My hope is that you’re familiar with my 2013 novel Ordinary Grace, which won the Edgar Award for Best Novel. The story was a profound departure from those I’ve written for my New York Times bestselling Cork O’Connor mystery series. The response to Ordinary Grace from readers and critics was immensely gratifying and led to a contract for a companion novel. Their hopes, beliefs, endurances, strengths, survival skills, wisdoms are tested throughout the trip taken place between Minnesota to St. Louis. It was not only a road trip, it was their trip to be grown up and learning the basic rules how to survive in their new world after Great Depression. Does not disappoint. It’s a sprawling story of stories as fluid and full of twists and turns as the river it is set upon.” In the book, Krueger shows how children like Odie, Albert, Mose, and Emmy are vulnerable to physical and emotional abuse at the hands of adults who should be protecting them. He also highlights the injustices faced by ethnic groups, such as the Sioux people who are forced to attend the Lincoln School and have their culture and language erased. Chapter 51 – Lentil soup and bread the first night at Gertie’s plus sandwiches of bread, cheese, sliced beef, tomatoes and lettuce for the workers and rice pudding as John Kelly’s mother labors

The book takes place during the Great Depression. Discuss the characters’ interactions with Hoovervilles and the Flats. Did the residents seem hopeless to you or hopeful despite their circumstances? Discuss the differences between the Schofields and Gertie and her friends. Why do you think Odie feels such an allegiance to such people? Richly imagined and exceptionally well plotted and written, the novel is, most of all, a compelling, often haunting story that will captivate both adult and young adult readers.”

Lesson Plan

When Albert, Odie, Mose and Emmy left the Lincoln School, they encountered the depression of the 1930s in the outside world. Do you think the author did a accurate job in portraying The Great Depression era?

It's 1932, a time of hardship, adversity, and despair. Especially at the Lincoln Indian Training School, formerly a military outpost called Fort Sibley. It's a place where Indian children who have been taken from their families are sent so they can be educated in the ways of the white world. But it's really a place meant to obliterate every trace of their Indianness, by force if necessary.

Table of Contents

Minnesota—the Lincoln School is a pitiless place where hundreds of Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to an orphan named Odie O'Banion, a lively boy whose exploits earn him the superintendent's wrath. Forced to flee, he and his brother Albert, their best friend Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own. Krueger does a good job in developing Odie’s character as he travels on the Mississippi. Odie was only 12, almost 13, and some of his decisions and how he feels about something was reflected in the story realistically. They encounter a traveling tent revival and Sister Eve: ". . . A woman held center stage. Her hair was a long, sleek tumble the color of fox fur, and she wore a flowing white robe whose long hem trailed behind her as she moved."

This reading group guide for This Tender Land includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book. A magnificent novel about four orphans on a life-changing odyssey during the Great Depression, from the bestselling author of Ordinary Grace .

This Tender Land

Tent revivals—places where Christians would gather to hear religious leaders speak—were common in the Great Depression, often traveling across the country from town to town. They offered hope to people in desperate times, as Sister Eve does to Odie, Albert, Emmy, and Mose. However, Albert is skeptical of Sister Eve’s healings, calling her a con. What do you believe about Sister Eve’s ability to heal? What is the con that Albert is warning Odie about? I am a storyteller. I live in a house in the shade of a sycamore tree on the banks of the Gilead River. My great-grandchildren, when they visit me here, call me old.

Chapter 12 – A loaf of bread, peanut butter, apple butter, and oranges – the first meal on the river- (Next meal-bologna and cheese)Although Odie is angry with God, one person he meets who becomes his friend is a woman of God who heads religious crusades. She has the gift of being able to see someone's past. As time goes on, she recognizes that Emmy also has a gift, being able to see someone's future and sometimes being able to alter it slightly. After the huge success of his first standalone novel, Ordinary Grace, he was asked for a companion novel. That's when he felt what many writers feel after a hugely successful book, especially after a first book— Oh, my god! Now people are going to expect me to do this again! FIVE I NEVER FORGIVE MYSELF IF I GIVE LESS TO THIS FANTASTIC JOURNEY and I OFFICIALLY DECLARE THAT I'M IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK STARS! William Kent Krueger is a gifted storyteller. This Tender Land is a powerful and beautiful tale… It was just what my heart was asking for and just what my soul needed… it will stay with me for a very long time.”