Monthly Archives: June 2011

by | June 30, 2011 · 2:22 pm

Alice E. Sink. Ain’t No Bears Out Tonight. Kernersville, NC: Alabaster Book Publishing, 2010.

It is the summer of 1951 in the fictional town of Piedmont, North Carolina and nearby Burnett Mill Village. For the fifty-odd years since Piedmont was founded by a band of upright gentleman, it has always appeared to be the very model of a wholesome community. But when Miss Amelia Miller is found murdered in her home, the peaceful citizens are forced to remember uncomfortable secrets they would rather forget. Frannie Cline, the little girl next door, finds her imagination gripped by Miss Amelia’s collection of antiques; in particular, a beautiful silver and opal pinkie ring. Unbeknownst to Frannie, the ring represents a dark time in Miss Amelia’s and Piedmont’s shared history, when social mores possessed greater value than human life.

Sink explores these towns using a large, diverse cast of characters that draws the reader back and forth in time between 1900 and 1951. Filled not only with murder but also racial and social conflict, the book gives the reader a taste of how attitudes began to change in small North Carolina towns in the first half of the 20th century.

Due to descriptions of sexuality and violence, this book is recommended for older teens and adults.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010, 2010-2019, Docufiction, Historical, Mystery, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Piedmont, Sink, Alice E., Suspense/Thriller

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by | · 2:19 pm

Deborah J. Ledford. Snare. Kernersville, NC: Second Wind Publishing, 2010.

Steven Hawk and Inola Walela, Swain County’s best police detectives, are back in Deborah J. Ledford’s sequel to 2009’s Staccato. This time, they have bigger problems than a crazed sociopath. Katina Salvo, a young Native American emerging as the next musical megastar, is coming to Bryson City, North Carolina to perform her first live concert ever. Unfortunately, at the root of her fame lie two ominous figures determined to seek her out and silence her music forever. One, recently released from prison for a brutal crime against Katina’s family, wants to finish the job. What motivates the second is more uncertain, but no less deadly. Hawk, plagued by the demons of a recent tragedy, is determined to protect the singer no matter the cost. But when he and Katina are brutally attacked on the night of the performance, it is clear that the cost may be his life and everything he holds dear.

Ranging across the United States from Nebraska to California to North Carolina and finally the Taos Pueblo Indian Reservation in New Mexico, this gripping thriller turns on themes of family, race, and the great courage necessary for us to make our own destinies.

Due to some scenes of violence and sexuality, this book is recommended for older teens and adults only.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2010, 2010-2019, Ledford, Deborah J., Mountains, Mystery, Novels in Series, Romance/Relationship, Suspense/Thriller, Swain

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by | June 29, 2011 · 10:46 am

Frances O’Roark Dowell. Ten Miles Past Normal. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2011.

High school is a period of change – awkward, confusing change.  Most people hope to fit in and to just be normal, a desire that Janie Gorman knows all too well.  As the resident “Farm Girl” of Manneville High School, Janie’s debut to the ninth grade comes with a reputation for having hay stuck in her hair and the smell of goat dung on her shoes (cute ballet flats, unfortunately).  Living on a farm used to be cool, but now most people would rather Janie stay far away.  To make matters worse, no one in her circle of friends has the same lunch as she does, so Janie ends up spending the lunch period in the library.  She has never felt so lonely and confused.

Fortunately, Janie is still best friends with Sarah, and they share everything together – encouragement in this new phase of their lives, a crush on Jeremy Fitch, and a project for their “Great Girls and Women” class.  The project, which focuses on inspirational female figures, introduces the girls to Manneville history.  During the 1960s, three local citizens established a Freedom School that taught individuals how to read and write so that they could vote.  This act was extremely dangerous but also incredibly meaningful, and it inspires Janie and Sarah.  Janie realizes that being called “Farm Girl” is better than other names.  In the meantime, she makes friends with some unlikely schoolmates, finds that Jeremy Fitch is not Prince Charming, and even gets thrown in jail.  No, Janie’s nowhere near normal – she’s extraordinary!

