Biblio Files: talking about books

2008-02-20T12:39:00.002-06:00

Jay Grows an Alien

by Caroline Anne Levine

Jay is a young boy with aspergers. He feels no one understands him and vice versa. One day Jay gets some capsule toys. you put them in water and they grow one of them turns about to be an Alien cybrog named 2X. Thru his friendship with 2X Jay begins to learn that there are good parts to his AS. this was a cute little stroy. The alien aspies parell has been done many times before but this one did it pretty well. unlike other aspies book fro young readers i thought jay was actully mad ein a chracter that you could care about not just a bunch of streotypes.

2008-02-10T09:45:00.001-06:00

It Takes a Worried Man: A Memoir
by Brendan Halpin, 2002 After Brendan Halpin's wife was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer, Brendan wrote a book about it. He writes about his fears: of death, becoming a single father, losing his best friend, being an adult all by himself. Although this is a book about living with cancer, living with cancer is necessarily about living, and Halpin also writes about that: about his daughter, his life as a high school teacher, being a son, being a sexual man, his love of movies, and his faith, church, and church based community. This book reads like a blog because it consists of short essays in sequence with rough topics, and also because some of the entries are awesome narratives and others won't make sense if you aren't up on the assumed knowledge of movies. In the end, I liked this book more for the frank self explanation than for the cancer story.
Turbulent reading.

2007-10-03T15:18:00.000-05:00

Becoming a Visible Man
by Jamison Green

Jamison was born feamale but never felt comfortable as one. So he eventally made the transtion to male. fist with hormones than surgery. i really enjoyed this book it is more than just a autobigoraghy it is a really close and presonally look into the Ftm comunity. I really like Green's writting.

2007-09-24T15:19:00.000-05:00

Accidents of Nature

by Harriet McBryde Johnson
jean is 17 years old she has cerbal palsy. she has always gone to normal school but now she is attend a camp for person with disabilties. there she meets Sara a girl who is also in a wheel chair sara's radical views change Jean' s mind on how she thinks of herself and how other with disabilties are treated. i really enjoyed the book. The way the camp staff treat the teens in the camp was so aggrivating for example how the were flirting and touching the kids at the dance ans when the game at the fair were rigged so everyone could win. as A person with Nld i was able to indefiy very much with the book. i have one question there is a chracter in book who has eplipsy she said that eplietics could not get married was this actully true at one time. the book was set in 1970 btw.

2007-09-12T15:31:00.000-05:00

Trans-Sister Radio
by Chris Bohjalian (http://www.chrisbohjalian.com/

This book centers around Dana and man who has a sex change and how the change effects his life with his girlfreind and ohter around him. I thought it was a good book and a sad one too to see how much bad stuff happend to Dana and Allie after the change. some have said the found the ending unbelevable but i sas it coming.

2007-02-25T10:37:00.000-06:00

Experiment Perilous
Physicians and Patients Facing the Unknown
by Renee C(laire) Fox, 1959Ward F-Second in a research hospital in the 1950s was occupied by doctors cum researchers, patients cum experiments. With research procedures different from what they became in the fifty years between the setting of this book and today, and with patients expected to die, Ward F-Second presents an interesting picture of medical history. Fox entered the ward as an observer with the intent of writing a sociological piece on the mechanisms of a research ward, and she did a great job.
Fox takes notes on the humor of the patients and physicians (sometimes repeating herself), commenting on its morbidity, without being judgemental. In fact, the lack of judgements in this book is refreshing and unusual; the contrasts between patients are frequently ones that would lend themselves well to judgements.
Patients in this ward are all male, which Fox does not comment on. The description of the medical conditions in this book are both technical and out of date, but they can either be skipped, without much loss of plot or point, or can be understood with a small (not quite minimal) amount of outside research or background.
Enjoyable reading.

2007-02-17T19:58:00.000-06:00

Patient Encounters
The Experience of Disease
by James H. Buchanan, 1989 The table of contents for this book groups the chapters into diseases of the soul, metabolic furnaces, diseases of the heart, diseases of life, and acute and chronic diseases. The very first of these labels ought to tell the reader something- that this book is not the scientific book it purports to be. Buchanan avows that his stories are both true and fiction (the library of congress classifies it R726: nonfiction medicine). Each of these chapters is a poetic description of a case study of an illness. Some of the people described are real, some are not. They've all been falsified in the name of anonymity, but also in the name of poetic license.
These descriptions of "disease" are highly judgemental.
One of the diseases covered is AIDS: the case study is of a gay man who dies of AIDS and the narrator is clearly unfamiliar with the gay community; the community abandons this man, and his lifestyle is described by the narrator as sinful, and the last paragraph concludes that this is not a punishment, as though he were being merciful in saying so, as though it were a real possibility.
Another case study is about a woman whose son has progeria. Buchanan, attempting to report on the feelings of the mother and son, says that the mother is necessarily ashamed of her "monster". Buchanan again and again refers to the son with progeria as a monster.
Again and again, Buchanan's patients are helpless, humiliated, and monstrous.
Only skimworthy reading.

2006-11-04T18:38:00.000-06:00

Going to the Sun
a novel by James McManus Penny is a college student when she meets David, and falls in love quickly. Penny and David go to Alaska where David is mauled by a bear, and is left severely disabled. In the hospital, David asks Penny to kill him using the insulin she uses as a diabetic. She does; a syringeful of insulin sends David into deadly hypoglycemia. Now it is seven years later, and Penny has been unable to put the incident out of her mind. For reasons unclear to herself, she sets out to bike from her hometown of Chicago to Alaska.
I decided to read this book because it came up when I searched "diabetes" and "travel" in the library database. I began the book in the library and saw quickly that the narration was well done, the tone frank. But as I read, I grew more and more disturbed about the message that this book gives about disability. Penny's attitude towards diabetes and disability is extremely negative. She feels that life with diabetes is not worth living; that life with diabetic complications can not be other than terrible. By itself, this would not be a flaw for the book; it isn't hard to find people who feel the same. However, of the many characters presenting their opinions about the worth of the lives of disabled people in this story, the only one to disagree with Penny that diabetes or any other disability is indeed a tragedy of extreme proportions is portrayed as mentally unbalanced.
Penny's truly tragic disability is depression. Penny has much in common with me; I also have type 1 diabetes. Penny's insists that her life hangs on the hope of a cure. To hope for what you have never known is not a hope that can ever bear fruit- to be without diabetes is not the painfree life Penny imagines. Penny expresses disdain for people who make a big deal over more minor ailments, not understanding: pain is pain. Whether it is really appropriate is really irrelevant to the sufferer. Penny's pain is a real pain felt by many people with many disabilities; but it is not due to disability.
Penny is based on McManus' actual diabetic daughter; however, some basic information about diabetes portrayed here is wrong. Penny wouldn't take more insulin if she expects to excercise more. She should take less because insulin absorbtion is more efficient with excercise.
Cautious reading.

2006-09-29T08:59:00.000-05:00

My Sister's Keeper: A Novel
by Jody Picoult(http://www.jodipicoult.com/)

13 year old Anna was born for a specific purpose she was born to save he older sister Kate. Kate was diagnosed with a rare a most often fatal form of leukemia. Sop when Kate is born cord blood of Anna's is donated. Years As the years go on Kate keeps having relapses and Anna donates Bone marrow. Now Kate has kidney failure and Anna is supposed to donate one of hers. However she says she does not want and hires a lawyer so she can be declared medically emicanipated. This novel is told form any different perspectives and I enjoyed getting to see what was going thru each characters POV. I thought the story was good and thought provoking about medical issues. However I disliked the ending it seemed totally out of left field. Yet I still enjoyed the boook and would still recommend it.

2006-08-30T12:08:00.000-05:00

Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood
by Julie Gregory Julie's life as a child was filled with constant doctors visits and medications. He mother wanted to get at the bottom of what was wrong with Julie. However there was nothing really wrong with her. Her Mother had Munchausen by proxy.
a condition in which the care taker of a child, in most case it's the mother, makes up or sometimes causes syptoms of an illness in a child. This book is sad and tough to read because the reader gets angry that the doctors do not see what is actually going on. Julie's Father is no help; he seems to realize what is going on, because at one point the mother tries it with the brother and he tells her to stop. He lets her do it to Julie. At times he physically abuses Julie. Most of the abuse is goaded on by the mother. Have I said before this book hard and emotionally painfull to read? However at the same time it is hard to put down.
for more on MBP go here.

2006-07-26T13:17:00.000-05:00

The Boy Who Ate Stars
by Kochka Traslated by Sarah Adams

Tweleve year old Lucy has just moved into a new aparment bulding. She is detremined to meet and befriend everybody in the building. In the apartment upstairs, she meets Matthew, a four year old autistic boy, and his mother. She is intrigued by Matthew and wants to help him. She also needs to help the dog belonging to the friends of her parents. The dog has lived life as a pamperd lap dog; she wants to help the dog get intuned with his animal instincts. She thinks Matthew can help the dog because he is like a wild animal.
I thought the book did a very poor job depicting autism. In the book Bettelheim is quoted. As many pepole know, Bettelheim's theories were discredted long ago. Why would Kochka use him as a quotable source? Maybe it's becuase the book was orignally written in French. Do they still belevie the out dated autism theories in France? I hope not. One other thing I disliked about the book was that Lucy always thought of Matthew as some kind of mystical being. She never realy sees him as another person. Many other reveiws i have read have mentioned this.

2006-07-26T13:06:00.000-05:00

Eye Contact
by Cammie McGovern (http://www.cammiemcgovern.com/)

Cara is a mother of a nine year old autistic boy. one day he goes missing at school and anoter child went missing with him and that child, a girl named Ameila is found dead. Cara is detremimend to find out who killed her. She thinks it will help her son Adam who has regressed because of what he witnessed. The boook has many plotlines and does a pretty good job of handling them all with becoming confusing. i espically liked the plotline involing morgan the middle school speical edcauticon boy who befreinds adam and Cara.

2006-07-03T10:21:00.000-05:00

The Russian Word for Snow
A True Story of Adoption
Janis Cooke Newman, 2001 While waiting for infertility treatment, Janis Cooke Newman looked at adoption possibilities. While looking at potential adoptees, Newman and her husband connected with a video of a boy in a Russian orphanage. Impulsively, they decided to adopt the boy Grisha. The list of diagnoses Russian doctors had given Grisha gave them some pause, but they decided to ignore the list after an American doctor watched the video of the boy and told them not to worry. Newman and her husband chose people to help them through the adoption process; they chose poorly and impulsively. The adoption process dragged on for months, with delays a-plenty. Newman and her husband were cranky and tense. They had to wait and wait in Russia for their new son, and they were not good at waiting.
This story is more about their journey than it is about their son or about their relationship with their son; it reads as a travel journal that incidentally has adoption as its destination, rather than a story about adoption that incidentally includes travel. Many of the explanatory details that would have made this story clearer were omitted.
Happy reading.

2006-06-20T12:23:00.000-05:00

Prince William, Maximilian Minsky & Me
by Holly-Jane Rahlens(http://www.holly-jane-rahlens.com/)

Nelly Sue Edelmeisteris a nerd she is very intresterd in astomonmy. she is living in berlin her mother is american and her dad is german. This book takes place in 1997. that was the year that princess Dianna died. while watching a news report on the death Nelly sees a picture of Prince William and she gets a crush on him. She plans to join her school basketball team because the team will play a game in england. however she has no basketball skills at all. she also has to deal with other things in her life her parents marriage is having alot of troubles. she has to prepare for her up coming
bat mitzvah. I thought this book was very good Nelly was a chracter i could really indentify with.

2006-06-20T12:13:00.000-05:00

Rules
by Cynthia Lord(http://www.cynthialord.com/)

12 year old Catherine is always embrassed by her younger brother David, who is autistic. she aslo feels her parents expect too much out of her. She tires to befreind the cool new girl next door. she aslo makes a new freind in jason a boy in a wheelchair who can not speak. this novel was a bit too predictable for i could guess all the major things that were going to happen. yet i still like it okay Lord is a good writer and even thou the book is full of cliched plots she does thoes lpots well.

