Synopsis: This touching story of eleven-year-old Reuben Land and his family begins in Minnesota in the 1960's. The Land family's lives are disrupted when two schoolyard bullies seek retribution against Reuben's widowed father, Jeremiah, who stumbled upon them and stopped them mid-assault. Reuben's older brother, Davy, takes it upon himself to protect his family and shoots the bullies dead when they return to make trouble. Reuben is the only witness to the crime and, despite wanting to clear his brother's name, gives a fairly incriminating account of events. Realizing his chances at freedom are slim, Davy breaks out of jail and plans to live life on the lam. Reuben, his father, and his precocious younger sister, Swede, load into an Airstream trailer and travel through the frozen Badlands of the Dakotas in search of Davy. This poetic debut novel is a a tale of family, love, loyalty, romance, faith, and of miracles.
Review: I absolutely loved this remarkable book. This is a heartwarming tale of family devotion, but also a study of the price of doing the right thing. Did Davy do the right thing by protecting his family or is there no good excuse for a violent act like the one he committed? Should Reuben tell the truth and condemn his brother or lie and condemn himself? Jeremiah's strong faith guides many of the family's choices. This is an interesting book that raises many important questions. The characters are realistic and even the moments of unexplainable magic in the story are believable as seen through young Reuben's eyes. Readers will fall in love with the Land family and will be anxious to see the story through to its end. It's a great adventure story about what happens when familial bonds and loyalties are tested. If you read this book for no other reason than the beautiful prose (Enger could write about paint drying and make it into a masterpiece, I'm certain), then you'll be satisfied.
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