Michigan Books

This is an interesting, compact, eminently readable book, loaded with (unfortunately) ugly information about immigration laws, social attitudes about race, and our even uglier obsession with black and white. Although the book is full of depressing facts and figures, Fernandez finds energy and enthusiasm in our diversity, and makes this almost a "how-to" book, by challenging the reader to stop defining our country and its inhabitants in black and white terms. Once we understand how we got into such dichotomous thinking about race, we can stop doing it. Sure it's hard to avoid categorizing people by skin color but each of us can contribute our part by paying attention to what we say and how we think. This book has shown me how to make a positive difference in the world every single day. It probably helps that I am acquainted with the author--I work at the university where he teaches. Fernandez is as open minded, curious, tolerant and sharp as they come. No matter though since I'd give five stars to whoever wrote it.

This fascinating book, moving beyond classic sociology's approaches to immigrant acculturation and on the basis of ethnographic fieldwork; propose a great reflection upon us to bridge -or erase- the gaps between newcomers and the U.S. society. Fernández examines the extraordinary contributions of the immigrants to this country. Moreover, he invites us to think and redefine our culture and reduce the obsession over who we are as a human being, about how we fit into a nation that continues to treat us as outsiders after all this time. Remarkably timely book when the politicians are campaigning for the presidency of the U.S. The book also includes data from the US presidential libraries but real facts based on experiences with diverse people who don't necessarily see themselves as political activists at all. With unique style and punctual ideas, Fernández demystifies ethnic markers and skepticisms of our presence. After reading this book, I feel that I am belonging to this society.

In reading Dr. Fernandez' work, I marvel as his ability to capture the significance and relevance of immigrants in the fabric of American society. Amazing research, brilliant analisis and real contribution to the much polarized discourse on America's immigration. Dr. Fernandez has aptly captured how the current migratory trends have challenged racial definitions to the point that they will hopefully unite the racial divide that has plagued the United States since Reconstruction and have been responsible for the fracturing of American society. I am gay, I am Puerto Rican, I am American. Fernandez has helped me to realize that I am none and all of the above.

A friend mentioned the book to me. He thought I would like it. And he was right.
In substance and soul,there is a meaning and depth to, 'The
Americanist', beyond its 199 pages.
I knew nothing about the author and professor, Daniel Aaron, and his remarkable and fascinating personal and professional background. A life and carrer that covered teaching the combined fields of American literary history, politics, and cultural development in the 20th century and before-at Smith College in western, Massachusetts, and Harvard University, as well as teaching and lecturing in Europe and Latin America. No matter where, it was a challenge explaining America's ever evolving roaring diversity and confusing intensity, its huff and puff, its weeds with the wheat, its 'Big Shoulders' and proud posturing for the world to see what we as a nation have done and are capable of doing.
American, the promise land, as it came to be mystically called; open to the tired, the poor, and the outcasts of the world-to be reborn with a new idenity. The American personality. A definition we are still trying to figure out just what it is, and what it is meant to mean. There is a lingering beauty to this ongoing search.
In Daniel Aaron's, 'Americanist', with its mosaic literay structure of his personal and professional life-a life experience that is still going on for this vibrant man in his 90's who loves America with its scuffling bellicose history, its, "Heroes and Clowns", its vitrues and vices; its mystifying meaning, and that always potential greatness yet to be reached. With a mind and heart, in a some stranage and confusing way, that is open to the world.
Professor Daniel Aaron's life reflects the history of America. He lived and lives what he taught and teahces. And with a faith, believes.

Daniel Aaron - The Americanist

"He lives!" That was my happy reaction when, at my 50th Smith College reunion, a classmate showed me Michael Dirda's review of Daniel Aaron's The Americanist. He is alive at 95 and has produced another book. That in itself is a wonder. I am now 72 and was one of his students, one of those who majored in American Studies, then a newish, interdisciplinary major. Aaron pioneered the major which tried to deepen our understanding of our own culture through the optics of literature, history and art. His enthusiasm for his subject was contagious. Physically he was one of the most attractive figures on the Smith faculty.

The Americanist is a memoir centered on lively recollections of the greats of mid-century Academia, a remarkable number of whom taught or lectured at Smith College. These included Alfred Kazin, Newton Arvin, W. H. Auden, Mary Ellen Chase and Katherine Anne Porter. The memoir is also studded with choice morsels about long gone and almost forgotten progressive and left-wing writers that he interviewed and hung out with in the course of researching Men of Good Hope and Writers of the Left.