2006-06-06T14:25:00.000-05:00

Marley & Me : Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
by John Grogan(http://marleyandme.com/)

john and is wife decided to get a dog what the got is marely a yellow Labrador who was full engery. marely was expelled form obidiance school, has a terrible fear of thuder and lighting and loves to swallow things that are not food. despite marley promblems they do love him. this book is a loving tribute to the dog. anybody who ever had a dog can indentfiy with this book. i thnink non dog owners would liie it too/

2006-06-06T14:12:00.000-05:00

Send in the Idiots : Stories from the Other Side of Autism
by Kamran Nazeer

when Karmran was a young child he went to a school for autistic children. when he was 7 the school closed and he went to a mainstream school.now an adult he tracks down his fomrer classmates and see what there lives are like now. there is andre who uses puppets for the more difficult points of conversation. there is also randall who is a bike messenger who is also gay. then there is craig who is a poltical speech writer he is then one that is the most high functioning. the book aslo profiels a femalke classmate who committed suicide as an adult. I had mixed feelings about this book i found all the info about the classmates lives very intresting. however i stongly disagree with Nazzer sataments about the anti-cure movements. i foound so good info about what autistic adults think of this booka t this site.
http://autismdiva.blogspot.com/2006/05/kamran-nazeer-interview.html

2006-04-24T20:08:00.000-05:00

The Genius Factory
The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank
by David Plotz, 2005 Robert Klark Graham believed that smart people are better people. He believed that intelligence is hereditary. He believed in Eugenics. And he believed in doing something about it. So he did. Graham collected sperm from men he believed to be intelligent- starting with three Nobel prize winners- and gave the sperm to women for artificial insemination. More than 200 people were born through this sperm bank during its seventeen years (it closed in 1999). David Plotz contacted 30 of these, to see if they had become the extraordinary people that Graham had predicted that they would be. Plotz was not particularly impressed. While the children were, on the whole, gifted, they did not seem extraordinary to him.
On other levels as well, Graham's project had not worked out as he had hoped. Graham had distributed sperm only to married women so that the children would have fathers, but most did not have good relations with their fathers. Graham was also not careful enough in screening his sperm donors. He took donors at their words about their IQ scores and past accomplishments. One donor gave his IQ as 160, but told Plotz that he made that up.
In The Genius Factory, Plotz questions the wisdom of choosing intelligent sperm donors, but his criticism is not very academic. Plotz writes about artificial insemination via donor in general, and the family relationships and identities affected. Plotz's writing is interesting as a story, but beyond that its worth is questionable. Interestingly, of the thirty children that Plotz knew of, one is autistic (page 246). Plotz seems to count the autistic boy as one of the failures of the program, but perhaps not. The child lauded as a genius and as proving the success of the project, Doron Blake, sounds more than a little Aspergery (a prodigy with poor social skills).
Happy reading.

2006-03-31T12:12:00.000-06:00

Introducing . . . Sasha Abramowitz

by Sue Halpern

11 year old Sasha has a interesting home; she lives in the dorm at Krieger College, where both of her parents are professors. She has a brother Danny, who was sent away to a special school because he has Tourette's syndrome. Sasha hardly ever sees him. She finds it hard to even talk about him. She meets a college student named Andrew Hardy who becomes sort of a replacement older brother to her. Then Danny's school burns down in a fire and Sasha has to deal with Danny being home for the first time. She faces other troubles that summer too; her best friends would rather spend time with a boy and Andrew becomes ill and is hospitalized. This book was good; I really cared about the characters. I like the way that Sasha narrated the book. The book didn't explain Tourette's enough. The book made it seems like Danny was doing the tics on purpose. The parents in the book didn't seems to understand Danny either. In a scene during the school play, Danny begins ticcing so that he is taken out of the auditorium until he can act right. Persons with Tourette's can control their tics some but eventually have to release them. They do not tic just to act up. If you want a better fictional book on Tourette Syndrome, I recommend Quit It by Marcia Byalick. However I do recommend Sasha because the general story was quite good.

2006-03-26T10:03:00.000-06:00

My Path Leads To Tibet by Sabriye Tenberken
First published in German in 2000; First English edition 2003

Sabriye Tenberken became interested in Tibet on a class field trip to a museum, in which the curator allowed Tenberken and her classmates to touch the exhibits in lieu of seeing them. At the time, Tenberken didn't know what she could give to Tibet. That question was answered when Tenberken began studying Tibetan at the University of Bonn. In order to study for her classes, Tenberken needed a way to read the Tibetan texts. Nobody had come up with any Braille form of Tibetan; the only way Tenberken could read the texts was through the use of the Opticon, a difficult, loud, and time consuming task. So Tenberken came up with her masterpiece; she invented a system for writing Tibetan in Braille.
The Braille version of Tibetan was what Tenberken had to give to Tibet. However, Tenberken could find no organization to help her deliver her system to Tibet. There were no schools for the blind in Tibet, and the Red Cross would not take blind volunteers. In 1997, Tenberken went to Tibet, and in 1998 she opened a school for blind children in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Originally, the students lived in a building shared with an orphanage. They studied Chinese, Tibetan, Braille, artithmatic, and basic self care skills. Eventually, the school moved into its own buildings, and studies expanded to include English and trades. Tenberken left the school in the hands of Tibetans and founded Braille Without Borders with her partner Paul Kronenberg. This is Tenberken's account of how the school was founded.
Tenberken is a somewhat strange narrator. She is blind but synesthetically sees (numbers have color to her), and describes what she sees. She is German and German is her native language, yet this account is her own English. Tenberken's descriptions include small details, but often the big picture (such as the year or what has happened to last chapter's financial crisis) is omitted. Tenberken has a sense of drama that sometimes overrides attention to practicalities. Her account is centered around her own experiences. Tenberken is addressed as Kelsang Meto by most of the Tibetans in this book. There are 19 pictures inside this book, taken by Paul Kronenberg.

Happy reading.

2006-03-06T13:06:00.000-06:00

God's Grace
by Bernard Malamud

This novel had one of the most disturbing and depressing endings I have ever read. That does not mean that I did not enjoy the book. On the contrary, I enjoyed it very much. The story is that God has destroyed the earth with a second flood. One man survived; his name is Calvin Cohn. Calvin meets a chimp who he names Buz. Buz has been given human speech via experiments that were done on him. Calvin takes on Buz as his son and teaches him many things. Other chimps come to the island on which Calvin is stranded. He educates them also. Also on the island is a gorilla and some baboons. Calvin wants them all to live in peace and create a new society. To find out if he succeeds, read the book. As I said above I enjoyed the book very much. It is different form Malamud's other books I have read. Some of the religious aspects were a bit over my head. Other than that I enjoyed it very much.

2006-02-27T13:12:00.000-06:00

Hoot
By Carl Hiaasen

Roy has just moved to Florida. He moves a lot so he is used been the new kid. When the school bully pushes Roy's face against the school bus window, Roy sees a blonde boy running barefoot. Roy becomes determined to find out about the boy. Eventually Roy becomes involved in trying to protect some owls. The owls are burrowing owls and their home is about to have a pancake house built over it. The boy that Roy was interested in is the main defender of the owls. The boy won't tell Roy his real name but has Roy call him Mullet Fingers because of his ability to catch mullets (a type of fish) in his bare hands. Roy also meets Beatrice Leep, half sister of Mullet. The adventure of saving the owls was good and exciting. Overall the book was good, although I found the character of Mullet Fingers unrealistic. It doesn't seem like a teenage boy could really survive that well alone, despite his adept nature.

2006-02-27T12:59:00.000-06:00

All Alone in the Universe
by Lynne Rae Perkins
13 year old Debbie was best friends with Maureen until Glenna came along. Now Maureen hangs out with Glenna all the time. Debbie feels left out so she tries to do things with both of them but it's just not the same. Debbie begins to feel as though she is all alone and is having a very rough time. This book was good but I don't like coming of age novels because they always contain sentences like suddenly the world looked brighter or something like that. Nobody really experiences that. Overall the book was pretty good; there were lots of funny parts especially the scene in which the sister and the intruder were in the bathroom.

2006-02-20T09:48:00.000-06:00

The Thief Lord
by Cornelia FunkeThis book is quite good, like JK Rowling meets Charles Dickens. Corneila Funke is the one of the most popular children's authors in Germany and I can see why. She really knows how to spin a good tale. The book is about a group of kids in Venice. They are all without parents. They kids are led by a thirteen year old boy who calls himself The Thief Lord. Recently, two new boys have joined the group. They are Prosper and Bo, and they ran away for their aunt, who was supposed to adopt both of them, but only wants Bo (who is young and cute). The aunt's plan was to send Prosper off to an boarding school. The boys run away because they don't want to be separated. When the aunt sends a detective in search of the boys, it sends in motion events that lead the Thief Lord's gang on a magical adventure. Because I enjoyed this book so much, I am looking forward to Funke's other books.

2006-02-19T19:55:00.000-06:00

Laughing and Loving with Autism compiled by R. Wayne Gilpin, 1993 Autistic people can do unexpected and funny things. This is a compilation of humorous and/or inspirational stories and testimonials about and from autistic people. Some of the jokes are the sort that could come from anybody, and others are uniquely autistic. Gilpin's son Alex is a high functioning autistic, and many of the stories in this book (about a seventh) are about Alex. Stories are grouped by topic, and topics include Out into the "Real World, Music, Rain Man, School, and the "inspirational" stories are in Poignant.
I enjoyed most of the humorous stories. I especially enjoyed a story about echolalia. Although most of the stories were warm and loving, a few bothered me because their point seemed to be to laugh at the autist in the story. I didn't like most of the "inspirational" stories because their focus seems to be on finding a cure for autism. This book is the first of three compilations by Gilpin.
Humorous reading.

2006-02-15T10:27:00.000-06:00

Drums, Girls, And Dangerous Pie

by Jordan Sonnenblick
In this novel, 14 year old Steven thinks his younger brother Jeffrey is the most annoying thing in the world. This changes when Jeffrey falls off a stool and gets a nose bleed that won't stop. Jeffrey has leukemia. Steven goes through many emotions, trying to deal with his brother's illness. He also tries to maintain a normal life at school, where he doesn't want anybody to find out what is happening at home. However, the school officials do find out, and Steven is sent to visit the school counselor. The only good thing that happens as a result of Jeffrey's illness is that it gets Steven the attention of the girl in school he has a huge crush on.
This book was great. It realistically deals with the emotions of a family dealing with a serious illness, without getting too sappy. The characters were really well written.

2006-02-01T10:53:00.000-06:00

Baby Alicia Is Dying
by Lurlene McDaniel

Desi feels unloved by her mother. Her older sister is a tennis star. Her mother was also a tennis star in her high school days, so the mom pays more attention to the sister. When Desi gets the chance to do volunteer work at a place that takes care of AIDS babies, she takes it. Desi falls in love with one of the babies; Alicia becomes almost all she ever thinks about. This leads to a furthter complication with her mother, who is worried that Desi will get AIDS from the baby. This book was just okay; I felt the mother was too sterotypical in freaking out about AIDS. Also the resultion between Desi and he mother at the end of the book seems too easy. I did enjoy the parts of the book that dealt with Alicia. The ending of this book is very sad, but I guess if you read the title that's quite obivious.

2006-02-01T10:45:00.000-06:00

A Real Person : Life on the Outside

by Gunilla Gerland

gunilla always felt different from others. As a adult she found out she was autistic. This book is her autobiography. Besides her autism she also had to deal with a very unstable home life. Her mother was a alcoholic and her father left the family when she was teen. The book was very good Gerland experiences were very different than mine yet I was still able to identify with here. Her writing and experience remind me very much of Donna Williams.

