Maryland Books

This is just a terrible book. Poorly written, and filled with mush. No wonder the USNA is producing a bunch of politically correct graduates who do everything they can to get out of actually serving as a warrior. Don't waste your money on this--and think twice about sending your child to a school that could employ this touchy-feely teacher of mumbo-jumbo.

Jim Webb's "A Sense of Honor" is still the best book about what the Naval Academy USED to be. This things reads like it was written by a flower child from Woodstock.

An interesting book. Despite his critics, Prof Fleming provokes some thought about the how and why of the Naval Academy, and in the process, he puts some interesting, fundamental questions out in the open. Is it enough that the Academy churns out Military officers? And if it were enough, why isn't it simply reduced to an extended Officer Training / Basic Training "curriculum"?

In an on-going period of "battle hardening," it is commendable for an "insider" to continue to challenge a notion of single-mindedness in the context of the Naval Academy curriculum. While there is a conservative / liberal pendulum that is currently (and clearly) leaning toward the conservative side, simply accepting that the curriculum (and training) "is what it is" only promotes (and exacerbates) the notion that there is a single solution for producing an Officer. A Military Commission mandates an Officer's fidelity to the Constitution and its principles. It is beneficial for the individual to understand the reasons why this is the case as well as what those principles are. Without that understanding, we could quickly diverge into the blind leading the blind (for an enlistment demands the individual's obligation to those Officers). While some of the criticisms have merit and deserve consideration, it is a good thing that Prof Fleming is able to cogently articulate his opinions and bring to light the necessity of the midshipmen's complete development - rather than adhere to a one size fits all, single solution.

While I'm still not sure I agree with all aspects of the book / Prof Fleming's thoughts (I plan to read it again), it is at least worth the discussion(s) necessary to see all sides of these arguments.
USNA '96

Amidst many informative and entertaining pages about Annapolis, Prof. Fleming reveals two very shocking facts. One: About 50% of midshipmen do not meet the USNA minimum academic requirements, but are let in anyway, because of perceived needs in athletics and affirmative action. Two, clearly unqualified midshipmen, even those with serious psychological disablities, are allowed to graduate and assume potentially disastrous command positions because to prevent their graduation would reflect badly on the decision to admit them in the first place. Sounds like Catch 22, but it is unfortunately not fiction. There may be some broader social value in weighing factors other than character and ability in civilian schools, but in the military, I would think we would want the very best making command decisions, and not someone there for any other reason. When war is upon us, and lives are at stake, does anything else really matter?

I graduated from the Academy in 73 and it seems as if it hasn't changed a bit. It is as accurate a picture of what goes on inside that an outsider can have. If I didn't know better I would have thought that he was a graduate himself. I recommend it highly; not only for the picture that it gives of the Academy and the Midshippeople (I DON'T CARE IF IT IS A RANK) but because it is an accurate portrayal of much that is going on in this country today.

In Annapolis Autumn, Professor Bruce Fleming gives the reader a rare look into Naval Academy culture with dignity, humor, and occasionally, the kind of candor that makes the brass blush. Having been not only a student, but as well, a staff member at Annapolis, I can tell you that Fleming hits the nail on the head.

Fleming points out that while the US Naval Academy at Annapolis is a fine institution with a rich heritage, there are some glaring warts that could be easily removed, yet political pressure, stereotypes, and conformity all conspire to maintain a status quo beneath the brilliantly polished veneer. Considering the environment he operates, his courage in pointing out the proverbial emperor's new clothes is laudable, yet in my mind he has, without doubt, given something far more praiseworthy: the challenge of critical thought to his midshipmen - students who are indoctrinated daily into a military gung-ho dogma.

Annapolis Autumn is not an exposé and although Fleming is not a dissident, his opinion periodically takes exception with the administration's official stance. He encourages today's military leaders to consider facets of culture and society that might have otherwise in the past been merely academic. Fleming pushes midshipmen to think outside their Academy boxes and use their highly developed minds to be better people on the whole as well as the exceptional naval officers the Academy is famed to produce.

As an alumnus, I genuinely enjoyed Annapolis Autumn. As a free-thinking veteran, I applaud Bruce Fleming's willingness to speak his mind. Well written, eloquently supported, and easily digested, Fleming's book was a both a challenge and a pleasure.

