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Michigan Legends: Folktales and Lore from the Great Lakes State
By Sheryl James. 2013
Over the course of its history, the state of Michigan has produced its share of folktales and lore. Many are…
familiar with the Ojibwa legend of Sleeping Bear Dunes, and most have heard a yarn or two told of Michigan's herculean lumberjack, Paul Bunyan. But what about Detroit's Nain Rouge, the red-eyed imp they say bedeviled the city's earliest residents? Or Le Griffon, the Great Lakes' original ghost ship that some believe haunts the waters to this day? Or the Bloodstoppers, Upper Peninsula folk who've been known to halt a wound's bleeding with a simple touch thanks to their magic healing powers? In Michigan Legends, Sheryl James collects these and more stories of the legendary people, events, and places from Michigan's real and imaginary past. Set in a range of historical time periods and locales as well as featuring a collage of ethnic traditions--including Native American, French, English, African American, and Finnish--these tales are a vivid sample of the state's rich cultural heritage. This book will appeal to all Michiganders and anyone else interested in good folktales, myths, legends, or lore.The Road Back to Sweetgrass: A Novel
By Linda Legarde Grover. 2014
Set in northern Minnesota, The Road Back to Sweetgrass follows Dale Ann, Theresa, and Margie, a trio of American Indian…
women, from the 1970s to the present, observing their coming of age and the intersection of their lives as they navigate love, economic hardship, loss, and changing family dynamics on the fictional Mozhay Point reservation. As young women, all three leave their homes. Margie and Theresa go to Duluth for college and work; there Theresa gets to know a handsome Indian boy, Michael Washington, who invites her home to the Sweetgrass land allotment to meet his father, Zho Wash, who lives in the original allotment cabin. When Margie accompanies her, complicated relationships are set into motion, and tensions over "real Indian-ness" emerge. Dale Ann, Margie, and Theresa find themselves pulled back again and again to the Sweetgrass allotment, a silent but ever-present entity in the book; sweetgrass itself is a plant used in the Ojibwe ceremonial odissimaa bag, containing a newborn baby's umbilical cord. In a powerful final chapter, Zho Wash tells the story of the first days of the allotment, when the Wazhushkag, or Muskrat, family became transformed into the Washingtons by the pen of a federal Indian agent. This sense of place and home is both tangible and spiritual, and Linda LeGarde Grover skillfully connects it with the experience of Native women who came of age during the days of the federal termination policy and the struggle for tribal self-determination. The Road Back to Sweetgrass is a novel that that moves between past and present, the Native and the non-Native, history and myth, and tradition and survival, as the people of Mozhay Point navigate traumatic historical events and federal Indian policies while looking ahead to future generations and the continuation of the Anishinaabe people.The Heirs of Columbus
By Gerald Vizenor. 1991
"If you must read a book on Columbus," declared the Los Angeles Times in its review of The Heirs of…
Columbus, "this is the one." Gerald Vizenor's novel reclaims the story of Chrisopher Columbus on behalf of Native Americans by declaring the explorer himself to be a descendent of early Mayans and follows the adventures of his modern-day, mixedblood heirs as they create a fantastic tribal nation.The genetic heirs of Christopher Columbus meet annually at the Stone Tavern at the headwaters of the Mississippi to remember their "stories in the blood" and plan their tribal nation. They are inspired by the late-night talk radio discourses of Stone Columbus, a trickster healer who became rich as the captain of the sovereign bingo barge Santa Maria Casino, anchored in the international waters of the Lake of the Woods. The heirs' plan to reclaim their heritage enrages the government and inspires the tribal nations in a comic tale of mythic proportions.Vizenor is a mixedblood Chippewa who writes fiction in the trickster mode of Native American tradition, using humor to challenge received ideas and subvert the status quo. In The Heirs of Columbus he "reveals not only how Indians have staved off the tidal wave of assimilation," noted the San Francisco Chronicle, "but also how, through humor and persistence, they sometimes reverse the direction of cultural appropriation and, in the process, transform the alien values imposed on them.""Vizenor understands the wilder, irrational, half-mad parts of the Discoverer's soul as few people ever have," noted Kirkpatrick Sale in the Nation; "Columbus is appropriated here in an entirely new way, made to be an Indian in service to his Indian descendents." And the Voice Literary Supplement said "Even more rousing than Vizenor's deconstruction of Columbus, though, is his alternative vision of an American identity."Finding A Voice: Friendship is a Two-Way Street ...
