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Between Earth and Sky
On a quiet Philadelphia morning in 1906, a newspaper headline catapults Alma Mitchell back to her past. A federal agent is dead, and the murder suspect is Alma’s childhood friend, Harry Muskrat. Harry—or Asku, as Alma knew him—was the most promising student at the “savage-taming” boarding school run by her father, where Alma was the only white pupil. Created in the wake of the Indian Wars, the Stover School was intended to assimilate the children of neighboring reservations. Instead, it robbed them of everything they’d known—language, customs, even their names—and left a heartbreaking legacy in its wake.
The bright, courageous boy Alma knew could never have murdered anyone. But she barely recognizes the man Asku has become, cold and embittered at being an outcast in the white world and a ghost in his own. Her lawyer husband, Stewart, reluctantly agrees to help defend Asku for Alma’s sake. To do so, Alma must revisit the painful secrets she has kept hidden from everyone—especially Stewart.
Told in compelling narratives that alternate between Alma’s childhood and her present life, Between Earth and Sky is a haunting and complex story of love and loss, as a quest for justice becomes a journey toward understanding and, ultimately, atonement.
The bright, courageous boy Alma knew could never have murdered anyone. But she barely recognizes the man Asku has become, cold and embittered at being an outcast in the white world and a ghost in his own. Her lawyer husband, Stewart, reluctantly agrees to help defend Asku for Alma’s sake. To do so, Alma must revisit the painful secrets she has kept hidden from everyone—especially Stewart.
Told in compelling narratives that alternate between Alma’s childhood and her present life, Between Earth and Sky is a haunting and complex story of love and loss, as a quest for justice becomes a journey toward understanding and, ultimately, atonement.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 24, 2018
2225 people are currently reading
15541 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Skenandore
15 books2,258 followersAmanda Skenandore is an award-winning author of historical fiction and a registered nurse. Her books have been translated into multiple languages and garnered accolades from the American Library Association, Reader’s Digest, Silicon Valley Reads, and Apple Books. She is a 2024 Nevada Arts Council’s literary fellow. Amanda lives in Las Vegas with her husband and their pet turtle, Lenore.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 834 reviews
April 23, 2018
4 enlightening and engaging historical fiction stars to Between Earth and Sky! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Alma Mitchell’s childhood friend, Asku, is accused of murdering a federal agent. Alma’s husband is a lawyer, and he agrees to represent Asku at the trial as a favor to her.
When Alma knew Asku, he was a successful student at the residential school for assimilating Native American children, and Alma had been the only white student enrolled because her father was headmaster of the school. The Stover School was designed to strip away the culture and language of its students.
Between Earth and Sky is told in a dual narrative- Alma’s past and Alma’s present. The story is one that will have you questioning the real meaning of justice. This is an important story and truly heartrending. Everyone should know about the existence of these schools in United States’ history. Overall, this was a well-written book and one I’m grateful I read!
Thank you to Amanda Skenandore, Kensington Publishing, and Netgalley for the ARC. Between Earth and Sky will be published on April 24, 2018!
Alma Mitchell’s childhood friend, Asku, is accused of murdering a federal agent. Alma’s husband is a lawyer, and he agrees to represent Asku at the trial as a favor to her.
When Alma knew Asku, he was a successful student at the residential school for assimilating Native American children, and Alma had been the only white student enrolled because her father was headmaster of the school. The Stover School was designed to strip away the culture and language of its students.
Between Earth and Sky is told in a dual narrative- Alma’s past and Alma’s present. The story is one that will have you questioning the real meaning of justice. This is an important story and truly heartrending. Everyone should know about the existence of these schools in United States’ history. Overall, this was a well-written book and one I’m grateful I read!
Thank you to Amanda Skenandore, Kensington Publishing, and Netgalley for the ARC. Between Earth and Sky will be published on April 24, 2018!
May 31, 2018
4.5 Stars
Oh my gosh this book broke my heart.
There’s a lot in American history that we don’t talk about. It’s skimmed over in school or a pretty or patriotic spin is put on it. In the 1800s the US was busy assimilating Native Americans into their culture, forcing them to dress like them, talk like them, and act like them even though none of the indigenous people expressed a want of this.
Skenandore exposes this time in history. Between Earth and Sky follows Alma going from her past as a white child in an assimilation boarding school to the present (1906) where one of her beloved childhood friends, Henry (or Asku), has been charged with the murder of a federal agent.
Although Henry’s arrest is the catalyst for this story, it is really about Alma coming to terms with what happened during her time at the boarding house and the treatment of Native Americans.
I am glad to have found a historical fiction book that touches on this time period and these events. It wasn't always a comfortable read (how could it be when you hear of some of the atrocities committed against Native Americans), but it was enlightening and heartfelt.
ARC provided for honest feedback.
Oh my gosh this book broke my heart.
There’s a lot in American history that we don’t talk about. It’s skimmed over in school or a pretty or patriotic spin is put on it. In the 1800s the US was busy assimilating Native Americans into their culture, forcing them to dress like them, talk like them, and act like them even though none of the indigenous people expressed a want of this.
Skenandore exposes this time in history. Between Earth and Sky follows Alma going from her past as a white child in an assimilation boarding school to the present (1906) where one of her beloved childhood friends, Henry (or Asku), has been charged with the murder of a federal agent.
Although Henry’s arrest is the catalyst for this story, it is really about Alma coming to terms with what happened during her time at the boarding house and the treatment of Native Americans.
I am glad to have found a historical fiction book that touches on this time period and these events. It wasn't always a comfortable read (how could it be when you hear of some of the atrocities committed against Native Americans), but it was enlightening and heartfelt.
ARC provided for honest feedback.
July 6, 2023
'The white man has always been very generous with what he doesn't want'.
Alma's family moved to Stover so her father could open up the School for Indians in order to assimilate local tribal children; 'civilise' and mold them, 'Thanks to the beneficence of the United States Government, you have the opportunity to fully immerse yourselves in civilized culture and to wash away the sins of your former existence'. Alma attends the school so she can be a shining example to the 'heathens'. Naive to politics, however, Alma simply sees a chance to make new friends. She becomes close to them, even learning some of their language. She truly believes that they are better off, until a shocking incident sends her from Stover to never return. However, years later, her past confronts her. Upon returning to Stover she begins to see events for what they were, 'Their struggle, their homesickness, the discrimination they faced - it was all around me and I did nothing about it'.
'Between Earth and Sky' is a dual-time story telling the events of Alma's childhood juxtaposed with her current life. Amanda Skenandore reveals the misguided myopic zealousness of methodically dismantling the culture, language, and values of the children forced to attend these schools far from home. The utter disenfranchisement of the Native Americans is heartbreaking to read; removed from their own culture but not accepted as 'white', 'But all the education in the world could not change the color of my skin'. The confusion Alma experiences growing up underscores the irrational disparities that were purported but unfounded. When she finally revisits her childhood, she finally comprehends all that has truly been lost, 'Our worlds are like the sky and earth...They get very close, but never touch'.