I read this novel with a book club and found the story heartwarming, however the style distracted from the story from the beginning. I found myself noting that words were missing that were essential to the meaning of the some sentences. The author frequently over used words so that they were repeated within a sentence or two when other vocabulary would have made the style more interesting. By the end of the book I was skimming descriptions just to be able to follow the story to it's conclulslion. The book has worth for it's insight into a poverty stricken family in the 1950's.

A member of my bookclub recommended this novel to me and this was the book that got me hooked onto the author's writing style. I read the story of Helen, the mother and her struggles to raise 7 children with little or no help from her husband. I have to admit that I kept forgetting that this story takes place in the 1950's when women rights were practically non existent. As the author pointed out the law that required a women in the state of Maryland to have 9 children before she was allowed to have a tubal ligation and then she would need her doctors AND husbands approval before the operation was performed. Thank goodness those days are gone. Anyway back to the skillful writing of the author. Mr. Saunders wove such a wonderful story that you didn't feel depressed. He sprinkled humor and wit at the right time with the boys Barry and Noah and their playful antics with their neighbor boys. They reminded me of two Dennis the Menace's running loose in this small hamlet of Tommytown. Still, the author's focus was the mother, Helen. Overall, the story was not only a joy to read but very educational and worthy of your time and it makes an excellent read for young adults. Highly recommend this book.

This is one of those magical books that takes one back to a time almost forgotten with all the hardships and good times mingled. Not only does the author involve you in the lives of a family struggling for existence in near impossible circumstances, he has an art of putting one in the place of each of the characters alloiwng you to see and feel as they do no matter what the age of the character.

Reminders of the way of society surrounding rural 1950 abound. One can feel the emotions of the characters as they deal with events within the constraints of the times; one can see the landscape and architure surrounding the story; one can smell the odors and fragrances of a time gone by.

This book is a real page-turner. I could not put it down and have begun another book by the same author.

Mr. Saunders is hardworking in his writing and a very pleasant man to speak with.

I've read both books in the Tommytown series and I think they are ten times better than the Harry Potter books I have read. Plus the stories are based on real people. I kept reading and reading these books. I'm glad my mother got me started on them, because they were just great.

Tommytown is a truly refreshing departure the typical best sellers that are out there today. The exception is A Thousand Splendid Suns and a few other books that I won't mention. Mr. Saunders steps out of the box and encircles a world of writing that I would like to see more of from writers today. His passion and honesty drawn from his own childhood experiences are transposed into this captivating tale. Actually I found it hard to believe that the author was able to sit down and relive his horrible experiences of living in sheer poverty and constant fear of a father that showed no compassion or concern for the welfare of his wife and children. This family was dirt poor and the author made no effort to give me the impression that I would not be paying a visit to the home of the Beaver Cleaver's family. Still, I was glad the author sprinkled a bit of humor here and there because it kept the story from being so depressing. I really enjoyed the horse back ride the two brothers, Barry and Noah took on the hot summer night. I just had to laugh.

The novels takes the reader back to the 1950's where Helen Forman, living in sheer ;poverty makes another lonely decision to keep her 7 children fed, clothed and sheltered. The buck stops with Helen, her husband fails to support her, but still she keeps a small smile on her face smothers her boys with warm hugs and kisses.. Mr. Saunders does a fantastic piece of work of transforming his mind down from the level of a mature adult to that innocent world of young boys. In "Tommytown", Mr. Saunders reveals the thinking of the 11 year old Barry, 9 year old Noah and 13 year old Karen. I don't know too many authors that can make that transformation and still create a story that is entertaining and well written. In summary, this is a warm, wonderful story that deserves every reader's attention. I highly recommend this one.

I loved this book and I'm sure I smiled all the way through it. Everyone loves nostalgia about the good ole days -- meaning, we ALL have our own good old days. But the times he writes about are especially delightful and innocent. The music was great and something everyone and anyone could sing along with. The movies were dreamy. The radio was great and innovative. And best of all were Mom's final words to the young on summer days: Be home before dark! Yes, we used to go out and play. We didn't have play dates; we just played with whoever was there on that day. Sometimes we played kick the can, or tag, or jump rope, or went on long bike rides, or went to town to the small store to look at magazines and comic books and drool over the candy in the glass counters. We may even have had a nickle in our pockets to buy something.

In any event, I grew up in basically the same circumstances as young Charles describes in this book. The book is short and sweet, something to smile about on each and every page. I wish it was longer -- Both the childhood of the 1940s and this book. Both were great.

