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…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera When we first meet the Klar family, Anna and Gustaf and their children Ellen, Elisabet, and Carl, we think that this may be the “head for America and grow rich” immigrant story. Far from it. In the same way that few high school athletes make…
Review by Victor R. Volkman Although I count myself a lifetime resident of Michigan, I confess that, for the better part of six decades, I had never heard the appellation “Sea Stacks” until this year, when I picked up the eponymous anthology of short stories by John (“J.L.”) Hagen. This…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera Even though this children’s picture book was originally published in 1946, this new edition of the original still has a great message for children today. Nils, a first generation American whose parents immigrated from Norway, receives a handmade pair of socks from his grandmother who…
U.P. Reader — Volume #5: Bringing Upper Michigan Literature to the World Mikel Classen and Deborah K Frontiera Modern History Press www.ModernHistoryPress.com 9781615995714, $17.95 paperback, $28.95 hardcover, 308 pages B09253976L, $5.95 Kindle The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is also known as Upper Michigan or the UP, with people native to…
Review by Deborah Frontiera As a long-time fan of folklore and cultural stories, and with a fair amount of Norwegian blood (ancestors from Norway and Viking genes via my Cornish family history as well), I was delighted to have a copy of this new translation of Norwegian folktales. Having read…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera Children rarely think about where anything comes from or how it is made. Most of them, if asked, will say, “From the store.” Where anything was before that is far from their minds. And yet, it is important that children know a thing or two…
Novel Full of Quirky Characters You Come to Care About Review by Tyler R. Tichelaar Leif Enger’s Virgil Wander is an intriguing novel that manages to rope the reader in without a lot of sensational hooks, but instead, real-life characters in real-life situations. Set in a small town in northern…
