This novel begins in 1969, and as Peter, Paul and Mary croon on the radio and poster paints are splashing the latest anti-war slogans. Suzanne, a poet, lives in a Maine beach house awaiting the birth of a love child she will name Sparrow. Claudia, who weds a farmer during college, plans to raise three strong sons. And Elizabeth and Howard marry, organize protest marches, and try to raise their two children with their own earthy, hippie values. By 1985, things have changed. Suzanne, now with a M.B.A., has taken to calling Sparrow "Susan." After personal tragedy, Claudia spirals backward into her sixties world—and into madness. And Elizabeth, fatally ill, watches despairingly as her children yearn for a split-level house and a gleaming station wagon. In this beloved, critically acclaimed first novel, Hood's clear, brave, and penetrating voice captures the spirit of three friends struggling to resolve their lives in a complicated time warp called lost youth.

Maine is known for its rockbound coast and pristine shoreline. Yet there is more to this shore than rocky cliffs. This book describes the origin of the more common "soft coast" of eroding bluffs, sand beaches, and salt marshes. A central theme is the formation of the present shoreline during the current ongoing rise in sea level and the ways in which coastal residents can best cope with the changes to come. Although it is not widely known, Maine is experiencing a rapid, uneven drowning of its shore at the same time that coastal development is at an all-time high. The authors explain how the shoreline is changing and provide a series of highly detailed maps that show the relative safety of particular locations on the coast. Specific guidelines for recognizing various safe and unsafe coastal settings are presented, as are recommendations for sound construction techniques in hazardous coastal areas. Photographs and drawings illustrate the danger of living too near the shoreline, and an up-to-date review of Maine's regulations governing coastal construction is simply and readably described. A bibliography of important coastal literature is also included, as well as a guide to federal, state, and local sources of information.

What's it like to live your dream? To live the life of an author? To (finally) be married to the man you love and live in the place you've always imagined? With wry humor and insight, Lea Wait, acclaimed author of 14 books in two genres, shares the good, the bad, and the challenging about living in a Maine house built in 1774, meeting publishing deadlines, and loving life. (Most of the time!) Lea always wanted to be an author, a mother, a wife ... and to live on the coast of Maine. She adopted her four daughters as a single parent. In 1998, after they were grown, she moved to Maine and began writing full-time. In 2003 she married Bob Thomas, a man she'd only known 12,994 days. Her story is a treasure for everyone who knows and love Maine, or writing ... or who dreams.

Salt and Roses is a collection of essays from May Davidson, co-inventor of the Maine Buoy Bell and author of Whatever it Takes, that offers an intimate look at her love affair with the State of Maine and her years working and living along the coast with her late husband Jim. Join Davidson as she reminisces about hunting for blueberries in the Maine woods behind her parents inn, spending the night on a rollicking fish carrier, facing off against a wild Jersey cow, and all the other merits of life on the Maine coast.

A couple set out on a bold and vigorous quest for independence and a more essential way of life on a Maine island

WHEN YOU NAVIGATE THE COAST OF MAINE, A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS A Visual Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast takes the guesswork out of navigating Maine’s intricate, reef-strewn waters, ensuring that your next voyage through this coastal paradise will be picture-perfect. Inside you will find more than 180 full-color aerial photographs that provide "by-the-picture” navigational guidance for Maine’s treasured harbors, difficult passages, and hidden approaches. Author James Bildner has added chart segments and recommended course lines to these low-altitude photos, giving you a unique, at-a-glance guide to sailing around Maine. It’s like cruising with a masthead lookout to point the way. • Text descriptions of area with piloting instructions • Labeled approach lines • Low-angled photos with key navigation aides labeled • Chart segments from high resolution NOAA charts

"The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place." A book to be read for pleasure as well as a practical identification guide, The Edge of the Sea introduces a world of teeming life where the sea meets the land. A new generation of readers is discovering why Rachel Carson's books have become cornerstones of the environmental and conservation movements. New introduction by Sue Hubbell. (A Mariner Reissue)