Books of Waters Salty and Fresh

Two beautiful and exciting new books this season for readers from ‘tweens through adult in age (and heart) come from northern Michigan writers. 

Newbery author Lynne-Rae Perkins, with her characteristic gentle but offbeat humor, introduces her young characters and readers to the ocean in Secret Sisters of the Salty Sea, capturing once again the wonder of first-time experience, as she does so well. Secret Sisters is a “chapter book” that also includes charming black-and-white illustrations by the author.

Linda Nemec Foster and Anne-Marie Oomen, for their part, decided that freshwater should have mermaids as well as saltwater, adding illustrator Meredith Ridl to their team, with most delightful results. The Lake Michigan Mermaid: A Tale in Poems offers a complex story in compelling verse and images and a wonderful souvenir of Up North vacation.

Secret Sisters of the Salty Sea, by Lynne-Rae Perkins. Greenwillow Books, hardcover with dust jacket, $16.99

The Lake Michigan Mermaid: A Tale in Poems, by Linda Nemec Foster and Anne-Marie Oomen. Wayne State University Press, hardcover with illustrated boards, $16.99

Postscript 6/2: Lynne-Rae and Anne-Marie will both be Thursday Evening Author guests on July 19 at 7 p.m.! WOW!

Introducing TEA at Dog Ears Books

First TEA guest - June 21

As we celebrate our 25th bookstore anniversary this summer, Dog Ears Books will offer a new feature called Thursday Evening Authors, or TEA. Our "tea" will probably be iced and served from a punch bowl, or it may be punch, and we’re not planning china-cup formality in other ways, either, but we hope that holding TEA as a regular weekly event will make it easier for our friends to remember. 

Each Thursday, beginning on June 21, the bookstore will be open from 6:30 to 9 p.m., with each evening’s author scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. Presentation format will probably vary from simple conversation and book signings to prepared talks. If we have a Thursday in July or August with no author scheduled, we’ll still be open from 6:30 to 9. So remember -- 

TEA stands for -- 

Thursday Evening Authors 

at Dog Ears Books,

106 Waukazoo Street 

Northport, Michigan

beginning June 21, 2018

First TEA guest, on Thursday, June 21, will be Rachel May, author of An American Quilt. That's from 7 - 9 p.m.

An American Quilt: Unfolding a Story of Family and Slavery, by Rachel May. New York: Pegasus Books, hardcover release May 2018, $27.95

More about this book and the Marquette, Michigan, author soon!

From My Carefully Curated Collection

No bookstore in the world has everything, and a one-woman operation in northern Michigan, of necessity, must practice careful inventory control. As Dog Ears Books comes into the holiday season, however, after which we will, this winter, close until spring, there have been a few books so exciting and wonderful that I could not help ordering them, hoping for a tiny little burst of holiday shoppers to make my investment pay off.

Becky Allender’s brave telling of her own life stories and a lovely little debut book of poetry from the other side of Grand Traverse Bay are my featured titles for today. Please stop in at 106 Waukazoo in Northport for other recommendations. The dog still can’t read, but the bookseller will be more than happy to assist you.

Hidden in Plain Sight: One Woman’s Search for Identity, Intimacy and Calling, by Becky Allender

Blue Wing Press, paper, 226pp.

$18.95

The Salt Before It Shakes: Poems, by Yvonne Stephens

Hidden Timber Books, paper, 47pp

$9.95

Welcoming Kids to Planet Earth

Children's book author Oliver Jeffers has a new picture book out this season. Inspired by the birth of his son, Here We Are: Notes For Living on Planet Earth introduces youngsters to the earth and its inhabitants as well as the sky above us. Some stuff is complicated, but the lessons are simple, and kids can ask questions when they don't understand.

The book is written for ages 3 to 7, but grownups will love it, too.

Here We Are: Notes For Living on Planet Earth
by Oliver Jeffers
Philomel, 48 pp, hardcover w/ dust jacket
$19.99

Stories from a True Leelanau Local

Keewaydinoquay Peschel lived from 1918 to 1999. Born in Leelanau County, she learned traditional herbal healing practices from an early age, lived and taught in the public school in Leland, Michigan, received her doctorate in ethnobotany from the University of Michigan, and conducted plant research for many years on Garden Island. She was also, all her life, a storyteller, and her stories connect generations and communities – of all kinds -- throughout the universe.

Keewaydinoquay: Stories From My Youth tells of her childhood and growing up, her family and early teachers. The story of her life is continued in the volume entitled Cedar Songs.

Keewaydinoquay: Stories From My Youth, by Keewaydinoquay Peschel, edited by Lee Boisvert. University of Michigan Press, paper, 168pp. $22.95

Cedar Songs, by Keewaydinoquay Peschel, edited by WeTahn Lee Boisvert. Trafford Publishing, paper, 275pp. $18.95

Jim's Only Children's Book

Jim Harrison wrote only one book for children, and he wrote it for his grandson, but anyone who wants to understand this outstanding Michigan poet’s background and inspiration will learn a lot from The Boy Who Ran to the Woods.

At the age of seven, a fight with a little girl put Jimmy in the hospital for a month. He was tied to the bed at night. Both eyes were bandaged for a full week, but the sight in his injured eye could not be saved.

It took months for the blind eye to heal and by the time he entered second grade he was sure that all the other boys and girls were staring at him. His father bought him a young dog and Jimmy would hide in the thickets with his dog for days at a time. He became a wild and unruly boy....

He does not want to learn to read – does not want to be in school at all -- but finally, thanks to a father's understanding, a love for the birds and other wildlife he encounters in nature begin to cure the boy’s unhappiness and give him a hunger for learning.

The Boy Who Ran to the Woods,

by Jim Harrison; illustrated by Jim Pohrt

Harcover with dust jacket, $18.95

How Brave Are You?

It takes courage to face old age and death, but growing old and nearing the end can also be times of reflection and gratitude, even joy. Consider these two books:

Accenting the rewards of maturity, Joan Chittister in The Gift of Years: Growing Old Gracefully might help you find the courage you wish you had. Sooner or later, after all, we will need it. Paper, $13.95

And then there are the even more difficult end-of-life decisions. To help prepare or to find answers you need right now, Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End offers a thoughtful physician’s perspective. Paper, $16