Adirondack Gold II: A Summer of Strangers [Perfect Paperback]

Persis Granger (Author, Editor), Laurel G. Nittinger (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2008

In this sequel to Adirondack Gold, thirteen-year-old Hollis Ingraham struggles to make decisions that would be difficult for an adult, let alone a boy whose family is dealing with crises. He must choose between things he wants most and things needed by his family, without the help of his usual support network. Set on an Adirondack Mountain farm in 1898, A Summer of Strangers takes the reader back to simpler times, and offers a taste of farm life as sour-and-sweet as the switchel Grandma Julia carries down to the hayfield. This coming of age book is popular with those aged 12 to 99.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In this beautifully written story, Persis Granger paints a portrait of a bygone era so rich in authentic detail that the reader can almost smell the cut hay, feel the icy water of the stream on bare feet, and sit on the fence rail with twelve-year-old Hollis as he watches the colt he hopes to keep as his own. Like kids of any time, Hollis has to face difficult decisions when family need gets in the way of what he wants most. I was sad when the story ended. I wanted to linger with Hollis and watch over his shoulder as he made one more wonderful drawing of the plants and animals abounding around his home in Thurman, New York. --Adrian Fogelin, award-winning author of Crossing Jordan

Granger writes well and offers the reader intriguing mysteries. She fully develops a multi-generational cast of characters and draws the reader in to care about all of them. She can describe rural 19th century farm work and housework in a manner that raises the reader's curiosity and may make them want to try it. In this young adult novel, she renders Thurman and her characters with the affection, lyrically paced writing and attention to detail that Richard Russo brings to his stories about people and small towns across the Northeast and New England. --John Rowen, Reviewer

About the Author

Persis Granger and her husband engaged in subsistence farming in the Adirondacks for nearly twenty years, which undoubtedly planted the seeds for the Adirondack Gold series, the first of which was published in 2003. Granger holds a bachelor of arts degree in English and a master of science in education. She also edited and co-authored Shared Stories from Daughters of Alzheimer's: Writing a Path to Peace. Granger visits youth and adults, giving book talks, Alzheimer's disease talks and presenting readings and interactive living history programs. She also hosts writers' retreats in Thurman, NY and St. George Island, Florida. Learn more at her web site.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 303 pages
• Publisher: Beaver Meadow Publishing; First edition (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974208515
• ISBN-13: 978-0974208510
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,171,875 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Persis Granger fell in love with the Lake George region of the Adirondack Mountains when she and her husband moved there with their two daughters in the 1970s, "stumbling," as she says, "into subsistence farming." Beginning on a 7 acre "farmette," as realtors in that back-to-the-land era liked to call them, the Grangers soon sought more land and moved to a 160 acre farm in the mountain town of Thurman. The small community and its history captivated her, and she set her two young adult novels there, centering them around an appealing young man named Hollis Ingraham. With an emphasis first on an engaging story, the books also give insights into 19th century farm and community life and the all-necessary work ethic. Reviewers have highly commended her writing and research in "Adirondack Gold" and "Adirondack Gold II: A Summer of Strangers". Her daughter Laurel Granger Nittinger, illustrated the books, and daughter Robin Granger did the copy editing.

Granger took time out from her novel-writing to coordinate and contribute to the writing of "Shared Stories from Daughters of Alzheimer's: Writing a Path to Peace," an anthology of accounts by ten women about the loss a parent to this dementia. The book has been dubbed "a support group in print." She freelances for many magazines, including "Adirondack Life," "Adirondack Guest Informer," and "EcoLocal Living."

