According to the afterword, he started off thinking of writing a sequel to Huckleberry Finn. I'm glad he didn't. It reminded me of that book, just a little, but it reminded me more of A Series of Unfortunate Events. He took four young people on a journey and proceeded to throw everything scary and unpleasant at them at every turn of the page. Whenever things started to look hopeful, something horrible jumped out of the woods to send them running away screaming.
And some of the bad comes from within themselves, too. It's all part of growing up, I guess--grappling with your inner demons. Not mention jealousy, anger, selfishness and just plain old grumpy ill will.
In any event, I'm so glad Mr. Krueger wrote this book. I listened to every minute of it, good and evil and happy and sad, and I hated to have it end.
It's also one of those sort of fictional books that tells history better than you could get it from any of the factual sources. It's a living, breathing history, set during the great depression. There are Indian "Schools", hoboes, faith healers, Hooverville camps, and a whole lot of miserable people moving around trying to find work. The research he did was amazing, and he brought it all to life in the best way possible.
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