Kansas Books

I did not grow up in the 1950's (1970's/80's) nor did I grow up in Kansas City, although I lived there for two years. I randomly picked up this book and thought it was excellent. I don't think you need to have any connection to Kansas City or grow up in the time period covered to enjoy this book. I still read it every now and then; it is very good.

Once I began the book I never put it down. Bruce lived five blocks away from me in the same era. I especially remember Shortcake and Roy Beatty. They were friends of mine too. Bruce's recollection of Frank's restaurant was poignant although I didn't remember the dirt, just the heavenly(?) taste of a tenderloin sandwich. As to Old man Pierce, I too was chased from the premises, albeit not for the same reasons. My home was across from Scarrit grade school. Bruce no doubt played baseball there too. I do remember Lykins Square where we played the kids from "south of Independence Avenue" on many occasion, probably losing more than we won. This was a great step back to my own childhood. NE grad 1954.

This memoir of growing up in Kansas City in the 1950s is much more than nostalgia. It is an evocation of the importance of baseball in a young person's life, the ambitions of youth, and the impact of family, friends and neighbors. The characters are wonderful, and the whole book is beautifully written. It's a good read, humorous and poignant.

Rebecca grew up long ago, in an America that has now almost vanished - where daughters learn how to run family homes from their mothers; sons learn how to run family farms from their fathers, & electricity hasn't yet reached their roads. In a time when each season brings its own labors, worries & beauties.

Some will think Rebecca's story a sad one, only thinking about the hard life she had of all work & little play. That her childhood was cut short by tragedy. Don't be sad for this enduring, hardworking girl, for she has long since gotten over it, & has thrived & lived a very good life.

While REBECCA, A MARYLAND FARM GIRL may have only 67 pages, it is filled with struggles & victories of a child from another time that will immeasurably enrich your own life.

Rebecca, A Maryland Farm Girl is the true story of a young girl in Maryland in the late 1920's and early 1930's, who, after the death of her mother in a tragic accident, had to labor at grueling farm chores and hike several miles to the school bus. The strain of her daily responsibilities brought about seemingly insurmountable barriers to her education. Very highly recommended for young readers, Rebecca, A Maryland Farm Girl is a poignant and compelling story of struggle and hardship, especially acute for demonstrating the harsh conditions of the past to young people who have grown up in relative comfort and have no idea how hard their grandparents had to fight for the privilege of an education.

Rebecca, A Maryland Farm Girl is a treasure that should become part of the school cirriculum's required readings. It teaches the children of today about the children of the 1920s-30s, a time they are unfoutunately often oblivious to. This lost knowledge, which is essential for children to understand our country and more importantly their relatives before them, is found in the wonderful tale of the experiences of a school aged girl, Rebecca, and how the world around her shapes the that girl she becomes. This is a book not to be missed! I loved it!

This book is a good starting point for understanding German military developments in mechanized warfare during the interwar years. Alternately, if you only wanted to read one book on the subject, this would be a good choice. Easy to read, makes clear points, and covers a fair amount of territory.

Corum, a historian, German linguist, and former military intelligence officer has written a fine study of how Germany was able to absorb the lessons of its defeat in WWI, overcome the restrictions placed on the size and composition of its armed forces, and develop the revolutionary military doctrine that swept it to astonishing victories against every European country it engaged. Corum focuses on General Hans von Seeckt, enigmatic Chief of the German General Staff -- twice awarded the Pour le Merit, Germany's highest decoration for valor -- as the architecht of this remarkable feat. Seeckt set the stage for reform of the Army by fostering a climate of open discussion on all matters regarding doctrine development in which the ideas of the best thinkers -- regardless of rank -- were given a full hearing. A tremendous number of experimental programs were conducted to try out various tactical doctrine. Many of these, secretly carried out in the USSR. Corum cites numerous training manuals, military correspondence and other primary resource documents to illustrate the revolutionary nature of Seeckt's impact on the German military. The book appeared about the same time as a book on American preparation for WWII -- There's a War to be Won -- that is very instructive when read together with Roots of Blitzkrieg. Current military leaders and their civilian overseers should read both books and bear in mind that the constrained resourses available to our armed forces today make the German model the more relevant of the two. Americans, fifty years ago could count on the full mobilization of our industrial and population base to prepare for war. Today's headlines continually reflect lack of preparedness in training exercises, inability to recruit and retain quality personnel (especially pilots), and inadequate funding for research and development programs -- a formula for disaster. Our political focus on humanitarian missions conducted by our armed forces has diverted training and R & D funds and that other scarce resource -- time -- from their intended purposes and prevented implementation of new information age technology. Corum's book demonstrates that, with even minimal support from the political establishment, the U.S. could revive its rapidly deteriorating military capability.

