This historical fiction story tells about a Inupiaq boy named Luke who was sent with his brothers to a Catholic boarding school from his home in the north of Alaska. It records the things that happened to these Native kids when they were forced to leave home for their educations. Almost immediately the youngest brother Isaac who is only six is taken from the others and sent away to be adopted by a family in Texas. Luke and Bunna, and even their families, have nothing to say about it. This story talks about the mostly well-meaning volunteers who educated the kids and tried to make them into good Christians. It talks about the rivalry between the Eskimos and the Indians that exists in the school and the white staff who can't tell the Indians and the Eskimos apart.The story also tells about a white girl named Chickie who was at the school too. Her father was a storekeeper in a remote village. Chickie identifies with the Eskimo kids she grew up with. The story is filled with kids like her and with orphans. They all band together and form friendships.I loved the language of this story told from a variety of viewpoints - Luke's, Chickie's, Sonny's who is the Indian son of a fatherless family who has lots of responsibility for his younger siblings, Amiq's who is the Eskimo son of a father who drinks, Donna who is an Indian girl who was orphaned and raised until boarding school by another missionary nun. We see a number of events through their eyes. We see the army testing the kids with a radioactive drink to see why they are able to survive above the arctic circle. We see the reaction to the assassination of the first Roman Catholic president. This would be a good story to read with kids to talk about history. The author tells us that most of the events really happened to various Native kids at government and private boarding schools. Luke is based on her own husband's story.
