Atlantic Ave Magazine November 2023

otta Read
ENTERTAINMENT | GOTTA READ BY LISA MARIE
Hell If We Don’t
Change Our Ways: A
Memoir
BY BRITTANY MEANS
If success is measured by the difficulties
in our lives that we must overcome,
then Brittany Means should get the gold.
As a child of a nomadic, unstable mother,
Means survives on her wit and her
mother’s co-dependent love affair with
her children.
But, as often is the case with unstable
adults, Means’ mother would disappear
into thin air with assorted suitors and
come back as if nothing happened.
Means was often left with her grandparents
and had to adjust to a bible belt
worship of the lord, while Mean’s real love
affair was simply watching TV.
In this riveting true story, we witness
(with shock and awe) how a child could
survive abuse, neglect, violence, and instability
yet triumph as an adult.
With no money and little support, Brittany
took care of her younger brother,
managed the instability of her home life,
and tried to make sense of the troublesome
world around her.
As a young adult, Means struggled with
some of the same issues that plagued her
mother. But the ultimate triumph was her
realization that she could alter the cycle of
violence she witnessed as a child.
Means’ crafts stories that are too sad to
be real yet actually happened. Sometimes,
her prose is funny and sad simultaneously,
while other times, it is colorful and statuesque,
like an offbeat artists’ creation.
This true tale of self-preservation has a
unique narrative style that is part memoir
and part coming-of-age tale. The result
has been called “a masterpiece, a marvel,
and a sparkling example of a woman’s
ability to withstand the most horrific experiences
― and still thrive.”
And she has.
The Great Weather
Diviner
BY ROB LONG, WHO IS THE DEPUTY
VICE-MAYOR OF DELRAY BEACH!
Embark on an epic journey in this reinterpretation
of the legendary Punxsutawney
Phil folktale in this Redwall-inspired
conservation fantasy in The Great
Weather Diviner: The Untold Origin of
Punxsutawney Phil (Morgan James Fiction,
Nov 7, 2023), a perfect story for young
readers and for Groundhog’s Day! A young
groundhog and his hedgehog best friend
search for a way to save his town from
natural disaster in this playful and thoughtprovoking
middle-grade fantasy by debut
authors Andrew Dolberg and Rob Long.
A native Punxsutawney, Rob Long has
grown up with the tales of Punxsutawney
Phil’s origins. With a background in conserving
his local beaches and wetlands,
he educates the next generation on the
importance of environmental protection
and climate change. Alongside his writing
partner, Andrew Dolberg, the duo creates a
lavish forest world where a young weatherpredicting
groundhog journeys off to save
his home from a devastating flood only to
discover the truth behind his family’s power
and the nefarious plot by the evil raven
overlord combining the heroic animal adventures
of ‘Redwall” with “The Mouse.
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48 | NOVEMBER 2023 | WWW.ATLANTICAVEMAGAZINE.COM
Wild Florida
BY KIRSTEN HINES
t is rare to find a dedicated biologist
“Iand conservationist who is also a pas-