SHARON M. KENNEDY resides on the land of her youth near the country town of Brimley in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She’s surrounded by childhood memories and a way of life that is no more. Instead of relying on intricate plots and schemes, her stories are driven by the characters and their interactions with each other, their teachers, and their parents. The authenticity and innocence of the kids will remind adults of days gone by.
Ms. Kennedy writes a weekly newspaper column for The Sault News and the Cheboygan Tribune. She authored Life in a Tin Can, a random collection of previously published columns. Sharon's most recent book, View from the SideRoad: A Collection of Upper Peninsula Stories was just released. Her work also appears in all seven issues of the U.P. Reader.

"There are many books that detail the history of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  These are often rigorously researched and documented (some may be less so) and they represent an important aspect of the way we understand this strange little corner of the world. The SideRoad Kids: Tales from Chippewa County is not that kind of book.  It is a fictional retelling of the life of Sharon M. Kennedy, the stories of the time she spent growing up on the east end of the U.P., and the myriad characters that she grew up with. Each chapter is a story about Yooper life, a mixture of back-country living and 1950’s nostalgia that is reminiscent of Jean Shepherd’s A Christmas Story.  And Kennedy does indeed include a Christmas story in her book, one that takes the kids on a trip that is a little more like Gift of the Magi than they bargain for. The kids in the book, with names like Flint, Candy, and Squeaky, could easily be any of the kids we all grew up with, familiar in their idiosyncrasies, lovable in their innocence.  The SideRoad Kids: Tales from Chippewa County is a great little slice of the Upper Peninsula.  Even though it’s set in the 50’s I can see similarities to the people that I grew up around in the 80’s, so I expect that those would be familiar to anyone from the area.  This book is great for readers of all ages, a short story collection that is part non-fiction, part fiction, and all enjoyable. -- Read the complete review at the U.P. Book Review.