The Smell of Other People’s Houses (2016) is Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock’s debut novel. Set in 1970s Alaska, this coming-of-age novel follows the interconnected stories of four teenagers—Ruth, Alyce, Dora, and Hank. The four protagonists navigate their losses, grief, and dreams, finding hope in a place of adversity and community. The novel was a 2017 ALA William C. Morris Award Finalist, and The Guardian named it one of the best children’s books of 2016. It was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and won The German Literature Prize and the Swedish Children’s Literature Prize.

Hitchcock is an Alaskan author and journalist. She has worked in both public radio and commercial fishing with her family in Southeast Alaska. Hitchcock’s writing includes news stories, short stories, essays, and poems. Her work has appeared in The Anchorage Daily News, High Country News, The Los Angeles Review, Sonoma Review, and National Public Radio among other media.

The study guide uses the 2016 e-book version by Wendy Lamb Books.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss domestic abuse, sexual abuse, teen pregnancy, racism, mental health conditions, child abandonment, and substance use disorder. In addition, the source text uses outdated terms for Indigenous people, replicated in direct quotes only.

Plot Summary

Ruth relates how her life changed after Alaska’s statehood. She vividly recalls happy childhood memories in her parents’ house. The family led a simple life, sustaining themselves through hunting. Her father, who opposed statehood, died in a plane crash while returning home from a political meeting. Her mother had a mental health crisis and, after giving birth to Lily, Ruth’s sister, left home. Ruth and Lily grow up in their grandmother’s strict Catholic home. Ruth’s only comfort is her friendship with Selma. Selma is Alyce’s cousin, adopted by her aunt. Lily is also friends with Bunny, Dumpling’s sister. Bunny and Dumpling are Athabascan.

At 16, Ruth starts dating Ray, a boy from a prosperous Republican family, as an act of rebellion. Ruth soon becomes pregnant.

Dora is a 16-year-old Inupiat girl who lives with Dumpling’s family following her father’s arrest. Dora battles against memories of domestic and sexual abuse by her father. She finds a loving family with Dumpling, who considers Dora a sister despite their different cultures. Dora never wants to return home. When she wins a monetary prize in the Ice Classic, her father targets her.

Alyce has spent her childhood fishing on her father’s boat. She loves life at sea but dreams of becoming a ballerina. She feels guilty following her parents’ divorce and worries about disappointing them. She rejoins her father on the boat that summer, hesitating to tell him about the scholarship audition for dance school in Fairbanks.

Hank also blames statehood for the disruption of his family. His father drowned in a tsunami caused by the Good Friday earthquake. His mother cannot cope with raising her children alone, and her boyfriends are abusive. Hank decides to escape with his brothers, Jack and Sam, as stowaways on a ferry. Hank and Jack go searching for food among the passengers’ leftovers. Sam falls off the ferry trying to find his father among the orcas, and Hank thinks he is lost.

Ruth unsuccessfully tries to hide her pregnancy. Ray has broken up with her and flaunts a new girlfriend. Her grandmother arranges her relocation to an abbey in Canada. While waiting for the bus alone, Dumpling comes to Ruth’s side. She says that in her community, babies are considered gifts. Dumpling hands Ruth a red ribbon, a reminder of her mother’s survival from the Fairbanks flood, as a symbol of love.

Dora feels jealous over Dumpling’s meeting with Ruth. Dora’s father learns about the Ice Classic prize, and after his release from prison, he threatens her for money. Dumpling’s father protects her. That night, Dora goes with Dumpling’s family to the fish camp on the Yukon River, and she feels like she is part of a family.

Alyce sees Sam falling off the ferry and saves him. Sam spends several days on their boat, and Alyce feels attracted to him. When he gets well, he gradually speaks about his brothers. The two spend time working on the boat as Alyce teaches him her skills. Alyce’s father knew Sam’s father and promises to reunite Sam with his brothers.

On the ferry, Hank has lost hope of finding Sam. Desperate, Jack asks the watchman for help. The watchman, Phil, tells the story of how he saved an abandoned baby—Selma. Phil arranges the boys’ placement with a foster family in Fairbanks.

Ruth is isolated in the abbey, with no news from home. One day, Ruth asks to accompany the friendly Sister Josephine to the mercantile. Ruth learns that her grandmother was abandoned by her father and raised in the same abbey. Ruth learns that her mother is also in a convent. Ruth believes she deserves a different life. In the mercantile, she sees Hank and cries at his display of brotherly affection. Hank notices Ruth drop the red ribbon and keeps it. Selma writes to Ruth, wishing for her return and her baby’s safety.

Dumpling leads Bunny and Dora to the convent where Ruth’s mother lives to deliver a note from Ruth. Ruth’s mother grabs Dumpling’s hair, and Dora and Bunny run away. Dumpling has an accident on the road and falls into a coma. Dora regrets her jealousy, and the fish camp is postponed as the family awaits Dumpling’s recovery.

Sam encourages Alyce to speak to her father about the audition, but Alyce is sure that her father will disapprove. Her father learns that Sam’s brothers are headed to Fairbanks: He arranges Sam’s reunion with his brothers to coincide with Alyce’s audition there. Alyce embraces her father.

Hank keeps thinking of Ruth. He decides to visit her at the abbey and return the red ribbon. Hank feels soothed while talking with her and hopes to meet her again in Fairbanks. Ruth gifts him the red ribbon. When Hank and Jack arrive in Fairbanks, they head to the dance audition.

Ruth is worried about Dumpling and wonders if she delivered the note. When a couple visits the abbey as a potential foster family, they remind Ruth of her parents. Ruth tells the abbess her baby should grow up with them. She gives a red ribbon to the woman, asking her to keep it for the baby.

Dora blames Ruth for Dumpling’s accident. Dumpling’s father sends Dora to deliver a blueberry pie to Ruth’s grandmother. Ruth’s grandmother senses her anger and talks to her. She tells Dora that she was abandoned by her father and advises her to give life a chance, as Dumpling’s family loves her. Soon, news arrives that Dumpling is awake. On the way home, Dora witnesses her father abusing her mother and asks people to call the police. She fearlessly confronts him, and he is subsequently arrested. Dora promises to pay for her mother’s hospitalization.

Hank and Jack reunite with Sam after Alyce’s successful audition. During her audition, Alyce felt fearless and confident. Alyce and Sam kiss. Hank embraces her, expressing his gratitude for saving Sam and praising her dancing.

Ruth returns home at Christmas, unknowingly traveling with Phil and Alyce’s father on the same bus. When they arrive, Ruth sees her friends and Hank. Hank ties the red ribbon on her wrist. Ruth rushes to reunite with her grandmother, who cries and apologizes. Ruth tells her she named her daughter after her. Ruth feels hopeful and reconnected to the world.