By Kim Hood. 2014
Shortlisted for the Bookseller YA Prize 2015! Jo could never have guessed that the friendship she so desperately craves would…
come in the shape of a severely disabled boy. He can’t even speak. Maybe it is because he can’t speak that she finds herself telling him how difficult it is living with her eccentric, mentally fragile mother. Behind Chris’ lopsided grin and gigantic blue wheelchair is a real person — with a sense of humour, a tremendous stubborn streak and a secret he has kept from everyone. For a while it seems life may actually get better. But as Jo finds out just how terrible life is for Chris, and as her own life spirals out of control, she becomes desperate to change things for both of them. In a dramatic turn of events, Jo makes a decision that could end in tragedy. This is the story of how an unusual friendship unlocks the words that neither knew they had.Let Us Be Brave: An Alaska Story of Special Olympians Uniting to Survive
By Linda Thompson. 2014
A dramatic bush plane crash in coastal Alaska leaves the pilot injured. The passengers, a team of Special Olympic Athletes,…
must fend for themselves to survive. An Alaska storm first threatens to overwhelm them during the night as they care for their unconscious pilot. Each must confront the challenges of survival in the wilderness, while transcending their limitations. Forced to overcome their habits of dependency and help each other, the group finds courage in the Olympic oath: "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."Empire of Wild: A Novel
By Cherie Dimaline. 2019
A #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLEROne of the most anticipated books of the summer for Time, Harper's Bazaar, Bustle and Publishers Weekly'Deftly…
written, gripping and informative. Empire of Wild is a rip-roaring read!' Margaret Atwood'Empire of Wild is doing everything I love in a contemporary novel and more. It is tough, funny, beautiful, honest and propulsive' Tommy Orange, author of There There 'Dimaline turns an old story into something newly haunting and resonant' New York Times'Close, tight, stark, beautiful - rich where richness is warranted, but spare where want and sorrow have sharpened every word. Dimaline has crafted something both current and timeless' NPR'Revelatory... Gritty and engaging, this story of a woman and her missing husband is one of candor, wit and tradition'Ms. Magazine Broken-hearted Joan has been searching for her husband, Victor, for almost a year - ever since he went missing on the night they had their first serious argument. One hung-over morning in a Walmart parking lot in a little town near Georgian Bay, she is drawn to a revival tent where the local Métis have been flocking to hear a charismatic preacher. By the time she staggers into the tent the service is over, but as she is about to leave, she hears an unmistakable voice.She turns, and there is Victor. Only he insists he is not Victor, but the Reverend Eugene Wolff, on a mission to bring his people to Jesus.With only two allies - her Johnny-Cash-loving, 12-year-old nephew Zeus, and Ajean, a foul-mouthed euchre shark with deep knowledge of the old Métis ways - Joan sets out to remind the Reverend Wolff of who he really is. If he really is Victor, his life and the life of everyone she loves, depends upon her success.Inspired by traditional Métis legends, Cherie Dimaline has created a propulsive, stunning and sensuous novel.The Rock Blaster
By Henning Mankell. 1973
An early gem from the creator of the Kurt Wallander series, charting the life of a principled man through tragedy,…
heartbreak, true love and the battle for a nation's soul."A very engaging portrait . . . There is a powerful lack of sentimentality to the telling of the story [and] a lovely and genuinely moving love story at the heart of the book." Liam Heylin, Irish ExaminerAt 3 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon in 1911, Oskar Johansson is caught in a blast in an industrial accident. The local newspaper reports him dead, but they are mistaken.Because Oskar Johansson is a born survivor.Though crippled, Oskar finds the strength to go on living and working. The Rock Blaster charts his long professional life - his hopes and dreams, sorrows and joys. His relationship with the woman whose love saved him, with the labour movement that gave him a cause to believe in, and with his children, who do not share his ideals.Henning Mankell's first published novel is steeped in the burning desire for social justice that informed his bestselling crime novels. Remarkably assured for a debut, it is written with scalpel-like precision, at once poetic and insightful in its depiction of a true working-class hero.Translated from the Swedish by George GouldingBetty: The International Bestseller