I was so glad this book was recommended to me. I can't believe this is a debut novel and I'm keen to go through Skenandore's backlist. If you love historical fiction that's well-researched and filled with emotion, I highly recommend this to you.
Alma's family moved to Stover so her father could open up the School for Indians in order to assimilate local tribal children; 'civilise' and mold them, 'Thanks to the beneficence of the United States Government, you have the opportunity to fully immerse yourselves in civilized culture and to wash away the sins of your former existence'. Alma attends the school so she can be a shining example to the 'heathens'. Naive to politics, however, Alma simply sees a chance to make new friends. She becomes close to them, even learning some of their language. She truly believes that they are better off, until a shocking incident sends her from Stover to never return. However, years later, her past confronts her. Upon returning to Stover she begins to see events for what they were, 'Their struggle, their homesickness, the discrimination they faced - it was all around me and I did nothing about it'.
'Between Earth and Sky' is a dual-time story telling the events of Alma's childhood juxtaposed with her current life. Amanda Skenandore reveals the misguided myopic zealousness of methodically dismantling the culture, language, and values of the children forced to attend these schools far from home. The utter disenfranchisement of the Native Americans is heartbreaking to read; removed from their own culture but not accepted as 'white', 'But all the education in the world could not change the color of my skin'. The confusion Alma experiences growing up underscores the irrational disparities that were purported but unfounded. When she finally revisits her childhood, she finally comprehends all that has truly been lost, 'Our worlds are like the sky and earth...They get very close, but never touch'.
I was so glad this book was recommended to me. I can't believe this is a debut novel and I'm keen to go through Skenandore's backlist. If you love historical fiction that's well-researched and filled with emotion, I highly recommend this to you.
March 2, 2018
A slow paced but poignant exploration of the treatment of Native Americans in history from the point of view of a young, coming of age girl. Alma, the main character, is a young white girl in a unique position of growing up among Native American children at her father's boarding school for "civilizing" them. Naturally, she befriends them, and like them, she is caught between two worlds, but does she truly understand them and their situation? As an adult, she has to the face the ghosts of this past.
I really enjoyed the way this story was told, set in two time periods but told in parallel to each other. I know lots of book have used this method before, but few do it quite so well as this one. It's slow paced, but never boring. The chapters set in 1906 hint and foreshadow at something significant that happened in the past, while the chapters set in the past slowly evolve to show you what happened. Eventually, the past catches up and it all comes to a head.
Beautifully written with realistic, three dimensional, sympathetic characters, and complex relationships, this is easily the best novel on this subject matter I've read so far. I definitely look forward to what this debut author has to offer in the future.
Advanced review copy from publisher via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.
Historical Readings & Reviews
I really enjoyed the way this story was told, set in two time periods but told in parallel to each other. I know lots of book have used this method before, but few do it quite so well as this one. It's slow paced, but never boring. The chapters set in 1906 hint and foreshadow at something significant that happened in the past, while the chapters set in the past slowly evolve to show you what happened. Eventually, the past catches up and it all comes to a head.
Beautifully written with realistic, three dimensional, sympathetic characters, and complex relationships, this is easily the best novel on this subject matter I've read so far. I definitely look forward to what this debut author has to offer in the future.
Advanced review copy from publisher via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.
Historical Readings & Reviews
May 9, 2018
This is an impressive debut novel by Amanda Skenandore. She writes about a very sensitive subject in a very insightful, straightforward and touching manner. There's sadness and despair and tragedy here, all treated without melodrama or excessive emotional pathos. This story moved me deeply, gave me a lump in my throat many a time, and even brought me to tears during the reading and long after finishing the read.
Intellectually I knew about this part of U.S. history. I've always known about the injustice toward and mistreatment of the Native Americans by the conquering immigrant settlers from Europe, with their feelings of superiority and entitlement based on nothing more than skin color, religion, beliefs and customs. Yes, I knew that. But it's one thing to know it intellectually. It's another thing to actually see it. Skenandore's novel allows us to see this happening through the eyes of her protagonist Alma (of European descent).
The story begins in 1906, with an adult Alma, married to Philadelphia lawyer Stewart Mitchel, reading a newspaper article about the murder of a federal agent by a Native American. The murder suspect is one of Alma's oldest and dearest childhood friends, Asku (Askuwheteau), known in the white man's world as Harry Muskrat. Alma cannot believe that Harry could possibly be guilty of murder and convinces her husband to travel with her to Minnesota to prove Harry's innocence.
In alternating chapters which take us from Alma's present to her past, we also learn about Alma's childhood. In 1881 young child Alma and her parents arrived in Wisconsin for her father to take charge of a boarding school for Native American children. Schools of this ilk were set up across the United States beginning in the late 1870s. Their goal: to assimilate the children into American society and the American way of life. Their effect: to rob these children of their own heritage, language, culture, religion, sense of belonging, sense of worth, even robbing them of their very names.
Alma is placed in the school as a fellow student, even sleeping in the dormitory with the young Native American girls, by her parents so that she will serve as a role model for the others. So the others will see how a true civilized, God-fearing child behaves and will then emulate her. But Alma is a child. She wants to belong, to have friends, to be accepted by her peers. She is also young enough not to be biased and bigoted. She develops friendships with them, learns some language and customs from them, and learns to question the way they are treated by her parents and others at the school.
This isn't a comfortable story to read. Most of the time I was filled with anxiety and a sense of impending tragedy. It's a story to read to try to understand cultural clashes and prejudices. It's not a feel-good story. In this time of wall building, it's all too sad to see how very little we have grown as a country. As one Native American character says, "Our worlds are like the sky and the earth. They get very close but never touch." Will this forever be true?
Intellectually I knew about this part of U.S. history. I've always known about the injustice toward and mistreatment of the Native Americans by the conquering immigrant settlers from Europe, with their feelings of superiority and entitlement based on nothing more than skin color, religion, beliefs and customs. Yes, I knew that. But it's one thing to know it intellectually. It's another thing to actually see it. Skenandore's novel allows us to see this happening through the eyes of her protagonist Alma (of European descent).
The story begins in 1906, with an adult Alma, married to Philadelphia lawyer Stewart Mitchel, reading a newspaper article about the murder of a federal agent by a Native American. The murder suspect is one of Alma's oldest and dearest childhood friends, Asku (Askuwheteau), known in the white man's world as Harry Muskrat. Alma cannot believe that Harry could possibly be guilty of murder and convinces her husband to travel with her to Minnesota to prove Harry's innocence.
