Vermont Books

In No Place But Here, Keizer expounds on life in rural Vermont from the viewpoint of a rural English teacher. His views on rural education covered thoughts on students, teachers, administration, politics, community, and parents. Through his writing, readers get the sense that he loves his community, his students, and his work. As a rural teacher, this is inspiring and interesting to me because so often rural schools are ignored while the public goes about discussing suburban schools vs. the inner city. I don't agree with everything Keizer had to say, but he had many good, thoughtful points, and I found myself underlining and making comments in the margins on several occasions, even though the book was a pleasure read.

In my M.Ed. program, Garrett Keizer was the best of the assigned reading. He does a wonderful job of discussing the day-to-day and larger theoretical issues of high school teaching, and his sense of humor makes the book compelling and readable. Though his agenda may be heavy handed at times, anyone who has thoughts on the state of public school education in the US should read this.

Holding a lantern before his readers, Keizer escorts them through a rural landscape that is filled with a raw beauty that is masterfully contained within his plaintive language. This important book should be read by all, whether lay or religious, academic or professional--it will challenge you to view (and value) the intrinsic worth of your own lives...as well as others'.

Mr. Keizer's writing drips with his educational agenda, yet--at the same time--oozes humility and concern for students. With plenty of stories and "sermons" revealing the heart and soul of the North Country of Vermont, anyone who has lived there will find the book entrancing; anyone who has not lived there will find themselves strangely drawn to explore its social and natural beauty.

Keizer's musings on the state of education transcend his quaint corner of America. All readers can learn something from this eloquent, thoughtful book.

I rarely read novels - yet Conde's Shelburne, Vt could not be set down until I had learned its story and conclusion. Conde weaves the lives of three Vermonters in alternative time and space in such a manner that they are permitted to relive as they would have wished - rather than as they have. Although the setting is a small Vermont village, the characters are universal and the concepts Conde shares have contemplative meaning for us all. The plot is innovative yet believable. A good book to explore and reflect upon.

Although, I generally do not read science fiction books, this one held my interest from beginning to end. I just finished it and am anxious to pass it on to friends & family so that we may discuss it. Itwas fascinating to follow the author's manipulation of history, technology & religion. In some ways it was similar to the movie "Run Lola Run", which also deals with "what ifs". This book will not be easily forgotten, nor wouldthat be my desire.

With painstaking attention to details of American history, Richard Conde has created "Shelburne, VT", a novel that offers sci-fi excitement, a moral play, and well-developed characters. Using historical events with a focus on New England and upstate New York, the author shares his love of history, geography, and the philosophical questions of moral codes and man's freedom of choice. The format of the book incorporates chapters of historical background in which the time travelers are drawn, adding a sense of reality to their exploits. The final chapters present a moral dilemma to be solved by the travelers. Mankind's inherent goodness is upheld.

The author's description of the events that unfolded when people were given a watch that would allow them to travel backward in time showed that this author put forth a great deal of effort to research factual information. I found, to the best of my knowledge, that the information provided about past events were quite accurate and by relating a fictional story to factual events made the novel quite interesting.

Although I've never reviewed a book before, I guess there's always a first time. This book of science fiction was what all Star Trekkies would enjoy. It is fast moving, believeable and exciting. I found myself in the book experiencing it as the drama unfolds. Mr Condi, the author writes with clarity and holds you with all the excitement that a wonderful author can do. I'm sure athere will be many books to come and I for one will be reading all of the. I feel it should be on the New York Times best seller list. My final comment is to those who have never read it is, " read and enjoy, very few books are of this caliber.

Vermont, another place I'd love to visit and the Compass 2nd addition Guide to Vermont took me there and certainly wet my appetite for a visit even more.

Compass Guides leap ahead of others through powerful photography and personal descriptions that compel the senses. Vermont comes alive through sumptuous color and spicy descriptions. I believe the book even helped me come to an understanding of the culture of this northern New England state.

Leveraging the experience and passion of local authors and photographers must be the secret to the quality of this series. You just won't find many guide books this rich and satisfying.

