Song of the Spirit — M. Lee Prescott

In the late 1800s, post-Civil War, two young Cheyenne sisters are wrenched from a loving family, kidnapped and incarcerated at Rose Academy, a harsh, Indian boarding school established to assimilate native young people, teach them English, and eradicate their knowledge of traditional ways, considered inferior to the ways of the Washita (whites). Forbidden to speak their native language, the sisters are whipped and punished, however, the school harsh life fails break their spirit. The eldest, Wind Flower, on the cusp of womanhood, excels academically, while continually planning their escape. Time and again she is hunted down and forcibly returned to Rose Academy. There, she watches her beloved little sister's alarming transformation into a proper Washita girl. At the same time, Wind Flower finds love, with a young Sioux, renamed Caleb Green, by his captors. A fast-paced, breathtaking tale of courage and romance, Song of the Spirit's unforgettable characters intersect with historical events of the day, including the devastation of the Wound Knee massacre. Will these three courageous young people find freedom, or lose themselves and their way of life to the relentless cruelty of the Washita world?