In alternating chapters which take us from Alma's present to her past, we also learn about Alma's childhood. In 1881 young child Alma and her parents arrived in Wisconsin for her father to take charge of a boarding school for Native American children. Schools of this ilk were set up across the United States beginning in the late 1870s. Their goal: to assimilate the children into American society and the American way of life. Their effect: to rob these children of their own heritage, language, culture, religion, sense of belonging, sense of worth, even robbing them of their very names.
Alma is placed in the school as a fellow student, even sleeping in the dormitory with the young Native American girls, by her parents so that she will serve as a role model for the others. So the others will see how a true civilized, God-fearing child behaves and will then emulate her. But Alma is a child. She wants to belong, to have friends, to be accepted by her peers. She is also young enough not to be biased and bigoted. She develops friendships with them, learns some language and customs from them, and learns to question the way they are treated by her parents and others at the school.
This isn't a comfortable story to read. Most of the time I was filled with anxiety and a sense of impending tragedy. It's a story to read to try to understand cultural clashes and prejudices. It's not a feel-good story. In this time of wall building, it's all too sad to see how very little we have grown as a country. As one Native American character says, "Our worlds are like the sky and the earth. They get very close but never touch." Will this forever be true?
June 9, 2018
Rating: 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars.
This book by Amanda Skenandore is told in alternating timelines. One is set in the 1880’s in Wisconsin, and the other is set in 1906.
In the 1880's storyline a seven-year old, Alma moves with her parents to rural Wisconsin when her father becomes the Superintendent at the Stover School for Indians. She is an only child who has been schooled by governesses up to this point in her life. She is excited to get to go to school with other children. But the adults immediately try to make her very aware how different she is from the other children. She doesn’t see any difference between her and the new Indian students, and desperately longs to make her first friends. She watches as the Indians are treated cruelly. For instance, they are severely punished if they don’t follow directions spoken in English, which is a language that they don’t understand.
The other storyline is set in 1906 and starts in Philadelphia when a grown and married Alma Mitchell reads that one of her best friends from the Indian School is scheduled to be hanged for murder. Her friend Harry Muskrat (or Asku as Alma knew him) has been charged with the murder of a federal Indian Agent. Harry was the most promising graduating student in her class. She can’t believe that he’s guilty of the murder. So she convinces her husband, who is a lawyer, to set out with her to the Indian reservation to help clear Harry’s name.
The story told from the schoolhouse days were gut-wrenching. It was hard to read the things that were done to Indian children in the name of Christianity and ‘civilization’. My grandparents went to a Deaf School in Idaho as young children around 1919, and they told similar stories about how their language (sign language) was ripped from them, and they were punished if they were caught signing. I had a lot of compassion for the Indian children, and the stories while hard to read, were not far-fetched. Alma has also kept a huge secret from her school years that is slowly teased out as the years pass in the Indian School timeline and it converges with her present day.
The 1906 timeline takes Alma and her husband to the reservation where some of the now adult school children live. Alma finds appalling conditions, and a federal system that cheats the Indians of land, food, resources and dignity at every opportunity. Alma and her husband try to recreate what happened the day the federal agent was shot in order to go back to court with that information to defend Harry.
While both of the alternating stories were pretty bleak, they were told in an expert manner. I didn’t feel like the Indians were exploited in this story, and I didn’t feel like Alma was simply a bleeding heart. She had normal human compassion, which was apparently extra-ordinary for the day and age that she lived in. I hope that we have come further in our acceptance of those who differ from us, but some days I have my doubts. I recommend this book if you’d like to read a well-written story about one of the less honorable eras in America’s history.
Thank-you to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing, and the author, Amanda Skenandore, for providing a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book by Amanda Skenandore is told in alternating timelines. One is set in the 1880’s in Wisconsin, and the other is set in 1906.
In the 1880's storyline a seven-year old, Alma moves with her parents to rural Wisconsin when her father becomes the Superintendent at the Stover School for Indians. She is an only child who has been schooled by governesses up to this point in her life. She is excited to get to go to school with other children. But the adults immediately try to make her very aware how different she is from the other children. She doesn’t see any difference between her and the new Indian students, and desperately longs to make her first friends. She watches as the Indians are treated cruelly. For instance, they are severely punished if they don’t follow directions spoken in English, which is a language that they don’t understand.
The other storyline is set in 1906 and starts in Philadelphia when a grown and married Alma Mitchell reads that one of her best friends from the Indian School is scheduled to be hanged for murder. Her friend Harry Muskrat (or Asku as Alma knew him) has been charged with the murder of a federal Indian Agent. Harry was the most promising graduating student in her class. She can’t believe that he’s guilty of the murder. So she convinces her husband, who is a lawyer, to set out with her to the Indian reservation to help clear Harry’s name.
The story told from the schoolhouse days were gut-wrenching. It was hard to read the things that were done to Indian children in the name of Christianity and ‘civilization’. My grandparents went to a Deaf School in Idaho as young children around 1919, and they told similar stories about how their language (sign language) was ripped from them, and they were punished if they were caught signing. I had a lot of compassion for the Indian children, and the stories while hard to read, were not far-fetched. Alma has also kept a huge secret from her school years that is slowly teased out as the years pass in the Indian School timeline and it converges with her present day.
The 1906 timeline takes Alma and her husband to the reservation where some of the now adult school children live. Alma finds appalling conditions, and a federal system that cheats the Indians of land, food, resources and dignity at every opportunity. Alma and her husband try to recreate what happened the day the federal agent was shot in order to go back to court with that information to defend Harry.
While both of the alternating stories were pretty bleak, they were told in an expert manner. I didn’t feel like the Indians were exploited in this story, and I didn’t feel like Alma was simply a bleeding heart. She had normal human compassion, which was apparently extra-ordinary for the day and age that she lived in. I hope that we have come further in our acceptance of those who differ from us, but some days I have my doubts. I recommend this book if you’d like to read a well-written story about one of the less honorable eras in America’s history.
Thank-you to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing, and the author, Amanda Skenandore, for providing a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
June 15, 2024
Between Earth and Sky by Amanda Skenandore is a historical novel that tells a story of complex themes of cultural identity, assimilation, and friendship against the backdrop of late 19th and early 20th century America. The story follows Alma Mitchell in her childhood, befriended Native American children at a boarding school designed to assimilate them into white society.
The novel is set on two timelines, present and the past.The past tells of Alma's childhood experiences at the boarding school and her adult life. The return of a former friend, Asku, who is accused of murder, forces Alma to remember the abuse and prejudices she witnessed and the role she unknowingly played in them.
The authors research is evident in the detail she writes of the times social and cultural dynamics. She writes of the impact of assimilation policies on Native American communities and the struggles of those caught in- between.
