Be Not Far From Me

 McGinnis, Mindy. Be Not Far From Me. 2020. 240p. ISBN 9780062561626. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Ashley has grown up poor in Tennessee, and her life has always been hard. Living with her dad in a run-down trailer, he working double shifts just to make ends meet, and they rarely do. Ashley's not that pretty, not that smart. What she's got going is a killer instinct for survival, and her love of running. When friends think it's a great idea to have a drinking party while camping in the Smokies, Ashley rolls her eyes but goes with it. Her friend Meredith even brings a hair dryer, like she expects an electrical outlet out in the woods. Ashley is more practical, and her backpack barely weighs 5 pounds while containing everything she would need to survive an extended stay.

That evening, as the party happening and kids are drinking at the camp site, Ashley has too much to drink. Jealous of her boyfriend Duke hanging out with his ex girlfriend who filled up in the last year, Ashley heads to her tent to sleep it off. Awakened by the need to go to the bathroom, she comes upon a couple having sex away from the campsite, only to discover Duke is involved! Angry, hurt, and drunk, Ashley takes off running, and she soon hurts herself by breaking her foot. Wearing only her pants, underwear, and a t-shirt, Ashley sobers up enough to realize that she is lost and that no one will look for her, since they will think she headed home. 

With her broken foot now infected, with no food, clothes, or shelter, Ashley must make her way out of the forest, or she will end up one of those dead hikers who shouldn't have been out in the woods. Armed only with determination to survive, Ashley heads in an easterly direction, hoping to find help. But when you're alone in the woods, who can help you?

Fans of Hatchet and other survivalist stories will appreciate Ashley's tale of resilience and fighting against the odds!

Copyboy

Vawter, Vince. Copyboy. 2018. 233p. ISBN 978-1-63079-105-6. Available at FIC VAW on the library shelves.

In 1965, Victor Vollmer, from Paper Boy, has graduated from high school and is readying for college. Ever since he started delivering newspapers, he has looked up to Mr. Spiro, who was a mentor. Mr. Spiro guided him with questions designed for him to learn about himself. Now Mr. Spiro has died, and he had a last request that Vic takes seriously. Mr. Spiro wanted Victor to drop his ashes at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and Vic wants to do that right away. His parents are opposed, however, so Vic decides to head down to Louisiana by himself.

Vic stutters, and he has to work very hard to shape his sentences so he can communicate as best he can. When he is offered the job of continuing working at the local Memphis newspaper, Vic takes it but knows it will be a disappointment to his parents, who want him to focus on college and play baseball. First, he must drop the ashes. The copy editor has a friend in New Orleans who has a friend down near the coast, and Vic plans on connecting with them to accomplish his goal.

Heading south in his little sport car, Vic begins the journey of a lifetime, inspired by Mr. Spiro's words and actions. During his trip, meets Philomene, a vigorous teenager who loves being on the river. With Phil's help, Vic learns that the voice he has is his own, stuttering or not, and that there are many people out there who will lie him and love him, regardless of his disability.

Fans of historical and realistic fiction will appreciate this sequel to Paper Boy, which takes place 5 years later, and will enjoy seeing how much Victor has grown in this time, but will really appreciate how much more he has to learn while looking for the mouth of the Mississippi.

The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial

Goodchild, Peter. The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial. 115 mins. ISBN 9781580815581. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

In 1925, the state of Tennessee passed a law that criminalized the teaching of evolution. Fundamentalist and evangelical people applauded this decision to only use the teaching of the Bible in the science classroom, but others opposed this law. The ACLU actively looked for a science teacher willing to become a case test to support the First Amendment’s freedom of religion. John Thomas Scopes, a science teacher from the small town of Dayton, worked with the local school board and elected leaders to bring this case to court, so that Dayton would economically benefit from such a trial.

Legal heavyweights assembled on both sides, with William Jennings Bryant, a three-times presidential candidate and evangelical favorite for the prosecution, and Clarence Darrow, a famous New York defense lawyer, defended Scopes. Over the course of the trial, the evangelical position was undermined by arguments made in court by Bryant and Darrow. Though Scopes was eventually found guilty at the state level, the negative publicity that this court case had brought the state of Tennessee, coupled with errors by the trial judge allowed the Tennessee Supreme Court to overturn the case on a technicality and prevent the certain appeal the defendant wished to make in Federal Court. However,

This audiobook features a reenactment of the actual court case based on court transcripts, and reveal the depth of convictions on both sides. The debate surrounding the separation of Church and State continued for decades afterwards, and remain present to this day, with controversies surrounding “Intelligent design.”