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NonfictionHistoryAmerican History

Wright Thompson’s ‘The Barn’ chronicles the fight to preserve the memory of Emmett Till

Fourteen-year-old Till was murdered in a nondescript barn in the Mississippi Delta. But few know the barn still stands today, or fully understand its history. Thompson believes we should.
Fourteen-year-old Till was murdered in a nondescript barn in the Mississippi Delta. But few know the barn still stands today, or fully understand its history. Thompson believes we should.
NonfictionMemoir

Connie

With candor and humor, Connie Chung shares the highs and lows of her trailblazing career as a journalist in her invigorating memoir, Connie.
With candor and humor, Connie Chung shares the highs and lows of her trailblazing career as a journalist in her invigorating memoir, Connie.
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Memoir

Out of Africa, and back again

Review by bookpagedev

Wendy Kann lives a comfortable suburban life in Connecticut. Her three children don’t worry whether there’s enough fuel in the car to make it to the grocery store, or that their mother might never return from the errand. Her small nephew, who lives on a rural farm in Zambia, does. His mother, Kann’s youngest sister Lauren, died in a car accident there. The phone call announcing this event brings a flood of memories of a tumultuous upbringing that prompted Kann to write Casting with a Fragile Thread: A Story of Sisters and Africa. Kann and her sisters came of age during the 1960s and ’70s, when civil war transformed this volatile region from the British colonial outpost of Rhodesia into Zimbabwe. Colored by the mental instability of their mother and the early death of their father, the sisters’ unsettled family life mirrored the civil instability of their country. Kann recollects friends fighting to keep white rule, and how the nationalist movement’s victory dismayed and disillusioned many, including herself. She tells of whites suddenly sleeping behind locked gates, and eyeing their black servants with suspicion even as they continue to order them around.

The stark relief of the disparity of Kann’s sophisticated life in the United States contrasts with Lauren’s exotic yet bleak existence. Lauren’s nearest neighbor in the dusty outback of Zambia is miles away, flies and dust plague the household, squatters imperil the crops, and when the phone works, it’s only for a few precious minutes. Kann says that any Out of Africa illusions she or Lauren might have had were quickly quashed under the weight of drought, malaria and loneliness.

It is the anchor of her sisters’ African lives Kann’s sister Sharon still lives there and the tugging past of her homeland that moor Kann’s tale.

Wendy Kann lives a comfortable suburban life in Connecticut. Her three children don’t worry whether there’s enough fuel in the car to make it to the grocery store, or that their mother might never return from the errand. Her small nephew, who lives on a rural farm in Zambia, does. His mother, Kann’s youngest sister […]
Memoir

Finding common ground

Review by bookpagedev

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at least in part a tragedy of unacknowledged similarities. On one side, you have a proud people forced out of their traditional homeland, ill-treated in their diaspora, desperate to regain and hold what they fervently believe is their land. And on the other, you have exactly the same thing. Yet that likeness has led not to mutual accommodation, but to unending violence. The Lemon Tree, by Sandy Tolan, reduces the tragedy to two families and one house in a moving story of both grief and hope. Ahmad Khairi, a furniture-maker from a prominent clan, built the house in 1936 in a town where his family had lived since the 16th century. He, his wife Zakia and their eight children fled to Ramallah in the West Bank during the 1948 war that followed the creation of Israel. Moshe and Solia Eshkenazi, refugees from Bulgaria who had barely escaped the Holocaust, moved into the empty house and raised their daughter Dalia there. The book focuses on the second generation, the inheritors of the strife: Dalia Eshkenazi and Bashir Khairi, Ahmad’s oldest son. When the outcome of the Six-Day War in 1967 in effect opened the border between Israel and the West Bank, Bashir and two cousins sneaked across to visit their hometown. Some Israelis rebuffed them, but Dalia opened the door and invited them in, starting a tentative friendship. Both Dalia and Bashir turn out to be remarkable people, in very different ways. Dalia, a teacher, seeks reconciliation; Bashir becomes a well-known Palestinian nationalist lawyer perhaps even a terrorist. The two families are divided by politics, but continue to be drawn together by their common humanity. The lemon tree of the book’s title, planted by the Khairis and nurtured by the Eshkenazis, becomes a poignant symbol of the relationship. Tolan, who first told this story in a public radio documentary, is admirably even-handed, alternating between the points of view of the two families and their respective nations. The book has no neat solution. But just as the Khairis and Eshkenazis learn each other’s better qualities, we come to understand more about both sides. Anne Bartlett is a journalist in Washington, D.C.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at least in part a tragedy of unacknowledged similarities. On one side, you have a proud people forced out of their traditional homeland, ill-treated in their diaspora, desperate to regain and hold what they fervently believe is their land. And on the other, you have exactly the same thing. Yet that […]
PhotographyArts & Culture