I envy Charles Osgood. He saw and experienced a Baltimore I never did. The stork didn't drop me off in B'more until 1955. I had such a good time in seeing things I remembered from a different perspective. If it's possible, I loved my city just a bit more after reading this. Thanks for the memories and insights.

I was drawn to pick up this book when I saw the cover--the picture of the author as a young boy is irresistible. Although the content was interesting, I found myself quickly becoming annoyed by the author's numerous slurs towards our younger generation. I found his words to be increasingly mean-spirited and I finally put the book down for good when he made light of both children and their parents who are faced with the struggle of bipolar disorder. The author reminds me of many older Americans who can't see that the world has changed greatly since the 1940's and that our younger generation has many redeeming characteristics.

This delightful read, one year in the life of a 9-year old boy, may be the most enjoyable book I've read in years. And I read a lot of stuff. The year was 1942 and Charles Osgood describes it magnificently as lived by most of us the same age. I laughed with tears in my eyes on almost very page. This book should be enjoyed by the children and grandchildern of those of us that were children during that incredible year, 1942. Memory lane was never better documented. Enjoy.

Osgood's wit and rich tribute to his 1940s boyhood results in an enjoyable, worthwhile read, even better if you get the audio version, read by Charles himself. I did find his criticisms of today's children (and their excessively competitive parents) a bit grating. It made me think of a book that could have been written when he was a child, something like, "Radio?! Who needs that! Why when I was a boy we didn't need all those special effects and people shouting at you from a wooden box! We had books, like Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. And they were never spoiled by silly toothpaste or hair tonic commercials."

The problem with nostalgia is that it can create an abnoral yearning for an irrecoverable past, and is often excessively sentimental. Tempis fugit...

This book, written by a murdered woman's sister, is interesting and well-written. However, it is written from the point of view of a loving family member of the victim. I enjoy reading true crime, which is usually written by an unrelated and unbiased third party. Of course, Molly, the writer, misses her sister Susan terribly, and she did try to give a somewhat impartial picture of Susan's abusive relationship with her husband. But instead of empathizing with Susan, I questioned first of all, why Susan left what appeared to be a perfectly good marriage with two children, and left her husband for a lover who was also married. It is difficult to empathize with a woman who would entice another woman's husband when she had a good and long-term relationship of her own. The fact that she was oblivious to his alcoholism and abuse, shows that she had some serious emotional flaws and should have sought professional help. Only late in the book do we find out that Susan and Molly's mother was also an alcoholic. This would have shed more light on the reason why Susan was so taken in and did not try to leave until it was too late. Lacking in self-esteem as Susan was, hers is the story of many abusive relationships. The fact that the police did an inadequate job of finding evidence to indict the apparent murderer makes it even more frustrating. I can understand Molly's dedication to her sister's cause, but I am left wishing this had been written by an impartial third party. The continual descriptions of Molly and Susan's wonderful siblings is appropriate in a biography, but not in true crime. I would have liked more photos of the victim, and not so many of her family.

Molly walks us through the harrowing tale of her own very personal plight to find her sister, Susan. The person who is responsible for her death is very clear, to everyone except the authorities. While reading this book, you gain a very personal kinship to Molly, and wish you could have been there to help in the families search for Susan. A very true account of a volatile relationship, with a tragic outcome. Buy this book! You will not regret it!

This book was very well written and the personalities very well portrayed. Wish I'd been able to know and love Susan. The abuse that she endured (and dished out) is incomprehensible to me but I know it happens all too often. I just wish peeps in this same kind of situation could read this book and determine to GET OUT of their own nightmare!

Molly Moran's FINDING SUSAN deals with the disappearance of and search for her sister, Susan Harrison. Susan left a stable marriage that included two young sons to hook up with her eventual husband, Jim Harrison, and found herself in a ten year abusive and alcoholic relationship. FINDING SUSAN actually deals with finding her in two different ways, both the Herculean effort Ms. Moran and her brothers undertook in their physical search, which the family found more than a little frustrating, and also Ms. Moran's reflective searching of the dynamics of their family life when they were children in a search for clues as to why Susan's life took the turn that it did.
Molly Moran is not only Susan Harrison's sister. She is also a professional writer, and the writing in this book is honest, emotional, and soul searching. Ms. Moran misses and mourns Susan deeply and that comes through loud and clear.
The only quibble I would have is that, though I realize that the writing of this book was cathartic and incredibly personal for the author, as a reader who is not personally involved, I felt that Ms. Moran's repetitively describing what outstanding people her siblings and her nephews, Susan's children, are became excessive. But given Ms. Moran's perspective this is understandable.
FINDING SUSAN, though apparently classified as such, really is not true crime. It is rather an intensely sad personal statement by Molly Moran and it is well worth reading.

