Biblio Files is a site for bibliophiles. Please look at the index, and post any feedback you can think of. Comment on posts. If you are interested in writing a review or more for this blog, let me know.
The Second Family How Adolescent Power is Challenging the American Family
by Ron Taffel with Melinda Blau
This book is intended for parents and people who work with teens and preteens. What Taffel calls the second family is the network of friends that many teens and preteens today have. The beginning of the book, which is a description of what Taffel thinks the world of kids looks like today, is original, mostly accurate, and interesting. However, it is obvious throughout the book that the teens Taffel describes are not really the average teenagers, although he thinks that they are. Taffel describes exclusively those teens whose parents are middle and upper class. Kids whose exposure to media is limited, or who have not had a consistant peer group also do not fit into Taffel's picture.
The Second Family says that kids today are influenced more by the media and by their peers than they are by their families. It claims that kids today act out mostly to increase their own comfort and not to rebel against parents. The accusation is made that parents do not spend enough time with their kids and that they should spend more time with their kids, doing what their kids like to do, without leaving their role as authority figures.
The second half of the book is a guide to parents on how to deal with their kids, and is not more than common sense. As a teenager who does not have a "second family" or a network of friends and who shares the values of earlier generations, I think that Taffel is ignoring a large number of kids who do not fit his view, but that his theories can be applied to some teenagers.
Happy reading.
One morning, Bobby Phillips, Chicago high schooler, wakes up to find himself invisible(or rather, doesnt find himself visible). He immediately tells his parents, who are very supportive. His parents decide that Bobby needs to keep his invisibility a secret. Because Bobby can no longer attend school, the DCFS gets on the case. Bobby needs to find a way to become visible before the investigative services arrest his parents. While invisible, he meets a blind girl, whom he befriends.
This is an interesting book, about a lot of things. It is, most obviously, speculation about what being invisible woulod be like, but it is also about friendship, being disabled, families, and being a teenager.
Question: If you woke up to find yourself invisible, would you tell your parents? anybody else?
Happy reading.
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America by Barbara Ehrenreich
This is a story of how Barbara Ehrenreich, an upper-middle class reporter, attempts to see how the lower class lives by trying to live on low-wage jobs. Although the experiment does not seem to really show what it would really be like to be lower class American, this is a good story. Ehrenreich tries working in Florida, Maine, and Minnesota, and recounts her stories about each. At the end she writes an evaluation on the entire experience. Footnotes are included throughout the book, and often appear to be the real plot. One of my problems with this book as a study is that Ehrenreich says that she did marijuana, which made it harder for her to get jobs. Smoking marijuana is not in keeping with trying to hold a job and making ends meet in a responsible fashion.
Happy reading.
The Taking of Room 114: A Hostage Drama in Poems by Mel Glenn
This book is just what the title suggests; a hostage drama in poems. A teacher holds his class hostage. In poetry form, we learn about his students and how he percieves his students. This is more about high school in general than a hostage drama. The drama is downplayed. The story is good, but is not likely to draw the reader in.
Happy reading.
Sniglets
(snig'let): any word that doesn't appear in the dictionary but should by Rich Hall& Friends
This is a humourous book in dictionary form of sniglets. Most of the entries are jokes, although some are not. A humourous entry is brattled, the feeling you get when a schoolbus with kids pulls up next to you at a stoplight. The illustration shows a busload of kids making fun of the middle aged businessman in the car next to them. A more serious entry is knimpel, the missing piece in a puzzle. An entry that can be found in a real dictionary is spork- the spoon/fork combo utensil. Possibly this was added to the dictionary after the book was published.
An entry forn is provided at the back of the book for those who like to provide their own sniglets, although, as my copy is a 1984 edition, there is probobly a more modern method for submission now, like the internet.
Anyone who wants to put a sniglet in the comment section is welcome to.
Happy reading.
This book opens on Ellis, our narrator and protagonist, being approached by a man in the park, who holds a gun to her head. He says that he wants to die, but that he doesn't want to die alone; he says that he wants to take her with him. She dissuades him by reciting poetry.
This is not the focus of the book, but it gives the book the energy it needs to keep going until it becomes an interesting story in its own right. Ellis is a twenty two year old college student. Although this is an adult novel, it carries some of the aura of a young adult novel, in that the protagonist matures in a significant way during the story. The college atmosphere of the story makes it seem somewhat removed from the rest of the world, which both adds to and detracts from the story.
