Independent Books

Out of print or not, I have no doubt that "Agatha Moudio's son" belongs among the classics of World Literature.

Well above 30 years have passed since this novel fetched a prestigious prize for African literature, founding the fame of its author in large parts of francophone West Africa and among connoisseurs worldwide. It is fresh as ever and fun to read even for the casual consumer. At the same time, it has many dimensions that unfold as one gets back to it again and again.

The story is told from the angle of a young fisherman in a coastal village in Cameroon. He never gets over his fascination for Agatha, an independent young woman with witch like qualities, such as making rain at convenient occasions. In spite of fierce resistance from his mother, he ends up taking in Agatha as his second wife, after obediently establishing his first marriage with Fanny, a "good girl" from a neighbor village. Soon after joining the family as a co-wife, Agatha gives birth to a baby boy whose skin is unusually light and doesn't turn to the "local color" even after months....

The reader comes to see polygamy and other approaches to life in the African village in the characters' own frame of logic - not as exotic phenomena, but not idealized, either. Among other things, the book, as well as the song that was based on it and became an earworm in West Africa over decades, is a superb play with the spectrum of colors. Agatha makes her man "see all the colors". She gives him a son who is not of the "right" color to be his biological child - but a child is a child, whether their color is black, white, red, green or yellow.

During my work in Africa, I have experienced how extracts from this book and other Bebey lyrics (including some of his characteristic witty, philosophical, story-telling songs) instantly built bridges of communication across very diverse sets of people. His stories, and the way they are told, are quintessentially African, and at the same time, universally human.

In The Agile Manager's Guide To Managing Change, Robert Ristino draws upon his expertise as a strategic communications specialist to provide the reader with the theory and tools necessary to handle the inevitable business and marketing changes evoked by our rapidly evolving global economy and technological advances. Ristino shows the corporate manager how to manage routine changes, radical and non-routine changes, understand and deal with the sense of loss in the workplace brought about by change, understand and overcome resistance to change, and turn the stresses that arising from change into productive energy. The Agile Manager's Guide To Managing Change is illuminating, informative, thought-provoking, useful, practical, reading for anyone charged with managerial responsibilities at any level, from line foreman to CEO.

Jim Dow is a Boston photographer whose beautiful photos of North Dakota graced the North Dakota art museum in Grand Forks a little while ago. Jim's quirky, free-wheeling spirit promises an exceptionally entertaining afternoon while viewing this book.

All teachers have had, at one time or another, students who were less than motivated to study. These kinds of students will only sit passively in the classroom and not participate . Also, there are students who will do well in class, but make no effort outside of class. What is the problem here? Basically it is a lack of responsibility. Autonomy is about increasing student responsibility for their own education. In this book, Benson has compiled numerous articles about the study and research into autonomy. Is it possible for teachers to help students become more responsible? According to the authors in this book, it is. I really recommend this book for all teachers. It is a little expensive for it's size, but that tends to be the case with all academic books. Don't worry, it will make a good addition to your teaching library.

As a church planter I know that many of the techniques and helps in this book are tried and true. This book would be invaliable to the new church planter. I gave my copy away to another church planter after reading it, very useful.

Bed & Breakfast France 2006 by Thomas Cook is an informed and informative presentation of the every nook and cranny of the French B & B scene. Introducing the reader to a "user-friendly" reference of location, capacity, price, contact information, a brief but detailed description and more for each of nearly 750 selected bed and breakfast's nationwide, Bed & Breakfast France 2006 informs the reader as well of the nearest, most suitable, most convenient, and most affordable recreational facilities throughout the great country. Bed & Breakfast France 2006 is very strongly recommended to all travelers of France for its outstanding reference usability, as well as the key points which might be found as more than useful amidst one's travels.

I heard Rich Kent speak in my Children's Literature class about how he uses portfolios and independent studies to teach his high school english classes. He is a gifted writer and teacher and this book brings both of those facts through.

The impact made by the Scots in America is remarkable. Thanks to their courage, adaptability, entrepreneurial flair and respect for education they have risen to the top in almost every sphere of activity. Scots went boldly to this new country and became intrepid explorers, doughty fighters, great presidents, buccaneering businessmen and media moguls. Their fascinating story is brilliantly captured in this new book by one of Scotland's leading historians.
--- from book's back cover

With today's ever-growing publishing industry, the number of children's books on the market grows exponentially as each year passes. The dizzying volume of new titles on bookstore shelves can quickly transform the usually enjoyable task of finding the perfect book for your child into an overwhelming, at times even bewildering, ordeal. Book Sense, the trade organization and advocate of the independent bookseller that brought us the reading group resource favorite BOOK SENSE BEST BOOKS lends another helping hand with BOOK SENSE BEST CHILDREN'S BOOKS.

The equivalent of visiting independent bookstores nationwide and receiving personal advice from their owners, this essential guide for parents, teachers, librarians and children of all ages contains over 200 reading suggestions, ranging from board and picture books to chapter books and young adult novels. These titles are conveniently divided into eight categories based on age group, genre and occasion, also including special lists such as "What to read while you're waiting for the next Harry Potter."

And because you'd expect nothing less from your neighborhood bookshop, each title is followed by warm, thoughtful and prudent comments from knowledgeable booksellers. Adding to the charm of this book are drawings from renowned illustrators like Ian Falconer (OLIVIA), Brett Helquist (CHASING VERMEER), and David Shannon (ALICE THE FAIRY), as well as a "love letter" to independent bookstores by Cornelia Funke (INKHEART, THE DRAGON RIDER) that serves as the foreword to this must-have resource.

