Archive - 2011

In Search of the Rose Notes by Emily Arsenault (South Africa 2004–06) William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins $14.99 (paperback) 369 pages July 2011 Reviewed by Susan O’Neill (Venezuela 1973-74) SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD ROSE BANKS routinely babysat Nora and her friend Charlotte after school in 1990, while the sixth-graders waited for Charlotte’s parents to return from work. Then Rose vanished one afternoon in November, after walking Nora home. Had she run away? Or was the truth darker, an unspeakable violation of the peaceful New England town where they lived? Stricken by the knowledge that she had been the last person to see the charming, irreverent Rose before she disappeared, Nora reluctantly joined Charlotte in an attempt to solve the mystery, with help from Charlotte’s beloved Time/Life books on The Occult. It was a fruitless collaboration that ultimately derailed the girls’ childhood friendship. Fast-forward to May, 2006: Charlotte, who teaches in the same . . .

Mule: A Novel of Moving Weight by Tony D’Souza (D’Ivoire 2000–02, Madagascar 2002-03) from Booklist Blissfully happy in a new relationship and orbiting the trendy Austin party scene, James and Kate thought they had everything figured out. When the downturn not yet called the Great Recession and an unexpected pregnancy turn their world upside down, they cut costs by relocating to a tiny cabin in Northern California. There James is introduced to the underground world of primo-marijuana transport, in which the wages for a week’s cross-country driving could comfortably support a family for months. After the first payload turns into repeated California-Florida trips, James must decide how much time he’s willing to devote to his risky new career. Without glorifying or condemning the couple’s choices, D’Souza articulates the existential tensions that affect so many of America’s recession generation. His authorial voice is sharp and crisp, eschewing flowery prose for a . . .

On Thursday, September 22, 6 p.m. The Peace Corps writers in Washington, D.C. for the 50th Anniversary will meet up at the Black Rooster Pub, 1919 L Street (around the corner from the Peace Corps Office). The meeting place has been arranged by Peace Corps Writers, so if you are in D.C. drop by anytime after six p.m. I’ll be there!

Mule: A Novel of Moving Weight by Tony D’Souza (Ivory Coast 2000—02; Madagascar 2002—03) Mariner Books September 2011 304 pages $14.95 Reviewed by Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1990-93) AFTER YOU READ Tony D’Souza’s Mule: A Novel of Moving Weight, you’ll never approach late-night driving the same way again. You’ll imagine you’re carrying thousands of dollars worth of marijuana in your backseat. You’ll check your speed every five minutes. Am I driving too fast? Too slow? You’ll look for cops everywhere. It’s a testament to D’Souza’s talent that one feels such a powerful connection to James, the novel’s drug-running protagonist, even if the closest one might have come to his lifestyle is smoking an occasional joint in college  — or laughing at a soon-to-be president’s claim that he didn’t inhale. James isn’t in the illegal drug business by choice. In a troubled economy, his work (as a freelance writer) simply dried up. . . .

Robert Klein (Ghana 1961–63; 1974–75) is the winner of the Peace Corps Writers  Advancing the Mission Award for his book Being First: An Informal History of the Early Peace Corps that was published in 2010 by Wheatmark. Klein, who taught in Ghana for two years, was a member of the first Peace Corps group to go overseas. He then joined the Peace Corps program staff, serving in Kenya and in Ghana, where he was the country director from 1966 to 1968. Returning to the U.S., Klein had a career as a journeyman educator working in New Frontier and other experimental settings in the areas of remedial education and English as a second language. In 1974 he went back to Ghana, with his family, to serve another term as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Through the years he has remained close friends with his Ghanaian students whom he first taught in 1961, and has made periodic visits back to . . .

Mary Ellen Branan (Poland 1994–96) is the winner of the Peace Corps Writers Poetry Award for her collection, Weavings published in 2010 by First World Publishing. Dr. Branan lives in Bastrop, Texas, a small river town not far from Austin.  She plied a social worker career in Houston and Austin for 20 years, then returned to the graduate Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston, finishing in 1991.  As a PCV she was on the faculty of a English-teacher-training college in Pulawy, Poland, a cultural experience and a landscape that inspired a number of poems included those in Weavings. According to Karla K. Morton, Texas Poet Laureate in  2010: ” Poet Mary Branan’s work chronicles life, death, family, and even Poland, with a warmth and sophistication that only time and artistic sensitivity can bring.” Congratulations, Mary Ellen! Mary Ellen receives a special citation and a cash award from Peace Corps Writers – . . .

Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen (Tanzania 1989–90) is winner of the Peace Corps Writers’ Award for Best Children’s Writing for her book A Small Brown Dog with a Wet Pink Nose published in 2010 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and illustrated by Linzie Hunter. She is author of many highly  acclaimed books for young readers, including the young adult novel The Compound, as well as the Elizabeti’s Doll picture book series, which was inspired by her Peace Corps experience in Tanzania. Stephanie lives in Oregon with her husband, also an RPCV, and their two daughters. Donna Cardon of the Provo City Library, UT writes in the School Library Journal: Amelia wants a dog. When her persistent requests are repeatedly denied, she begins to pretend that she has a dog named “Bones,” and gradually her mother and father go along with the game. Then, when her pet “gets lost,” there is nothing for them to do but . . .

Don Gayton (Colombia 1966–69) is the winner of the Best Travel Book Award for Okanagan Odyssey: Journeys through Terrain, Terroir and Culture published in 2010 by Rocky Mountain Books. He is an ecologist and writer, whose twin interests focus on the dry landscapes of western North America. His writing includes award-winning books of popular non-fiction (Man Facing West, Okanagan Odyssey, Interwoven Wild, Kokanee, Landscapes of the Interior and The Wheatgrass Mechanism) as well as scientific articles dealing with grasslands and dry forests. Gayton served in the Peace Corps as an agricultural Volunteer in rural Colombia, and that experience had a profound influence on his life. He moved from the US to Canada during the Vietnam War years, and currently lives in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, where he works as an ecologist.  His awards include the Saskatchewan Writers Guild non-fiction award, the US National Outdoor Book Award, the Canadian Science Writers . . .

Matthew Davis (Mongolia 2000–02) is the winner of the Moritz Thomsen Peace Corps Writers Experience Award for his memoir  When Things Get Dark: A Mongolian Winter’s Tale published in 2010 by St. Martin’s Press.  Matt has just returned to the United States after a year as a Fulbright Fellow to Syria and Jordan.  He has an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of Iowa and a Master’s in International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Kristine Huntley in Booklist wrote: In 2000, at the age of 23, Davis leaves Chicago, his hometown, to travel to Mongolia to work as a teacher for the Peace Corps. Once he arrives in the small town of Tsetserleg, Davis moves into a ger, the circular tent that will be his home for the next two years, and gets to know the family whose land he is living on. He . . .