Aaron was also sent abroad by USIS as a visiting professor to bring the cultural and political history of the United States to students in both Western European and Soviet bloc countries. He says that he "paused at academic way stations to speak on contemporary American writers, but not long enough to get at the root causes" of whatever disorders (Hamburg in 1969) or apathy (China in 1980) were then characterizing those places. He is too modest. His observations of foreign cultures are telling ones. Because he so avidly pursed a deeper understanding of our own culture, he was also a keen observer of what was going on in foreign places.

He concludes by saying that he now feels he is a citizen of two Americas, one reckless and predatory and the other a cheerful and welcoming collective and that it is to the second that he is more culturally attuned. I don't see America in quite such a polarizing light. I think we may be more of a spectrum. But wherever my personal America may be I'm fortunate that Daniel Aaron is a part of it.

A concise, highly literate look back on the long and interesting career of a left-liberal univeristy professor. Sharp, insightful sketches of U.S. presidents--from Woodrow Wilson to Bill Clinton-- are placed throughout Daniel Aaron's main text. These are not a distraction to this memoir: instead they provide a common thread underscoring the author's main academic interest over a lifetime of study--the idea of the United States.


I have never heard, much less read anything by Dr. Aaron, but now appreciate his life as being a positive part of our country's generous intellectual hisory.

And Then, a novel by Natsume Soseki, opens with an image of extreme isolation: Daisuke, the protagonist, has woken up, and stares blankly at the ceiling with his hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat. He belongs to a wealthy family, has a cultivated aesthetic taste, is well-read, knows multiple languages, and has graduated from a prestigious university, at a time in Japan's history when universities were so new that the government had to hire Western expatriates to teach in them. It seems that Daisuke could get anything he wanted from life. Surely he was ambitious in his university days; it's difficult to imagine how a talented, educated, proud young man couldn't see himself as headed for greatness. But, by the time the book begins, Daisuke lives in seclusion, without an occupation, continuing to depend upon his rich father. He is about thirty years old.

The novel poses the following question: How could a man who showed all the promise in the world ultimately come to naught?

In his university days, Daisuke had two friends, who also had great plans for the future. But, when the thirty-year-old Daisuke meets them again, he learns that their hopes fell short of their mark. One of them, Hiraoka, sought to forge a brilliant career in Japan's civil service system, but fell into conflict with his superiors, mismanaged the money entrusted to him, and was fired. Daisuke's other friend, Terao, intended to become a world-renowned novelist, but failed to find a sponsor, and found himself having to scrounge, day by day, for one-time deals writing articles for cheap rags, or translating documents from English, in order to survive. Both men are now consumed with the fear of dying in poverty.

Daisuke has a strong sense of dignity, emerging from his refined aesthetic sensibilities. To him, such fear is degrading; his idleness becomes the only way to preserve his clarity of thought. Consequently, his reluctance to enter the "world of men" is confirmed in his mind, widening the gulf between him and his former friends, who view him as lazy and sheltered. When Daisuke writes to an acquaintance about a certain book he had sent, the acquaintance politely thanks him for the gift, but says, with regret, that he no longer has time to read. Soseki writes, "As he put the letter back in the envelope, Daisuke felt keenly the fact that this old friend, with whom he once shared the same inclinations, was now playing a different tune, governed by thoughts and actions that were nearly the precise opposite of those of the past."

Daisuke is adrift without ties to history. Unlike his father, he has no attachment whatsoever to traditional Japanese society; his education has given him the knowledge that the world is too vast to be confined to the boundaries delineated by tradition. Furthermore, Daisuke cannot help but notice that his father is motivated by selfish, ulterior motives as much as by any sense of obligation to tradition. Unlike his friends, however, Daisuke also cannot form a connection to modern society, which views education as a means to advancement in a bureaucratic order. He has no roots anywhere; one might say that he remains standing still at a crossroads after all other passersby have left. When Daisuke considers the occupations that he might be qualified for, were he to look for a job, he concludes that he would be incapable of doing anything other than begging on the street.

Daisuke's peace of mind is dependent on such artificial circumstances that it essentially rests on the head of a pin, where the slightest vibration will send it tumbling down. The more intent he becomes on continuing to be a detached observer, the more difficult it is for him to do so. His family has long given up hope that he will do anything with himself, and is willing to support him for the rest of his life, but demands in return that he get married, and threatens to disown him if he doesn't comply. Daisuke prefers to deliberately take a self-destructive path by categorically rejecting his family's demands and falling in love with Hiraoka's wife Michiyo.

