Between Earth and Sky: friendship, betrayal and the sacrifices made in order to belong

Between Earth and Sky by Amanda Skenandore is a tragic story that intersects the white and Native American culture when a young girl learns about friendship, betrayal and the sacrifices made in order to belong. One morning in Philadelphia in 1906, Alma Mitchell reads a newspaper headline that shakes her to her core and brings to the surface a past she kept hidden. A federal agent was killed and Harry Muskrat, or Asku as Alma knew him, is the prime suspect. Asku was once the most promising student at the Stover School, a “savage-taming” boarding school that was run by her father. The school was created to assimilate the children of neighboring reservations. Assimilation at the cost of everything they've known: their language, customs, and their very names. Alma knows the boy she knew would never commit murder but doesn’t recognize the man he had become: an outcast in the white world and a ghost in his own. Stewart, her lawyer husband, reluctantly agrees to help defend Asku. Will they be able to successfully defend Asku? What will happen when Alma finally must reveal the secrets she hides? 

Between Earth and Sky is told between alternating timelines between Alma’s childhood and the present. It is a beautifully complex story that tells a haunting and yet true period of American History. While there were some motives that were altruistic, others were determined to kill the Indian in the man. It is a story that will break your heart as you read the harsh treatment that was done to ensure the Indian cultures were erased. In some cases, they have succeeded as many Indian languages have been lost to time while others are seeing a resurgence due to the careful preservations. It is a story about love, loss, justice and the journey toward understanding and atonement. The growth that Alma goes through from the beginning to the end of the book is difficult. At some points, I thought she would never truly see what her Native friends were trying to show her. I have read about the Indian boarding schools before and this book does an excellent job depicting the cruelty and harshness toward the native students. I enjoyed Between Earth and Sky and highly recommend it. 

Between Earth and Sky is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

 

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The Gemma Doyle trilogy: magic and mystery

The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray is fantasy series about a young girl at an English boarding school when she discovers a magical realm. She learns that she has a magical gifts and she must learn how to use them. She, along with her friends, must defeat the evil which is unleashed and return the balance between the world and the realm.

A Great and Terrible Beauty is the first book, 1895, Gemma Doyle is sent to a boarding school in England after the death of her mother in India. Once there, she begins to have clairvoyant visions as she discovers the magical secrets of the Spence Academy for Young Ladies. She soon becomes friends with Felicity Worthington, the most popular and influential girl at the school. Along wither her roommate, Ann Bradshaw and Felicity’s best friend, Pippa Cross, Gemma discovers an ancient group of women called The Order. The girls decide to start an Order of their own and discovers a magical cave which bestows magic gifts of immense power. Soon the power turns evil. Will Gemma and her friends survive?

Rebel Angels is the second book which begins two months after the events of A Great and Terrible Beauty. The magic in the caves has been released and the evil sorceress, Circe, and her allies are free to roam the realm and possibly the human world. Gemma and her friends must find the “Temple” in order to bind the magic and Circe again. New friends, teachers and mysterious men are pressuring Gemma to use her magic according to their plans. Unsure who to trust, Gemma must rely on her own instincts to battle Circe and restore the magic. Will her chosen allies help or hurt her? Will she be able to fight the growing threat from Circe?

The Sweet Far Thing is the last book in which one year has passed since Gemma arrive at the Spence Academy. She is struggling with the magic from realms and the effects on the school. When the East Wing of the school is being rebuilt after a fire from many years ago, a mysterious stone is unearthed and Gemma beings to have visions of a young girl in a lavender dress with a magical dagger. Time is running out, can Gemma find the clue to realm the wall between the realm and her world? What is this mysterious stone? Who is the girl in Gemma’s vision and can her dagger help end the Circe? Will Gemma and her friends survive?

I enjoyed this series very much. I’ve read it a couple times over the last few years and it get better and better. I enjoyed the references to classic Greek tragedies. The descriptions of the school and the grounds gives the reader the sensation of being there. The interactions between the characters, especially teenage girls, was realistic. There are many surprises in the book from the first opening page to the closing lines. This makes writing a review difficult but makes for a very good read. I highly recommend the Gemma Doyle trilogy.