Massachusetts Books

Peter Temes checking in here.

I'm sorry to see the anger in the review posted by the student at Lynn English. I'm glad that he acknowledges that he has not read the book yet -- he says things about it that are simply untrue. Once he has the chance to read it, I trust that he'll see a nuanced view of his school, the good with the bad, and a great deal of respect paid to his fellow students and his teachers. Enough respect, in fact, that full portraits -- not merely the easy, heroic aspects of educators and students in a challenging position -- emerge.

For the record, I've written no articles about Lynn English in the Boston area press, or elsewhere, though a few articles about the book -- not all of them positive -- have appeared.

Our Little Golf Club is a delightful read! Douglas brings to life the charm and quaintness of this prestigous golf course peppered with anecdotes from the Bush and Walker families. This book is a must have for every history buff, golf lover, as well as any one who has visited Kennybunkport and fallen in love with Maine.

If Amazon sales ranking and number of user reviews are indicators of how a book is received and appreciated, then it is sad that not many people read or appreciate this book by Robert Finch.

I consider myself to be among the lucky ones who have stumbled across this gem. This is the second book by Robert Finch that I have read (the first being "Common Ground"), and I find it to have the same consistency and quality as the first book. Some essays, such as "Cutting in" (about beached pilot whales), "A Swallow Summer" are unsentimental narratives of natural phenomena, in which I find myself always struck by the clarity of his writing and the accuracy of the descriptions. Some essays have more of a human touch, such as "An Alewife Lesson" and "A Summer Place"; indeed, although they can undoubtedly be considered nature writings, one can argue that the natural phenomena in them have to take a backseat -- they are more about people and their behavior in nature. "What the Stones Said" has a mythical tinge, keenly reminding one of Thoreau's writings. "North Beach Journal" is the longest essay in the book, and it is an intimate account of one's journey into and out of solitude (at least that is how I read it).

I do not always agree with Mr. Finch's behavior. For example, in "The Seals of Jeremy Point", he described how he charged toward a group of sunning seals -- but at least he is honest to tell us the story. I think I understand why he did it though, for he said in the book "... it is not our impulses that are bad, but the manner and scale on which we have chosen to express them". Yes, the problem is scale, we eventually will crowd out everything else, and perhaps ourselves in the end.

This is a great book if you are new to Boston and looking for outdoor activities. It covers a number of activities including hiking, biking, kayaking, and horseback riding. It also divides things nicely by their distance from Boston. After a couple years it still helps me find new hikes in the area.

Passing Time's time pasting took only one night! In that time W. D. Ehrhart flashed me back to '70, 68, 69, 71, and the nitexmasarclights of '72, Ho ho ho chi minhnity returns with both laughter and extreme anger! Ah! The ying and yang of it to me who calls Bill and old old dear friend whom I had never availed myself to his insight and wit like I did last night with Passing Time! Five stars *****, but never too soon to be a new motion picture. Of an old e-6 hippy from Perkasie, Pa, who graduated from Swarthmore College and worked at sea like all "Old Salt" gyrenes who went a few places, saw a few things and still live to tell about it in all speldid details from the heart. Perspicatious (if that can be now a new adjective!) jvb

"Passion for Reality: Paul Cabot and the Boston Mutual Fund" recounts the life of Paul Cabot, a 20th Century financial pioneer of immense force and accomplishment whom biographer Michael Yogg portrays exquisitely in this intriguing and witty account published recently by Xlibris Books.

Best known as the founder of the first operating mutual fund, in the 1920s, Cabot, along with a team of partners, compiled an extraordinary investment record with this first fund, largely through the then innovative practice of interviewing company managements at their headquarters and other facilities.

Later Cabot discovered and publicized financial fraud in the fund industry in the 1920s which put him in position to lobby on behalf of key New Deal securities legislation. Subsequent accomplishments include (as Harvard College's treasurer) increasing Harvard's endowment allocation to equities just in time for the bull market of the 1950s and (as a corporate director in the 1960s) campaigning against abusive takeover tactics of the aggressive conglomerates.