Of all Japanese writers, Soseki, the father of contemporary Japanese literature, is the most inscrutable. His works cannot be called "beautiful" in the same way Kawabata's works can; "precise" is a more appropriate adjective. Kawabata's books overflow with beautiful, painfully fragile imagery of nature, glass, fabric, arranging these things in a way that creates a mood of deep melancholy. Soseki, however, is concerned above all with his characters' thoughts, which he faithfully records with painstaking levels of detail. They are not told in interior monologue, or any other such device, but rather conveyed straightforwardly in the third person. The book is absorbed in Daisuke's situation, yet simultaneously detached from it. One may find this style of writing to be pedantic, even artificial, but it enables Soseki to describe emotional truths that are complicated to the point of abstraction.

Soseki's writing is not without flourishes. Until the very end, Daisuke regards his circumstances with a charmingly carefree air, and is witty in conversations with his family, which makes him quite likable. Soseki also uses colours to symbolize his themes. There is a recurring image of white lilies, perhaps representing an ideal of frail beauty that, as it turns out, is impossible to attain, and the novel's ending is painted in bright, fiery red, carrying an air of beautiful, tragic finality, conveyed in sharp, concise language.

And Then is the greatest work by Japan's greatest novelist. Like all of Soseki's works, it moves very slowly. There is no real action in it, and yet, when it ends, one feels that a great upheaval has occurred. This is not a book to read when one is living a peaceful, wholesome life; however, in times of personal crisis, when one is driven to sleepless self-analysis, there is no book more relevant than this one.

Let me start off by saying that I cannot do this novel sufficient justice. The words I have put down are those of a fan. Soseki is regarded most highly by literary critics, in as many ciruits as they run, and to this I can only toss in my own small verbal confetti. For more adroid renderings, please see Donald Keane, Edward Seidenstiker, and Norma Moore Field.

Of all modern Japanese writers, Soseki is one of my three most favorites. Of his books, I have read Kokoro, The Three Cornered World, Grass by the Wayside, Light and Darkness, and, And Then. Of these, And Then, is by far my most favorite. I probably love it for different reasons than most.

Whenever I begin re-reading it (I have read it four times now), it is initially for the feeling of being transported into Daisuke's beautiful, if fragile world, where he set against a cast of lovable if predictable characters. His lazy houseboy, Kodono ("is that right, Sensei?"), his niece, Niu ("I'm warning you, you'd better watch out") who changes her hair ribbon several times daily, his sister in law with her love of Western music and concern for Deisuke's future and keeping the peace with Father, and so on. But as the novel evolves, the imagery takes on stronger substance, while retaining the light touch of a master. Of the lighter: the time when Daisuke and Kadono strip down to their waists and toss water around in the garden; when Daisuke fills a bowl with water and floats white lillies to offset a pounding headache, how he sets off to take a trip (in an attempt to avoid facing the pressure from his family to choose a bride) and never quite goes anywhere, and his foolish mishandling of his personal affairs.

Daisuke sees no point in trying to overcome his enui and take a stand of any kind, nor to try and resolve a series of issues that offer no simple resolution. Daisuke is a man with his feet planted in neither the past nor the future, and as the story comes to crisis, he loses his already delicate equilibrium, and plunges into a near mad state, where, since he cannot conceive of hurting anyone else, he runs headlong into trouble.

It is unfortunate that my copy gives no credit to the translator, for the prose is of exceedingly high calibre.

I highly recommend this book.

"And Then" ("Sore Kara") is a perfectly beautiful novel. Soseki always writes with an elegant clarity, tackling complex emotions and situations that creep up just like life. Nothing seems forced or unreal.

The plot reminds me of a quote I heard once. "I was a soldier so that my children could be merchants, and their children could be artists." The main character, Daisuke, is a dilettante, an appreciator of life's fineries who has never turned his hand towards anything seriously in his life. His father was a famous soldier during the Russo-Sino war, and his older brother is successful in business, and neither of them can understand this luxury object of a younger sibling that they both maintain financially. Seeking to find some value in him, his family attempts to pressure him into an advantageous marriage, which Daisuke's refinements does not permit. Love, however, will destroy everything.

The story floats along at Daisuke's pace, with nothing hurried or in crisis. Inside of this veneer are heavy issues of family obligation, the distaste of working for food as opposed to working for pure artistry, and most of all the undeniability of love, something that none of us can choose for ourselves.

