The Leisure Seeker I believe that travel is either a form of escape or discovery and John and Ella Robina take the ultimate road trip in "The Leisure Seeker" by Michael Zadoorian. This novel is both a laugh out loud book and one that takes a box of Kleenex. The Robinas decide to take a trip in their Leisure Seeker RV from Detroit, Michigan to Disneyland. They are a couple in their eighties who have lived a typical Michigan life. John was an engineer who worked at the GM Tech Center and Ella stayed home to raise their three children. In spite of four years after the onset of Alzheimer's, John is still a competent driver. For a Michigan guy, I could easily believe that this could be one of the last skills to go. Ella acts as the navigator, but John manages to evade other poor drivers on the interstate.
Their trip is an attempt to follow as much as they
possibly can of Route 66. Ella navigates and John steers their way around Gary
and through Chicago's hectic Dan Ryan Expressway so they can arrive where Route
66 began at Lake Michigan. Along the way, their trip has many of the normal
features of an ordinary family vacation. The Leisure Seeker is stocked with
the typical food that a family would take camping and they stop at many of the
somewhat worn tourist spots that would have fascinated families in the fifties
and sixties. So they can relive some of their cozy memories, Ella has brought
along the slides that were taken when the family traveled. They look at how
the family looked when they were at Grand Canyon over forty years ago. Some
nights they set up their slide show on a sheet on the side of the RV. This provides
their fellow campers with spontaneous entertainment. Now the two of them are
trying to find a little freedom and relaxation. Each time they call the children,
the kids try to persuade their wayward parents to return to Michigan. One of
the scarier incidents occurs when they have a flat tire in the desert. There
they prove that as a couple they are more than a match for modern criminals.
As you travel with this couple and grow fond of their mutual dependency, you
know the trip just can't have an easy ending. The novel is a poignant portrayal
of a couple facing difficult changes with a bittersweet ending. [5-1-09]
Starvation Lake An outstanding Michigan mystery is "Starvation Lake" by Bryan Gruley. He is now the Wall Street Journal editor for Chicago, but he has placed his first novel in his home state of Michigan. He was able to use his student internship at the Bellaire paper to help him create the fictional "Pilot" in "Grass County". When he told a colleague that he was writing a novel, the friend said, "Don't tell me it is about an amateur hockey player who works for a newspaper." Well, writing what you know works when you can portray that world as well as Gruley has done.
The questions begin when Coach Blackburn's snowmobile
washes up on the shores of Starvation Lake. Supposedly he went through the
ice on another lake five miles away ten years ago when he was out trying to
jump thawing spots. Are there really tunnels between the two lakes that the
snowmobile could have been washed along? How strong and how destructive are
the connections between the young men who played high school hockey for the
town over ten years ago? Gus Carpenter has returned from a prestigious job
on a Detroit newspaper to be the assistant editor of the local small paper.
He had left Starvation Lake branded as a loser when he froze at the last moment
and let a winning hockey goal be scored which lost his hometown the state
hockey championship. Did he fail in a similar way at his perfect job on the
Detroit paper? The coach, Jack Blackburn, had been almost a second father
to Gus after the death of his own father. Eventually becoming the school's
hockey coach, Blackburn continued to work with the same crowd of boys as they
became young men. The game that determined the state championship was played
in Starvation Lake. That made the Gus-driven loss all that more devastating
for the town. After that, Gus was always ridiculed. As the years went by,
this loss seemed to become a symbol for the locals of the economic decline
of the area. Several of the men on that team were still a part of Starvation
Lake. Gus' best friend "Soupy" Campbell came home to manage his
father's marina after the end of his not spectacular pro hockey career. Another
team member became an aggressive developer of the area. How have the past
and present merged when the investigation of Coach's death becomes a murder
investigation? [5-10-09]
One mystery series which I enjoy is A Dead-End Job Mystery. The first in this series is "Shop Till You Drop" by Elaine Viets. Helen Hawthorne is living without leaving any financial trail. This means that she does everything for cash. She accepts jobs that will pay her in cash and not provide any tax or social security reporting. The reason she must do this is not fully revealed. She previously was a highly paid accountant who came home from work to find her husband with another woman. Something snapped and she started to strike out with a tire iron. She now lives in the Coronado Apartments, a turquoise and white Art Deco Building in Fort Lauderdale. Her job at Juliana's, the exclusive clothing boutique leads to murder. Other fun characters are a landlady who always wears purple, a cheap Canadian named Cal, and a six-toed cat.
