The State Centers for the Book linked by US Route 1 which extends from Fort Kent, Maine, to Key West, Florida are joining together to promote books that illuminate important aspects of their states/commonwealths for readers traveling the major and meandering highway.
For 2015, The South Carolina Center for the Book’s Route1Reads is James E. McTeer's Minnow. Minnow was the winner of the 2014 South Carolina First Novel Competition. McTeer’s novel was published by Hub City Press and made its debut at the South Carolina Book Festival in May 2015.
“Minnow is a gorgeous fever-dream of a novel,” said competition judge Ben Fountain. “McTeer's story of a young boy's quest achieves a narrative drive and depth that are rare in any novel, much less a debut effort. Minnow picked me up by the scruff of the neck and carried me along as powerfully as a novel by Pat Conroy or Toni Morrison. Yeah, McTeer is that good. I look forward to many more novels by this excellent young writer."
Set in a fictional Beaufort County in the late 19th century, McTeer’s novel “is a Lowcountry Heart of Darkness, evoking the work of Karen Russell,” said Betsy Teter, editor of Hub City Press. “We are thrilled to publish the enigmatic story of Minnow, who ventures deep into the voodoo world of the South Carolina Sea Islands in search of a cure for his father’s mysterious illness.”
The full Route1Reads program was unveiled at National Book Festival on September 5, 2015. See the list of Route1Reads books at Route1Reads.org. Learn more about the South Carolina Center for the book at ReadSC.org.
