it is the time when the leaves
are small on the trees
too small
for hiding
—Indian John
The year is 1812. A white trapper is murdered. And a young Chippewa Indian stands accused.
Captured and shackled in leg irons and chains, Indian John awaits his trial in a settler’s loft.
All the while, thirteen-year-old Rebecca Carver sleeps and cooks and cleans below, terrified by the
captive Indian right in her home.
In a world of crude frontier justice where evidence is often overlooked in favor of vengeance,
Indian John struggles to make sense of the white man’s court. His young lawyer faces the wrath
of a settlement determined to see the Indian hang. And Rebecca must decide for herself what—and
who—is right. At stake is a life.
From the award-winning author of Trouble Don’t Last comes a fast-paced drama told in the
alternating voices of Indian John and Rebecca Carver. Crooked River offers a probing look at prejudice,
early American justice, and the true meaning of courage.