Massachusetts Books

We often hear in the media about the teen pregancy rate, about the welfare lists, and about abuse. Unfortunately, it seems as if the country is divided on what to do... Except that we are often united in our disgust and blame of the teen mother. Joanna Lipper's book gives compelling evidence that the problems of teen pregancy won't be fixed through classes on abstinence or birth control, but instead of looking at the root of the problems that cause teens to make risky decisions. In all of the cases in this book, the teen mother became a parent because of problems in her life. Several of the teens were sexually abused, or came from families with a history of abuse. Additionally, people need to closely examine the teen fathers. As with research that indicates that teen girls are more likely to engage in risky behaviors because of childhood abuse, they are also more likely to hook up with abusers to be the fathers of their children. The fathers are in and out of jail in this book, and few of them pay child support. The only way to reduce the amount of teen pregnancy, and through this, hopefully our welfare lists, special education classes and foster care homes (often centers for abuse as well) is to truly respond and help children at an early age with education, access to medical and psychological care, and support for their families.

Growing up Fast is a book that is made up of eight girls that shared their story on how they "grew up fast". Some of the girls got pregnant on accident and some got pregnant by their actions. This book overall shows how important it is to have a father in a girl's life. A daughter looks up to her father; he should be her main man in her life, a role model. Every single girl in this book had a father that left their family. So intern, these girls grew up without a dad. I recommend this book to any mother of a teen or preteen. I also recommend this book to any girl that feels that the only way to feel loved by any man is to have a boyfriend. They do not have to have a boyfriend. This was a really good book. Hope you enjoy it.

Our local newspaper featured Joanna Lipper's book in a front page story titled, "For Teenage Mothers in Pittsfield, It's a Bleak Story." Yes and no.

Growing Up Fast provides a window into the lives of those girls we see pushing baby strollers along a downtown sidewalk, laying out the challenging truths that led them to become mothers, and that they continue to confront as they raise their children. The "bleak story" is not just for the six teen mothers profiled in this book, but for American children, ill-prepared or uncaring young fathers, extended families, schools, taxpayers and all of us who care about America's next generations.

I have just finished reading Random Family, by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, which has to be the publishing world's equivalent of a first cousin for Growing Up Fast. I highly recommend both books, but I came to appreciate Lipper's approach in dividing her narrative into six stories. Although some stories are related, no chapter is so long and complex that one becomes overwhelmed with names and relationships and timelines. The diversity achieved by profiling six girls also allows Lipper to avoid the question, "Why Coco?" that LeBlanc notes was posed to her repeatedly about her decision to focus on one of the two principal subjects of Random Family. Lipper also provides beautiful photos that allow us to look right into the haunted eyes (as well as some moments of contentment) of these young families.

I am the Mayor of Pittsfield. Before publication of Growing Up Fast, I worried how Lipper's book would portray our City. Lipper is successful in telling the story through the words and experiences of Amy, Liz, Colleen, Shayla, Sheri and Jessica, and avoids injecting judgments of her own. I find her research is thorough and her engaging words are fair although none of our urban problems is left off the table. But mental illness, substance abuse, unemployment, domestic violence, poverty, homelessness and absentee parents are widespread problems. The Pittsfield community and all of America can learn from the stories of these young women, and from the successful programs here and in other communities that Lipper describes in her closing chapters. We owe it to these girls and to their children to do our best.

Pittsfield, Mass. used to be a company town. General Electric provided work that in turn enabled a big percent of the population to live middle class lives. When the company closed down most of its divisions in Pittsfield, the economic and social climate plunged into the depths. Families that didn't leave suffered large drops in income, many people turned to drugs and alcohol, and education and health care---despite some government aid---plummetted too. The city was found to be highly polluted as well. In this atmosphere of despair and disappointment, child abuse and domestic violence grew. Teenage pregnancies have been around forever, but in an environment like Pittsfield's in the 1990s and early 2000s, the problem was intensified. Many girls associated sex with violence, felt that abusive men were the norm. Families could not cope; many teenage fathers could not or would not cooperate, and at last we learn that as many as two-thirds of the teenage girls who gave birth to babies had suffered heavy abuse of some kind as children. These girls, not even 20 years old, were left to cope with bringing up children, almost always without the support of the father.

