About Cady and the Birchbark Box: In Cady and the Birchbark Box, Cady Whirlwind Thunder solves the mystery behind a weathered journal found inside an old birchbark box. Why was the box buried behind a deserted garage? This is the question her friend and “crush,” John Ray Chicaug, asks Cady…
U.P. Reader: Bringing Upper Michigan Literature to the World Volume 6 Edited by Deborah K. Frontiera and Mikel B. Classen. It’s always a good day when this annual compendium of poems, short stories, memoirs, history, sparkling essays, and humorous pieces turns up in my mailbox. The U.P.’s rugged landscape, semi-isolation, long…
Honor the Earth: Indigenous Response to Environmental Degradation in the Great Lakes edited by Phil Bellfy. Review by Tom Powers, Michigan In Books This book of updated essays grew out of an environmental conference at MSU on Earth Day, 2007. The essays, as the subtitle suggests, are responses by Native Americans…
True Tales: the Forgotten History of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula by Mikel B. Classen. Review by Tom Powers, Michigan in Books Even Michigan natives who know just a little about the Upper Peninsula are aware of how unique it is geographically and historically. It is a beautiful, wild, rugged, sparsely populated peninsula full…
By Ernest Dempsey- Modern History Press is proud to announce that its title I Miss the Rain in Africa: Peace Corps as a Third Act by Nancy Daniel Wesson has become a Nautilus Award Winner. I Miss the Rain in Africa won the 2022 Silver Nautilus Award in the category…
By Shannon Gibney An impressive work about family, survival, and what one character calls the “spiral” of all stories, Chris Stark’s Carnival Lights is part novel, part Minnesota history, part spiritual tome, and part brutal account of white racial and sexual violence. Centering on several generations of one Ojibwe family…
Up Colony: The Story of Resource Exploitation in Upper Michigan – Focus on Sault Sainte Marie Industries by Phil Bellfy In the 1980s the author headed north and attended Lake Superior State University at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. As a student he was struck by the differences between the sister cities…
The SideRoad Kids: Tales from Chippewa County by Sharon M. Kennedy Review by Tom Powers, Michigan In Books This fine collection of short stories focuses on a group of 6th grade friends in the 1950s living near Brimley, in the U.P. I was a kid in Flint in the 1950s, and…
“The SideRoad Kids” is a wonderful collection of stories for all ages to enjoy. The year is 1957 in a small town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where things are very quiet until the some children in the area have a series of adventures that include a Christmas…
Superior Tapestry: Weaving the Threads of Upper Michigan History by Deborah K. Frontiera. The author has taken a unique approach to the history of the Upper Peninsula by telling its story from the point-of-view of historical artifacts, buildings, and more. The book also covers the UP’s natural history, geology, outdoor…
Enlightening, emotional, eye-opening, extraordinary book The author was first offered Belize for her Peace Corps Volunteer work, but ended up going to the north of Uganda at the mere age of sixty-four. Brave is an understatement, and I cannot imagine a more difficult assignment (although there are many war-torn areas…
U.P. Reader — Volume #5: Bringing Upper Michigan Literature to the World Mikel Classen and Deborah K Frontiera Modern History Press www.ModernHistoryPress.com 9781615995714, $17.95 paperback, $28.95 hardcover, 308 pages B09253976L, $5.95 Kindle The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is also known as Upper Michigan or the UP, with people native to…
Title: Carnival Lights By: Chris Stark Publisher: Modern History Press Author Website: https://www.christinestark.com/ ISBN-10: 1615995781 ISBN-13: 978-1615995783 Price: Hardcover $37.95, Paperback $24.95, Kindle $6.95 Page Count: 268 Formats (HC, PB, Kindle) With good reason, two teens run away from a reservation and get jobs at the Minnesota State Fair. Although the…
Reviewed by Jen Oliver-Rigsby for Reader Views (5/2021) “More Confessions of a Trauma Junkie” is a collection of stories from real EMS, ER, paramilitary and firefighter responders telling their sides of dealing with traumatic cases. The stories range from veterinary to medical to behavioral health trauma. Each story discusses how…
www.readerviews.com Providing book by book publicity for Indie Authors since 2005. More Confessions of a Trauma Junkie: My Life as a Nurse Paramedic Sherry Jones Mayo Modern History Press (2021) ISBN: 9781615991419 Reviewed by Lily Andrews for Reader Views (04/2021) A thoughtful look at the lives of emergency service personnel…
Raymond Luczak’s short stories are among the most unusual I have read. They have immense power, due to three things. First, he takes the reader firmly into the reality of the narrator of the story. Second is the vividly depicted setting this person lives in. Third is the subtle elegance…
Review by professional editor Bob Rich, PhD Think of this little book Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers as an amusingly annotated dictionary of samples of likely word confusions. To expand: It is little (my apologies short; an illegitimate word substitution not in it): less than 60 pages. It…
Septuagenarian: Love is What Happens When I Die By Sherry Quan Lee 102 pages ISBN: 978-1-61599-568-4 Modern History Press Copyright 2021 Review by LB Sedlacek Sherry Quan Lee has put together an unsettling yet brilliant juxtaposition of sweet and sad, love and anger that will hit you right at your…
Reviewed by Chelsy Scherba for Reader Views (02/2021) Carolyn Howard-Johnson helps writers tackle the most challenging step to becoming a published author: the book proposal. “The Great First Impressions Book Proposal: Everything You Need to Know About Selling Your Book to an Agent or Publisher in Thirty Minutes or Less”…
Reviewed by Chelsy Scherba for Reader Views (02/2021) In “Great Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers,” Carolyn Howard-Johnson provides writers with a concise reference manual to perfect their writing skills. This book is ideal for anyone looking to develop a book proposal that will bypass the pickiest editors. With an easy…