I want to thank Molly Hurley Moran for writing this book. Her sister, Susan Hurley Harrison, was murdered in 1994 and the crime is still, to this day, unsolved. This story came to my attention when it was featured on Unsolved Mysteries back in late 1996 - ironically, shortly before Susan's body was discovered. Moran's novel brings you into the life story of her sister, and after reading it you feel like you know Susan personally. It is a tragic story of a talented woman who was a loving mother to her two sons but was affected by spousal abuse which may ultimately have played a role in her murder. Was Jim Harrison, her husband, also her killer? The Maryland state attorney general declined to file charges, but that doesn't mean Harrison had no involvement in Susan's murder. Read Moran's book and study the evidence involved.

This is a GREAT book! Amazing insight to the reality of his life and what courage he must have. To have stood up against things and not backed down, he truly turned his life around!
Five stars!

As a Baltimore native, I enjoyed this book very much and would probably rate it a "5" based on my enjoyment only. However, thinking of others--not from the Baltimore area--it probably would not be quite as interesting. Knowing the area, and even some of the players, made it a quick read for me. In fact, it was too quick of a read. Made me wish there was more. . .

"Wised Up" is an absolutely chilling account of organized crime in my home town, Baltimore. I previously believed that crime in this city was basically random and disorganized except for the activity of a few drug king pins. This book documents the organized superstructure of a very complex home grown "management system" of illegal activity. Moreover, it has no connection to the traditional Mafia. Charlie Wilhelm's candid revelation of his life including significant events is far more frightening and captivating then any of the "best seller" crime thrillers. He tells this story in a way that makes the reader "stand in his shoes" and experience Charlie's emotions as he reached a point of fear and ambivalence regarding his life of crime. We've all heard the "you-can't-get-out-of-it-once-you-get into-it" theme regarding the impact of an individual's participation in an organized crime syndicate. However, in this true story, you live the fear, the sleepless nights, the concern for love ones and the mental trepidation in a way that no fictional account can begin to relate.

Charlie's experience also revealed the level of corruption in Baltimore Law enforcement and City Government. Throughout the book, he provides examples of the impact of police on the take, city officials who are paid to look the other way, and even documemted leaks in the federal attorney general's office. In fact, once Charlie decided to extricate himself from this life, he had a major problem finding an official authority that he could trust. One bad move here and he would have been a dead man.

As I read this memoir, I began to feel that Charlie had a deep soft spot that prevented him from becoming the complete criminal. He seemed to have a mentally "drawn line" that caused him to have concern for some of his activity. In fact, he mentions that he personally paid the interest for some of his loan sharking customers who couldn't make the payments. This is reminiscent of the Sylvester Stallone's Rocky character who was also a collector of loans who had compassion for his particularly weak customers. In addition, when Charlie was asked to commit the ultimate crime... murder... his unconscious sense of morals guided him to make a break from this life. It is at this point that ultimate courage came into play. Not only did he have to summon the power to quit, he also had to "blow the whistle" on many of his "wise guy" friends to the FBI in order to achieve complete absolution. In making this choice, he underestimated how deep he had to go to protect both his sanity and his loved ones as he traversed this ordeal. Charlie also suffered the embarrassment of having to reveal his criminal life in a legal setting without knowing whether this voluntary confession would land him in jail for a good part of his remaining life. This is a must read for anyone from Baltimore as well as anyone who wants to understand the complex criminal enterprise from a realistic non-Hollywood standpoint.

Charlie Wilhelm should be admired for his courage and strength when became an informant for the FBI. It takes a strong man to turn away from wealth plus jeopardize the lives of his family and himself to do the right thing. It took a lot of courage for Charlie and Gina to return to the Baltimore area to live. This is NOT just another mob story. Any person who would believe that "Wised Up" is just another mob story, should read the article in the Huntsville Times, dated March 12, 2005. Not only should Charlie be admired and looked up to but so should the rest of his family who stood by him. This book is funny, sad and almost unbelievable at times although I know it is all true. I very much enjoyed reading it and will read it many times again. I highly recommend "Wised Up" as a must read book.

