Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Marcia at the Printed Page. It’s where we dish about books that have come into our hands in the past week.
My kids are home on a snow day today (we got the automated call announcing the school closure before dinner on Sunday!), so I’ve resurrected the mailbox-in-a-snowbank photo. I’ve pulled this from an online search, that’s not my snowbank, my mailbox, or my child!
I’ve got three books to share with you today:
Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, An American Town by Warren St. John. An advance reading copy came to me via the publisher (Spiegel and Grau / Random House); it will be published April 21, 2009. Here’s the summary:
The extraordinary tale of a refugee youth soccer team and the transformation of a small American town
Clarkston, Georgia, was a typical Southern town until it was designated a refugee settlement center in the 1990s, becoming the first American home for scores of families in flight from the world’s war zones—from Liberia and Sudan to Iraq and Afghanistan. Suddenly Clarkston’s streets were filled with women wearing the hijab, the smells of cumin and curry, and kids of all colors playing soccer in any open space they could find. The town also became home to Luma Mufleh, an American-educated Jordanian woman who founded a youth soccer team to unify Clarkston’s refugee children and keep them off the streets. These kids named themselves the Fugees.
Set against the backdrop of an American town that without its consent had become a vast social experiment, Outcasts United follows a pivotal season in the life of the Fugees and their charismatic coach. Warren St. John documents the lives of a diverse group of young people as they miraculously coalesce into a band of brothers, while also drawing a fascinating portrait of a fading American town struggling to accommodate its new arrivals. At the center of the story is fiery Coach Luma, who relentlessly drives her players to success on the soccer field while holding together their lives—and the lives of their families—in the face of a series of daunting challenges.
This fast-paced chronicle of a single season is a complex and inspiring tale of a small town becoming a global community—and an account of the ingenious and complicated ways we create a home in a changing world.
A Journey into the Transcendentalists’ New England by R. Todd Felton. This is part of the ArtPlace series published by Roaring Forties Press. It looks like a book I will really enjoy – lots of photos and short blurbs about Cambridge, Concord, Walden Pond and other areas important in the development of the Transcendentalist movement (not to be confused with Transcendental Meditation … but I’ll save that for my review); here’s the publisher’s summary:
This lavishly illustrated volume examines the major figures of the Transcendentalist movement and explores the places that inspired them. Beginning with Transcendentalism’s birth in Boston and Cambridge, the book charts the development of a movement that revolutionized American ideas about the artistic, spiritual, and natural worlds. At the same time, it creates a vivid sense of New England in the nineteenth century, from its idyllic countryside and sleepy towns to its bustling ports and burgeoning cities. The book is divided geographically into chapters, each focusing on a town or village famous for its relationship to one or more of the Transcendentalists. Thus, for instance, one chapter spotlights Cambridge, where Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered his path-breaking lectures, while another explores Walden, when Henry David Thoreau spent two years attuning himself to the rhythms of nature. Other chapters retrace the paths of writers and poets such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, and Margaret Fuller through Salem, Amherst, Boston, and Concord and the utopian communities of Brook Farm and the Fruitlands.
Lastly, I have a novel that I picked up for my TriCon book group meeting this week. There’s an irony at play here: I was offered a copy of The Shack for review, and I turned it down, thinking it wasn’t a good match for my reading personality. Now my book group chose it, and I was slow to put my name in to request it from the library. I went to Borders on Friday with a $15 Rewards card and a 25% discount coupon. I figured that I’d look for The Shack, and if they didn’t have it I’d take it as a “sign,” and pick up The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Societywhich has been on my wish list for ages! Well, they had the book; my coupon left me with almost $4 to spend before the Rewards card expired on 2/28, so I picked up a bar of Ghiradelli dark chocolate with raspberry filling – my reward to 
myself to meeting my book group obligation and stretching my reading comfort zone. Here’s the publisher’s summary of The Shack:
Mackenzie Allen Philips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant “The Shack” wrestles with the timeless question, “Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?” The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him.
It was a good week in books – two non-fiction books I’m really looking forward to, and a novel that I’m going to dive into before our meeting on Thursday. Have you read The Shack? Will I be pleasantly surprised?
You got some hardcore reads.
Mailbox
I haven’t read The Shack but I did read the Guernsey Literary book and just loved it. It was a great story with a cast of wonderful characters.
Oooh, I’m supposed to get Outcasts United too. I’m looking forward to it.
You got some good books there!
Excellent call on the chocolate, Dawn! See, being thrifty has its rewards. I’ll be really curious to see what you think of The Shack. I have not read it yet and was not intending to, but I may, depending on your review.
Happy snow day!
Sarah
Here’s my mailbox: http://savvyverseandwit.blogspot.com/2009/03/mailbox-monday-19.html
I’d be interested to read your thoughts on A Journey into the Transcendentalists’ New England !
I just got The Outcasts for Early Reviewers. It looks good. Here’s mine.
