Youth Books

I was very fortunate to attend a summer workshop given by Saramago in Universidad Menéndez Pelayo in Salamanca, Spain, in 2001. I had only read Ensayo sobre la Ceguera then, and his short stories. I was hooked. I found in the classroom that he is an even better speaker. Very engaging, down to earth, witty and profound, all at once. Although I admire his style and his quality as a human being, I have found some of his titles cumbersome to read. His lack of "proper" punctuation (which he has turned into a style) can be difficult to read when the book is long and the subject deep.
This book is open, honest, written without giving himself airs, and is like catching glimpses of his past. He doesn't write his memoirs in exact chronological order, but his writing is like that ... it flows. His wife, Pilar del Río is his translator from Portuguese to Spanish and she does a good job of that.
I read the book because I am going to review it for a newspaper and write an article about him and all I can say is: I enjoyed reading about the seedling of a great writer and man.

Saramago's style is just delicious, and he tells his life like a tale. Humble, too humble even for a nobel prize winner, and admirably humble in comparison to his homologues.
If you know Saramago, you will not be disappointed by this autobiography (with pictures in the end.) If you don't know him yet, this is an excellent piece to start.

"Now that you are starting a new life, I am going to give you a new name. How does Lass sound to you?" asked Phillip Keller, the new owner that Lass was introduced to through a personal ad. Although there was a need on both the sheepdog and new owners behalf, Lass escaped from Phillip as soon as the leash was removed. The pages of this book are enhanced by eloquent illustrations. The adventures and mishaps that Lass and Phillip have with one another and other animals are entertaining and suspensful. This is a book for every dog lover.

This is an outstanding book not only for children but for adults also. I have 4 children from ages 9-15 and they all greatly enjoyed and loved this book! Highly recommended!

One of those great Whitman books of the 50's, that reminds you how nice and tidy life was back then, and TV was the glue that held it all together! Book says authorized TV adventure, and illustration on title page is Lassie holding a 45 record in her mouth! Heavily illustrated, including endpapers, in that collectible retro look. This is a real delight. Great deal, recommended.

Like all the Whitman Lassie books, the story is not at all well written. However, it's just wonderful to be able to read about Lassie in books, too! As in "Mystery at Blackberry Bog", Dorothea Snow (is that a pseudonym?) gives Jeff a much bigger circle of aquaintances than on the show, but Lassie's [many] adventures are just like the kinds on the TV episodes. All in all, this is a terrible buy if you're looking for a good peice of literature, and an essential one if you are a devoted Lasiie and/or dog lover.

The author of this absorbing, near-tragic, in places hilarious memoir was born into a family possessing nearly every advantage: great wealth, intellectual brilliance, artistic talent and (as photographs attest)beauty. The lives of the women of the family, however, were thrown radically off track into near wreckage by their addiction to Freudian analysis. The author was analyzed into sexual activity in her early teens,long before she was ready for it; then analyzed into a wretched marriage; then told to accept her subordinate female role as handmaiden to male genius and forget her own supposedly neurotic artistic ambitions.While Webster describes movingly the dismaying self-doubts she lived with during those years,she also mentions that she was raising three children, getting a doctorate, writing two scholarly books that got her great professional respect in high places (though she was a housewife, not an academician)and then becoming a distinctive and admired novelist. Not a bad record for a supposedly helpless, dysfunctional emotional invalid; Webster mentions her achievements in a modest,just-giving-the-news manner.In the end she says she has won a happy life, for her family and herself; it is a tough wrestle,though, and the reader feels she has earned what she achieves, in spades. The accounts of her adventures with psychiatrists are sometimes uproarious, and the reader--if at a safe distance from the analyst's couch--will surely laugh out loud.

Brenda Webster, in this beautifully written, wrenchingly poignant, and highly fascinating memoir, tells of growing up in a world where her ordinary and not so ordinary life events were, at the behest of her brilliant and wacky mother, routinely scrutinized by Freudian psychoanalyists. Her memoir reads like the very best of novels. I found myself entranced by her story, mouth open in shock, heart pounding in indignation and fighting back tears. Readers interested in memoirs, in psychoanalysis, in coming of age novels, or in cults will find this a fascinating read.