By Tiffany McDaniel. 2020
'Breahtaking'Vogue'So engrossing! Betty is a page-turning Appalachian coming-of-age story steeped in Cherokee history, told in undulating prose that settles right…
into you'Naoise Dolan, Sunday Times bestselling author of Exciting Times 'I felt consumed by this book. I loved it, you will love it' Daisy Johnson, Booker Prize shortlisted author of Everthing Under'I loved Betty: I fell for its strong characters and was moved by the story it portrayed' Fiona Mozley, Booker Prize shortlisted author of Elmet 'A girl comes of age against the knife.' So begins the story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence - both from outside the family and also, devastatingly, from within. When her family's darkest secrets are brought to light, Betty has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural town of Breathed, Ohio.Despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters and her father's brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination, and in the face of all she bears witness to, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write.A heartbreaking yet magical story, Betty is a punch-in-the-gut of a novel - full of the crushing cruelty of human nature and the redemptive power of words. 'Not a story you will soon forget' Karen Joy Fowler, Booker Prize shortlisted author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves 'Shot through with moonshine, Bible verses, and folklore, Betty is about the cruelty we inflict on one another, the beauty we still manage to find, and the stories we tell in order to survive' Eowyn Ivey, author of The Snow ChildThe Art of the Body: A beautiful, unflinching debut about love, loss and intimacy
By Alex Allison. 2019
'A bold, unflinching debut' GUARDIAN'Brutal, tender, philosophical, visceral, complex and so well written' EMMA JANE UNSWORTHMaintaining one person's dignity comes…
nearly always at the expense of someone else's. I have learned this for you.Janet is caught between care work and caring for herself. Her life revolves around Sean, a talented fine art student, living and working with cerebral palsy. Both Janet and Sean are new to London and far from their families. Both are finding a means of escape through pushing their bodies to the limit.When Sean is faced with an unexpected and deeply personal tragedy, Janet must let her guard down at last and discover what she's prepared to fight for. The Art of the Body is a novel about dignity and intimacy, tenderness and brutality, unafraid to explore uncommon bodies in unusual ways.'Raw and powerful' IMAGEEntangled
By Cat Clarke. 2011
Real, compulsive and intense: Cat Clarke is the queen of emotional suspense. For fans of Paula Hawkins, Gillian Flynn, Megan…
Abbott and Jandy Nelson.Seventeen-year-old Grace wakes up in a white room, with table, pens and paper - and no clue how she got there. As Grace starts writing, pouring her tangled life onto the page, she is forced to remember everything she's tried to forget: falling hopelessly in love with Nat, and the unravelling of her friendship with her best mate Sal. But there's something missing. As hard as she's trying to remember, is there something she just can't see? Grace must face the most important question of all. Why is she here? A compulsive thriller of dangerous secrets, intense friendships and electrifying attraction.The Art of the Body: A beautiful, unflinching debut about love, loss and intimacy
By Alex Allison. 2019
'A bold, unflinching debut' GUARDIAN'Brutal, tender, philosophical, visceral, complex and so well written' EMMA JANE UNSWORTHMaintaining one person's dignity comes…
nearly always at the expense of someone else's. I have learned this for you.Janet is caught between care work and caring for herself. Her life revolves around Sean, a talented fine art student, living and working with cerebral palsy. Both Janet and Sean are new to London and far from their families. Both are finding a means of escape through pushing their bodies to the limit.When Sean is faced with an unexpected and deeply personal tragedy, Janet must let her guard down at last and discover what she's prepared to fight for. The Art of the Body is a novel about dignity and intimacy, tenderness and brutality, unafraid to explore uncommon bodies in unusual ways.'Raw and powerful' IMAGEA Boy Made of Blocks: The most uplifting novel of the year
By Keith Stuart. 2016
THE RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB 2017 BESTSELLER AND NUMBER ONE AMAZON BESTSELLER'The publishing sensation of the year: a compelling,…
