Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Michael Carrier’s “Liz” reveals a world filled with illegal drugs, murder and kidnapping. Our story happens in San Francisco and Sault Ste. Marie, a community in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P.) and the time period of the story is current time. The main characters were Jack,…
by Ernest Dempsey For the well-known novelist Sue Harrison of Pickford, Michigan, this summer translates into book bliss. Between the final week of May and mid-September, Harrison is scheduled to tour eight libraries and a learning center in various towns in the Upper Peninsula region to participate in workshops, book…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera What can you do with a wordless picture book? Oh, let me count the ways! First, a parent or other adult can let a child, or children make up the story, and there can be many stories going on in the progression of the illustrations….
Review by Sharon Brunner Craig A. Brockman’s “Delirium Wilderness” tells a story about two boys who faced a harrowing journey of mystery, terror, survival, and steadfast friendship. The story begins at the small town of Paradise in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P.). Scotty visits his grandmother every summer and…
Review by Sharon Brunner Tom Lakenen and Nancy Barr’s book Lakenenland: the U.P.’s Most Unique Junkyard Art Park is packed with interesting and creative pictures of artwork made from scrap iron and other metals collected from various sources. Lakenen was born and raised in Marquette, Michigan. He pursued his interest…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Marcie R. Rendon brings to life the voices of the Anishinaabe ancestors in “Anishinaabe Songs for a New Millennium.” She has made it her mission to let others know the Anishinaabe still exist, and their song can heard by those who listen. Rendon is a member of…
Review by Victor R. Volkman This installment marks the 5th anniversary of my term at the helm of Superior Reads for Marquette Monthly. I am particularly thankful for the breadth and scope of U.P. literature that it has introduced me to. As a reader of this column, I hope it…
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…
Review by Tyler Tichelaar In Digging Up the Truth and Other Big Bay Stories, Faye Bowers, a native of Big Bay, Michigan and longtime professional journalist, shares stories informed by her quest to set straight the historical record. The result is a series of stories that shed light into some…
Review by Mack Hassler I think a writer develops a kind of cockiness that is helpful when he or she is accepted by the “teams” of publication in a culture. The great poet Virgil was close to the Emperor Augustus. Writers need patrons and mentors, and they need the teamwork…
Review by Victor R. Volkman Larry Buege’s autobiographical Growing Up in Sparta And Other Adventures is a story in three acts. In the first act, he describes the realities of growing up in the 1950s in a small rural Midwestern town of Sparta, Michigan (population 4,000). As the author points…
Reviewed by Donna Winters This collaborative work Yooper Women—Guts, Grit & Grace—Stories Around the Camp Fire is way more than its title suggests. In it, you will find several mini-biographies of Upper Peninsula women, as well as many unrelated writings: poetry, spirituality, self-promotion, opinion pieces and reprinted magazine and Internet…
