A Dangerous Journey

If you’re a fan of The Wire, I suspect that you’ll like Dodgers, one of the best books that I’ve read recently.  Bill Beverly’s novel sends four teen gang members on an odyssey to Wisconsin, where they’re tasked with killing a witness in a case against their boss.  Dodgers is many things—a literary crime novel, a coming-of-age story, a road trip saga.  In fact, the “hit” itself may be the least interesting part of the book; the real story lies in what comes before and after.

 

More Lives on the Margins

I’ve been away from short stories for too long, so I decided to pick up a collection by one of my favorites in the form, Michigan author Bonnie Jo Campbell.  Mothers, Tell Your Daughters—Campbell’s 2016 collection—is filled with stories of everyday people leading lives of disappointment and struggle.  It’s familiar ground for Campbell, but American Salvage is still (for me) the high point of her writing.

 

Building School Community

Clifton L. Taulbert’s Eight Habits of the Heart for Educators presents a lot of common-sense advice about the importance of establishing a sense of community in the school environment.  The material feels a little stretched, though; it could probably be covered within an academic journal article.