I AM INDEBTED, as always, to my agent, Danielle Egan-Miller, and her team at Browne and Miller Literary Associates for their editorial comments, their business acumen, their enthusiasm, their support, and their friendship across so many years. I’ve been blessed.
I owe so much to my editors at Atria Books, Peter Borland and Sean deLone, who opened their arms to a pretty rough manuscript and generously applied their expertise. Thanks for helping to shape that early draft into the story I believe it was always meant to be.
For assistance with the historical backdrop of this tale, I owe thanks to the Blue Earth County Historical Society and the Gale Family Library at the Minnesota History Center. Also a big thank-you goes out to Clare Pavelka of Red Wing Shoes for her dogged efforts to track down boot facts long ago buried in the dust of time.
Sadly, the stories of the ill-treatment of Native American children forced into government boarding schools are as numerous as the blades of grass on the prairies. For the story I’ve told, I am particularly grateful to the account of his own experience offered by Adam Fortunate Eagle in his fine memoir, Pipestone.
Finally, to the baristas at Caribou Coffee and the Underground Music Café, where this story was written: Thanks for your smiles in the dark hours of every morning, the caffeine you supplied to start my engine, and your patience as I occupied a chair and table way beyond any reasonable time limit. I couldn’t have done it without you.