I teach at an inner city school in Miami. Ms. Gedddes' first hand account of growing up in an inner city environment was illuminating and moving. The questions she poses at the end of each chapter were not only helpful to me but have helped me in working with the children at my school. I have already passed my copy of her book along to one of our counselors. Ms. Geddes' book should become an anthem for all of those who who seek to find their way to a better life. No excuses, no nonsense.

LEARNING TO DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN by Melanie D. Geddes is a usable blueprint on how to dream and remove oneself from the dire straits inner city youth may find themselves in. The book is structured in an easy to read manner and each chapter ends with "Lesson Learned" activities to begin the journey. It begins with "Why Dream?" and ends with "Quiet Confidence." In between, the chapters deal with issues such as "Beating the Odds", "Changing Lanes" and "From Impossible To Possible", just to name a few. What I found interesting is that the chapters are no-nonsense, straightforward and if taken seriously, could actually alter a young person's life, no matter the situation.

As I read I realized this book is not only for inner city youth, but youth and adults from all walks of life. Techniques are given on how to set attainable goals, improve academic performance and take ownership for one's actions.
The author herself was raised in an inner city and she shares some aspects of her story, which fosters believability with the reader.

My favorite chapters are "Changing Lanes" and "Decisions, Decisions, Decisions." "Changing Lanes" highlights the necessity of altering your goals when the realization hits that your stated goal is not what you really want. The author also discusses how our lives can lead to nowhere and how fear and the need to feel safe allow us to accept our current situations. Chapter 8, titled "Decisions, Decisions, Decisions," deals with responsible behavior and how to change a situation, correct mistakes and learn from the mistakes of others. The author cites some real life examples of bad decision-making and the consequences of those decisions. Other reading materials are cited, which are excellent and motivating reads as well. This is a wonderful tool for all to use, whether you are a child, parent, educator, human service worker or volunteer; all will find something useful to help our youth succeed in life. My favorite quote - "circumstances can impact your starting point, but they don't have to necessarily determine your ending point."

Reviewed by Dawn R. Reeves
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I got this book from a young person's book club when I was nine and didn't read it for 32 years, as I guess I figured I had better things to do. I recently found the book along with several others from my youth-all unread-in my mother's basement and, figuring I should really not let my mom's long-forgotten purchases on my behalf go to waste, brought them home for some light bedside reading. Leo was around the fourth or fifth in the stack, and turned out to be the best of the bunch. Greene tells a great story about a girl, Tibb, on the brink of fourteen, who is wise beyond her years and has an aversion to "phonies" that would make Holden Caulfield proud. She doesn't understand the sudden obsession with boys that has consumed her sister and best friend, nor how her role model, Carla, could fail to live up to the lofty expectations she'd set for her. Tibb is smart, funny, self-deprecating, insightful and refreshing. She also spends considerable energy contemplating everybody's words and behavior in relation to their star sign, and can thus explain, for example, why her sister who is a Gemini has a split personality. The book spans the length of one summer and Tibb does a little growing up along the way, adopting an outlook on life that is both more realistic and optimistic. Leo the Lioness had me laughing out loud in several places, and nodding as I turned the pages the rest of the time. A smart, amusing story that is as relevant today as when it was published 35 years ago. I'm glad I read it after all these years. Better late than never, I guess.

In Leo the Linoness, you can really relate to the book. The book is about a girl named Tibb, who loves the Zodiac. She is a Leo, and she decides that that is the strongest sign in the zodiac. She has a sister named Nina, and the best mom ever. But in summer, her ex-best friend turns into a boy [lover]. And her sisters attitude is ridiculous. On top of that, her old baby-sitter is getting married. It is a humerous story of a thirteenth summer. It is a must read. It is geat for kids 9-15, I personaly think. It is a very good book, and I think that you would enjoy it.