uplifting and heart-rending debut novel'Mail on SundayA Boy Made of Blocks is a funny, heartwarming story of family and love inspired by the author's own experiences with his son, the perfect latest obsession for fans of The Rosie Project, David Nicholls and Jojo Moyes. A father who rediscovers loveAlex loves his wife Jody, but has forgotten how to show it. He loves his son Sam, but doesn't understand him. He needs a reason to grab his future with both hands.A son who shows him how to liveMeet eight-year-old Sam: beautiful, surprising - and different. To him the world is a frightening mystery. But as his imagination comes to life, his family will be changed . . . for good.*Keith Stuart's magical and moving second novel Days of Wonder is available to pre-order now.*'One of those wonderful books that makes you laugh and cry at the same time'Good Housekeeping'Funny, expertly plotted and written with enormous heart. Readers who enjoyed The Rosie Project will love A Boy Made of Blocks - I did'Graeme Simsion'Very funny, incredibly poignant and full of insight. Awesome.'Jenny Colgan'Heartwarming'The Unmumsy Mum'A wonderful, warm, insightful novel about family, friendship and love'Daily Mail'A great plot, with a rare sense of honesty'Guardian'A truly beautiful story'Heat'A heartwarming and wise story'Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of LoveThe Difference
By Justine Delaney Wilson. 2016
On a January morning, Beth and Steve bring three-day-old Ismae home from the hospital. A little girl to complete their…
suburban family.Except Beth knows that Ismae is different. And that, as she gets older and stronger, her difference will become more obvious.As the future Beth imagined grows even more out of reach, the walls of their vast house close in on her, isolating her from Steve.Then she makes a terrible discovery ...Will Ismae's difference break her family apart? Or will Beth be able to see that it's the one thing that can save her?'Little Ismae is an unforgettable character ... readers will be glad they've met her'BELINDA McKEON 'A novel about one woman's quest for an authentic life. When extraordinary new baby Ismae turns Beth's world inside out, she begins to understand the fierce power of mother-love and,through her daughter, learns to know and trust herself. A moving, convincing story of courage and burgeoning hope' NUALA O'CONNOR, AUTHOR OF MISS EMILYA Boy Made of Blocks: The most uplifting novel of the year
By Keith Stuart. 2016
***THE RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB 2017 BESTSELLER***'The publishing sensation of the year: a compelling, uplifting and heart-rending debut novel'Mail…
on SundayThe number one Amazon bestseller A Boy Made of Blocks is a moving, funny and heartwarming story of family and love inspired by the author's own experiences with his son, the perfect latest obsession for fans of The Rosie Project, David Nicholls and Jojo Moyes. A father who rediscovers loveAlex loves his wife Jody, but has forgotten how to show it. He loves his son Sam, but doesn't understand him. He needs a reason to grab his future with both hands.A son who shows him how to liveMeet eight-year-old Sam: beautiful, surprising - and different. To him the world is a frightening mystery. But as his imagination comes to life, his family will be changed . . . for good.'One of those wonderful books that makes you laugh and cry at the same time'Good Housekeeping'Funny, expertly plotted and written with enormous heart. Readers who enjoyed The Rosie Project will love A Boy Made of Blocks - I did'Graeme Simsion'Very funny, incredibly poignant and full of insight. Awesome.'Jenny Colgan'Heartwarming'The Unmumsy Mum'A wonderful, warm, insightful novel about family, friendship and love'Daily Mail'A great plot, with a rare sense of honesty'Guardian'A truly beautiful story'Heat'A heartwarming and wise story'Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of LoveEntangled
By Cat Clarke. 2011
Real, compulsive and intense: Cat Clarke is the queen of emotional suspense. For fans of E Lockhart, Gillian Flynn and…
Paula Hawkins. Seventeen-year-old Grace wakes up in a white room, with table, pens and paper - and no clue how she got there. As Grace starts writing, pouring her tangled life onto the page, she is forced to remember everything she's tried to forget: falling hopelessly in love with Nat, and the unravelling of her friendship with her best mate Sal. But there's something missing. As hard as she's trying to remember, is there something she just can't see? Grace must face the most important question of all. Why is she here? A compulsive thriller of dangerous secrets, intense friendships and electrifying attraction.(P) 2017 Hachette Children's GroupThe Rock Blaster
By Henning Mankell. 2020