Joanna Lipper not only wrote this sad, but interesting book, she made a film about the main participants---six teenage mothers, some of the fathers, some parents and siblings. The bulk of the book traces the stories of the six girls in very empathetic detail, combining interviews, observations, and records of participation in various programs. Drugs, violence, and general unawareness of life and its possibilities play strong roles in nearly all cases. Race is factored into the picture. Most of the girls are white, but race doesn't seem to be very important here. But what about class? While economic background and education are often discussed and described, Lipper makes no effort to draw any conclusions about class and people who "fall" from middle to lower, people who resent being at the bottom. Where does all this self-destructive behavior come from ? I would say such questions are not dealt with. A few black and white photos only make the stories more poignant. If----if only---there are so many of these ifs. What can be done ? The author outlines various programs that exist or existed in Pittsfield, but offers no general ideas on the problem. The strong point of the book is the well-written stories of the teenage mothers. I admit I had never given much thought to teenage mothers and their children until I read GROWING UP FAST. I think that for raising the consciousness of people about this problem, you would have to go a long way to beat Lipper's book.

This portrait of six teen mothers in a decaying industrial town is a wonderfully thought-provoking book. The photos help with the impression of a window into their world. The interlocking influences of economic problems, environmental degradation, drug addiction, and domestic violence are all compelling in explaining their situation.
The behavior of the girls is often so idiotic as to stun the reader. Colleen's baby, for example, is fathered by Ryan. Ryan is a heroin addict who steals from Colleen and her family, and beats up Colleen many times, including an incident during her pregnancy that causes permanent injury to the baby. Society can only be thankful that Ryan spends a lot of time in jail. Yet Colleen remains faithful to Ryan for years.
One of the book's major themes is the economic decline of Pittsfield, Massachusetts after GE pulled out of the town. After GE's departure, it left behind a legacy of industrial pollution on a massive scale. While the book does not address economic questions as such, I think the Pittsfield story shows the need for the costs of pollution to be included in measures of economic growth. A large part of Pittsfield's prosperity when GE was there can only be described as an illusion. For more on this question, I would recommend the book "Beyond Growth" by Herman Daly.
Some of the policies recommended in the book strike me as naive. For example, the author concludes with a quote from Carol Gilligan (who helped with the book's preparation) that "The problem with these girls is that there is no safety net. The absence of resources really needs to be addressed." The book itself shows that this is simply not true. These girls and their babies received enormous public resources, including welfare payments, subsidized rent, subsidized day care, free medical care, social services, etc., etc. Giving a larger safety net to such girls would only encourage more teen births. This is easy to see from the book's stories on Amy and Shayla, who each went on to have a second baby out of wedlock. The others haven't had more babies yet, though given their talent for making poor choices I certainly wouldn't put it past any of them. In the long run, I think we will be better off putting more resources into birth control and pregnancy prevention, not more support for teen mothers. The book does have some good proposals on providing incentives to teen mothers not to have another child.
Some of the girls made it clear that their decision not to abort their babies was inspired by religion. The book does not follow up on this. I think the Catholic church and other churches opposed to abortion have a lot to answer for here. If they feel it is unethical to use birth control or have an abortion, that is fine with me; but I believe they must take responsibility for the results. "Abstinence-only" programs can be effective in reducing teen births, but it is harder to do than other approaches, and there is a price to be paid for that. I don't see churches willing to pay for research into establishing what programs really work, getting them implemented, and paying for the difference in cost. If a girl doesn't have an abortion because her church tells her abortion is a sin, it should be her church that supports her and her baby, not taxpayers.
Overall, the book is well written and the stories are fascinating. I had a hard time putting it down. Don't miss it!

Nona Caspers "Heavier than Air" short stories take you into the lives of people that are growing up in rural Minnesota. Each story drew me in. I found myself feeling for the characters as they were going through whatever angst that was happening in their lives. Ms. Caspers writes in such a way, that if she describes a feeling, you feel it; or if she describes a setting, you see it. It takes true talent to be able to do this. Her characters are truly believable because she takes you right into their minds and hearts. Life is not easy for any of them. They are dealing with some very real issues such as first love, and death.
Another reason that I found her stories seeming so realistic is that she incorporates some very unusual ideas into her plots. It takes someone that either has a vivid imagination or had seen a lot in their lives to be able to do this. I really enjoyed the quirks that were in some of the characters. Ms. Caspers did such an awesome job of sucking me into her stories that I would forget that they were actually short stories. I found myself feeling bereft when some of them ended, because I was not done with the characters yet. Because they are fictional, they really only get brief moments of fame, and then they have to wait inside the book for someone else to read their stories so that they can come alive again.
If you are looking for a light read, this is not the book for you. However, if you are looking for a collection of stories with depth, this is the one. I highly recommend this novel and think that you will really appreciate the stories.

