Tara Neilson

This book is a fascinating memoir of a young family braving the wilds of Southeast Alaska homesteading an old burned out cannery during the 1980's. This family has grit! They never give up and they are all tough as nails. The authors dad, Gary is a Vietnam vet with terrible PTSD and is prone to depression and rages. (although not physically abusive, thank God) I appreciate that the author didn't try to sugar coat any of this and was very honest about this troubled man. The mom, Romi, was a dreamer and prone to depression as well. Artistic but impractical she was a wonderful mom in her own way. She loves her kids! Their lives in Alaska are quite an adventure, one that I know I would not do well at. They are quite an impressive family. This is a wonderful memoir of survival, exploration, love, creativity and tenacity. I'm so glad the author Tara Nielson took the time to write it all down. I loved it. Very highly recommended.… (mais)

Tara Nielson's wildly fascinating memoir explodes off the page with her vivid recollections of her life growing up with her family at the site of a burned-out cannery in Southeastern Alaska. Loosely chronological, Tara tells of her and her siblings' exploits amidst the dangerous landscape and the ways they entertained themselves when often they were the only humans for miles. She also includes photographs of her family, which I wish I could see in color! (Note to publisher - when this book takes off, consider a second printing with the photos on glossy color paper in the middle or at the end). It is evident that Tara and her family are highly intelligent, making the most of their mostly unsupervised home-school education, being impressively innovative in art, music, engineering, cooking and imagination-based play. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of their attempts to use their sometimes limited food stores to come up with creative snacks. Whoever heard of mixing instant potatoes with Tang? Not I, but I'm strangely compelled to try it.
I thank Tara for sharing her family's story with us, and hope she's compelled to continue with another memoir as it seems she still lives in Alaska and I'm sure has continued to have adventures. I was going to say, the only thing this book could have benefited from would be an epilogue where she lets us know what Gary, Romi, Jamie, Megan, Chris and Robin (and Shawn, Lance, LeAnn, JoDean, Linda, Marion, Rory...) are up to now. Oh, and also (mini spoiler, going to be vague - I now hate US Steel and wish I could punch that realtor in the face) .
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in memoirs, Alaska, family stories and unconventional upbringings. Cheers, Nielsons!… (mais)