Delaware
Fall in love with Joella’s charming characters set in Delaware – Bonita Springs Florida Weekly
“The Same Bright Stars” by Ethan Joella is a well-written novel with deeply fleshed-out characters and complex relationships. I was completely immersed in this story and Jack’s dilemma right from the get-go.
You see, I grew up spending summers at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. It was less than an hour from my home. When I found out Joella was from Rehoboth, I asked him a couple of years ago when he would write a book that takes place at Rehoboth, and here it is. He has outdone himself.
Throughout the novel, you’ll find snippets from a guidebook to Rehoboth Beach. I love this. It puts substance to the locale:
You enter Rehoboth Beach over a drawbridge and instantly feel as if you have been transported. There is a welcome sign and a lighthouse in the middle of a traffic circle, and as you drive the main street, you see boutiques and restaurants and a local bookstore with a wide green awning.
In the summer, the shops have geraniums and impatiens spilling out of window boxes, and people leave their rescue dogs waiting for them by the parking meter as they buy croissants or coffee in the morning.
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The beach is wide and generous with striped metal sheds that rent umbrellas and chairs in the summer, and there is a mile-long boardwalk with ice cream places and souvenir shops. The rides at Playland Pier have been around since your parents and grandparents were young. And there are games like Skee-Ball and Whac-A-Mole and Frog Bog.
Rehoboth Beach is a mix of yesterday and today, at once a small town and a city. Planes creep by in the sky trailing banners, and you will look up and read their messages and feel as though the words were written just for you.
Jack Schmidt is 52 years old and in the midst of a midlife crisis, so to speak. He’s taken over his family’s restaurant after his grandmother and dad passed away. It’s his entire life.
Jean Lewis is a veteran bookseller who visits book clubs throughout Southwest Florida, speaking about the best new books of the season. She lives in Cape Coral with her husband, Jack, and their three spoiled cats. Maurice was their Siamese cat who lived to be 22 years old and loved sitting on books. Jean can be reached at www.mauriceonbooks.com.
He’s realizing he’s missing out on so much. He’s lonely, never married, no kids. He watches his friends with their families and thinks he might just take Deldine up on their offer. Deldine is a conglomerate buying up successful mom-and-pop restaurants along the coast. They have deep pockets but are hard-hearted. Jack can’t be sure they would actually keep his employees even though they promise they would. His employees are family to him, and most have been there forever. So, what’s a guy to do?
The story begins on the day before Thanksgiving. Jack pulls up to the restaurant and you begin to feel his angst. He’s thinking of the mounds of potatoes to peel, the dozens of turkeys defrosting. And knows the phone will be ringing off the hook with people hoping for a last-minute reservation. Suddenly, it’s just all too much.
There is so much local color in this novel. You will feel the sand between your toes and smell the briny aroma of the sea. For me, it brought back memories. The first time I visited the beach was as a kid. I recall how big everything on the boardwalk seemed. There was a ride with small boats floating in a circle and I honestly thought the water was as deep as the ocean. The sweet aroma of the candy corn roasting, the sight of the floss being whipped onto a cone. And, of course, since it was Rehoboth, the Grotto pizza.
Joella’s characters are so realistic. These people could be your friends, your neighbors, or even your own family. But Jack is thinking he needs more. He wants a family. Is it too late? He has a lot to contemplate.
Just when you think Jack’s decision cannot possibly become more complicated, his old girlfriend, Kitty, is suddenly back in town to help care for her ailing mom. And this is when everything begins to go off the charts.
I think you’ll enjoy following Jack as he has all sorts of barriers tossed at him that will ultimately influence his final decision. Hop on board and enjoy the ride. I loved this small novel with a big message.
Joella is also the author of “A Little Hope,” which became a Jenna Bonus Pick, and “A Quiet Life.” He lives in Rehoboth Beach with his wife and two daughters. My review copy was provided by Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, one of the most original and refreshing books this year. I loved it! ¦
Ryan Day takes ‘responsibility for not getting everyone ready’ in OSU loss
Ohio State’s saw an early exit in the CFP after an extended break from play.
An Ohio State alumnus, a former Cincinnati Bengals player, a Super Bowl champ and an insurance agent walk into a room … but there’s no punchline because they’re all the same person.
Tito Paul is well-known for his gridiron past, which includes playing for Ohio State, where he was selected in the fifth round of the NFL draft in 1995, and winning Super Bowl XXXIII with the Denver Broncos in 1999.
But some folks may not be aware that he’s also a superstar in Delaware County, where his State Farm agency receives consistently high reviews.
Football fans will have the chance to meet Paul at Game On, a fundraiser for the Delaware County Historical Society (DCHS) on Jan. 14 at the Meeker House and The Barn at Stratford, 2690 Stratford Road, Delaware. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
The event will begin with a meet-and-greet from 6:15-7 p.m. in the Meeker House before moving to The Barn for the rest of the evening. A pizza party and soft drinks are included in the admission price, and beer will be available for purchase.
Paul will be joined by friends who also played for Ohio State, the NFL or both for an evening of football stories, NFL experiences and personal accounts of what it means to play in and win a Super Bowl. A Q&A period will follow the discussion.
