Sid Miller explores seven routes from the coast to the mountains, from inner-city Portland to the Idaho border. Dot-to-Dot, Oregon, a collection of fifty poems, travels through the cities, towns, and monuments of Oregon. Using these locales as a background, three voices narrate the author’s loving but critical relationship with the state he calls home.
Zagreb, Exit South is a deep, melancholy book about the resignation of the 40 year old, about people who have given up on life, who can only exist on the street or in bars because they fear and dread going home to their high-rise caverns in New Zagreb where the rules of an allegedly organized world reign. But Popovic’s characters have no patience with the lies of this world. They have no patience because they have neither homes nor a homeland: they have lost all their illusions.
What does poetry mean to today’s teenagers? We Belong In History: Writing with William Stafford brings together middle and high school students from around Oregon to answer this question. This unique anthology mixes beloved Poet Laureate William Stafford’s poems with verses by young writers inspired by his work, his passions, and his legacy. Both an anthology for readers and a toolkit for teachers, this book also includes lesson plans to help instructors nurture a passion for poetry, for William Stafford, and for writing in the next generation.
The women’s suffrage movement is in full swing in 1912 Portland, Oregon—the last holdout state on the West Coast. Miriam desperately wants to work at her father’s printing shop, but when he refuses she decides to dedicate herself to the suffrage movement, demanding rights for women and a different life for herself. Amidst the uncertainty of her future, Miriam’s attention is diverted by the mysterious Serakh, whose sudden, unexplained appearances and insistent questions lead Miriam to her great-grandmother’s Jewish prayer shawl—and to her destiny. With this shawl, Miriam is taken back in time to inspire the Daughters of Zelophehad, the first women in Biblical history to own land. Miriam brings the strength and courage of these women with her forward in time, emboldening her own struggles and illuminating what it means to be an independent woman.
Up Nights, Daniel Kine’s second book, is a classic road novel for a new generation. In raw, unrelenting prose, Kine tells the story of the complexities of human relationships when four friends embark on an existential journey through the underbelly of society. As they drift from city to city, they each struggle to connect with the disenchanted people they encounter along the way. Up Nights speaks to the reality of the human condition: the unequivocal impermanence of life.
Seventeen-year-old Lovisa King comes of age on the Oregon Trail as her family travels from Missouri to the Oregon Territory. Based on the history of a company of real pioneers, A Heart for Any Fate: Westward to Oregon, 1845 tells the story of the King family, whose careful plans are challenged by the harsh, unforeseen realities of overland travel. The Kings make the unfortunate decision to follow guide Stephen Meek, who leads them into blistering weather, drought, and treacherous river crossings along the Terrible Trail. A Heart for Any Fate will be released in conjunction with Oregon’s 150th birthday. Originally published by the Oregon Historical Society, this new edition will include the history of the real King family and a forward written by Jennifer Armstrong.
