STORIES FROM WHERE WE LIVE

A century ago, collections of intelligent anthologies for children graced bookshelves, encompassing titles like The World and Its People and The Outdoor Book. This fourth installment of the similarly minded literary series mapping the eco-regions of the US treats the Gulf Coast. All edited by St. Antoine, each seeks to give its readers a true impression of its proscribed region through memoirs, fiction, poetry, and finally exposition. It doesn’t fail, even if some authors’ connections with the Gulf Coast at times are a bit of a stretch, like equating a Po Boy with a Hero sandwich. No matter, for much of the collection is lively and evocative. Audubon and John Muir, with slightly archaic language, line up here with contemporary, earnest-sounding lesser-knowns. The poetry is uneven and sometimes clearly serving the political topic, like “Migration Midpoint,” making the excellent “Eulogy for a Hermit Crab” and “My Mother Returns to Calaboz” stand out the better. The Kathy Starr selection, “The Soul of Southern Cooking” is out of place here because a Gulf Coaster would never accept writing from the Delta Country as appropriately proximate, no matter what boundaries the scientists define. Better choices would have been writing by Jessica Harris or even memories culled from Leah Chase’s cookbook. But two of the best stories, “Fig Picking,” and “Mosquito Blues,” are perfectly pitched for this anthology, although the authors are also technically not Gulf Coasters. The canny inclusion of fables of mythic proportions by the late J.J. Reneaux and the great Zora Neale Hurston add the right atmosphere and spice. So mixed with the obligatory manatee and Key Deer stories, newcomers to the Gulf Coast will materially experience the poignant diversity of this dwindling coast of marshes, beaches, and bayous as if they were walking its circumference, no mean editorial feat. Locals will glow at the inclusion of “Buried Christmas Tree,” concerning what is becoming a necessary Gulf Coast custom: the recycling of Christmas trees to create new barrier islands. An extensive essay on the ecological makeup, habitats, plants, and animals wraps it all up. (bibliography, author’s notes, list of parks and preserves, map, not seen) (Anthology. 12+)