The Rattled Bones by S.M. Parker

If you're looking for an excellent ghost story for October, check out S.M. Parker's The Rattled Bones. This chilling tale of the past haunting the present is all the more horrific for being based on a true historical event. In 1912 the governor of Maine ordered the evacuation of Malaga Island. The residents were black, white, and mixed race, and several were incarcerated at the Maine School for the Feeble Minded, which became Pineland Farms. For her novel, Shannon M. Parker pushed this true incident forward a couple of decades and added a present day family living on the mainland, overlooking the now deserted island. Sam, an Archaeology intern at USM relays the history to Rilla, the eighteen-year-old protagonist who befriends him while fishing off the island.

The Rattled Bones opens with a double tragedy. Rilla's mother is sent to a mental hospital, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother. Twelve years later, Rilla takes the helm of her father's lobster boat after he dies at sea. Rilla is torn by her desire to be the first in her family to go to college and her obligation to support her grandmother. When an island ghost starts haunting her, Brilla fears she has inherited her mother's insanity, but she wants to help the ghost and solve the mystery. This young adult novel was hard to put down.

Bustle called The Rattled Bones a "feminist ghost story" for many good reasons. The lobster fishing scenes were even more compelling than the ghost story, capturing the challenges a female captain faces in a male dominated industry. Rilla and her sternman Sam were smart, likable characters who treat each other with respect. My favorite character was the self-sufficient grandmother who listens to The Who while painting in the attic. Even the ghost was a well developed diverse character, a dangerous mix of good and evil. The ghost died before her time, but nevertheless, she persisted!

I had only a few criticisms of this well-crafted book. I would have preferred a transitional scene between the first and second chapter to show Rilla's relationships with her father and her high school boyfriend before tragedy struck. I also craved a final scene with the missing mother. The dig scenes, especially at the end, didn't always ring true to slow-paced Archaeology but made for a dramatic story. Overall though, the historical material was educational and well presented in engaging dialogue. Lyrical passages captured the gorgeous setting and enhanced suspense. The Rattled Bones was a fast, fun read which will appeal to both teens and adults.

My two favorite quotations:

"The morning fog parts as I push against its thickness, the displaced mist twisting into thin gray fingers, beckoning me toward deeper waters." 

"His apology surprises me. A boy who apologizes for interrupting a girl might be as rare as photos of the island." 

Last night Shannon M. Parker was on a YA panel with Maine authors Gillian French and Maria Padian at Print Bookstore in Portland. I've read and enjoyed all of Maria's books and Gillian's debut, Grit. Islandport Press editor Melissa Kim moderated the lively discussion and also published Gillian's The Door to January, which I purchased after hearing Gillian read a spooky excerpt. This was my second time meeting Shannon, who was my partner years ago in a YA workshop. I'm looking forward to reading her debut, The Girl Who Fell. It's so exciting to see her books in print. Well done, Shannon!

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@Barrie Summy

In-Flux-Out by Isabelle Pelissier & friends

I was walking in the woods when my usually quiet dog started barking: Men with chainsaws were chopping down trees! I shared Scout's dismay, but this was not our property so we continued on our way. A few days later we returned, and to my delight, instead of a clear cut, we found a sculpture garden.

Scout was transfixed, wagging her tail like she'd spotted a wild animal.

Then she turned to me grinning, inviting me to come closer.

I walked around the installation, watching how the iron caught the sunlight through the trees.

The tentacles seemed to move like an octopus underwater. I wondered who had created this gorgeous work of art and why it was installed in these woods.

Once again, Scout retrieved the answers from a pamphlet hanging from a tree:

Isabelle Pelissier's In-Flux-Out can be viewed from the paths 

off Pickard Fields at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

Happy Rosh Hashanah! 

May this new year be better than the last.

American Street by Ibi Zoboi

With DACA repealed and Congress considering new policy, we need books that increase empathy for undocumented immigrants. Back in March I listened to American Street while on sabbatical, and Ibi Zoboi's young adult novel still haunts me like a dream. The first chapter opens with an emotional bang: American-born Fabiola immigrates from Port-au-Prince to reunite with family only to have her Haitian mother detained by ICE agents. Naive and sweet Fabiola struggles to fit in with her street savvy cousins at public school in Detroit. Living abroad in Japan and the UK, I could relate to her challenges of assimilation.

This coming of age story with quirky characters felt Dickensian with diverse updates. For example, one of the cousins binds her breasts and is a tough fighter, but her gender dysphoria is part of her character and not a point of narrative tension or an "issue" that needs fixing. Her family, friends, and even her enemies accept and respect her. Other characters reveal secrets that reframe the plot. No one is who they seem to be at first. The line between good and evil often blurs. Although the characters were complex and original, the setting fell into the drugs and violence ghetto stereotype.

