Shelterwood - Lisa Wingate

Written by Lisa Wingate
Read by Christine Lakin, Jenna Lamia, Dan Bittner
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Books on Tape
Release date: June 4, 2024
Duration: 14:06:10

Oklahoma, 1909.
Eleven-year-old Olive Augusta Radley knows that her stepfather doesn’t have good intentions toward the two Choctaw girls boarded in their home as wards. When the older girl disappears, Ollie flees to the woods, taking six-year-old Nessa with her. Together they begin a perilous journey to the remote Winding Stair Mountains, the notorious territory of outlaws, treasure hunters, and desperate men. Along the way, Ollie and Nessa form an unlikely band with others like themselves, struggling to stay one step ahead of those who seek to exploit them . . . or worse.

Oklahoma, 1990.
Law enforcement ranger Valerie Boren-Odell arrives at newly minted Horsethief Trail National Park seeking a quiet place to balance a career and single parenthood. But no sooner has Valerie reported for duty than she’s faced with local controversy over the park’s opening, a teenage hiker gone missing from one of the trails, and the long-hidden burial site of three children unearthed in a cave. Val’s quest for the truth wins an ally among the neighboring Choctaw Tribal Police but soon collides with old secrets and the tragic and deadly history of the land itself.

“Jenna Lamia and Christine Lakin deliver alternating chapters of this historical novel based on true events in the mountains of Oklahoma. Lamia portrays 11-year-old Olive, who in 1909 flees her abusive stepfather to find shelter deep in the mountains. Lamia’s young-sounding voice is well suited to depict Olive’s scrappy determination when she joins forces with the “elf children,” orphans on their own who are barely surviving in the woods. Valerie, portrayed by Lakin, is a ranger with the National Park Service in 1990, who is unwilling to overlook the discovery of the old bones of children. Lakin portrays Valerie’s guarded resolve as she pursues information despite being pressured not to by locals. Lakin also shines in her portrayal of a handsome officer from the Choctaw Nation.”—AudioFile