Like all of Soseki's novels, "And Then" lingers long after the last page is turned, forcing us to evaluate our own lives and wonder what we would do in similar circumstances. How much of our own dreams have been sacrificed for necessities, and what does it mean to be human besides eating, sleeping and making more humans?

As a student studying physics and philosophy this is one of the best books I've read. Jeans gives a great survey of modern physic and modern philosophy (I've used this book as a reference several times this semester to clear up some issues since I am taking both modern physics and modern philosophy!) and draws great conclusions from both of them. The book is a wonderful read, a lot of good information but still very enjoyable. Overall one of my favorite books.

This book is as timely now as when it was first published in 1944. It presents a brilliant summary of what modern physics does and does not say about the nature of the universe in which we exist, in the context of the historical development of physics and the corresponding developments in philosophy. Even better, it is written using language that is accessible to anyone, whether or not they have a background in science. It does not contain any mathematics, and no mathematical background is required in order to understand it.

I wish I had read this book 20 years ago; it would have given focus to my ponderings about the nature of reality, time and mind.

Summed up, in my younger high school years this book guided me through my ponderings of the world and helped point me in a direction which has essentially shaped who I am today, a rational, yet questioning individual which is also what Mr. Jeans I think tries to accomplish with this writing. decades ahead of it's time, Sir. James Jeans talks of the foundational limitations of newtonian (clock-work like) physics as well as quantum level physics as if it was being studied like it is today. James Jeans' book is a remarkable triumph of non-fiction literature by being able to describe the uses and limitations of deep-lying mathematical concepts in almost strictly non-mathematical language. A truly elegant work!

This book (and series) is WONDERFUL! Super easy to use for a first time gardener. I still use the books weekly for reference. What makes this book special is it is easy to read and all the information is tailored to our Michigan weather. The books contain flowers alphabetically and all the basic care information. Think of the little tags that come staked in the flowers but you end up losing - all organized together in an easy care manual!

I don't believe I've ever seen a gardening book where the information was as well-organized as it is in "Annuals for Michigan" and its companion volume, "Perennials for Michigan." Often books of regional interest are thrown together and published on the cheap, but these books are tightly-bound, full of color illustrations, and above all, well written. And they're really about Michigan climate and Michigan soils. Someone didn't just go through and change, say 'Iowa' to 'Michigan' with a word processor, then rename the book.

According to the authors, Michigan ranks third nationwide in the production of annual plants, so we must have a pretty decent climate for growing them. I've only had a couple escape from their beds and attempt to take over the yard--the morning glory 'Grandpa Ott' and every kind of mallow I've ever tried--so don't be afraid to experiment. Our winters usually exterminate the overly bold.

The book begins with a pictorial guide called "The Flowers at a Glance" where photographs of the annuals are listed in alphabetical order, by common name. There is a short introduction on trends in annuals and a map of the average last-frost dates for Michigan, so that you will know when to plant out depending on where you live.

The next few sections explain how to start annuals, both by growing them from seed or by schlepping over to the nearest gardening center and buying them. There are chapters on caring for annuals, and the obligatory chapter on 'Problems & Pests' before we plunge into the heart of this book: the alphabetically-arranged sections on each of the 443 selected annuals.

Each species is described, including height, spread, and flower color. Each has subsections on 'Planting' (how and when to start your plants), 'Growing,' 'Tips,' 'Recommended' varieties, and (usually) 'Problems and Pests.' There are over 400 color photographs, usually (but not always) labeled by variety, to help with your decisions on what to plant. There is also a very nice 'Quick Reference Chart' in back that lists the colors, sowing method, height, hardiness, light and soil requirements for each species.

There is even a short list of companies and their websites where you can purchase seed, although a couple of my favorites aren't mentioned, i.e. Thompson and Morgan, and Park Seed.

Annuals are so much fun. If you hate the color combinations you tried one year, you can start all over again the following spring. Sometimes if you're lucky, a favorite annual like Love-in-a-Mist will reseed itself and return even more beautifully the following season. Of course, that could also happen with pests like Grandpa Ott--we finally had to concede defeat after five years of weeding purple morning glories out of the vegetable beds. We sold our house to someone who hopefully loves this old vine.

This is an excellent book. Hundreds of color photos and growing related information for the Michigan gardner. The book is a convenient size with rounded edges. The Perennials for Michigan book is a well written book as well and a good compliment to this one.

