It feels like spring outside, but it’s only February. So if your internal clock still tells you to hunker down and read, here is good fiction ranging from a carnival to Hubert Humphrey.

“The Wonders of the Little World”: by Bill Meissner (Stephen F. Austin State University Press, $25)

“And now, tonight, Tony’s face still stared out at her from the crystal ball. Seconds later, white pellets appeared on a black background around his face. His mouth opened as if he was about to say something. Or was he pleading? She wasn’t sure. Seconds later, all the images faded. She leaned close to the ball, anxious to see more, but nothing was there. What did it mean? She asked herself. She’d seen the same floating images just a few days ago, and she’d lost sleep over them.” — from “The Wonders of the Little World”

It isn’t easy to top a blurb from Kurt Vonnegut, who wrote of Bill Meissner: “A storyteller with remarkable gifts.”

Bill Meissner (Courtesy of the author)

Meissner, who taught creative writing at St. Cloud State University, is the author of 12 books. “The Wonders of the Little World” is close to his heart because he grew up in Baraboo, Wis., also known as the Circus City, birthplace of the Ringling brothers and their first circus. As a teenager he worked at the Circus World Museum as a food vendor and his boyhood home was a block from the county fairgrounds where he rode the Rock-O-Planes 19 times in one day.

So it’s no surprise that “Wonders,” set in 1968, is suffused with the smells of cinnamon and sugar from the doughnut booth, the sounds of clanking machinery that runs scary rides, folks trying to win that big prize at game booths and the carnival’s magical feeling at night. These descriptions are some of Meissner’s best writing.

Estelle and Tony work at the carnival and their 11-year-old daughter, Ariel, has never known another world. Estelle is a fortune teller and her handsome husband, Tony, is a charismatic tightrope walker. One day Tony disappears without any notice and after a few weeks Estelle and Ariel set out on a road trip to find him, saying goodbye to their friends like Slap the Clown. Before they leave, there’s a touching scene in which Ariel breaks the jar where the Midway’s winged Bird Child floats, and buries it.

(Courtesy of the author)

Tony heads for California, drawn by a mysterious letter. Estelle and Ariel head east, where detours take them to unexpected places, including a demonstration at the White House by Black protesters and a friendship with Pearl, a teacher and activist who introduces them to social injustice. Estelle realizes how sheltered she has been in the carnival and that she knows almost nothing about what’s going on in the wider world. Ariel is fascinated, since she’s only known carny folks. Their car, known as the Turtle, breaks down in a small town and attractive Estelle has to fend off a guy’s advances she hadn’t expected. Every time they stop, Estelle learns more about her own strengths, especially when she has to save her daughter’s life.

Meanwhile, Tony reaches his destination and finds the person he’s looking for but he’s confused and disappointed. Realizing how much he cares for Estelle and Ariel, he heads home to the carnival’s base in a small Minnesota town only to find his wife and daughter gone.

Chapters alternate between Tony, Estelle and Ariel, who misses her dad but cheers on her mother when Estelle isn’t sure what comes next. Whatever they are doing, the carnival is in their minds and imaginations.

Meissner will discuss his novel in a virtual event at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 26, in conversation with Minnesota writer Shannon Olson, presented by Magers & Quinn. Registration required. Go to magersandquinn.com. Event access notification will be sent to those registered 48 hours prior to the event.                   

“Beautiful Little Furies”: by Laurel Osterkamp (Black Rose Writing, $24.95)

(Courtesy of Black Rose Writing)

“Since Febe gently broke it to me that I am delusional, I have been combing through my memories, trying to distinguish between what was real and what wasn’t. I’m tempted to call Olivia and confess my situation, tell her that I’m doubting not just my relationship with Vance, but my sanity as well.” — from “Beautiful Little Furies”

Hazel Ford is an English teacher who loves her students and their discussions of “The Great Gatsby.” But when Hazel and her fiance (at least she thinks he’s her fiance) are involved in a serious traffic accident, Hazel suffers a severe brain injury and Vance is nowhere to be found. When Hazel returns to school she finds herself in hot water with the administration because of what the admins consider unwise choices caused by her delusions.

As Hazel tries to piece together her memories of what happened just before the accident, she’s also championing Febe, a smart Muslim student who Hazel sees as having a bright future. It’s Febe, hiding her homelessness, and Hazel’s best friend Olivia, who try to help Hazel make sense of the accident. Did she and Vance have a big fight during a Christmas party? Did he ever actually propose to her? Where is he now? Why won’t he respond to her emails?

Hazel’s real trouble begins when Febe persuades her to be teaching sponsor of a blog that will tell the truth about what’s going on at the school. The first story, by an anonymous author, is about how the writer was plied with drinks and raped. Her attacker is not named, but everyone at the school knows Anonymous is accusing the school’s Golden Boy athlete who is probably going to lead the team to the state tournament.

