This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

 

In 1932, four orphans take to the Mississippi River to flee the horrible conditions they have been living in.  Odie and Albert are brothers.  Odie is high-spirited and spend a lot of time in the solitary room, a shed with no comforts and usually a beating beforehand.  Albert fares a bit better as he is a mechanical whiz.  Mose is their best friend, a huge boy of Indian descent who was found in a ditch when he was four with his dead mother, his tongue cut out.  Emmy is recently orphaned, her mother dead in a tornado.  All are fleeing from the Lincoln Indian Training School where a cruel couple is in charge and the children there are treated as nothing more than money machines.

The four decide to run away and take Emmy's father's canoe down the river to Saint Louis.  Odie and Albert's aunt lives there and they hope she might be able to take them in.  Along the way, they encounter lots of people they will always remember, both good and bad.  They are fugitives, both from the school and from the death of one of their tormentors that Odie might be responsible for.  They meet a man living alone with his demons, an Indian who teaches Mose about his heritage, families living in a Hooverville and members of a revival show.  They learn from each individual they meet and when they make it to Saint Louis, they learn the truth about their family background.  

Krueger is best known for his mystery series featuring Cork O'Connor, an Indian/Irish sheriff.  This work is a stand alone novel set in his favorite state, Minnesota, and details the lives and relationships of these four children who have formed a family that transcends blood.  Readers will fall in love with Odie who narrates the story and cheer for the children to find a life that is normal and loving.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.