By Sharon Brunner Kilgore Splake elicits strong imagery about various life situations. “Camp Baraga Ghosts” contains photographs of the old prison that was located in Baraga, Michigan, long closed. The imagination is sparked by the renditions of things past. Splake provides this quote in his introduction: “The old long-abandoned and…
Having reviewed other titles originally from Norway, a novel and another book of folk tales that I thoroughly enjoyed, I jumped on the chance to review Troll Magic: Hidden Folk from the Mountains and Forests of Norway. I’ve always believed that folk and fairy tales are not necessarily for children….
Review by Mack Hassler Deborah K. Frontiera is a major voice in the writing of a UP literature, and I have been very interested in most of her work across several genres. She keeps trying new things. But history is a hard genre to get right. History is all we…
Review by Tyler R. Tichelaar New Jack Handler Series Launched with Threat of COVID-22 Jack Handler once again saves the world in Michael Carrier’s latest thriller, To China with Love. Carrier is the author of the Jack Handler books, which consist of two series, each with seven books. This latest…
Review by Victor R. Volkman I’ll admit it’s extremely rare for a book like Know Your Ships 2022: Field Guide to Boats and Boatwatching on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway to cross my desk, but I am extremely impressed by the beauty and detail that it packs into…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Sharon M. Kennedy has mastered the art of telling short stories due in part to her history as a columnist for the Sault News in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, the articles she has written for the Mackinac Journal and her collection of short stories in View from…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Hilton Everett Moore explored life during the early to mid-1900s in Nelson, a fictional small community located near Baraga and Marquette in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In North of Nelson, the trials and tribulations of some of the main characters as they face their challenges served…
Review by Brad Gischia “Perspective is where you stand and how you measure the world you pass through.” This line, in relation to the passage it was pulled from, is important. In relation to the work as a whole, this line perfectly shows what D.J. Williams has done in his…
Moose Willow Mystery begins with a suspicious death in a game-processing meat locker at the village of Moose Willow. I questioned the place the mystery woman, who showed up one time at a choir practice, held in the book. Her role was explained but the explanation was hard to buy…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera This short volume, Shipwreked and Rescued, is loaded with historic photographs, maps and charts, Larry Jorgenson presents the story of one of the more famous shipwrecks on Lake Superior, the City of Bangor and its cargo of Chrysler cars. The author begins with a brief…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Ann Dallman crafted a novel titled “Cady and the Birchbark Box” which depicted the sophistication of the Native American culture and life of a determined teenager. Cady’s character struggled with a move to another community, a crush on a young man and a mystery behind a birchbark…
Across the history of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the industrial age, there have only been a handful of major employers in the private sector with more than 500 employees. We are of course drawn to the big mining concerns such as Calumet & Hecla’s copper and Cleveland Cliffs Empire Mine…
Modern History Press is proud to announce that its title Cady and the Birchbark Box by Ann Dallman has won the 2022 State History Award in the Children & Youth category. Cady and the Birchbark Box is a novel for children, mainly in the age range 11 to 14 years,…
“A Dangerous Season” by Russell Fee is the third and final installment of the Sherriff Matt Callahan Mysteries. As with the previous stories, the action takes place mostly on the fictional Nicolet Island. My sense of Michigan geography is maybe not as well-developed as it could be, but my instincts…
Review by Sharon Brunner John Owens shared an enchanting story One Winter Up North about a family’s winter adventure in northern Minnesota at the Boundary Waters area. The story is told by captivating illustrations. The family first travels to the location where they set up camp. A father, mother, and…
Review by Deborah K. Fronteira A poet as well-known as Raymond Luczak has been published in numerous books, anthologies, and literary journals. It would be hard to own all the various publications listed in the acknowledgment section of this volume, so Modern History Press made it easy working with Raymond…
Review by Sharon Brunner Dredge Artistic Decay, written by T. Kilgore Splake, offered the reader renditions of past losses. After the “Copper Boom” in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P.), businesses crumbled and along came the appearance of industrial relics. During the boom miners dredged millions of pounds of copper…
Review by Brad Gischia “Of the 500-some men and women who set foot in Florida in 1527, only four survived after wandering for eight years across the American Southwest.” The only realistic comparison that we can make today to the men and women who traveled across oceans to “discover” the…
