Massachusetts Books

Ms. McDowell is a delightful writer. Her book on Emily Dickinson's Gardens kept me reassuring company this spring as I worried my way through my first seed growing experiments. I kept it next to my seed growing trays by my computer where I sat and worked everyday. Her conversational style was reassuring, informative and entertaining. Somehow her book managed to say the right thing at the moment when I needed to read it.

The wonder of this book is that the author has done a fabulous job of conmbining biography, poetry and gardening into one terrific volume.

The descriptions of Dickinson's life are intimate and homey; reading it, you feel like you're spending a few hours with a friend.

And McDowell does a great job of helping us understand the role that gardening played in both Emily's life and her poetry by providing a lot of specific details that bring Emily and her home to life.

As a gardener myself, I was extremely impressed with McDowell's gardening knowledge. She's included a number of tips and techniques that will be useful to both novice and experienced gardeners.

Bottom line: this is just a wonderful book, and one that I'll be giving to many of my poetry and gardening friends.

I thoroughly enjoyed Chapin's well-written account of Elisha Kent Kane, Maggie Fox, and the nineteenth century American society in which they lived. These two historical persons were an unlikely pair. She was a marginally-educated, blacksmith's daughter who unexpectedly precipitated a national craze for the supernatural when she claimed the ability to speak to the dead. He was the eldest son of an aristocratic Philadelphian family, highly educated, and apparently addicted to the thrilling life of adventure and exploration. But chance threw these people together in a doomed romance, their common ground the society in which they lived: a world where the impossible might just be possible after all. Messages could fly through telegraph lines -- perhaps they could also travel from heaven to earth? The top of the globe remained an unknown place -- was it not possible that there could be an Open Polar Sea filled with marine life?

Chapin terms this era of American history a "Culture of Curiosity." This is a good term for the pre-Civil War society which found entertainment in the lecture halls, learning about such diverse topics as phrenology, philosophy, and hypnotism. It was a world in which young Maggie Fox could become a celebrity for nothing more than a well-implemented hoax. It was a world in which Elisha Kent Kane could become the world's foremost explorer and scientist -- or a laughing-stock if he were to marry a famous spirit-rapper.

Dianne K. Salerni
Author of High Spirits: A Tale of Ghostly Rapping and Romance

I thought that this book was seriously one of the best I have read in a while. Chapin does and excellent job in both telling the story and exploring the characters. I fervently look forward to the next thing Chapin writes because I know that not only will it be well researched, but it will be presented in a captivating fashion.

I won't waste space describing the plot of this book as it's been ably done by earlier reviewers.
It's the kind of writing and story that kept me reading far into the night, long after I should have been asleep. The writing is fine, the characters are fascinating and so well defined that you can understand them even if you've never personally known anyone like them. As with all of Susan Oleksiw's work that I've read, I highly recommend it.

Oleksiw's thoroughly enjoyable cozy, set in the New England seaport village of Mellingham, centers around the Arbella Historical Society and its members, a cast of eccentric but believable characters. When one of them is murdered with an arcane horticultural poison, Chief of Police Joe Silva quickly discerns that each has a secret.

George Frome, the murdered man, was a spartan master of efficiency who suspected a thief among the members. Or did he? The day of the monthly board meeting Frome called Silva to Arbella House to inspect security. But Silva couldn't shake the feeling Frome was putting on a show for some hidden purpose of his own. Frome's suspicions cause fireworks at the board meeting and the next day Frome is found dead in the attic, sprawled before a group of 19th-century paintings which don't belong there.

Suspects include a society matriarch who was about to sell an important family heirloom to Frome; her heir and nephew whose devotion to his garden is exceeded only by his devotion to his aunt; an obnoxious social climber with a new interest in 19th-paintings; an antiques dealer on the verge of financial ruin, and a single mother whose fear of the past leads to panic attacks and strange acts of household cleaning.

Oleksiw moves easily among the minds of these characters, heightening the reader's curiosity with glimpses of their private terrors. Silva, the Portuguese outsider, learns to distinguish between real secrets and "village secrets," which everyone but him is privy to, while showing a sharp eye for small betraying gestures and guarding against his attraction to Gwen McDuffy, the wary single mother.

Silva, late forties and unmarried, is haunted by melancholy for the family he might never have. Oleksiw leaves the door wide open for future romance. This, together with the author's flair for character, plot intricacies, red herrings and the delightful setting, will leave readers happily anticipating the next Mellingham mystery.

From the back of the book:
Lucas Carver owed Felicity Burrow a debt he could never repay. She had miraculously transformed his son's silent world while adding joy to his own. And though they had never met before, Lucas felt Felicity was tied to him in unimaginable ways...
Felicity was certain that Lucas would do anything for his little boy-even convince himself that he loved her! It was hard to resist the boys's plea to become his mommy, but ignoring Lucus's powerful attraction proved even harder. Could Felicity believe his claims that they shared a special bond?
Or was her hope for a family of her own just wishful thinking?