Wised Up by Charlie Wilhelm is a very interesting book of a life I can not imagine. Charlie has a window of opportunity to be a positive influence for others especially children or teens in their formative years. Wised Up is written in a way that makes you feel you are there and experiencing everything Charlie is. Charlie showed great courage in going to the FBI and not asking for witness protectection. How many would have the courage to do that and return to Baltimore to live? Charlie has experienced a life most of us can only read about and not even imagine in our greatest imagination. When a man changes his life so completely, how can anyone say it is just another gangster story? If I could give this book a 10 star rating, I would.
Charlie, will there be a sequel or a movie?

This book describes the everyday lives of school administrators, school teachers, and students in one economically-challenged elementary school in Maryland. It provided fascinating insight into their collective struggles to deal with the No Child Left Behind program, which mandates testing of students. It's a generally even-handed and fair look at the program, acknowledging that in theory the testing is a reasonable idea, but showing how it creates myriad problems in practice. It's a very readable and cogent narrative of the course of one year, and provided real insight into the lives of these critical (and sadly, underpaid) members of the workforce.

TESTED is an excellent book about the meaning of the test-and-punish philosophy embedded in our federal education law, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

TESTED resounts the choices that the principal and teachers in one Maryland elementary school believe NCLB forces upon them. Perlstein tells the story of the entire 2005-2006 school year she spent at Tyler Heights Elementary, a school that serves very poor children and teeters on the brink of making or losing the Adequate Yearly Progress rating NCLB awards to a 'successful' school.

"Bombard, bombard, bombard those children with the kinds of questions they'll have on the test," the principal rationalizes. "You want the students at a level of automaticity with reading those test-like questions."

The reader spends days stretching into months with the third-grade teaching team. We watch them collaboratively plan each day to the minute, and we listen as the children yearn for more at school---to do some science, read for fun, perform a play. Will the school raise its scores enough? Suspense mounts until the last chapter. Then the reader must weigh the benefits and costs.

"Tested" is a fascinating but depressing account of how the No Child Left Behind act has affected one government-run elementary school serving an overwhelmingly poor & minority population in inner city Annapolis, MD. Test scores at the school are way up, but at the price of doing little aside from drill-and-kill reading and math test prep.

Ms. Perlstein is clearly sympathetic towards the teachers and students (sometimes overly so) and antagonistic towards the hard-nosed district superintendent, state & Federal officials, and NCLB in general (again sometimes overly so). For example, she paints a rosy picture of the pre-NCLB "whole language" reading program at the school and bashes the current phonics program while glossing over the fact that the failure rate went from a whopping 80% down to 10% in 2 years after the switch. The pendulum may have swung a bit too far, but that doesn't mean it was the wrong direction.

Another example of how Ms. Perlstein lets her political agenda bias her writing is in her treatment of the children who show up to kindergarten unprepared. Instead of placing the blame where it should be (on the parents who aren't teaching their kids what they need to know), she goes off on this big propaganda for universal government-run preschool. Most of the people my age & older never attended preschool, and many in my parents' generation did not even attend kindergarten, and somehow we all did just fine. Not to mention that the existing government-run preschool programs have yet to show any lasting positive benefits.

"Tested" would've been a better book had it been written from more of an objective journalist point-of-view and less of an activist one. Still, I found it a fascinating account from the trenches of the tremendous pressures NCLB has placed on teachers.