Professor Corum has produced a very concise (c. 200 pages) history of how the German Army spent its inter-war years. Including chapters on doctrinal development (air and ground), training, and weapons design and implementation, Dr. Corum has done his best to avoid political/strategic questions that are inherent in a text covering the rebirth of the German military.

Dr. Corum also makes a statement in focusing on General Hans Von Seeckt as the driving force behind many of the reforms the Reichswehr undertook during his years as chief of the general staff. By taking the spotlight away from Heinz Guderian, Corum has placed the emphasis on the man who fostered the kind of general staff where sweeping tactical and organizational changes were possible. Professor Corum also makes it very clear that those changes were in large part due to a serious assessment of the lessons of the First World War.

A reader from an allied country may have difficulties in trying to separate the great advances in warfare made during the period of the Reichswehr, and how these principles were misused only a few years later. However, one can not avoid marveling at the professionalism and flexibility of the tradition of the Prussian General Staff, and it is those qualities that Professor Corum has focused on in his text.

Lamb's story of Sanderson's Lunch is a fascinating journey though emotion, passion, hard work, and fruitless endeavors. To hear Lamb's story is to laugh, cry, and seriously consider getting a job at a 24/hour diner just to have a glimpse of the crazy antics like those at Sanderson's. The reader will cheer with the successes, be crushed at the defeats, and empathize with every emotional state Lamb was in at the time. If you are a KC native, you are doing yourself an injustice to overlook this outstanding work. It is a little piece of history and a small masterpiece of nonfiction

I enjoyed the book but would like to see more articles telling more of the wacky tales of the old 24 hour restaurant, perhaps in a newspaper or KC mag. Maybe there are enough for another book with a bit more emphasis of the unusual parade of customers. (I couldn't resist!)

Art Lamb is my step-grandfather, and I picked up the book out of curiosity and started reading one afternoon. The next thing I knew, night had fallen, dinner was cold, and the kids were conked out in front of the TV. I shrugged and kept on reading. Witty, engaging and fast moving, this slice of life will capture your interest and engage you until the last page.

I'm not going to say too much about Whispering Springs, because in truth, this book speaks for itself. Filled with adventure, mystery, and ghostly appearances, it is sure to keep the young and old alike glued to the pages until the very end.

I especially liked the Kansas prairie setting and the way modern and old were gracefully woven together to give you both a sense of history while keeping you firmly in the here and now.

The title, The Secret of Whispering Springs, hints that there is more than meets the eye within its covers, and as you race through the pages, you'll discover the story keeps it promise. A great read.

Jerri Garretson creates a wonderful story of suspense and intrigue sure to fascinate any young reader. Her characters are well developed and her writing is strong and vibrant.

Having a daughter of my own in middle grades, I've been reading a lot of the books she's brought home from school and The Secret of Whispering Springs has been one of my favorites reads. It has surpassed many of the books published by major NY presses and is well worth ordering. I heartily recommend it for anyone looking for a gift for that special reader in their life. (I recently passed it along to my 11 yr. old niece who absolutely loves it.)

Highly recommended for young readers attending school grades 5-8, The Secret Of The Whispering Springs by Jerri Garretson is a ghostly novel about a fourteen-year-old girl whose family moves into a grand mansion. The presence of a spirit whispering warnings place the heroine in the center of a dangerous mystery that she must solve before time runs out. A spooky and involving read for young adults, The Secret Of The Whispering Springs is quite appropriate for both school and community library YA fiction collections.