Why is America so racist? If you aren’t while protestant male there are countless books written on prejudices in America. Where we are all immigrants. All but white Protestant men? I will never understand.
The novel is set on two timelines, present and the past.The past tells of Alma's childhood experiences at the boarding school and her adult life. The return of a former friend, Asku, who is accused of murder, forces Alma to remember the abuse and prejudices she witnessed and the role she unknowingly played in them.
The authors research is evident in the detail she writes of the times social and cultural dynamics. She writes of the impact of assimilation policies on Native American communities and the struggles of those caught in- between.
Why is America so racist? If you aren’t while protestant male there are countless books written on prejudices in America. Where we are all immigrants. All but white Protestant men? I will never understand.
February 9, 2018
This compelling novel tells the story of a girl, Alma, whose father runs a residential school on the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. The book shifts between Alma's childhood and her attempts as an adult to intervene in, and perhaps atone for, the effects of the school and white society in general on one of her Anishinaabe friends who is on trial for the murder of a reservation agent. The book is not a mystery but holds the reader's attention with the delicate unfolding of dreams, secrets, and relationships against the backdrop of an oppressive system that, with hindsight, some would call outright genocide. This book provides a good starting point for thinking about the atrocities committed against American Indians; I would even recommend it to young adult readers (there are only a few scenes of a violent or sexual nature).
February 13, 2018
I just had the pleasure of a free afternoon and a pre-release reading of "Between Earth and Sky" by Amanda Skenandore! The story starts in the late 1800's when the central character's father opens an Indian School to basically strip young native Americans of their culture and save their heathen souls. The book brings up a disturbing bit of our country's History and the unjust cruel treatment of native Americans. I really enjoyed this book and strongly recommend it to any historical fiction fan!
December 13, 2022
Skenandore’s novel is a moving and powerful historical fiction set in the 1880s and early 1900s. This debut is slow paced but never boring. With realistic, sympathetic characters, and complex relationships, this book deals with a difficult topic. Quite a heartbreaking story for Alma and the Native American children forced to attend the Stover School. The way this country treated the Native Americans is appalling especially at the Mission Schools.
April 28, 2018
This book is the first I've read by this author and I definitely look forward to reading more by her.
I'm not even sure how to describe my feelings with this book since it broke my heart! Excellent,excellent read.
When Alma was a young child her father stared a school for Indian children a “savage-taming” boarding school run by her father. Alma was the only white student there the students all had a super strict teacher. The Indian children don't trust Alma or the other whites there trying to conform them to white ways. They are forced to give up all their customs and their language. All in the name of making them civilized citizens. Now this starts off in 1906 with Alma married and reminiscing about her time back when she was a student at the Indian school back in the late 1800's. The book goes back and forth between the two time periods explaining her time at the Indian school and her growing up years. Her father defends the Indians and says they are not "savages" as a lot say . Her mother on the other hand thinks they far inferior intelligence and will never measure up. As Alma grows up she falls in love with an Indian and he with her. Planning on running away to be with him the ultimate tragedy occurs. My heart absolutely BROKE reading the description of what happened. This tore me up :(
Now in modern time Alma is married but never told her husband about this part of her life. When she finds out one of the Indian students she went to school with all those years ago is being accused of murder of a federal agent. She insists her husband who is a lawyer find facts to prove his innocence. An emotional journey through the wilds of Indian land and your mind this will make this a book for all historical fiction readers a not to miss book to treasure.
Pub Date 24 Apr 2018
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Kensington Books through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.
I'm not even sure how to describe my feelings with this book since it broke my heart! Excellent,excellent read.
When Alma was a young child her father stared a school for Indian children a “savage-taming” boarding school run by her father. Alma was the only white student there the students all had a super strict teacher. The Indian children don't trust Alma or the other whites there trying to conform them to white ways. They are forced to give up all their customs and their language. All in the name of making them civilized citizens. Now this starts off in 1906 with Alma married and reminiscing about her time back when she was a student at the Indian school back in the late 1800's. The book goes back and forth between the two time periods explaining her time at the Indian school and her growing up years. Her father defends the Indians and says they are not "savages" as a lot say . Her mother on the other hand thinks they far inferior intelligence and will never measure up. As Alma grows up she falls in love with an Indian and he with her. Planning on running away to be with him the ultimate tragedy occurs. My heart absolutely BROKE reading the description of what happened. This tore me up :(
Now in modern time Alma is married but never told her husband about this part of her life. When she finds out one of the Indian students she went to school with all those years ago is being accused of murder of a federal agent. She insists her husband who is a lawyer find facts to prove his innocence. An emotional journey through the wilds of Indian land and your mind this will make this a book for all historical fiction readers a not to miss book to treasure.
Pub Date 24 Apr 2018
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Kensington Books through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.
May 2, 2018
See my review here on my blog! 😀 http://angelerin.blogspot.com/2018/05...
October 14, 2024
This beautifully written book left me in tatters, tears flowing. This book tugged at my heartstrings, my emotions all over the place, overwhelmed by love, dismay, shame, grief, courage. This book is a breathtaking story that took me back in time from 1881-1906, a time of turmoil and despair, particularly among the Native American tribes whose homes, cultures...their entire way of life...were being taken away. The author did an outstanding job of putting us in that time and place not only physically, but also emotionally. Adding to the authenticity was the author’s use of native languages, which made me wish I was listening to the audiobook, to hear the words spoken. I could feel the uncertainty in the decision to assimilate the Indians into the white man’s world; I could feel the conflict from the native Americans who were torn between both worlds, and also from the main character, Alma. Alma—such a wonderfully-written character—is the only white pupil in a “savage-taming” boarding school for the children who live on the reservations. As she forges friendships with the other students, embracing their traditions and their language, she must also discover what it truly means to belong. This novel and its characters—especially Alma, Asku, and Tshikwa’set—have left permanent handprints on my heart.
February 28, 2019
Considering this is the author’s debut, it is actually very good. There are a number of great reviews out there or, like me, start the story because of the book editorial and go in blind. I would find it hard to believe if it does not tug at your emotions.
September 12, 2018
The topic and historical accuracy were excellent and worthy of a novel.
The characters were incredibly stereotypical, as were their actions. This made the novel mostly predictable and frustrating. A dark time in history, with far reaching effects, and a topic without much literature written about it, deserves rich characters that add something, not reinforce tired literary tropes.
The characters were incredibly stereotypical, as were their actions. This made the novel mostly predictable and frustrating. A dark time in history, with far reaching effects, and a topic without much literature written about it, deserves rich characters that add something, not reinforce tired literary tropes.