I love the hand-wringing the education community has been doing over No-Child-Left-Behind. My god, teachers must attend staff developments on how to "feel" about this law and its supporters. If they pledge to hate Bush, they'll get tenure; if not, not. I've been teaching for 25 years and as far as I'm concerned this has been the best thing to come down the pike in 25 years or more. From 1960 to 1985 we saw the dismantling of one of the best public school systems in the world. Earnest, hardened, hard-core battle-ax teachers, chiefly female, ran a great program for most kids of all walks of life. You never heard boo about immigrant kids in LA (or elsewhere) getting or feeling cheated. Standards were uniform. After the 60s, things began to fall apart. Step by step, everything that worked was cast aside. Major high schools like Hollywood, to take but one example, went from being the jewel in the crown of a great system to being a basket case. Everything went out the window. Curriculum? That was replaced by Robin Williams and his cast of circus clown friends who demanded the right to do their own thing. With the video recorder came film classes. At first there was a film club, then a film class, then a cinema department, and finally all the classes had their own VCRs and televisions and teachers played movies all day everyday, but especially on free-Fridays when all the administrators were out sick and on Mondays when all the administrators were downtown at staff meetings. I say "all." Of course, this is not quite true. There have always been good teachers here and there who wouldn't dream of wasting time. These types work quietly and keep their heads down. But the hustlers and "Teach for America" types, the "reformers," the administrative careerists are the first ones in line to use technology because like the big-boys in the Pentagon, power lies where the money is and the money is behind machines. During the great LA teachers strike of 1989, thousands, literally, of kids were herded into auditoriums all around LA, hundreds of thousands of children, were pushed into their seats and shown cartoons for 7 1/2 hours a day by cutting-edge educators who had nothing whatever to say to the kids other than "sit down and shut up." I heard it and saw it with my own eyes. There were principals, vice principals, deans, counselors, district superintendents, psychologists and nurses, not to mention scab-teachers, but no one had any idea what to say to the kids who had trudged to school those days and weeks, so they were shown videos. Educational videos? Ha! Even that would have required selection. No, they were shown Steven Spielberg dreck for hours on end, repeated day after day. Why? Because without accountability there is nothing anyone in this debased field can agree on. You say teach Homer, I say teach Toni Morrison, he says teach uplifting stories about gays, and another insists the stories must contain the saga of slaves and their descendants. When the dust settles, it is everyman for himself. Do your own thing. Keep the kids happy, don't hit them or if you must, don't leave any marks. If cartoons work, use them. Who's to say cartoons aren't educational. This is where we are. The Bush standards are awful, the testing is disruptive, the entire project is an insult to learning, but the alternative is what I lived and worked with: chaos.

No Child Left Behind inspires passionate rhetoric from both its supporters and its critics. If you're a supporter, NCLB is a watershed law that finally pulls failing urban and rural schools into the light of day. If you're a critic, NCLB is an oppressive law that cruelly burdens teachers under siege with even more demeaning job requirements. For laymen trying to get an informed position on the law, it's very hard to find books and articles where you can familiarize yourself with the issues and come up with your own opinion. In "Tested", Perlstein provides a powerful story that shows how a successful NCLB school in Annapolis develops a laserlike focus on the tests and ends up getting the scores.

Perlstein clearly dislikes the law and strongly criticizes NCLB in every way. A teacher Perlstein admires ends up leaving the school at the end of the year after becoming overly stressed by the school's focus on test success at the expense of learing. We frequently see some of the artificial techniques that are used to help boost scores such as breathing exercises, incentive plans and even a mascot led assembly. She portrays students as losing the meaning and the life of education as they seek to become masters of BCRs, the mechancially graded Brief Constructed Response questions. And in the end, she questions whether the tests measure anything useful. In the later portions of the book, she alludes to how the test writing process is flawed and how students who struggled with basic writing ended up getting scores that surprised the adults. The third graders who teachers are convinced will fail based on their day to day experiences working with the kids often surprise their teachers with passing scores.

This book falls short of being a definitive text on No Child Left Behind. We're only looking at one school. This Annapolis Middle School is one isolated low-income school in a relatively good district and the experience probably differs in some ways from nearby schools in Washington, DC, Baltimore, or Prince George's County. Perlstein's book would be much more powerful if she provided some stories from other neighboring schools so that we could see how typical the experience in this school is. Perlstein also overlooks the argument that many NCLB supporters will make. NCLB did spur this school to attempt to reach more kids than it did before testing. Yes, the school artificially pursues scores. But NCLB has lit a fire under the administration to succeed that may only need to be better channeled.

The book ultimately succeeds because you develop a real compassion for the kids she describes, the struggles of the principal and the tough choices that the teachers make on a day to day basis. Parents who are new to understanding NCLB can really gain from the stories in this book.

There's still room for a more balanced classic book on NLCB that addresses a wider range of schools and informs and changes the opinions of both supporters and opponents of NCLB. But Tested is a good first step and will help that book get written. I hope this book does well so that publishers can see that there is an audience for well-written, accessible books that help policy makers and the concerned public understand this controversial legislation.

