Latest Books On the Nightstand

This is the book you write when there are no other ways to describe a dystopian future that is full of horror. There is something out side that, if seen, will drive you mad. It is never named. Are they aliens? Looks like it. Windows are boarded up and going outside is rare, and then only if you are blindfolded. It is a tale centering around a woman and her two kids who are trying to reach a place of safety they have heard exists. All three are sightless due to the blindfold and navigate by touch, smell and sounds. I saw somewhere they are making a movie out of it. It was O.K. I stayed with it but mostly because I was waiting to hear what it was all about.

I'd pass if I were you.

We Are The Ants is a Young Adult book. I've read others that get this designation and while they involve kids and their unique problems, that doesn't mean old kids like me can't read them. In fact, this old kid liked this one a lot. Poor Henry. It's tough being a high school nerd. His boyfriend committed suicide last year and he keeps getting abducted by aliens. We have the usual teenage angst, a family that is challenging, school sucks but a new kid may hold the key to going on. Oh, yeah, the aliens have decided to blow up earth unless he presses a big red button in 90 days, which would keep everything going. Will he?

I liked this one.

1961. Small town Minnesota. Summer. Brothers Frank and Jake enjoy their summer vacation. But tragedy and sadness strikes. Four deaths will shake this town and the bucolic summer fun of these boys. I couldn't help but think of Atticus, Scout and Jem when I started this book by William Kent Krueger. Memorable characters, an edge-of-your-seat plot and a summer journey from boyhood to manhood makes this one of the best I've read in a while. Wonderful evocation of small town, and I should know - I lived in one.

Don't miss it.

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Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless. Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001. It was one of those things that can generate crime: two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job. Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things. Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold. But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find. His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead. He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds. He will be paralyzed for life. None of this is pleasant. Reading the f...

The Mary Davis Home - Part 2

None of these pictures were taken by me, they came right from the MDH website. I am posting these so that friends who have never seen inside where I worked can gain access. After 27 years I have many stories, tales and acquaintances. But, I wouldn't know how to express them appropriately in a few paragraphs. I enjoyed 98% of my stay there and hope I made a difference in the lives of a fraction of the kids who entered. The original MDH at this site was just the front part. The large red-roofed area in back was added on in the 90's. This is the Jerry Carlton library. It was unofficially named after one of the counselors who truly loved the place. He passed away around 2002, I think. Mr. Farber looks like he is explaining a few things to a client. The classroom. Activity area with the gym behind the windows. Another shot of the classroom. It was a little different area to teach since we had 2 classes and 2 teachers i...

Flashback Friday - Cold Case - Part One

53 years ago today, Gordon "Peel" Duncan walked into the dark post office in Seaton Illinois and was brutally assaulted by an individual or individuals. He died two days later. The murder was never solved. Gordon Duncan was one of the publishers of the Seaton Independent, a weekly newspaper in town that started in the late 1800's and stopped publishing in the 60's. We boys were just young children when this took place, but we have been fascinated by it ever since. The imagination of kids, I suppose or maybe the fact that it was unsolved. Regardless, this was a big deal in our little lives. For our parents it tended to shatter the idea that Seaton, our town, was safe. That it could fend off the forces of evil in the world, that in our little universe we would be impervious to harm was gone forever. For us kids I don't suppose we were old enough to know real fear. Fear for us was not getting our list ...

Existing In BFE

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