This book gets you started in integrating the special children into Sunday School programs and other children's program at a church. It also prepares the teachers. I do wish though, that it also integrated more ideas and programs to actually start the program and implement it. Good book to get the ball rolling though.

A book on the topic of including special needs children in church ministries was badly needed and this book is VERY well done! I am a teacher and the mother of a son with autism. I found the book to not only address issues for the Sunday School program, but also to be a TERRIFIC handbook for parents, regular ed teachers, and special ed teachers -- There are some really great activities included in the book that will help demystify the special needs child to the neurotypical child. In my opinion, all faiths will find this to be a tremendous resouce. I bought two the first time I ordered-- one for our family and one for our minister. I have just placed an order for another to give away...I hope that the authors will write a sequel -- addressing the supports that siblings and parents of special needs children would find helpful from their church families. I'll be first in line to buy it!!

This book describes a wonderful approach to the Sunday morning children's time in church. It's simply the best resource I know.

The author describes how we can meet children where they are and engage them so they become part of the story. This is not about object lessons. The book also includes a number of excellent stories that I have used with great success with groups of 3 kids or 30 kids.

More importantly, it inspired me to new creativity and effectiveness in my brief time with children each Sunday.

The basis of the sermons in this book is that people learn best by doing, rather than by being talked at. The sermons are intended for children, but some may be applicable to all ages. They might be considered more like activities than sermons. This book is not 'how to' or theoretical. It is practical, detailed activities for teaching the Bible to children by engaging them in activities through which they will feel what the biblical characters felt. While the book provides details for the conduct of the activities, you must be flexible when dealing with children because they will not always follow the 'plan' for the activity! This is an excellent resource for anyone teaching Christianity to children of any age.

I really enjoyed this book! Written in the form of letters of advice to his son, a struggling college freshman, the 9 lessons that Quinn outlines in this book apply to anyone going through a transition at any age in any situation. Choose to make a difference, look internally, connect with others...Anyone who is struggling with transition at any age--in business or in life--will appreciate the lessons outlined in the book.

I found Letters to Garrett to be a truly wonderful book and recommend it highly. When I started, I thought I wouldn't be able to identify with Garrett that much. I'm older than he is and know pretty much where I'm going in life. I was surprised then about how often I saw myself in Garrett. It pointed out that we face transitions much more often in our lives than we might think. It's not just the adolescence into adulthood, becoming a parent, changing jobs, mid-life crisis etc. Recognizing transitions when we're faced with them (rather than in retrospect) helps us navigate times of change and make better decisions.

Lew Wallace grew up to be a governor, foreign minister, Civil War general, inventor, and artist. But he is best known today as the author of the novel Ben-Hur. Lew Wallace: Boy Writer is the latest entry in the Patria Press "Young Patriots" series and the fascinating story of Wallace as a Midwest American youth who grew up like other boys of his era -- including the occasional playing of hooky from school! Martha Schaaf has definitively researched and superbly presented the life of Wallace from the age of 5 through 19. Also very highly recommended in this outstanding series are: Amelia Earhart: Young Air Pioneer (1882859022, [price]) and William Henry Harrison: Young Tippecanoe (1882859030, [price]. All three titles would make a popular and much appreciated addition to any personal, school or community library biography collection for young readers.

Before he grew up to become the author of the best-selling novel, "Ben-Hur," inventor and Civil War general, Lew Wallace was a young boy playing in the midwestern fields and streams who would rather draw than spell, and would rather read than do math. Kids will cheer for Lew's dramatic rescue of his baby brother from beneath the wheels of the family carriage, share his joy at discovering the world of books, and feel his pain at the punishment he suffered in the schoolroom.

The book features the adventures of Lew Wallace as a child, and is an introduction to biography written for ages 8-12. Kids will love the story, parents and teachers will appreciate the historic context in which the book is written. Detailed illustrations enhance the text and give a real flavor of the times. "Lew Wallace" is Volume 3 in the Young Patriots Series--don't miss Volume 1, "Amelia Earhart, Young Air Pioneer," and Volume 2, "William Henry Harrison, Young Tippecanoe." You can get all titles in the series in paperback and hardback.