Massachusetts Books

What an interesting and informative text this is. It is well indexed and a very engaging read. We are going to enjoy referring to it for years to come.

If the name Benjamin Waterhouse doesn't sound familiar immediately, it's because he's a 1754-born doctor who introduced vaccination to the U.S. and promoted the procedure around the country - yet was scorned by the Boston medical establishment. DR. BENJAMIN WATERHOUSE: A LIFE IN MEDICINE AND PUBLIC SERVICE reviews his many achievements, the controversy surrounding them, and his pioneering popularization of the study of natural history in New England. Despite his many achievements, it's surprising to note this is the first major biography covering his life and work - and provides a wonderfully in-depth, rich survey of his accomplishments and times.

I read this book for my first women's studies course in college. The documents presented here provide interesting illustrations of women's lives and work and of ideas and conventions about women's roles in American society. It is a valuable resource for academics and teachers, and an interesting read for everyone else.

Its a shame that in many history classes, half of the human experience is virtually ignored. This is even more apparent in terms of anthologies of documents. Nancy Woloch has made an outstanding contribution in correcting this in her _Early American Women_.

The book is marvelous in the wide variety of documents it contains. There is census data from Spanish California, accounts of Iroquois women in government, oral histories of slaves (and mistresses), and some really fabulous material on the 19th century sufferage movement. The voices of women from all social classes can be heard here, from the colonial era to the Progressive period. It is very well rounded, and I will certainly be including it as a part of my curriculum.

The only short-coming I find in the book is its lack of statistical and visual documents. With this minor criticism said, I highly recommend this book to educators, especially those in the discipline of history.

This book is the only collection of Du Bois's major thoughts and insights on the role of higher education for African Americans. Oddly enough no publisher would print these essays during Du Bois's lifetime. However, Herbert Aptheker was able to have them published after Du Bois's death. This book is the most comprehensive thinking of Du Bois on higher education. The essays primarily cover the role of Black colleges as well as the importance of financial and intellectual independence of Black education institutions. He makes it exceedingly clear that education for full social equality and Black uplift must be the hallmark of Black educators and education institutions. His essay on "The Field and Function of the Negro College" makes an excellent institutional blueprint to accompany his TWO essays on the talented tenth (1903 AND 1948)which outlined his views on individual responsibilities of educated Blacks. As African American higher ed institutions and op! portunities are on unstable ground (in light of anti-affirmative action policies and the financial distress of HBCU's) the current generation of Black educators, policy makers, and scholars would do well to harken to the sage advice offered by the greatest African American scholar-activist that ever lived. There is much to be found in these essays that has relevance to the challenges we face in the coming century. As an African American doctoral candidate in higher education I find comfort in knowing that I have Dr. Du Bois's words, insights, and legacy at my fingertips. As this book is out of print, I would suggest that others who do not own this volume petition the publisher to renew it. It's a treasure to be cherished.

Thankfully this book has been reprinted, along with a new 2001 introduction by Herbert Aptheker (who puts in a gentle "slam" of David Levering Lewis's two Pulitzer Prize winning biographies for good measure). The picture of Du Bois on the new cover is another one of those "I am God and You are not worthy" type of pictures. I've gone and made it one of my screen savers.

Du Bois's prescient and practical advice is, as usual, pretty much on target. It is also interesting to observe the evolution in his thinking in the fifty-four years covered in this slim (you can read this book in a couple of sittings) volume. He answers some eternally debated questions: To whom should college presidents and administrations be ultimately accountable? (Alumni) What is the point of a liberal education? (character) etc.

This book goes far beyond the "Booker T vs. W.E.B." educational debates that dominated 100 years ago (and that most people remember). It provides specific pedagogical advice and is written in the typical Du Boisian style; lucid, straightforward, inspirational. The man lived longer than most, and did a whole lot while he was alive. In its own way this little book is just as important, if not more so, than the other little book for which he is justifably famous, "The Souls of Black Folk."

Upon the death of their father, Elizabeth and her younger brother and sister go to live with their aunt and uncle in a small town that neighbors Salem, Massachusetts...during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Elizabeth's uncle turns out to be extremely strict...especially on Elizabeth's brother, and after a childish indiscretion, her uncle actually sends her brother off to be an indentured servant...in Salem. Between Elizabeth's fear for her brother, all the hard work, trying to fit in in a new town, and her confusing feelings for a young farmer, Elizabeth's life has become more complicated than she ever dreamed possible. But it's about to get more complicated. Elizabeth, on one of her long walks, happens to meet Nell, a young woman who has recently come from Barbados to live with her grandmother, and Johnny, a young man Elizabeth suspects of being the highwayman that has recently terrorized the village. Elizabeth unexpectedly finds a place to belong and true friendship with these social outcasts and begins to secretly meet with them. But then Nell is accused of witchcraft. Elizabeth knows that the charge is not true, but by speaking up, she will reveal her own deceit and perhaps implicate herself as well. And if all that were not enough, Elizabeth fears that she has fallen in love...with the highwayman!

Elizabeth is an orphan, who, along with her younger brother and sister, has come to a small town not far from Salem, Massachusetts, to live with her aunt and uncle. But it's 1692, and there are witch hunts in Salem. When the witch fever spreads to her own town and her best friend is accused of being a witch, Elizabeth must choose between speaking up for her friend and risking her own life, or standing by quietly and allowing her innocent friend to die. How can she choose?

This is an excellent biography not just for academics but also anyone who's interested in this period of American history or interested in women's history as well. Cleary does a great job of presenting this woman's struggles and life in a way that is entertaining as well as enlightening. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

I was at the book signing and got an autographed copy. I haven't read it yet, but the author is a hottie!!

This was a wonderful book to read.
Elsie's family decides to vacation in Nantucket for the Summer. It turns out to be an even better trip than they first thought. Captain Raymond is at home to watch over his children, instead of out at sea. But the storms that are raging could hurt a few members of Elsie's family that are out on a boating trip. The family just has to keep faith that God will protect their loved ones. With just enough positive, fun events to override those accidental-prone events, it makes the vacation season have just enough flavor.
I know you'll absolutely love this charming book.

PLEASE TRY TO FIND ALL THE ELSIE BOOKS. WHEN WILL THE ELSIE AT NANTUCKET BE AVAILABLE? CAN YOU FIND THE OTHERS (PAST GRANDMOTHER ELSIE)?

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.