2006-01-28T21:01:00.000-06:00

Gift From My Son: Autism Redefined by Keli Lindelien, 2004 Benjamin was born to an unusual family. His mother, Keli Lindelien, still feels guilty because she predicted the death of a friend when she and the friend were teenagers. He died. Lindelien also believes that her daughter, Benjamin's older sister, can see auras. Lindelien chose not to have an amniocentesis while she was pregnant because of a vision. Benjamin is unusual in another way. As a toddler, Benjamin was diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Although he began developing speech normally, he regressed and did not speak for a year.
Benjamin's sensory sensitivities are described by his mother in spiritual New Age language. Lindelien's accounts of her son's sensitivities seemed almost impossible to me until I tried to reword them in terms of sensory integration. Lindelien "redefines" autism as a gift in two ways. First, she believes that the reflection forced upon her by a disabled child was a gift. Second, Benjamin's hyper sensitive sight, hearing, and empathy are a gift. Benjamin is currently fairly high functioning.
Much of this book is too mystical for me. I could not understand what Lindelien's visions were implying. Lindelien asks a lot of questions instead of stating what she believes. I could not follow where the questions where leading. I find much of what Lindelien says to be unbelievable and at times contradictory. However, it is nice to see that Lindelien enjoys her son. Appendix A, a toilet training protocol, might be of some use.
Question: Lindelien claims that Benjamin can see auras. Can you see or otherwise sense auras? Do they have colors?
Happy reading.

2006-01-27T10:09:00.000-06:00

Wish
by Melina Gerosa Bellows

When Bella was eight years old, one of the things she wanted most was to be a bride. As she gets older she still wants that. Throughout her life, she goes out with many guys. Sometimes just as the relationship looks good, something bad will happen. This book chronicals many years in Bella's life. Aside from Bella's quest to find the perfect man, the book focuses on Bella's relationship with her twin brother Bobby, who is autistic. She has conflicting feelings for him during her life.
I thought this book was very good. I mostly read for the autistic brother part. Bellows did a pretty good job of depicting autism. There are a few stereotypes to Bobby, but overall he is a well written autistic character. The part of the book which focuses on Bella's different romances was not the kind of stuff I usually read, but I thought that this part was done well too.

2006-01-23T16:01:00.000-06:00

Ants at Work: How an Insect Society is Organized
by Deborah Gordon
Illustrations by Michelle Schwengel
1999
Did you know? Harvester ant colonies that last for more than two years generally will last for another fifteen years. The colony dies after the queen ant dies, because then no more worker ants are born. The worker ants live only for a year. Ant colonies typically reach an adult size of about 10,000 ants and begin to reproduce (produce more colonies) when they are four or five years old, but if they are crowded by other colonies they may never reach full size or reproduce.
Deborah Gordon studies red harvester ants, Pogonomymex barbatus, in Arizona during the summer.
The most interesting thing that this book does not talk about enough is ant pheromones. The spread of smells and communication through them ought to have been elaborated on. Can ants leave messages with pheromones? If so, why doesn't that account for why ants know whether or not foreign ant are neighbors?
Pleasant reading.

2006-01-09T11:12:00.000-06:00

Teach Me
by R.A. Nelson

Carolina, nicknamed Nine, is a high school senior. She feels as though she is more mature than most of her classmates. Her only friend is Schuyler, but she does not mind. Nine's life changes when she gets a new English teacher, Mr. Mann. She and Mr.Mann have a affair. Mann eventally dumps her and gets married. Nine spins out of control. She becomes even more obsessed with Mr. Mann than she was before. She stalks him and messes up his apartment.
This book was really good. I enjoyed the suspence of it; I never knew what Nine was going to do. Nine was unlikable at times. This has bothered some of the readers of this book, but for me it made her seem more realstic.

2006-01-09T11:03:00.000-06:00

Making Peace with Autism : One Family's Story of Struggle, Discovery, and Unexpected Gifts
By Susan Senator
This was a great autism book. Sue Senator's son Nat is autistic. The book is about her life with him and the things she did with him. I like that at the end she relaized that some of his annoying behavoirs were actully things he did to try to communicate with his family. This book is in a simalr vain to Elijah's Cup, but Senator is not as accepting of her son's autsim as Elijah's mother is. Overall, the book is good. Definitely, it is better than all the miracle cure books.

2006-01-01T16:07:00.000-06:00

Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language
Hereditary Deafness on Martha's Vineyard, 1985
by Nora Ellen Groce
Jonathan Lambert, a deaf man, moved to the Martha's Vineyard Island in 1694. His is the first recorded case of deafness on the Island, but far from the last. The group of people who moved from Kent to Martha's Vineyard in the seventeenth century carried with them a recessive gene for deafness. They also brought with them a sign language and an inclusion of the deaf in their midst unparalleled anywhere else in any other time in European or American culture. Due to inbreeding, deafness was fairly common on Martha's Vineyard for centuries, and conversational competence in the local sign language was standard. Deaf men on Martha's Vineyard, unlike deaf elsewhere in the nation at that time, were deemed competent to vote, hold office, sign legal documents, and otherwise act as full members of society.
This book is frequently cited as proof that the deaf can be fully integrated into society and that deafness does not have to be a handicap. I read this book having already read many excerpts of it in other books, among them No Pity by Joseph Shapiro. Therefore, I expected this book to be mostly about the workings of the Martha's Vineyard community and the lives of its members. What the book actually focuses on are the origins of the society. Groce traces the genetics of the hereditary deafness on Martha's Vineyard and the usage of sign by the ancestors of the colonizers of Martha's Vineyard. She considers why sign became commonplace, and compares it to the communities surrounding it. Interestingly, Groce is very clear about where all of her information comes from. When she fills her guesses in, the reader is made aware of it. This makes the book read as a scholarly account rather than a piece intended for a general audience.
In considering what made the Islanders learn sign, Groce overlooks something. None of the people born deaf on Martha's Island ever learned to speak or to read lips, and none heard at all. Therefore, they had to be signed to. To include the deaf, the Islanders had to learn sign. Groce assumes that those born deaf cannot learn to speechread, and that speechreading, picking up less that half of all words, would not serve to integrate the deaf. However, the ability to speechread is almost as hereditary as the ability to hear. Includes end notes, an extensive bibliography, and an index.
Happy reading.

2005-12-31T20:31:00.000-06:00

Turbulent Souls
A Catholic Son's Return to his Jewish Family
by Stephen J. Dubner In late 1944, Sol Dubner told a priest that he had been a Jew and was interested in Catholicism. The priest directed him to a group of fellow converts to Catholicism from Judaism. Among these was Florence Greenglass, who competently answered Sol's questions. The two kept in touch. Sol converted to Catholicism in 1945, and in 1946 the two married and became Paul and Veronica Dubner. The Dubners had eight children; the youngest was was Stephen. Paul and Veronica Dubner did their best to give their children the gift that made their own lives worth living, their belief in Catholicism, but only three of their children stayed Catholics. Stephen was intrigued by the faith that his parents had left- Judaism. His interest was somewhat fueled by a desire to know his father, who died when Stephen was ten years old.
Turbulent Souls begins with the stories of Florence and Sol, their families, and their journeys to their faith and each other. Then it moves on to their family together, their children, and Stephen's own childhood. Finally it returns to their histories, this time not as their own stories but as part of Stephen's quest. Throughout, it is Stephen who remains most murky, because he is not clear about his own beliefs. The childhood described by Dubner stands in sharp contrast to that described by Stephen Zanichkowsky in Fourteen, because both describe large Catholic families, one far more idyllic than the other. Pictures included.
Soulful reading.

2005-12-31T19:35:00.000-06:00

The Voices of AIDS ,1995
Michael Thomas Ford AIDS affects more people than are infected with AIDS. HIV has an effect on the families and communities of people with HIV. In this book, Ford interviews people affected by AIDS: people with HIV, family members, and activists. He also provides information about HIV and AIDS between each interview. This book is aimed at teens, and some of the information about HIV and prevention is presented on an overly simplistic level. In particular, I was annoyed by the generalizations made about teenagers, especially because the actual teenagers portrayed in this book are responsible people. Some of the book is out of date.
Serious reading.

2005-12-19T10:28:00.000-06:00

All of us Together
The Story of Inclusion at the Kinzie School
by Jeri Banks, 1994 Drastically declining student enrollment at the Kinzie School in Chicago left many classrooms empty and the school in danger of closing. The deaf program at Marquette School, also in Chicago, was extremely overcrowded. Children with little hearing had no hope of discriminating sound in the confusing cacophany. In 1982, 135 children from Marquette School, along with their teachers, moved into the Kinzie School. At first, the two groups were separate. But in the very first year, James P. Franklin, then principle of Kinzie School, began organizing the neighborhood counsil on behalf of the deaf students. Over the course of a decade, the deaf and mainstream program intermngled. Some deaf students were mainstreamed. Hearing students learned some sign. Extracurricular activities grew inclusive. The academic performance of hearing and deaf students improved, and so did their tolerance and understanding.
Jeri Banks moved to the Kinzie school in 1982 with the deaf students, as a speech and auditory training teacher. Although she tells her story as an advocate of the deaf, she always retains a view that the deaf are disabled. She never comes across to the view she reports on, that the natural language of the deaf is sign. The story of change at the Kinzie school is an interesting one. However, Banks spends too much time on the politics of the school system. Her bias spills out, unrestrained, over accounts of administrative fights. However, very little is told with an understanding of where Banks is, and what she is doing, during these fights. While the book's story spans almost a decade, very little mention is made of time. The passage of time is the most confusing element of this story.
As a student of disabilities, there were some questions I really wanted to ask of the text. The disparity in teacher's signing abilities and in the signs they did use is an issue barely acknowledged by Banks. Since Signed Exact English and ASL were both used, Banks should have noted which was being used in each instance. Instead, she refers to all sign as "sign". What kind of communication occurred between deaf and hearing staff? Since Banks reports only a few signed communications, how much sign did Banks know? If she knew little sign, that would have affected both her views on sign and on the interactions of students.
Question: When is mainstreaming a good idea?
Happy reading.

2005-12-15T16:38:00.000-06:00

Luna a novel by Julie Anne Peters Regan's biggest concern in life is her older sister Luna. Regan worries about Luna's depression, having once walked in on her sister's attempt at suicide. Luna wears Regan's clothes and insists that Regan buy clothes for her. The burden that Luna places on Regan is a secret, because to the rest of the world, there is no Luna. To the rest of the world, Regan has a brother Liam, and not a sister Luna. Although Liam sometimes appears suspiciously effeminate, Luna is a secret. Regan wants it to stay that way, but Luna is growing out of the closet, threatening the tenuous family balance and Regan's first boyfriend.
Regan narrates this novel, but the theme is Luna/Liam. Regan refers to her sibling as female in the scenes when Luna is openly female, and as her brother when Luna is in the closet. The interdependence of the sisters is as complex as Luna's gender. A lot of Regan herself is lost in the telling of Luna; I felt that I understood more about the lives of Regan's parents and Liam's best friend Aly than I did about Regan's life. Although I at times did not like Regan, I appreciated the realistic manner in which Regan is portrayed; she is not prematurely mature, nor is she unusually accepting of her sister.
This book has been cited as the first novel with a trans teen as a main character, but What Happened to Lani Garver? precedes it.
Question: Regan tells Aly that if you love a person, gender shouldn't matter. Is Regan right? If you thought you had a boyfriend, but he said he was she, would you still love her?
Thoughtful reading.
The Book Haven's Review

2005-12-06T20:15:00.000-06:00

Wizards of the Game
by David LubarEighth grader Mercer suggests having a gaming tournament as the middle school fundraiser. It seems like a great idea, and at first his teachers and classmates are enthusiastic. Then Ed, a Christian classmate, writes an article about the Satanic values of Wizards of the Warrior World, and suddenly nothing is simple. Christians picket the school, and a group of foreigners approach Mercer for his help as a wizard.
Lubar contrasts a humanistic version of Christianity with an evangelical strain of Christianity and leaves no doubt as to which he prefers. To do so, he presents evangelical Christians as ridiculous and irrational. Further, Ed's abrupt about-face is unlikely. Although not realist like Dunk or a funny and pleasant read like Hidden Talents, Wizards of the Game raises serious questions without quite answering them.
Question: Is gambling wrong?
Thoughtful reading.

