Milkweed (Readers Circle)

Amazon.com

Newbery Medal-winning author Jerry Spinelli (Maniac McGee, Stargirl) paints a vivid picture of the streets of the Nazi-occupied Warsaw during World War II, as seen through the eyes of a curious, kind, heartbreakingly naïve orphan with many names. His name is Stopthief when people shout "Stop! Thief!" as he flees with stolen bread. Or it's Jew, "filthy son of Abraham," depending on who's talking to him. Or, maybe he's a Gypsy, because his eyes are black, his skin is dark, and he wears a mysterious yellow stone around his neck. His new friend and protector Uri forces him to take the name Misha Pilsudski and to memorize a made-up story about his Gypsy background so that no one will mistake him for a Jew and kill him. Misha, a very young boy, is slow to understand what's happening around him. When he sees people running, he thinks it's a race. Nazis (Jackboots, as the children call them) marching through the streets appear to him as a delightful parade of magnificent boots. He wants to be a Jackboot! (Uri smacks him for saying this.) He compares bombs to sauerkraut kettles, machine guns to praying mantises, and tanks to "colossal gray long-snouted beetles." The story of Misha and his band of orphans trying to survive on their own would have a deliciously Dickensian quality, if it weren't for the devastation around them--people hurrying to dig trenches to stop Nazi tanks, shops exploding in flames, the wailing of sirens, buzzing airplanes, bombs, and human torture. Spinelli has written a powerfully moving story of survival--readers will love Misha the dreamer and his wonderfully poetic observations of the world around him, his instinct to befriend a Jewish girl and her family, his impulse to steal food for a local orphanage and his friends in the ghetto, and his ability to delight in small things even surrounded by the horror of the Holocaust. A remarkable achievement. (Ages 11 and older) --Karin Snelson

Book Description

He’s a boy called Jew. Gypsy. Stopthief. Runt. Happy. Fast. Filthy son of Abraham.

He’s a boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw. He’s a boy who steals food for himself and the other orphans. He’s a boy who believes in bread, and mothers, and angels. He’s a boy who wants to be a Nazi some day, with tall shiny jackboots and a gleaming Eagle hat of his own. Until the day that suddenly makes him change his mind. And when the trains come to empty the Jews from the ghetto of the damned, he’s a boy who realizes it’s safest of all to be nobody.

Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli takes us to one of the most devastating settings imaginable—Nazi-occupied Warsaw of World War II—and tells a tale of heartbreak, hope, and survival through the bright eyes of a young orphan.

From the Hardcover edition.

Download Description

He's a boy called Jew. Gypsy. Stopthief. Runt. Happy. Fast. Filthy son of Abraham.

He's a boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw. He's a boy who steals food for himself and the other orphans. He's a boy who believes in bread, and mothers, and angels. He's a boy who wants to be a Nazi some day, with tall shiny jackboots and a gleaming Eagle hat of his own. Until the day that suddenly makes him change his mind. And when the trains come to empty the Jews from the ghetto of the damned, he's a boy who realizes it's safest of all to be nobody.

Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli takes us to one of the most devastating settings imaginable -- Nazi-occupied Warsaw of World War II -- and tells a tale of heartbreak, hope, and survival through the bright eyes of a young orphan.

Customer Reviews:

Ghettos, War, Angels, Jackboots, and a Boy named Stopthief........2007-08-27

Call him whatever you'd like. Everyone else does.

Stopthief. Jew. Gypsy. Fast. Happy. Runt. Filthy son of Abraham. Misha Pilsudski is the name that Uri, the leader of the street orphans, finally gives him, along with a made-up story about his past and his family history. It's the name that sticks. For a while.

This orphan boy from Warsaw, U.S.S.R., figures if someone calls him a name, it just might mean that it's true. Take "Fast," a name Uri calls him. If it wasn't true about him, how else would he explain how good he is at stealing bread from women walking on the street? Bread which he faithfully shares half with Doctor Korczak's orphans at the group home. He wouldn't be able to outrun the venders, the police, or the Jackboots. That's his name for the Nazi soldiers that can be seen marching around town. Someday, he'd like to be a Jackboot.

