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High on the Big Stone Heart    

Some weave words in a way that transports us into a different place and outside of time. Others venture into the world, observe and return to report accurately on what was seen and experienced.

But relatively few write and report in a fascinating combination of meaning, poetic prose and, if a reader is particularly lucky, sparkles of humor (or in this case humour). As fortunate as Charles Wilkins feels to live by Lake Superior, we Lake Superiorites are fortunate to have a skilled chronicler here to tell us about ourselves and our place and oft-times to venture forth into the wider world to bring back a few gems to admire. Best of all, Charlie is a do-er as well as a watcher. (He hiked from Thunder Bay to New York, for gosh sakes.)

For people who like to read, Charlie’s work is simply a pleasure. In this book of short pieces, the title story of which unfolds along the north shores of Lake Superior, he strays outside of our own boreal borders for good adventures to tell. He pokes fun at himself and his mishaps, he gives insightful observations about universal experiences and, with honed reporting skills, introduces us to a smattering of northern characters without judgment but with full-bodied descriptions. He uses the same unsentimental treatment to paint portraits of our region, being, as he says, “a singer of the song, no matter how joyous or bleak.”

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Of Vikings & Voyageurs 

Stir “The Da Vinci Code” and “National Treasure” into the Northwoods and the resulting mixture would be the plot of this latest book by Jack Salmela.

Jack combines a mystery plot begun centuries ago with regional history, especially Nordic (we’re talking rune stones), Scottish and French-Canadian. The outcome of finding certain artifacts could rewrite history … and we all know from other tales how the “powers that be” frown on alterations.

Books like this can be history lessons with a spoonful of sugar and there is little doubt that Jack knows his history stuff; in fact, he dedicated this book to 18th-century explorers Alexander Mackenzie and David Thompson.

Early on, the plot needs a bit of reader effort to understand the rapid-fire linking of Persian, Nordic, Scottish and North American histories to critical artifacts hidden in our woods.

It also takes time to sort the character relations and to see their motivations as we zip among plot lines and from one part of the world to another.

But Jack’s writing draws you in, most characters are indeed likeable and the settings (leaping between history to our northern regions to Europe) move the plot nicely.

This entertaining soup of intrigue, danger, history, voyageurs and Vikings makes for a fine last-days-of-summer kick-back afternoon on a Lake Superior shore.

- Konnie LeMay

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Minong - The Good Place 

This history book was written to solve a mystery that Timothy Cochrane discovered while working at Isle Royale National Park.

He found few references tying the archipelago to the Ojibway people on the mainland. It made no sense that the Grand Portage band, whose lands ranged from Nipigon Bay in Ontario to Beaver Bay in Minnesota, did not interact with islands about 12 miles across the water. Or that’s what the records indicated.

Tim became superintendent of Grand Portage National Monument and got the chance to talk with Portage elders. Their oral histories confirmed his suspicion that the chunk of Isle Royale history connected to the local Ojibway people had been overlooked.

In this book, Tim draws meticulous paths to his conclusions. The section on the Ojibway name for Isle Royale - Minong - is a good example. He traces the word’s use on maps and early documents to its most reasonable meaning in this case, which can be elusive in a language as complex as Anishinaabemowin. He settles on “the good place.”

Facts and figures are enjoyably woven with quality writing. Maps and the image section add to the pleasure and understanding. (One reader regret: black-and-white rather than color images of Howard Sivertson and Carl Gawboy paintings and Travis Novitsky photos). Anyone interested in Isle Royale’s story, in Ojibway people or in the history of Lake Superior will appreciate this book.

- Konnie LeMay

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