The Gag Family: German-Bohemian Artists In America by Julie L'Enfant (Associate Professor of Art History, College of Visual Arts, St. Paul, Minnesota) is a remarkable look at a German-Bohemian family who settled in a Minnesota frontier town in 1879. The Anton Gag family business of art and story-craft flourished among these remarkable individuals that included his daughters, Wanda and Flavia. The Gag Family is a visually pleasing and informative presentation, filled with both black-and-white and color photographs, as well as detailed text that thoroughly addresses the stories behind specific works of art. A fine addition to artist biography shelves, The Gag Family is highly recommended for inclusion into American Art History and Upper Midwest Regional History academic reference collection or supplemental reading list.

This is one of my favorite books, and I wish Julie L'Enfant would write another. Meredith's growing-up story involves the head of a famous ballet company who visits her small town and decides to stage an original ballet -- in which Meredith and her ballet school cohorts will dance. Meredith moves from hero worship to a real clarity of vision regarding the adults around her, and moves from the magical world of ballet to the real world of high school and boyfriends with a poignant, nostalgic reality. Tough to find a copy of this one, but worth looking for.