Then a Jewish girl named Janina from a poor neighborhood befriends him. With Janina, Misha feels he has a real family, a place he can belong. When families all over the city, Jewish families at first, start getting relocated into the walled-off ghettos, Misha moves in with her. Spinelli's sings the despair of the ghettos with a raw and tragic melody of characters. Outside the ghetto walls they call Heaven. Food is rotten and scarce. New bodies lie covered in the streets each day. And angels are everywhere, if you know how to look.

They call him Stopthief. Catch him if you can.

--- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

Perfect.......2007-06-19

Jerry Spinelli does a perfect job portraying the hardships and struggles of the Jewish people during the most unfortunate of times, the Holocaust, in a manner in which younger readers can relate. Appropriate for almost all ages [I wouldn't read it as a bedtime story], this book had me hooked. It entails the struggles of Misha Pilsudski [later Misha Milgrom, and finally Jack Milgrom] through the Nazi invasion of Warszawa [Warsaw] Poland. I recommend anyone looking for a good, quick read to buy this book. I read it for a book report assignment back in 7th, and it was definitly well worth it.

superbook!.......2007-04-18

Milkweed was the best! I didn't really like it for any particular reason. it was just a great book. It was very exciting! Milkweed was cool because it felt like I was in the book itself! If you don't like books that are sad, then I suggest that you don't read this book. Milkweed is a book about a boy who lives on the streets. He spends his days stealing food because that's the only way he could get it. He is an orphan and he doesn't have a name, but his friend gives him one. Misha. It was one of the best books I ever read!

Milkweed was a Great Book!.......2007-03-16

He had been called many things - Jew, stopthief, happy, runt, fast, filthy son of Abraham. He lived on the streets and steals food to survive. He believes in bread, mothers, and angels. He wanted to be a Nazi someday , with tall jackboots and an eagle cap - that is, until the day that suddenly made him change his mind. When the trains came to empty the ghetto, he's a boy who realized it is safest of all to be a nobody.

A young, swift orphan arrived on the streets of Warsaw with no recollection of his past - not so much as his name. He began living with another orphan in an abandoned barbershop, and together they stole everything they needed. The other orphan, who went by the name Uri, named the nameless child by the name of Misha Pilsudski. Misha and Uri had a decent life - they were never hungry, they hung out with other orphan folk, and Misha even had a rich friend (Janina) - until the day the jackboots came. The men in "jackboots" were actually Nazis, and they came to raid Warsaw. Soon the town was in shambles and they began to round up all the Jews to send to the ghetto. Misha claimed he was a Gypsy (although he had no idea whatsoever what he was), but went to the ghetto anyway because he thought it looked fun. He visited Janina's family many times while the wall was in the process of being built, because he could just step over it. However, once the wall was finished, Uri stayed out while Misha lived there full time. In the ghetto, the conditions rapidly degraded and soon, everyone was starving. Misha found a two-brick hole in the wall he could fit through, so every night he slipped through this miniature escape route and get food for Janina and her family. This system worked pretty well, and soon Janina would even come with him on his adventures. One night, at a hotel in Warsaw where Misha was trying to steal rations, he saw Uri for the first time in a long time, who worked for the Nazis. Uri warned Misha about the plan to send the Jews to the ovens, so he would have a heads up. Sure enough, the next day the soldiers began loading the Jews onto trains to the ovens. Janina's father warned Misha and Janina to get out and stay out, so the two left and ran towards the countryside. Janina, who was in an unstable mental state after the two years or so in the ghetto, ran away. Misha tried to follow her, but a farmer stopped him. The farmer kept Misha for three years, and at night, they would have to tie him up so he would not run away to the ovens, where he desperately wanted to see his friend. Then the war ended, and Misha came to America, where he married and then divorced. Misha kept a quiet life and did not meet his daughter, Katherine, until she had a child of her own. Katherine left her daughter Wendy's middle name blank for Misha to name. He chose Janina.

Milkweed was an excellent story. It had happiness, but some sad parts too. In addition, it's filled with historical references, even though it was a fictional book.

