LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 43 For the fiction aficionado: Forty-Something: An Adirondack Tale, by Michael Keeler (self-pub- lished, 2023), is a young adult coming-of-age tale of a teenager and a young college drop-out who meet at a pricey High Peaks sum- mer camp. Bran, the teenager, and "Kootch," the camp's maintenance guy, develop a friendship as Kootch starts Bran on a mission to become a 46er. That quest launches both into maturity. Tourist, by Timothy Strong (Black Rose Writing, 2023), is set in Lake Placid before and during the 1980 Winter Olympics. The chaos of that event is replicated in the chaos that infects the lives of the principle characters. Will the U.S. beat the awesome Russians in ice hockey? Will Jake and Laurie find peace in their relationships with each other and their environment? Troubles that perpetually affect Adiron- dackers – mental health, perceived isolation, outsider wealth vs. local poverty – get a frank airing. Guides to new guides: Lisa Feinberg Ballard's illustrated third edition of Hiking the Adiron- dacks (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023) describes fifty hikes in all nooks and crannies of the park. From rugged Gothics to gentle Shelving Rock Falls along Lake George to serene Middle Settlement Lake in the remote west, she offers con- siderable diversity of difficulty in a warm conversational style. Touches like pet-friendliness ratings set this book apart. Narrowing the field, Tim Row- land's Happy Lonesomes is just what its subtitle predicts: "A Guide to Fifteen Eastern Adirondack Hikes That Are Long on Scenery and Short on Crowds." These easy to moderate hikes in the Keene- Jay-Champlain Valley vicinity are entertainingly described in detail. And finally, a buffet of books about the region in general: In A Year of Moons – Stories from the Adirondack Foothills (Fulcrum Publishing, 2022), Joseph Bruchac employs his Abenaki heritage to travel the calendar from "Alamikos, New Year's Greeting Moon," to "Pebonkas, Moon of Long Nights." Each lunar-oriented chapter calls upon Abenaki stories, the lunar traditions of other Indigenous peo- ples, scientific information about wildlife, and his own seasonal expe- riences and observations. Matt Dallos's In the Adirondacks: Dispatches from the Largest Park in the Lower 48 (Empire State Edi- tions, 2023) is a mixture of fasci- nating historical events, unproven legendary tales, and candid obser- vations. He offers glimpses of the "real" Adirondacks, the faux Adiron- dacks, and the regular people who have lived, worked, and died here for generations. There is also a pervasive sense of disappointment that the Adirondacks don't live up to the myth of wilderness. Joseph Dumoulin writes pas- sionately yet objectively about the Adirondack region in Rocks, Roots, and Muck (High Peaks Publishing, 2022). Dumoulin tells stories of breathtaking hikes, challenging cross-country ski and snowshoe explorations, and memorable camp- ing trips. The chapters also speak of first memories, the personalities of trees, the rich diversity of Ad- irondack animals and humans, and climate change, which he contends there is still time to fix. Neal Burdick is reviews editor of Adirondac, the quarterly magazine of the Adirondack Mountain Club, and a book reviewer for Saranac Lake's Adirondack Daily Enterprise, from both of which these snap- shots have been adapted.

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