Petoskey Stones: Poems by Andre F. Peltier

Peltier offers “trinkets bought and/forgotten … collecting dust in drawers,/attics, shoeboxes” in this tender collection of childhood memories. These Petoskey Stones are carved literally and figuratively, from the land of Northern Michigan and situated in the childhood of an American Gen Xer against the backdrop of Indigenous and even geological timescales. The protagonists are flawed and charming as young people are—apple fights, attempting to engineer a snow day by tossing buckets of water in the street, trapping/tripping passersby on the trail they labeled “walk our trail—face the consequences.” Peltier’s tongue and cheek reference to Thomas’ Fern Hill is apt. The vivacity of young life–“We knew this stream, / shallow and / thoughtless, was young like us”–is made ever more potent when a young hide-and-seeker finds a square hole to hide in, only later needing to be rescued from what turns out to be a pre-dug grave. We’re rescued from this grave again and again by this race on strong, youthful legs, down memory lane.

–Ebon Bein, Author of Character Flaws

A joyful romp! Peltier brings readers down to the lakes, fields, bluffs, and alleyways of his youth. More than a coming-of-age story, he intertwines everything from the history of the region down through his own family. Andre’s words are so immediate that he not only triggers your memory, he makes you nostalgic for a time that you may not have experienced. Andre makes us believe that are best days are ahead of us.

–Fred Shrum, Author of Psalms of The Street Sweeper