Persis Granger finds the community of writers to be a wellspring of energy and inspiration. She organizes events for writers, including the Adirondack Mountain Writers' Retreat, The St. George Island (FL) Writers' Retreat for Women and occasional one-day workshops. She organizes and co-hosts monthly readings by regional authors at Willows Bistro in Warrensburg, NY. She welcomes emailed inquiries about any of these opportunites, as well as requests for author visits and signings.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hobo Philosopher, January 26, 2010

By 

Richard E. Noble (Florida Panhandle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adirondack Gold II: A Summer of Strangers (Perfect Paperback)

Adirondack Gold II, A Summer of Strangers, doesn't have a nasty character in it. It is "sweet and lovable." No mean people, no dirty words ... no demons, no devils, nobody flying around on broomsticks. It is wholesome and it's real. Real live people in real life situations.

It's FFA, FHA, and 4H - if you know what those initials symbolize, you will love this book even more.

It's bringing in the crops, cutting and drying the hay, milking cows, gathering eggs, a boy raising and loving a colt.

It's poor country living and all those troublesome economic decisions that go along with working the land and being raised on a small farm.

It is also history. It's about life in a rural community called Thurman, in the Adirondack Mountains a hundred and fifty years ago. It takes the reader back to a time when hard work was understood and "struggle" was a part of every day. The author obviously put a lot of work into researching this period and it shows.

Hollis and his mom came there with a mountain of troubles in Adirondack Gold I, but you don't have to know Adirondack Gold I to get Adirondack Gold II. It is better if you have read both books but not necessary.

Hollis is a young boy. He has ability and aspires to become an artist. He loves drawing. He is surrounded by a Walton-esque barrage of wonderful homegrown country folk - adopted family and neighbors. He meets a mysterious stranger in the woods and struggles with his new city cousin rival.

The problems and obstacles in this book are not supernatural monsters from another planet or blood sucking vampires but Mother Nature and life - old age, growing up, childhood jealousies, giving birth, dying and dreams where the reach seems to exceed the grasp - and the pocket book.

Everything gets difficult and involves a lot of growing up sacrifices on the part of young Hollis but a surprise ending ties all the pieces together and leaves the reader sitting in his reading chair with a big, warm smile.


Persis ("Perky") Granger: Perky is an avid reader and a writer of fiction and nonfiction, including Adirondack Gold, A Summer of Strangers and Shared Stories from Daughters of Alzheimer's: Writing a path to peace. She studied at the College of Wooster (OH) and the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), earning a BA at the latter. She later completed her Master of Science in Teaching at SUNY Plattsburgh.
She presents programs to adults and youth, and hosts writers' retreats in New York and Florida. Learn more at [...]

Richard Edward Noble - The Hobo Philosopher - Author of:

"A Summer with Charlie" Salisbury Beach, Lawrence YMCA

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Way It Was, February 2, 2010

By 

A. Perreault "andyperr" (upstate NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Adirondack Gold II: A Summer of Strangers (Perfect Paperback)

"A Summer of Strangers" is a young adult story about a young man's conflicts between his family and his need to develop his own special talent (as an artist). It is also a peek back at rural life at the end of the nineteenth century in an upstate New York Adirondack community. In a finely drawn portrayal of the day-to-day farming activities required for survival in that harsh environment, the author intertwines a series of complex plot lines. The young protagonist, Hollis, (who first appeared in "Adirondack Gold", set a few years prior in the same community) gradually recognizes his responsibilities to both himself and his family. His actions on several fronts result in a successful and satisfying resolution to all of the plot lines.
The story is never dull or uninteresting. The author seamlessly weaves the chores of the rustic life with the personal story of Hollis' development and intermixes a good dose of homespun charm in the process. Hopefully we will be able to follow Hollis' further development in this author's next novel ("A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man -II"?)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine work of historical fiction sure to entertain readers well, aimed particularly at young adults, March 16, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adirondack Gold II: A Summer of Strangers (Perfect Paperback)

A person is the sum of those around them. "Adirondack Gold II: A Summer of Strangers" is the coming of age story of young Hollis Ingraham, who is set to spend a summer with strangers; during this time, he learns much of the world. A followup to the original "Adirondack Gold", "A Summer of Strangers" is a fine work of historical fiction sure to entertain readers well, aimed particularly at young adults.