Here is a book that will help you to get to know your trees, magical beings that they are. This book gives all kinds of information about the trees around us in our yards and neighborhoods, including things like the pheromones exuded by the catalpa helps heart patients, and so on. It is a remarkable compendium of information that will make you want to plant, and help you decide which trees to plant. It will make you appreciate the trees around your neighborhood more as you walk beneath them. For anyone who gardens or loves trees, this is an outstanding book.

In Arboretum America: A Philosophy Of The Forest, botanist, medical researcher, and agricultural expert, Diana Beresford-Kroeger celebrates a diversity of trees and plants including how they can counteract the effects of pollution and global warming; which native plants complement the "bioplan"; how to plan them with ideas and tips; the medicinal uses trees and plants have had from the inception of aboriginal cultures down to the modern day, and so much more. Inviting, full-color photography by Christian H. Kroeger and an informative Foreword by Edward O. Wilson nicely embellish this informed and informative presentation which vibrantly reflects the Diana Beresford-Kroeger's love of nature and enduring passion for scientific inquisition. Arboretum America is an especially recommended addition to Ecological Studies reference collections and Botanical Studies supplemental reading lists.

What a holistic book on the forests of North America. Diana Beresford-Kroeger discuss the ecology of our trees in a scientific fashion as well as including a spiritual and healing aspects of the forest through the history of plants and medicinal properties. Wonderful book and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the unique dynamics of forest life.

"What is poetry?" is a question often asked and never answered, indeed unanswerable except in a personal context. I tend toward the "elevated speech" school, or "gorgeous language" persuasion, but language focussed on expressing deeply felt and perceived truth. So I find Myrna Stone's poems immensely satisfying.

Open her book at random, as I just have. "Penitential" says that on Saturday evening we went to church, perhaps for confession, perhaps for "devotions." Our religion impressed us with our guilt and need for penance. Still, walking home, we experienced the world as it was and knew that we would continue to need forgiveness. But this poem tells this ordinary tale in rich, magnificent language,

"...light has gathered,
luminous for a moment in its passage
into night, in its clear and familiar

sense of diminishing grace,
what the priests for years allowed us
from one summer Saturday to the next,
so that while feeding the dog or setting

the table, we might well look
up to find the kingdom of God suddenly
come, and ourselves, in our sparest
and smallest duties, surely wanting."

I don't think you have to be (or have been) Catholic to appreciate this poem.

There is variety in these poems, and wit, not always benign, for example, "Your Last Mistress" that begins
"Is older than I thought" and ends, after explaining that she has found a new lover,
"...She's back again
in the groove, in the saddle, back again
back on her back."

There are poems here that relate travel experiences, family difficulties and pleasures (sometimes experienced while travelling), and the pain of loss of parent - all with a very grown-up sensibility and mastery of expression to die for, or rather, to be most grateful for. To my mind and ear, these poems are a treasure.

In 'The Art of Loss' Myrna Stone starts with an ele-
giac poem to a poetry friend and ends with an elegiac poem to
her mother. Stone is doing tough and necessary work, namely:
Since we all lose in the end, how can we talk about being tri-
umphant? But in her mature, brilliant poems Myrna Stone does
triumph and bucks all of us up in the process-- with gems like
"Waiting for Daddy", "The Lost Boy", "Your Last Mistress", and
"Home Movies", to name just a few. And her poems dealing with
Van Gogh and Degas are superb ( "The Tub" is flat out aces.)
Stephen Dunn says that in Myrna Stone's poems "we
see pathos rise to the level of the sublime"-- a statement
that got me thinking of Charlie Chaplin, how he would have
loved these poems! Lucky for us, we can savor them:

And if you begin to speak to me
of what desire is like on the opposing
plane, of what extreme punishments
or pleasures await even the least of us

I would dissuade you,
I would kiss your cheek and lead you here
to this room, to this chair, this desk
and this window's suddenly luminescent view.
WORDS FOR MY MOTHER

'The Art of Loss'is one book we should keep close by as we
go through this crazy world.

Here is a poet who loves the language. Each word of each poem is finely tuned. I have followed her poems for years. Read The Art of Loss and you will not be disappointed. Her language sings and soothes. Simulacrum, From the Kitchen, My Mother's Room, Taraxacum Officinale and Words for My Mother, are just a few of my favorites. This book is a keeper!

If you are serious about studying and watching birds in Michigan this is an important book to have. It is dated (1991) but I would recommend having this and anticipate the new updated version to come out in 2009 or 2010 from the currently active atlas project.

