Maine Humanities Council

The Nine Pound Hammer, John Claude Bemis’s first book of his Clockwork Dark series (released just last year), shows a new direction that middle grade/young adult fiction is heading in. It is an adventure story taking place in the 19^th century South where swamps, nearly endless forests, and very odd but interesting people tend to rule. At the start of the book, the twelve-year-old orphan Ray sneaks away from his sister and fellow orphans who are being taken to new homes on an ornate train. He is following the pull of a loadstone that his father gave him before disappearing years go. The loadstone will help him, his father said, and Ray believes in it enough to wander for days without food or shelter in a wilderness. Ray eventually meets up with a traveling medicine show and learns about the Gog, a person of tremendous evil who intends to rule the world through an all-powerful machine. No one knows what the machine is, though a previous one was destroyed by John Henry. Bemis peels back myths to reveal an alternative reality, a world of powerful yet secretive Ramblers and the Gog’s demonic agents. Their battles are the backdrop of many American tales with the fate of the world in the balance. › Continue reading

Immigration represents opportunity for some, escape for others, and for many people, a threat. Throughout American history, immigrants have left their mark on this country, and continue to do so today. Coming to America: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Immigration, a one-day conference presented by the Maine Humanities Council, will explore the past, present and future of immigration in America and Maine, including discussions of the many challenges that surround the issue. Featured speakers include Professor Joseph Conforti of the University of Southern Maine, Professor Edward O’Donnell of the College of the Holy Cross, and Professor Greg Fahy of the University of Maine at Augusta, as well as others. This program will take place on April 30, 2010, from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm at the University of Southern Maine.

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Two books from the MHC’s recently created New Books New Readers series “Carrying the Past” suggest themselves as appropriate for winter reading:  So Far from the Sea and One Candle.  Eve Bunting, the author of both stories, is outstanding in her ability to create thoughtful stories that address hard topics with warmth and hope.  Both books address this issue in our theme of “Carrying the Past”:  What do we choose from our past to preserve as a family or cultural memory?  Both stories are told in first person by a child experiencing a tradition that the family wants remembered from their past.

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