Kellie Wells' fiction stands out from most fiction being published today as exceptionally erudite, original, and provocative. She is a writer worth reading and attending to. Wells challenges us to reconsider "the heartland" as a place that is not predictable, mundane, nor worthy of being ignored. Wells also challenges readers to consider (or reconsider) the human condition, to experience (or re-experience) the potential of language, and to think (or re-think) narrative and how it reflects and represents reality. In fact her readers are enticed to contemplate the nature of what we consider reality. By switching point of view regularly, Wells builds a more comprehensive, intriguing view of her community (What Cheer, KS) than a single narrator would allow for. I admit that I wanted the story to stick with Ivy at first (a very compelling character). But by using multiple voices Wells helps round out the story and the community in an effective fashion reminiscent of the style of Louise Erdrich. Wells' command of the English language shines throughout, in a style that is compact and yet effervescent - as when she describes the bats in the first chapter. Her characters are moving without being maudlin or overdrawn. Wells' wry humor permeates the prose (reminiscent of Joy Williams), showing her fine ability to handle the complexity of her characters, whose lives and stories might otherwise overwhelm. Wells' prose exemplifies what the best prose provokes in readers - thoughtfulness, originality, and joy in language and storytelling.

I read this book in 45 ninutes, for it is the kind of story that keeps you reading anxiously from one page to the next. Kellie Wells has a naturalist's gift for describing human and animal behavior as though we were all of us plants, with the natural behavior cycle of the flora kingdom. She knows how to create suspense with a simple twist of phrase, and all of her characters, no matter how eccentric, speak from the heart, no matter if they are elderly or quite young. Most of all I enjoyed the plot in which a teenage boy has moped scars running up and down his legs, and he coinsults his best friend, Ivy, about if the scars are growing or not. Yes, literally growing like ivy. It seems to her that Duncan's scars are on the move and he resolves that he won't die without having sex with her. This delights and confounds her no end for, if truth be told, she has always been a little in love with neighjbor Duncan, referring to him as "boy poetry," with skin white as Elmer's Glue and gray green eyes you could drown in. It's a cute plot, fairly reminiscent at times of something Carson McCullers might have written.

I also liked Zero, the hairdresser with a fondness for movies with Merle Oberon and Dorothy McGuire, movies he thinks are "safe." Then there is Rachel, with a collection of 70s 45s including the Archies, Melanie, Cher and "Little Willy." No matter how fantastic Wells' storylines get, and they are pretty strange, Wells is able to keep her book "grounded" by the simple trick of using brand names, a la Stephen King. You can see in the example of the Elmers Glue above. Elsewhere a third grade savant, Ruby Tuesday Loomis, applies Bugs Bunny Band Aids, a neighbor pops Tums like Sweet Tarts, and in fact on every page you can see something of the sort. It's not just product placement either, it's Kellie Wells' incredible knowledge of just what needs buttressing in her fantastic fiction and what she can leave alone, knowing her readers will find their own way through her James Purdy like tales of What Cheer (the name of the tiny town they all live in, deep in the Midwest of Magic Realism.) Thank goodness for canny Nancy Zafris, the perdurable editor of Kenyon Review who suggested to Ms. Wells that she might as well expand an exquisite short story into a sort of novel.

"Skin" is a good name for it! Like Ayelet Waldman, Wells seems to know all about the difficulties of mother and daughter communication (Rachel and Ruby) and how to keep your faith together in a time of agnostic belief. Like Waldman, she shields her simple parables in the clothes of the contemporary, but never losing sight of the imagination nor its pull, like a dragonfly, towards moonlight. She even makes use of the resonance of her own name, dropping it like a stone, casually, into one of her beautiful sentences: "[Rachel's] eyes appeared dark in the diminishing light of the room, as though they were all pupil, sinking into her head, eyes dropped down dark wells, out of reach." Not every writer could do that--not even some of the best, like Nancy Zafris or Ayelet Waldman. Their names wouldn't pose as nouns.

Kellie Wells has a flowing style underscored by her twisting wordplay and startling juxtapositions. For those who say "Midwestern" as if it were a bad word, Skin might make you change your tune. The novel is a witty and poignant construction of life in the Kansas town of What Cheer, where the strange isn't so out-of-the-ordinary and it's amazing what you might suddenly find under your skin.

The book is a good blend of maps, photos and interesting history
which add life to the stories I was told in my youth when I lived
in K.C.K. Reading this also helps in the undestanding of urban
problems due to the lack of good and fast public transportation.
All in All I love history and this give it to you from many sides.