2005-12-05T08:18:00.000-06:00

Invasion of the Road Weenies : and Other Warped and Creepy Tales
by David Lubar

This is a book of bizarre short stories. Some are scary; some are silly. They are all well written. Some examples of stories are: a video tape that can erase your memories, and a shortcut through the rain that ends up in a hospital morgue. If you like creepy twilight zone type stories, try this book.

2005-12-05T08:06:00.000-06:00

Rainy
by Sis Deans

10-year old rainy has ADHD. Her parents refuse to put her on drugs for it. This summer they are taking Rainy to camp. Her mother is teaching classes and her sister and dad are both working. Rainy is not looking forward to camp. Once there, she does make some friends, but some of the girls dislike her. One day, Rainy gets bad news from home. Unable to deal with the news, she sets of on a journey through the dangerous woods surrounding the camp.
This book was really great. Rainy was a realistic character. I like how the book touched on the over-prescribing of Ritlan and similar type drugs.

2005-11-19T20:35:00.000-06:00

Train Go Sorry
Inside a Deaf World
by Leah Hager Cohen, 1994 The Lexington School for the Deaf got started in 1864, the first school in the United States devoted to the oral method of instruction for deaf students. Over the years it has evolved, and when ASL began to be recognized as a legitimate language, Lexington stopped prohibiting sign. Oscar Cohen, the son of Deaf parents, one of whom attended Lexington (but didn't learn to speak) was the superintendent of Lexington. His daughter, the author of this book, got interested in the Deaf that way. This book follows five interwoven stories: those of the Lexington school, student Sofia Normatov, student James Taylor, Deaf culture, and the author herself.
Hager is sometimes an interpreter, who follows the interpreter's code that says that what is represented must be represented exactly. Some parts of the book, especially those in which Hager attempts to represent controversy, read as though Hager is trying to be an interpreter, as though she is not giving her opinions blatantly. This hurts the narrative because Hager is opinionated, strongly. Hager's explanation of Judaism is also somewhat confusing (Sofia's parents are dubbed Orthodox Jews though they have a female rabbi).
According to reviewers, Hager has provided a window into Deaf culture. An apt comparison in Train Go Sorry gives a much better metaphor. Hager points out that interpreters for the Deaf are the only interpreters who regularly interpret into a language they are not at home in. This alters and inhibits their interpretations. Too, Hager is not a member of Deaf culture. As she states, she is a hearing adult member of Hearing culture. She did not grow up in Deaf culture. Her window is into the world of hearing people interacting with the Deaf, not a view into Deaf culture itself. That said, readers can go ahead and look into the world of the hearing who work with the Deaf.
Happy reading.

2005-11-19T20:16:00.000-06:00

Finding Ben
A Mother's Journey Through the Maze of Asperger's
by Barbara Lasalle, 2003 Benjamin Levinson spoke early, walked late. He spoke about his books (he read early too) and about streets and trains. His mother's friends wished their babies were more like him. They wished their babies sat still and learned to read from watching Sesame Street. But as their children grew older, they saw Ben as worse and not better. He couldn't draw an approximate line, not even with a straight edge. He couldn't draw. He made no friends. Sports were way too hard to interest him. Neither of his parents wanted him. Sent to boarding school for a year, he lost 40 pounds in a month. After misdiagnoses galore, group homes, mental institutions, and extreme obesity, Ben and his mother finally were told that Ben is autistic. It was, said Ben, the happiest day of his life. It paved the road for his mother's eventual acceptance of her son.
This book was painful for me. Towards the book's end, Ben's story contains quite a bit of luck, but first it contains some of the most awful things that could happen to an autist. Reading this book makes me feel very lucky that Ben's story is not my story. It is a testimony to the power of knowing that people are different, and of the good that comes of accepting it.
This story makes some attempt to be Ben's as well as his mother's, but it remains mostly his mother's anyhow. According to the book, Ben had a website in which he wrote about himself, but I cannot find it.
Serious reading.

2005-11-07T18:36:00.000-06:00

What Mr. Mattero Did
by Priscilla Cummings

In What Mr. Mattero Did, three middle school girls accuse their music teacher of sexual abuse. The novel tries to make a mystery of whether or not they're lying. But it is quite obivious that they are. I did not much enjoy this book because of that. The novel is told from two different precspitives. Claire is one of the accusers and Melody is Mr. Mattero's daughter. I violently hated the character of Claire. For a better book about the same subject I suggest Friction by E. R. Frank.

2005-11-07T18:29:00.000-06:00

The Song of an Innocent Bystander
by Ian Bone
When she was only 9 years old, Freda was taken hostage with some others at a local burger place. Now, ten years later, she is having flashbacks of the time and having a hard time dealing with them. The book alternates between the present and the past with the hostage situation. The novel was confusing at times. I would explain more of the plot but it was rather complicated.
The character of William was good but I was able to guess the surprise about him halfway through the novel. I liked this book and was bothered by it at the same time.

2005-10-24T08:27:00.000-05:00

The Case of the Prank that Stank : Wright & Wong number one
By Laura Burns and Melinda Metz

This new series is about the adventures of two best friends. The names are Agatha Wong and Orville Wright. Orville has Aspergers Syndrome. Together he and Agatha make a good team. At the begining of the story they are asked by the popular crowd in school to help design a prank to play on the other team at the school football game. Orville makes a mechanical version of The Trixe, the town monster and mascot. During the game the fieldhouse and field burn down and Orville's creation is blamed. The football season is cancelled. Now everyone hates Orville and Agatha, and blames them. Together they must clear their names and solve the mystery of who did start the fire. This book was a good start to the series. Orville was a pretty believable depiction of AS. It was a good mystery too.

2005-10-17T08:47:00.000-05:00

The Same Difference
By Deborah Lynn Jacobs

Casey is 14 years old and has never been to school. Why? Because her twin sister is autstic and home schooled. Her parents decided to home school her also. Now Casey wants to go to school and make friends. She has a terrible time making freinds at school; she doesn't know how to act or what to say. She also becomes an easy target for the school bully. She does make one freind; a boy named Scott, who helps her to navigate the social world of school. Near the end of the book, Casey finds out that she has Asperger's.
This book was pretty good. However, the parents in the book where mean. They know their kid has AS and will have trouble with social skill, so they keep her away form other kids. The dad was an aspie too, so I think he would have had more of a say in the matter. For a fiction book it was a good job of describing AS. At first I thought that Casey's AS quriks were too extreme for a 14 year old, but then I remebered how she was never really out in the world before.

2005-10-15T23:10:00.000-05:00

Biblio Files Month 19
Books Reviewed:5
Total Books Reviewed:367
Days Blogged/Days In Period:5/30
New Members:none
Active Members:2
Number of Hits This Month:175
Total Number of Hits:3728-3903
Features Added: On comments, I have activated blogger's backlink feature and word verification feature.

2005-10-15T22:43:00.000-05:00

The Earth Moved
On the Remarkable Acheivements of Earthworms
by Amy Stewart Worm castings contain nutrients and bacteria. Different types of bacteria benefit from different types of worms. Sometimes those bacteria are helpful to the growth of plants; sometimes they are not. The presence of European earthworms can have major benefits for farmers. Earthworm castings can improve the health of plants, and earthworms themselves can change the populations of bacteria. Organically grown food, enriched by earthworms rather than chemicals, is not only richer in nutrients, it grows better. The spread of earthworms into areas where they are not native can damage the original ecosystem.
This book is written from a gardener's perspective and is aimed primarily at gardeners. Stewart talks about worms' effects on different types of plants, and how to deal with the various forms of life to be found in gardens. She also talks about the history of the study of worms and their effects on things other than gardens. Unfortunately, she spends much space on idyllic stories about Darwin. Stewart makes a compelling argument for organic gardening and farming. Also interesting is an aside about the decomposition of human waste by earthworms.
Organic reading.

2005-10-10T23:15:00.000-05:00

God at the Edge
Searching for the Divine in Uncomfortable and Unexpected Places
by Niles Elliot Goldstein On impulse and anger, Goldstein ripped a urinal out of the wall. Although he did not serve jail time beyond his initial detention, the memory of that short time spurred him to seek God. In his search for God, Goldstein goes to the extremes of society. Interspersed with his own travels, Goldstein retells stories, some mostly legend and some mostly history, of Jewish and Christian religious figures who also left the comfort zone of society to find God. Goldstein is a Reform rabbi.
In the conclusion, Goldstein writes that he fears that this book may be mere rationalization of his own ascetic urges, his own disposition. Much of this book does sound like a rationalization of the ascetic urge. But that doesn't make the book needless or its arguments false. Some of the ways in which Goldstein describes God appear contradictory. The intention of the pieces is to show ways in which God may be approached, and approaches to the One Above do not all have to come from the same direction.
Prickly reading.

2005-10-03T18:37:00.000-05:00

A Wild Ride Up the Cupboards : A Novel
by Ann Bauer
When Rachel's son Edward turns four years old, he changes and begins to withdraw form the world. He no longer speaks and does not sleep at night. He goes to see many doctors; none are sure what he has. It looks like it may be an autistic spectrum disorder. However some doctors say they just don't know. Rachel and her husband Jack try many things to help Edward- they even try a tea made out of marijuana. Eventually Edward improves somewhat but he will never be completely like others his age. I thought this book was good. It's fiction but it seemed to accurately portray the emotions of parents dealing with a special needs child. Some chapters in this book tell of Rachel's Uncle Mickey who may have been similar to Edward. I found the Mickey parts of the book less interesting and kept wishing they get back to Edward. I think a sequel to this book should be written- this one from Edward's point of view.

2005-09-26T08:32:00.000-05:00

Harry Sue
By Sue Stauffacher

Harry Sue is 11 years old, and she wants to be sent to prison. Why does she want this? It's because both of her parents were sent there when she was five. Her dad for throwing her out the window, and her mom for making crystal meth. Her dad died but her mom is still in prison, and Harry Sue longs to reconnect with her. But for now, she has to stay at home. She lives with her grandmother, who runs a day care center. Her grandmother is very neglectful to the children at the center. Harry Sue protects the kids there and makes sure that they are safe. She also stays to comfort her best friend Homer, who was paralyzed in an accident 2 years earlier. Two new people come into Harry Sue's life and they help set in motion a chain of events that allows her to see her mother again.
This book was very good. You really want good things to happen to Harry Sue. I also like Harry Sue's jail slang. My only two quibbles are that the grandmother sees evil and bad for no reason; I would have like some explanation for why she was the way she was. Also it says that one of the day care kid's parents caught onto Granny's false front and knew the truth about the day care. Why didn't the parent report it?

2005-09-16T10:44:00.000-05:00

The Day Joanie Frankenhauser Became a Boy
By Francess Lin Lantz

Much to the dismay of her mother, 10 year old Joanie is a tomboy. She loves to play football and hates to wear dresses. She believes boys have life easier. When Joanie statins at a new school, the teacher calls out the name John. Joanie decides that this is her chance to become a boy. She can play sports with the boys without them thinking she is weak because she is a girl. Does Joanie's plot work? Will she realize that boys have it hard too? Read the book to find out.
I thought the book was really good. I was able to identify with Joanie because I hate wearing skirts and dresses too. I, however, would not want to be a boy for a day.

2005-09-16T09:12:00.000-05:00

Biblio Files Month 18
Books Reviewed:17
Total Books Reviewed:362
Days Blogged/Days In Period:7/31
New Members:none
Active Members:3!
Number of Hits This Data Period:248
Total Number of Hits:3728
Features Added: none
My recommended book for this month: Are We There Yet? by David Levithan
Comments: Thanks for posting.