In addition to Paul, guests will include:
- Ty Howard: Ohio State, Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans
- Michael Wiley: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Dee Miller: Ohio State, Green Bay Packers
- Mike “Buster” Tillman: Ohio State
Adult tickets for Game On cost $50 for the full event or $35 for the pizza party only. Tickets for ages 10-18 cost $15. Members of the DCHS pay $45 for the full event or $30 for the pizza party only. Tickets are available at bit.ly/3N4frsg.
In the event of a Level 2 or Level 3 snow emergency, the event will be canceled, with a rescheduled date to be determined.
Contact features and entertainment reporter Belinda M. Paschal at bpaschal@dispatch.com.
A young 32-foot humpback whale washed up on shore along the Delaware coast last week after it may have been struck by a large ship, according to the MERR Institute, a rescue and care facility for marine mammals in Lewes, Delaware.
The whale, estimated to have weighed at least 20,000 pounds, washed up in the Bethany Beach community on Jan. 8 after it had been floating at sea for a couple of days.
Whale likely struck by a ship
The MERR Institute said the humpback whale was in the surf zone throughout Thursday night before heavy equipment moved it to the shore the next day.
Marine officials said the tossing and churning in the surf caused gases to form and inflate the tongue. MERR Institute’s necropsy team then performed a post-mortem examination on Friday, Jan. 9.
Officials said the whale had subdermal hemorrhaging and a broken jaw on the right side, and that an injury of that nature is often associated with a large ship strike. Officials said the whale was likely still alive when it was struck by the ship.
MERR Institute officials said the whale was buried on the beach, which is “the most common practice for the disposition of the body. These large whales cannot be safely towed out to sea, so burying them on the beach allows them to become an important part of the beach ecosystem.”
“This was a tragic event, and we would like to thank everyone who helped to support us in our examination of this whale,” said MERR executive director Suzanne Thurman. “MERR’s volunteers were as wonderful as ever, and worked tirelessly to assist in examining the whale in a very short window of time. We would also like to thank DNREC for providing heavy equipment resources for towing and burial of the whale. They were able to tow the whale up onto the beach so we could safely examine it, and their staff was indispensable in helping us to position the whale so that we could get as much information as possible.”
Thurman continued, “And last but certainly not least, we would like to thank the very kind homeowners in Ocean Ridge. They looked out for our volunteers by sending down coffee and doughnuts, letting us use their bathroom, and for showing so much caring and compassion for this beautiful animal. We always appreciate the fact that we live in a community that cares so much about the ocean and its creatures.”
Can anything fix the US housing crisis?
Will 2026 bring an affordable housing fix, or are high prices the new normal for buyers and renters?
Newly released data from Realtor.com for October shows that potential buyers and sellers in Sussex County saw slightly lower home sale prices than the previous month’s median of $475,000.
The median home sold for $472,500, an analysis of data from Realtor.com shows. That means October, the most recent month for which figures are available, was slightly down from September.
Compared to October 2024, the median home sales price was down 4.1% compared to $492,450.
Realtor.com sources sales data from real estate deeds, resulting in a few months’ delay in the data. The statistics don’t include homes currently listed for sale and aren’t directly comparable to listings data.
Information on your local housing market, along with other useful community data, is available at data.delawareonline.com.
Here is a breakdown on median sale prices:
- Looking only at single-family homes, the $490,000 median selling price in Sussex County was up 3.2% in October from $475,000 the month prior. Since October 2024, the sales price of single-family homes was slightly down from a median of $490,445.Fifty-four single family homes sold for $1 million or more during the month, compared to 36 recorded transactions of at least $1 million in October 2024.
- Condominiums and townhomes is the same sales price during October to a median of $450,000 from $450,000 in September. Compared to October 2024, the sales price of condominiums and townhomes was down 9.1% from $495,000. Ten condominiums or townhomes sold for $1 million or more during the month, compared to 14 recorded transactions of at least $1 million in October 2024.
About recorded home sales in Sussex County in Delaware
In October, the number of recorded sales in Sussex County dropped by 10% since October 2024 — from 482 to 434. All residential home sales totaled $285.4 million.
Across Delaware, homes sold at a median of $399,995 during October, up 2.6% from $390,000 in September. There were 1,072 recorded sales across the state during October, down 15.8% from 1,273 recorded sales in October 2024.
Here’s a breakdown for the full state:
- The total value of recorded residential home sales in Delaware decreased by 3.4% from $553.6 million in September to $534.7 million this October.
- Out of all residential home sales in Delaware, 6.72% of homes sold for at least $1 million in October, up from 5.11% in October 2024.
- Sales prices of single-family homes across Delaware increased by 2.8% from a median of $408,500 in September to $419,900 in October. Since October 2024, the sales price of single-family homes across the state was up 5% from $400,000.
- Across the state, the sales price of condominiums and townhomes dropped 7.4% from a median of $345,450 in September to $320,000 during October. The median sales price of condominiums and townhomes is down 5.9% from the median of $340,000 in October 2024.
The median home sales price used in this report represents the midway point of all the houses or units listed over the given period of time. The median offers a more accurate view of what’s happening in a market than the average sales price, which would mean taking the sum of all sales prices then dividing by the number of homes sold. The average can be skewed by one particularly low or high sale.
USA TODAY Co. is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Realtor.com. Please leave any feedback or corrections for this story here. This story was written by Ozge Terzioglu. Our News Automation and AI team would like to hear from you. Take this survey and share your thoughts with us.
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