Stealing

<p><strong>This powerful novel should join classics like Ernest J. Gaines's <em>The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman</em> Helena Maria Viramontes's <em>Under the Feet of Jesus</em> and Harper Lee's <em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em>.--<em>New York Times Book Review</em></strong></p><p><strong>A gripping gut-punch of a novel about a Cherokee child removed from her family and sent to a Christian boarding school in the 1950s--an ambitious eye-opening reckoning of history and small-town prejudices from Pulitzer Prize finalist Margaret Verble. </strong></p><p>Kit Crockett lives on a farm with her grief-stricken widowed father tending the garden fishing in a local stream and reading Nancy Drew mysteries from the library bookmobile. One day Kit discovers a mysterious and beautiful woman has moved in just down the road. </p><p>Kit and the newcomer Bella become friends and the lonely Kit draws comfort from her. But when a malicious neighbor finds out Kit suddenly finds herself at the center of a tragic fatal crime and becomes a ward of the court. Her Cherokee family wants to raise her but the righteous Christians in town instead send her to a religious boarding school. Kit's heritage is attacked and she's subjected to religious indoctrination and other forms of abuse. But Kit secretly keeps a journal recounting what she remembers--and revealing just what she has forgotten. Over the course of <em>Stealing </em> she unravels the truth of how she ended up at the school and plots a way out. If only she can make her plan work in time.</p><p>In swift sharp and stunning prose Margaret Verble spins a powerful coming-of-age tale and reaffirms her place as an indelible storyteller and chronicler of history.</p>