A great story at a camp deep in the woods

Cinnamon Birds by Jeniferlee Pace Tucker could have been written from our camp in the North Woods. Published by North Country Press, this story is set on an island in a lake deep in the woods.

The book was written for middle grade students ages 8 to 12. But of course, still young at heart, I loved the story, part of which focuses on an interesting bird, a veery. And when a stray dog arrives things get even more interesting.

Nearby is an old long abandoned camp and a lot of the story takes place there. I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but I can tell you the young girl, Selby, featured in the story, is a real adventuress.

And her love for a nearby library brought back many of my own memories of spending time in the Winthrop library as a kid.

Yes, libraries, camps, the woods, dogs and birds are guaranteed to make a great story and that’s what you get in Cinnamon Birds.

 

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.