Events Calendar
In This Section
Review: You've never seen 'Sound of Music' like this
Cleveland R&B vocalist to make Akron debut
Actor Bernsen enjoying ride of derby movie project
End of an era: Oprah ending show after 25 years
Ohio native takes second place on 'Project Runway'
'New Moon' casts spell on fans
'The Blind Side' scores as feel-good crowd-pleaser
'Planet 51' is sci-fi animation lite
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
NFL star Chris Spielman's wife loses cancer battle
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
Angel Food Ministries helps stretch grocery dollars
Man allegedly paid teens to spit in his face
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
For your Saturday entertainment …
Akron Zips:
Hitchens leads Zips in second-half comeback
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Holmgren expresses interest in Browns position
Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 13-47
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Indiana Pacers – Here’s to LBJ and Free Throws
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
Headed For Disaster
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Federal Judge Declares DOMA Unconstitutional
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Published on Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sandwich eating is an imperfection; Believers don't mix food together. So Rosemary Elizabeth learns to eat each item separately. And she must dress the right side of her body first: right sleeve, her leg through her skirt, and right stocking and shoe. (That's just for girls, though; boys go left side first.)
There are so many things to learn when one is new to a Shaker community, as is clear from Imperfections, Bath author Lynda Durrant's fascinating new book for 10-to-14-year olds. The story starts in early 1862, when Mrs. Lipking brings her three children, including 9-year-old Isaac and baby Anne, to the Shaker village of Pleasant Hill, Ky., for refuge from their drunken father.
It's nice to have plenty to eat and clean clothes, and Rosemary Elizabeth likes working in the kitchen, making applesauce and cracking eggs for birthday cake (her birthday now is the same as founder Mother Ann Lee's, as all Believers share it). She is grateful to the Shakers for taking them in.
She's not as grateful that her name has been changed to Sister Bess, that she just can't seem to please irascible Sister Agnetha, or that she can visit with Isaac only once a day, under supervision (Believers practice complete separation of the sexes).
All around, the Civil War comes closer. The war isn't discussed, because it's worldly, but also because some sisters harbor secret loyalties — in Kentucky, a slave state and a Union state at the same time, there's danger in conversation. On a dairy-selling journey with Sister Agnetha, Rosemary Elizabeth has an alarming encounter with Morgan's Raiders and an unauthorized conversation with friendly young Brother Daniel, who has smiled at her during worship service (always sit with your palms facing up).
As in My Last Skirt, Durrant's exceptional story of real-life Jennie Hodgers, who masqueraded as a man to serve in the Civil War, Imperfections is enormously effective in showing what a young woman makes of her limited choices at a crucial time in American history.
A new book from Durrant is always welcome. Imperfections (176 pages, hardcover) costs $16 from Clarion Books, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Feller, other greats
form doubleheader
At 90, Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller has had time to accumulate plenty of wisdom, and has earned the right to dispense it. In Bob Feller's Little Blue Book of Baseball Wisdom, the beloved Tribe right-hander reminisces about his experiences in the big leagues, other famous ballplayers he admires and his World War II Navy service.
The book is divided into nine sections called ''Bob Feller's Nine Tenets for Success,'' and they include virtues like family values, loyalty and self-confidence. He uses his father to define the last chapter — ''Selflessness.''
Feller will sign his book at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at Legacy Village in Lyndhurst. (Line tickets are required and only books will be signed — no balls or other memorabilia.) Little Blue Book (176 pages, hardcover) costs $22.95 from Triumph Books.
Feller is the first player quoted in Yogi Was Up with a Guy on Third Hall of Famers Recall Their Favorite Baseball Games Ever, another book from Triumph that's pretty much described by the title. Feller cites a game in Yankee Stadium on April 16, 1940, in which he pitched the first no-hitter against the Yankees since 1919.
Another Tribe alumnus here is Dennis Eckersley. (An index would be great.) Yogi Was Up (253 pages, hardcover) costs $19.95 and is compiled by Boston-area writer Maureen Mullen.
Events
Akron Woman's City Club (732 W. Exchange St.) — Karen J. Hasley will address the club's Book Session lunch and sign her splendid Where Home Is and two other fine Western-themed novels. Reservations required; the cost is $13. Call 330-472-6394. 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Joseph-Beth Booksellers (Legacy Village, Lyndhurst) — Cleveland industrialist Al Weatherhead signs The Power of Adversity: Tough Times Can Make You Stronger, Wiser, and Better, 7 p.m. Wednesday; Michael Ruhlman signs Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, 7 p.m. Thursday.
Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson) — Hudson author Bill Fissinger signs his book Dance at Bougival, a novel about two people who connect over a Renoir painting. 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Barnes & Noble (4015 Medina Road, Bath Township) — Author Eric Pirogowicz signs Fifty My One Year Journey, about his milestone birthday and living in Akron, 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday.
— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal
Send information about books of local interest to Lynne Sherwin, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309 or lsherwin@thebeaconjournal.com. Event notices should be sent at least two weeks in advance.
Get the full article here.
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