The Academy We Need Review by Mack Hassler In reading this solid new chapbook of poems by a fine poet, whom I had not heard of before, it is clear that being from Copper Country (Laurium) need not confine one to local color work. Johnson makes use of ideas, images…
Review by Sharon Brunner Jon C. Stott provided a colorful and realistic view of spending time at a cabin during the course of his life in his book “Summers at the Lake: Upper Michigan Moments and Memories.” The Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P.) renders many opportunities to explore the historical…
Trout Fishing in our Own Lake Review by Mack Hassler Like many serious writers, this poet tinkers with his name for literary purposes. He invents an identity that links his work to the clever science fiction writer Kurt Vonnegut (Kilgore Trout) as well as to the Kerouac-type Beat writer Richard…
Review by Sharon Brunner In the book A Mouse Tail on Mackinac Island written by Summer Porter a family of mice travels to Mackinac Island in search of a new home. Father Mouse is known for his love of cheese. Mother Mouse wore a white apron and sings lullabies. Max…
Review by Victor R. Volkman Allan Koski is that rare combination of an eloquent historian, talented engineer, and a storyteller with a penchant for seeing the big picture. Because I thoroughly enjoyed Koski’s Another Time, Another Place: World War II in the Pacific 1941-1944, which details the exploits of his…
Life beyond shadows, poems by t. kilgore splake (Shoe Music Press, 2021); In Other Days, Roger Craik (BlazeVox Books, 2022) Haiku and Winnie-the-Pooh Review by Mack Hassler My friend and colleague, Roger Craik, has a very nice poem on A.A. Milne in the new collection of his poems In Other…
Review by Victor R. Volkman I’ll admit it’s extremely rare for a book like Know Your Ships 2022 to cross my desk, but I am extremely impressed by the beauty and detail that it packs into such a compact, colorful, and comprehensive volume. It’s hardly bigger than an average trade…
Review by Donna Winters A Second Home is compelling, well-paced, and saturated with sound values. It offers preteen and early teen boys an excellent adventure chock full of interesting characters and excellent advice on dealing with bullies. The story opens in June 1957. The main character, 13-year-old Roger Tucker, runs…
