September Recommendations

Adult Book Recommendation

I devoured this book, which is set on a cherry farm in Northern Michigan. During the pandemic, three adult daughters return home to help harvest the cherries on their family farm, and their mother tells them the story of her relationship with a famous actor. I loved how the information was doled out in small, surprising snippets as the story flipped between present and past. I always enjoy learning about different professions and this book delves deep into the worlds of both cherry farming and summer theatre.

Children’s Book Recommendation

Killer Underwear Invasion!: How to Spot Fake News, Disinformation and Conspiracy Theories by Elise Gravel

I enjoy all of Elise Gravel’s books—her funny, simple creatures and her straightforward writing make for great non-fiction books for kids. In Killer Underwear Invasion she explains what fake news is, why people create it, why it’s a problem and how to spot it. Her sense of humour in her writing and illustrations will keep kids interested as they learn about this important topic.

Behind the Scenes

Rhythm and Rhyme

I recently came across an early draft of Sounds of the Ferry and it made me so thankful to my critique group for helping me improve it. They helped me understand the importance of stressing the right syllables and sticking with one rhythm. Here’s an example of the changes I made in the last stanza.

Early draft:

Generator vibrates,

Cleaner sweeps,

The ferry boat never sleeps.

Final draft:

Deckhands shout,

Cleaners sweep,

Busy ferries never sleep.

The changes are subtle, but mean that a reader automatically reads with the rhythm I had in mind and doesn’t have to pause or force the words to fit. One more reason to be happy for my critique group!