4 stars

--SD

For someone growing up in Baltimore in the 50's ,this brought back great memories .The '59 Championship game against the Giant ,which I can remember watching with my father.The players who were members of the Baltimore neighborhood ( Johnny Unitas got his hair cut at my barbershop).Sunday was Colt football from morning when everyone went to their neighborhood bar,then got on buses to the stadium and after the game came back to the bars.With no real college football team in Baltimore, the Colts were everyone's team .I grew up blocks away from the stadium.This book brings back all these memories.It is a great read .

I agree with one of the posts in that the author does have a tendency to focus on his life a bit, but taken in the context of just how much the Colts meant to his family during that period of time, it's understandable to a degree. However, the best thing about the book is the individual stories (Gino Marchetti & Alan Ameche especially) as to how players during that era were real human beings who were elbow to elbow with the working class public on a day to day basis; not the pompus, self-indulgent & ego-centric clowns of today's sport scene.

When you compare the game of yesteryear to that of today's NFL with the constant in your face marketing and overcommercialization, the greed and waste of public money to subsidize the new palaces for the spoiled and calloused athletes of today, it truly does make you wish that time had stood still and remained as it did in the 1950's.

The book talks too much about the author's life and his father. Very little about the games. Some of the material is based upon interviews with former Colts that were conducted for the author. Some of the information about the Colts before 1952 (when they were the Dallas Texans), and particularily the Colts of the AAFC I had not heard before, but it makes up just a few pages of the book.

I"ve been in love with the Colts (no need to add Baltimore - since they stole away in the night I have referred to that other team as the Indianapolis Irsays)since childhood. This book allowed me to relive it all. And it made me so very nostalgic. Players who were part of the community. Crime going down when the Colts played. Gino Marchetti - nothing needs to be added to that name. The joke in my family was that my mom went into labor with me at a Colts game. I was her first child and she knew the labor would be long so she stayed for the end of the game (which we won). Folks not from Baltimore find that story odd. Anyone from the Baltimore Colts days takes it completely in stride....of course you would wait for the end of the game. Union Memorial Hospital is only a couple of blocks away. And my very first memory is of the 1958 champsionship game with the Giants. We we all faithfully gathered around our TV with the adored baby (me) in the seat of honor on the floor surrounded by doting adults and stuffed animals. Until the cable went out and I experienced total abandonment! Dad went out the back door to see if the neighbor's TV had gone blank, mom went out to the car to try to tune in the game on the radio and grandmother streaked upstairs to find her radio. I wailed! Where had the good guys (the Colts) disappeared to? As I said, I was ALWAYS a fan! Thank you so very much for these memories Mr. Gildea! This book is a treasure!

A wonderful diary about not only a great, "hall of famer" loaded team (the Old Baltimore Colts) but a very supportive city - and the partnership that they forged.

It just ain't the same anymore.

For a "complete" Colts' book collection get this one, "Sundays at 2:00 with the Baltimore Colts," and anything with the name of John Steadman on it.

As an internal consultant and leadership coach, I have often shared this book with leaders and leadership teams (at all levels). The profiles in the book are engaging and the development exercises are pragmatic. They are relevant for both men and women. Zichy uses Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as the book's primary frame of reference. The essence of MBTI theory boils down to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment. Perception involves all the ways of becoming aware of things, people, happenings, or ideas. Judgment involves all the ways of coming to conclusions about what has been perceived. If people differ systematically in what they perceive and in how they reach conclusions, then it is only reasonable for them to differ correspondingly in their interests, reactions, values, motivations, and skills. Zichy depicts 8 distinct leadership styles. As you journey through the book and read about the various leadership "neighborhoods", you will learn more about your own personal leadership style, optimal and least preferred working environment, approach to change, contributions to a team, decision-making style, potential blind spots, as well as, the strengths and differences of the other 7 styles.

I've not been able to really complete the reading and excercises in the book because the questions in the digital version of the book were scanned in and are unreadable on my IPaq. I would like to find out if this "problem" will ever be fixed so I can get some use out of the e-version of this book.

This book is insightful and fun. It punctures the usual stereotypes about the difference between male and female leaders. It quickly showed me that it was okay to be competitive and task driven. After all, one in every three women is. I wish I had read it 20 years ago. The test is incisive and Zichy's advice is right on target - become comfortable with yourself, play to your strengths and appreciate what others bring to the table. I also loved reading about the women she profiles - about their backgrounds, ambitions and views on leadership. This book is a unique toolkit. There is something in it for everyone.