2005-09-14T13:32:00.000-05:00

Living With Schizophrenia
by Stuart Emmons, Craig Geiser, Kalman J.Kaplan, and Martin Harrow, 1997
Schizophrenia is disabling in two ways: it impairs the way in which schizophrenics look at the world, and it impairs the way in which the world looks at schizophrenics. Stuart Emmons and Craig Geiser are diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenics. Through hospitalization and medication, both are able to function in society. But they sometimes find that society isn't ready to function with them, hence this book. Emmons and Geiser each recount his own story, and then Emmons presents his poetry, and Geiser his artwork. Kaplan and Harrow comment on what Emmons and Geiser have to say.
The narratives are both fairly easy to follow. Emmons sometimes refers to things the reader doesn't know about. Geiser's explanations of his actions are easier to follow. Emmons' poetry is story broken into lines, and they provide a greater understanding of his story. The artwork does not seem to be similarly explanatory. Although Kaplan and Harrow note their interpretations of Geiser's artwork, it still doesn't add to the story.
Question: When does caution become paranoia?
Happy reading.

2005-09-14T09:59:00.000-05:00

The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd
14 year old Lilly Owen's mother died when she was four. The mother was having a fight with Lily's father T.Ray. Lilly grabbed T. Ray's gun to stop them and accidentally shot her mother. Now Lilly lives with T.Ray, who is very cruel to her. She is also friendless at school. She does have Rosaleen who is the black housekeeper who looks after Lilly. The book is set in 1964, the year of the civil rights acts. Roseleen is going to register to vote. On the way there, Lilly and Roseleen are confronted by some white men. They pick on Roseleen and she fights back. She is sent to jail where the men come back and beat her up. Roseleen is sent to the hospital, so Lilly goes there and helps her escape. Now they are on the run. The one possession Lilly has from her mother is a picture of a black Madonna. On the back of the picture is written "Tiburon, South Carolina". Lilly and Roseleen travel there and they find a trio of African American bee keeping sisters. They stay with them and Lilly is able to find love and acceptance.
This book was very good. The characters are well written. I like how it dealt with the issues of race and especially how the scene where they are watching the news and they hear about all the awful things that the whites have done to the African Americans. Lilly says she never felt more white than she did at the point. I also like how near the end they show the human side of T.Ray. So he wasn't just this monster type character.

2005-09-12T17:49:00.000-05:00

Waiting for June
By Joyce Sweeney
Sophie is a high school senior and pregnant. Her mother wants her to tell who the father is but Sophie thinks that it is unfair because Sophie does not know who her own father is and her mother refuses to tell her. Sophie has never had many freinds, and her pregnancy makes her more of an outcast at school. She does have one best friend, a boy named Joshua. Most of the school beleives that he is the father of the baby. Sophie begins to have odd dreams involving whales. This book was pretty good .It's part drama, dealing with Sophie's feelings. It's also part mystery as we the readers try and figure out who the father is.

2005-09-12T17:37:00.000-05:00

Never Mind The Goldbergs
By Matthue Roth
Hava is a 17 year old , orothodox Jewish girl, living in New York. She likes being Orthodox but she also likes stuff like punk music. She tries to have a punk attitude also. Hava is cast in a sitcom about an Orthodox Jewish family. She is the only actual Jew in the cast. This creates some problems for her: the studio fails to get her kosher food, and then won't let her out early on Fridays. The novel tells of Hava's adventures and misadventures in Hollywood. She falls for one of her co-stars and at one point runs away from the studio. The novel was very good- it was able to show readers worlds they might not otherwise know much about, that is, the world of Orothdox Jews and the world of making TV shows. Since I don't know much about either, I'm not sure if the author did an acurate job. Maybe somebody who has also read the book can tell me.

2005-09-07T10:48:00.000-05:00

Out of the Garden : Women Writers on the Bible
edited by Celina Spiegel and Christina Buchmann, 1995 The bible has influenced the thinking of many people, including women, including feminist women, even including feminist atheist women. The authors of Out of the Garden are all women, all feminist, and with one exeption atheist/agnostic. Some see the bible as a symbol of patriarchal oppresion, some see it as inspiring, and some find it to be good writing material. As the writers vary, so their essays vary. Some are scholary, some are autobiographical, some are fictional works based on the bible.
Although most of these works can be enjoyed by almost anyone, I took issue with two themes. The first is the angry rant. Angry rants are not fun reading, especially when they last more than a page and have no point. My second problem is more specific to me; many of the writers use God's Name in ways that make me as a religous person uncomfortable. Some of the writers are ignorant of major points usually made about the piece that they are analysing, but this allows them to come up with interpretations of pieces whose usual interpretation I had taken for granted. The pieces are only about what is included in the Hebrew Bible.
Happy reading.

2005-08-31T15:29:00.000-05:00

Queen Bees and Wannabes
by Rosalind Wiseman

Written for parents of adolescent girls attending public or private schools, Wiseman does a thorough job of expaining girl cliques and their dynamics in these settings. Her suggestions are primarily addressed to parents of neuro-typical daughters, but it is possible to adapt these to work with girls with Asperger's Syndrome who are bothered by "mean girls" as well, particularly those Aspies who desire to make many friends. I think that this is an essential book for parents who choose, or whose daughters choose, public or private school, and I don't see why some older adolescent girls couldn't read this themselves to help them understand what is going on with those girls who are mean. It won't stop the problem, but it could help them get through it. Homeschooled girls are much less likely to suffer from this problem, but it could still prove helpful if these girls are involved in activities where cliques exist.

2005-08-31T11:05:00.000-05:00

Twenty Years at Hull-House
with Autobiographical Notes
by Jane Addams, illustrated by Norah Hamilton, 1910, 1990Hull-House was a settlement founded in 1889 by Jane Addams, after the mold of Toynbee's settlement in the slums of East London. Hull-House was located on Halsted by Polk, in Chicago's 19th ward, which at the time was an immigrants' neighborhood. The idea of the settlement house was to improve the lives of the residents and their neighbors. Because the residents of Hull-House lived among those whose lives they intended to enrich, they could better understand what was needed. In its first twenty years, Hull-House hosted numerous societies, devoted to various mixtures of debate, culture, recreation, education, reform, and neighborhood renovation. While leading Hull-House, Addams was also involved in securing justice by serving as a go-between during labor disputes, opposing the corupt local alderman, lobbying for cleaner streets, serving on the Board of Education, and diverse other endeavors.
I thoroughly enjoyed Addams' writing style. Although she often refers to characters and events no longer famous, and although she is careful not to say anything potentially embarrassing about anybody, her accounts and explanations remain clear. Addams' continued idealism after twenty years of social work is reassuring. The illustrations are very well done, but their subject matter is not the most relevant addition to the story: a picture of the building behind Hull-House doesn't tell me much about Hull-House's activities.
Happy reading.

2005-08-31T10:31:00.000-05:00

The House of the Scorpion
by Nancy Farmer
Protagonist Matt is a clone of the drug lord El Patron. Clones are despised in this world and Matt is treated nicely by some but horridly by others. The book tells of Matt's life from age 6 to 14. Matt slowly comes to realize that El Patron is evil. He also realizes that unlike the other clones, he is educated. However that might not stop him from ending up with the same fate as the other clones; becoming replacement body parts for the person that they are a clone of. This book was great- in fact, I would go as far to say that it was one of the best books I have read in a while. Matt is a very good character and I was really wrapped up in the book, reading to see what would happen to him next.

2005-08-31T10:01:00.000-05:00

Good-Bye Tomorrow
By Gloria D. Miklowitz
Alex hasn't been feeling well lately her finds out he Aids. He does not have the full blown virus but he has AIDS-related complex which is an old term for people with HIV who have more mild symptoms of the virus. Alex got the disease from a blood transfusion. Even though he doesn't have full blown Aids it is enoguh to make his classmates fear him. He also has to deal with the fact that he might have infected his girlfriend. Alex, his sister and his girlfreiend each narrate chapters of the novel. The book was very good and I believe it was pretty accurate in showing the emotions of a person with HIV. The book was written in 1987 so some of the info about Aids might be a bit dated.

2005-08-31T09:50:00.000-05:00

Asparagus Dreams
By Jessica Peers
When Jessica was 12 years old she was kicked out of mainstream education. She believed she had something called Asparagus Syndrome. What she actually had was Aspergers. She is sent to a residential school for kids with autisic disodrers. There she spends the next 5 years of her life. She has to put up with the sometimes abusive staff members. She does make friends among the students. I liked this book but also found it kind of odd, But I can't really say in what way. The book is more about her everyday life in the school than it is about her own personal experiences with AS. I wish she had talked more about her own AS and how it made her relate to others outside the school.

2005-08-29T10:56:00.000-05:00

Are We There Yet? by David Levithan Elijah Silver was born when his brother Danny was seven. For many years, Danny was an attentive older brother and Elijah a worshipful younger brother. But sometime during Danny's teenage years, the bond between the brothers dissolved, replaced by caution and suspicion. At 23, Danny is a workaholic, so focused on his work that his bosses have ordered him to take a vacation. His parents claim that they made reservations for a trip to Italy but can't go and would like him to go with Elijah in their stead. Elijah is a student in a boarding school. He loves his life, his friends, the world. When his parents call to ask him if he'd like to go to Italy with his brother, he says sure.
Danny and Elijah are both likable and realistic. The people they meet, the sights they see, their reactions to both, are likewise realistic. Some of the details of their lives(especially Danny's) are improbable enough to be subtly funny but do not intrude on the story. A few details do not seem well thought out- why do Danny and Elijah sightsee together? Why didn't Elijah need the money Danny offers? While the overt moral appears to be that it is wondrous when brothers get along, it bothers me that Danny rather than Elijah is the one to change towards that end.
Question: Danny's friend says that brothers generally are not as close as sisters. Does that appear to be true? Is it true?
Happy reading.

2005-08-29T10:55:00.000-05:00

Becoming Visible
A Reader in Gay and Lesbian History
for High School and College Students
edited by Kevin Jennings, 1994 To many youth, it appears that gays and lesbians are oddities, freaks, alone. Much of what they learn in school is heterosexist. Teachers who seek to teach about gays and lesbians in the past and present, when not censored, find that the lack of material geared towards youth is prohibitive. This book is meant primarily to provide a text for teachers, and only secondly to educate the general public. Each of seventeen chapters provides an introduction to a particular topic, exerpts of writings on that topic, and then a list of questions and activites designed to promote the understanding and sensitivity of students. Topics range from berdaches and the Stonewall riots to the bisexuality of ten successive Chinese rulers and the affect of World War II on the American Gay/Lesbian identity.
The selection of topics seems somewhat skewed towards presenting gay rights. That is, the topics are either about the fight for gay rights or the acceptibility of gays to straights. Aspects of gay or lesbian culture are never really discussed- and the simple definition of queen or camp might significantly add to this book. Although Jennings acknowledges that gay rights did not equate to lesbian rights in represive atmospheres, that the gay and lesbian community are still seperate(although related) is not something a casual reader would understand from this book. The activities suggested are more reasonable than the questions. The very first reading is designed to make readers think, but may not be appropriate for high school students, as it assumes that the reader is already certain of his own sexual orientation, which many high school students are not.
Pleasant reading.

2005-08-22T14:36:00.000-05:00

Better than Running at Night
by Hillary Frank On her first day after moving to attend an art college, Ellie attends a costume dance, where she meets a guy dressed as the devil. They dance and kiss and Ellie goes home with him. The devil's name is Nate Finerman, and he is a sophmore sculptor. Because she has deferred for a semester, Ellie attends an intensive six-week course. She has two classmates: Ralph, a gay fashion designer, and a very mellow graphic designer named Sam. The instructor is a very hyper, very enthusiastic, man named Ed. Although Ellie and her fellow students do not share Ed's extreme enthusiasm for his projects, they do enjoy them. Ellie's focus on Nate distracts her from the class. Ellie meets Nate's girlfriend, with whom Nate says he has an open relationship, and Ellie begins to look at her relationship with Nate more critically.
I didn't like Nate. He is unrelentingly selfish, asking for consideration from others that he does not extend to them. The book contains over forty small illustrations(by the author), unusual in a teen book. The pictures add emphasis to the story. Although most of the story is cohesive, I wondered why Ellie had deferred a semester. That deferring is usually done for a reason(such as an experience the student wishes to have) is not addressed; neither Sam nor Ralph offers a reason for deferring either.
Pleasant reading.

