Perspective is everything. The room was bright and the table seemed oddly narrow and long, with little room to circumvent. I sat at one end and looked down a tunnel of friendly faces, somehow acutely aware of body positions, aware that one of us needs to read lips and that the room seemed to be unusually warm. 

 As I tried, yet failed, to get supporting visuals to show on the monitor, I could hear friendly chatter and some discussion of the previous book and its sequels. Everyone seemed relaxed and contributed, but the discussion seemed weighted to one side, overwhelmed by frustration with human greed, corruption, and history repeating itself. Our discussion of Shelterwood seemed calmly chaotic and shallow—like people treading water. 

Our first responder enjoyed the book and, perhaps because she is a retired teacher, she appreciated the resiliency of the children. I asked everyone to think of something that stood out to them, and she liked how Charlie answered his mom when she chastised him for questioning her adult conversation, “I didn’t listen, I heard. I can close up my eyes . . . but my ears don’t got lids.” She listened to the audiobook and appreciated the cast of narrators voicing different characters. So much better than our last book!

The next responder missed a 6 p.m. dinner to join us! She was frustrated at first by the altering timeline, but she got used to it. She liked the book. The corruption that was revealed in 1990 just emphasized how nothing changes. Another member was fervent in his response. He grew up in Oklahoma and was unaware of so much history. He seemed completely overwhelmed by society’s continued corruption; how we accept everything in our own timeline, even as we call out evil from the past. He particularly condemned child labor in family businesses. A new member, who joined us even though she hadn’t read the book, shared her feeling that those who try to make a difference are not heard until it is too late. We had a common refrain: Why haven’t we learned from history? We are doomed. The sad plight of orphans.

On a more positive note, someone brought up how Braden, in the 1990 timeline, was working to make a difference, even if it was to help his own family. Another one of us mentioned the parable of the Starfish Thrower.^[i] Another member was impressed by the incredible knowledge of the children and how their group kept growing. She made a note of Choctow words to share with us and later in the discussion, when the exploitation and greed revealed was ready to crush her – grasped hold of the romance of the ending. This reminded me of how important such writing choices are for giving us hope and building resilience, however predictable or unrealistic.

As we continued around the table, one of us shared that the story reminded him of visits to West Plains Missouri. He had always thought he had Native American blood, but Ancestry DNA says that he is 100% European. Another member liked the book and its revelation of exploitation of children, especially Native Americans. He was reminded of harvesting pecans in his youth. A machine shook the tree to make the nuts fall and, on the ground, the pecans were the same color as the leaves! He found a connection to other books we have read that highlighted or denounced male patriarchy. We were horrified at how they erased Kate Barnard, although fortunately they didn’t or we wouldn’t know about her! 

We compared the novel to our previous selection, Crow Mary. Lisa Wingate had an impressive list of references and her main character, though oppressed, was part of her own ethnic community. One of us felt that may be why he appreciated this book so much more than Crow Mary – less cultural appropriation. What did we think of Dewey as a self-proclaimed “Robin Hood?” What about Ollie’s adoptive father? Were we surprised? Did he redeem himself?

So much of the discussion I know I have missed! At the end of the meeting, as we were comparing our own discussion of society’s ills with the ineffectual ladies’ groups in the book, I asked:  What can we do to make a difference? Our new member said: Get to know your neighbor. Little by little. One starfish at a time. And as we were gathering our things to leave, small discussions about the room, one member lamented that we hadn’t discussed shelterwood, the connections that the trees make, called out in the novel, to make the forest strong. Maybe we didn’t discuss it directly, but it was there, just not in so many words.

Till next time . . .

WORDS:

• “Anumpulit issa” (stop talking in Choctaw)
• “of a sudden”
• “Pinti” (mouse in Choctaw)
• “himitta” (young)
• “forest bathing” (Shinrin-yoku in Japan)

OTHER WORKS DISCUSSED:

• Cabrini (2024 Film)
• Crow Mary (2023) by Kathleen Grissom
• Far and Away (1992 Film)
• Killers of the Flower Moon (2017 Book/2023 Film) by David Grann
• The Medicine Woman of Galveston (2024) Local author Amanda Skenandore
• One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This (2025) by Omar El Akkad
• True Grit (1968 book/1969 Film) by Charles Portis

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^[i] “Well, I made a difference for that one!” https://www.thestarfishchange.org/starfish-tale