Happy reading.
The Death Penalty: An American History by Stuart Banner
This is a comprehensive history of the death penalty in America. It is divided into ten chapters, which are in overlapping chronological order by subject. The first chapter looks at the reasons that the early colonists had for hanging people and the attitudes of the colonists towards hanging and the hanged.
The second chapter describes hanging day.
The third chapter describes some early alternatives to the death sentence, such as putting a person of the gallows, going through the ceremony done before a hanging, and then pardoning the prisoner.
The fourth chapter describes early abolitionist sentiment(abolitionist in this book refers to opponents of the death penalty).
The fifth chapter compares the attitudes of northerners and southerners to the death penalty.
The sixth chapter tells of the changes caused by moving the gallows into the jail yards.
The seventh chapter details the changes in the instruments of death; technology allowed for the electric chair and the gas chamber.
The eighth chapter reports the decline in American usage of the death penalty that took place from the nineteenth century until the 1970s.
The ninth chapter describes the Supreme Court's intervention with death penalty, on the grounds of the Eighth Amendment(No cruel and unusual punishment).
The last chapter is the affects of the Supreme Court's decisions' how the Court's decision backfired on abolishionists and left leeway for the death penalty's "resurrection".
This book is a well written history of the death penalty. It does not have a strong enough bias in favor of or opposed to the death penalty to bother a reader with either sentiment, unless the reader insists on extreme agreement with his own view. There is a slight bias in that Banner speaks more of Missouri than of the other states, because Missouri is his home state.
Happy reading.(Unless the death penalty really excites you, in which case, I'll have to wish you a Thoughtful reading.)
The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek
One Book One Chicago
This is a collection of stories. The stories have in common that they take place in chicago, that the narrator is male, and that they all seem to be reminisces. Although the reader may reasonably wonder if the narrator is meant to be the author, the answer appears to be no, simply because of the differences in the characters of the narrators. Also, the narrators are addressed by different names in the different stories. Although on first thought, one may think that is because the author does not like to use his own name, and the stories were originally published in different magazines, had he wanted to create the impression that the stories were about the same character, he could have changed the names for this publication.
Anyhow, the stories are well written, thoughtful, and interesting. I wonder about the appropriateness of this novel for the One Book, One Chicago program, because the characters use illegal drugs in these narratives, and I do not think that Mayor Daley is trying to condone drug use. Although the stories are all set in Chicago, they can be appreciated by people who are not familiar with Chicago, as the only references to Chicago that might not easily translate to another city are the references to the difference in street names on the North Side and the South Side (the North Side uses descriptive names for most of the streets, and the South Side uses mostly numbers for its street names) and the reference to black neighborhoods, which do not exist in all cities.
Happy reading.
The gang of five is what they call themselves. There are actually only four of them; they figure that the name of their group should be a misfit, the same as the members. There's Bobby Goodspeed, the narrator. Bobby's status as a misfit is the least obvious to the reader, because his main idiosyncracy is that he's fat, and we can't see that. Bobby does not obsess about his obesity, and while the reader is told that Bobby is fat, it its hard to picture him that way. The reader will have no problems visualizing Addie Carle as a misfit; this next member of the group is a vocal liberal who continually runs up against the system. Joe Bunch is a little harder too picture; the gay character is clearly a misfit, but he is still hard to see. His character remains undeveloped throughout the book. Skeezie Tookis is the hooligan, another unprobable character. He's a tough, although we never really see him acting that way; apparently is style of dress and behavior from before the story are enough to set him apart.
The gang of five is in 6th grade, the upper grade in their middle school. Addie decides to create a third party to run for student council. After Addie's party is rejected by the school, whose rules state that any third party must show that it has some unique ideas to rationalize its existance, Bobby comes up with an idea for a third party - The No-Name Party. The premise of the No-Name party is that it wants students to stop calling each other names. It proposes to establish a No-Name day, on which students would not call each other names.
Predictably, the No-Name party loses by a small margin. The students and the administration both learn a lesson. All of the small crises of the characters are resolved in a happy manner (crushes turn out to be held by the other party, nasty adults become friendly, etc.) Altogether, this is a very predictable and flat book. It's only redeeming qualities are that it does point out some of the problems with society, that it has humourous scenes, and that the writing does not have any minor flaws.