This book is only good for overall knowledge of small towns in Vermont; every little town gets a small paragraph's worth of description. It is not very helpful if you are looking to visit and need more practical information such as where to stay, where to eat, and things to do. While it does list some lodging and restaurants, it is by no means comprehensive and you're left to do most of the leg work yourself. This book, in my opinion, was a waste of my money - I had to buy two more Vermont books to get the information I was looking for. Even the town descriptions are too short to be really helpful. This is more of an "Overview of the Splendor of Vermont" book.

I'd lived in Vermont for ten years before buying this book (for my mom's visit). It is an impressive presentation of the character of our state. True, it's short on the often ephemeral details you'll need for a trip (the restaurants, the hotels). But in a day when most of that's available on the web anyway. What you get instead is a thoughtful description of how the reigonal differences emerged--a level of detail mostly ignored by the standard descriptions.

Well-written and full of wonderful photos. Also full of quirky little facts and insider info. If you are looking for a good book to educate you on the best state in the union (I hope to move there in the next couple of years), then this it. You won't be disappointed. It blew away every other guide I looked at (and there are quite a few out there). As far as I'm concerned, Compass American Guides sets a new standard.

Clara Mayfield of the title was some twenty years ago the Jamaican housekeeper to the Kaplan family: self absorbed Mr and Mrs Kaplan, the headstrong elder son teenage Danny, and Will, a fit and healthy swimmer who idolised his older brother. Clara is a forthright woman with a strong personality and an open mind, and she quickly brings Danny into line, and soon establishes a close loving and trusting relationship with both boys, but tragedy strikes when Danny is killed in a skiing accident at the age of eighteen.
Five years ago Will enjoyed a relationship lasting for one year with Peter Arcenaux, but his lover walked out on him when he could no longer take the worry of Will's propensity for late night swimming in stormy seas.
However the story starts in the present, with Will a now successful dealer in antique maps. Having since lost contact with Peter, Will befriends his mother Marie Arcenaux in the hopes of regaining his lover. As the story opens Will is in Europe awaiting the arrival of Marie on a flight from the States, but while he is waiting he learns that the plane went down off Long Island. On his return there is considerable uncertainty as to whether Marie was on the flight on not. Peter's sister Grace, who's suffering with cancer, is also trying to locate her mother Marie.
The story unfolds, told in the third person from Clara's and from Grace's perspective, and in the first person by both Will and by Marie, as much in reflection on the past as in the present. We learn much of the different families' backgrounds and troubled relationships, and how they cope with their present problems: Grace's recurrence of cancer and Marie's continued disappearance, and of course Will and Peter and their longing to get back together but each uncertain how the other feels. Clara remains a steadfast support throughout.
This is a very warm and involving story; the lively infusion from Clara's aspect provides much needed relief from the sometimes oppressive worries of the others. Olshan captures beautifully her Jamaican dialogue, and her freeness of expression lends a touch of humour.
As the story reaches its end we are left to draw our own conclusions on the outcome of some problems, but we are also faced with a sudden and shocking realisation, while yet another problem is resolved most satisfyingly.
(It is a pity that the writing was spoilt by the repeated incorrect use of the second person personal pronoun)

What can I say, but another fresh endearing look into the life of Will Kaplan and why he is such a unforgettable character. When I first heard there was another book featuring the same characters from 'Nightswimmer' and 'Clara's Heart. I went out to 3 different bookstore to find it. I was not disappointed by this haunting, and honest novel told from quite a few perspectives of current and remembered events. There are many things I could say this book is about: hope, longing, family, trust, faith, fate. But of all those things, to me, it's mainly about surviving the past. The ways that different people choose to perceive/cope with the past,and the understanding that can come from it, if we really get honest with ourselves. How there is more to just surviving the past, but having to to decide 'what do I do now?'. Although I was a bit confussed about when this story actually takes place. Was this before or after he had met and lost Chad? Also he went from being a map collector in this book, to a writer , but I don't remember Will collecting maps, as well as writing in 'Nightswimmer'. But otherwise there are no complaints, he kept me guessing almost till the end. If you have never read one of Mr.Olshan's books, take the chance to read one of his other well written novels. (Nightswimmer and 'A Warmer Season' are my favorites) He is one of the few authors I have read that, rather than wrapping the ending all up in a pretty bow, he leaves the resolution in your hands, much like life really is.