Although I've never been in Kansas City this book tells its story so vividly it's like being almost there.
This a beautiful book, a labor of love.
There's not too much text which makes it perfectly understanding. It has no endless rosters of equipment (others will miss those I think) but its main focus is in general history.
Although the 3 maps are on the small side - I'd rather had those in fold-outs so I could give this book 6 stars - but readible with a good pair of glasses.
The whole work is so beautifully printed and has a great design. Really you'll love it.

Good historical review of bygone era of the streetcar in a major U.S. city. Many cities are returning to that mode of transportation..now known as light rail

Shirley Sikes has created a splendid family saga filled with dynamic, rich characters. It is a summer read to thoroughly savor. She transported me to small town Kansas in the 1950's. It was a memorable, satisfying journey with a masterful storyteller.

Being a fellow Kansan myself with farm-family roots back to the Civil War, I found SUNS GO DOWN to be a masterful depiction of the ups and downs, failings and triumphs, of four generations of one Flint Hills family not too unlike my own. Rich in characterization and setting, this is the work of an award-winning author at the height of her craft and completely at home with her subject matter. It's a true family saga, anchored in the 50s, that transports the reader away through time and psychological depth. The Lutzs, amid the plot's twists and turns, become a part of the reader's own world. I've long admired the short stories of Shirley Sikes. This novel, however, is a crowning achievement.

Suns Go Down, an excellent American saga, deals with a small-town community and how the unique people who inhabit it interact with the past, which has made them what they are, and with each other. Shirley Sikes writes with compassion and empathy about the human situation, the heroism of the common person, and the importance of family.

Wildrose and the characters of Ruth Glover are cosy and warming company on a cold winter's day. The guidance of God through the Psalms is apparent in the story of a bereft pioneer widow who has left her husband in a cold and lonely grave on the prairie to find her home in the Saskatchewan bush. Will Dulcie and Dovie manage to find a good husband for Anna, the Wildrose community's substitude for a doctor? How does Digby's infected wound fit into God's plans? The lives of these and other clearly drawn characters will keep you running back to the library or to Amazon.com to search for more inspiring books in the Wildrose Series.

Life is hard in the Canadian town of Wildrose. Mothers are left childless; children are left motherless. Will a lost woman accidentally stumble upon her Scottish dream? Will Dovie and Dulcie find happiness in their old age? Glover's continuing series develops a different set of Wildrose residents in each book, each of them more endearing than the last. Glover manages to maintain a sense of humor in contrast with the harshness of life in the Canadian bush, which will make the reader love these characters that much more.

Life is hard in the Canadian town of Wildrose. Mothers are left childless; children are left motherless. Will a lost woman accidentally stumble upon her Scottish dream? Will Dovie and Dulcie find happiness in their old age? Glover's continuing series develops a different set of Wildrose residents in each book, each of them more endearing than the last. Glover manages to maintain a sense of humor in contrast with the harshness of life in the Canadian bush, which will make the reader love these characters that much more.

Wonderful humor and wit make this book the treasure it is!
A good laugh as I read lets me set a book down, sated, and remembering just WHERE I placed it. A poet to be watching is this man who grows his hair long...just because he can. Add this one to your library!

I am a fan of Mr Mcmanes writes. I also have two of his previous books. This one is a little more abstract than the other reads. But once again he did not fail me. I enjoy his rich humor and the way he weaves around his subject. Often finding a moral.

He didn't fail to make me laugh once again. This book does beg to be read outloud. I read it to my husband who loved it as well. "We ain't in Kansas no more" is a little more abstract than his previous writes touching on some serious subjects such as death. Yet his wonderful sense of humor is still present.

I will not hesitate to buy his next book.

Joyce Chelmo

This is by far the most eclectic collection by Robert D. (Mac) McManes. Both in the topics presented, and in the open style of poetry employed, he has created a book that is not soon to find its way to a bookshelf. I enjoyed the easy feel of the words, and simplicity of approach in even very complex topics.

Not being in Kansas anymore has not hurt this poet; he tackles death, dieing, loving, and demonstrates an irrepressible love of nature in these poems. This collection is a wonderful read, from a prolific and sensitive poet.

Michael Rehling
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Editor of Short Stuff poetry eZine