December 9, 2019
I read this for book club. It is sooooo slow. It flips back and forth between two points in time which normally works but in this case it didn’t. There are so many positive reviews and I have no idea how or why
July 3, 2018
One of the things I like best about being a NetGalley reviewer is that it exposes me to authors and books I would have never come across. Between Earth and Sky is one of those precious gems. Amanda Skenadore's writing provides an accurate portrait of Native American boarding schools in the late 1800s. In the character of Harry Muskrat she questions the impact of forced assimilation on one's self-identity. A heartfelt story that brought me to tears.
A warm thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing and Amanda Skenadore for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
A warm thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing and Amanda Skenadore for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
March 7, 2025
One of our book club reads this year, and one that hit my heart with all the suffering of the indigenous peoples at the hands of invaders. Many of my very own ancestors are those invaders. Guilt and confusion often wring their hands in my head as I read these types of books. What to do with all they did, that we didn't know we'd benefited by, which was exactly why they did what they did - such a complex tone to read through. . .
That said, this story does an apt job of laying out the question and answering it: what was the REAL purpose of Indian Schools? was it a generous service to assist the native peoples to assimilate, to give them a "hand up"? Not even. It was an isolating factor, a way to further Other / Name / Label a population that troubled early settlers. It was a way to instill the absolute power structure Whites wanted the Native Peoples to understand - it was brutal and there was nothing generous about it.
Truly, there never is and never has been overlap between the earth and sky - it's either one or the other.
That said, this story does an apt job of laying out the question and answering it: what was the REAL purpose of Indian Schools? was it a generous service to assist the native peoples to assimilate, to give them a "hand up"? Not even. It was an isolating factor, a way to further Other / Name / Label a population that troubled early settlers. It was a way to instill the absolute power structure Whites wanted the Native Peoples to understand - it was brutal and there was nothing generous about it.
Truly, there never is and never has been overlap between the earth and sky - it's either one or the other.
September 12, 2020
In “Between Earth and Sky” by Amanda Skenandore Is a debut novel about the forced assimilation of Native Americans. I wondered about the possibility of appropriation, being that the author is a white woman writing a historical novel about Native Americans (or is it Indians?). I found an interview of the author which addressed the subject. Though she is not Native American, her husband is Oneida and her mother-in-law is Ojibwe. Skenandore is a common name in these tribes. The author explained that her husband and mother-in-law preferred the term Native American or Indigenous people or the specific name of the tribe (there are 567 federally recognized Indian nations across the United States). She further explained that the word Indian is comparable to Negro, both terms though once used and widely accepted, have evolved into the ones that are acceptable today. Another common misconception is that Native Americans are monolithic when in fact there are vast differences — in culture, ethnicity and language — that exist among the many tribes.
The author did a great deal of research before and while writing the book and it is filled with objects and details of the time and place. It is written alternating between 1881 when Alma was a child attending her father’s school for Indian children, sleeping at night in the dormitory among them, eating in the cafeteria with them and attending classes with them and 1906 when Alma, as an adult, is married to a respected member of white society, a lawyer and a man very much in love with his wife. Her love for him is complicated by unresolved issues related to the prominent relationships from her childhood: with her parents, female friends she made in the school and male Indian friends. The book opens in 1906 when Alma reads in the newspaper that an Indian man stands accused of murdering a federal agent. She recognizes the name immediately as one of her closest friends who had done exceptionally well at the school, so well that he was accepted into Brown University. She knows that there must be a mistake and this thread of the book goes on in her attempt to correct it.
Meanwhile in the childhood thread we learn what it meant for the Indian children who were forced to attend the school. They were taken from their parents and upon arriving at the school, they were made to strip naked. Their clothes, which the white adults deemed filthy, flea infested and otherwise disgusting, were all thrown into a bonfire. The children were washed, given white children’s clothing, their hair was shorn, they were compelled to use unfamiliar tools for eating and in the classroom they were forced to choose “Christian” names and forbidden to speak their native languages. In other words they were summarily stripped of their culture, their language, their dress, their spiritual beliefs and customs and even their forms of play, dance and song. They were made to feel inferior and stupid, though to Alma they were none of these things. They were more like a special adventure, a group she very much wanted to be a part of.
Between Earth and Sky is a well told story that is compelling and heartbreaking. It ought to be read, along with other books about America’s Indigenous people, stories and history that we did not learn in school. It’s about time that we made up for that unfortunate shortcoming in our education.
The author did a great deal of research before and while writing the book and it is filled with objects and details of the time and place. It is written alternating between 1881 when Alma was a child attending her father’s school for Indian children, sleeping at night in the dormitory among them, eating in the cafeteria with them and attending classes with them and 1906 when Alma, as an adult, is married to a respected member of white society, a lawyer and a man very much in love with his wife. Her love for him is complicated by unresolved issues related to the prominent relationships from her childhood: with her parents, female friends she made in the school and male Indian friends. The book opens in 1906 when Alma reads in the newspaper that an Indian man stands accused of murdering a federal agent. She recognizes the name immediately as one of her closest friends who had done exceptionally well at the school, so well that he was accepted into Brown University. She knows that there must be a mistake and this thread of the book goes on in her attempt to correct it.
Meanwhile in the childhood thread we learn what it meant for the Indian children who were forced to attend the school. They were taken from their parents and upon arriving at the school, they were made to strip naked. Their clothes, which the white adults deemed filthy, flea infested and otherwise disgusting, were all thrown into a bonfire. The children were washed, given white children’s clothing, their hair was shorn, they were compelled to use unfamiliar tools for eating and in the classroom they were forced to choose “Christian” names and forbidden to speak their native languages. In other words they were summarily stripped of their culture, their language, their dress, their spiritual beliefs and customs and even their forms of play, dance and song. They were made to feel inferior and stupid, though to Alma they were none of these things. They were more like a special adventure, a group she very much wanted to be a part of.
Between Earth and Sky is a well told story that is compelling and heartbreaking. It ought to be read, along with other books about America’s Indigenous people, stories and history that we did not learn in school. It’s about time that we made up for that unfortunate shortcoming in our education.
May 5, 2018
Between Earth and Sky is a powerful and poignant exploration of the residential school system in the US during the late 19th century. It was nice to learn more about this significant part of history because it continues to have an impact even today. Although the story is based on American residential schools, the story is also relevant to Canadian history.
The story starts in 1906 with Alma Michell reading a newspaper article about an old friend from her days living at her father's residential school in the 1880's. Harry Muskrat is being tried for the murder of a government official. Alma can't fathom Harry being the culprit who committed this crime and enlists her husband, an attorney, to help prove his innocence. As Alma digs deeper into the situation, old memories come flooding back and Alma is left wondering if her childhood perspective of being close friends with Harry and the other students and her friends' school related successes are really as accurate as she once believed.