To achieve power and influence, people have to know who you are, what you stand for, and why they should promote you, do business with you, or even VOTE FOR YOU! The authors give great tips on creating a leadership role for women, but creating a strategic 'personal' publicity plan needs to be part of the package.Visibility is part of leadership and to really take charge of your future - you have to create a significant image in the workplace, in the community - or on the political scene.

To achieve power and influence, people have to know who you are, what you stand for, and why they should promote you, do business with you, or even VOTE FOR YOU! The authors give great tips on creating a leadership role for women, but creating a strategic 'personal' publicity plan needs to be part of the package.Visibility is part of leadership and to really take charge of your future - you have to create a significant image in the workplace, in the community - or on the political scene.

I really enjoyed this book, and liked the way that it takes you right into the moment with members of the family struggling to keep hold of their birthright.

The writing is crisp and tight and gives a you a good feel for the eras it covers.

I liked seeing pictures and news clippings too.

Great book for the genealogy or history buff!

Thoroughly enjoyed reading about the history of this American family and their home. The book could have read like a dry diary full of boring facts and dates, but the authors kept it very interesting by allowing the reader to go back in history with the key players. I recommend this book highly.

This book was a real eye opener about the people in our history who have done amazing things for love of their heritage. You'll be surprised at what you read! Rather than being dry or dull this is a great combination of history and imagination.

The thing I have always loved most about history was that it tells a story. Not just the story of a nation or the kings, queens and presidents of those nations, but the story of the people that fill those nations. Woodland Hall tells the very personal story of a single family and the home they live in through several centuries.

Very few families are able to follow so many generations through a single home and their history in and out of it, which makes this book even more significant. A great piece of family history.

It is so important in a country like America that is still considered young compared to the rest of the world for families to be aware of their histories and hold on to those legacies for future generations. I really enjoyed reading about Woodland Hall and it reminds me to gather as much of my own family histories and memorabelia to pass on to my children. If you enjoy reading true stories about family histories and their struggles to cling to their birthright then this is a great book to get.

Only through respect for all creatures can we have true respect for ourselves. This book gave me a new insight into what goes on in the animal liberation front and in the labrotories. The people in this book are heros to the animals. I was glad that "Valorie" realized violent direct action was wrong and did not get involved with it. "I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection from man, from the cruelties of man."-Ghandi

Ingrid Newkirk is a crazy person with a lack of any value for human kind. The ALF is a terrist grope who bomb and hurt people in the name of animals. Its one big money making dream dreamed up by yours truly Ingrid Newkirk . They should lock them all up and through the key away ! Please check out some of the FBI reports about these people before you support them in buying there book..... This grope has been in the news for bombing labs and raiding animal farmers around the world. One of Ingrid Newkirk sayings is the life of an ant and that of a child has the same value. These are sick....sick people.

This book was an eye-opener for me. Seeing what goes on in labratories in the name of so-called science was unbelievable and heartwrenching. It angered me to learn that my tax-dollars pay for a large portion of this suffering.

You will be shocked when you read about the experiments, the animals' living conditions, the lack of medical care, and the pain and suffering these animals endure druing their short lives. And you don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that a large portion of these experiments are USELESS when applied to human beings.

You will get up-close and personal with some of the members of the ALF. They're not rebels. They are normal people like you and I - yet they have unbelievable compassion and respect for all creatures. They are the voices for those that cannot speak.

As Alice Walker wrote "The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men"

Ingrid Newkirk's Free The Animals! really opened my eyes to the terrible cruelties forced upon animals in our society. I found myself laughing, crying, and even cheering for Valerie and all of the people who helped her. It's nice to know that there are people in the world today who will speak up for those who can't speak.

Before I read this book, I knew very little about the ALF (Animal Liberation Front). I assumed that they must have been a radical, "terrorist-like" organization. After reading this book, however, I gained a much greater understanding and appreciation for what the ALF is, and what they do for animals. This fast-paced book (I could hardly put it down!) tells the story of how ordinary people wanted to make a difference in the lives of many helpless and defenseless animals who have been imprisoned in our country's laboratories. I felt a deep connection to the founder of the American ALF, Valerie. She, and her associates (Josh, Bear, and Edna) are truly American heroes. They all had the courage to stand up to the many shameless institutions that support needless animal suffering. This book could change your life...