Something to Hold

Set over the course of a school year in 1962, Noe’s quietly powerful debut novel is inspired by the author’s childhood memories of living on Indian reservations. Eleven-year-old Kitty is tired of being dragged around the country every time her father gets transferred. This time, it’s from Virginia to Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon, where he works as a forester for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, combating the dangerous fires in the Cascades. Kitty reluctantly attends yet another new school, an outsider and in the minority as a white person; she eventually befriends brave Jewel, her feisty brother Raymond, and kind Pinky. Still, Kitty has trouble navigating the reservation’s intricate alliances, and she is shocked to find that her teachers and church acquaintances disrespect Indians, perceiving them as drunks and dropouts. As Kitty begins to see the difficult lives of her friends more clearly and grows aware of the prejudices and racial injustices around her, trouble inevitably follows. Noe’s coming-of-age tale offers many revelatory moments—such as when Kitty’s class studies Columbus Day—that will stick with readers. Ages 9–12. (Dec.)