This is an atlas, not a field guide or illustrated book. Most of the book is made up of accounts of all the species of birds that nest in Michigan with a summary of their habits, abundance, history and breeding biology with the facing page a map of Michigan townships with indications of breeding evidence for the species. For example the nearly ubiquitous American Robin has nearly every section in every Michigan Township shaded in (other than some underbirded areas)and birds that are rare or geographically limited are shown in their only areas (eg. Black Tern in coastal and large interior marshes). This helps the beginning birder to know where to search for species and illustrates graphically the need for conservation.

Two other books that are important adjuncts for this are "Birds of Michigan" by James Granlund, an illustrated natural history of birds of the state and "A Birder's Guide to Michigan" by Allen Chartier and Jerry Ziarno. "A Birder's Guide to Michigan includes 200 sites across the state for birding and additional information on bird migration through the state that complements the Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas.

In the 1980s, a thousand volunteers surveyed our entire state in an effort to record and map an atlas of the birds which breed in Michigan. This information is summarized and contained in "The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Michigan, which was published in 1991.

Starting in 2002, the Kalamazoo Nature Center began to coordinate the creation of a second Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas. The data collection portion of this process is scheduled to be completed in 2008, and I was fortunate enough to be one of the bird-watching volunteers involved in this second multi-year survey.

The 1991 edition of the atlas is a large hardcover book with a handsome dust jacket. The 594 pages are illustrated throughout with black-and-white drawings, and detailed maps of individual species locations. Each bird is described (in rather small print), along with its habitat, seasonal occurrence, and current status. There is also a conservation section included for rare, threatened, or endangered species.

This atlas begins with a detailed discussion of Michigan ecology, plus a chapter on "The Original Avifauna and Postsettlement Changes." It ends with a huge bibliography, appendices, a list of contributors, and an index of common and Latin bird names. It is absolutely the most detailed reference atlas of Michigan birds on the market. The only thing it lacks is color photographs of each bird species, so it needs to be supplemented by a good field guide.

For more information on this atlas, go to www.michiganbirds.org/bba/

This is an excellent bird book. It itemizes observed breeding evidence of birds by township. It is very detailed and very well done. Excellent descriptions of each species. I also liked the intro. It provides bird habitat information such forest, wet lands, fields. Good history of the changes in bird species over time. Only weakness- it was written in 1991. In the past decade, several birds have expanded their territory (i.e. turkeys and bald eagles). If you live in Michigan and watch birds, this is the book to buy.

This is a coffee table size book. It is a little large to take in the field. Book uses drawings not photographics. The drawings are well done be do not replace color photos.

This collection of short narrative portraits of famous and semi-famous people by a recognized scientist and author is among the most interesting reading you'll enjoy. His information is detailed and personal and Aubrey's writing style is a fine pattern for modern readers as well.

I recommend this book without question.

Lives of the rich and famous recorded a time when there were no libel laws meant that even the dirt that wasnt fit to print could be disseminated, whether true or not. It still makes fascinating reading.

"Brief Lives" has always been a delight, but it was Oliver Lawson Dick's scholarly editing that revealed Aubrey's genius. And Lawson Dick's Introduction, "The Life and Times of John Aubrey", is a miracle of synthesis and compression: certainly one of the finest biographical essays ever written. This Nonpareil Books edition is sumptuous - a joy to read in these days cheap, quickly produced paperbacks.

What a phenomenal read. It was as if you were actually in the room. Rita's ability to so vividly describe her surroundings is uncanny. I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy a good personal story. Kudos to author Rita Bunton for exercising her creative license to produce a well writen, vivid depcition of a young black girl's struggle to find strength, peace and happiness within.

Bunton's narrative gives the reader an inside look at mid-western small town life in the 1950s and 60s. Through her story the reader can view the issues of race, gender and class in their full complexity, as they were lived. Through the story of this resilient woman one sees hope, ambition and determination.

Mrs. Bunton, I was just informed that you have completed your first book and I toss my hat off to you for your accomplishments. I cannot wait to finish reading this book. I'm not sure if you are aware, but hopefully this year I'll have a published novel as well as a series of books that are in the works. I cannot wait to tell all friends and family to go out and buy your work. You have given me more inspiration than ever to keep pursuing my dream of becoming a published author. I can't wait to see results of your labor. Oprah hasn't seen nothing yet. Jackson, Michigan will be on the map once and for all. Thanks again for the inspiration

Wendy Little, member of Motown Writers
(hometown: Jackson, Michigan);
Lansing, Michigan 1984-2003;
Presently Residing in Livonia, Michian