Author: victor
Touching the Wild U.P. by John Highlen
Brave —Nisayenh Ma’iingan (My older brother, the wolf)
Review by Donna Winters Detail. This is the overriding characteristic of Brave —Nisayenh Ma’iingan, Barry J. Dalberto’s historical novel about Lake Superior and fur trading in the early nineteenth century. He’s great about detailing settings, and sometimes his detail is in the form of a list. Other times, it comes…
3rd Annual U.P. Notable Books List
MARQUETTE, MI (January 4th, 2022)— the Upper Peninsula Publishers & Authors Association (UPPAA) announces the 3rd Annual U.P. Notable Books List this week. UPPAA board member Mikel Classen (Sault Ste. Marie) initiated the effort as a response to the lack of representation of U.P. writers in other Michigan state literary…
Dissecting Anatomy of a Murder by Eugene R. Milhizer
Review by Victor R. Volkman Reprinted from Marquette Monthly with permission More than sixty years on, the book (and later the film) Anatomy of a Murder continues to fascinate people. Why is that? Well, first and foremost it introduced the genre of “realistic courtroom drama” to American readers and its…
The Secret of St. Christopher’s Girls School by David Crowley
Review by Tyler Tichelaar Laurium, Michigan resident David Crowley’s debut novel The Secret of St. Christopher’s Girls School is a murder mystery full of shocking revelations that take place at a Catholic girls school and convent. The story begins when Sister Margaret Mary is found murdered. Detective Steve McLean is…
Debt and Disregard by Julie Genisot
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera As the back cover states, Debt and Disregard: A Superior Point Novel is about “the hard-drinking, rough talking, and sexually pragmatic inhabitants of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with characters defined by the region where they live.” While there certainly are people like those in the story…
Tales from the Jan Van: Lessons on Life and Camping by Jan Kellis
Olav Audunssøn: II Providence by Sigrid Undset, translated by Tiina Nunnally
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…
Superior Tapestry: Weaving the Threads of Upper Michigan History
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…
The Sideroad Kids: Tales from Chippewa County by Sharon M. Kennedy
U.P. Colony: The Story of Resource Exploitation in Upper Michigan — Focus on Sault Sainte Marie Industries
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…
Tin Camp Road by Ellen Airgood
Gichigami Hearts by Linda LeGarde Grover
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…
Julia Island: A Novel
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…