At 3 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon in 1911, Oskar Johansson is caught in a blast in an industrial accident.…
The local newspaper reports him dead, but they are mistaken.Because Oskar Johansson is a born survivor.Though crippled, Oskar finds the strength to go on living and working. The Rock Blaster charts his long professional life - his hopes and dreams, sorrows and joys. His relationship with the woman whose love saved him, with the labour movement that gave him a cause to believe in, and with his children, who do not share his ideals.Henning Mankell's first published novel is steeped in the burning desire for social justice that informed his bestselling crime novels. Remarkably assured for a debut, it is written with scalpel-like precision, at once poetic and insightful in its depiction of a true working-class hero.Translated from the Swedish by George Goulding(P)2020 Quercus Editions LimitedWaterless Mountain
By Laura Adams Armer. 1959
Younger Brother lives in a dry land, and he dreams of finding the wide water of the Pacific Ocean. This…
gentle coming-of-age story, rooted in the traditional culture of the Navajo, recounts Younger Brother's journey toward finding his vocation as a medicine man. Under the guidance of his uncle, the boy learns about the ancient songs, customs, and ceremonies of his people as well as the modern-day magic of movies and airplanes. Written in the 1930s by an authority on Native American life and lore, this Newbery Medal winner offers a vivid portrait of Navajo beliefs and traditions.My Beautiful Struggle
By Jordan Bone. 2017
Aged 15, Jordan Bone got into a car with friends. She would never walk again. Paralysed from the chest down,…
her life was changed forever. Becoming depressed and feeling like life wasn't worth living, these weren't the teenage years that Jordan had envisaged. However, slowly but surely, she began to get herself out of the darkness. With a little help from the internet, Jordan started to embrace positive thinking and embarked on a personal journey to get her confidence - and her life - back. Eleven years on from the accident, Jordan creates her own beauty tutorials on YouTube and has a range of successful brand partnerships. She has reclaimed her life and her independence and now wants to share her inspirational story with others and is telling it through different aspects of beauty. This isn't a book about looking good on the surface, this is a story of inner strength, believing in yourself and finding motivation when you feel like all hope is gone.The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse: A Novel
By Louise Erdrich. 1954
A New York Times Notable BookFor more than a half century, Father Damien Modeste has served his beloved Native American…
tribe, the Ojibwe, on the remote reservation of Little No Horse. Now, nearing the end of his life, Father Damien dreads the discovery of his physical identity, for he is a woman who has lived as a man. To further complicate his quiet existence, a troubled colleague comes to the reservation to investigate the life of the perplexing, possibly false saint Sister Leopolda. Father Damien alone knows the strange truth of Leopolda's piety, but these facts are bound up in his own secret. He is faced with the most difficult decision: Should he tell all and risk everything . . . or manufacture a protective history for Leopolda, though he believes her wonder-working is motivated solely by evil?In a masterwork that both deepens and enlarges the world of her previous novels set on the same reservation, Louise Erdrich captures the essence of a time and the spirit of a woman who felt compelled by her beliefs to serve her people as a priest. The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse is a work of an avid heart, a writer's writer, and a storytelling genius.Betty: The International Bestseller
By Tiffany McDaniel.
'NOT A STORY YOU WILL SOON FORGET' Karen Joy Fowler, author of Man Booker Prize finalist We Are All Completely…
Beside Ourselves'A girl comes of age against the knife.' So begins the story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence - both from outside the family and also, devastatingly, from within. When her family's darkest secrets are brought to light, Betty has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural town of Breathed, Ohio.Despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters and her father's brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination, and in the face of all she bears witness to, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write.A heartbreaking yet magical story, Betty is a punch-in-the-gut of a novel - full of the crushing cruelty of human nature and the redemptive power of words.