The dawning Cold War, in 1954, means air-raid drills and talk of nuclear bombs. This revelation comes only near the end, although fans of Bruchac's writing and attentive readers will suspect much sooner that 11-year-old Sonny, the narrator, is related to the Indians whose customs and beliefs his Uncle Louis relates with such passion and insight. Reprising his signature themes, Bruchac sets up this taut novel to reveal a chilling bit of history: according to an endnote, the Vermont Eugenics Project, signed into law in 1931, enabled the state to incarcerate and sterilize many Abenaki Indians, on the grounds that they had "bad genes," leading other Abenaki to conceal their Indian identities.
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