A few examples of happiness in Milkweed include the time when Misha has to play on the carousel, when Janina gave Misha a piece of his favorite candy, and when Misha saw Uri again. One time, before the jackboots came, a carousel with beautiful painted horses was built in Warsaw. Uri advised Misha to stay away, as "street filth" such as Misha was unwanted at places like that. However, one day, the temptation was just too much for Misha, so after hours (they kept the carousel running all the time) he climbed on and had the time of his life. Another example of happiness included the time when Janina snuck out of the ghetto using the petite hole in the wall and looked all over town for buttermilk creams with hazelnut hearts, Misha's favorite candy. She came back and gave a single piece to him, as that was all she could find, and Misha was delighted to taste that luscious candy after eating ghetto food for so long. The last good example of happiness was when Misha saw Uri in the fancy hotel. Misha ran up to him and asked if it was really Uri, with joy glittering in his eyes. Uri was not as happy as Misha was - he could have gotten in serious trouble if caught talking to him. Misha was even happier later when Uri's tip about the ovens saved his life.

Milkweed had its fair share of sadness, however. The saddest part was when Janina ran towards the ovens and Misha never saw him again. In fact, he wanted to see her so badly that the farmers he stayed with tied him to the barn every night for three years to prevent him from running to find her. Another sad part was when Misha's wife in America, Vivian, divorced him after a few short months because he was going crazy. The last significant sad part of the story was when Misha had to say goodbye to Janina's father before running away from the ghetto and the ovens.

Although Milkweed is a fictional book, it still has many examples of history tied into it. The whole time era was World War II, when the Nazis tried to win power and superiority. The book specifically mentioned the times when the Nazis marched into Poland and the bombing of Warsaw. Another historical reference were the Jewish ghettos, which were not uncommon in Europe at the time. The last major historical reference were the ovens where everyone in the ghetto was sent to die, which were a fixture in death camps at the time.

Milkweed was a really well written book and is perfect for anyone who like to read but does not mind a little grief. It had happiness, but there was some sadness as well, and it even mentioned some major points of history.

-Elizabeth H =]

Milkweed.......2007-03-15

Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli, is book is the best book I have read all year. When I sat down to read milkweed I thought it was going to be another boring WWII story . Man was I wrong. Within the first 30 pages I realized Spinelli's book was going to be different. Milkweed tells the life of a young Gypsy boy, Misha, who is taken in by a Jewish family and lives with them in the ghetto created for them by the Nazis. As the story progresses Misha grows older and more knowledgeable of the world around him. He learns that the Nazis don't like him, that the people under the news paper are NOT sleeping, and that Mothers, Angels, and Oranges really do exist. The story of the life of Jewish people living during WWII are not uncommon, but none have captured it quite like Milkweed has. Having grown up as an orphan, Misha is ignorant to the world, but that is one of his wonderful qualities. When he learned what "Happy" was, during Hanukah, He tried to fill Janina's with the "Happy" that he had. My favorite part of Milkweed was when anyone would ever call Misha Jewish, he would turn around and angrily shout, " I'M NOT JEWISH! I'M A GYPSY!". In the end , After he was adopted by the Milgroms, when someone called him Jewish he just ran. At the end of the book, after WWII had ended, it told how Misha moved to America, was named Jack, and married and met his great granddaughter , Janina.
I believe anyone who is looking for a good read should read Milkweed, its like a Butter Milk chocolate in a box of chocolates.

Rose M.

Ordinary Wolves: A Novel (Milkweed National Fiction Prize)

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Give yourself a treat
Ordinary Wolves
Village Life
Not for the squeamish
WOW Please write another book

Ordinary Wolves: A Novel (Milkweed National Fiction Prize)
Seth Kantner
Manufacturer: Milkweed Editions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Pomegranate Soup: A Novel

ASIN: 1571310444

Book Description

A stirring and vivid novel about a white boy raised among natives on the harsh Alaskan tundra, Ordinary Wolves depicts a life different from what most people have ever known. In its pages, Cutuk, a boy equally uncomfortable in the ways of whites and Inupiaq, tells of his youth and young adulthood: of his father, who brought his family to Alaska from Chicago before Cutuk's birth; of his adopted Inupiaq family; and of the vast Arctic expanse beneath the frozen sky. It is here that Cutuk grows up - hunting, fishing, and living off the land, far away from the grinding, yet beckoning, machine of consumer culture.

