The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman

Gr 6–9—Abandoned as a baby with only his name, Moojie is unwanted in his frontier town because of his disabilities. However, when he starts befriending a group of Hostiles, a wider world of magic is opened up to him. This title seems to be striving for lyricism in prose but instead comes off stilted and slow. Characters are flatly drawn, and Moojie, the protagonist, is no exception. His actions, emotions, and motivations are poorly drawn and seem to come from nowhere. His disabilities come and go from prominence as suits the writer, and, apparently, all he need do is work harder and he will be able to do things that were previously physically impossible. This is an offensive depiction of an ill-defined series of impairments but not as off-putting as the Orientalist hodgepodge that is the culture of the Hostiles that Moojie befriends. The mystical Native American, given magical power by his connection to the past and the earth, is a problematic trope that is reinforced, rather than upturned, here. Beyond these problems, the book moves slowly, and it is hard to care about where it is going even when it gets there.