2005-08-22T14:33:00.001-05:00

Raising Adopted Children
Practical, Reassuring Advice for Every Adoptive Parent
by Lois Ruskai Melina, 1998 Parenting adopted children a complex task, having issues not to be found in other families. Adoptive families form more suddenly. The parents and child may not be prepared. Parents should do things to make adoption seem more immediate so that they are not taken by surprise. When they are separated from their foster or birth parents, children grieve, even if those first parents were abusive. They need help to get through their grief in a healthy manner. Adoptive parents should not feel rejected if their children are not immediately comfortable with them. Interracial adoption requires parents to teach their children about race, and about culture that may not be familiar to them. When possible, open adoption is often helpful to the parents and adoptee. In an open adoption, the medical information of the parents is available to children as it becomes known. For example, if the birth parents develop diabetes, then the child knows that she may be susceptible. Also, it helps the adoptee to come to terms with her adoption.
This book has a lot to say on adoption, but a lot of the advise is vague. Many of the statistics given are not adequately explained. This book does include a list of resources which may be helpful, and may also reassure parents who are worried about their own parenting skills. Readers may also find advance warning for some of the issues that may crop up useful. Due to her own experiences, Melina assumes that the couple adopting is infertile, and that this is an issue. Includes an index.
Pleasant reading.

2005-08-22T14:33:00.000-05:00

Astro Turf
The Private Life of Rocket Science
by M.G.Lord, 2005 During the cold war, an engineer worked on the small parts of rocket ships. Years after his death, his daughter decided to investigate California's Jet Propulsion Lab, where he had worked. Her investigative journey brings her to many figures who remind her of her own politics, which she spends an inordinate number of pages ranting about. One of JPL's founders was persecuted by the FBI for his alleged communist leanings, and so Lord talks about how awful the FBI is and this reminds her of Operation Paperclip, in which the FBI expunged Nazi records. Nazis remind her of the oppression of women, as does just about everything, and so she talks about the atmosphere towards women in JPL, past and present. With the oppression of women still on her mind as she talks about the funding of rocket science and current launches, Lord depicts everything as either feminine or masculine. I got lost in Lord's description of lift-off as birth, with an umbilical cord and masculine and feminine aspects. For those who need a more positive spin.
Wary reading.

2005-08-16T17:56:00.000-05:00

So Yesterday
A novel by Scott Westerfeld Teenage fashion consultant Hunter impulsively invites an Innovator to a consultation. Jen (the innovator) makes an immediate impression. Later, she is invited with Hunter to meet his boss. But when Jen and Hunter arrive at the meeting place, no one else is there. Upon calling his boss, an answering ring is heard coming from a nearby abandoned warehouse. Hunter and Jen break into the warehouse, and find the phone next to the coolest shoes that they have ever seen. Then a scary bald man chases them away. Hunter and Jen decide that Hunte's boss has been kidnapped and that there is a plot afoot, so they set out to the rescue.
Although I enjoyed reading this book, I was not impressed by the ideas presented. I was not convinced of the importance of fashion. So Yesterday does not compare favorably to Maxx Barry's Syrup.
Jen meets Hunter when he asks permission to take a picture of her shoes(because of the way she tied them). How would you react if someone tried to take a picture of your footwear?
Pleasant reading.

2005-08-16T17:55:00.000-05:00

Things Fall Apart
by Chinua AchebeOkankwo's father was Unoka, a man with much debt, lazy and without a title. Okankwo feared being like his father, and so he worked industrially, and came to have three wives, eight children, many yams, respect and a title. Okankwo feared weakness, and so when the oracle told the people of Umuofia to kill Ikemefuna, who was like a son to Okankwo, Okankwo helped to kill him, not wanting to be thought shy of blood. When the white missionaries came, Okankwo was in the land of his mother, having had to flee there on account of accidentally killing another. Nonetheless, Okankwo felt the sting, as his own son converted to Christianity, and was his son no longer. And when Okankwo returned to his own village, the land of his father, he found that Christianity had already taken a solid root there.
Okankwo and his family are depicted as being a member of the Igbo people of Nigeria. Things Fall Apart is both the story of Okankwo and of his culture. It does not glorify the culture beyond credibility, but rather paints its flaws and strengths such that they seem to be dependant on each other. A glossary of Ibo words is included.
Do things fall apart? All things?
Thoughtful reading.

2005-08-16T17:51:00.000-05:00

Biblio Files Month 18
Books Reviewed:12
Total Books Reviewed:362
Days Blogged/Days In Period:8/31
New Members:none
Active Members:2
Number of Hits This Data Period:165
Features Added: none
My recommended book for this month: Wired For Sound by Beverly Biderman
Comments: My apologies for the paucity of posts; I will not post less than once a week, regardless.

2005-08-09T09:39:00.000-05:00

Wired For Sound
A Journey Into Hearing
by Beverly Biderman, 1998 When visiting her ENT, Biderman would always ask him if there were any new things that might improve her hearing. In 1992, he said yes. When testing showed that Bidedrman was indeed a candidate for receiving a cochlear implant, she did some research, spoke to people with cochlear implants, and decided to get one. Immediately after activation, Biderman was disappointed. She could not understand the speech of the technician. All sound grated. She was functioning very similarly to someone with severe Central Auditory Processing Disorder. After much fine tuning, careful listening, and effort, Biderman was not so disappointed. She did not have to strain, trying to lipread. She could conduct phone calls, especially if the other person spoke slowly. Her tinnitus, after a brief increase, disappeared. So did the headaches, born of the strain to get along in a hearing world. She could once again appreciate music.
At the time that she wrote this book in, 20,000 people worldwide had cochlear implants. Most Deaf organizations actively opposed cochlear implants, especially for children, feeling that the implants endanger their their culture. As one of the conditions on which cochlear implants are given is that the user live in the hearing world, capital D Deaf people are generally not eligible for cochlear implants anyhow. From the opposite side exists the misunderstanding that cochlear implants are merely better hearing aids. Hearing aids carry bad memories for many deaf, having been painful, or carrying wrong expectations. But cochlear implants are not amplifiers like hearing aids. They do not operate on a person's little remaining hearing; they create it.
This book contains Biderman's own autobiography; excerpts about deafness, Deafness, and cochlear implants; information on the demographics of deaf people; the history and progress of cochlear implants; endnotes; recommended reading; a resources list; an index. As Biderman notes in her prolouge, this book is partly for the benefit of people who have heard about cochlear implants mostly as something that Deaf people do not want, and to that purpose, this is recommended reading(recommended by me). Biderman attempts to present the Deaf side of the argument as well, but not as successfully. Understandably, she is biased. In particular, Biderman underestimates the quality of life of those living in the Deaf world. Due to being Canadian, Biderman's cochlear implant was paid for by national health coverage. This is not the experience one would get in the U.S.. In this book, I see a lot of parallels between Biderman's experience and the experience of living with CAPD. By the end of the book, Biderman processes what she hears better than most people with mild CAPD, but the forms of her continued problems with hearing, and her strategies in getting to the hearing abilities she does get are similar to those used by people with CAPD.
Thoughtful reading.

2005-08-09T09:38:00.000-05:00

The Schwa Was Here
by Neal Shusterman Calvin Schwa. They say his eyes change color to match the backround. They say that if you stare at him for long enough, you'll see through him. They say that his mother disappeared in the middle of a store. Anthony and his friends decide to test the Schwa Effect. They put nine students and The Schwa in a classroom, and send another kid in to count the kids. 4 out of 5 count nine. The Schwa goes in the bathroom, dressed as a cat, wearing an orange sombrero, and singing at the top of his lungs. The kids coming out remember that there was a weird kid in there, but not what he was wearing, and not what he was singing. The Schwa goes to the airport with an iron bar. No one notices him until the metal detector goes off. To capitalize on this phenomenon, The Schwa begins taking bets on the things he can do unnoticed, with Antsy as his manager. They rake in good money, until The Schwa is dared to steal a dog bowl from old Mr. Crawley, whom no one has ever seen and who has fourteen Afghans, but who weilds incredible power. The Schwa realizes he's in trouble when he sees that the dog bowls are all nailed to the floor.
A disablities note: this book features a blind character who owns a guide dog. Although the character's portrayal is mostly realistic, her account about aquiring the dog, and the other guide dogs shown, are not realistic. For one, it is unusual for children to own guidedogs.
Question: Would you want to be invisible? How about unnoticable?
Happy reading.

2005-08-09T09:37:00.000-05:00

Vedi
by Ved Mehta, 1982 Shortly after he turned four in 1938, Vedi suffered from meningitis and went blind. Wanting better for his son than the only blind people he had seen (beggars), Vedi's father sent his son to a school for the blind , 1300 miles away. There Vedi learned Marathi, Braille, and Christianity (the school had been established by missionaries). Vedi was guided by an older pupil named Deoji, who was partially sighted, but whose vision was decreasing rapidly. Activities and outings are infrequent but exciting. Mr. Ras Mohun, who is in charge of the school, set up lines for the totally blind to run in, based on the ones at Perkins Institute. Brailled cards and a chess set were acquired during the time Vedi spent with his family.
This book is a compilation of memories. Because they are ordered by subject, chronology is strangely absent. Although each memory is interesting, the memories do not form a continuous story: each is almost isolated. There is also no especial point or plot. Vedi never seems to have any goals, objectives, or fears. The condition of a school for the blind in India during the 1930s and 1940s is interesting, but this is only incidentally that story.
Happy reading.

2005-08-09T09:35:00.000-05:00

Hate Crimes
Criminal Law & Identity Politics
by James B. Jacobs and Kimberly Potter, 1998 Laws making crimes motivated by racial or other prejudice began to be legislated in the 1980s, and gained momentum in the 1990s. These laws were lobbied for by the interest groups who felt victimized: minority groups, women's groups, gay groups, and disabilities groups. Nobody opposed most of them: a win-win situation for the legislators involved. But hate crime laws did not work the way that lobbyists had intended: data gathering did not show large numbers of hate crimes, and inter-group crimes were often committed by the minorities feeling victimized. Because the laws' purposes included among them acknowledgement of the status of varius groups, strife grew between minority groups seeking inclusion in the legislation. From a civil rights point of view, the hate crime laws started on shaky ground. After all, hate crime laws add to the criminal sentences of those with politically incorrect opinions. Courts have nonetheless upheld hate crime legislation.
This book makes a lot of good points, but in an inelegant fashion. The authors' overcritical style is overkill. The points that they cede are ceded reluctantly. And while the authors' assertion that hate crime is not on the rise may be correct, the claim that hate crime is not rampant is absurd. As the authors point out elsewhere in their book, most violent crime includes an element of hate. For that reason, I believe that the hate crime statistics are underestimates, not overestimates. Some of what the authors have to say is outdated; the supreme court no longer upholds sodomy laws, for instance.
Politically charged reading.

2005-08-04T13:34:00.000-05:00

Anatomy of the Law
by Lon L. Fuller, 1968 The legislature makes laws. Judges make laws. Custom can be law. Nature may have laws. None of these laws are entirely made in one way, by one entity. Judges make laws within the constraints of precedants and legislature. The purposes of laws are many and varied and any attempt to align all laws with one sort of purpose(rehabilition, prevention, etc.) falls into a quagmire of contradictions.
Fuller's analysis of the anatomy and philosophy of law is carefully logical. It acknowledges and analyzes many famous earlier works of legal philosophy. As an introduction to legal philosophy, it is superb. However, the reader should have a very good vocabulary, as well as some understanding of law. Fuller's opinions for most of the book remain in the background, allowing for a more rational and critical perspective, but the postscript is full of moral should and should nots.
Contains a useful index.
Question: What is a law?
Happy reading.

