Vencil

Vencil
Frank Shima
North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.
ISBN: 0878392246
Fiction, Young Adult Fiction
Reviewed by John R. Clark

This book is an absolute gem. I grew up on a Maine poultry farm in the 1950s and found myself comparing stories from my own youth with those collected in the chapters in this book. Frank Shima writes with both clarity and richness. His ability to distil his memories of growing up and fictionalize them are outstanding. While anyone who likes a good story will enjoy the chapters in this book, readers who grew up in rural settings during the latter part of the 20th century will find much here that will evoke smiles and maybe even a tear or two.
I love the chapter headings and the detailed descriptions of people and minutia from events in the stories. The author's ear/eye for recounting events which might seem mundane to others are such that you can easily see them happening as if you were there. For example, the Thanksgiving story where Jimmy realizes his nemesis, Henrietta the goose is sitting on the platter before him, is a perfect example of how the author takes Jimmy's thoughts and transforms them into a passage readers can easily slip into.
This is an excellent book to have in a public library or to give as a gift for someone who grew up on a farm. It would also qualify as an entry into the elusive category of historical fiction that kids are assigned so frequently, but find boring. This book is anything but.