Two Roads by Joseph Bruchac - ADVISABLE

Two Roads by Joseph Bruchac, 320 pages. Dial Books (Penguin), 2018. $17.  

Content: Language: PG (3 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.  

BUYING ADVISORY: MS – ADVISABLE  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE  

12yo Cal and his dad have been living as hobos on the railroad tracks for the past year.  It is 1932, during the Great Depression, and Cal likes living with his dad, but when Cal’s dad goes to Washington D.C. to support veterans from World War I, Cal finds himself at a boarding school for Native Americans.  Cal misses his dad but starts to find his place as a Creek Indian among his friends.  

I loved the voice of Cal and the unique perspective of riding the rails during the Depression.  Cal and his father have a great relationship and the good and the bad of the government school are portrayed.  The Bonus Army march on Washington D.C. was well done and the author also adds more information and resources in the author’s note at the end.  The violence is a battle described from World War I.  

Reviewer, C. Peterson