Happy reading.
The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero by Robert Kaplan
This book is well described by its title; it is a history of the concept of zero as seen in different cultures. Robert Kaplan is a professor, and this book reads much like a lecture. To read this book, you should know algebra, and calculus would be helpful. Kaplan frequently uses phrases in other languages and expects the reader to know rudimentary latin and greek.
The biggest problem with this book is that the author is trying to reach a diverse audience. He uses terms that younger and less learned readers will not know, and he goes into detail about topics where anyone advanced enough to know what he is talking about will have already learned. Nonetheless, this book contains many interesting tidbits and anecdotes. If you do not mind skimming parts of the book, this is a good read.
Happy reading.
This is a story about Katie Tarbox, a teenager with an idyllic life. Being a teenager, she is not entirely happy about her life. She doesn't have any close friends to confide in in real life, and so she uses the medium of the internet to find someone who will listen to her. She meets Mark, a 23 year old man, through a chat room. She gives him her phone number, and he becomes her confidant. As Katie and Mark grow closer, he presses her to meet him in person, and finally she tells him about a swim meet she will be going to. He gets a room in the hotel that her swim team is staying in, and when she goes to meet him, he sexually molests her.
Mark was not a 23 year old man, he was Frank Kufrovich, a 41 year old pedophile. This is a horror story of what can happen through modern technology. This is a warning, a cautionary tale, which is not to say that it is only a tale. America must pay attention to her youth. Katie should not have needed the attention of Mark. Katie should have been taught not to give her whereabouts to a stranger. Frank Kufrovich should not have been allowed to grow into a pedophile, and should have been caught in an earlier offense.
Thoughtful reading.
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo an abridged translation by Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee based on the translation by C. E. Wilbour
This romantic masterpiece is the story of Jean Valjean, a convict convicted of stealing a loaf of bread. He serves 19 years in prison for his theft, and for his escape attempts. When he leaves prison, he is bitter, and full of hatred for the world. When, after being scorned by society, he stays at the house of a kindly bishop, he robs the bishop. The gendarmes catch him and bring him to the bishop, who says that he has given the candlesticks to the convict. The gendarmes are forced to release Jean Valjean. In a daze over the bishop's kindness, Jean Valjean steals a coin from a child, not realizing what he is doing. When he comes out of his daze, he has become good. He realizes that he has just stolen from a child and tries to find the child to return the coin; to no avail. Jean Valjean again becomes a fugitive from justice for the theft of the coin.
Jean Valjean enters a new town, gets a new name, patents a new invention, and makes himself and his city rich. He is appointed mayor, and under him, the city prospers. The head of police, Javert, does not like him and keeps a watchful eye on him. Javert thinks he recognizes a convict he once knew, when he was a guard with the chain gangs. When another man is apprehended as Jean Valjean, Javert submits his resignation to the mayor, thus informing the real Jean Valjean that someone else is to be punished for his crimes.
At this time, there is a woman, who had worked at one of Jean Valjean's factories who is dying. This woman has a daughter, Cosette, who is staying with the cruel Thenardiers. Jean Valjean has promised to find the daughter and give her to the mother.
Jean Valjean turns himself in as the real Jean Valjean, and saves the unfortunate who had been wrongly convicted. He is sentenced to life in the chain gangs. After a year and a half, he escapes. After his escape, he gets Cosette, and takes her as his own daughter from the Thenardiers.
I don't have time to summarize the rest of the story; if you're intrigued, read the book.
This translation has a lot of French and Latin phrases that I don't know. The vocabulary and reading level are very advanced. I recommend reading abridged versions first, especially as this version is 1463 pages long. There are many references to French history that many Americans may be ignorant of. Also, the setting is the early 1800s, which was only the recent past to the author, and therefore not explained very thouroughly.
The characters are all extremes. They personify various forces that we can all see around us. This story is a philosophical viewpoint as well as a story; it provides food for thought as well as being a pleasant read.
Happy reading.
This has been a draft for a while, so I'm just going to post it now, and update it as I go along.