What a pleasure it is to read an artist's prose after all the politicos and journalists and scientists I have been reading lately. Not to denigrate them, but Nona Caspers is an artist with words, a person of exacting craft who composes bittersweet tales of life and love filled with yearnings and disappointments and triumphs and little parcels of hope. Caspers writes about the people of Wisconsin and Minnesota, farm people, people who milk cows and harvest alfalfa: country girls and mangy dogs. And she writes about people who have escaped from the farm. She writes about an unspeakable desire burning in the heart and an angst like something unclear, like something lost or not yet found, and love like joy and something exquisitely indefinable that stays and stays. And then is lost.

She writes of girls and vulnerable men, taciturn fathers or ineloquent husbands; deeply introspective and emotionally fragile girls and strong farm women with sturdy bones and a susceptibility to society's inexorable ways. She loves the girls, and the girls typically love other girls they cannot quite reach or keep. And they marry young and wonder if they did the right thing.

Her prose is infused with the lay of the land and the smell of the soil and the cows and the dogs and the trees and the breath of someone close, so close your heart bleeds. She manages a natural tension that moves the stories to a climax and leaves the reader with a lingering aftermath.

In the first story, "Country Girls," 14-year-old Nora "was so forwardly in love, so passionately in love, so unabashedly in love, so presumptuously in love, so selfishly in love, so innocently in love" with Cynthia that the very weight of her love offended the rural community and in consequence killed her love. In the second story, "Wide Like an Eagle's Wings," Manny is the secretary of the JFK campaign at Saint Theresa" Elementary School. It's 1960. She lives and breathes everything John F. Kennedy; and through him she finds oneness and a sense of social responsibility even though a child. And then comes a tragedy that we know will change her forever. In the title story, it is the devil who weights us down and makes us "heavier than air" so that we can't float up to heaven, or so one of her characters in part believes.

One of my favorites is "The EE Cry" formerly called "Fat" which I think is a better title. It is about a man whose wife Jan leaves him, not because he is fat (although he is) but because she has found that she is who she is, and that she has fallen in love with another person, and that person is a woman. She returns to get a rug she left. She tells him, "...I'm short on money. I thought it can't hurt to ask." "Does," he says. And then adds, "Does hurt, Jan. Hurts all the damn time." And with this simplicity of expression we can feel his pain.

The triumph of Caspers' art comes from her mastery of craft in which every word is carefully selected and everything extraneous to the desired effect deleted. She has the kind of narrative control that allows her to shift from the present to the past and back again with ease. She has such a keen sense of the reader's needs that the hard detail that leads to atmosphere and character development is never neglected, but never overdone, so that the reader is always informed and immersed. She has developed narrative devices that are invisible to the reader but startlingly beautiful to the writer. For example in "The Fifth Season" lesbian Lorrie is visiting gay Marc who is dying of complications from AIDS. His sister enters the room. They are on "death duty." Caspers describes the sister and then writes:

"'I wish he would just let go.' Lines delivered to me two weeks earlier--and only now do I forgive her.
"I pictured Marc on a rope in midair. He had swung on a gymnastic rope through the gymnasium in the middle of a school lecture. About a month before his father was indicted. Mr. Ricklick pulled him down, dragged him up the aisles by his hair.
"He's a twenty-nine-year-old man, I thought. Why should he let go?"

Notice how Caspers is able to shift between three different times, now, two weeks ago, the distant past, and now again, with consummate ease. This is not easily done. It looks easy, but it is not easy.

She writes in the first person or the third with such naturalness that one does not recall which person she used in any particular story. Perhaps her greatest strength though is in how immediate she makes the experiences of her characters. Everything is as close as the scent of the beloved's skin, as sharp as thistle pricks or the smell of fresh poop, as intense as first love--or first betrayal. Caspers writes from a crafty heart and a mind sharp with the need for something close to mathematically precision. What she achieves is a kind of non-linearity that is the mark of great poetry and great fiction.

Don't miss this collection, winner of the Grace Paley Prize in short fiction. I only wish I could write half as well.