After several slow chapters about the pains of assimilation and homesickness, the pace accelerates into a suspense thriller. A detective offers to help free Fabiola's mom in exchange for information about her cousin's boyfriend. A troubled Fabiola turns to her vodou faith for guidance. The story becomes surreal when late at night, a homeless man starts singing cryptic messages to her. It's rare for a book to surprise me, but American Street was delightfully full of unexpected twists. The moral ambiguity forces readers to draw their own conclusions.

Author Ibi Zoboi, via her twitter profile

The audio book narration, once I got used to the Haitian accent, was excellent. As the story became a page-turner, I kept walking and walking. I got very fit, but it would have been easier to follow the plot twists on paper. I had to listen to the last chapter twice, and still it felt unresolved. I'm hoping for a sequel to this impressive debut (published February 2017). I'd recommend American Street to both mature teens and adults. It would be a good audiobook to listen to while driving your high school students to school. Teachers and librarians should add this novel to their immigrant literature section.

Reviewer disclosure: This ebook is from an audible.com subscription. I prefer books in print, but digital books were the only way to read American new releases while on sabbatical. Sunrise photo is from my family vacation in Massachusetts. I'm missing those warm summer days of reading in the hammock.

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@Barrie Summy

Center Pond Preserve in Phippsburg, Maine

After two decades in Maine, I've been looking for new dog-friendly hikes and was delighted to discover the Cooley Preserve at Center Pond in Phippsburg, not far from home.

There are 6 1/2 miles of trails with a parking lot access on Parker Head Road. Maps were provided at the trailhead to be returned to the box. We looped right along the Perimeter Trail North past Beaver Pond, which took under an hour at a leisurely pace with me stopping to take photos.

The woodland part of the trail was quite flat, wide, and easy. On this lovely summer day, we only encountered two other groups of people. It was quiet except for the sound of traffic across the pond.

Along the bank of the pond, the trail narrowed with rougher, overgrown sections that made me wish I'd worn hiking boots and long trousers. We sprayed up with 25% DEET due to Lyme Disease tick warnings.

My son would call this hike an easy walk in the woods. He once hiked 50 miles in one day! His summer internship is at a mapping company, where he is designing a digital trail map for a preserve in New Hampshire. He found the Center Pond Preserve through a mapping database.

Our part of coastal Maine is quite flat and most of the land is privately owned. This preserve was donated by the Cooley family for public use via the Phippsburg Land Trust. We only explored 1/3 of the trail network.

The "beaver pond" was more of a marsh overgrown with gorgeous water lilies.

Leash your dog if you don't want her wallowing in the beaver pond mud! Luckily the trail looped back to the pond, where we encouraged Scout to rinse off. Due to all the pond vegetation, it would be tricky for people to swim here, but the preserve is a short drive from Popham Beach on the sea. I plan to explore the rest of the preserve in autumn.

I'm taking a summer break from blogging. See you in September!

A Medieval Town of Books: Hay-on-Wye, Wales

After our back-to-back sabbaticals in Tokyo and at Oxford University, I've been busy offline, settling back home in Maine. During our year abroad, my professor husband researched an academic book, and I gathered material for two young adult novels. At the end of our UK sabbatical, we visited Hay-on-Wye, which hosts a literary festival and has more used bookstores than I've ever seen in one location.

The Richard Booth's Bookshop has three floors of books, ranging from rare to new, including a large children's and YA section shown above. It's the brown woodframe building in the opening photo.

We found the best antique book selection at Hay-on-Wye Booksellers in a Tudor style building that felt appropriately Shakespearean. I chose an antique book featuring animals for our kind friends who hosted our dog while we were abroad.

To distinguish themselves, some secondhand bookstores specialized by genre. Murder and Mayhem is devoted to mysteries, crime fiction, and horror.

After a day of book shopping, we stopped at Shepherds for delicious local ice cream.

On a sunnier day, we walked along the River Wye and admired the wild swans.

We also learned how to say weak bridge in Welsh: "pont wan." Luckily said pont was strong enough for foot traffic and small cars. There were more challenging hikes in the nearby Brecon Beacons.

After our country walk, we enjoyed a cream tea (scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream) at Llangoed Hall, Laura Ashley's former home (above). Even in my hiking clothes, I felt like a character in Downton Abbey.

Back in England, we visited Highclere Castle (at left), where Downton Abbey was filmed. The tour was fun, featuring the amazing library, but they don't allow indoor photography.

It was such an inspiring year abroad! My young adult novel set in the UK is now with my agent, who loves it. I'm currently working on a new YA novel set in Japan, which I will blog about later. I update more frequently on twitter.

More about our Wales vacation here:
Carew Castle & Coastal Cliffs in Pembrokeshire, Wales