An author who’s jumped genres, three picture books from one writer, farming, shipwrecks and poetry are in the spotlight as we wind down books for late summer.

“Despite Herself” by Jessie Chandler: (Bella Books, $17.95)

(Courtesy of Bella Books)

The pull I’d felt the first time I’d laid eyes on her hit me full force. The woman was a siren, one of those beautiful, mythical creatures who captivated the innocent with their irresistible songs and lured them to an untimely death.” — from “Despite Herself.”

Minnesotan Jessie Chandler saw herself as a mystery author with six books in her humorous Shay O’Hanlon Caper series that began her career in 2015 with “Bingo Barge Murder.” But at the urging of friends she decided to stretch those creative writing muscles and jump to romance with some mystery elements in a made-up genre she calls “romancification.”

Jessie Chandler

Set in Duluth, the author’s favorite city, the protagonists are Bec Harrison, a former Detroit police officer who joins the Duluth PD after a bitter divorce. Theo Zaccardo owns The Mashed Spud, a popular LGBTQ bar. The women are instantly attracted to one another, but this is a romance, so there’s lots of “Should we…?” They are thrown together when a body is found in a trash bin outside Theo’s bar. The murder weapon was a pizza cutter from Theo’s kitchen, and she becomes a suspect. As the investigation continues, Theo and Bec try to hide their growing feelings for one another, and each woman has reasons for vowing to never again get into a serious relationship. The mystery of who killed the dumpster corpse is sort of in the story, but Chandler never loses control of the romance element. She also has a little fun with her new genre, referring to “romance cliches”  in fiction and a book with cover art of “a guy brandishing a sword, someone who looked like that long-haired Italian guy on the front of a gazillion trashy romances from the 90s.” The murder is solved, the lovers reveal their secrets, and it’s mostly happily ever after.

Chandler knows abut law enforcement. She is a former police officer and State Patrol dispatcher. She hasn’t revealed whether there’s another romance in her career.

“Trusty Bus” and “Not a Spot to Spot” by Elizabeth Weiss Verdick: (Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, both $19.99)

(Courtesy of Beach Lane Books / Simon & Schuster)

If you have a little one who’ll take a school bus for the first time this year, “Trusty Bus” will help the experience seem familiar. Trusty, a big yellow school bus, narrates the story about how Driver Dee (a bear) watches out for the kids and knows everyone on the route. Trusty knows Driver Dee will keep his tank filled, keep eyes on the road, wait for kids who are late, and stop for a mother duck leading ducklings across the road. On the ride home, Trusty is happy because the kids hold signs of love for their school bus. Jeff Harter, who lives in upstate New York, illustrates with detailed pictures of happy kids, buildings, ducks — everything little readers will identify with on their bus ride.

Elizabeth Weiss Verdick. (Courtesy of the author)

“Not a Spot to Spot” is inspired by the birth of a spotless giraffe in a private zoo in Tennessee. But this is no Ugly Duckling story. It’s about how this rare baby was embraced by the other zoo animals and made headlines around the world. After zookeepers asked the public for help in choosing a name, the calf was called Kipekee, meaning unique in the Swahili language. Illustrator Waring, who lives in England, shows giraffes and human kids with big, wondering eyes. For little ones who feel different, Mother giraffe has this advice: “When the calf slept,/head tucked to tail,/Mama Giraffe watched over her,/whispering,/’Grow up strong and sure./Always stand tall. Be proud of who you are.”

“Make Way for Harriet and May” by Elizabeth Weiss Verdick: (Worthy Kids/Hatchette Book Group, $18.99)

May Ann thinks the world is noisy, too “people-y,” and she’s a little lonely. When she finds a “May-sized stuffed spider” in a bargain bin, she names the long-legged creature Harriet, and loves her for the ability to become a shaggy pillow, a furry sleep mask or a helpful holder of snacks. Taking Harriet with her everywhere, May makes friends with a boy who has a stuffed friend called Sherm the worm. This warm-hearted story will resonate with youngsters who have sensory sensitivities. Illustrator Yana Kozak depicts May as a bright, endearing child holding Harriet, who grins around two large fangs.

