PSU Magazine Fall 2000

T H E A Trick of Nature by Suzanne Matson '81, Norton, 2000. Matson has set this, her second novel, with a suburban family that feels safe and secure in its place in the world. That is until lightening strikes-both literally and figuratively-and its members are forced to test the assump– tions they hold about themselves and each other. Matson teaches at Boston College and lives in Newton, Massa– chusetts. Her first novel was The Hunger Moon, and she has also written two volumes of poetry, Sea Level and Durable Goods. Tomas Svoboda Piano Works Vol. 1 by Tomas Svoboda (music faculty), North Pacific Music, 1999. Professor Svoboda's music is performed worldwide and often. A renowned American composer of Czech heritage, his best-known orchestral work (com– missioned by the Oregon Symphony), Overture of the Season, Opus 89 has alone received more than 200 perfor– mances. In this initial volume of works for solo piano, we hear the composer at the piano-his first and most inti– mate instrument-rendering a frag– ment of his immense body of chamber works. Great River of the West: Essays on the Columbia River edited by William Lang (history faculty) and Robert Carriker, 1999. The people of the Pacific Northwest have always had a complex relation– ship with their river, the Co lumbia. Lang and Carriker have gathered essays that highlight important episodes in this history, providing what is really a history of the region. Great River includes stories of mariners who chal– lenge the Columbia River bar, a family torn by insanity, native people who preserve fishing traditions, and dam– builders who radically change the river. 6 PSU MAGAZINE FALL 2000 S H E L F Skin Deep by Kathleen Cross (1990-92), Avon Books, 1999. In her debut novel, Cross writes from her personal experience as a "white- looking" black woman. Skin Deep tells the story of Nina Moor, a blue-eyed, white-skinned daughter of a renowned African American jazz musician and activist. Nina embarks on a quest for information about her absent, white mother and disturbs the peace of her otherwise supportive black family. Skin Deep was nominated this past summer for two "Gold Pen" awards by the African American Online Writers Guild. The Gate in the Wall by Ellen Howard '79 , Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1999. Emma, a child laborer of mid-1800s Victorian England, provides the main character for Howard's 15th book for young people. Finding herself late and locked out of the silk mill where she toils 10 hours a day, Emma dis- covers a gate that leads to the canals of Eng- land and a whole new life. The plight of industrial England's poor makes for fascinating reading. Howard, who lives in Greeley, Col- orado, is also the author of Sister, Edith Herself, A Different Kind of Courage, and other historical novels. Reviews are of faculty and alumni books, recordings, and Web publica- tions. To have a work considered for this page, please submit pertinent information to Mary Ellen Kenreich, PSU Library faculty, via e-mail to kenreichm@pd.x.edu, or fax to 503- 725-5799, or mail to Portland State University, PO Box 1151, Portland, OR 97207-0751. • Youth at Risk: A Prevention Resource for Counselors, Teachers, and Parents edited by David CaJJUZzi (education fac- ulty) and Douglas Gross, third edition, Counseling Association, 2000. Children who drop out of high school or those who graduate without a true education, future direction, or sense of self are the youth Capuzzi and Gross are writing about. Their best-selling text provides the necessary founda- tions to reduce the vulnerability of these children and see them as being "at promise" rather than "at risk." Garden Retreats: Creating an Outdoor Sanctuary by Barbara Blossom Ashmun '74, photos by Allan Mandell, Chronicle Books, 2000. What better way to create a relaxing and intimate space within a garden than to collect the stories and sights of others who have found success? Ash- mun and Mandell have created a cof- fee table-like book (in an affordable paperback package) that leads by exam- pie. With the help of others' gorgeous gardens, Ashmun focuses readers so they can define their own style of sanctuary-be it as simple as two chairs beneath a shady tree. Other books & recordings Handbook of Cross-Cultural and Multi- cultural Personality Assessment, edited by Richard Dana (Regional Research Institute faculty), Lawrence Erlbaum, 2000. Atmospheric Methane: Its Role in the Global Environment, edited by Moham- mad Aslam Khan Khalil (physics fac- • ulty), Springer-Verlag, 2000. D