Bringing back characters from his previous novels "Clara's Heart" and "Nightswimmer", Olshan's new novel centers on a group of people struggling to extricate themselves from the past. Will is stunned when the plane his friend Marie was supposed to be on crashes into the ocean, but when her name isn't listed as among the passengers, the fact of her boarding the plane comes into question. He reaches out to Clara, who helped him get through his brother's death years before. Will is eventually contacted by Marie's children, Peter (Will's ex-boyfriend) and Grace (who's dying of cancer), and the four adults soon come together to await news of Marie's whereabouts. Peter and Will still love each other after all these years, and they slowly reconfigure their new relationship. Each character is mired in the past, and there are numerous flashbacks exploring this, which all grow distracting and tedious as the novel progresses. The reader cannot help but care about these rambling people though, and is treated to a good story to find out how it all ends.

Reading In Clara's Hands was so much like attending my 20th high school reunion. Even though all the news and all the stories weren't wonderful, I was back among the safety of close and trusted friends.

In Clara's Hands is a journey that takes place in the past and the present. The first two words on the first page: Clara Mayfield. Read just a little farther and Blanche is mentioned. Then Will and David and Mrs. Hart. Add Marie, Grace and Peter to the mix and the resulting story is complex and compelling.

Will needs Clara to help him conquer demons of the past and present, while at the same time, Clara has her own demoms to overcome. Mystery and suspense surround the disappearance of Marie, while Grace anxiously awaits word about her mother. Time, being of the essense, adds to the heightened sense of urgency. Grace is dying now. Danny died quite a while ago and everyone needs to come to terms with the past and the present.

Clara, with all her wisdom, tries to give Will strength, yet Clara is also suffering to come to terms with Danny's death. Will seems to be surrounded by death...his brother, his ex's mother and his ex's sister. It all seems a little to much to take.

This is another strong story that uses characters of the past and familiar current events to instantly draw you in. This is another great novel that I highly recommend.

This book really makes a lot of sense. I enjoyed it and learned a lot about Governor Kunin. Being from Vermont, I can relate to everything that she has done for this state, and she in turn became (in my opinion) one of our greatest governors. I highly recomend this book!

i found the book interesting with the female outlook on politics but it was quite boring in some ways. She seemed to dweel on some topics much more than needed.(for example:she had 200 pages worth of ideas but somehow expanded it to 400 pages with repetitiion)
in some palces this book is very iinteresting but in other places it is excrutiatingly boring

I had to read this book for a college course in "Woman in Politics." I am so glad I did. I still list it as one of my all time favorite books and Ms. Kunin as a role model.

I found Ms. Kunin's road to a political life a very interesting and inspiring one. Though it's been 3 years since I've read "Living a Political Life," I am reminded of Ms. Kunin's journey to be true to herself as I travel my own journey as a wife, mother of three boys, secretary for our own business, a full-time outside career in politics and local voluteerism. I believe she tried to portray a women who could do it all and have it all if you believe in something and have a passion for it.

Any women, young or old, working, stay-at-home mom, student, etc. would benefit from reading this book. This book also makes a great gift.

Kunin was a state legislator for many years, lt. governor and governor of Vermont. I enjoyed her book very much. It is perhaps the best memoir of a career in state government I have read.

Kunin's book is mostly about her ascent to the top of Vermont politics, not what she did once she got there. More of the book is devoted to her career as a legislator and ver various campaigns than her tenure as Governor. She tells her story very much as that of a woman in politics, not just a political player. All this, I think, gives the book a more universal appeal than a Vermont-centered book would.

Kunin is an excellent storyteller, but what makes the book truly special is its degree of frankness. Contemporary politicians generally don't write good books. Too often their books are pieces of revisionist history, extended press releases, or platforms. Kunin's book is nothing like that. She names names, she explores her doubts, she even commits the ultimate political taboo of expressing frustration with constituents. Beyond all that this is a flat out interesting, well-written book.