“Along Lake Michigan: Shipwreck Stories of Life and Loss”: by Michael Schumacher (University of Minnesota Press, $24.95)

A Wisconsin author looks at fourteen 19th- and 20th-century shipwrecks, detailing the last minutes of these doomed ships along with the circumstances that surrounded their voyages on Lake Michigan, which has more shipwrecks than the other Great Lakes combined.

“Global Heartland: Cultivating the American Century on the Midwestern Farm”: by Peter Simons (University of Minnesota Press, $22.95)

Simons, a historian who lives in upstate New York, explores how Midwest farmers assumed renewed strategic and cultural importance as they produced essential sustenance during World War II for overseas troops and the domestic population. From the publisher: “Examining regional political parties, Lend-Lease programs, wartime mass media, and farm-relief programs, and interspersing this history with vignettes revisiting the Mercy Wheat campaign… the postwar International Farm Youth Exchange and the Flying Farmers organization, Simons offers an enlightening consideration of Midwestern farmers’ involvement in America’s international ascent.”

“In the Tilling”: by Donna Isaac (Finishing Line Press, $22.99)

Memories of childhood North and South combine with love of food and recipes (marinated salmon to pumpkin bread) in this collection by an award-winning Minnesota poet published earlier this year. This is friendly poetry that feels like a conversation over coffee. Isaac, who has an MFA from Hamline University, recalls her brothers using pinecones to make “grenades,” her love of apricots and avocados, dealing with failing vision, her feelings on reading Charles Bukowski’s poetry. What other collection includes an Ode to Okra? As we head into fall, here are the opening lines of “Reasons to Survive October:”

October like a mellow friend/bearing vintage wine and aged cheese/has crept in on soft-soled shoes,/washing canvases with golden/fire, tinging tangerine rugose leaves…”

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Today is Sunday, Aug. 24, the 236th day of 2025. There are 129 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida; the storm resulted in 65 deaths and caused more than $26 billion in damage across Florida, Louisiana and the Bahamas.

Also on this date:

In 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to the still-under-construction Capitol and the White House, as well as other public buildings.

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In 1912, Congress passed a measure creating the Alaska Territory.

In 1932, Amelia Earhart embarked on a 19-hour flight from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, making her the first woman to fly solo, non-stop, from coast to coast.

In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty came into force.

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.

In 1981, Mark David Chapman was sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon.

In 1989, Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti (juh-MAH’-tee) banned Pete Rose from the game for betting on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds.

In 1991, in response to a coup attempt by hardline Communist leaders attempting to reassert control over the Soviet Union, Ukrainian parliamentarians voted to approve a Declaration of Independence for the state of Ukraine.

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union declared that Pluto was no longer a full-fledged planet, demoting it to the status of a “dwarf planet.”

In 2012, a Norwegian court found Anders Behring Breivik guilty of terrorism and premeditated murder for twin attacks on July 22, 2011, that killed 77 people; he received a 21-year prison sentence that can be extended as long as he is considered dangerous to society.

In 2018, the family of Arizona Sen. John McCain announced that he had discontinued medical treatment for an aggressive form of brain cancer; McCain died the following day.

In 2019, police in Aurora, Colorado, responding to a report of a suspicious person, used a chokehold to subdue Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man; he suffered cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and was later declared brain dead and taken off life support.

In 2020, Republicans formally nominated President Donald Trump for a second term on the opening day of a scaled-down convention; during a visit to the convention city of Charlotte, North Carolina, Trump told delegates that “ the only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election. ”

Today’s Birthdays:

Composer-musician Mason Williams is 87.
R&B singer Marshall Thompson (The Chi-Lites) is 83.
WWE co-founder Vince McMahon is 80.
Author Paulo Coelho is 78.
Actor Anne Archer is 78.
Author Alexander McCall Smith is 77.
Composer Jean-Michel Jarre is 77.
Author Orson Scott Card is 74.
Poet Linton Kwesi Johnson is 73.
Actor Kevin Dunn is 70.
Former Arkansas governor and political commentator Mike Huckabee is 70.
Actor-writer Stephen Fry is 68.
Actor Steve Guttenberg is 67.
Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. is 65.
Actor Jared Harris is 64.
Talk show host Craig Kilborn is 63.
Actor Marlee Matlin is 60.
Basketball Hall of Famer Reggie Miller is 60.
Film director Ava DuVernay is 53.
Actor-comedian Dave Chappelle is 52.
Actor James D’Arcy is 51.
Actor Carmine Giovinazzo (jee-oh-vihn-AH’-zoh) is 52.
Actor Alex O’Loughlin is 49.
Author John Green is 48.
Actor Chad Michael Murray is 44.
Actor Rupert Grint is 37.
Basketball player Kelsey Plum is 31.

