The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Hobson, Brandon. The Removed. New York: HarperCollins, 2021.

The story follows the Echota family, who are ethnically Cherokee. Fifteen years ago, Ray-Ray Echota was unjustly shot and killed by a police officer. Ray-Ray was 15 years old at the time of his death. Every year since then, the Echota family has had an annual bonfire to commemorate Ray-Ray. Ray-Ray’s parents—Maria and Ernest—are now in their early seventies. They live in the town of Quah, Oklahoma. Ernest has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which has begun to erase his memories. Maria and Ernest agree to temporarily foster a 12-year-old boy named Wyatt, who is also Cherokee.

Maria and Ernest’s daughter, Sonja, is 31 years old. She lives in Quah, in a house near her parents’ house. She has recently developed an attraction to a local musician named Vin Hoff. Vin is in his early twenties, and he has a young autistic son named Luka. Sonja begins dating Vin, and although he begins to strike her as insensitive, she remains attracted to him. Meanwhile, Sonja’s 21-year-old brother Edgar is living in New Mexico. He is addicted to methamphetamine, and his significant other—Desiree—has recently left him. Edgar considers trying to return to Quah in time for the annual bonfire to commemorate Ray-Ray. However, Edgar soon finds himself in a strange town known only as the Darkening Land.

Soon after Maria and Ernest take Wyatt into their home, Maria and Ernest develop a close rapport with the boy, who is highly precocious, intelligent, and charismatic. Also, Wyatt reminds Maria and Ernest of Ray-Ray, to the degree that they wonder if there is some type of spiritual connection between Wyatt and Ray-Ray. Ernest’s mood improves, and his neurological functioning even shows near-miraculous improvement. Meanwhile, Sonja and Vin’s relationship deteriorates quickly. Vin proves to be racist and violent, and he physically assaults Sonja. Also, it is revealed that he is the son of the police officer who killed Ray-Ray. Sonja breaks off contact with Vin.

Meanwhile, in the Darkening Land, Edgar temporarily lives with an acquaintance named Jackson. Jackson develops video games for a living. Edgar soon realizes that he is the only Native person in the town. Everyone in the town seems oddly fixated on Edgar, as well as potentially hostile towards him. Edgar eventually discovers that everyone in the town plays a video game—made by Jackson—where the goal of the game is to kill Native Americans. Edgar has a vision of the Trail of Tears, the historical event in which the United States brutally, forcibly relocated thousands of Cherokees off of their land. Edgar then has a conversation with Tsala, a long-deceased Cherokee ancestor.

Maria and Ernest transfer custody of Wyatt to his grandparents. Maria and Ernest are sad to see him go, but they are glad that he is going to what seems to be a good home. Maria, Ernest, and Sonja make the annual bonfire to commemorate Ray-Ray, and they hope Edgar will arrive.