Kunin is an interesting character. She does a good job of conveying her sense of wonder at the improbability of it all. Kunin was not only the first woman governor of Vermont, she is also a Jewish immigrant who fled Nazi occupied Europe as a child and whose father committed suicide. Interestingly, she doesn't much discuss her parents and their generation, and her story of fleeing Europe until near the end of the book, when she mounts the podium for the first time as Governor. This is an excellent device. Kunin plunges right into her political journey rather than the traditional, "When I was a child" By the time she tells us about her parents, we have reason to be interested in them. And their story is so unusual that it could make for an interesting book in itself. All that adds up to convey the point that her arrival was not at all anticipated by her past. This is a great way to end a book about politics.

State politicians seldom produce books. This is a welcome exception. The book seems to have staying power and should be read by anyone interested either in state politics, or women in politics. I enjoyed it immensely.

This book is out of print and copyrighted 1987, but it's the only book I found with information regarding a feral cat colony. The author's experiences with the feral cats living around her Vermont home are a delightful insight into the person/cat relationship, and her interest, curiosity, and research regarding the realities of feral cat colonies is incredibly useful to me, as a lay person is just starting to trap, spay/neuter, and return strays and ferals in the Los Angeles area. A must-read!

I found this in a Bennington, VT bookstore after my wife Andi pointed it out and bought it right away based on a warm description of how loving a cat could be, even moments after killing and gutting a grouse. Berkeley does a wonderful job of showing that duality of cats, of how at once they're incredibly close to us they are as well as being close to natural hunting machines. Warmly written, funny and touching, she also fills out the book with very well-researched scientific info on feral cats, and cat populations. A must-read if you're a cat person and owner.

I found this in a Bennington, VT bookstore after my wife Andi pointed it out and bought it right away based on a warm description of how loving a cat could be, even moments after killing and gutting a grouse. Berkeley does a wonderful job of showing that duality of cats, of how at once they're incredibly close to us they are as well as being close to natural hunting machines. Warmly written, funny and touching, she also fills out the book with very well-researched scientific info on feral cats, and cat populations. A must-read if you're a cat person and owner.

I was hooked! I love cats, and all other felines for that matter, but fiction is more my range. This, however, is a great book! I LOVED IT!!! A must read! Yay! Heheh!

We recently returned from a week in Vermont. Unfortunately, the weather was variable, but we did manage
to visit a number of locations suggested by David Middleton in his "Photographers Guide to Vermont". The
book was well-written and very helpful. The images included were wonderful. David's pro tips and side
trip suggestions added another dimension to our trip. The book was very readable with some touches of
humor.. We look forward to our next trip to Vermont, where this book will be one of
the first things we pack. We are members of a competitive camera club, always on the lookout for great picture locations. It was almost like having our own guide. Thanks, David.
Barbara and David Pike

The book served as a useful companion on my trip to Vermont in October 2006.
It helped me do the groundwork which turned out be a great time saver .
It seems that the book needs editing as some of the landmarks appear to have changed.I would like more details to help locate Farms around Woodstock which is one of the prime reasons photographers travel to Vermont.
Another thing which adds to the difficulty is that you are mostly driving on back roads which are not be very clearly marked .

Say you decide to do photography in Vermont and you dont know where to start. Dont look furthur. This books will save you tons of time. I used this book to chart my 6 day trip. It worked out great and I am so happy that such a book exists. The book can help you to plan your entire trip. The only think I found was it dint have a lot of hidden road information. If the author can add that it would be great. I had to pick that up from the Vermon Fall Forums on the internet. I got the other book describing Maine and now I am planning to get the oregon one. I hope the author will have one out for Alaska and other states.

If you enjoy photography, especially in Vermont, then this is the book for you. I have enjoyed Mr. Middleton's photographs in Vermont Life and found the photos in this book to be even more fantastic. Vermont is a beautiful place and this book will tell you the best spots and the perfect times in which to photograph there. If you need further inspiration take a look at the authors Nature of Vermont, which is an exceptional book as well.

This is a touching tale that comes complete with black and white photographs. A young man, David, is witness to the murder of his mother. He then hides in the woods of Vermont until he is old enough to carry out revenge. Lots of thing occur during the course of this short book including David being mistaken for the Green Mountain Yeti and his own saving of another's life. I liked it.