The way we were

Review by bookpagedev

The appeal of a book like Bound for Glory: America in Color 1939-43 is that it can literally change our view of history. New Deal photographers working under the auspices of the Farm Security Administration began chronicling the country in color with the advent of Kodak’s Kodachrome film in the mid-1930s. Depicting ordinary Americans many of them living hardscrabble lives in the country’s rural areas the images in this book are breathtaking both for their brilliant color and their rareness. Women wear vivid plaids and florals and landscapes are in rich greens and placid blues. We see street corners and swimming holes, country fairs and dining tables, as well as big-city life in Chicago and Washington, D.C. After the start of World War II, the FSA became part of the Office of War Information; the change is obvious as the photographs begin to resemble war posters picturing men and women, factories and trains all co-opted into the war effort. Still, the faces of the men, women and children taken before the economic boom are the most striking. As author Paul Hendrickson writes, quoting an old folk song, one can’t help wondering “whatever happened to the faces in the old photographs?”

 

The appeal of a book like Bound for Glory: America in Color 1939-43 is that it can literally change our view of history. New Deal photographers working under the auspices of the Farm Security Administration began chronicling the country in color with the advent of Kodak’s Kodachrome film in the mid-1930s. Depicting ordinary Americans many […]
NonfictionEducation

Guides for a popular education alternative

Review by bookpagedev

Homeschoolers are a growing bunch there are an estimated 1.5 million in the U.S. today, and the number is expected to double by 2010. Parents take on this enormous task for many reasons, from religion to dissatisfaction with local schools. Whether you’re trying to decide if you’re up to the job, or you’re already making homeschooling a daily reality, the following books will give you tips and ideas for making the task easier. No matter what your educational philosophy, you’re bound to find plenty of golden nuggets in these new titles.

A GREAT PLACE TO BEGIN exploring the topic is A Parent’s Guide to Homeschooling: Expert Answers to Tough Questions About Home Schooling. Written by veteran homeschooler Tamra Orr in a question and answer format that makes the text highly readable, the book is filled with interesting tidbits and plenty of great, basic information. (Did you know that Ansel Adams, Mark Twain and LeAnn Rimes are among the many famous people who have been homeschooled?) Chapters include “How do I get started?” “Where can I find help?” and “What about the teen years?” Other nuts and bolts issues, such as the legalities of homeschooling, are also covered in this comprehensive volume. CHRISTINE FIELD LEFT A CAREER as a criminal prosecutor to homeschool her four children, and she readily admits, “My days are so much more complex than I ever dreamed they could be as a stay-at-home mom.” In Help for the Harried Homeschooler: A Practical Guide to Balancing Your Child’s Education with the Rest of Your Life (Shaw Books, $13.99, 278 pages, ISBN 0877887942), Field concedes that her educational choice has resulted in personal sacrifice. But the rewards, she says, far outweigh the price. Using humor and biblical teachings along with examples from her own experience, Field presents solutions that will help overwhelmed parents maintain their sanity. She also guides readers through some of the toughest conflicts presented by teaching at home. Topics include how homeschooling can affect marriages, homeschooling through personal crises and dealing with student-siblings of various ages.

WHAT MAKES THESE FAMILIES TICK? “Are home-schooling parents superhuman, always patient June and Ward Cleaver types?” Rhonda Barfield asks in Real-Life Homeschooling: The Stories of 21 Families Who Teach Their Children at Home (Pocket, $14, 299 pages, ISBN 0743442296). Barfield, mother of four home-schooled children, was astonished by the diverse lifestyles and educational philosophies she found when she interviewed 21 families in 18 states. Here’s a book of interest to anyone, whether you simply want a peek into the lives of different families or you’re looking for tips for schooling at home. Each profile includes a photo, advice from the families and a list of helpful resources. Fascinating as well as informative, the volume offers an in-depth look at the homeschooling experiment. Without promoting any particular curriculum or religious views, as many homeschooling books do, Creative Home Schooling for Gifted Children: A Resource Guide (Great Potential Press, $26, 430 pages, ISBN 0910707480) by Lisa Rivero offers numerous resources as well as short quotes and insights from homeschooled children and parents. It’s a big book that addresses a multitude of issues, such as socialization and intellectual needs, varied learning styles, practical matters for parents and grade levels and standards. Full of well-organized information for any parent of a gifted child, the book includes reading lists and a fascinating unit that shows how entire areas of study can be organized around themes (like baseball) that will appeal to kids. From parents to teachers to camp counselors, this is a great guide for any educator.

