The Summer I Was Seventeen, by Gerald Coomer, is one of the few light novels I've enjoyed reading recently.
Vicariously trekking an old mountain trail, unknown to me, but rich with history and lore, I could savor John Hunt's experiences-replete with sensory delectation.
Gerald Coomer masterfully opens a portal where both he and the reader can project themselves into the persona of the fictional character, John Hunt.
Here is an idyllic setting that becomes more and more intriguing as the days and weeks of summer vacation pass, along The Appalachian Trail, to reveal the building of a youth's delicate character.
Tooley, the warm, charismatic, fatherly yet enigmatic adult leader of the group, subtly delivers lessons of life and love to all, but especially to John, who has not only shown a need to return Tooley's affection, but who has opened himself up as the quintessential seeker.
I applaud Gerald Coomer for literarily taking sensitivity and caring a notch higher in this too often insentient and insusceptible arena of life that has been sadly referred to in song as "teenage wasteland".
I would not at all be surprised if, in the near future, this novel were to be assigned as supplemental reading for either college Adolescent Psychology or Philosophy courses, where it could be more fully understood, discussed and appreciated.

Herman Melville would like this story; it has all the elements requisite for the kind of tale he loved to tell--an all-male cast of characters, a long journey (in this case a trek in the mountains), a variety of adventures, an examination of the human psyche, and a young hero who is wrenched into the first stages of maturity.

Indeed, the narrator in The Summer I Was Seventeen seems to be an amalgamation of Ishmael and Billy Budd. John Hunt comes to the trail as uncomplicated as any one of Melville's heroes. If he is tainted with "original sin," he doesn't know it yet. If nefarious experience has darkened his heart, it is not an articulated darkness. He comes "fresh from the coinage of man"--to borrow an expression from A.E. Housman. He is Adamic.

Unlike Melville's fellows, however, John is fortunate to fall among companions who are trying to be decent human beings--who are eager to help him make the razor's-edge transition from innocence to goodness. And that entails certain realizations about the nature of existence, realizations that are always painful, always traumatic: that the world (here, the wilderness) is not always what it seems; that pain is not punitive so much as it is random; that love has a reverse side which is something akin to suffering.

What would Tooley do?
James Tooley Madison is the organizer of the hike in this book for coming-of-age boys. These boys can follow the adventures and feel the pains and joys of young John Hunt, a counselor on the hike, for it is his summer we wander in this tale of the Appalachian Trail.
But since coming-of-age boys rarely read what they should, the book works too for the parents and caregivers of those boys, who might find answers in the example set by Tooley when their sons stumble on the dilemmas of human relationship, whether they're far from home or in the next room.
Tooley is just one of the life-changing influences John Hunt walks with when he signs up as a helper on this month-long trek through the mountains of Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. Tooley is a college professor in the off-season, but he finds his rhythm and sustenance in his summers on the trail. His love of teaching invigorates and embraces the small group of hikers in his charge. His goal is their personal growth, and if the woods and the companions don't offer enough for the hikers to think about as they traipse, Tooley is OK with interjecting. Each of the hikers emerges a more worldly person than the boy who began the hike.
But this is John's Hunt's tale. We follow his sorting of teenage feelings and emotions with a nearness sometimes painful. The journey may be more stirring for a parent who has had to weigh the choices John Hunt confronts than for a teen about to make them, but the wisdom comes through, regardless.
What should happen in the life of a teenage boy in the United States often doesn't happen. The mentor, the guidance, isn't there when he needs them. John Hunt is lucky. He's on the right hike at the right time.

This repetitive "Up jumped a big black bear!" folk tale is enjoyed by "younguns" of all ages. They are delighted to find a recipe of the old woman's bakin' soda biscuits at the end. The illustrations are beautiful.

I selected this book for Pre-school Storytime and for class tours at the public library. The children loved the down home atmosphere of the story and listened in wide-eyed, open-mouthed silence until they joined in on "up popped the big brown bear."
The ending is ingenious, the pictures lovely and it was a blast to read aloud. I will definitely make this a mainstay of my read-aloud library.

I used this book as part of a lesson unit plan centering on "the good old days." The quick pace and repetitive style make this book particularly suited for use with younger students. In addition, the biscuit receipe at the end gives students the opportunity to practice those "real world" math skills.

This is the most comprehensive and inclusive book I have been able to find about the Wildflowers of the Southern Appalachain. It is very helpful in identification but is a little lacking but only slightly in some other informative plant information. It has all of the basics and I love the book to be sure. Needs to add more asides about the plants...etc..what they might have been used for. It definately has been the most helpful book to have around to identify all the flowers. I would not be without it. By far my favorite.