The Books of Gordon Korman, part 1
The Macdonald Hall series is about Bruno and Boots, best friends who attend Macdonald Hall, a boarding school in Canada. They are Korman's first published works; the first was a seventh grade english project.
This Can't Be Happening At Macdonald Hall When Bruno and Boots pull one prank too many, their headmaster Mr. Sturgeon (nicknamed The Fish), decides to separate the boys. The boys try every trick in the book to be reunited.
The Island trilogy is part of the larger survival series.
Book One: Shipwreck Six problem kids are sent on a ship to learn to get along with world. Luke has been found with a gun in his locker. J.J. drove a motorcycle through a shop window. Lyssa and Will land each other in the hospital in their intense sibling rivalry. Charla is a burnout who has worked too hard at sports. Ian has spent too much time watching TV, and not enough time with people. When the ship is caught in a storm, J.J. foolishly raises the sail, and the captain is lost overboard. The mate leaves with the lifeboat as soon as it becomes apparent that the ship is going to sink. The kids float off. When Luke, Will, Charla and Ian land on an island, they think that J.J. and Lyssa are dead.
Book Two: Survival On the island, Will suffers from amnesia and believes that the other children are out to get him. Lyssa and J.J. turn out not to be dead; they have floated onto the island as well. J.J.'s Knowledge garnered from the discovery channel turns out to be useful, and the children work to build shelter, fish and find edible plants. Two planes land on the island, and the children's hopes are raised, only to be dashed again when they witness a murder. They realize that the island is being used by smugglers to exchange goods in private. They also find a military bunker, where soldiers in WWII worked on junior the third atom bomb. Will makes a pet out of a wild boar, who kills a dog belonging to the smugglers. When the smugglers try to shoot the boar to save the dog, a wild shot injures Will. He recovers from his amnesia, and joins the other children. The smugglers leave the island.
Book Three: Escape The children realize that Will's injury is severe. Will gets a fever, and despite the children's ministrations, he appears to be getting worse. The smugglers return. The children contemplate doing surgery on Will's leg themselves. Tehy decide to smuggle J.J. out with the smugglers. If J.J. does not return, they will attempt surgery. J.J. is found out by the smugglers. They try to hold him for ransom. When one of J.J.'s captors tries to pawn J.J.'s sunglasses, the sunglasses are recognized because it has the signature of someone famous, and J.J. is saved. The kids on the island are rescued, and Will's leg is saved. The smugglers get in trouble and everything ends happily ever after.
Maxx Comedy
Max Carmody wants to win a kid's comedy contest in Chicago. Towards that end, he and his friends endure through many laughable adventures. Max's jokes are not that good, and would probably not win on their own merit, but he makes a funny mistake that makes him look comedic and not pathetic.
Cyd Charisse struggles to deal with her world that includes her boyfriend, Shrimp, his brother Wallace, her mother Nancy, her step dad Sid, her two halves Hyper Josh and Ash, her bio dad Frank, her halves through Frank, and an assortment of other characters. Cyd Charisse tends to be very self centered and does not deal well with the people around her. She is depressed about the abortion she had right before she was expelled from boarding school. Her parents are driving her nuts. Her hormones are sometimes out of her control. To top that, her bio family is not quite what she expected.
This story is about a rebellious teenager growing up and learning that the world does not revolve around her. That sounds like an overdone plotline, and in a way it is. The style will catch you, though, and the plot is only overdone because it's good.
Happy reading.
Gay Rights A current cotroversies book
Book editor Tamara L. Roleff
This book is a series of essays and articles about gay rights. Most of the issues discussed are about gay rights in America, but one is about why gays should be allowed into the RAF. Although most of the articles are well written and informative articles of both sides of the debate, they do not seem to go together very well. Although they speak about the same issue, articles written by people in California do not go have the same perspective as articles written in New York. The laws in their respective areas are different, for one thing. Also, the writers of these articles often appear not to have heard of the concerns of the other writers, so that the reader is not shown both sides of the same issue; he is shown two sides of two related issues.
Happy reading.