Dispelling all mythical visions of Alaska, this evocative novel leads readers down its true trails, to feel the icy pinch of cold, to hunker as blizzards moan overhead. And in the twilit spaces from which animals appear are the wolves - and Cutuk's father - living their lives out on the tundra, unobtrusive, unapologetic, uninvolved in the world beyond.

Customer Reviews:

Give yourself a treat.......2007-05-12

One of the best books I have read. The different perspectives Kantner shares are well written and humananly believable. If you like people, travel, animals, and a good story - you will love this.

Ordinary Wolves.......2007-01-12

Ordinary Wolves offers an experience beyond reading. Like its setting, the cold, dry desert of northwest Alaska, it is harsh, often uncomfortable, and beautiful. Seth Kantner doesn't flinch from telling the truth about life in the far North, from the perspective of a young man caught between two worlds and totally comfortable in neither. Alaskan village life, including its generational conflicts, pervasive violence, and desperate substance abuse, is presented with both honesty and understanding. Equally searing is Kantner's portrayal of Anchorage's seamy underbelly. But for me, the solid core of the book is the nature of the relationship between humans and wild animals, ranging from the respect of the traditional Inupiat hunter for the animal who dies to give people sustenance to the perception of animals as trophies, to be hunted from airplanes, mutilated, and hung on rec room walls. The displacement faced by Alaskan natives, torn between traditional Inupiat values and the commercialized consumerism of white America, is complex, and Kantner doesn't try to oversimplify it. He illuminates it; he clearly feels it to his marrow, and he makes the reader feel it too.

Village Life.......2006-12-05

"Now if I survived verbs and prepositions and onomatopoeias of my English grammar class I could break through the willows into wide-open life. Whatever that was. Mr. Standle, one of the new teachers, said any life I chose would need grammar, but he was a States person, and it sounded like they spent too much of their lives doing the paperwork, getting prepared to live." That's me, a Mr. Strandle, a States person working on my fifth winter in Alaska and my second in The Village. Read that passage again and think of how much depth and explanation is crammed into just that paragraph.

Buy this book and read it twice. Then buy five copies and give them to people for no reason. It is that good. I've never seen a true account of the between worlds life that the village is like. I'm not saying this will show you everything about what it is like to grow up native or white in rural Alaska, but it might give you a hint of a world most people don't realize still exists in America.

Yes it meanders and wanders around. Yes the story seems to have no point. But, just like Cutuk says, so do the stories elders tell. And yes there are Inupiaq words dropped in, seemingly randomly, forcing you to learn something of another language. And this is also like the stories locals tell.

Not for the squeamish.......2006-11-13

The narrator of Ordinary Wolves, blue-eyed blonde Cutuk Hawkley, aka "Yellow Hair" is five years old as the story begins, living with his brother, (ten year old Jerry), sister, (eight year old Iris), and artist father Abe in an igloo made of sod, logs and poles a dog-sled's ride away from the nearest village in the Alaskan tundra, the entire family having been abandoned by his mother. By the end of the novel, twenty years have gone by with Cutuk in a continuous battle to fit in with the locals, especially difficult with his European features, even though his family lives the life of the most reclusive Eskimo. Prepare for some squeamish moments as you read about hunting, killing, eating (think of a "Survivor Alaska" contest) and living in the wild.

Although the glossary contains 75 Iñupiaq words that are used frequently throughout the book (causing some switching back and forth to find out the meanings at times) and dialog often contains a confusing mixture of English and Iñupiaq, it is worth the effort to follow this boy, youth, and eventually, man on his journey through life. Companion reads include Smila's Sense of Snow, The Call of the Wild, To Build a Fire, Into the Wild, The Good Rain, and a children's book, Alaska's Three Pigs.

WOW Please write another book.......2006-05-22

Great book!! An incredible look at another world. Very good read all the way through. Great sense of humor.

