BOOKS FOR Summer

Recommendations from LYN ROBERTS General

Manager,

Square Books

A recent graduate from the MFA program at the Univeristy of Mississippi, Tyriek White's debut novel has been called astonishing by Kiese Laymon.

A poignant debut for readers of Jesmyn Ward and Jamel Brinkley, We Are a Haunting follows three generations of a working class family and their inherited ghosts: a story of hope and transformation.

A supernatural family saga, a searing social critique, and a lyrical and potent account of displaced lives, We Are a Haunting unravels the threads connecting the past, present, and future, and depicts the palpable, breathing essence of the neglected corridors of a pulsing city with pathos and poise.

The World: A Family History Of Humanity

By Simon Sebag Montefiore

A magisterial world history unlike any other that tells the story of humanity through the one thing we all have in common: families

• From the New York Times best-selling author of The Romanovs

Around 950,000 years ago, a family of five walked along the beach and left behind the oldest family footprints ever discovered. For award-winning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, these poignant, familiar fossils serve as an inspiration for a new kind of world history, one that is genuinely global, spans all eras and all continents, and focuses on the family ties that connect every one of us.

You: The Story: A Writer's Guide To Craft Through Memory

Ruta Sepetys is known for creating vivid characters and harrowing plots. After five award-winning works of historical fiction and countless hours of meticulous research, she can affirm that the secret to strong writing is embedded within your life experience.

You: The Story is a powerful how-to book for aspiring writers that encourages you to look inward and excavate your own memories in order to discover the authentic voices and compelling details that are waiting to be put on the page. Masterfully weaving in humorous and heartfelt stories from her own life that illustrate an aspect of the craft of writing (such as plot, character development, or dialogue), Sepetys then inspires readers with a series of writing prompts and exercises.

Code Of The Hills

By Chris Offutt

In this blistering return to Chris Offutt's acclaimed crime series, Mick Hardin is tested like never before as familial allegiances and old wounds collide, threatening to destroy everything he loves. Master storyteller and award-winning author Chris Offutt's latest book, Code of the Hills, is a dark, witty, and propulsive thriller of murder and secrets in a town where little is as it seems. Code of the Hills is a harrowing novel of family--of what we're willing to do to protect and avenge the ones we love.

Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last

By Wright Thompson

In time for Father's Day, Wiright Thompson's Pappyland is available in paperback. More than a story of a famed bourbon, Pappyland is the story of how Julian Van Winkle III, the caretaker of the most coveted cult Kentucky Bourbon whiskey in the world, fought to protect his family's heritage and preserve the taste of his forebears, in a world where authenticity, like his product, is in very short supply. In writing this story Wright learned not only about great bourbon but about complicated legacies and the rewards of honoring your people and your craft—lessons that he couldn’t help but apply to his own work and life.

Nature's Messenger: Mark Catesby and His Adventures in a New World

By Patrick Dean

A dynamic and fresh exploration of the naturalist Mark Catesby—who predated John James Audubon by nearly a century— and his influence on how we understand American wildlife..

In Nature’s Messenger, acclaimed writer Patrick Dean follows Catesby from his youth as a landed gentleman in rural England to his early work as a naturalist and his adventurous travels. A pioneer in many ways, Catesby’s careful attention to the knowledge of non-Europeans in America—the enslaved Africans and Native Americans who had their own sources of food and medicine from nature—set him apart from others of his time.

Intensively researched and thrillingly told, Nature’s Messenger will thrill fans of exploration and early American history as well as appealing to birdwatchers, botanists, and anyone fascinated by the natural world.

with making him feel welcome from the jump.

“I think at the beginning of the year last year I was still the new guy and then as we kind of moved further in the year I kind of took more of a leadership role along with the seniors from last year,” he said. “I’m super thankful for [head coach Cade] Hoggard and the amount of trust he put into me… him leading me and me leading his other guys has been really cool.”

That leadership role came naturally to Smithwick, a born leader who fell in love with the sport at an early age thanks to the influence of his father

The elder Smithwick, a talented catcher in his own right who played Division I baseball at Western Carolina, instilled that love for the sport in his son and taught him the intricacies of the catcher position.

“I mean he’s been my coach forever really, I’ve never had a better coach,” the younger Smithwick said of his father. “I can’t say enough good things about everything he’s taught me and how much he’s meant to me as a dad, but also a coach. He’s my best friend, he’s done everything for me — just having that relationship with him has really played a big part in [my development] as a person and also as a baseball player.”

The talented backstop added that Hoggard has also been instrumental to his development as a leader, helping him hone his leadership skills and demonstrating alternative ways to control a locker room.

“I never got to see Coach Hoggard as a player but I could tell that he was more of the quiet leader himself, so just seeing the way he coaches our team — that’s the way that I want to lead.”

Smithwick, who is one of the top catching prospects in the class of 2023 and will likely hear his name called somewhere in the middle rounds of the MLB Draft, said he has leaned on both Hoggard and his father for advice as he continues to get more and more national attention.

He said the most important piece of advice they’ve given him is to simply ignore the chatter and focus on enjoying the moment as he finishes out his senior year of high school.

“I just kind of stay focused on what’s happening in front of me and being where my feet are, just staying locked in to the season and trying to win as many games as possible,” Smithwick said. “All I am is someone else’s opinion in that regard so I just try to play as well as I can no matter what — and not for any specific person or to impress anybody, but just because I love the game and I want to play the best I can.”

When he steps onto the Ole Miss campus this fall Campbell Smithwick will be not only one of the most talented freshmen on the diamond, but also one of the most polished and mature athletes in the entire school thanks to the hard work and dedication of several mentors who helped guide him to this point.

And perhaps more importantly, he’ll be a local kid ready to make a mark on an historic program because for Smithwick, Oxford is home.