This story provides the reader with a snapshot of life for the Native American children in the residential school system. The plot contains really only a taste of the abuse that was suffered by these children. In reality, the abuse was much more significant than what is detailed although the disenfranchisement from both indigenous and caucasian culture is well portrayed. This fictional account also included a unique perspective of the sincere efforts of school personnel at Stover residential school to assimilate the Native American students they deemed "savages" to become respectable Christian citizens. Unfortunately given the patriarchal and racist lens of that era, respect didn't go very and for the most part, they were deemed second class citizens at best or feared as savage beasts at worst. The story is told through the eyes of Alma both as a child and adult with alternating timelines.
Excellent writing and character development brings the reader into the folds of this story. We form strong attachments to the whole cast be it love, hate, hope, anger, concern, disappointment, sadness, etc. The story is multidimensional in that we can see the characters' covert decisions but also appreciate the layers beneath. In other words, people can be both good and bad. They can make flawed decisions with the best intentions. This is a book that will make you think and feel. At the heart of its message is the suggestion that assimilation created more problems than it solved, leaving a generation of people who were left without any meaningful identity. Truly a captivating read that leaves a lingering impact on the reader.
A gracious thank you to Kensington Books and Amanda Skenandore for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The story starts in 1906 with Alma Michell reading a newspaper article about an old friend from her days living at her father's residential school in the 1880's. Harry Muskrat is being tried for the murder of a government official. Alma can't fathom Harry being the culprit who committed this crime and enlists her husband, an attorney, to help prove his innocence. As Alma digs deeper into the situation, old memories come flooding back and Alma is left wondering if her childhood perspective of being close friends with Harry and the other students and her friends' school related successes are really as accurate as she once believed.
This story provides the reader with a snapshot of life for the Native American children in the residential school system. The plot contains really only a taste of the abuse that was suffered by these children. In reality, the abuse was much more significant than what is detailed although the disenfranchisement from both indigenous and caucasian culture is well portrayed. This fictional account also included a unique perspective of the sincere efforts of school personnel at Stover residential school to assimilate the Native American students they deemed "savages" to become respectable Christian citizens. Unfortunately given the patriarchal and racist lens of that era, respect didn't go very and for the most part, they were deemed second class citizens at best or feared as savage beasts at worst. The story is told through the eyes of Alma both as a child and adult with alternating timelines.
Excellent writing and character development brings the reader into the folds of this story. We form strong attachments to the whole cast be it love, hate, hope, anger, concern, disappointment, sadness, etc. The story is multidimensional in that we can see the characters' covert decisions but also appreciate the layers beneath. In other words, people can be both good and bad. They can make flawed decisions with the best intentions. This is a book that will make you think and feel. At the heart of its message is the suggestion that assimilation created more problems than it solved, leaving a generation of people who were left without any meaningful identity. Truly a captivating read that leaves a lingering impact on the reader.
A gracious thank you to Kensington Books and Amanda Skenandore for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 29, 2023
Wow. White savior-ism on full display here.
And I don’t think the author meant it that way, but I nearly quit reading several times.
The whole story is patently absurd. 15 years have passed since our protagonist has seen her Native classmates (she last saw them when she was 17 and quite naive), and despite now being married, in her 30s, and living in Philly, she has somehow managed to NOT mature past 17.
She reads an article about a Native man who has been arrested for murder, and recognizes him as her old classmate and dear friend. She decides that absolutely nothing has changed in 15 years and he’s EXACTLY the same as he ever was (and by that we mean exactly how she thought he was) and is therefore innocent. She manages to convince her milquetoast husband to close his law firm for an indefinite amount of time and essentially move from Philly to Minnesota so she can white savior her friend and prove his innocence. THIS IS BONKERS.
The writing is decent. The plot is bonkers nu-nu preposterous. The apologist white savior complex slaps you over the head over and over. I think the Author is trying to show the problems with it but fails spectacularly.
The removal of Native children from their homes for forced assimilation is a tragic and important story. The horror of white savior complex is real. This story does both of these topics a huge disservice.
And I don’t think the author meant it that way, but I nearly quit reading several times.
The whole story is patently absurd. 15 years have passed since our protagonist has seen her Native classmates (she last saw them when she was 17 and quite naive), and despite now being married, in her 30s, and living in Philly, she has somehow managed to NOT mature past 17.
She reads an article about a Native man who has been arrested for murder, and recognizes him as her old classmate and dear friend. She decides that absolutely nothing has changed in 15 years and he’s EXACTLY the same as he ever was (and by that we mean exactly how she thought he was) and is therefore innocent. She manages to convince her milquetoast husband to close his law firm for an indefinite amount of time and essentially move from Philly to Minnesota so she can white savior her friend and prove his innocence. THIS IS BONKERS.
The writing is decent. The plot is bonkers nu-nu preposterous. The apologist white savior complex slaps you over the head over and over. I think the Author is trying to show the problems with it but fails spectacularly.
The removal of Native children from their homes for forced assimilation is a tragic and important story. The horror of white savior complex is real. This story does both of these topics a huge disservice.
February 10, 2023
3+ stars for storyline.
It fell short because of dullness that was trying to finish.
That being said, the treatment of Native Americans by the U.S. government is one of the more shameful episodes in our history. Amanda Skenandore explores this subject tenderly, using a narrator whose loyalties are pulled by both worlds, a narrator whose poignant self-discovery saves a difficult subject from becoming distressingly didactic. The book is slow-paced but marches inexorably towards the ending we know must come.
It fell short because of dullness that was trying to finish.
That being said, the treatment of Native Americans by the U.S. government is one of the more shameful episodes in our history. Amanda Skenandore explores this subject tenderly, using a narrator whose loyalties are pulled by both worlds, a narrator whose poignant self-discovery saves a difficult subject from becoming distressingly didactic. The book is slow-paced but marches inexorably towards the ending we know must come.
May 29, 2024
I started this book months ago but was only able to read a few pages before I had to put it down. I'm Navajo and attended a boarding school through 3rd grade. After hearing of this book, I knew I wanted to read the story, and like many stories that involve the mistreatment of Native Americans, it has taken me some time to gather myself and deal with my emotions before being able to read on. The characters may have been fictitious, but the devastating mistreatment by assimilation
of Native people stands true. Thank you for sharing this story.
of Native people stands true. Thank you for sharing this story.
May 13, 2018
Well that was kind of depressing.
April 15, 2018
Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for the ARC.
While education and assimilation might have been good intentions, for the Native American children taken from the Reservations and forced to become copies of White Man, Stover School is a prison.
Alma is the founder's daughter and grows up stuck in the middle between right and wrong. She befriends the children and although they are forced to speak English, she learns some of their native tongue.
This proves to come in handy years later, when one of her former classmates is accused of murder.
Together with Stewart, her lawyer husband, they research the case, in order to find out what really happened.