Homeschoolers are a growing bunch there are an estimated 1.5 million in the U.S. today, and the number is expected to double by 2010. Parents take on this enormous task for many reasons, from religion to dissatisfaction with local schools. Whether you’re trying to decide if you’re up to the job, or you’re already making […]
Memoir

One man’s island

Review by bookpagedev

<b>One man’s island</b> Everything about being in St. Cecilia is simpler, writes Robert Benson about the West Indies getaway he’s grown to love and protect like a beloved family member (he even gives the island a pseudonym to protect it). The way in which the natural beauty, quiet pace and warm community on this volcanic island eventually change the author is the subject of his travelogue, <b>Home by Another Way: Notes from the Caribbean</b>.

Benson, a spiritual writer and retreat leader, and his wife first encounter the island when they decide to give each other a beach holiday for their wedding anniversary. Under less than auspicious beginnings, they’re ferried across a misty lagoon in the dead of night to a simple idyll that in two short weeks would represent the values that they aspired to live every day.

More than a decade later, they’re still giving each other this journey away from the demands of work, children and homey clutter. They drive rental cars on the wrong side of the road, paddle in azure waters, read on the porch of their tiny cottage, and prepare meals in a kitchen with enough room for two cooks as long as they have their arms around each other. There are no theme parks, malls or movie theaters and not much to buy except pottery or honey (from bees that feed on exotic tropical flowers).

The characters and locations of this magical and beloved summer place become an annual meditation and talisman for a deeper existence, and the book ends as Benson and his wife mull over the possibility so familiar to vacationers who allow the warmth of eternal summer to melt into their bones of capturing the feeling full-time. Your life is shaped by the things that you desire, writes Benson, quoting Thomas Merton. And like any spiritual seeker, he realizes that he just may be willing to sacrifice all to achieve the blessing of simple solitude, with a backdrop of riotous bougainvillea and a turquoise sea, no less. Going to St. Cecilia may have started out to be about going to the sun, he writes. It is crossing a line about something else, it seems.

<b>One man’s island</b> Everything about being in St. Cecilia is simpler, writes Robert Benson about the West Indies getaway he’s grown to love and protect like a beloved family member (he even gives the island a pseudonym to protect it). The way in which the natural beauty, quiet pace and warm community on this volcanic […]
ParentingFamily & Relationships

Parenting with patience Guidebooks to peruse while hiding in the bathroom

Review by bookpagedev

The three most important words in real estate may be “Location, location, location!” but in parenting they are “Patience, patience, patience!” Patience is like toilet paper; you’re always running out of it, but because you’re the parent, you are expected to keep some in reserve.

How to perform this amazing feat? Parenting books are full of encouragement and offer welcome reassurance that you’re not alone out there. Besides, when your grandchildren are born, you can pass on the highlighted, underlined, question-marked, dog-eared, coffee and tear-stained remnants to the new parents.

Any of the following new books would make a great start for your collection.

How to Behave So Your Preschooler Will, Too! by Sal Severe, Ph.

D. (Viking, $23.95, 272 pages, ISBN 0670031089) makes it clear that good parenting begins with self-control. Forget the saying, “Do as I say, not as I do,” because whether we like it or not, a parent is a child’s most influential teacher and role model and preschoolers are avid students. Of course, no one is a perfect parent person all the time. Sal Severe advocates being honest with our kids and ourselves when our behavior has been less than stellar. “It is always better for you and your child,” he writes, “if you admit your mistake and take responsibility for your own behavior.” From your example, the child will learn that the best way to handle mistakes is by admitting them, apologizing and trying to do better the next time. Chapters cover topics such as “How Motivation Affects Behavior,” “Alternatives to Spanking,” “Preschool Fears” and “How to Choose a Preschool.” Emily Post’s The Gift of Good Manners: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Respectful, Kind, Considerate Children by Peggy Post and Cindy Post Senning, Ed.