2005-08-03T14:57:00.000-05:00

Confessions of a Gender Defender
A Psychologist's Reflections on Life among the Transgendered
by Randi Ettner Most people with working proprioception have the luxury of identifying themselves as their bodies. At the least, most people's bodies are the gender that they identify as. But some people are not so lucky. Their birth certificates and bodies brand them as a particular gender, but they identify themselves as another. In different places and times, these gender dysphoric people have received a wide variety of treatment. The society extant in the United States sees such people as curiosities. Mental health professionals and medical professionals often treat these people as disorded, obsessive or insane. Ettner holds that these people are what they say they are, that they have a better knowledge of who they are than the professionals do.
This book is composed of short stories and essays on transgendered people, mostly MtFs, because those are apparently the people that Ettner works with most. I wanted to read more on the issues involved in FtM transgendered people, as it looks like these are different issues. The title led me to expect a defense of conventional American ideas on gender, which the book does not deliver. All of the stories in this book involve people who are truly happier living with their chosen genders. Incidents showing a broader range of outcomes would have been appreciated.
Question: What is gender?
Happy reading.

2005-08-01T11:29:00.000-05:00

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
by J. K. Rowling
This is the sixth book in the Harry Potter series. In this one, Harry faces more danger than ever before. Lord Voldemort is back in full form and it's hard to tell who's on which side. There are major suprises with the characters, involving one character that we thought was good turning out to be a death eater. Don't worry, I won't say who, although I will say that if Rowling wanted to have a character be a Voldemort supporter, I think she went for the most obvoius one. Other than that I loved the book. As usual, Rowling tells a great tale.

2005-08-01T11:10:00.000-05:00

Perfect: A Novel
By Natasha Friend
Isabelle, 13, has a sad life. He dad died two years ago and the family still can't deal with it. Isabelle has become bulemic as way to deal with her grief. the hero's younger sister finds her making herself throw up, so she tells tells the mother. The mother sends Isabelle to group therapy. Isabelle is surprised to find that Ashley Barnum, the most popular girl in school is also in the group. The book was good .The plot about the most popular girl in school actually having problems is not the most original plot line, but it is done well. I thought the book was also good in the way it showed the families grief.

2005-07-28T17:12:00.000-05:00

A Parent's Guide to Down Syndrome
Toward a Brighter Future
edited by Siegfried M. Pueschel, 200l
Parenting a child with Down Syndrome includes much of the same experiences involved in parenting a chromosomally typical child, as well as experiences specific to the parenting of retarded children. People with Down Syndrome do not do as much incidental learning, and therefore require more instruction on their way to independant living. Occasionally, Down Syndrome is due to a parent's translocation, and then the parent has a high likelihood of having more children with Down Syndrome. Currently no drug treatments for retardation in people with Down Syndrome has been proven to be effective. Due to the large number of genes on responsible for neural growth located on chromosome 21, no drug treatment is expected. However, people with Down Syndroem can alredy lead happy, healthy, productive lives.
The only obviously objectionable statement found in this book is in the first chapter; not alll people with Down Syndrome are tenaciously loyal. Most of the chapters of this book are about specific aspects of parenting or of Down Syndroem. The authors mostly use as exmples their own experiences with their children. Toward a Brighter Future speaks for he fullness of life with Down Syndrome from the dedication, which includes a dedication to an author's daughter-in-law with Down's. Recommended reading follows each chapter, and an index is at the back.
Question: The authors advocate friendships for people with Down Syndrome with disabled and nondisabled people. Would you be willing to befriend a retarded person?
Pleasant and informative reading.

2005-07-20T10:35:00.000-05:00

Looking for Alaska
A novel by John GreenTo be ironic Miles' boarding school roomate nicknames him Pudge the day they meet. Pudge is skinny. The roomate's nickname is Colonel, and like a colonel he marchs Pudge through his introduction to boarding school. Among the people Pudge meets is Alaska(her real name), the most stunningly beautiful girl Pudge has ever met. Unfortunately, she already has a boyfriend. Colonel, Alaska and Takumi bring Pudge into their idyllic life of pranking, drinking, smoking, studying, and discussing deep topics at early hours.
While the characters are meandering through their lives, the reader is watching the countdown. All chapters are labeled by countdown and then a countup. Unfortunatley, all summaries other than this one(including that of the Library of Congress, included on the verso) will tell you what that central event is.
Question: Miles attends boarding school seeking a Great Perhaps. What is a Great Perhaps, and are you seeking it?
Thoughtful reading.

2005-07-18T10:02:00.000-05:00

Vampire Kisses
by Ellen Schreiber
16 year old Raven is obsessed with vampires, to the point where she wishes she was one. It looks like she gets her wish when a new family moves in to the town's abandoned mansion. The new family is rumored to be vampires. Raven meets and begins dating Alexander Sterling, the boy in the family. Will Rave get her wish? Read the book to find out.
I found the book interesting and exciting. However, I felt that Raven's parents were not realistic characters, because it seems like they went from being hippies to being cooperates, as Raven called them, to fast. The book said they changed because Raven's little bother was born. Why didn't they change when Raven was born? The ending leaves too many questions, but I see a second book has been written, so my questions may be answered.

2005-07-17T14:35:00.000-05:00

Fourteen
Growing Up Alone in a Crowd
by Stephen Zanichkowsky Martin and Johanna married in 1942. In 1943, Martha, the dutiful daughter, was born. Louise came in 1944. 1945 brought Marty. Jimmy was born in 1946, set apart from the rest until institutionalized at the age of 13. Anne(1948) had from brain damage and came at the world from an odd angle. 1950's Catherine was Anne's playmate. 1951 brought Paul. The author followed in 1952. Tony was born in 1953. Elizabeth had 1954, followed by Grace in 1955. Rita was born in 1957. Two miscarriages made an age gap; Jane was born in 1960. The only one to enjoy a relationship with their father, Stephanie was born in 1961. The family was large, it was loud, and it was scary. Corporal punishment was used to excess.
Being one of fourteen meant that money and attention were always scarce. Stephen wanted desperately to stand out from the crowd. With his role models being older brothers who had also not benefitted from much parental attention, Stephen did not learn mcuh in the ways of morals or about the facts of life. He was attracted first to his sisters, before other girls. He cooperated with his brothers in their attempts to steal.
Although many of the fourteen successfully left their childhoods behind them, Stephen was not one of these. His resentment of his parents was such that he did not attend his grandfather's funeral, to spite his father. After his mother's death, the will that is read disinherits all of the fourteen. Stephen sets out to find out if his parents had really loved them, and the result is this book.
Although the book is written from a mature perspective, the self that Zanichkowsky writes about is a very immature one. The settings and situations that he writes about are all painful ones, full of tired anger and resentment. None are carefree, few are happy. More than a few are disturbing. Zanichkowsky's resentment against his particular family may be a bit overgeneralized in his assumption that all large families are as dysfunctional as his own.
Thoughtful reading.

2005-07-16T10:40:00.000-05:00

Biblio Files Month 17
Books Reviewed:23
Total Books Reviewed:350
Days Blogged/Days In Period:19/30
New Members:none
Active Members:3
Number of Hits This Data Period:246
Total Number of Hits:3315
Features Added: Links to comics on the index sidebar.
My recommended books for this month: The Seeing Glass by Jacquelin Gorman and Queer Science by Simon LeVay
Comments: I've begun putting the date of publication after the author in reviews of books where I believe that the time in which the book was written is pertinant to an understanding of the book. Robert Oppenheimer visited the site this month.

2005-07-15T09:49:00.000-05:00

Tuesdays With Morrie
An old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson
by Mitch Albom In the spring of 1976, his freshman year, Mitch meets his teacher, mentor and confidant in his professor Morrie Shwartz. Although Mitch stays close to Morrie right up to graduation, he makes no effort to keep in touch afterwards. In 1995, Morrie was featured on TV, dying from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gherig's Disease. Mitch sees the show, and then goes to visit his teacher. Morrie, though weak, is as warm and wise as always. Mitch's union goes on strike, leaving him hanging loose. To fill that time, Mitch begins to visit his old teacher every Tuesday, as they had met in college.
Wanting to learn the trick to Morrie's continued happiness, Mitch makes a list of topics he want to discuss: death, fear, aging, greed, marriage, family, society, forgiveness and a meaningful life. Mitch and Morrie discuss each topic as Morrie's health dissipates incrementally, dying shortly after their last lesson.
The reader's stake in the matter is mostly in the hope that Mitch will learn what Morrie has to teach, but whether Morrie's lessons will stick any better than they had in college is unclear.
Question: Mitch is surprised when Morrie says that his perfect day would be a routine one. What would your perfect day be like?
Pleasant, philosophic reading.

2005-07-14T13:06:00.000-05:00

More Than Meets the Eye
by Joan Brock with Derek L. Gill Getting her daughter dressed in the morning, Joan couldn't find her daughter's pink socks. Her daughter(Joy) insisted that a pair of white socks were pink. Puzzled, Joan asked her husband what color socks Joy was wearing. He said pink. Over the next weeks, Joan lost the rest of her colors and much of her vision. She retained the ability to see some contrast with her peripheral vision, but nothing else. The doctors excitedly studied her eyes; as they hadn't seen anything like her case before, they had no ideas about how to treat it.
Joan had already been working at a residential school for the blind. Although some of her responsibilities had to be switched, she continued working at the school, with a new connection to the students. Joan adjusted to her new life beautifully, functioning well even when her husband died of cancer of the sinuses.
I was initially confused when the author is referred to as Mrs.Beringer, until I realized that that was her husband's name, which she has since changed. I was also confused by the names of her family members, all of which start with J. Mrs.Brock is a Christian, and her Christian stories add a nice touch to the story.
Happy reading.

2005-07-13T18:17:00.000-05:00

Hearts and Hands
Creating Community in Violent Times
by Luis Rodriguez Many of today's youths are not being raised by today's adults. So they raise each other- in gangs. Despite the facts that the majority of gang members are nonviolent and that they are most in need of services, society exacts harsh penalties for mere membership in gangs. Some states have laws holding guilty any people in a car for crimes committed by other people in that car. That means that if someone is in the car doing his best to dissuade another from shooting, or merely unaware that the other has a gun, and the other shoots someone, then the passenger may be facing more than 20 years in jail. Jails are increasingly privatized. The contract is given to whomever can a run a jail the most cheaply, meaning that jails are becoming less rehabilitative and more deadly. Once out of jail, it is very hard for the convict to find anyone willing to hire him. Gangs trying to make peace with each other are often targetted by the police.
These and many other offences against youths are cited by Rodriguez. He also speaks of the abilities and untapped talents of the youth, and what adults should do to bring out the best in the youth. He cites his own experiences as a youth, a parent, a lecturer, and a poet. Notes are included. A bibliography would have been useful, but is not included.
Question: How effective are punishments in the prevention of crime? How effective is the escalation of punishment?
Inspirational reading.

2005-07-12T10:06:00.000-05:00

Breath by Donna Jo Napoli During long and heavy rains, rats infest the homes of the poeple of Hamlin. The townspeople and then the farmers become sick until the people of Hameln town are all sick. Only Salz and the children who are weaned but not yet of age to reason are spared. Folks say that the rat plague is responsible.
Our narrator Salz has cystic fibrosis. He is thus set apart from the rest of the children in the story. Breath is a historical fiction retelling of the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin. The explanation in the back of the book explains much, but not why the rats are so plentiful.
Question: The piper worries about being paid because he believes he has risked his life. How much money would you risk your life for?
Happy reading.

