The Ochoa family has been grieving for 15 years, grieving in their own private ways since Ray-Ray was killed in a police shooting. He was 15, riding his bike to the mall. He’s Native, Cherokee, shot even though he was not the person who had committed a crime. The officer was never charged.

Maria, the mother, worked in social services for years, helping with foster children. She now has not only to deal with her grief but also with her husband, Ernest, who has increasingly worse Alzheimers. Their adult daughter, Sonja, lives nearby, comes over to help out, and has an obsession with a local guy and his kid who is on the spectrum. Maria and Ernest are asked to briefly host a Cherokee foster child who has nowhere to go until they find another family or his grandparents. His presence affects all of them in profound ways.

Their youngest son has drug problems and moved away from home, Oklahoma, to New Mexico, in part to avoid his own family’s efforts to help him. Now he has to decide whether to go home to the family’s annual ritual which not only commemorates the death of Ray-Ray but also celebrates a Cherokee National Holiday.

This novel combines Cherokee folklore with this family’s history and life. It is told from the viewpoint of the various family members. The author is a member of the Cherokee Nation and teaches creative writing at a university in New Mexico.

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