Vern Barclay has been a Vermonter all his life, all seven-plus decades worth, and he found his calling early on. After a successful career as a cross country ski coach, even congratulating a former student after she achieved gold in the Oslo Olympics, he became a radio man, starting in local sports broadcasting before moving on to his own talk show, also very local. 

Vern liked small and local and lamented the loss of small farms and small stations and local hardware stores as all things large slowly crept into his beloved state. No more…

In Bill McKibben’s novel, Radio Free Vermont, (and you can emphasize whichever word you’d like) winter has slowly evolved into a chilly mud season, but Vern is starting a slow burn inside. Renegade acts of defiance – “fouling” a Walmart opening and staging a brilliant act of piracy on a non-local beer delivery truck – have placed him and young techie Perry, along with Sylvia, who provides real life instruction on how to get by in Vermont, on the FBI’s wanted list. No longer able to broadcast live, Vern advocates secession on his new podcast platform, cleverly hidden in the airwaves by Perry. It’s time to make some bigger statements, and Town Meeting day is approaching.

As the plot thickens with the addition of gold medalist Trance and Vern’s mother, the crew sacrifices Sylvia’s house (their hideout) to a fire and ratchets up their civil disobedience. A surprise blizzard sets the stage for a wild woodland chase, in which rescue and capture play havoc with the authorities’ intentions. Believe me, I’ve left out lots of juicy detail and haven’t even mentioned some of the broader themes. Those are for you to discover and enjoy.

Speaking of enjoyment and giggles, two more books come to mind. The first is Sy Montgomery’s latest picture book for kids and adults: Becoming a Good Creature. Rebecca Green’s illustrations highlight Sy’s vision of the animal world she has experienced and contains her best teachers, including an elusive cassowary! 

The second book is by Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, and is titled Murder by Milk Bottle. It’s absolutely tons of fun, completely ridiculous, and I recommend it highly if you need a break from the serious world outside.