2005-07-11T11:52:00.000-05:00

A Mango-Shaped Space
Wendy Mass
Mia is different. For her, letters and sounds have color. She thought she was normal until third grade when she mentioned her colors. Everybody laughed at her and called her freak. Now 13 she finds out what she has is synesthesia, a condtion where the visual cortex in the brain is activated when she hears something or sees letters. She begins to talk on line to a boy who also has the condtion. Mia's best friend feels left out because of this. The story also tells of Mia's family members reaction to her synesthesia. This book was very good. I had heard about the condition before and the book has intrigued me to read more about it. Note that the end of the book is sad: keep an box of Kleenex with you.

2005-07-11T09:42:00.000-05:00

Stitching A Revolution
The Making of an Activist
by Cleve Jones with Jeff Dawson, 2000 After Cleve Jones agreed to speak to a group of academics about homosexuality, he knew he'd have to finally come out to his parents. He had expected a nonchallant response from his parents, but he didn't get one. So Jones left home. He went to San Francisco for a few years, then went over to Europe and the rest of the world. Shortly after witnessing a gay pride fest in Barcelona, Jones returned to San Francisco. There he met budding politician Harvey Milk. Milk needed a charismatic speaker to raise support with radical demonstrations, and Jones fit the bill. Harvey Milk was assassignated, and Jones was a part of the riots that followed the Twinkie decision (Dan White was convicted of manslaughter and not murder).
Jones then got a job working to process health claims for the city. He began to notice a "gay cancer". Many gay men were becoming sick. They had what would later become known as AIDS. After Jones' friend Marvin died of AIDS, Jones made a quilt in his memory. To do something to help survivors and raise awareness of AIDS, Jones created the AIDS Quilt. The Quilt grew and grew and grew. It spawned organizations to benefit AIDS victims, more AIDS Quilts, and unity. Eventually it outgrew Jones.
This is a militant, angry book. It presents gay history, as seen by Cleve Jones. The section about Harvey Milk and Jones' activism then is painful to read in its intensity. The story of the Quilt is more pleasant, but the reader is not allowed to forget(as he should not forget) the reason for the existance of a Quilt. One fact in this book contradicts the known facts: Jones claims a particular friend was the first openly HIV+ to speak in front of a political convention, but the first person was Elizabeth Glaser. The book includes an index, but the index didn't have anything under the key words I was looking for. There also pictures in the middle.
Conscientious reading.

2005-07-08T13:54:00.000-05:00

The Seeing Glass
A memoir by Jacquelin Gorman Robin Gorman was among those diagnosed autistic by Leo Kanner. Seven years younger, his sister Jackie fearfully watched her family's interactions with Robin, as well as his internment at Rosewood, a hospital home where Robin was tranquilized and strait-jacketed. Robin eventually left Rosewood, but was hit by a car and killed a few years later.
In 1991, Jackie Gorman's went in to the hospital after her housekeeper claimed that there was blood on her. When the doctor covered her left eye, she realized that she could see nothing out of her right eye. The color red was gone from both eyes. Shortly thereafter, Jackie awoke one morning with no sight at all. For ten and a half weeks, her sight remained nonexistent. During that time, Jackie spent a lot of time relieving her time with her brother, remembering their childhood with intense visual detail.
This memoir is written alternating past and present for most of the book. The two narratives support each other. The seeing glass, the title, is the part that bind the two stories most. After relieving her many memories of Robin, Jackie decides to look through the things that Robin had when he died. Among his possessions she find one of the pieces of colored glass that Robin used to look through. She find that it also helps her to see, while many of the colors remain out of her sight.
Reading the reviews on the back of this book made me mad. The majority describe Robin's life as short and tragic. Happily, Gorman does not describe her brother's life as tragic; it is the adult reception of him that is tragic. What made Jackie lose her sight and why she got it back is not clear. At one point, the doctor says that her chances of having Multiple Sclerosis are 80 to 90 percent, but whether or not Jackie has Multiple Sclerosis is never divulged. Jackie presents herself as a timid person. Although she appears to be facing life more decissively by the end of her narrative, I would have liked to see her grow further.
Question: Is institutionalization of autists ever a good idea?
Happy reading.

2005-07-07T12:37:00.000-05:00

Into Thin Air
A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
by Jon Krakauer In 1996, Jon Krakauer, sponsored by Outside magazine, climbed Mt. Everest with a guide. Mt. Everest always has bad weather. Because the weather is best around early May, many of the guided expeditions choose that time for their summit climb. In 1996, many tours were on Everest, and they were not getting along well. Although they met and agreed that only two groups would climb on the 10th of May, most of the groups climbed then. Everest had a bad storm that day. Twelve people died climbing Everest in May 1996.
Krakauer wrote this book in part to relieve the deaths of the many people he had gotten to know while climbing Everest. He talks about everything remotely relevant to the climb. Reading this book provides extensive information about Everest and about climbing. It is also about the finances of Tibet, about Sherpas, and about the reasons that people climb in dangerous situations. Krakauer would like the deaths to have meaning, to be at the very least a warning, but more people continue to climb and die on Everest.
I usually do not consider vocabulary while I read, unless the book has an unusual one, but I read this book in order to provide definitions for difficult words for a friend who is required to read it. The vocabulary is far above what most high schoolers know or understand. Further, many of the words are not in the American Heritage dictionary, because Krakauer uses a lot of Brittish slang. He also uses a lot of metaphor and nonstandard usages of words. Some prior knowledge of mountaineering would probably also be useful in reading the book.
Pictures and diagrams vary between editions of the book.
Cautionary reading.

2005-07-06T11:38:00.000-05:00

Twilight Children : Three Voices No One Heard Until a Therapist Listened
By Torey Hayden
Torey was a special edccation teacher for many years. Then she started working as a specialist in language promblems in a childrens' psych ward. This book tells of three cases she worked on. Cassadra, who was kidanpped by her father, refuses to speak about the incedent. Drake, a four old who will only speak to his mother, and Gerta an eldery woman who Torey was asked to help because her promblem was similar to the kind of things she dealt with in the kids. I have read all of Hayden's books and this one, like the others, was great. I love the way Hayden writes. It makes you keep reading and reading to find out what is causing the kids' troubles.

2005-07-06T09:05:00.000-05:00

We Have Been There
Families Share the Joys and Struggles of Living With Mental Retardation
Compiled by Terrell Dougan, Lyn Isbell, and Patricia Vyas, 1983 Terrell Dougan was twelve when his parents started their local chapter of ARC. As an adult, she helped to establish a group home, which her sister then could be kicked out of. Lynn Isbell's son Walter has Down Syndrome, as does Pat Vyas' son Peter. Peter has done well in his two years in a normal co-op preschool. Walter learned not to ride in the street via his mother's application of a Japanese rice server on his bottom.
The stories and advice pieces in this book are divided into nine topic areas. Some of the contributors wrote pieces for numerous topic areas, some wrote only one. Many families have pieces written by more than one member. The topics range from from the frustrations of advocacy to how to discipline a retarded child. Some of the retarded subjects are children; some are adults. As families are more involved with children than adults, this book has more pieces on children than adults. Some of the retarded subjects of this book write about themselves. My favorite piece is Supplication by Ken Yockey, a fictitious conversation with the Lord.
Happy reading.

2005-07-05T18:32:00.000-05:00

Trevor's Place
The Story of the Boy Who Brings Hope to the Homeless
by Frank and Janet Ferrell with Edward Wakin, 1985 Trevor Ferrell was startled and surprised when he learned from TV that his own city, Philadelphia, had people living on its streets. He asked his parents to bring him downtown to see the homeless. His parents said no. After Trevor had walked away, his parents decided that their decision was not in keeping with their Christian values. They said yes. Trevor brought his blanket and pillow and gave them to a homeless man he found. The Ferrells began going downtown daily, distributing first their own bedding, then food and clothing, and then whatever they collected from others. Their efforts grew and grew. Trevor flunked 6th grade and Frank Ferrell closed his bussiness. They opened Trevor's Place as a home for the homeless.
Although this story is billed as Trevor's, the impression I get from reading this book is that Trevor's interest merely sparked his father's crusade for the homeless. This story is told as Frank Ferrell's narrative.
Happy reading.

2005-07-04T19:29:00.000-05:00

A Deaf Adult Speaks Out
by Leo M. Jacobs, 1989Born deaf to deaf parents, Jacobs is a native signer. Many deaf people have been through oral programs before learning sign, and have poor communication skills, but Jacobs grew up among deaf people who had also been fortunate enough to sign early. Jacobs is a successful deaf adult, and his book is meant to draw attention to the problem that many deaf adults are not successful. They have been held back, not so much by being deaf, but by poor education and poor development of communication.
Jacobs lays out the pertinant facts about deafness: the state of education and services for deaf people, how they are changing, and how they should be changed. Jacobs explains his positions in detail, citing studies, statistics, stories and possibilities. Jacobs' own experiences flavor the book but are not necessary to any of his points.
I especially enjoyed Jacobs' argument against mainstreaming. His statistics on how much time is spent in school by the average student are also interesting. Laws about education have changed since 1989, although current laws support mainstreaming as much as previous ones did. References, short stories, resources, and an interview of rank-and-file deaf people are at the back of the book.
Happy reading.

2005-07-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

Reflections from a Different Journey : What Adults with Disabilities Wish All Parents Knew
edited by Stanley Klein and John Kemp

This great book provides essays from adults with all kinds of disabilities. The authors give parents advice on how to raise disabled children. I found the book very moving. Some of the essays were sad, like the one with the girl who had to use a walker due to her disability. During fire drills, the school left her in the building because they knew she would slow the drill down. I most enjoyed the three essays by the authors who were on the autistic spectrum.

2005-06-30T13:36:00.000-05:00

No Pity
People With Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement
by Joseph P. Shapiro, 1994 In 1988, Gallaudet students, alumni and faculty forced the administration to appoint a Deaf president. This protest garnered more attention than any other action by disabled people, but it isn't close to the first. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, almost 50 million Americans are considered disabled. Many of these people do not consider themselves disabled; many of them do. A vocal segment of the disabled population, as well as people who care about them, have been advocating for disabled people's right in the last half century. Disability groups demand the services they need, proclaim their equality to abled people, and ask for recognition as human beings.
Disabilities are diverse. Some people have sensory disabilities(deafness, blindness), some have physical disabilities(paraplegia, quadriplegia, Cerebral Palsy), some have mental disabilities(Down Syndrome, autism, manic-depression), and some have illnesses(Lou Gehrig's Disease, multiple sclerosis). The ability of self advocates with different disabilities to fight together isn't always exercised. When it is, the group represents a very large and politically powerful group.
In the ten years since this book was written, some things have changed. More disabled advocate groups have advanced, prenatal screening for many more disabilities is an unfortunate reality, and terminology is different. One character in this book on whom a chapter is spent is classified as retarded, but now would probably get a label of autism.
The research in this book is lacking. For his chapter on Gallaudet and deafness, Shapiro relies largely on books(I guess he doesn't know Sign), but for the rest of the book, he uses mostly articles. For many of his statistics, no source is given. A few I know to be incorrect. Some contradict each other. However, I appreciated the attitude of the book and the portrayal of the activist atmosphere.
Happy reading.

2005-06-29T09:12:00.000-05:00

Pepperland
by Mark Delaney
This novel set in 1980 concerns sixteen year old Star. Star's mother died three months earlier and Star is having trouble dealing with it. Star sees a therapist who knows that Star plays the guitar. She tells her to write a song for her mother. However Star can't seem to do this . One day while cleaning out the garage, Star finds a guitar that belonged to her mother. She also finds a letter that her mother wrote to John Lennon. When she hears that Lennon is coming to town to do a concert, she is determined to get the letter to him. I thought this was a great book. I loved how all the chapters were named after Beatles songs. However I wish the book had gone on a bit longer. The book ends in October of 1980: in December of 1980 Lennon was shot and killed. I would have liked to know how Star reacted to that.