Although this thirty-year-old story shows its age in a lot of ways, the plot and the characters are timeless. An obviously mentally ill teenage girl, whose family refuses to see her problems staring them right in the face, encounters a young teacher and writer who, racked with guilt at his failure to prevent a former student's suicide, tries to help her. The rural Minnesota setting and Indian traditions add flavor to the plot, and the kidnapped baby subplot adds suspense.

This book is similar to the far better known I Never Promised You a Rose Garden and Lisa, Bright and Dark, but in my opinion it's a much better story. A pity it's so obscure. ( )