ELLINWOOD — “Finding the Pearl” by Thuan Tammy Fadler with Carol McAdoo Rehme. This memoir describes how a young immigrant from Vietnam found success in America, and rose to the top of her profession. The book was co-written by Carol McAdoo Rehme, of the Ellinwood Rehme family.
“My Twenty and Then Some” by Charles Carmin. First Sgt. Charlie Carmin of Ellinwood served in the U.S. Marine Corps from April 1947 to May 1968. His book is about his experiences starting with boot camp in San Diego, his first duty station, a short tour in China, through the Korean War and beyond.
“Prairie Fires” by Julie Courtwright. Prairie fires have always been a spectacular and dangerous part of the Great Plains. In this environmental study, Courtwright vividly recounts how fire has bound Plains people to each other and to the prairies themselves for centuries, tracing the history of both natural and intentional fires.
“Osa and Martin” by Kelly Enright. This non-fiction work shares the story of the legendary filmmakers and adventurers Osa and Martin Johnson, who from the 1910s through the 1940s, brought the jungles of Africa and the South Pacific to millions of Americans, all while creating a home for themselves in the wildest of places.
“Tapped Out” by Matthew Polly. “In Tapped Out,” Polly chronicles his grueling yet redeeming two-year journey through an often misunderstood sport of Kung Fu. He studied with the best trainers across the globe, and through the process, he discovers how Kung Fu has evolved into the world’s fastest growing sport.
“The Northern Cheyenne Exodus” by James N. Leiker. The exodus of the northern Cheyennes in 1878 and 1879, an attempt to flee from the Indian Territory to their Montana homeland, is an iconic event in American Indian history. It also looms large in the history of towns like Oberlin where Cheyenne warriors killed settlers. This is the story of their epic escape.
“Destiny of the Republic” by Candice Millard. In 1880, James A. Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Then four months after Garfield became president, and unhinged politician intercepted the president in a train station, leveled a pistol and fired twice. This is the drama of what happened subsequently in an epic story of a nation in turmoil.
“Chanel Bonfire” by Wendy Lawless. The author’s mother didn’t bake cookies or go to PTA meetings. She wasn’t like other mothers… normal. She wore a mink coat, used a cigarette holder, and went through men like Kleenex. And she didn’t like dogs or children. In this searing memoir, Wendy Lawless charts the highs and lows of growing up in the shadow of an unstable, fabulously neglectful mother.

Sharon Sturgis is the librarian for the Ellinwood School/Community Library.