"Blue Earth" is a compelling novel of Minnesota, a land that guards its secrets. Carver Heinz loses both farm and family in the farm crisis of the 1980s. Displaced into urban Minneapolis, he becomes obsessed with Angie, a beautiful child he rescues from a tornado in an encounter he insists they keep silent. Her close friendship with a Dakota Indian boy fuels Carver's rage and unleashes a series of events that reveal the haunting power of each character's past and of their shared histories, especially the 1862 Dakota Conflict and public hanging of 38 Dakota--the largest mass execution in U.S. history.
"We... see our own lives reflected in "Blue Earth"'s dark mirror, even as we learn a tragic history kept from us by those who would forever erase our origins... This is a brilliant novel by one of our truly intuitive and accomplished writers"
--Margaret Randall, author of "Ruins"
"Achtenberg's passionate, brilliantly crafted language, combined with her profound ethical imagination, makes "Blue Earth" one of the most important books to appear at this moment in our history."
--Demetria Martinez, author of "Mother Tongue"
"Achtenberg creates morally complex and culturally diverse characters whose lives are affected by loss, poverty, disease, and war, but whose ultimately redemptive encounters with one another take "Blue Earth" far beyond its Midwester setting."
--Martha Collins, author of "Blue Front"
"In the great tradition of Willa Cather and Wallace Stegner, Anya Achtenberg writes of the violence, past and present, that shapes the people of the vast American Midwest. Deep and searing, "Blue Earth" is perhaps one of the best novels of the past decade."
--Kathleen Spivack, author of "With Robert Lowell and His Circle"
Learn more at www.AnyaAchtenberg.com
From the Reflections of History Series at Modern History Press www.ModernHistoryPress.com

"Blue Earth" is a compelling novel of Minnesota, a land that guards its secrets. Carver Heinz loses both farm and family in the farm crisis of the 1980s. Displaced into urban Minneapolis, he becomes obsessed with Angie, a beautiful child he rescues from a tornado in an encounter he insists they keep silent. Her close friendship with a Dakota Indian boy fuels Carver's rage and unleashes a series of events that reveal the haunting power of each character's past and of their shared histories, especially the 1862 Dakota Conflict and public hanging of 38 Dakota--the largest mass execution in U.S. history.
"We... see our own lives reflected in "Blue Earth"'s dark mirror, even as we learn a tragic history kept from us by those who would forever erase our origins... This is a brilliant novel by one of our truly intuitive and accomplished writers"
--Margaret Randall, author of "Ruins"
"Achtenberg's passionate, brilliantly crafted language, combined with her profound ethical imagination, makes "Blue Earth" one of the most important books to appear at this moment in our history."
--Demetria Martinez, author of "Mother Tongue"
"Achtenberg creates morally complex and culturally diverse characters whose lives are affected by loss, poverty, disease, and war, but whose ultimately redemptive encounters with one another take "Blue Earth" far beyond its Midwester setting."
--Martha Collins, author of "Blue Front"
"In the great tradition of Willa Cather and Wallace Stegner, Anya Achtenberg writes of the violence, past and present, that shapes the people of the vast American Midwest. Deep and searing, "Blue Earth" is perhaps one of the best novels of the past decade."
--Kathleen Spivack, author of "With Robert Lowell and His Circle"
Learn more at www.AnyaAchtenberg.com
From the Reflections of History Series at Modern History Press www.ModernHistoryPress.com

..".a perfect genius that makes the impossible in expression, possible; the unknowable in experience, knowable"
--Anya Achtenberg, author of "The Stories of Devil-Girl"
"Nickels" follows a biracial girl named "Little Miss So and So," from age 4-1/2 into adulthood. Told in a series of prose poems, "Nickels'" lyrical and inventive language conveys the dissociative states born of a world formed by persistent and brutal incest and homophobia. The dissociative states enable the child's survival and, ultimately, the adult's healing. The story is both heartbreaking and triumphant. Nickels is the groundbreaking debut of Minneapolis-area author and artist Christine Stark.
"Christine Stark has crafted a language and a diction commensurate with the shredding of consciousness that is a consequence of childhood sexual abuse. She brings us a wholly original voice in a riveting novel of desperation and love. Every sentence vibrates with a terrible beauty. Every sentence brings the news."
--Patricia Weaver Francisco, author of "Telling: A Memoir of Rape and Recovery"
"To be taken into the mind of a child can be an enchanting adventure, but to be taken into the mind of a child who is abused, confused, and taken for granted is a lingering, livid journey. I applaud her fortitude to bring an olden--too long ignored-- truth out of the darkness with blazing, innovative light."
--MariJo Moore, author of "The Diamond Doorknob"
"In "Nickels," Christine Stark, powerfully portrays the story of abuse and its impact on our lives. When this beautifully written and compelling story leaves, you are left wanting more. It's riveting; a book that will capture you from the beginning and carry you through the end. Everyone should read this book."
--Olga Trujillo, author of "The Sum of My Parts"
From the Reflections of America Series at Modern History Press www.ModernHistoryPress.com
Learn more at www.ChristineStark.com
FIC044000 Fiction: Contemporary Women
FIC018000 Fiction: Lesbian
SOC010000 Social Science: Feminism & Feminist Theory

..".a perfect genius that makes the impossible in expression, possible; the unknowable in experience, knowable"
--Anya Achtenberg, author of "The Stories of Devil-Girl"
"Nickels" follows a biracial girl named "Little Miss So and So," from age 4-1/2 into adulthood. Told in a series of prose poems, "Nickels'" lyrical and inventive language conveys the dissociative states born of a world formed by persistent and brutal incest and homophobia. The dissociative states enable the child's survival and, ultimately, the adult's healing. The story is both heartbreaking and triumphant. Nickels is the groundbreaking debut of Minneapolis-area author and artist Christine Stark.
"Christine Stark has crafted a language and a diction commensurate with the shredding of consciousness that is a consequence of childhood sexual abuse. She brings us a wholly original voice in a riveting novel of desperation and love. Every sentence vibrates with a terrible beauty. Every sentence brings the news."
--Patricia Weaver Francisco, author of "Telling: A Memoir of Rape and Recovery"
"To be taken into the mind of a child can be an enchanting adventure, but to be taken into the mind of a child who is abused, confused, and taken for granted is a lingering, livid journey. I applaud her fortitude to bring an olden--too long ignored-- truth out of the darkness with blazing, innovative light."
--MariJo Moore, author of "The Diamond Doorknob"
"In "Nickels," Christine Stark, powerfully portrays the story of abuse and its impact on our lives. When this beautifully written and compelling story leaves, you are left wanting more. It's riveting; a book that will capture you from the beginning and carry you through the end. Everyone should read this book."
--Olga Trujillo, author of "The Sum of My Parts"
From the Reflections of America Series at Modern History Press www.ModernHistoryPress.com
Learn more at www.ChristineStark.com
FIC044000 Fiction: Contemporary Women
FIC018000 Fiction: Lesbian
SOC010000 Social Science: Feminism & Feminist Theory