A meaningful story that explores a woefully underrepresented moment in history, what with the presentation of Indigenous residential schools, treatment of WWI vets, and culture/credos of those that rode the rails. The pacing went off a little bit at the end, leading to a rushed conclusion to a story that seemed relatively well plotted until the second half. I've read somewhere that there are a few inaccuracies when it comes to Bruchac's depiction of Creek culture, such as mispronunciations of the language as well as how Creek stomp dances are performed, so this keeps me from giving the book a full endorsement. Still, I found Cal's story really interesting and engaging as he tries to navigate between the two sides of himself.