D., (HarperResource, $24.95, 400 pages, ISBN 006018549X) tackles teaching the rules of etiquette from the time children are toddlers through their teenage years. Good manners are an extension of good behavior and are indeed a gift; well-mannered children are more apt to be welcome visitors and guests wherever they go, thereby increasing their level of sociability and hence their range of experiences and opportunities as they mature. Still, the incentive for practicing good manners shouldn’t just be the results achieved for the child. Whether it is making eye contact, sharing toys or writing thank-you notes, the authors contend “manners express in action the values we hold dear” and should be an outgrowth of “the higher values of respect for others, integrity, loyalty, self-sacrifice, and honesty.” The Secure Child: Helping Children Feel Safe and Confident in a Changing World by Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D. (Perseus, $20, 160 pages, ISBN 0738207500) is a timely book not only for parents, but for educators and others who worked with children. The events of September 11 have made it all too clear that we live in an unpredictable world. This book outlines numerous ways to help children grow to adulthood with confidence and faith in their ability to solve problems. “Security,” Greenspan writes, “resides in advancing one’s ability to resolve difficult situations.” He offers both short-term strategies for difficult times (spend time together as a family, help children express their feelings, contribute to others in need) and long-term goals for preparing children to face an uncertain world. Greenspan’s prescription is not an easy fix; it involves establishing secure relationships for children and broadening their knowledge and understanding of people around the world. Girls Will Be Girls: Raising Confident and Courageous Daughters by JoAnn Deak, Ph.

D. (Hyperion, $23.95, 320 pages, ISBN 078686768X) deals with overcoming the obstacles particular to girls as they struggle with body image, self-esteem, intellectual and physical growth and other issues while getting mixed messages from contemporary culture. Having raised a daughter, not to mention being female myself, I wish I had had this book by my side over the years. Two of my favorite chapters were “Aiming to Please: Moving Beyond the Tyranny of Niceness” and “Girls in Action: The Magic of Doing,” but underlying every chapter is the same theme: the importance of fostering what Deak calls “the three C’s of self-esteem in girls:” competence, confidence and connectedness. The goal being that girls will not only feel good about themselves, but also be able to take action from positions of strength. Unhappy Teenagers: A Way for Parents and Teachers to Reach Them by William Glasser, M.D. (HarperCollins, $24.95, 198 pages, ISBN 0060007982). The best time to read a book about dealing with teenagers is well before your child actually becomes one not that you still won’t be taken by surprise, but surprise is better than total shock. So even if your children are still young, this is a good book to have on hand. If you are already in the “I’ve tried everything” stage, however, and your store of patience is running low, it’s not too late to grab this book and benefit from it. Glasser offers a different approach to reaching teens than the typical methods of grounding or taking away privileges. “Get rid of your use of external control” he advises, and “replace it with choice theory.” He uses real-life examples to illustrate choice theory in action and to help parents who are at once frustrated, angry and heart-sick re-establish communication with their troubled teens. Glasser also deserves kudos for his courageous remarks about breaking with traditional teaching methods in order to reach all students It’s NOT That Complicated: The Twelve Rules for Raising Happy, Self-Reliant Children by Doug Peine, (Health Communications, $10.95, 175 pages, ISBN 0757300049). This title probably already has you halfway out the door headed to the nearest bookstore a simple guide? Only 12 rules? For once, something too good to be true actually measures up. At less than a dollar a rule, with lots of wonderful insights into human nature thrown in, this little gem is a must-have at a bargain price. The rules are simple but time-tested: never hold grudges, don’t fight in front of your children and read to your child every night. A word of caution however: “not complicated” doesn’t mean “easy.” Parenting is hard work. While the major principles are easily understood, “putting them into practice is where most people fail,” says Peine. “To parent well,” he cautions, “requires time and effort. Parenting cannot be accomplished in absentia. You must be there in person, and you must be there a lot.” So much for hiding in the bathroom. Briefly noted Parenting Principles: From the Heart of a Pediatrician by William T. Slonecker, M.D. (Fredricksburg, $19.95, 213 pages, ISBN 0967039908) shares a Christian perspective on parenting from a pediatrician who practiced for 43 years. Slonecker urges parents to balance love and authority, using firm discipline to set boundaries for the child. Though based on theology, the book has many practical suggestions as well, on topics ranging from potty training to conflicts with grandparents. Three tips for parents: 1. Get plenty of rest. (Which admittedly will be next to impossible when your children are young.) 2. Drink plenty of fluids. (Frequent trips to the bathroom may be your only means of escape.) 3. Keep plenty of parenting books on hand. (They are full of sound advice and will give you something to read while hiding in the bathroom.)

The three most important words in real estate may be “Location, location, location!” but in parenting they are “Patience, patience, patience!” Patience is like toilet paper; you’re always running out of it, but because you’re the parent, you are expected to keep some in reserve. How to perform this amazing feat? Parenting books are full […]

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