I didn't mean to choose the abridged version! I had the physical book in hand, and borrowed the audio and kindle versions from the library. It was audiobook version the library had (I have since noticed that another library has two versions, as does Audible). I did notice that it was short, just under three hours, and the book in hand seemed bigger than that (although still under 300 pages). I also noticed that while there were chapter headers in the text copy, these were NOT in the audiobook, in fact, the audiobook didn't even have any chapter breaks, no Table of Contents. I was quite confused (I'm a TOC snob). I finally figured it out ... I had an abridged version. WHY is there an abridged version of this short children's book??? Why doesn't the audio start out with "this is an abridged recording ..." and why isn't there a visible banner on the cover indicating the abridgement?  I'm afraid this frustration probably impacted my enjoyment of the audiobook, and I don't know how much I missed in this abridged edition. 

I still liked the book ... slight familiarities to The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise (and I do realize that the latter was written afterward, but I read it first). Less "Indian" storyline than might have been expected with some of the character names (and in the book, the mother preferred "Indian" to "Native American").  The two storylines ... Sal's that she's living, and Phoebe's that she's telling, kept my interest. There were some emotional gut-punches.

I'm putting this on a RE-READ list ... to read with my eyes, the unabridged version, sometime in the future, maybe next year I'll do a #middlegradeMarch2026. I wasn't in the mood to do a re-read right after finishing the abridged audio. I wasn't even in the mood to check out all the extras (I did read through the author's Newbery acceptance speech, there were also discussion questions and a Q&A). 

I understand that abridged versions have their time and place ... but one shouldn't ACCIDENTALLY read an abridged version without meaning to. Editors - please label better, don't make me read the fine print in the details section just to make sure it's not abridged!