With BOOK SENSE BEST CHILDREN'S BOOKS, mining your way through the expansive parameters of today's children's literature no longer needs to be a daunting experience. Having Book Sense and independent booksellers leading the way, the Hogwarts Academies and Camp Green Lakes, the Georgia Nicolsons and the Eragons for every child are never out of reach.

--- Reviewed by Marisa Emralino

Boulogne is the companion volume to John Cooksey's 1999 volume on Calais and together, they tell the oft-neglected story of Britain's futile attempt to secure the channel ports from the advancing Wehrmacht in May 1940. In Boulogne, Cooksey covers the brief commitment of the 20th Guards Brigade (consisting of the 2nd Welsh Guards and 2nd Irish Guards infantry battalions) to the Battle for France. The brigade was landed in Boulogne on the morning of 22 May 1940 and hit by the advance guard of the 2nd Panzer Division eight hours later. After heavy fighting, the brigade was evacuated by the Royal Navy on the night of 23/24 May. Like the earlier volume, Boulogne is fine example of how not to commit an infantry brigade into combat, which provides many instructive lessons for military professionals. Historians will also appreciate this book since the struggle for Boulogne usually only merits a sentence or two in most accounts of the 1940 campaign. Cooksey has unearthed a wealth of previously unseen photographs and personal accounts of this obscure, but important battle. Aside from being another ignominious Allied defeat, Boulogne had great political significance, since Churchill's decision to withdraw the embattled 20th Guards Brigade exacerbated Anglo-French relations; from that point on, the French leadership became increasingly convinced that the British were only interested in saving their army from encirclement in France and were no longer fully trustworthy.

Boulogne consists of nine chapters, beginning with background sections on the 1940 campaign, the 20th Guards Brigade and the 2nd Panzer Division. Although the maps provided by the author adequately depict the dispositions of the 20th Guards Brigade, they do not depict either French or German dispositions. Furthermore, key terrain features like Fort de la Creche and the Haute Ville cathedral are not depicted on the maps. The photographs are excellent, and Cooksey provides a number of photos from private British and German collections. After the battle narrative, the author also provides three guided tours around the Boulogne battlefield. A brief bibliography is provided, but unfortunately no order of battle.

One of the most striking features about Boulogne is the shocking waste of two fine battalions of infantry. The two battalions were formed in the summer of 1939 and although they spent the entire Phoney War period on ceremonial duties in England, the troops were considered of high quality. The battalions began intensive infantry training in May 1940 and were still in the process of receiving all their equipment, such as French-made 25mm anti-tank guns. When the German Blitzkrieg threatened the Channel ports, the decision was rapidly made to dispatch this brigade to secure Boulogne. The brigade had less than 24 hours to deploy from home station - apparently the unit did not have a deployment plan in hand - and much vital equipment was left behind. The brigade deployed to Boulogne with virtually no vehicles, no mortars, no mines or barbed wire, no radios, few maps, only a few entrenching tools and only fifty rounds of ammunition per riflemen. Essentially, the unit could barely shoot, move and communicate. After arriving in Boulogne on the morning of 22 May 1940, the brigade was hastily thrown into an incomplete cordon around the edges of the city. Cooksey makes the point that there was little time or effort spent on coordinating the brigade's defense with local French troops or the numerous British support troops in the port. The brigade's flimsy defense repelled the initial German probes on 22 May, but was quickly pushed in by determined attacks on 23 May. When the order came to evacuate the brigade, many troops were left behind due to the lack of radios; of 1,600 troops landed, more than 500 were lost.

Cooksey's account is also interesting for the information he provides from the German perspective. It is apparent that the fog of war affected the Germans as well, since they were not completely aware of the British evacuation or the true plight of the brigade. Furthermore, the rapid German advance had strung the German units out badly; the 2nd Panzer lacked much of its infantry at Boulogne and had to conduct an attack into an urban area with a tank-heavy force supported by only a battalion of motorcycle troops and some reconnaissance units. The Germans were quickly able to smash in the British defense on the outskirts of the town but their attack bogged down in the urban congestion of Boulogne; it took the Germans three days to mop up the last defenders.

The author's description of the heroic evacuation of the brigade by a flotilla of Royal Navy destroyers is quite thrilling. Braving intense small arms fire and even tank gunfire, these intrepid ships pushed into the narrow harbor and extracted thousands of Allied troops. One destroyer captain was killed by sniper fire and several destroyers were damaged by air attack and coastal artillery. Cooksey's description of the final hours of the evacuation is well-written and intense. At one point, British destroyers were engaging German tanks less than 300 meters from the docks. It is also apparent that the French units in Boulogne put up an incredible defense of the city - there was no lack of will to fight in those French troops. Although Cooksey describes the last-ditch French defense after the British withdrawal, it is more difficult to follow these actions due to the lack of maps.

The British lost 30% of the 20th Guards Brigade in Boulogne and failed to hold the port for more than 36 hours. However, in unilaterally evacuating the brigade without consulting the French - who continued to resist for two more days - Churchill angered his ally. Consequently, the other Brigade deployed to Calais was not evacuated in order to display "allied solidarity" and that unit was overwhelmed.
Together, Boulogne and Calais demonstrate the high cost of rashly throwing units into poorly-defined situations and then hoping for the best.