USEFUL GIRL After her mother dies suddenly, seventeen-year-old Erin is virtually alone in the world. Her reserved father doesn't know how to relate to his only daughter now that his wife is gone. When Erin accompanies him to his construction site on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, she witnesses something that changes everything. Charlie White Bird, one of her father's workers, discovers the 127-year-old remains of a young Cheyenne girl, wrapped in a faded blue army coat; on each finger of her right hand is a silver thimble. Moehae, as Erin and Charlie come to name her, captures their imagination, and together they secretly try to protect her burial ground. As their commitment to their cause becomes more passionate, so, too, does their relationship, which they must also keep secret. When Erin discovers she's pregnant, she feels she has no other choice but to run away. With her mother's old suitcase and her granddad's journals on the Indian wars, she sets out, and as she moves farther from home, Moehae's story vividly unfolds in her mind, guiding her toward another way out of her predicament. Evocative and sweeping in scope, USEFUL GIRL is at once a love story, a young woman's heroic quest, and a moving testament to the power of the imagination. * BookSense Pick May 2004 * * 2004 Montana Book Award Winner * * 2005 Willa Literary Award Finalist * * 2005 Western Writers Spur Award Finalist * * Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award Finalist * Rights Information Publisher: Algonquin Books, Hardcover (January 4, 2004) Territory: World Rights Available: Film/TV Reviews: "Writing with compassion and grace, Stevens delivers a timeless story of brutality and forgiveness." - Publisher’s Weekly "In his ambitious second novel, Stevens (The Curve of the World, 2002) tells an affecting story of the power of young love...this novel is well worth reading for its evocative depiction of first love and its realistic portrait of a strained father-daughter relationship." - Booklist "[T]he landscape and culture of Montana, both past and present, are conveyed so beautifully and completely that they become another character...Teens will relate to Erin's dilemma and will get caught up in Mo'é'ha'e's tragic life" - School Library Journal "Useful Girl unfolds as beautifully as the [Yellowstone] river itself." - S.F. Chronicle "An unforgettable journey..." - Santa Clara Weekly "A striking tale of contrasts...muted by the beauty of the human heart and the strength of human hope." - Pilot Blurbs: Purchase at Amazon.com

USEFUL GIRL

After her mother dies suddenly, seventeen-year-old Erin is virtually alone in the world. Her reserved father doesn't know how to relate to his only daughter now that his wife is gone. When Erin accompanies him to his construction site on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, she witnesses something that changes everything. Charlie White Bird, one of her father's workers, discovers the 127-year-old remains of a young Cheyenne girl, wrapped in a faded blue army coat; on each finger of her right hand is a silver thimble. Moehae, as Erin and Charlie come to name her, captures their imagination, and together they secretly try to protect her burial ground.

As their commitment to their cause becomes more passionate, so, too, does their relationship, which they must also keep secret. When Erin discovers she's pregnant, she feels she has no other choice but to run away. With her mother's old suitcase and her granddad's journals on the Indian wars, she sets out, and as she moves farther from home, Moehae's story vividly unfolds in her mind, guiding her toward another way out of her predicament.

Evocative and sweeping in scope, USEFUL GIRL is at once a love story, a young woman's heroic quest, and a moving testament to the power of the imagination.

* BookSense Pick May 2004 *
* 2004 Montana Book Award Winner *
* 2005 Willa Literary Award Finalist *
* 2005 Western Writers Spur Award Finalist *
* Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award Finalist *

Rights Information

Publisher: Algonquin Books, Hardcover (January 4, 2004)

Territory: World

Rights Available: Film/TV

Reviews:
"Writing with compassion and grace, Stevens delivers a timeless story of brutality and forgiveness." - Publisher’s Weekly

"In his ambitious second novel, Stevens (The Curve of the World, 2002) tells an affecting story of the power of young love...this novel is well worth reading for its evocative depiction of first love and its realistic portrait of a strained father-daughter relationship." - Booklist

"[T]he landscape and culture of Montana, both past and present, are conveyed so beautifully and completely that they become another character...Teens will relate to Erin's dilemma and will get caught up in Mo'é'ha'e's tragic life" - School Library Journal

"Useful Girl unfolds as beautifully as the [Yellowstone] river itself." - S.F. Chronicle

"An unforgettable journey..." - Santa Clara Weekly

"A striking tale of contrasts...muted by the beauty of the human heart and the strength of human hope." - Pilot

Blurbs:

Purchase at Amazon.com