Leann Arndt, Reviewer

Tersely and expertly written, with a level of deep intensity permeating every page, credible characters and locales, the book is also profusely illustrated with black and white sketches. I very much enjoyed the book!

Here is a compelling family drama that you can read aloud to the kids! With a strong sense of place (Vermont) and an engaging plot (murder/revenge), this is a G-rated murder mystery that the whole family can enjoy. When a young boy is traumatized by watching his mother's murder, it starts him on a fascinating journey that includes becoming mute, learning to survive alone in the wilderness, and an eventual reconciliation with society five years later. A visiting family from California helps put all the pieces together in this charming, brief book that clearly has ties to the author's own life.

The degree of intencity, from beginning to end! You will not be able to put it down.

In my language arts class we have to read three books every nine weeks. I have read my first book called Six Haunted Hairdos. As I read this book I went into a journey. I would love to take you with me on the journey again. So here we go!

Oh wow, look where we are. We are in the book called the Six Haunted Hairdos. Now we can see who the author is. The author is Gregory McGuire and he has a collection of books, just like this book I'm about to talk about. The book we are inside is a story. This book is also adventurous and has a lot of mystery in it.

Now we move to the first page of this book and we can work our way through the book. This book is about when Sammy Grubb and his club of the copycats try to convince the students of Josiah Fawcett Elementary that ghosts do exist. Thekla Mustard, who fronts the all girl club cynical tattletales, sees a perfect opportunity to spook up a plan and scare the boys. With the help of her friends they get together six wacky, crazy, and scary wigs, a lot of make-up, and some costumes. The tattletales transforms themselves into the six Haunted Hairdos, as they frightened the boys out of their pants. The tattletales give the boys a few scares. When Thekla Mustard takes her club to her house, they go up the room and Thekla congratulates them on what a fine job they did. When Pearl Hotchkiss hears the girls talking about scaring the boys again, Pearl runs to boy's club and tells the boys what the girls have been doing. So the boy's try to get back at the girls. When they get ready to scare the girls, all of a sudden an elephant comes out and Salim thinks it's a ghost of an elephant named baby Tusker. He thinks the ghost is coming to haunt him, but it wasn't. So they went to go find the tattletales after they made a plan. The girls went to go meet the boys and the boys said they wanted to meet the six haunted hairdos. Thekla said she didn't think they would come out, when all of a sudden the six haunted hairdos appeared. The girls ran down the hill and at the bottom they saw an elephant named baby Tusker.

Did you like the short story about the book? Now would you like to tell me any parts about the book you liked? I know I've got some, so here they are. The strong part of the book is that throughout the whole story it never gets boring and has good endings to each chapter. There are no weak parts to the book. Gregory McGuire has wonderful books because they are funny and interesting... I like that.

I think this book would be recommended for children in fourth grade through eighth grade. Well, I hoped you enjoyed your journey through this book. We've got to go before we get taken by a customer, so bye.
Sincerely, Hannah

The "Tattletales" (all but one of the girls) and the "Copycats" (the boys) in Miss Earth's class can't agree on the existence of ghosts. The Tattletales insist there's no such thing. The Copycats insist there IS such a thing, especially after seeing something large and inhuman roaming the area.

A new Copycat, Salim from Bombay, has a secret that might explain the mysterious ghost seen by the boys, but he's afraid to tell them. In the meantime, the Tattletales plan to scare the boys by posing as the Six Haunted Hairdos. If the children of Hamlet, Vermont don't watch out, they'll scare the pants off each other!

Clever and humorously written, this book will capture elementary students' imaginations with the Copycats' and Tattletales' adventures. Besides the fun, kids will also be shown examples of compassion and generosity, traits often lacking in today's media. Equally important, this chapter book is easily read for intermediate readers.