Between Earth and Sky is an amazing story. Full of indepth characters, it gives us an independent account of both sides of history. It lets the reader decide the good or bad.
The writing is exquisite with clear dialogue and well described surroundings. This book is a gem. I couldn't put it down.
While education and assimilation might have been good intentions, for the Native American children taken from the Reservations and forced to become copies of White Man, Stover School is a prison.
Alma is the founder's daughter and grows up stuck in the middle between right and wrong. She befriends the children and although they are forced to speak English, she learns some of their native tongue.
This proves to come in handy years later, when one of her former classmates is accused of murder.
Together with Stewart, her lawyer husband, they research the case, in order to find out what really happened.
Between Earth and Sky is an amazing story. Full of indepth characters, it gives us an independent account of both sides of history. It lets the reader decide the good or bad.
The writing is exquisite with clear dialogue and well described surroundings. This book is a gem. I couldn't put it down.
March 18, 2018
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I have read a lot of great books so far in 2018 (according to my Goodreads Reading Challenge I’m up to 36 books so far this year), and I can honestly say that BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY by Amanda Skenandore is the best one I’ve read so far. Skenandore’s debut novel, which will be published by Kensington on April 24, 2018, is a compelling and heartbreaking historical fiction set in the 1880s and early 1900s. The novel alternates between the main character’s past as the only white child attending the Stover Indian School in Wisconsin, and her present as the wife of a lawyer in Philadelphia in 1906.
In 1906, Alma Blanchard Stewart is living a quiet life with her husband in Philadelphia. One morning, while reading the newspaper, she learns that a Native American man was arrested in Wisconsin for killing one of the Indian agents on the reservation. Alma knows the man who was arrested – he was her childhood friend from the Stover Indian School. Convinced that her friend has been wrongly accused, she and her reluctant husband travel to Wisconsin with the intention to uncover the truth and help set Asku Muskrat free. Alma’s mission forces her to confront her past, and leads her to realize that the assimilation of Native American’s into white culture left the children of the Stover Indian School damaged and destroyed as they were never accepted by white people and they were estranged from their families on the reservations. Alma also learns that life on the reservation is not how she imagined it would be.
As a child, Alma’s father moved her and her mother from Philadelphia to La Crosse, Wisconsin in the early 1880s so that he could open up the Stover Indian School. At the time, people believed that the only way for the Native Americans to survive was to assimilate them into white culture. To do that, numerous Indian Schools were opened throughout the country to educate Native American children. The children were taken from their families on the reservations and then moved to the Indian Schools where they were forced to adapt to white society. Through Alma’s perspective, Skenandore shows what it was like for the Native American children. Upon arrival at the school, they are stripped of their native clothing and belongings. Their hair is shorn, they are given Christian names, and they are forbidden from speaking in their native languages. They are robbed of the identity. Alma’s father, as well as the other white people who work at the school, believe that what they are doing is the right thing. Even though Alma is a child, she questions what they are going to the native children. As Alma grows up alongside the native children, she learns their customs and their languages. But it is when she falls in love with one of the native boys and asks for permission to marry him that Alma realizes that she is the only one at the Stover Indian School who sees the Native Americans as her equals.
I was absolutely blown away by BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY. The story is very compelling, and I love how Alma’s present plays out alongside her past. As the only white child attending the Stover Indian School, Alma is stuck in a difficult situation. She is supposed to be an example for the native children, but she also wants to be their friend. She becomes caught up in the gray area – she is a white woman who knows about and embraces not only the Native American people but their culture as well. The reader witnesses how Alma’s grows and reshapes her opinions as she learns more about the Native Americans and their plight. The story is also a heartbreaking one not only for Alma, but for all of the Native American children who were forced to attend the Stover Indian School. This is a novel about losing one’s native identity while trying to establish a place in a world that is not yet receptive to people who are not white.
I have read a lot of great books so far in 2018 (according to my Goodreads Reading Challenge I’m up to 36 books so far this year), and I can honestly say that BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY by Amanda Skenandore is the best one I’ve read so far. Skenandore’s debut novel, which will be published by Kensington on April 24, 2018, is a compelling and heartbreaking historical fiction set in the 1880s and early 1900s. The novel alternates between the main character’s past as the only white child attending the Stover Indian School in Wisconsin, and her present as the wife of a lawyer in Philadelphia in 1906.
In 1906, Alma Blanchard Stewart is living a quiet life with her husband in Philadelphia. One morning, while reading the newspaper, she learns that a Native American man was arrested in Wisconsin for killing one of the Indian agents on the reservation. Alma knows the man who was arrested – he was her childhood friend from the Stover Indian School. Convinced that her friend has been wrongly accused, she and her reluctant husband travel to Wisconsin with the intention to uncover the truth and help set Asku Muskrat free. Alma’s mission forces her to confront her past, and leads her to realize that the assimilation of Native American’s into white culture left the children of the Stover Indian School damaged and destroyed as they were never accepted by white people and they were estranged from their families on the reservations. Alma also learns that life on the reservation is not how she imagined it would be.
As a child, Alma’s father moved her and her mother from Philadelphia to La Crosse, Wisconsin in the early 1880s so that he could open up the Stover Indian School. At the time, people believed that the only way for the Native Americans to survive was to assimilate them into white culture. To do that, numerous Indian Schools were opened throughout the country to educate Native American children. The children were taken from their families on the reservations and then moved to the Indian Schools where they were forced to adapt to white society. Through Alma’s perspective, Skenandore shows what it was like for the Native American children. Upon arrival at the school, they are stripped of their native clothing and belongings. Their hair is shorn, they are given Christian names, and they are forbidden from speaking in their native languages. They are robbed of the identity. Alma’s father, as well as the other white people who work at the school, believe that what they are doing is the right thing. Even though Alma is a child, she questions what they are going to the native children. As Alma grows up alongside the native children, she learns their customs and their languages. But it is when she falls in love with one of the native boys and asks for permission to marry him that Alma realizes that she is the only one at the Stover Indian School who sees the Native Americans as her equals.
I was absolutely blown away by BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY. The story is very compelling, and I love how Alma’s present plays out alongside her past. As the only white child attending the Stover Indian School, Alma is stuck in a difficult situation. She is supposed to be an example for the native children, but she also wants to be their friend. She becomes caught up in the gray area – she is a white woman who knows about and embraces not only the Native American people but their culture as well. The reader witnesses how Alma’s grows and reshapes her opinions as she learns more about the Native Americans and their plight. The story is also a heartbreaking one not only for Alma, but for all of the Native American children who were forced to attend the Stover Indian School. This is a novel about losing one’s native identity while trying to establish a place in a world that is not yet receptive to people who are not white.
January 25, 2022
"Her father’s voice came to her, warm, robust, humming with excitement:
We’re their salvation.
