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…