Milkweed, Monarchs and More: A Field Guide to the Invertebrate Community in the Milkweed Patch

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A Little Gem of a Book

Milkweed, Monarchs and More: A Field Guide to the Invertebrate Community in the Milkweed Patch
Ba Rea , Karen S. Oberhauser , and Michael A. Quinn
Manufacturer: Bas Relief Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books

The Monarch Butterfly: Biology and Conservation

ASIN: 0965747220

Book Description

Milkweed, Monarchs and More is a field guide designed to help students, citizen scientists and other milkweed patch enthusiasts in their exploration of this fascinating community.

Customer Reviews:

A Little Gem of a Book.......2005-12-18

This is an amazing book with a tremendous amount of information about milkweed and the insects that depend on it. A great choice for anyone interested in Milkweed, Monarchs, ecology,habitat, etc. Highly recommended for teachers or parents who are using Monarchs as part of the curriculum. So many photos! If only it were a "coffee-table" book! But still great just the way it is.

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Milkweed

Milkweed
Jerry Spinelli
Manufacturer: Scholastic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Red Scarf Girl (rpkg): A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution

ASIN: 0439682363

Customer Reviews:

Milkweed .......2007-05-22

This book, Milkweed, is a historical fiction book that takes place during WWII. The main character is an orphan, and a Gypsy, who doesn't remember anything about his past. He becomes friends with an older man named URI, a Jew, and they stick together. While their time together, they make up the name Misha Pilsudski. During this time, the "Jackboots" come. They are representing the Nazis in WWII. Misha becomes friends with a girl named Janina Milgrom, and becomes `part' of their family. They then get sent to the ghetto where life is tough. Jerry Spinelli, the author, does a wonderful job writing this book, because it seems so realistic, and everything just flows together. It's a great book for teens to read because even though it's a very harsh time, it's still a very well written book. Its time period, and setting makes it such a good book, because its a very devistating time, and lots and lots of people were killed. Very few people survived and you have to read the book to see if Misha survives.

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Milkweed Visitors
Mary Holland
Manufacturer: Bas Relief Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0965747247

Product Description

Milkweed Visitors, by Mary Holland, uses simple text and exquisite photography to provide a close look at many of the the creatures that visit her common milkweed patch in Vermont. The text introduces concepts including predator, nectivore, herbivore and pollination. The book was designed for both home and classroom use: the pages are numbered and there is a glossary.

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Milkweed
Jerry Spinelli
Manufacturer: Scholastic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0439676975

The $66 Summer: A Novel of the Segregated South (Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature)

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Mysterious Summer
The $66 Summer, Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!

The $66 Summer: A Novel of the Segregated South (Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature)
John Armistead
Manufacturer: Milkweed Editions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Historical Fiction | History & Historical Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
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The Return of Gabriel
Day of Tears
Miracle's Boys
Hattie Big Sky
The Higher Power of Lucky

ASIN: 1571316639

Book Description

More than anything else, George Harrington wants a motorcycle. He works in his grandmother's store in Obadiah, Alabama, trying to save enough money for the precious bike. Esther Garrison works at the store, too, trying to earn money for a dream of her own — to continue her education. George, Esther, and Esther’s brother Bennett quickly become friends, even though George is white and the Garrisons are black. The three spend their time together sneaking onto Mr. Vorhise’s property to fish and search for outlaw treasure, avoiding his vicious dogs and the strange old woman who seems to stalk them. George, Esther, and Bennett find more than fish on Mr. Vorhise's land — they stumble onto chilling evidence that shatters their idyllic summer and the town’s peaceful surface. As the tragic events unfold, George must confront the ugly realities of racism, realities that force him to rethink his priorities. John Armistead’s memorable, carefully drawn characters capture the hope and heartbreak of a turbulent era.

Customer Reviews:

Mysterious Summer.......2001-12-06

We found this book to be very adventurous. The author keeps you in suspense,and involves you in the lives of the children by using visual imagery. This book displays how families with different cultures and values live in the rural south. It also shows how some cultures and diverse people in past years were not excepted.
As a teacher, you could use this book in your classroom to teach students about diversity and differences among cultures. It teaches children to accept and respect cultures that are different from their own. We thank the author for giving us a glimpse of cultural diversity in the past and teaching us to accept everyone for their differences.

