[2] Adams describes boarding schools that "alienated those it claimed to serve" as its "total institution" nature provided acculturation outside standard curriculum.

[4] Adams details the complex reaction to the schools, from hiding children to arguing over certain rules, and the overall acquiescence to the federal role.

[3] John W. Heaton, writing for Montana: The Magazine of Western History, praised Adams's balanced presentation between those who assented to the treatment and those children who lived it.

[1] In Minnesota History, Wilbert H. Ahern praised Adams' handling of the complex American Indian reaction to boarding schools, and complained that the author didn't cover "the erosion of educational services" well, as declining per pupil expenditures further hurt families' request for more responsiveness.

[3] Donal Lindsey for The American Historical Review called the book "the most comprehensive examination of all federal Indian boarding schools to date".