“You’re giving me Soundset vibes.”

So said Slug to a crowd of 12,306 at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand Saturday night. And that stood to reason, for the Minneapolis-reared rapper born Sean Daley – half of the duo, Atmosphere – was standing mere blocks from where the hip-hop festival he helped found spent many a Memorial Day weekend: The State Fairgrounds’ Midway area.

One could say that Saturday’s show was something like a smaller-scale Soundset, which usually hosted dozens of acts and about 30,000 people and was last presented in 2019. Atmosphere was a Soundset constant, and the acts that preceded them to the stage had all played that festival at least once: Their fellow act from local label Rhymesayers, DJ Abilities, the reunited and perpetually light-hearted Pharcyde, charismatic “conscious rapper” Lupe Fiasco and one of the genre’s superstar acts of the ‘90s, the unfailingly aggressive Cypress Hill.

It proved a tremendously satisfying five-hour show, with every act embracing it as an opportunity to bring their A game alongside colleagues they greatly admire. In a field known for competitive one-upmanship, this seemed more a joyous rap party.

Unlike Soundset, this wasn’t just a one-off evening: These acts have been touring together this summer. On this night, Atmosphere headlined, presenting a powerful set that reminded those in attendance that Slug remains among the most courageously vulnerable acts in the genres, a heart-on-his-sleeve poet of the genre, be he expressing angry heartbreak or reflecting on the loss of his father. And when he was joined near set’s end by fellow Rhymesayer Brother Ali for some improvisational freestyling, it felt more like Soundset than ever.

That said, Cypress Hill was a hard act to follow. Despite it being three decades since the Los Angeles foursome’s popular heyday (when they placed albums atop the pop charts), the group remains impressively committed to its material. The distinctive high, nasal voice of B-Real still sounds like he’s holding a hit while rapping, and it remains an effective instrument as he holds forth about guns and ganja atop infectious bass lines.

If B-Real had competition for the most magnetic performer of the evening, it was Chicago’s Lupe Fiasco, a master of mixing up the pace and dynamics of his songs and set. Fiasco can spit out rapid-fire lyrics with the best of them, which made it all the more affecting when he shifted gears to the smooth, sweet tale of love among skateboarders, “Kick, Push,” and led a full-crowd sing-along in the balladic “Superstar.”

Add smile-inducing contributions from the fun-loving Pharcyde, and it was a wonderful re-summoning of the spirit of Soundset.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

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CHICAGO — Mick Abel’s first pitch to Colson Montgomery missed badly, well wide of the zone. His second pitch to the Chicago White Sox shortstop was right over the heart of the zone. And Montgomery didn’t miss it, bashing a pitch left over the heart of the zone out to right field.

A day after Royce Lewis hit a grand slam, Montgomery returned the favor, his second-inning blast helping spoil Abel’s Twins debut in Chicago’s 7-3 win on Saturday night at Rate Field.

The grand slam capped a six-run inning for the White Sox and came immediately after the Twins’ rookie had issued a bases-loaded walk to bring home the go-ahead run. All told, the White Sox had three singles, a pair of walks and a home run in the second against Abel as they took firm control of the game. Five of the six runs they scored came with two outs.

Abel, acquired as part of the return from the Philadelphia Phillies for star closer Jhoan Duran, lasted three innings in his first start as a Twin.

Projected to be a rotation piece for the Twins moving forward, Abel began his Twins career in Triple-A, making three starts for the Saints before the Twins called upon him Saturday. It marked just the seventh start of his career for Abel, who was the 15th overall pick in the 2020 draft and is now among the Twins’ top pitching prospects.

After his departure, Thomas Hatch came on in relief and threw five strong innings, giving up just a solo home run and helping keep the game in check, but the Twins could never pull back even.

All three Twins runs came via the solo home runs — Kody Clemens hit one in the second inning, Matt Wallner his 17th of the season in the fourth and Lewis his second in as many days in the seventh.

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