Local Books

Between Two Rivers

$12.00

Model: 9781934866160

By Aruna Kenyi

Published by The Telling Room

Aruna Kenyi is a native of Sudan who now lives in Maine. His story "The Photograph" appeared in the Telling Room anthology I Remember Warm Rain in 2007. Between Two Rivers,
Kenyi's memoir just published by The Telling Room, is the story of his
improbably journey from East Africa to Southern Maine--a story, still
in progress, of the events, people, and places that have helped define
him. Kenyi will discuss and read from his new memoir and answer
questions.

Aruna Kenyi is a graduate of Portland High School and currently attends
the University of Maine at Farmington where he is studying to be a high
school health educator. All proceeds from his memoir will support his
college fund.

For the Love of Peaks

$19.95

Model: 9780615358833

Island Portraits & Stories: A Collection

by Fran Houston

I first conceived of the idea of For the Love of Peaks when encountering the rich history of Peaks Island and hearing the stories of the old timers. Each conversation gave me a glimpse of that person, deepened my love and connection to Peaks, and got me asking, "Why do we live on an island? And why Peaks Island?" I began to wonder how I could share these glimpses. It wasn't until I saw Jerry Robinov's "Faces of the Mind" exhibit - photographs with accompanying self-written stories - that I knew what I would do. I would interview. I was on fire. I asked the Gem Gallery on Peaks if I could exhibit in June 2008. I asked the Island Times if I could publish the stories and photographs. So For the Love of Peaks was born. When the exhibit happene, everyone asked when the book was coming out, so here I am.

Can I Call You Cheesecake?

$9.95

Model: 9781934866177

Published by The Telling Room

Our newest anthology, Can I Call You Cheesecake, is a collection of 35 Stories and Poems about food. The product of our "At the Table" workshops, a year-long project that reached hundreds of Portland-area students, the book is an lively tour through the culinary and cultural geographies of its writers. Some reminisce about specific foods that bind them to their heritage, while others describe a single dish rich with the memory of the people with whom it was shared. A girl dances on her dining room table in shiny red cowboy boots eating sticky cantelope, while a boy recalls his father through the taste of lemon stew. One girl imagines herself a carrot swimming in gravy, while another becomes a measuring spoon, coated with fudge and flour. This anthology is richly flavored and satisfying to the last morsel.

I Remember Warm Rain

$7.99

Model: 9780972941051

Published by The Telling Room

Fifteen students, from countries such as Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, and Iran are represented in our first anthology, I Remember Warm Rain. In it, you meet Ali killing hyenas and Arunda speaking to his father by phone after ten years of believing he is dead. You meet Kahiye, revealing his first experience of snow, and Stella doing something once forbidden to her, playing a game she loves: soccer. These rich stories were written as part of The Telling Room's yearlong Story House Project, a multi-media initiative built on the collaborative efforts of local artists, writers, filmmakers, sound technicians, teachers and the 15 young storytellers who bravely told their tales of leaving home in hopes of finding a new one in America.

I Carry It Everywhere

$9.95

Model: 9781934866030

Published by The Telling Room

Our 2008 anthology, I Carry It Everywhere, poses this question: If you had only one story to tell about what matters most to you, what would it be? For Halima, a student at Portland High School, that story begins and ends with her hijab, her head scarf. She is joined by seventeen other local students, including Abde, Andrew, Colin, Ekhlas, Nestor, Rickey, Samakab, and Zaki - young storytellers from A to Z, from fourteen to eighteen years old, from South Portland, Maine to Mogadishu, Somalia - as authors of stories and poems about what matters most to them. Also included in these pages are photographs of high school students holding single statements, many of them distilled from stories they wrote.

Tearing Down the Playground

$12.95

Model: 9781934866108

Published by The Telling Room
A collection of Portland neighborhood stories and photographs, our 2009 anthology Tearing Down the Playground is the end result of year's worth of hard work by hundreds of young area writers. Students' collected words and images create a vivid neighborhood of their own in its pages, documenting every sidewalk and stoop, every basement and backyard, every cut-through and cornerstone to be found in Portland. Here you'll find the truth of the city's streets, byways, and neighborhoods: Sherman, Valley, Sagamore, KP, Riverton, Deering, and the wharves. Come explore the city with fresh eyes. Let our young guides lead you - we promise you'll never see your streets, your neighbors, or your playgrounds the same way again.