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Children & Young Adults, Dowell, Frances O'Roark, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Piedmont

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by | June 28, 2011 · 5:27 pm

Bobbie Pyron. A Dog’s Way Home. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2011.

Abby Whistler, age eleven, knows that Tam is her true north star. It doesn’t matter that Tam is a Sheltie; nothing feels more right than when they are together. But then the unthinkable happens: a terrible accident, and Tam and Abby are separated with hundreds of miles dividing them. Still, Abby refuses to stop believing that her Tam will return, and the little Sheltie, filled with an indomitable spirit, will do anything to see his girl again.  Both Tam and Abby make new friends, encounter heartbreak, and discover their strength as they desperately attempt to reunite.

Bobbie Pyron has crafted a novel filled with the magic and dangerous beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains and its inhabitants- an inspiring tale of determination and the power of love. Although highly suspenseful, this heartwarming tale will delight both parents and children, and you will cheer for the intrepid Abby Whistler and her true north star, the sweet and soulful Tam.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Buncombe, Caldwell, Children & Young Adults, Henderson, Mountains, Pyron, Bobbie, Suspense/Thriller, Transylvania, Watauga

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by | June 23, 2011 · 4:41 pm

Mark Schweizer. The Bass Wore Scales. Hopkinsville, KY: St. James Music Press, 2006.

The plot moves along at a leisurely pace in this, the fifth book in Schweizer’s Liturgical Mysteries series.  Hayden is experiencing writers block, so he is talked into a bit of competitive writing. Several locals want to enter a bad writing contest, and Hayden is certain that this kind of challenge will help jump-start his creative process.  St. Barnabas Episcopal Church is once again the site of mishaps and humor–the church is now sponsoring a NASCAR team and bad luck with the birds at the Pentecost service leads yet another rector to leave town under a cloud. But at least this time St. Barnabas is not the scene of a murder–that dubious honor goes to New Fellowship Baptist Church.  The pastor of the church, Brother Kilroy, is found dead in his study.  Although it appears that he was killed by Kokomo, a gorilla, Hayden knows that things are not always what they appear to be.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2006, Humor, Mountains, Mystery, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Schweizer, Mark, Watauga

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by | · 4:38 pm

Henry Joe Liverman. Taking Stock: Life and Death at Juniper Bay. Columbia, NC: Sweet Bay Tree Books, 2001.

When a baby is coming, preparations can keep the whole family busy.  In Juniper Bay, North Carolina, three children are born around Christmas 1924, much to the delight of their families.  For two of the grandfathers, however, their attention is on making plans for another life event: their deaths.  Carson Calhoun and Titus Paine know that their time is near, so they begin to make arrangements for their families and their legacies.  In the midst of the joy that comes with new life, Carson and Titus are coming to terms with the end of their time on earth with their families.  As the two men make their wishes known, readers are introduced to the colorful townspeople of tiny Juniper Bay.

Furr County is a fictitious place, thought to be based on Tyrrell County.

Taking Stock: Life and Death at Juniper Bay was meant to be the first in the “Juniper Bay” series, but the author died unexpectedly in 2003 before any other books were published.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2001, Coast, Liverman, Henry Joe, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Tyrrell

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by | June 17, 2011 · 4:26 pm

Sarah Martin Byrd. Guardian Spirit. Athens, OH: Lucky Press, 2011.

Survival for Millie and her two young children, Sadie and Sammy, requires thoughtful planning, strong willpower, and magic. When Millie finally musters the courage to leave her abusive husband, Brad, in Texas and to hide in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, she knows that she is walking into a world of uncertainty. Brad is likely to look for her with a vengeance, so Millie must distrust most people. The medication she needs for her cancer treatment makes using aliases impossible. Finally, nearly a quarter century has passed since she saw her beloved grandmother, Ann. Is she still alive? Will she want to see her long-lost granddaughter? Will contacting Ann put her life in danger?