With 600 color photos and 1200 species described this is by far the most comprehensive book for identifying flowers of the region. It is a book for the serious who really want to name as many flowers as they can. It may be a bit too comprehensive for a beginner who just wants to find the common flowers because of the sheer quantity .

This book is a true tour de force, as Smith draws from his 20,000 photographs and 20 years of experience in the botany of the southern mountains.

The story begins with catastrophe -- as the continent of Africa rams into North America, thrusting up the Appalachian Mountains, off which run the Clinch River . . . which carves a valley so rich and bountiful that it is fought over by (get this!) paleo-Indians, "Xulan Empire" Indians, Cherokee, Shawnee, Creek, Mingo, Spanish conquistadors, English explorers, Long-hunters, pioneers, French trappers, British Colonists, Tories, Patriots . . .
Wars were fought for possession of the Clinch Valley by the Xulans vs Conquistadors; Cherokee vs Shawnee; French & Indian vs the British; Native Americans vs Settlers; Militia vs Renegade Indian Tribes; Redcoats vs Overmountain Men . . . .
The book ends with the civilization (so-called) of the valley, marked by President Andrew Jackson's decree to round up all the Cherokee at bayonet point and march them to Oklahoma . . . killing 4000 of them along the way. It's a book every young American of every ethnic background should read -- not to mention everyone else. If you can see what happened in the Clinch Valley, you can see what happened in all America.
It's also beatutifully written: here's just a sample, where the author is speaking of the ice-age hunters of the Clinch.
"Certainly the Paleo-Indians were here in the Clinch river Valley when all was frozen and the icy air made their lungs rattle. Certainly at night they held their Clovis spears tight, huddled close around their campfires and together watched the blood-red, shining eyes -- perhaps of sabre-toothed cats -- watching them so ominously from just beyond the firelight. Certainly they gazed at the unchanging stars and wondered silently if there was not more to life than ambushing those massive ice-age beasts less clever than they." (p. 13)

I'm the author of five traditionally published books myself, so I know the amount of talent and sheer hard work it took to produce APPALACHIAN GENESIS. Also, Richard and I were starving writers together back in the 1980's, so I know it took him three years to research this book, another two to write and edit it, and then two and a half years waiting for it to be published. But it was worth every moment of his time, to we who profit from his incredible patience, eloquent style and demand for historical accuracy.
I came to hate history in high school, which I identified with dull teachers droning on about the industrial revolution or some such equally numbing subject. But Richard Fulgham has written an account that is fascinating throughout and imbuded with a poet's voice. Mountains burst upward toward the "astonished" sky and there are frequent eloquent lines like, "The future of the Children of the Sun darkened as their reverence dimmed".
He has made the Clinch River Valley and its large cast of characters come alive. The prose is wonderfully lucid. The imaginative leaps he makes in order to draw the reader into scenes feel right to me. The poet pulls it off, creating moments like the harrowing buring of Mrs. Moore and the bald terror of that line, "How strange, she must have thought, to be so cold in the midst of flames."
"Appalachian Genesis" is packed with drama and strange ironies. He has produced a great book, and knowing that, just holding it in his hands should sustain him. Richard and I are literary brothers. Across time and space, I shake his hand.

Reading this book brought back memories of stories my grandparents told me. It's a good thing it was so short, because I couldn't put it down, and I was able to read it quickly. It was fascinating to read a story that seemed completly honest. I enjoyed all the detail and the fact that the book covered three generations. I am waiting for the sequel!

I am in now way an advid reader but this book jumped out at me!!!
The book was recieved at 10am in the mail and I couldnt put it down until I finished it at 1:30pm. The author has a way in his writings, that will touch every emotion of your being!!!
I laughed, cried, was scared and relieved reading this true story
of courage! This book has touched my life and I will never forget the courage it brought forth. Reading this book has taught me that if we try hard enough, we can make it through the worst of times and become better and stronger for it! God Bless.

