Willa of the Wood by Robert Beatty

Willa is a night spirit, a kind of humanoid nature creature that lives with her clan in late 1800's in the U.S.   Her clan used to live in harmony with nature, but since humans have arrived the leader of the clan has trained the young ones to steal from them to support the hive.  On one of these forays into human territory, Willa is shot by a human, Nathaniel.  When he sees Willa, instead of killing her as she expects, he takes care of her until she is well enough to return to the hive.  When he does return, the kindness she received from the human contrasts with the cruel punishment she receives from the clan chief.  She begins to question all that she has been taught about humans, and to see her clan with new eyes.

This new fantasy based on Native American folklore is getting starred reviews everywhere.  It is a well crafted and very emotionally impactful story. By the end of the story I decided that I liked it, but I felt emotionally drained.  Beatty makes Willa a very sympathetic character, but her situation at some times so dire, and at other times so sad, that it is a little bit exhausting.  I know some of my avid fantasy readers at the library will love it, though, and I imagine it is on a lot of potential Newbery lists. (276 p. 2018)