Born by the River: The true story of a young girl growing up along the Mississippi River during the summer of 1963 Paperback – September 20, 2016

My grandparents owned a general store** in Grand Tower for many years, and the author and I may have even met. I nearly choked on my Pepsi when I read the name Captain Edgar Allen Poe. . .my Kentuckian mom dated him! That was just the beginning: the images conjured by this memoir have opened up doors in my mind that have been closed for years. Thanks for sharing your memories, good and bad, of a time that a dwindling population of us lived and knew. (** The store on the south end of town, not the one a few doors down from the drugstore, if that tells you anything.)

This book was recommended to me by a friend and I picked it up not expecting too much. What a great surprise. It is very well written, and the story of the author's childhood on the Mississippi River was truly fascinating. Ms. Clark obviously did a lot of family and historical research and she was able to weave that background into the story in a very interesting manner. This book would make a good movie about a 12-year-old girl's summer on the river. I was sorry when the book ended as I had gotten interested in what happened after that summer.

Jenness Clark writes a remarkable story of her younger, 12 year old self, growing up in a unique Midwestern place, an island in the middle of the Mississippi River. For anyone who needs inspiration to organize their family tree and make sense of their roots and place, it is a great read. Each chapter is headed by a thoughtful, provocative quotation from a famous writer and is written in two voices, one past and one present. The story is cleverly crafted and the reader gets swept up in young Jenness' thoughts and feelings during these turbulent times in our nation and in her own family…..a very readable memoir of life in the Midwest in the 1960's. I loved it!

A powerful story with many levels. The extended family, the force of life along the river, personal history all make this book fascinating. I read it straight through. The writing flows and you feel as if you are right there. This books has stayed with me a long time and I keep thinking about how seeds from our past stay with us. Great book.

Clark's storytelling immediately hooked me. This American story is filled with history, family loyalty and ultimately loss. If you like American history and are curious about this region of the country then this book is for you. A great recommendation for book groups regardless of where you reside.

I was right there with these people as they lived their lives. I felt happy, sad, and then even sadder. Great read.

Really enjoyed the whole story.

I really like this book. I grew up near the Mississippi River in Iowa in the 60's, and this book brought back many memories of the river.

A very personal and interesting family-story in the invorenments of Mississippi river