Hot review of Training Wheels, a novel set in the blistering summer of '74

Michael Stringer
Training Wheels

A nonprofit fundraiser turned novelist, Michael Stringer, has authored a blistering fictional memoir entitled Training Wheels, a coming-of-age story that depicts a family's internal strife and struggle with radically shifting priorities and a sexually charged household atmosphere.

Told during three tumultuous weeks in the summer of 1974, the story features the sinfully candid, first person narrative of Kevin Copeland, a 15-year-old athlete, rock music lover, and youngest of four children. Kevin is a painfully inquisitive, girl-crazy young man who falls madly in love with the wrong girl at the worst time. Shelly is the wrong girl because she's the bold and seductive daughter of his father's mistress, and it's the worst time because Kevin's younger sister has hit rock bottom with drugs and counterculture friends, and his parents' marriage is rapidly coming unglued.

Kevin's certainly not alone in making irrational choices. After the radical '60s, many Americans turned introspective, searching for ways to redefine their beliefs about love and happiness, becoming desperately lost along the road. Kevin gets caught up in the free-love movement, too, risking everything to pursue the voluptuous girl of his dreams. Kevin's journey into first love becomes a perilous adventure that forces both families to face the bitter truths and harsh realities of their misguided decisions, of which there are many. All the mayhem reaches a fever pitch when Kevin and his disgruntled father lock horns in a ruthless showdown.

Stringer has shrewdly framed this story by blending the themes and styles of The Wonder Years, the popular TV show from the '90s, with The Ice Storm, the movie released in 1997 about the self-indulgent '70s.

"Training Wheels is a poignant and gripping family tale set in Los Angeles during an era symbolized by Watergate, happy faces, pet rocks, mood rings, and streaking," said Melissa Newman, author of House of Cleaving and Sister Blackberry. "It's no wonder that some people went a little... adrift."

During the early part of his career, Stringer wrote for newspapers and magazines until he finally decided to take on the challenge of pursuing a long-time goal, writing a novel.

Print and e-versions of Training Wheels, can be found at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com as well as other online and bricks and mortar book stores wherever books are sold. Information about the book and the author can also be found at the publisher's website: martinsisterspublishing.com.  

Review originally featured at http://superseventies.com/extra_13_2.html

Check out Super Seventies Rock Site! http://superseventies.com/

Review: The Last Fernandez by Sandra Perez Gluschankoff

A review of The Last Fernandez by Sandra Perez Gluschankoff

Click here to buy!

I loved reading this novel. Not for the faint of heart, this historical fiction piece explicitly reveals the triumphs and tragedy of two different, although comparable, pivotal periods in time. The key word in this story is “struggle.” Two women, separated by four centuries but connected in spirit, share this struggle against religious and political persecution. As two different stories are told, they develop into one.

Author Gluschankoff is not a wimp. She is not afraid to paint a harsh scene and put it before you, but is also capable of describing the tenderest of moments. The plot is packed with not a sentence or phrase wasted. This is not a one afternoon read; it requires close reading. I believe that the author’s multilingual skills resulted in some of the most eloquent prose I have had the pleasure to read.

My favorite character is the young Angelina. Her refusal, come hell or high water, to let go of that suitcase certainly defines “ends-of-the-earth” type stuff for me.

I highly recommend The Last Fernandez.

By David J. Kirk, Author of Particular Stones

SUMMER READING ON THE ROAD

Susan Stepp Honest Advice for Teachers

My husband and I made a summer trek to New York state to visit our daughter’s

family. The drive is twenty hours so although we enjoy each other’s company, by North Carolina our conversation had deteriorated into counting how many Walmart trucks we’d passed and speculating the size of the sombrero that sits atop the “South of the Border” tower. That’s when I knew it was time for an audio book.

The book was 1776 by David McCullough. My lack of recall in relation to early American history is no reflection on my teachers but a result of my adolescent priorities consisting of cheerleading and lip gloss. So as I listened it was like sitting in history class again but actually enjoying myself. It’s a fascinating account of how we won our independence and who the players really were. I was astonished to learn that the men who fought were primarily farmers, vagabonds and just about anyone who could shoot a gun or carry a pitchfork. Half the time many were drunk and others walked away at will. An exceptional leader, George Washington knew what he was working with but managed to strategize and inspire just enough to pull it off. 

There were stories of amazing courage and commitment. I found myself deeply touched by the sacrifices made by this ragtag group of ordinary citizens and a sense of pride in who actually won our freedom. Not trained, military specialists but plain old people like you and me.

No telling how many Walmart trucks we missed while enjoying McCullough’s book. It was just that good!

Having Tea with my Computer

When I got this morning I had tea with my computer.  We've had this relationship for a few years now: sip, read a news article (who needs the television or newspaper?), back to sipping.  Then I had to get serious and do my weekly accounts… write a check for this business, send a check to that person… all done with internet banking.  I've estimated that I save over two hundred dollars in stamps each year doing this.  No wonder the United States Post Office operates in the red.

Gone to a doctor lately?  Their notes are done on a computerized tablet and then sent electronically to your files which are now nearly ‘paperless’.  Still another government program saving us money.

 

While interacting with my friends on Facebook, a thought occurred to me.  What would happen if a virus incapacitated the web?  Totally wrecking it.  Forever.  Or, at least, for months.  What would happen to our modern society?  Everything is connected via computers to the internet.  If the ‘net’ disappears, what happens to civilization?

The stock market wouldn't crash, it simply wouldn't exist.  What would that do to business?  How about communications?  Gone.  Education… hmm.  How many schools still have blackboards?

 

What about publishing houses?  Type-setting is done by computer.  Well, there would still be a great deal of books to read.  Just no new ones for a few years.  Oh, my God!  Facebook!  Twitters!  Tweets!  Tumblers! Gone. Gone. Gone. Gone.

Internet Crash?  Banish the thought.  There is no need to worry.  I mean what are the chances that some bitter genius would write such an apocalyptic virus?  Surely not very high.  So, relax.  Sit back and enjoy another sip of tea.

 

Robert Sells

Author of Return of the White Deer and soon to be released Reap the Whirlwind

Martin Sisters Publishing