When asked abt a writer/their book(s), my questions are:

Is the writer Native? If no, I'm skeptical. My experiences are that non-Native writers recycle stereotypes, tropes that feed an ongoing cycle. The bk might be engaging to some readers but such bks undermine Native Nations. https://twitter.com/peacefulreader/status/1318369996955897856

A common response is to say that I hate white people.

That's silly.

What I object to is some of the writing they do. If William Kent Krueger is a good writer, he could write about anything and his books would sell. If he wrote on topics I like, I'd likely buy/read his bks.

I don't know him/his bks. I'll go look. My guess is that he doesn't write for children/teens. That means I won't take time to read his bks. If, however, I learn he's a best seller, award-winner, etc. I will take a look. Bks in adult market are read by ppl in kid lit.

Krueger's book, THIS TENDER LAND, is set in 1932. The excerpt online is from the point of view of one of the white boys in the story. He and his bro are at a boarding school for Native kids because there was no room at an orphanage. Did that sort of thing happen? I don't know.

Their first night at the school, the two white brothers are eating a meal in the dining hall with the Native kids. After these meals, Krueger writes, the superintendent told stories to the kids. Did that happen? I doubt it but I don't know. It doesn't fit with what I know, but...

... there were a lot of schools, so I suppose it is possible.

TW for graphic violence:

There's a Native character in Krueger's book. He was found in a ditch when he was 4. Someone had killed his mother and cut out his tongue.

So, that Native character can't speak. When taken to the school he is named Moses Washington (because he was found in reeds/after 1st president).

These two white boys at the school know sign language and teach it to Mose. Sounds good (to some), but it is also white saviorism.

Krueger says Mose is Sioux. From what I can see online, there's a scene when Mose signs that his name is Geronimo. How, I wonder, does Mose know about Geronimo?

On his website, it is pretty clear that Krueger is using the boarding schools to promote the book. He may feel that more people should know about the schools and that he--thru his fiction--can help with that, but come on...

That is white saviorism, too, isn't it?

If the boarding school is new to you, there are far better ways to learn about it than Krueger's book.

You could start with Dawnland: https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/dawnland/

You can also read books by Native writers. You can get Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton & Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton, read it, and then hand it to your kids. https://birchbarkbooks.com/CatalogueRetrieve.aspx?ProductID=9713581&A=SearchResult&SearchID=11528864&ObjectID=9713581&ObjectType=27

Native scholars have written nonfiction bks. See, for example, Brenda J. Child's in-depth study, BOARDING SCHOOL SEASONS: https://birchbarkbooks.com/all-online-titles/boarding-school-seasons And, see Cliff E. Trafzer's edited bk, BOARDING SCHOOL BLUES: https://birchbarkbooks.com/all-online-titles/boarding-school-blues