Author Michael Yogg wrote his book, however, "as much for who Paul Cabot was as for what he did." One commentator has said, "No reporter would have had enough imagination to create the real Cabot!" Michael adds in the book's dust cover notes, "It would have taken the combined talents of Melville, Twain and Whitman to invent a character of such passion, humor and joy."

Currently a Managing Director at Putnam Investments, a leading mutual funds and investments products firm, Michael Yogg is a trained historian as well as an investments expert. Previously, he served as an analyst, research director, and portfolio manager at State Research & Management Company where he found himself in the presence of Paul Cabot, the firm's founder, on a regular basis. He has also been a teaching fellow in the Harvard University history department and holds a history degree from Yale and a Ph.D. from Harvard. Michael and his wife Joan live in Wellesley Massachusetts and have three grown children.

NOTE: This review also appears on my website www.thoughtleading.com

The author has done something quit different in regards to a social history book.He gives a smooth chronological history of Deerfield through stories,but adds in the five why's of why did people pass down,save and write about their history.Deerfield's history was not really that exciting except for a few brief battles during ,King Philips War and Queen Annes War,but that didn't stop the residents from telling and re-telling their stories.I've always been a fan of Deerfield, both visiting and reading about the tales,this book just makes the place a little more special. Again, well worth the price of admission.

I bought this to use in my 6th grade reading classroom. It is excellent to use to teach reading skills such as main idea, author's purpose, or summarizing. I put it in a center and students have 10 minutes to use the book for an assignment. Since it is at a lower reading level, students have success in building skills to use in higher level texts.

This book is a good addition to the grade 1-6 classroom library.

When I was a child what we learned about Paul Revere came from a few lines in our American history books and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem about his famous midnight ride. There is also the painting by Grant Wood that made an impression on me, but I only stumbled across that in one of my father's art books, which I would think is atypical for somebody in elementary school. However, all of those sources put together are not as engaging, and probably not as informative, as this story of "Paul Revere's Ride" written by Shana Corey and illustrated by Chris O'Leary.

Paul Revere did more than ride to warn the minutemen that the British were coming, and Corey and O'Leary work in lots of details that will appeal to young readers. Revere was a silversmith and while he made buckles, bowls, teapots, and trays it is the chain he made for someone's pet squirrel that serves as the first illustration in the book. From that engaging start young readers learn that Revere was also a dentist who made false teeth out of hippo tusks. After that we learn that at night Revere went out to meetings of the Sons of Liberty and find out about the Boston Tea Party and the events that led to the British marching on Concord and Lexington to arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock, two key colonial leaders.

The rest of the book tells the story of Revere's midnight ride, adding details that will particularly appeal to young children, and then covering what happened to Revere afterwards, ending with how Longfellow's poem, written in 1860, finally made him famous. The only fault on content that I find in the book is that while it mentions the name of Robert Newman, the man who would hang the one or two lanterns in the steeple of Christ Church (known today as Old North Church), it does not mention William Dawes, another Son of Liberty rider who actually left Boston by the southern route across Boston Neck to warn Adams and Hancock a half hour before Dr. Joseph Warren asked Revere to make his journey. If you ever do the Freedom Trail in Boston (highly recommended), you can visit the graves of Revere at the Old Granary burying ground (when Adams, Hancock and the victims of the Boston Massacre are also buried) and Dawes at the cemetery at King's Chapel.

This is a Step 3 book in the Step into Reading series, which is the Reading on Your Own level, appropriate to Grades 1-3 (these grade levels are only guides since children learning to read can progress through these steps at their own speed regardless of grade). If you child is comfortable tackling new words and likes to read on their own then they are ready for Step 3, which provides engaging characters, easy-to-follow plots, and popular topics, as "Paul Revere's Ride" amply proves. In helping children take their first steps towards independent reading there are also Step into Reading Sticker Books, Step into Reading Math Readers, Step into Reading Writer-In Readers, Step into Reading Phonic Readers, and Step into Reading Phonics First Steps. So there is a complete literacy program available.

This series is excellent for teaching my ESOL students to read English while allowing them to continue to learn American History with their peers. Paul Revere's Ride is a great example of the series. It is a comprehensive graphic novel which tells a good story and includes some details which were unknown to me. I highly recommend this series.