He’d said those words the very first day the Indians arrived. How fervently she’d once believed them. But then, for all their good intentions, they hadn’t really saved them at all.”
4.5 out of 5 stars.
So heartbreaking. So fucking heartbreaking.
Despite the term Native American, students in the United States aren't taught about Native American history. Sure, you might get a little lesson on the tribes that are native to the region. Yes, you'll get a lesson on how the Pilgrims encountered them when they first arrived and how they supposedly lived in harmony with them and had the first Thanksgiving.
But after that... they're erased. Forgotten. No more than footnotes in history, if even that. It's as if they've disappeared entirely.
The only way someone is to learn more about them is if they do their own research. How I wish that weren't the case.
This book shows the irreparable physical, emotional, and psychological damage Indian boarding schools did not to just the children that went there, but to the tribes they belonged to. The children came out of those schools too white for their own culture, but nowhere near white enough for society. Shunned by both spectrums, they ended up living lives of bitter poverty, resentment, and aimless drifting, desperately trying to find a place where they would belong. Almost none succeeded.
Because of forced assimilation, whole cultures, traditions, and languages disappeared. Native Americans have the highest rates of PTSD among all ethnicities because of the shared trauma that has been going on since white people arrived on their continent. Their land. Their home. What was rightfully theirs.
Thankfully, Amanda Skenandore doesn't try to hide or excuse the behavior of the past; nor does Alma. Instead, they look back in horror and agony at what was done and try to do the best they can to make amends. Alma can't go back in time and change what has happened. We all can't go back and makes things different or better. But with books like these- a sensitive, thought provoking, agonizing look at a part of our history that has been buried and forgotten for so long- we can understand and atone for what we did in the past and vow to do better in the future.
We’re their salvation.
He’d said those words the very first day the Indians arrived. How fervently she’d once believed them. But then, for all their good intentions, they hadn’t really saved them at all.”
4.5 out of 5 stars.
So heartbreaking. So fucking heartbreaking.
Despite the term Native American, students in the United States aren't taught about Native American history. Sure, you might get a little lesson on the tribes that are native to the region. Yes, you'll get a lesson on how the Pilgrims encountered them when they first arrived and how they supposedly lived in harmony with them and had the first Thanksgiving.
But after that... they're erased. Forgotten. No more than footnotes in history, if even that. It's as if they've disappeared entirely.
The only way someone is to learn more about them is if they do their own research. How I wish that weren't the case.
This book shows the irreparable physical, emotional, and psychological damage Indian boarding schools did not to just the children that went there, but to the tribes they belonged to. The children came out of those schools too white for their own culture, but nowhere near white enough for society. Shunned by both spectrums, they ended up living lives of bitter poverty, resentment, and aimless drifting, desperately trying to find a place where they would belong. Almost none succeeded.
Because of forced assimilation, whole cultures, traditions, and languages disappeared. Native Americans have the highest rates of PTSD among all ethnicities because of the shared trauma that has been going on since white people arrived on their continent. Their land. Their home. What was rightfully theirs.
Thankfully, Amanda Skenandore doesn't try to hide or excuse the behavior of the past; nor does Alma. Instead, they look back in horror and agony at what was done and try to do the best they can to make amends. Alma can't go back in time and change what has happened. We all can't go back and makes things different or better. But with books like these- a sensitive, thought provoking, agonizing look at a part of our history that has been buried and forgotten for so long- we can understand and atone for what we did in the past and vow to do better in the future.
April 17, 2018
I enjoy reading historical fiction and love it even more when I learn about events that I didn't know about while I am reading. Between Earth and Sky does just that and more. The book is about the treatment of Indian children in the late 1800s when many of them were taken from their homes and families and moved to boarding schools. Their language and their traditions were stripped away from them as they were being 'civilized'. In the second time period in the novel - 1906 - we are shown the ramifications of the changes that the children went through and how it affected the rest of their lives.
As the novel begins, Alma is a young girl is waiting for the boarders at the new school that her father has just set up in Wisconsin. She is excited about the possibility of having so many new friends. Even as a child, she is shocked by what happens when the Indian children arrive at the school. Their clothes are burned and their hair is cut. They are no longer allowed to talk in their own language or do anything that would remind them of their past lives. Even their Indian names are changed to Christian names. The alternate time line is about Alma, now grown, who has moved to Philadelphia and reads in a newspaper article that one of her old friends from the school has been accused of murder. She convinces her lawyer husband that they need to help this young man because she felt that her friend had been unjustly accused of murder. What she learns when she travels back to Wisconsin is not only more about herself but also the results of the education that the Indian children had received at the boarding school.
This is a beautifully written novel that shows the amount of research that was done by the author. I knew very little about the Indian boarding schools during this time and I was appalled at the treatment that these children received. The characters are well written and the entire novel is fantastic. This is a debut novel for this author and I can't wait to read her future books.
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
As the novel begins, Alma is a young girl is waiting for the boarders at the new school that her father has just set up in Wisconsin. She is excited about the possibility of having so many new friends. Even as a child, she is shocked by what happens when the Indian children arrive at the school. Their clothes are burned and their hair is cut. They are no longer allowed to talk in their own language or do anything that would remind them of their past lives. Even their Indian names are changed to Christian names. The alternate time line is about Alma, now grown, who has moved to Philadelphia and reads in a newspaper article that one of her old friends from the school has been accused of murder. She convinces her lawyer husband that they need to help this young man because she felt that her friend had been unjustly accused of murder. What she learns when she travels back to Wisconsin is not only more about herself but also the results of the education that the Indian children had received at the boarding school.
This is a beautifully written novel that shows the amount of research that was done by the author. I knew very little about the Indian boarding schools during this time and I was appalled at the treatment that these children received. The characters are well written and the entire novel is fantastic. This is a debut novel for this author and I can't wait to read her future books.
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
December 8, 2021
This story starts out kind of slow, but the the way it unfolds is heart wrenching, and gritty. Almas story is humbling. We often are taught a glossed over, whitened version of the Indian Wars and the policy of assimilation that was nothing less then a crime against the Native American people. This book captures the hypocrisy of white society's belief in their superiority. It explores the abuse children experienced being forced into boarding schools, striped of the language, their culture, their families. The lasting effects of which the indigenous people are still grappling with.
I very much enjoyed this story. My heart broke with Alma's several times over. And I appreciated the gritty honesty of her journey coming to terms with her life and her role in the abuses towards the Native American tribes.
I very much enjoyed this story. My heart broke with Alma's several times over. And I appreciated the gritty honesty of her journey coming to terms with her life and her role in the abuses towards the Native American tribes.
June 26, 2024
A lovely story. It pulls the heart different way. The highs are wonderful and the lows tore at me.
I loved the book.
I loved the book.
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