Gregory Maguire's magic touch brings another installment to a great series for kids.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
9/3/2006

Six Haunted Hairdos is the sequel to Seven Spiders Spinning. It is about to rival clubs, The Copycats (boys) and The Tatletails (girls). In this book the members of The Copycats believe in ghosts and state so in class. The Tatletails decide to play a joke on The Copycat's "silly" belief and give The Copycats their idea on girls thrown at them. This joke turns out to be less fake then they thought, as The Tatletails and The Copycats meet real ghosts and have to unite the ghosts, and set aside their club differences, before it's too late and Hamlet, their town, becomes filled with ghosts. This book is exciting and portrays some very interesting veiws on the rivalrey between boys and girls.

The book I reviewed is called Six Haunted Hairdos. This book was written by Gregory Maguire. Six Haunted Hairdos is a fictional book, and it is sort of a mystery, but at the same time it is an adventure.
A group of girls and a group of boys are always trying to outdo each other. When the girls cook up a wonderful plan to scare the boys, things start getting out of hand. Thelka Mustard, the empress of the girls club, who call themselves the Tattletales, tells the boys that six beauticians were recently killed on a nature trip. Though none of this is true, the boys are not sure whether they should believe this story or not.
Meanwhile, the boys who call their club (...), are having ghost troubles of their own, without Thelka Mustard trying to scare them with her crazy ghost story. Sammy Grubb, who is the emperor (...), thinks that they all saw a baby elephant, though this was no ordinary elephant, it was ghost.
The Tattletales are planning to scare the boys in their "Six Haunted Hairdos" costumes. Thelka leads the boys into the woods so that the "ghost beauticians" can do their jobs. The plan works out great and the boys got scared. Now the boys are even more sure that the baby elephant was a ghost. You should read this book to find out what happens with the ghost elephant and the "Six Haunted Hairdos".
This book's strengths are that it has good details and it is very compelling. It is a good book. The book's weakness is that at times, it can be a little bit confusing.
I think the author Gregory Maguire is a good author who knows how to use details. He writes good books. I would recommend this book to any reader who likes suspenseful, mysterious, and spooky books. If you enjoyed reading this book, then you should read the rest of the book series!

I really enjoyed this book. It shows the experience of a "backyard sugarin'" guy in great detail while being very entertaining at the same time.

When he wrote this account, Noel Perrin (1927-2004) was an English professor at Dartmouth. He also owned a Vermont farm, and the property included stands of sugar maples. It was only natural that he would be interested in setting up a small sugaring operation in order to process his own maple syrup. After all, that's what folks do, up here in New England.

Being an admirer of Henry David Thoreau, Perrin sets out to do something special: he builds his sugar house as a replica of Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond. The first third of "Amateur Sugar Maker" thus chronicles the building of the structure. Along the way, Perrin continually compares his expenses, the costs of materials and other statistics (in 1969) to Thoreau's own spreadsheet of 1845, well publicized in "Walden." What fun!

But then Perrin has to acquire the proper sugaring equipment (after doing some research to discover exactly what he needs in the first place, of course). If he thought building the house was a tough task, he discovers that he's in for even more than he bargained for when he sets off to find buckets, a cask, and an evaporator small enough to fit into the space, since he unwittingly confined himself when he built such a tiny barn. His goal (in frugal N.E. fashion) is to find good used equipment instead of buying anything new. Being diligent about watching newspaper ads and hearing local tales puts him on the proper trails. Eventually his approach pays off, and he assembles and tests the process. The last part of the book is therefore spent emptying buckets and making a few bottles of syrup for sale in New York City.

This paperback edition includes a postscript written in 1982, after Perrin and his family had been sugaring for 15 years. In the interim, he strung up tubing so that the sap ran directly to the sugar house, if it didn't freeze along the way. So this thin volume provides basic tips for other "amateur sugar makers" out there. It probably will also result in a few nods and guffaws from those hardy New Englanders who already have successful operations in place. Noel Perrin's narrative style is factual and funny all at once. I may need to read some of his other books about rural living. I'm saddened to learn that Perrin is no longer with us.

A real gem on how Noel Perrin started sugaring from his own trees. He's revised the book over 20 years, so he's learned from his own mistakes and successes. He has some pithy commentary on Thoreau's costs of cabin making versus his own, as well. And did you know that milk (just a drop) will calm a roiling boil?