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
award-wine-ing-book-club,
own
