Can We Keep It?
By Bobbie L. Lipman
Published by Here I Am Publishing
Release Date: 2024

A compelling, endearing story about the innate kindness of the human spirit, Can We Keep It? is a wonderfully uplifting story based on the author’s sister Jeanne’ childhood experience when she and their mom rescued and rehabilitated an injured cedar waxwing bird that had accidentally flown into their picture window. 

This quick read, sweetly narrated by the little avian, is listed in the children’s book genre, but the story teaches lessons of compassion and, ultimately, exhilaration, which will happily tug on the heartstrings of even the most curmudgeonly among us. Children will enjoy reading this book themselves and younger ones will like having it read to them.

Can We Keep It? is written and illustrated by Myrtle Beach resident Bobbie L. Lipman, a former speech/language pathologist and public-school administrator who grew up in Colorado. The idea for writing the children’s book stems from a 1969 letter she recovered during COVID from her sister and mother, Jean, noting their adventures with the little waxwing. Indeed, the dedication page displays a photo of the bird resting upon a hand. Charming and didactic, there’s a lesson to be learned about the perils of birds flying into windows. Adults should be sure to check out the foreword, written by a professor of ornithology and conservation.

Spooky South: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore
Retold by S. E. Schlosser
Published by Globe Pequot
Release Date: 2024

The short days and seemingly endless, dark, and foreboding nights of late fall and winter lend themselves to settling in with a good book (or seven). This one, Spooky South: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore is certainly one that will keep fans of scary Southern folklore enthralled.

A third edition boasting 43 older tales of peculiar occurrences, legendary hauntings, and pure full-out scary phenomena, this 301-page trade paperback features a map legend at the start, showcasing Southern states ranging from Arkansas and Louisiana to Florida and up to Maryland, with black dots indicating, generally, where to find said these unearthly, spooky happenings.  Unsurprisingly, many terrifying tales can be found along the coast. 

Peppering the paperback throughout are black and white etchings artistically rendered by Paul G. Hoffman. Part One of this compendium of short stories focuses on ghost stories. Here, the reader will be treated to “The Army of the Dead” set in Charleston, SC. and “The Black Umbrella”  of Mount Pleasant, SC,  among other tales. 
Why cats seem to be the evildoers in many a hair-raising tale is mystifying, but  the very first spooky scenario of this book is “Wait Until Emmet Comes,” a story involving a preacher and three ferocious felines that play with red-hot coals.

Part Two deals with the powers of darkness. One such example is entitled “The Wampus Cat”  of Knoxville, TN. The focus here is a mean, upright- walking, fanged, saliva-dripping supernatural kitty. Circling back to South Carolina, the very last story tells of Beaufort’s “Boo Hag.”   One word of advice: Keep a couple of extra lights on and make sure your home is locked. These folk stories have been around for a long time, but you never know when a new one will occur…