Review by Mack Hassler The self-publishing of one’s work can, now and then, lead to books that are very strange and that hardly fit into any pattern of literature. I Married a Troll: My Husband Married a Yooper is a nicely printed and well-bound, tidy book in appearance. At the…
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…
Review by Mack Hassler North Country: A Pedagogical Almanac contains 19 short non-fiction essays of Memoir about the first arrival as a new Yooper to what she calls “… to live on the northern edge of beyond.” p. 11. Carolyn Dekker writes about her experiences since 2015 as a young…
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,…
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…
Review by Mack Hassler A friend and colleague and a retired English professor from Kent State, David R. Ewbank, who is one of the editors of the works of Robert Browning, has published a small book titled Fairy Tales for Adults (2012). In my own reading, the review I did…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera Throughout human history, stronger civilizations have taken over weaker or indigenous peoples and have then attempted to erase their existence after claiming anything of value. Yet, many of these cultures managed to endure, redefine themselves and, often, demand their culture, artifacts, and rights be returned…
Marquette Poets Circle’s Newest Book Is Superior Five years ago, the Marquette Poets Circle wowed readers with their debut poetry book, Maiden Voyage. Their follow-up volume is titled Superior Voyage, and it is appropriately titled for it is a superior volume of poetry that just happens to have been written…
Reviewed by Sharon Brunner Nikki Mitchell’s book Season of Dragons provides readers with adventure, magic, and masterful resolutions. The main locations in the book are Wisconsin and another place in a different world. The time period appears to be in the present with a child named Ichabod who experiences modern-day…
Review by Mack Hassler The Diaries of a Marshall Islands Peace Corps Volunteer (1975 – 1977) is a non-fiction volume that is loaded with wonderful photographs from a part of the globe about as distant from the snowy North as one can get as well as distant in time from…
Review by Sharon Brunner, MSW Kasey R. Keeler and her book American Indians and the American Dream: Policies, Place, and Property in Minnesota presented a revolutionary view behind the Native Americans’ inability to pursue home ownership in rural, urban and suburban areas in Minnesota as a result of white American…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner In the novel Delta County, J.L. Hyde brings to life the struggle of a young woman, named Heather, who suffered a lot of losses and felt driven to get to the bottom of the questionable deaths of her parents and best friend. The story primarily takes place…
Review by Tyler R. Tichelaar Novel About Five Generations of Women Reflects Patchwork of American History Linda Bakken’s new historical novel On the Backs of Women: A Story About Family and Generations offers a look into the lives of five generations of women in the United States between the American…
Review by Mack Hassler So many people never live long enough nor have the inclination to write a memoir. Those who do have a great responsibility. Not only memory and accurate detail but also they need the art to construct something of imagination. I think Joe Kirkish steps up nicely…
Review by Mack Hassler I had just finished reading the 2023 collection of Clutch, which is published just at the edge of the UP, when this collection of poems by Michael Butterworth came in the mail from much farther distant but still with what I hear as deep resonance for…
Review by Mack Hassler I am a great believer in serendipity and feel lucky that during the past year, my name has gotten linked to the work of Zoschke as well as to Zoschke on Splake (see several reviews of mine over recent months) because now I am given a…
Review by Brad Gischia You never know what you’re going to get when you open up a book of short stories. That’s part of the fun of it. If they’re good you’re golden, you find yourself turning pages and wishing for a little more of these characters or situations, however,…
Review by Nikki Mitchell Redead by Tim Gould is a humorous and witty take on an anti-hero’s experience in a zombie apocalypse. The main characters are from lower Michigan and make their way into the U.P. over the course of the book. Instead of chapters, the book is told in…
