Archive - October 2014

Rush of Shadows (historical fiction) by Catherine Bell (Brazil 1966–68) Washington Writers Publishing House October 2014 384 pages $17.95 (paperback) Reviewed by Reilly Ridgell (Micronesia 1971–73) • Here’s Catherine Bell’s first sentence of her novel, Rush of Shadows: It was a beautiful country, though I hated and feared it, coming over the mountains with the wagon staggering on a gimpy wheel, black crags towering over the track, the sky blue and thick as a flatiron, and the vultures turning and turning on the hot wind, waiting for somebody to die. Wow. Now here was some finely crafted prose worthy to open a novel. Was the whole book to be this way? Well it was, and much of the many themes woven together in this story of the settling of northern California can be discerned in that first sentence. Especially the vultures. And as I read through the book I was . . .

Child of Shadows by John Coyne (Ethiopia 1962-64) Seventh Window Publications, $6.99 (e-book) Reviewed by Bob Arias (Colombia 1964-66) Coyne drops us into the subterranean world that exists beneath New York City and a world of tunnels under the Lower Level of Grand Central Station. A world filled with rats, more and bigger rats, garbage, violence and young bodies. We find ourselves looking at a twelve year old boy that is found near a crime scene. The boy is bald with no eyebrows, not speaking…a living dead. The chief social worker, Melissa Vaughn thinks the boy’s name is Adam, and wants to help him re-connect with society. Little does Melissa know what she will encounter as she takes Adam away from New York City and deep into the Appalachian Mountains. You will encounter adventure with potters that throw, excitement in rural Appalachia, and murders….lots of them! Some well written love . . .

My Turn Reflections of a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone by Betsy Small Campbell (Sierra Leone 1984–87) For the Concord, New Hampshire, Monitor Friday, October 3, 2014 (Published in print: Friday, October 3, 2014) (This is Part One in a two-part series. Look for the conclusion in tomorrow’s Forum.) . NO ONE WHO LIVED through the well-documented “blood diamond war” in Sierra Leone has forgotten the terrifying sound of an approaching automatic weapon. Still today, the loud noises of thunder, fireworks, a honking horn can cause panic. Millions of people in this mountainous West African country have fought to put the nightmare of 11 years of bloody civil chaos behind them. The conflict has been over for more than a decade, but the harrowing scars of war are everywhere. There are thousands of amputees, and the elders who should have been around to guide the next generation are . . .

The October “Peace Corps Update” email announced the winners of the Peace Corps’ second-annual “Blog It Home” competition. Blogs by more than 350 PCVs were submitted, and the winners were chosen via Facebook voting. In September the 9 winning “Top Bloggers,” authors of 8 blogs were invited to Washington and participated in a Third Goal spree during which they spoke at the White House, in schools for under-served students, to Girl Scouts and on the Voice of America. Visit the each of the winning blogs and read about how these PCVs are living the life! From Albania, Jill Conway’s “Holy Shqip Xhilli is in Albania” From Cameroon,  Anna Nathanson’s  “Anna Does Pangea“ From China, Keith and Heather May’s  Sponge and Slate From the Dominican Republic, Bronwen Raff’s  “Bea, Vea, Bella: Mensajes from a PCV in the Dominican Republic” From Guinea, Sara Laskowksi’s  “Sara in Peace Corps Guinea: 27 Months of Service . . .

To purchase any of these books from Amazon.com, click on the book cover, the bold book title, or the publishing format you would like — and Peace Corps Worldwide, an Amazon Associate, will receive a small remittance that will help support our annual writers awards. • Searching for Normal in the Wake of the Liberian War (A volume in the Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights series) by Sharon Alane Abramowitz (Cote d’Ivoire 2000–2002) University of Pennsylvania Press July 2014 280 pages $65.00 (hardback) • I Know How to Hola For children starting language-immersion school. (English and Spanish Edition) by Susanne Aspley (Thailand 1989–91), illustrated by Lucas Richards Self-published 2012 $14.99 (hardcover) • I Know How to Nî Hâo For children starting language-immersion school. (English and Chinese Edition) by Susanne Aspley (Thailand 1989–91), illustrated by Lucas Richards Self-published 2013 36 pages $14.99 (hardcover) • Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small . . .