Books Reviewed:37
Days Blogged/Days In Month:19/29
New Members:Jocko, Deborah
Total Number of Members:2
Number of Hits This Month:255
Toal Number of Hits:255
Features Added: Index, Comments, Hit Counter, Guest Book
The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things by J.T.Leroy
"Loosley Connected Autobiographical Stories" says the book jacket. They seem to flow in a very conected manner to me, though. These are stories of a boy growing up. Unlike most stories about children, this is not a childrens' book. Jeremiah's story seems very adult. The stories assume that the reader is far less naive than the narrator at the time of the story. The title of the book and one of the stories is from Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" It is an aptly chosen title for these stories, as the boy Jeremiah struggles with what he percieves as his wicked nature, and as his heart continually trusts in the adults who hurt him. The topics repeatedly covered are pain and deceit and sexuality, and all three appear to be the one and same.
Happy reading.
Peggy Cort, librarian, is lonely and feels unneeded. When James Carlson Sweatt, boy giant, walks into her library and shows a genuine interest in her help in finding books for him, Peggy Cort has found her purpose. As he grows older and taller, he needs more help, and Miss Cort is happy to give it. His hight becomes problematic, and eventually kills him. Before he dies, he becomes a star, an attraction, a freak. Peggy is there the whole time, nursing a crush on him over eight years, helping him out in any way she can, and just recording his story.
Although Peggy Cort is our narrator, and her feelings are expounded on at length in this book, this story is also about being the tallest boy in the world, and the fame that goes with it. This story is often dark and sarcastic, because Peggy Cort does not love mankind. Her views are often unsettling, and not only becasue they are set in the 50s. Despite her bad opinion of world in general, Peggy Cort gives us a full view of the goodness contained in this world. Or rather, Elizabeth McCracken does.
Happy reading.
Stephen Majok lives in a village in southern Sudan, with his mother and his older sister, Naomi. Life in the village is hard, and there is little food, so when the UN drops off a large amount of food, it seems like a godsend to Stephen. Unfortunately, everyone in Sudan is hungry, and the adults in the village send the three boys in the village to hide in the forest to avoid being taken as soldiers if the army forces raid the village, which it is. When the boys return to the village, they find the village empty. Many of the villagers are dead. The boys wander off, in search of something, but unsure even of what they are searching. On their travels, they run into many people who fair as badly as they do, and sometimes worse. This is a story of what is now happening in Africa. It is not a happy story.
Thoughtful reading.
A Seperate Peace by John Knowles The time is 1942, and World War II is going on at full force, but for the boys at the Devon School, the war seems far away. Gene, our narrator, and Phineas, his best friend and roommate, are athletes, teenagers, the priviledged, who can even pretend that there is no war. Their lives appear idyllic. But one day when Gene and Phineas are in a tree, to jump into the river below, Gene shakes the tree, and Phineas falls, not in to the safe river, but onto the hard ground. He breaks his leg in such a way that he is crippled. Gene feels very guilty, and his guilt is compounded by the fact that he does not admit his guilt to anyone.
Phineas suspects Gene's guilt, but he forgives him. His forgiveness appears almost inhumanly great in light of the fact that he can no longer excel at sports, in which he had been the star of Devon school. Gene's guilt and Phineas' great character are the real topic of the second half of the book, although many events accur in which we are shown the greatness of Phineas and the confusion of Gene.
The book's style is often erudite, which fits in well with Gene, the super student. However, it does make the book a little less comprehensive. The opening pages, in which Gene returns to Devon School fifteen years after leaving, are dull and do not exhibit the quick pace of the remainder of the book.
Happy reading.
Okay, I know I don't really have to tell any of you that Peanuts is great. I'm telling you anyways; Peanuts is great. Themed Peanuts is great too. As you should be able to tell from the title, this Peanuts book is about law.(A litigator is a lawyer.) Snoopy the World-Famous-Lawyer does not really succeed in anything but being funny, but he excels at that.
Happy reading.
This is a book of poetry. Some of the poetry is romantic; some is not. Most of the poetry does not conform to form, but towards the end of the book, many of the poems do rhyme. To give you an idea of the poetry is impossible without giving you the actual poetry. I don't want to break any copyright laws; please visit McKuen's site instead.
Happy reading.
This book begins with Katie (the narrarator) angry at her husband, having an affair, and wishing for a divorce. She wishes that her husband would stop being so sarcastic, but shen it happens she isn't pleased. Her husband, David, is convinced by GoodNews, a left-wing druggie/shaman, that he should do good, and he turns his life around. The rest of the book is how Katie and her family learn to be good people, and to accept themselves, with many misadventures.