If you enjoy Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum mysteries, I think the most similar series is the Bubbles mysteries by Sarah Strohmeyer. Bubbles Yablonsky is a hairdresser/divorcee who has taken eight years to get her journalism certificate at Two Guys Community College in Lehigh, Pennsylvania. She works part time at the local paper and always hopes for the big story. Hilarious characters include her brilliant teen-age daughter Jane and Bubbles' long suffering mother. These characters are all introduced in "Bubbles Unbound" along with the gorgeous hunk, Steve Stiletto, a freelance photographer. When Bubbles tries to solve a ten year old murder, she uses all the tread on the tires of her Camaro. Spandex and Diet Pepsi also help to keep Bubbles going.
If you enjoy the warmth and comfort of Jan Karon's
Mitford series, try the Harmony books by Philip Gulley. The first book, "Home
to Harmony" introduces Sam Gardner, a Quaker minister in Harmony, Indiana.
He has a wife, two young sons and parishioners of all types. Each chapter is
episodic, but the many of the characters continue throughout the novels, so
the reader feels he lives in the town of Harmony. In one memorable chapter Sam
is trying to find an aluminum gift for his wife on their aluminum anniversary.
His answer is a can of diet pop attached to a diamond ring.
[5-17-09]
Shadow and Light "Shadow and Light" by Jonathan Rabb is a dark and grim novel about 1927 Weimar Germany. Nickolai Hoffner is a Berlin Kriminal-Oberkommisar who is sent to investigate the suicide of an executive at the Ufa film studio. As the investigation begins, Hoffner learns that major changes are about to happen in the motion picture industry. America is about to release the first "talkie", starring Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer. Without sound, films are only shadow and light. When Hoffner is searching for a missing starlet that he feels might have played a role in the suicide/possible murder, he meets Helen Coyle, an American talent scout. Together they follow the trail to a sex club where movies are made. Hoffner accidentally turns on a projector and the shocking part of the film isn't the brutal rape scene, but rather the scream that echoes around the room. He then realizes what is at stake in the conflict between German and American movie producers. Somewhere there is a new invention that will allow sound to be produced right along with film rather that being a separate recording like the American film industry is ready to produce.
Berlin is becoming a degenerate city. There are bars that cater to different sexual orientations and provide opportunities for brutal attacks. The political climate of Germany is also rapidly changing. Hoffner is alienated from his two sons who blame him for the death of their mother. Their mother was killed by a criminal that Hoffner was pursuing. Sascha, the oldest son hasn't been in contact with his father for over a year. When Georg, the younger brother, tries to unite the two, they meet at a political rally. Sascha has become involved with the German Workers Party and its leader, Joseph Goebbels. Hoffner has found himself at a convergence of several players that have power and large amounts of money in conflict. The Nazis have been quick to realize what sound can do for film and newsreel propaganda. When several bodies are found, including that of Helen Coyle, Hoffner knows how high the stakes have gotten.
The grittiness of a depressed society in transition is real enough to make this an uncomfortable book to read. Weimar Germany was brutal and the political changes that produced Hitler's Brownshirts happened because the populace was so miserable. The crimes seem very believable in a society that regards life and freedom as cheap commodities. [5-24-09]
On Friday, June 5th, the Summer Reading Program begins at the DeWitt Public Library. Although activities are included for all ages, children are the main participants. Therefore, I would like to share some children's book titles with you. When you read to or with a child, it is important to like the book yourself, because your enthusiasm shows through. Here are a few titles that I particularly enjoyed.
"Splat the Cat" by Rob Scotton shows us how much Splat fears his first day at cat school. He uses every child's argument to avoid going anywhere. When the inevitable must be faced, he brings along his favorite pet, Seymour the mouse. How new and old friends interact is the funny part. Watch for cute details you can share with a child like the fur gloop Splat's mother uses on his hair.
If you want to educate a child about a few new ways to refer to rear end anatomy, "Chicken Cheeks" by Michael Ian Black and Kevin Hawkes is the perfect picture book. There are all sorts of exotic animals and some unusual terms that can be used in polite society to refer to the southward portion of bodies. Both adult and child can snicker all the way through.
Oliver Olson is a third grader who has very restrictive parents in "How Oliver Olson Changed the World" by Claudia Mills.. They make him snack on only healthy foods like carrot sticks and protein bars, won't let him watch cartoons, and won't let him stay for the Outer Space Sleep Over. He struggles with his parents as they try to help him build his solar system diorama. When Crystal becomes his partner, there are big changes. When the teacher challenges the class to provide their state representative with ideas for changing the world, Oliver has a great idea.
"The Penderwicks on Gardam Street"
by Jeanne Birdsall visits the four Penderwick sisters and their widowed father.
His wife wrote him a letter before she died and gave it to his sister Claire,
telling him that he must date again. The girls are horrified that they might
someday have a stepmother so they begin the Save-Daddy Plan of providing him
with horrible dates so he will abandon the experiment completely. There is
a wonderful new neighbor named Iantha, mother to a baby who only says duck.
The youngest sister is practicing her secret agent skills keeping watch for
Bug Man who lurks in the neighborhood. [5-31-09]
by Helen Davis