Discussion questions for This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
- Why do you think the author chose to have Albert and Odie the only white children at an Indian school, rather than just have them live at an orphanage?
- Discuss Mose’s muteness. In an interview with bookreporter, Krueger says that “Mose and his muteness came as an inspiration for symbolizing Native Americans who had no voice in the heartless policies the government instituted to deal with them.” Did this come across to you when you read the book? What do you think about using physical muteness as a symbol for political powerlessness?
- Emmy often says things during or immediately after having a seizure that seem prescient. Do you believe she had “the sight”? How does what she tells Odie affect him? How do her pronouncements help drive the story?
- Publisher’s Weekly calls this book a “lively but heavy-handed adventure” and says that “overly sentimental prose [with lines like] “With every turn of the river, we were changing, becoming different people, and for the first time I understood that the journey we were on wasn’t about getting to St. Louis” weakens the story’s impact” but that the story “will satisfy fans of American heartland epics”. Do you agree with this assessment of the writing?
- How did you feel about the end? Were you surprised by the various revelations? Did the end feel like it was in keeping with the rest of the book, or did it feel like the author needed to find a way to finish his story.
For more discussion questions and resources, including an interview with the author, check out William Kent Krueger’s website.