Felicity Burrow is such a grouch! Understandable but ugh!
A stranger, Lucas Carver and his son, Mark, come to Smytheshire from Seattle, Washington. He is looking for information is helping his son to speak.

You will love the intricate story of how Lucas is related to the old man, Zebulon. Felicity is Zebulon's lawyer and turns out to be the catalyst to helping Mark to speak.

Oh, you will love the linkage between Lucas and Felicity as he tries to court her and she keeps refusing. And when they find out the extent and complication of their attraction, they both sustain a bit of a shock.

Zebulon [first met in the first book] becomes a wonderful character with his involvement in their lives.
We again meet Jerome Carver, Emily's father and Josh's grandfather [yuck] and the trouble he tries to cause for Lucas.

You will be greatly surprised when Lucas introduces Felicity to his family in Seattle.

Great story and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - so fascinating it is hard to put down.

Finders and Keepers perfectly describes my colleagues' and my experiences. We are Ivy League graduates committed to progressive public school education. After five years of teaching in New York City public schools, even the most tenacious of us has been forced to shrug her shoulders and conclude that, "this job is just unsustainable." Finders and Keepers argues that this need not be our trajectory. Johnson and the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers accurately identifies the range of demands on new teachers, and proposes practical and achievable solutions that will enrich the learning environment of any school.

Finders and Keepers sounds an urgent call to attention and puts an end to the finger-pointing game. All players-administrators, principals, superintendents, teacher preparation programs, veteran teachers, union leaders, and policymakers-share responsibility in adequately preparing our schools for the new generation of teachers. We need to make teaching a sustainable career.

Every administrator, supervisor, education college professor should own this book. Too many novice teachers leave the profession before they really get their feet wet. This text will help professional educators who mentor teachers realize more fully the challenges and difficulties that beginning teachers face. The value of this book is that the problems of beginning teachers are clearly related from teachers on the job. We as educators must provide the right climate for these wonderful new teachers; this book will provide the insights into those challenges and the alert those in charge of teacher preparation and those whose responsibilities including hiring new recruits as to the myriad ways that the system may be failing our brightest and best candidates for the teaching profession. The answers come directly from those struggling through their first and second years in the profession. This book will be an excellent source to find and keep our best teachers.

I don't concider myself an intellectual but I am a strong believer in God. These short accounts were well written (although at times the vocabulary required me to get out my dictionary) and gave me great encouragement in seeing the power of God at work in the lives of these learned men and women. It strengthened my faith.

This collection is written by Harvard students, professors and grads, and Harvard types can sure write well. I used The Inexplicable Prayers of Ruby Bridges (from this collection) with students in a teacher training class in Albania and it was a great hit.

I BOUGHT THIS NOT KNOWING IF MY 4 YEAR OLD AND 2 1/2 YEAR GRANDCHILDREN WOULD SIT THROUGH THE ENTIRE READING. THEY DID AND PAID ATTENTION TO WHAT WAS BEING READ!!! OBVIOUSLY THIS BOOK IS NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN THIS SMALL TO READ BY THEMSELVES BUT IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY TO READ TO THEM AND TEACH THEM THE TRUE MEANINGS OF OUR VARIOUS HOLIDAYS AND THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY - THIS STORY OFFERS BOTH. I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND IT FOR THIS AGE GROUP AND OLDER. A HINT - I READ THE STORY ALONG WITH INVOLVING THEM WITH SOME EASY THANKSGIVING CRAFT PROJECTS TO HELP REINFORCE THE STORY LINE.

I have a three year old, and this story is just right for her. It is simple enough that it keeps her attention, but it provides details such as why the Pilgrims left England, the harsh winters they had to endure, the different tribes of Native Americans they encountered and became indebted to, and it explains the harvest feast and why the pilgrims were thankful. I recommend this if you want something that gives a simple yet not overly simple explanation of the first Thanksgiving.

This book is indispensible if you are interested in the native flora of New England and New York. It is an up-to-date and comprehensive list of all known species in the region, and their status. The range maps are helpful. A fine companion to Newcomb.

I have only dipped into this comprehensive new publication but am pleased to have done so. It will become a valued volume in my library.

This book brought back great memories of family get togethers on holidays and wonderful old time family reciepes.

First of all, the story is a great one. It really depicts the Italian American experience. After the story, the recipes are priceless. There are recipes that only one's grandmother would have. Thankfully, Vita shares them will all generations!

Mangia!!!

I like how Frommer's doesn't jut stick with the facts, but offers "personal opinions" of what exactly to do, where to go, when looking for something in accordance with your own interests. Along with this guide (which thankfully is very cheap when sold as Used!), I highly recommend visiting Jamaica Plain, Davis Square, and taking the Historical Trail. It was just like going back to high school when learning everything all over again...

My family and I used this guide for a two day trip to Boston in November. We used the restaurant reviews, hotel reviews, and sight reviews and had a great time. I'd buy another Fromer's again.