Happy reading.
In The Absence of Angels by Elizabeth Glaser and Laura Palmer
This is the autobiography of Elizabeth Glaser. In 1981, she gave birth to a daughter, Ariel. She lost a lot of blood and had to be given a transfusion. The blood she was given contained the deadly HIV virus. Before 1985, blood was not screened for the virus. Not a lot was known about AIDS at the time. Elizabeth Glaser passed HIV on to her daughter through breast milk. Later, she passed to her son in utero. When they were diagnosed, the Glasers could not come out to the world because so many people would ostracize them if they knew. Ariel Glaser died at the age of 7 years and nine days. She might not have died had drug reseach gone faster. After her death, Elizabeth Glaser decided to help in the movement to further research on pediatric AIDS. She found out that there was no such movement, and she founded the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. This book is also a history of that foundation. IN 1992, she gave a speech to the Democratic Convention, on Pediatric AIDS. This book was written in 1990 and 1991. Elizabeth Glaser died of AIDS in 1994.
This is not a happy book.
Thoughtful reading.
In this book, Gregor and Gregory's lives in parallel worlds run on parallel courses. They are aware of each other, because they dream each other's lives. Gregor lives in a world much like ours. He is a high schooler, a problem kid. His father committed suicide two years past, and Gregor has not yet dealt with his father's demise. He looks up to troublemaker Jed, and has a crush on a girl who has a crush on Jed. The literal labyrinth in his story is an underground serious on tunnels that used to be used for water. The boys use these tunnels as entry to people's houses, so that they can steal from them more easily.
Gregory lives in a different sorrt of world. His world is somewhat like the United States with a different government, called Homeland. The top ten boys of every generation are sent to the Mother Country. Gregory is chosen to be sent. He is told that this is a great honor, but he is not so sure. One of the ten going with him is named J.T.. J.T. seems to be in charge, but he is really just as vulnerable as the other boys. In the Mother Country, the boys find that they are to be sacrificed to the Great Bull, who lives under the White House, in a labyrinth. J.T. convinces the daughter of the President to help them. His plan is to sacrifice her, in the hopes that the Great Bull can count and he will live. However, he dies, and it is Gregor who lives. The ending is somewhat mystical and confusing, as Gregor/ Gregory's father comes to save him. Gregory's story is a parallel to the Greek story of the minotaur.
This is not intended as happy reading so.....
Thoughtful reading.
In Dawnman Planet, the world has gone forward several hundred years. Many planets have been colonized by various different groups with various different ideas for utopia. The United Planets(UP) holds about 2000 of these together. Then mankind meets its first nonhuman threat; two alien races. One of these races(the dawnmen) have entirely annihilated the other race. Two agents of sector G of the information bureau of the UP must find a way to deal with this new threat, without allowing a would-be-dictator to take over the human race with technology from the aliens.
Happy reading.
This book is a series of anecdotes of one to three pages about unusual characters in baseball, past and present. The pictures accompanying the anecdotes are funny comics that superbly complement the stories. One funny story is that of Johnny Broaca, a picher whose misfortune it was to play before the days of dsignated hitters. He always struck out. One time he did get a hit; although his bat was still over his shoulder, the pitcher's throw was wild and hit the bat.
Happy readin
Chicago politics are vitalized in this acount of Chicago's mayoral elections of 1983 and 1987. The actual effects of Mayor Washington's term are not very clear, and the book is made even more confusing by the bizzare, and definitely not chronolical, order of topics. To read this book, a map of the wards and precincts would be very helpful, but the book does not provide one with its many pictures and charts. Harold Wahington himself is portrayed rather well, but hsi portrait is not complete. I did find two interesting words in this book that I had not known; probity means honesty and uprightness, and doyen is a male political director.
Happy reading
Piers, the son of a blacksmith and a former lady's maid, dreams of being a knight, or at least a squire. When a knight comes throuhg his town, he joins the knight as his page. However, he has only been a page for less than a week when his knight is killed by Parsifal, on behalf of King Arthur. Parsifal is trying to become a knight, but Arthur has said that he must first do great deeds. Piers joins Parsifal on his quest. Parsifal is exasperating for the young page however, because he has no sense of what is and is not proper. When Parsifal finally does get the chance to do a great deed and break a spell, he misses his chance because Piers has told him to mind his manners. In his frustration, Parsifal sends Piers away. Piers must find a way to rectify the damage he has done.
