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Looking for Dawn
What happened to the girl was not particularly surprising. Dawn Burnett had been too frequently close to real trouble, if not half-buried in it. And, sad as it might be to say, she would not have been the first Lakota kid to die mysteriously, horribly, in the open spaces of blinding winter cold all around. Nothing of that was shocking. Sad? —yes, unquestionably and terribly sad. After all, Dawn was a gorgeous young girl with so much going for her. Whatever happened that night, whatever she did or didn’t do, opened stories never told but not forgotten, stories that emerge painfully in a world of swirling, naked cold, where forgiveness seems an endless horizon away.
Nothing of that was shocking. Sad? —yes, unquestionably and terribly sad. After all, Dawn is a beautiful young girl with so much going for her. Whatever she did or didn’t do, what happened to her that night opens old stories never told but not forgotten, stories that emerge painfully in a world of swirling, naked cold, where forgiveness seems an endless horizon away.
Looking for Dawn, set in the unrelenting cold of the northern plains, is the story of 24 hours in the lives half-sisters who did not know each other and could not be more different; but sisters who come to recognize each other through the brokenness all around.
Nothing of that was shocking. Sad? —yes, unquestionably and terribly sad. After all, Dawn is a beautiful young girl with so much going for her. Whatever she did or didn’t do, what happened to her that night opens old stories never told but not forgotten, stories that emerge painfully in a world of swirling, naked cold, where forgiveness seems an endless horizon away.
Looking for Dawn, set in the unrelenting cold of the northern plains, is the story of 24 hours in the lives half-sisters who did not know each other and could not be more different; but sisters who come to recognize each other through the brokenness all around.
352 pages, Paperback
Published January 12, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 6, 2018
I gave it a four, even though it's my own book--just call it false modesty. But, listen, five stars would be shamefully boastful, wouldn't it? Seriously, I hope you'll try out Looking for Dawn. It's a bit unusual--just about everything happens in about 36 hours, so it moves right along. It hosts a bundle of main characters, young and old, Native and Euro-American, some of them related without even knowing it. The plot involves two sisters who discover their sisterhood when they're sixteen-ish, two kids who couldn't be more different. What they don't know is how that all happened, and when the whole history unravels--well, if I tell you anymore. . .
No, I've not self-published before. This is all new, and actually sort of fascinating. If you do read it, let me know!
If you're a thoughtful buyer, you can discover more about the book at a blog I put up, a blog that features, of all things, an interview with the author by the author. I know--also shameless! But when you've got to do your own marketing, sin abounds. Here's the url:
http://www.siouxlander.blogspot.com.l...
I'll be glad to answer questions.
Thanks,
Jim
No, I've not self-published before. This is all new, and actually sort of fascinating. If you do read it, let me know!
If you're a thoughtful buyer, you can discover more about the book at a blog I put up, a blog that features, of all things, an interview with the author by the author. I know--also shameless! But when you've got to do your own marketing, sin abounds. Here's the url:
http://www.siouxlander.blogspot.com.l...
I'll be glad to answer questions.
Thanks,
Jim
July 29, 2018
Even Remorseless Dakota Winter Cannot Staunch Sacrament
In Looking for Dawn, James Schaap weaves the mystery of the holy sacraments of both traditional Christianity and Lakota spirituality into a twenty-four hour tale of tragedy, misunderstanding, lust, sin, and redemption. He does this all from the point of view of the omniscient writer who climbs inside of a dozen characters heads and -- using but one voice and dialect -- manages to sound like a teenaged princess just robbed of her entitlements, a evangelical white guy with a stormy and sordid history he'd rather hide, a sage and ancient woman elder of the Lakota Nation, a newbie high-school principal with a lot to learn from his new community on the prairie, and several more real people. Most all of this twenty-four hour tale takes place in December on the high plains of Dakota. The reader can't not feel the incessant wind and numbing cold. An exceptional read that will make a man completely abandon any notion that a miscarriage is a small misfortune from which one can easily walk away.
I loved this book.
In Looking for Dawn, James Schaap weaves the mystery of the holy sacraments of both traditional Christianity and Lakota spirituality into a twenty-four hour tale of tragedy, misunderstanding, lust, sin, and redemption. He does this all from the point of view of the omniscient writer who climbs inside of a dozen characters heads and -- using but one voice and dialect -- manages to sound like a teenaged princess just robbed of her entitlements, a evangelical white guy with a stormy and sordid history he'd rather hide, a sage and ancient woman elder of the Lakota Nation, a newbie high-school principal with a lot to learn from his new community on the prairie, and several more real people. Most all of this twenty-four hour tale takes place in December on the high plains of Dakota. The reader can't not feel the incessant wind and numbing cold. An exceptional read that will make a man completely abandon any notion that a miscarriage is a small misfortune from which one can easily walk away.
I loved this book.
November 29, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I felt like it was Gary D. Schmidt for adults. Complex characters, real life, lovely writing. I liked the way time shifted with characters so gaps were filled in the narrative. It had a redemptive arc, and powerful symbolism.
August 13, 2024
The basic plot is promising, but the story almost gets lost in details and repetition of descriptions like "the girl was gorgeous". Would be a better novel with more editing and proofreading.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews