Reading frenzy continues...

Am currently reading Mississippi Sissy by Kevin Sessums...a coming-of-age memoir...even as young as 3 1/2, Kevin felt "different"...he wanted a skirt to wear, he wanted to be Arlene Francis from What's My Line and wear cat-eye glasses, he pranced instead of running, he wanted to stay indoors and listen to the women talk instead of run wild outside with his younger brother and sister. His father was a promising NBA candidate who gave up that career to "come home" to his wife and son. His father constantly called him a sissy when he was in a good mood and a g-d sissy when he wasn't. His father died in a car crash when Kevin was 8....and a year later his mother was dead of esophageal cancer. This is his story of growing up during the 60s and 70s raised by his grandparents, doted on by the family maid, and befriended by Eudora Welty. Would probably be a good YA book in a liberal community/school.

Loved The Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor! Set during the 1960s, Dr. Barry Laverty is fresh out of med school when he becomes an assistant to Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly in a small northern Irland town. It doesn't take Dr. Laverty long to find out that one must sometimes throw out "standard practice" when dealing with the town's odd assortment of patients. This story is filled with humor, lots of side stories, and great dialogue....a fast-paced and entertaining read.

The Midwife's Tale by Gretchen Moran Laskas is set in West Virginia during the 1930s. This is the story of 3 generations of mifwives while mainly focusing on the youngest of the three--Elizabeth Whitely. At times the knowledge becomes a burden to the teenage Elizabeth and eventually she faces a crisis when she learns that not all births are welcome.....and not all love is welcome. This was enjoyable for the layers of knowledge and levels of relationships portrayed along with truths about love and loss. I think this would probably be a good YA book in high school libraries.