The $66 Summer, Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!.......2001-03-10

I originally began reading this book for my six year old daughter. When she was ready to stop, I couldn't. I read the book, almost completely, straight through. It will make you laugh; It will make your heart race with our young heros'; and most definitely, at risk of sounding cliche, it will make you cry; as I found myself doing when I reached the end. Wonderful for both its pains and its triumphs.

Trudy (Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature)

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Wonderful family story!

Trudy (Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature)
Jessica Anderson
Manufacturer: Milkweed Editions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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Perfect: A Novel

ASIN: 1571316590

Book Description

Trudy's having a hard time at school: math class isn't going well, and her best friend, the one she pinky-swore she would always be friends with, has found a new group to hang out with. To top things off, her parents are old — really old — and while she loves them with all her heart, she dislikes it when other people mistake them for her grandparents. When Trudy's father starts acting strangely, Trudy and her mother can't figure out what the problem is. But when he forgets to pick Trudy up from school and starts to put groceries away in the wrong place, they decide to take him to the doctor. Once Trudy's father has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, Trudy and her mother are faced with some tough decisions.

This is a touching, beautifully told story that young people relate to, particularly those who have parents or grandparents dealing with an illness. Trudy’s challenges and her strength in dealing with them make her a heroine with whom young readers identify.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful family story!.......2005-11-26

I bought this book for my daughter since her grandmother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She and I both read Trudy together and fell in love with the story-especially the main character. I felt that the portrayal of Alzheimer's was accurate and honest. I'd definitely recommend Trudy to children and adults who are dealing with illness or who are looking for a beautiful written story.

Saint John's Bible Note Cards: Milkweed and Butterfly

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Saint John's Bible Note Cards: Milkweed and Butterfly

Manufacturer: Liturgical Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Cards

General | Note Cards | Accessories | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0814690777

Crossing Bully Creek (Milkweed National Fiction Prize)

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Crossing Bully Creek-Reviewed by Tom Word
Living Dangerously

Crossing Bully Creek (Milkweed National Fiction Prize)
Margaret Erhart
Manufacturer: Milkweed Editions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1571310533

Book Description

In Crossing Bully Creek, acclaimed author Margaret Erhart chronicles change through generations. At the story's heart is the owner of Longbrow Plantation, Henry Detroit — now on his deathbed as the 1960s come to a close. Around him swirl servants, retainers, workers, and family, all gathered to preside over his death, and the death of life as they know it in the South. The book moves back and forth from the 1920s to the 1960s. From Henry's wife Rowena, to the servant Rutha, from his saucy granddaughter to the man running the plantation for his son, characters white and black move through a time when old traditions linger, yet begin to give way — subtly transformed through the small, determined acts.

Customer Reviews:

Crossing Bully Creek-Reviewed by Tom Word.......2005-08-25

Crossing Bully Creek

By Margaret Erhart
(308 pp, Milkweed Editions)

Reviewed by Tom Word

Tucked into the southwest corner of Georgia lies a small chunk of heaven. As different from the rest of the rural south as Tiffany's from Wal-Mart, these unspoiled acres hold the Yankee-owned plantations, Gardens of Eden strewn with live oaks, longleaf pines, magnolias, pecans, and cypresses, trimmed in Spanish moss and carpeted with wiregrass. Discovered by titans of the Gilded Age as the 19th Century closed, and bought up cheap ($8 an acre) from planters and small farmers laid low by recurring recessions and the boll weevil, the lands were transformed into great estates.
The attraction? An ideal winter climate and a small bird: the bobwhite quail.
Quail hunting and collateral sport required a considerable labor force. That force was provided by Southern whites, formerly share croppers, and descendants of African slaves. The interdependence of the three peoples-rich Yankees, crackers, and blacks, made a witches' brew for a brand new culture. Nested in the affections and resentments of these long, close associations live the haunting characters of Crossing Bully Creek, Margaret Erhart's highly literary Milkweed Prize novel. And what characters they are.
Erhart's style is evocative of both Faulkner and Hemingway. By restraint and a slow revealing of secrets in scenes from Longbrow's history over four decades, she creates a gripping story through characters the reader sees lurking in the shadows of Longbrow's ancient trees.
Erhart knows first hand the people and place of which she writes. She has long spent winters on a plantation like her mythical Longbrow, a part of her family heritage. Crossing Bully Creek is her fourth novel, her earlier Old Love, Augusta Cotton and Unusual Company having attracted considerable critical acclaim.

