The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich (recommended by Matthew, Security Section)
“For more than a half century, Father Damien Modeste has served his beloved people, the Ojibwe, on the remote reservation of Little No Horse. Now, nearing the end of his life, Father Damien dreads the discovery of his physical identity, for he is a woman who has lived as a man. To further complicate his quiet existence, a troubled colleague comes to the reservation to investigate the life of the perplexing, possibly false saint Sister Leopolda. Father Damien alone knows the strange truth of Leopolda’s piety and is faced with the most difficult decision: Should he tell all and risk everything . . . or manufacture a protective history though he believes Leopolda’s wonder-working is motivated solely by evil?”
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts (recommended by Christy, Human Resource Section)
It follows the lives of Novalee Nation, Willy Jack Pickens, and their daughter Americus Nation for a period of seven years in the 1980s and early 1990s. Above all, the book dramatizes in detail the tribulations of lower income and foster children in the United States —a heartwarming look at life in the heartland of America. A 2000 film of the same name was directed by Matt Williams, starring Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing and Joan Cusak.