Finding Josie

By Wendy Bilen

One woman plumbs her family history in search of meaning and wisdom in her own life.

With a focus squarely on the Midwest, Wendy Bilen pieces together the history of her grandmother, Josie Broadhead, born in 1911 and raised on the North Dakota prairie. Josie married a Wisconsin farmer and moved to a large dairy farm outside La Crosse; along the way she began taking in people in need of a home: ". . . beggars and drunks and children of drunks, mentally ill children and children with mentally ill parents. Brothers and cousins and sisters and in-laws and strangers."

By...

Apple Betty & Sloppy Joe: Stirring Up the Past with Family Recipes and Stories

by Susan Sanvidge, Diane Sanvidge Seckar, Jean Sanvidge Wouters, & Julie Sanvidge Florence

Compiled by four sisters and based on their recollections of their childhood in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Apple Betty & Sloppy Joe captures the glow of memories formed while growing up in a midwestern kitchen. From Lemon Meringue Pie to Tomato Soup Cake, from Mom's Chicken Pie to Grandma Noffke's Sliced Cucumber...

Wisconsin Korean War Stories

by Sarah A. Larsen and Jennifer M. Miller

Wisconsin Veterans Tell Their Stories From the Forgotten War

A companion book to the documentary produced by Wisconsin Public Television, Wisconsin Korean War Stories tells the story of the "forgotten war" through first-person interviews, photographs and letters. These are the voices of green infantrymen who fought and failed to take Heartbreak...