This collection of stories is my favorite of all the Robert Morgan books I've read so far. It seems to me that the short story is Morgan's strongest literary form; whereas his novels tend to be tedious and his poetry somewhat bland, his stories often carry some genuine emotional punch. These stories, arranged in a generally chronological (in terms of the time in which the pieces are set, not when they were written or published) sequence, are all set in the Southern Appalachians, where Morgan was born and raised (although he now teaches at Cornell University). "The Tracks of Chief DeSoto," perhaps the best story in the anthology, is set in a Cherokee village at the time of the arrival of the first white explorers to visit the mountains, while "The Balm of Gilead Tree" is set in modern time. Nearly all the stories have a powerful sense of pathos, although Morgan occasionally injects a dose of grim humor. These are stories of exploitation, depression, loss, death, disappointment, and occasional small triumph. I have heard Morgan say during a lecture that he writes stories which have a sense of inevitability, whose outcomes seem to follow directly from what happens earlier in the story. He accomplishes this, although the sense of inevitability also results in a predictable approach to storytelling. Nothing happens to his characters that is unexpected or clever; they live simply and according to a cosmic plan. They are believable people, but I sometimes found myself wishing that they were a little less ordinary. I recommend this collection to lovers of Robert Morgan, as well as anyone interested in the craft of writing short stories, particularly stories with a strong sense of place. This book leaves the reader with the smell of sweat, hog, and honeysuckle lingering long after the final page is turned.

The Balm of Gilead Tree is a strong collection of stories by Robert Morgan whose Gap Creek has been selected as Ophrah's Book Club Selection for January.

Ranging over three centuries, The Balm of Gilead Tree shows Morgan's mastery and displays a wider scope of his grasp of history and language than his novels.

I've skied most of the routes in this book, since I picked it up in 1990. The trail info is great - complete and reliable. However, there is too much historical and contextual information. I love to read it, but I hate to carry the extra weight in my pack. I suppose I could photocopy the specifics, or acquire an extra copy and rip out the needed sections. But a small-format book, much like a serious climbers guide, would be much better. (P.S., when's the new edition going to come out??)

I've skied many of the trails,following Goodman's extraordinarily detailed descriptions. It is wonderfully written with terrific suggestions and leads. My goal is to complete each one of his recommendations.Each one, so far, is a winner.

A very good book on the historical presence of North America's largest cat. Full of interesting anectdotes, photos and stories that brought the presence of this large cat to life for eastern North America. A very good read if you want to learn about this large cat, where it use to be found and why has it disapeared from our landscape.

Parker's book is an absolute must for the eastern cougar researcher, searcher, and tracker. Parker details most efforts to discoverrecent data on the animals, reviews their history in America, and documents (through photos and text) examples of eastern panther taxidermy mounts found in museums and collections throughout the eastern section of the United States. To have all of this information in one place is worth the asking price of the book alone. Great job Mr. Parker! Loren Coleman, Coauthor

This book gives the basics of making moonshine, not for instruction (though there is enough to get started), but as practical background for understanding the history and life of home whiskey makers. This is no "dry" history, rather it focuses on the more colorful aspects and characters of the craft. Relates how both government greed and criminal corruption helped destroy what had been a lawful legacy of rural American culture.

An artful mix of verbatim quotes and scholarly research, you cheer when Thomas Jefferson lifts the excise tax, and you are saddened by the corruption that Prohibition unleashed. Above all you admire the integrity and the intense vitality of the colorful moonshiners, and wish they had been your friends. I hope that, somewhere, in some hidden valley, on some sheltered branch of a river, there's somebody out there tonight keeping the art and craft of "corn likker" alive.

Thank you, Mr. Dabney, for a wonderful book.

Interesting if you are from Ohio and have knowledge of the State etc... but pretty much is consistent with what I would call more of an loosely written reference book. Some detail seems to have been overlooked whereas other aspects were delved into deeply.

R Douglas Hurt has provided us with a solid survey of Ohio's history from its first settlement to the end of the frontier period. He manages to cover the various Indian tribes and their unique problems in dealing with the white man. He covers the economic developments, the process of urbanization, the religious differences, the cultural differences of the early settlers as well as the conflicts between Britain and the United States and how they affected the people (including the Indians)of the Ohio country. In later years Hurt discusses the political struggles between the Federalists and Republicans which ultimately led to statehood during the Jefferson administration. He ends by detailing the conflicts between the Republicans and the Jacksonian democrats and what the conflicts meant to the people of the Ohio frontier. His discussion of canal building is also informative.

One can find a wealth of detail here about particular regions and towns and how they grew and developed. The book, however, cannot be awarded five stars as Hurt's writing style is very matter-of-fact and (although he points out that the Western Reserve was slow to develop) the northeastern section of the state is given little attention. All in all, however, a book well worth reading for anyone interested in Ohio history or the development of the Northwest Territory.

I've read all four books in this series, and find them excellent reading and fascinating history. Being a native of northeast Ohio, I enjoyed finally learning some of the history of my birth state - something not taught very well in my public school.

When do we see "Michigan Frontier?"