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Review

Editors’ Picks for November and December

By Middlebury Magazine Staff
December 7, 2019
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Hold Fast

Marshall Highet and Bird Stasz Jones

Based on a true story, this gripping coming-of-age novel by Marshall Highet, MA English ’07 and Bird Beck Stasz Jones ’70 tells the tale of two Italian boys kidnapped off the coast of Italy in 1761 by the British Navy and impressed into service. The compelling and action-driven narrative captures the struggles they face as they fight to survive in a brutal and foreign environment of rules and codes, near-death floggings, and intrigue.

On My Way Out

Richard Hawley

After publishing books of fiction, poetry, and educational theory, Rick Hawley ’67 has written an astonishing and candid memoir with the intention of documenting his passage toward the end of his life through a careful charting from full sentience and physical capacity to less and less and then none. At once personal and intimate, his book, written as a diary, reflects on the people and experiences that have been meaningful to him and on the issues that arise as one ages.

How to Survive and Thrive When Bad Things Happen

Jim Taylor

Internationally recognized for his work in the psychology of critical performance, Jim Taylor ’81 has written a book that tackles how human beings react in times of crises. By exploring the essential psychological, emotional, and interpersonal factors that most impact one’s reaction to a crisis, he outlines the powerful ways we can take mindful control of scary and uncontrollable events in our lives and turn them into opportunities for reflection, positive action, and growth.

Unleaving

Melissa Ostrom

This timely and relevant novel by author Melissa Ostrom, MA English ’00 tells the story of Maggie, who escapes her college campus after reporting a sexual assault that leads to the expulsion of some popular athletes. Moving in with her aunt in an isolated cabin, she finds she can’t let the trauma go and problems intensify when she gets a message from another student on her campus who has survived a rape. With sensitive and moving prose, Ostrom portrays the healing and coming to terms a young woman must go through after the traumatic experience of assault.

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