Mill River Redemption by Darcie Chan

The Mill River Redemption by Darcie Chan is her second book set in small town Vermont and tells the story of two estranged adult sisters who are forced to move back one summer, solve a puzzle, and try to reconcile in order to obtain their inheritance. Rose and Emily are the two sisters and while I enjoyed the flashbacks to their childhood, I found their present day antics and acts of vandalism to be somewhat unrealistic. One is coping unsuccessfully with alcoholism and that adds further angst to the story.

Darcie Chan does a good job of developing the relationships that are so important to a small town, but, for me, this book would have been stronger if there was more emphasis on the mystery (although there was a surprising twist at the end). Overall, The Mill River Redemption is an easy, undemanding summer read. For other stories set in Vermont, look for titles like Northern Borders by Howard Frank Mosher.  And fans of gentle, summer mysteries can always turn to award-winning childhood classics by E. L. Konigsburg or Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

Paw and Order by Spencer Quinn

If you like “fun” mysteries, you were happy to see last week’s release of Paw and Order by Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams), book #7 about Chet and Bernie. The canine narrator, Chet, and his owner, a private eye named Bernie Little, are featured in two brand new copies at my public library.  I especially liked that the setting for this book had moved to the DC area, adding spies and politics, while retaining plenty of new opportunity for Chet the dog to humorously get into trouble as he repeatedly misconstrues human intentions or is distracted, forgetting an important point. Chet is a unique, entertaining character and even has his own web page.

Don’t be mistaken – this series is definitely for those who are looking for a quick, light, comic  read, possibly fans of Parnell Hall, the Mrs. Murphy mysteries from Rita Mae Brown or some of Rick Riordan’s Austin mysteries.  Sound appealing as summer winds down?  The first Chet and Bernie mystery is titled Dog On It and that, too, is likely to be at your local library.

In fact, a Wall Street Journal article, “Why the Public Library Beats Amazon for Now” published today, emphasizes the benefits of checking out eBooks from the library instead of through Kindle Unlimited.  For more information about the pluses and minuses of subscription services like Scribd, Oyster, or Kindle Unlimited, see this second article, “Aiming to be the Netflix of Books” from The New York Times.  

Small Blessings by Martha Woodroof

Do you want to feel good? Laugh out loud? Experience well-written prose? Share in the formation of an unconventional family? Then read Small Blessings by Martha Woodroof.

Set on a small Virginia college campus, this debut novel introduces us to the college's students, administrators and a small number of central characters:

• Tom Putnam, a kind English professor who is married to
• Marjory, who is often anxious and has trouble relating to others
• Agnes, Marjory's mother, a lawyer and surprisingly fond of
• Henry, 6 years old and Tom’s newly discovered "son"
• Russell Jacobs and Iris Benson, Tom's colleagues with their own issues, including alcohol dependence, and
• Rose Callahan, new employee at the Book Store whose presence seems to set the novel in motion.

As these characters struggle with society's expectations, some are more successful than others and all face fears and loneliness as they take risks, seek to redefine themselves, and deal with unexpected events. Small Blessings starts pretty slowly and sadly -like a grey, rainy day – and then Rose and later Henry arrive – it seems like sunshine peaking through clouds.  I raced through the last half of this book with a smile on my face and in my heart.

Look for Small Blessings, especially if you are a fan of the caring and community building in Jan Karon’s Mitford series or enjoyed the slowly building charm and self-discovery of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  I predict that Small Blessings will soon be a movie itself and reading this book will make you smile, too.

PS – Martha Woodruff is a producer for NPR (hence her references to pbs shows like Inspector Morse); more of her interviews and writing about first novels can be found here.

The Taste of Many Mountains by Bruce Wydick

I simply can’t decide what this book, The Taste of Many Mountains by Bruce Wydick, about poverty and globalization, wants to be:

- A fiction story  - like when it tells about the young woman in 1980’s Guatemala; OR

- A “semi-fiction” work – when it focuses on 4 grad students in 2007; OR

- A non-fiction text when it educates about randomized sampling, the varieties of coffee and fair trade statistics.

I do think this was an admirable attempt to focus attention on an important and complex problem, but, sadly, I kept getting pulled out of the story every time the author switched focus. Most annoying were the four graduate students who, frankly, seemed clueless at times.  How could they be so concerned about exploitation and then (blissfully ignorant?) simply sit down to eat a poor family’s lunch?

Here is my suggestion:  publish a companion piece which visually tells the story of the coffee growers and makes readers truly care about them and their situation.  Some great role models for this would be Material World by Peter Menzel; possibly What Matters by David Elliot Cohen or even the format used in the newer Chuck Close: FaceBook.  Consider contrasting the living situation in Guatemala with that of coffee drinkers in Seattle and elsewhere ... Inviting students around the country to send photos and stories ... Be creative and encourage participation.

Also, to be more effective and to raise discussion, keep this as a work of non-fiction or as a type of memoir.  See, for example, titles like Kids of Kabul by Ellis (which my students love); or I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai or Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder (also used in our curriculum) or possibly Little Princes by Conor Grennan.  Somewhat text heavy, Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy by Rivoli is another example of tackling these trade issues for a wider audience. [image source]

If it is not possible to re-shape the story, then please add more extensive and accessible footnotes like Rivoli did. Here, in Taste of Many Mountains, the author lists references by chapter, but it would have been helpful to have an bibliography (annotated, if possible) for future student work.  For example, Wydick refers to Black Gold by Antony Wild, but I do not think he mentions the DVD by the same name; he includes Uncommon Grounds by Pendergast, but does not seem to include the more recent Coffee: a Comprehensive Guide edited by Thurston and others.  And where are the website links?  I saw a very few, but several more about fair trade (even World Bank, IMF? WTO?) and sustainability/biodiversity (Rainforest Alliance?) could certainly have been included. There are literally millions of websites which discuss fair trade and coffee. Overall, this is a book with potential that is based on an amazing amount of work and I hope that the author and his team continue to produce material which will help us all learn more.

The Selection and other Abe Lincoln Book award nominees

I have not yet decided on my favorite Abe Lincoln Award book, but I was surprised at how much I liked The Selection by Kiera Cass. I originally picked it up because another librarian was rapidly reading book 2 of 3 and said that several students were quite excited about the series. Yes, it is basically “Hunger Games meets The Bachelor,” but readers definitely want to know what happens to Maxon, the prince; to America Singer, the young woman with the possibility of becoming a princess; and to Aspen, now a palace guard and America’s first love.   It’s a light, fun, quick read, and I don’t know anyone who has read book 1 (The Selection) and not immediately looked for book 2 (The Elite) - in fact, the public library has over 30 people on a waiting list!

There are plenty of other fun and great quality reads on the Abe Lincoln list – look for more info here:

•  Libguide with promotional trailers and links to author websites;

•  iBook which opens on iOS devices (click here for pdf version) with summaries and cover images.  Enjoy!