Reviewed by Victor R. Volkman Reprinted from Marquette Monthly (09/2021) with permission At age 45, Jan found herself at a crossroads when her orderly life drifted off course. A devastating divorce without warning and the sudden death of her mother made her realize it was time to make her dreams…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera To begin this review, it is important to keep in mind that classic novels are very different from modern novels. Classics are short on action and “showing” scenes and long on backstory, detailed descriptions and explanations. In Olav Audunssøn, the lengthy details revolve around the…
Reviewed by Hannah Brinza Deborah Frontiera’s new book Superior Tapestry sets itself the task of weaving together the history of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Those of you familiar with Deborah’s work may recall her novella Midnight in the Pawn Shop, in which objects at the pawn shop come to life and…
Review by Brad Gischia There are many books that detail the history of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. These are often rigorously researched and documented (some may be less so) and they represent an important aspect of the way we understand this strange little corner of the world. The SideRoad…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera In U.P. Colony, Phil Belffy asked himself why Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, was doing so much better economically than Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, some thirty-plus years ago and ended up writing his master’s thesis on that topic. His search for answers led him to compare…
Review by Tyler Tichelaar The wait is over. Fans of Ellen Airgood’s South of Superior have waited a decade for her new novel Tin Camp Road. In the interim, Airgood published two young adult novels, Prairie Evers and its sequel The Education of Ivy Blake, but this is her first…
New Book Weaves Together Ojibwe, Duluth, and Family History Gichigami Hearts: Stories and Histories from Misaabekong by Linda LeGarde Grover is a potpourri of Ojibwe legends, family history, and regional history all interconnected to ask questions about what it means to be Ojibwe, to live in Duluth, to grow up…
Reviewed by Tyler R. Tichelaar New Novel Recreates Hiawatha Myth for Modern Day James Charles Harwood’s new novel Julia Island is a rollickingly funny novel with some serious undertones that takes the myth of Hiawatha, along with Native American stereotypes, quantum physics, and recent American history, and mixes them all…
Review by Brad Gischia 1968 — Sex, drugs and rock n’ roll but the peace and love are dying. As it turns out, this is about the best description of Bob Calverley’s Sunshine Blues that I could come up with, and it was written by Calverley himself. The second in…
Review by Tyler R. Tichelaar New Book Inspires With Words, Poetry, Art, and Wisdom Chandra Ziegler’s new book Extraordinary Endurance: A Training Plan for the Marathon of Life is a unique book that gives the reader a look into the beauty of its author’s soul as she tries to juggle…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera Seasons of the Birch, a work of historical fiction begins in 1944 and ends in the present, although the emphasis is on the years 1944-1959. The main character, Ruth Amundson, is a petite, easily blown away, shorter than average young woman who has been working…
Reviewed by Tyler Tichelaar New Novel Captures Terrifying Carnival Ride of Native American Female Experience Chris Stark’s new novel Carnival Lights offers up a wild ride like no other in the history of Native American literature. Set in 1969, it plays fast and loose with time, continually juxtaposing the present…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera The Home Wind by Terri Martin is an engaging story of two boys, one white and one Native American, who must find their way through the difficulties of life on the road to becoming “men.” It is set during the 1870s in the logging camps…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera Niiji, A Collection of Poetry is a unique “own voices” work that highlights two poets whose styles are different yet blend in their approaches to the theme. Sally Brunk sets the tone early on with her poem, “Authority Figures”, in which she states: “The intellectuals…
Review by Deborah K Frontiera There are as many styles of poetry as there are poets. For readers, it is sometimes like choosing a flavor of tea: some readers like Earl Gray, others English Breakfast Tea, still others like any of a number of herbal teas. Troy Graham’s poetry in…
Review by Donna Winters If you like a fast-paced historical novel rife with issues that resonate today, you’ll enjoy Waterfall. Set in the 1920s with a myriad of conflicts woven into the story, I often thought how contemporary the mindset was of the main character, Trinity Baird. The youngest of…
A Native American Young Adult Crime Thriller Review by Tyler TIchelaar Angeline Boulley’s debut novel Firekeeper’s Daughter tells the first-person story of Daunis Fontaine, an eighteen-year-old from Sault Sainte Marie, who is part Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) and part-Caucasian. Her mother, daughter to one of the wealthiest families in the community, got…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera At first glance, one might find Luczak’s style of poetry more challenging to read than some because he uses no punctuation of any sort, not even an apostrophe. No capital letters either (though many poets skip capital letters). But then a reader may realize that…