Starting such a platform without telling the principal is a no-no and the upset administration confronts Hazel abut her hasty and perhaps unethical decisions. Slowly, she begins to wonder if what Olivia is telling her about what happened before the accident is true, especially when she learns from Febe about Vance and the young teacher he’s mentoring.

An unexpected turn makes this novel a thriller as well as a love letter to teaching and students. The author’s dialogue is spot-on and the reader feels sympathy for Hazel, even when she is being impetuous. Happily. there’s also a man in her life who cares about her, and it isn’t Vance.

Osterkamp dedicated her book to the staff and students, past and present, at Columbia Heights High School, where she taught English and creative writing. Her previous novel, “Favorite Daughters,” is inspired by the friendship of Chelsea Clinton and Ivanka Trump. More info on Osterkamp’s web site at laurellit.com.

“Humphrey and Me”: by Stuart H. Brody (Santa Monica Press, $12.99)

(Courtesy of Santa Monica Press)

” ‘What do you find most compelling about Senator Humphrey?’

I launched right in. ‘It’s the way he spots injustice and then tackles it head-on, as if there’s no way he could fail.’ ” — from “Humphrey and Me”

This historical fiction takes readers through the turbulent, violent 1960s in the alternating stories, told in the first person by young Jewish Ray Elias from Long Island and Minnesota Sen. Hubert Humphrey. The author says the book is based partly on his personal relationship with Humphrey, who was at one time the youngest-ever mayor of Minneapolis.

When Elias is young, his father has current events night in which Elias and his sister have to report on something going on in the nation. The young man is rocked by the deaths of four Black girls and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and feels an “instant connection” to the senator for his brave stand on civil rights and equality for Black people. When Elias tries to organize a drive to make Humphrey a presidential candidate, the senator invites Elias to Washington and they remain friends until protests about the Vietnam War grow. Elias is in college when Humphrey is elected vice president and Elias questions Humphrey’s integrity when the man he admires doesn’t stand up to President Lyndon Johnson for his refusal to end the war. Eventually, Elias and Humphrey renew their friendship

Although this is listed as a young adult book (13-18), our world has changed so much that reading about the 1960s-’70s might seem like Medieval times to that age group. Also, the author sometimes goes a little too deeply into insider politics. Kirkus Reviews calls the novel “an important chapter in American history told with clarity and honesty” and refers to Humphrey as a “forgotten progressive.”

Many Minnesotans have not forgotten him.

The author teaches ethics at the University of Arizona and is senior scholar at the Institute for Ethics in Public Life at the State University of New York.

“Free Period”: by Ali Terese (Scholastic Press, $17.99)

(Courtesy of Scholastic Press)

My fingers fumbled as I extricated the gigantic pad … I managed to peel off the mile-long plastic strip and was devising a way to try to clean myself and my clothes with the world’s thinnest toilet paper when, all of a sudden, a tampon appeared from beneath the stall divider.” — from “Free Period”

The author of this funny and important novel is not from Minnesota. But that doesn’t matter because this heartfelt and inventive debut about “period equity” will help middle-schoolers learn about menstruation and adults’ disinterest in the topic, even though girls this age might need pads during the school day that are locked away in the nurse’s office — if there even is a nurse on site.

Helen and Grace are best friends spending their last year in middle school pranking. Then Helen is caught unprepared when her period comes early, soiling her lame pants and totally embarrassing her.

The two friends’ worst prank, involving a bad smell in the auditorium, brings them a last chance before being kicked out of school. They can join the Community Action Club run by their nemesis Madison, head cheerleader.

Helen, who has two moms, and Grace, who loves her snoopy little sister, approach things in different ways. Helen is the realist, Grace the artsy friend who loves glitter and is a fabulous baker.

The girls hijack the club, getting members to agree to a campaign for period equity, meaning supplies should be in every bathroom, even the boys’ so they can try to understand what the girls have to go through. But the school board says there’s no money and some parents don’t want to expose their sons to this natural bodily function. The ways the club members try to get their point across are hilarious, including substituting crocheted uteruses for toilet paper in the bathrooms and raising money with a bake sale at which they sell Cuterus Uterus sugar cookies. At a school board meeting Grace hands out cupcakes with blood-red fillings decorated with a marzipan sanitary pad on top.

The students finally realize their methods aren’t working and decide to work at least partly through the system with surprising results.

Terese is bold in her depiction of  exactly what happens during a menstrual period, even what it looks like. Young readers who never talk to their parents will learn a lot through the struggles of Helen and Grace. More info on the book, which is scheduled to be officially released on March 5, on the author’s web site at aliterese.com.

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