Off the Hook: Off-Beat Reporters Tales from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, by Nancy Besonen

Off the hook by nancy besson.

Review by Mack Hassler I like a book that has resonance.  Both fiction and non-fiction, whether history or memoir or journalism, can contain good resonance.  Further, in my opinion, the best echo or resonance is with faith or philosophic issues.  Therefore, to select two titles from what was at the…

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Roadkill Justice: Featuring Yooper Woodswoman Nettie Bramble by Terri Martin

Roadkill justice by terry martin.

Review by Jon C. Stott Roadkill Justice: Featuring Yooper Woodswoman Nettie Bramble is set somewhere in the north-central section of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (I think, maybe, in Baraga County), there’s a place called Budworm. Residing there are such people as Sammy Snert, Miss Linda Figgy (aka Miss Figgy), Tag Elder,…

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Mack Hassler reviews: Odin’s Eye, A Marquette Time Travel Novel, by Tyler R. Tichelaar

Odin's eye by tyler r tichelaar.

Review by Mack Hassler Trained as a medievalist but now working mostly with stories about Marquette in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Tyler Tichelaar has learned how to weave in and out of time references perhaps from his work with Chaucer or the King Arthur stories.  He has done a…

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The Side Road Columnist: Observations from an Upper Michigan Author by Sharon M. Kennedy

The side road columnist by Sharon M. Kennedy.

Review by Mack Hassler “It’s who you are when time’s up that matters.” Obituary for Anne Perry, NY Times, 4/13/23 Non-fiction, investigative reporting, and autobiography are so important to me for lively and vital UP literature.  Sharon Kennedy, who has lived and worked “above the bridge” but not quite into…

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Three Fires Unity: The Anishnaabeg of the Lake Huron Borderlands by Phil Bellfy

Three fires unity the Anishnaabeg of the lake huron borderlands.

Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Phil Bellfy’s book Three Fires Unity: The Anishnaabeg of the Lake Huron Borderlands provided a revolutionary view of the Three Fires confederacy and a history of multiple Native American tribes, the British, the French and the rising American population. Bellfy has a residence in Sault Ste. Marie,…

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Sandtown Survivor: Growing up Indian in the Twentieth Century by Clearing Sky Woman

The cover of sandtown survivor growing up indian in the twentieth century.

Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Clearing Sky Woman’s Sandtown Survivor: Growing Up Indian in the Twentieth Century delivers a powerful and heartfelt message about living the life of a poor Indian girl and woman and her demonstration of steadfast resiliency. The story begins in 1946 when she attends her first day of…

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