This book contains many humourous scenes, but humour is not its main focus. Parsifal's Page is about finding the balance between what is proper and what is prudent, what looks good and what is good. It continues the King Arthur series, without being repetative. It contains elements of fantasy, without becoming removed from the real world.
Happy reading
When Titus and his friends go to the moon, they run into unexpected trouble when someone hacks into their feeds, powerful computers that run their bodies and provide information for them. Titus and his friends recover quickly, but Violet, a girl who Titus meets on the moon, is not so fortunate. Her feed was implanted later in life, and cannot be fixed. She will die because the hacker has hurt the feed which will shut down her body. Titus has to deal with the Violet's demise, and in the process, he learns about himself and the dangers of the feed. The book is dedicated to those who resist the feed; Anderson is trying to convey the message that the information highway is dangerous. Even his psuedonym is somewhat satyrical; Empty Anderson.
Happy reading.
Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett Read by Richard Michley
As you can see, I cheated on this one and just listened to the book on tape. It does exist as a book, though. Johnny Maxwell plays a video game in which the object is to annihilate the alien ships. Very usual right? Wrong. In this game, the aliens send Johnny a message; they surrender. They want Johnny to give them save passage to the Border, a place where humans cannot follow. The line between reality and fiction blurs for Johnny (and the book) as he embarks on the mission to save mankind from humans. There are some anti-war feelings projected in this book, as we take a look at the violence espoused by video games.
Happy reading.
Russel Middlebrook thinks he's the only gay kid at Goodkind High School, and when he finds out that he's not, he starts a club of the gay kids. However, even having a boyfriend doesn't turn out as well as he had hoped. The kids, who decide to meet as the geography club to hide themselves, find that just coming out to each other isn't enough. They need to find the courage to come out to their world as well. Russel has an additional problem; his best friend is using him to score with his girlfriend, and Russel can't deal with dating a girl, even for his best friend. In the end, Russel does find his courage, but the ending id still not entirely happy; the world refuses to shape up just for the sake of a happy ending.
Happy reading.
There's A Hair In My Dirt; A Worm's Story by Gary Larson
This is an informative and humourous comic book/picture book where a worm tells the story of a woman who loved nature but did not understand nature. In the process, the worm informs us about nature. This is a more serious side of Larson, and a very enjoyable read.
Happy reading.
When Kevin Boland gets mono, he is stuck at home, grounded from school and baseball. With nothing to do, he borrows(without permission, but his father would probably have given it) a book on poetry from his father's office, and begins to experiment with poetry. Through his poetry and his musings on poetry, we are given a window into his life as he recovers, discovers the difference between being a bstring baseball player as opposed to MVP, and gets a girlfriend. This book might teach you a little about poetry; did you know, a patoum is a poem where the second and fourth lines of each verse get repeated as the first and third lines of the next verse? Try it!
Happy reading.
This sci-fi novel was written in 1974, and it is Reynolds' idea of what the current times would be like. Like many other science fiction writers of his time and earlier, his guess for the future grossly overestimated the technological advances that would be made. The overall plot is underdeveloped, but the idea is that there is a depression, similar to the depression of the 1930s. The president is a total incompetent, more idiotic than the most idiotic of Bush chariacatures. His press manager is the real brains behind the operation, but his main focus is getting into the secretary's bottomless skirt. The cold war is ended by the depression because the US is too poor for the Soviets to care about. To end the depression, the secretary finally finds the first man who decided to return a product that he couldn't afford, and gives him money to spend. This book is humourous, but not much else. Happy reading.
My edition is a seventh printing from 1974, and is therefore 30 years out of date. If you can find a more recent copy, it would probably be more informative. However, this is still worth reading. It talks about Abe Saperstein's founding the Harlem Globetrotters in 1927, and it gives a brief description of the team's history. It does not describe the earlier players in much depth; presumably, not much is known about them. The pictures(one per chapter) are black and white and not very good quality. The book often glosses over topics I would like to know more about. For anyone who wants to learn about the Globetrottters, or to just sit back with a book and learn something, this is a good book. Happy reading.
