Border Songs

Today’s post is from Annie at Parr Library:

Border Songs  by Jim Lynch

After September 11, the U. S. tripled the border security along the U. S. Canadian border, adding cameras, unmanned drones, police dogs, etc.  Lynch, a former Washington State journalist incorporates all the news of the area — a tunnel between British Columbia and Washington, marijuana smuggling, smuggling of refugees, apprehension of alleged terrorists — but uses it to show how the people who live along the border are affected, many times in hilarious ways.  These are people who used to stroll across the ditch (border line) and visit each other, until all these security measures were enacted. 

This is a lyrical tale about nature, neighbors, and what makes life meaningful; and a moral tale about the ambiguities of our modern life.  Brandon Vanderpool, the 6 ft. 8 in., 23 year-old dyslectic Border Patrol agent, who recognizes birds by their songs, creates temporary art with whatever nature provides, and who would rather be working in his father’s dairy with the cows is at the heart of the story, while his father Norm, with his worries about his dairy, his wife, and his son provides the angst.  A lovely book and a snapshot of the goings on at the Canadian – U. S. border.