Living Dangerously.......2005-05-27

It's always dangerous for a book or writer to invite comparisons with a great writer, because this almost always leaves the inviter looking smaller. Thus Crossing Bully Creek is living dangerously by inviting comparions with William Faulkner. Though the publisher is prudent enough not to mention Faulkner or other famous southern writers on the jacket, its inevitable that any literate reader will immediately think: Faulkner. For starters, there's the cover: an antebellum mansion set behind a canopy of magnolia trees. Then there's the jacket storyline blurb: the owner of a plantation that's seen better days is dying, and a whole family and a whole southern world seem to be swirling with him to some sort of reckoning, as seen through multiple viewpoints. Now you are thinking not just Faulkner, but As I Lay Dying. The blurb also says that the story moves back and forth between the 1920s and the 1960s, and now you are thinking: The Sound and the Fury--and even Faulkner couldn't live up to The Sound and the Fury. Maybe you notice that the publisher is from Minnesota, and even though Milkweed is one of the treasures of American publishing today, you still know that Minnesota is about the last place where the National Barbeque Association would hold their annual cook-off. Not only that, the jacket says that the author was born in New York City (at this point in the salsa commercial the cowboys around the campfire would say in unison: NEW YORK CITY?!?!) and went to school in Iowa and lives in Arizona. And she is proposing to write about life in the south?
But not so fast there. Margaret Erhart wouldn't stand a chance in the annual bad Faulkner parody contest. She is the genuine goods, a graceful writer with her own voice and a story worth hearing. Just for starters, this story is set mainly at the end of the 1960s, an era Faulkner and other famous southern writers never lived to have a chance to come to grips with, an era of dramatic social change--or was it? One of the strengths of a novel with multiple viewpoints is that different characters are moving at their own speeds in their own orbits. Both the story of the times and the story of the family can look pretty different depending on whose eyes you look through. Indeed, the multiple viewpoints mean that you can either view the whole book as the story of a time as seen through the experience of a family, or the story of a family with the backdrop of a particular time. The multiple viewpoints also mean that every reader can take a particular personal interest in a different character or storyline and end up having a unique experience of the book. However you add up the whole, Erhart brings her own strengths to it. She has a keen poetic eye for the telling symbol or incident. She has a tender but not naive eye for human drama and family dynamics--and here's where women writers may have some advantages over the male writers whose heads are still ringing from the cannons and lost honor of the Civil War.
There are lots of poetic jewels in here, and not just sparkling word-images but meaningful sums. Here, almost at random, is one, occuring on Christmas Day: "Lewis had the whole long holy day to think on what he believed, and he sat down at the kitchen table intending to turn his mind in that direction. But it was an old man's mind, full of gravel, full of foolish starry shapes and dusty roads untraveled and the weak cry of birds at dusk and the caw-caw of crows in the morning....He believed in blackbirds, yes he did. Now, was that enough? That might be enough. But oughtn't he think on it until he could say why?"
My favorite image in the book is a stroke of poetic genius. (Don't read further if you don't want to spoil the surprise) One of the characters is the granddaughter of Union General William T. Sherman, who makes a brief but seemingly unimportant appearance by letter along the way. But in the end the cremated ashes of the plantation owner end up in the passed-down battle-dented metal cigar can that Sherman had carried with him in his march across the south. Now there's a punch of a symbol for the fate of the plantation south--a burned-up man in a can for long-burned-up cigars, cigars no doubt of Virgina slave-grown tobacco Sherman found delicious after he lit them with the same hand that lit the plantation mansions of the south on fire.

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