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READING THE WEST
from Mountains & Plains
Read! Exceptional new books and authors
from the Mountains & Plains region.
Relax! Titles have been chosen with care by
independent booksellers in the region.
Refresh! New selections will be introduced
at regular intervals throughout the year.
PREVIOUS SELECTIONS
Click here for June 2009 Selections
Click here for August 2009 Selections
Click here for December 2009 Selections
BOOKSTORE DISPLAY
Please click here or the image above
to view the Reading the West bookstore
display at Maria's Bookshop in
Durango, Colorado.
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by Sara Zarr
Published by Little, Brown and Co.
Examines the coexistence of affliction and hope, and what happens when everything you thought you believed is transformed
Samara Taylor used to believe in miracles. She used to believe in a lot of things. As a pastor's kid, it's hard not to buy in to the idea of the perfect family, a loving God, and amazing grace. But lately, Sam has a lot of reason to doubt. Her mother lands in rehab after a DUI and her father seems more interested in his congregation than his family. When a young girl in her small town is kidnapped, the local tragedy overlaps with Sam's personal one, and the already-worn thread of faith holding her together begins to unravel ...
When 13-year-old Jody Shaw is kidnapped in broad daylight, her abduction rocks the once secure town of Pineview and her church community. Her disappearance provides an eerie backdrop to protagonist Samara Taylor's personal drama: her mother's alcoholism, which prompted a four-week stint in rehab, and her father's refusal to focus on anything (his marital problems, the inappropriateness of his relationship with a 26-year-old church member, his parental responsibilities) other than his role as pastor to a flock in need.
Sam's questions regarding God's existence and her place in the world feel all-encompassing, aptly mirroring the mood of her close-knit community as they trawl for answers in Jody's case. Beyond delivering a gripping story, Zarr has a knack for exposing human weakness in the ordinary. Ages 12 and up.
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by Judy Shepard
Published by Penguin Group USA
The mother of Matthew Shepard shares her story about her son’s death and the choice she made to become an international gay rights activist.
Today, the name Matthew Shepard is synonymous with gay rights, but before his murder in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998, Matthew was simply Judy Shepard's son. For the first time in book form, Judy Shepard speaks about her loss, sharing memories of Matthew, their life as a typical American family, and the pivotal event in the small college town that changed everything.
This book follows the Shepard family in the days immediately after the crime, when Judy and her husband traveled to see their incapacitated son, kept alive by life support machines; how the Shepards learned of the incredible response from strangers all across America who held candlelit vigils and memorial services for their child; and finally, how they struggled to navigate the legal system as Matthew's murderers were on trial.
Heart-wrenchingly honest, Judy Shepard confides with readers about how she handled the crippling loss of her child, why she became a gay rights activist, and the challenges and rewards of raising a gay child in America today.
This book not only captures the historical significance and complicated civil rights issues surrounding one young man's life and death, but it also chronicles one ordinary woman's struggle to cope with the unthinkable.
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