Memoirous

I was invited to Michigan’s Night for Notables at the main Capital Library—a wonder on its own. My friend Lisa Sukenic was being awarded for her Middle Grade novel in verse Miles from Motown. SEE my review here:  http://memoirouswrite.blogspot.com/2021/10/miles-from-motown-book-review.html It was a gala affair—but MOST NOTABLE was the fact that I haven’t been in a roomful of people in about 2 years! I actually took a video on my phone while in the auditorium waiting for the “event” to start. The whole thing was an EVENT. For some reason, though it wasn’t mandated, I wore a mask. I hate wearing them, not sure how I ever was able to keep one on for like forever a while back. After the awards part of the evening we ambled over to an area for a great catered reception where we stood at bar tables and ate—unmasked. All of these details are leading up to the alert I received a day or two later that people I was with tested posted for Covid. I immediately felt sick. The appropria...

Miles From Motown Lisa Sukenic Fitzroy Books, 2021 I remember moving in the middle of 4th grade—it’s the main reason I still stumble in multiplication. We were somewhere in the times table at one school and near the end at the next school. Thus, a gap. Making friends was always hard for me, much easier to find books to read—so I usually ended up in the school library. Where I discovered a book that helped bridge the gap in my heart between old and new: The Wonderful Year by Nancy Barnes For many of us who value story as a way to understand the world, there is such a book. I believe Lisa’s book will be just that. Miles From Motown is an ode to Detroit, the Motor City—and more, it is an ode to a certain time: where the Vietnam War is waging, the Blue Flu is infecting the police department, where “White Flight” is taking place as minorities exercise their right to move into the suburbs. We get the sense that Detroit and Georgia Johnson are on the cusp. Of painful decisions, of facing life...