Enjoy your reads. If your read my Sunday Salon, you can enter a contest also.
http://bookwormsdinner.blogspot.com/2009/03/mailbox-monday-march-2-2009.html
I’ll be interested to hear what you think of The Shack…my book group just selected it, too! I love that you get automated phone calls when school is closed. We get more than our fair share of snow days in central NY, but rely on the media to inform us of school closings.
Outcasts United looks great. I just read The Shack for our Feb. book club meeting. I can’t wait to see what you think, Dawn.
Looks like we are all saying “you go first” on The Shack. At least I am. I’ll wait to see what you think. Is that enough pressure for your review?
Well, I’m sorry I can’t help you out with “The Shack”…but it is on its way to me via Paperback Swap. I have had quite a few people rave to me about this book but I’m not sure what their “reading personality” is — for all I know, they like Danielle Steel or something! Sounds like you might get done before me. And at least you got the chocolate! Yummmmy!
The Outcasts books sounds kind of interesting.
And thanks for providing a little bit of info on each book — I think that always helps me when checking out these posts to see if it is something I might like too.
And we got hit by snow today too — that mailbox photo could be mine!
Well I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble, but I’m with Jenners on The Shack. My copy was out of the house shortly after me reading it although I know tons of people who have loved it. I’ll be curious to see what you think Dawn.
I got Outcasts too. Looks really good! And I’m laughing about The Shack because something like that would totally happen to me.
Oh – My mother would swear that you will love The Shack. I haven’t read it yet. She has a lot of her clients read it – she is a counselor.
Here’s my Mailbox! ~ Wendi
I’ll also be interested in hearing what you think of The Shack. It didn’t sound like it would match my reading personality either! Enjoy your books!
Books and chocolate, what could be better? I Loved The Guernsey Literary….book and I didn’t think I would. I haven’t read The Shack yet but I keep hearing there is something for everyone there. My mom didn’t think she would like it but she said it was pretty good. I’m going to give it a try when I shrink down my pile some. (ha!) Have a great week!
Brooke – well, I think I’ll enjoy at least two of them
I’m popping over to check out your Mailbox.
Kaye – I’ll pick up *Guernsey* … someday ….
Kathy – we’ll have to compare notes! I love non-fiction.
Yvonne – yes, it was a great week.
sarah – you can’t go wrong with chocolate!
Serena – it looks great! I think I’m going to wish it were larger, and a hardcover … you know, a coffee table book!
Wisteria – thanks for visiting; I’ll check out your Mailbox and Salon posts.
JoAnn – I love that the snow day decision was made the day before, so the call didn’t come at 6 this morning!
Shana – hmm, I don’t remember seeing a post about the Shack … if you put one up I’ll have to avert my eyes until I’ve read the (admittedly dreaded) book!
Margot – yes, the pressure! The women in my book group keep saying “it should make for an interesting discussion” in their emails … that worries me!
Jenners – it seems that a huge part of the country got snow … we had a foot and we keep getting “bands” of light snow. I wonder how we’ll each do with *The Shack* ?!
Dar – I always have the chocolate to fall back on
Wendi – Have *you* read it?! I may be back to you after I read it, to find out why your mother recommends it …
Avis – thanks! I will enjoy (most of) them, I think! and the chocolate …
Wrighty – when you figure out the secret to shrinking the pile, please let us know!
Um, I haven’t even read it, but I’m not sure that you’re going to enjoy The Shack, Dawn! I will be really curious to see your review.
My mom raved and raved about the Shack which was kind of a red flag for me–I haven’t read it, and don’t plan on it but hope you get something meaningful out of reading it.
Great call on the chocolate purchase because we all know chocolate and books got together. I am sorry to hear though that you had to pass on the Guernsey book–:-( It was one of my favorites in 2008… someday though, right?
*smiles*
Kim
Oops…
I forgot to sign in with my website in my comment above!
I Know your kids were thrilled to be home yesterday. The Shack sounds like a great book too. Not in my comfort zone either, but its always good to explore your horizons, right? Hope it’s enjoyable.
Outcasts United was one of those books that I saw on LibraryThing that I would really like to read at some point. I’ll be looking forward to your review.
Thank you for stopping by the mailbox this week. ‘Outcasts United’ is on my wish list. I hope you enjoy ‘The Shack’ more than I did. Me, I didn’t finish it. It’s a conversation starter though.
My brother works at a bookstore and got me The Shack for Christmas. Honestly, I liked it. I thought it had some good points that made me think a bit deeper. And the story of his daughter’s disappearance is heartwrenching. But I have to warn you that I don’t think the writing is the best in the world. And I don’t agree with everything he put forth. But it’s a “take it for what it’s worth” kind of book. I think it’s just trying to open up our minds to get away from the sterotype of God. That said, I can see how people could both like and not like it. So it would be a great book club choice. Good discussions!
Mmm…I could use some chocolate right about now. You got some great sounding books there. Happy reading!
[...] from She is Too Fond of Books: The Shack and I have a bit of a history. When my TriCon book group chose it for our most recent selection, I somewhat reluctantly added [...]