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Lake Effect: Coming of Age in Ashtabula, Ohio
Besides being the title of this book,
Lake Effect
is a term that everyone in Northeast Ohio knows. It happens when frigid air from Canada dips south, picks up water from Lake Erie, freezes it at high altitude, and then, to the delight of kids hoping for school cancellations, dumps it in the form of snow as soon as it reaches the shoreline in Ashtabula, Ohio. Lake Effect, the book, touches upon the psychological and emotional impact of growing up in Ashtabula, a blue-collar town with a huge port, major chemical and manufacturing plants, a culturally diverse population, and a spider web of railroad tracks feeding into ships in the harbor.
Told in fifty-eight vignettes through the eyes of an Italian American girl and a Finnish American boy (at a time when weddings between people of those crosstown cultures were considered mixed marriages), the book offers a glimpse into small-town America in the 1950s and 1960s. As beneficiaries of the work ethic of their parents and immigrant grandparents, the authors pay tribute to family and friends who provided example and advice (sometimes unheeded) during their coming of age years.
Told in fifty-eight vignettes through the eyes of an Italian American girl and a Finnish American boy (at a time when weddings between people of those crosstown cultures were considered mixed marriages), the book offers a glimpse into small-town America in the 1950s and 1960s. As beneficiaries of the work ethic of their parents and immigrant grandparents, the authors pay tribute to family and friends who provided example and advice (sometimes unheeded) during their coming of age years.
321 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 8, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 1, 2022
I admit I am biased since I know one of the authors (Ted), yet this was a very great read. Amazing writing, engaging stories, funny events, cultural diversity, historical context and more in just one book!
Not only did I learn more about Ashtabula and what it was like to grow up there but also about the trends around the 50's and 60's. It amazed me to see how much both of them still remember to this day and how their decisions affected their lives. This book certainly opened my eyes to events in my own life that I have been labeling as "small" when they could possibly be the keys to shape my future.
Bernadette's upbringing as a catholic resonated a lot with my own, and there were chapters where I could really understand what she meant because I have been there myself. I did hope to see some kind of resolution about that, but the book is still great as is.
Really enjoyed reading this and will certainly read it again!
Not only did I learn more about Ashtabula and what it was like to grow up there but also about the trends around the 50's and 60's. It amazed me to see how much both of them still remember to this day and how their decisions affected their lives. This book certainly opened my eyes to events in my own life that I have been labeling as "small" when they could possibly be the keys to shape my future.
Bernadette's upbringing as a catholic resonated a lot with my own, and there were chapters where I could really understand what she meant because I have been there myself. I did hope to see some kind of resolution about that, but the book is still great as is.
Really enjoyed reading this and will certainly read it again!
March 19, 2025
Lake Effect
I was interested in this book because I was born and raised in Ashtabula. Bernadette and Ted are about 10 years older than me. Bernadette grew up on the East side, known as Swedetown, and Ted grew up on the West side while I grew up in the Harbor. Both of them wrote wonderful, funny, entertaining stories that gave me new perspectives about my hometown. I really enjoyed this book.
I was interested in this book because I was born and raised in Ashtabula. Bernadette and Ted are about 10 years older than me. Bernadette grew up on the East side, known as Swedetown, and Ted grew up on the West side while I grew up in the Harbor. Both of them wrote wonderful, funny, entertaining stories that gave me new perspectives about my hometown. I really enjoyed this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews