The Revenant - Sonia Gensler
Willie is 17 and she ran away after getting a letter from her mother telling Willie that she was needed at home. Willie took another girl's certificate and she's in Indian Territory to teach at a Cherokee girls school.Life in Indian Territory is definitely not like anything Willie expected. Some of the girls come from very wealthy families and she struggles to teach them, Especially Fannie Bell. And Willie must fight the growing feelings she has for a student at the Cherokee boys school.And then she finds out about the stories of a dead student haunting the school. A student who once stayed in the room that now belongs to her.Willie doesn't believe in ghosts, but when some strange things happen, she begins to think that it isn't just her imagination as she originally thought.From the first page I was hooked. Willie says on the first page that she's a liar and a thief. When a character says that, you just want to keep reading to know their story.But it wasn't just Willie I kept reading for. The stories of other characters in the book interested me as well. There were some great characters in this book and some that just made me mad, like Fannie Bell. But I think that is to be expected. I don't think Fannie is supposed to be a likeable character.I haven't read much historical fiction, but this interested me because I love reading paranormal books - fiction or nonfiction - and I enjoy reading books about Native Americans. Since I'm Cherokee, this book interested me even more.I think the only thing that bothered me was in the beginning Willie thought and said some offensive things about Indians. I do realize this is because the story is set in the late 1800s and also because the character only knew what she had read about Indians. But of course, later she learned much more about Indians and realizing they were just like her.Overall, I thought this was a truly wonderful book. I love the story and Willie is a great character as well as others. To be honest, I would love another book about Willie and Eli and to know what happens to the other characters in the book. This book was so great I want to read more stories involving the characters in this book.