As Millie, Sadie, and Sam make a cozy home in Ann’s abandoned cabin, Millie introduces her children to the nature of the mountains. Life goes well until Brad begins to hunt for his family and locates Ann.  The family appears to be in jeopardy, and it would be if it were not for Millie’s new doctor, Dr. Townsend. He has been having strange visions of the family, and his elderly Cherokee grandmother tells him about links between the Trail of Tears and Millie’s family’s ordeal. Dr. Townsend and his grandmother are with Millie, Ann, and the children when Brad finds them, and they protect them. When Sadie and Sammy witness their father’s inexplicable disappearance, they realize that their mother was right: there is magic in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Byrd, Sarah Martin, Children & Young Adults, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Suspense/Thriller

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by | · 4:22 pm

Bruce E. Johnson. An Unexpected Guest. Asheville, NC: Knock on Wood Publications, 2011.

The Pink Lady of the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, has mystified guests of the grand hotel for nearly a century. Although visitors over the years have suspected paranormal activity, no one can explain the Pink Lady’s presence. Who is she, who was she, and how did she meet her unfortunate end?

In this novel, the origin of the Pink Lady is revealed. August 27, 1918 is a special evening for the Grove Park Inn. Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs have come to the resort, and their attendance is providing the inn much publicity and fanfare. During an evening movie, however, the body of a young, beautiful woman in a silk pink dress is discovered. Did she fall? Did she jump? Was she pushed? As Fred Seely, president of the Grove Park Inn, races to cover up the crime scene, he panics over what this incident could do to his struggling business and unpleasant family ties (his father-in-law is the inn’s namesake). Was Seely set up by his disgruntled brother-in-law? Seely’s skill in meticulous planning, much like his designs of the hotel, will become very useful as he makes evidence of the Pink Lady’s death disappear. Concealing her spirit, however, will prove much more difficult.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Buncombe, Historical, Johnson, Bruce E., Mountains, Mystery

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by | June 10, 2011 · 5:30 pm

Jessica Beck Evil Éclairs New York: St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2011.

Suzanne Hart was mighty angry when local talk show host Lester Moorefield spouted off about how donuts and similar baked goods contribute to the nation’s obesity epidemic.  Moorefield even went so far as to urge his listeners to boycott Suzanne’s donut shop for a week.  As mad as Suzanne was, she did not choke Moorefield by forcing an éclair down his throat.  But when Moorefield appears to experience death by éclair, Suzanne is Suspect #1.

In fact, Moorefield was strangled and the éclair added after the fact.  But Suzanne is still the most likely suspect in the eyes of many people, so Suzanne, her best friend Grace, and George, a regular customer who is a retired cop, begin to investigate the crime.  They know that Moorefield angered many people with his incendiary on-air attacks.  When they start to dig they find a whole lot more–an estranged wife in the next town, a prison record, and financial shenanigans that includes embezzling $2.7 million.  Just when Suzanne thinks she is making progress on the case, Cupid complicates everything–Jake Bishop, a state police investigator and Suzanne’s boyfriend, is assigned to the case, and the local chief of police’s divorce has become final and he has his sights set on an old flame–Suzanne’s mom.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Beck, Jessica, Mountains, Mystery, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places

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by | June 3, 2011 · 8:49 am

Anna Jean Mayhew. The Dry Grass of August. New York: Kensington Books, 2011.

In 1954, everything changed for the Watts family. June, also known as Jubie, is thirteen years old and the second child of four. Jubie narrates the story of this period when her family went from being picture perfect – complete with a nice house in Charlotte, North Carolina, a booming business, and a hard-working and motherly maid – to broken and disgraced. Although she faces physical abuse from her father, feels disappointed about his criminal activities at work, and is disillusioned about her parents’ marriage, Jubie’s true awakening occurs on a family vacation. As they travel throughout the South, she becomes more aware of segregation and prejudiced attitudes towards African Americans. Because she is especially close to her maid, Mary, Jubie begins to feel conflicted about racial tensions and what she has always known as ‘normal’. While the family is in Georgia, Jubie, her older sister, and Mary are attacked walking home from a tent revival. Mary, offering herself to protect the sisters, is assaulted and murdered. As Jubie tries to come to terms with Mary’s violent death and the many ways in which her family is changing, she realizes the power of her own convictions.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Historical, Mayhew, Anna Jean, Mecklenburg, Piedmont

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