Book of the Day Roundup: December 25-29, 2023
To the Ice
Thomas Tidholm
Anna-Clara Tidholm, illustrator
Gecko Press
Hardcover $18.99 (80pp)
978-1-77657-507-7
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
In Thomas Tidholm’s chapter book To the Ice, young explorers traverse a frozen world.
Jack and Max are brothers. With their friend Ida, they play in the frozen creek behind their home. But the day takes a turn when the ice floe they are standing on breaks away from the land, carrying the trio out to sea. Stuck without parents or a sense of direction, the group begins their long journey back. From icy cliffs to giant penguins, Jack, Max, and Ida encounter many obstacles and discoveries.
Supported by soft, whimsical illustrations, To the Ice is a three-chapter story that follows the trio on their adventure to return home. The book’s tone is serious. With Ida as the story’s narrator, the children’s worry is apparent; they cry with one another and try to remember how long they have been away. Determination plays a key role in their story too: they never stop pushing forward or finding new ways to stay safe. They are sometimes confused and frightened, but they are also intelligent and capable, surviving on their own in harsh conditions with limited shelter and food thanks to their creativity and moxie.
Along the way, the children also make scientific observations about the sky, their food, and the construction of their boat. Ida finds a diary—a record by a fellow group of explorers in the 1800s whose story parallels the trio’s own and is based on real polar explorers.
Three children find their way home through a harrowing frozen world in the chapter book To the Ice.
GRACE ROGERS (October 27, 2023)
Happy AF
Simple Strategies to Get Unstuck, Bounce Back, and Live Your Best Life
Beth Romero
She Writes Press
Softcover $17.95 (288pp)
978-1-64742-589-0
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Marked by sass and salty language, Beth Romero’s Happy AF is an experiential, science-backed guidebook to being happy, no matter what.
For Romero, the events of 2018 to 2020 could have been backed by “the soundtrack from a low-budget slasher movie.” A single mother of two teenage daughters, she went through a horrible break-up; closed on a pricey new house—then lost her job; saw the world brought to a standstill by a pandemic; and was consumed with guilt over living in California while her parents confronted end-of-life issues on the East Coast. Nonetheless, she made her way toward being happy—and asserts that others can, too.
Leading by example, the book points to science-supported strategies and techniques for achieving such happiness. It also models fierce determination and puts forth the belief that happiness is a choice. Just a few essential ingredients are needed to get the desired result: willingness to dig into the hard work of growth and change, and belief that change is possible.
Drawing on discoveries in the fields of behavioral science, positive psychology, and neuroscience, the book cites research showing that only ten percent of people’s happiness can be attributed to external circumstances, while fifty percent is a matter of genetics. That the remaining forty percent depends on intentional activities becomes cause for celebration herein. While some of the book’s suggestions are common sense—as with its advice to get restful sleep, develop helpful routines and habits, eat healthful foods, exercise, and get rid of negative thinking—they are embellished by the warning that consistent practice is hard. In the end, the book functions as an ally in the difficult work ahead.
Happy AF is an inspiring self-help book that suggests a spirited approach to becoming happy, no matter what.
KRISTINE MORRIS (October 27, 2023)
My Life as a Prayer
A Multifaith Memoir
Elizabeth Cunningham
Monkfish Book Publishing
Softcover $18.95 (260pp)
978-1-958972-10-6
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Going into the depths of her writer’s soul, Elizabeth Cunningham’s enchanting memoir My Life as a Prayer is a worshipful text.
With a beginning that defines Cunningham’s lifelong search for belonging, the book’s memories are laid out in a scrapbook format. They capture both the essence of being a priest’s daughter and the struggle to make sense of the religious world: Cunningham recalls coming to the painful realization that what worked for her father and the family tradition didn’t work for her. She also shares tales from her young adulthood in the Anglican Church, time spent in the Quaker tradition, and interfaith seminary experiences. And because Cunningham is also a children’s book lover, she infuses her text with the magic of fairy tales, referencing Narnia and the joy of the written word. Her later chapters highlight her inspiring counseling ministry and close with beautiful prayers.
With its recurrent expressions of yearning to connect to the divine, Cunningham’s story is built upon profound observations. Further, it is theologically spacious, full of genuine connections and peace. It highlights moments of inspiration stretched out over a lifetime. Some are painful, as with the case of a miscarriage; in other moments, Cunningham struggles to align inherited wealth with Christian values. And as the book progresses, it transitions from focusing on personal memories of spiritual development to sermonizing on the power of the divine, which helps to connect different lives. Throughout its pages, though, it is consistent in representing Cunningham’s spiritual life as versatile and vibrant.
My Life as a Prayer is a wise and careful religious memoir written by a sympathetic contemporary spiritual seeker—a prayerful touch point amid a world of difficulties.
JEREMIAH ROOD (October 27, 2023)
A Song over Miskwaa Rapids
Linda LeGarde Grover
University of Minnesota Press
Hardcover $21.95 (128pp)
978-1-5179-1462-2
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Linda LeGarde Grover’s graceful novel A Song over Miskwaa Rapids, set on Ojibwe land in Minnesota, pairs a sordid mystery with supernatural influences.
Mozhay Point, a recurring locale from Grover’s two previous novels, hosts an ensemble cast. In 2022, Margie plans a statement to the tribal council, refusing to sell allotment land to be paved. Her friend Theresa is undergoing chemotherapy. Theresa’s husband, Michael, is a representative on the council. Even after death, the tribe’s elders’ presence is felt. Their intervention leads to the discovery of human remains from 1972; a historical section explains how they got there.
The mindimooyenyag-iban, or those “who although unseen are still with us,” have dedicated sections in italics. The ghosts’ playful contributions are a highlight. They touch, and comment on the actions of, the living. The belief in spirits extends to something akin to resurrection (“sometimes when one person dies another is born to take their place”). Also at play is the malicious behavior of a windigo, an evil creature of legend.
The sandwiching of the 1972 story line between two segments taking place in 2022 has the effect of collapsing time. Michael has a turn at narration, breaking up its omniscient perspective. Untranslated passages of Indigenous language pose a challenge, and the long prefatory list of characters seems daunting, though the latter soon become familiar. Accounts of the seasons’ turning, and of rituals related to death and remembrance, flesh out the community, which is in tune with nature and in contact with its ancestors. Newspaper articles and a scene structured like a play are innovative touches.
With its powerful, atmospheric descriptions of the natural world, A Song over Miskwaa Rapids resembles an Indigenous family saga in miniature, couching memory and mystery in a potent spirit world.
REBECCA FOSTER (October 27, 2023)
Just One More Thing…and Then Bedtime
Menahem Halberstadt
Romy Ronen, translator
Green Bean Books
Softcover $10.99 (32pp)
978-1-78438-947-5
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
First published in Hebrew, this amusing picture book tracks a girl and her father as he valiantly tries to get her to sleep. Having only two legs, Shabbat coming every seven days, and things falling down rather than up are just a few of the things that Naomi wants to express gratitude for; her father, on the other hand, would appreciate some rest. Bright red pairs with muted yellow and green in illustrations that depict Naomi’s musings—and her father’s drooping eyes.
DANIELLE BALLANTYNE (October 27, 2023)
Barbara Hodge