Nona Caspers
University of Massachusetts Press Amberst, 2006
ISBN: 978-1-55849-644-6
Nora Caspers has a unique style of writing. In several of her stories, she takes the mundane and demonstrates the significance of the act. Such as the mere act of breathing; it does not seem so important until you are drowning.
The connecting thread in this anthology is rural life. Having grown up in a rural area during the 60's, it is easy to relate to many of the stories. Caspers has a talent for breathing life into her characters. Not every author is capable of connecting characters to readers. The descriptions of rural life made me feel almost like I was once again lying on my back watching the clouds form designs that only I could see, running barefoot through the tobacco patch, or pulling grass to feed my pet rabbit. Each story is slightly dark and has a bit of humor. The young adults are struggling to discover who they are and what their place is in the scheme of life. They desire to soar to higher heights. In reality, few of us attain the heights we seek.
Heavier Than Air will leave the reader pondering the story long after finishing it. If you are looking for happy-ever-after, this book is not for you. If you enjoy books written in an unassuming style that will stir your emotions and make you think, you will enjoy Heavier Than Air.

Reading Nona Caspers is more than simply exploring the world of one writer's view of the world from the vantage of raw countryside of Minnesota. Reading Nona Caspers is a discovery of a writer with particularly well-honed gifts of creating unforgettable characters who become etched on our minds in the same way the great American writers of the past (and present) have entered our perception of what this country is all about. Caspers writes with a fluid style that wastes no words but describes nature and those animals that fly, crawl and walk this strange territory of rural Minnesota - and the rest of this country - in both harmony and dissonance. She manages to enter realms of thought and situations other writers avoid, and from these peculiar places she creates characters both strange and sad, some who border on decisions edging on ostracism and some who have already entered a plane misunderstood by friends and family.

The lead story, 'Country Girls', is one of the more realistic examinations of a young girl's discovery of same sex love with all the peripheral highs and lows that confrontation presents. In 'Wide Like An Eagle's Wings' we meet a young girl obsessed with the JFK campaign for presidency while coping with the a deeply moving, succinct account of a personal tragedy of death. Characters such as the sad Mr. Hellerman who is hospitalized as one unable to cope with the dwindling losses of his family land inheritance and hopeless future of his farm mix with other children and stunted adults who face changes in their lives that seem to force them into precarious places.

Not a book of sad or dreary tales, this, but one that is unafraid to make us think about the weightier subjects of life while entertaining us with some equally finely tuned comedy. Nona Caspers is a brilliant writer who has found the fabric of American fiction that she drapes and sculpts and molds as well as any of her fine colleagues whose names are household words. Reading HEAVIER THAN AIR is a tasty prelude to what is most assuredly going to be a fine career for a gifted writer. Very Highly Recommended! Grady Harp, June 08

This book reminds me of Dorothy Parker. She wrote of New York. Caspers writes of the Midwest. This is real classic writing. As a lover of all things classic like Sinclare Lewis and F. Scott Fitzgerald and their stories of the part of the country they knew, Nona Caspers is a writer of the Midwest and its unique culture and people. They are real and funny and warm. Caspers goes deep and looks at things as they really are.

Put this wonderful book on your night stand. Read it and enjoy it. You'll treasure it.

Highly recommended.

-Susanna K. Hutcheson

Genre: Non Fiction/Biography
Title: If This is Heaven, I Am Going to Be a Good Boy.
The Tommy Leonard Story
AUTHOR: Kathleen Cleary

Tommy Leonard was and still is an outstanding character, well know by many. He began life in a poor family. His parents finally had to send he and his sister to Shurtleff Mission, a home with the sole purpose helping children of destitute families while teaching the gospel. Tommy was determined to leave the mission, but each time he ran away, he was caught, returned and punished. He was finally freed of his mission experience and lived with several different families during his youth. As he grew into his teens and young adulthood, he became known for drinking and partying and having a way with the girls but Tommy was also a runner. He loved to run and after a stint in the Marine Corp, he continued running in marathons, becoming known for his promotion of health and fitness. He founded the Falmouth Road Race.
Kathleen Cleary has captured the personality and warmth of this man. He is truly loved by so many. Even those who have never had the pleasure of making his acquaintance, can sit back and chuckle at many of the events of Tommy's life, or share in the heartfelt love that Tommy has for his fellow man. The reader will also find a selection of pictures dating back to his life in the mission and forward to 2004 where he is seen with Edie Doyle in front of the Boston Red Sox World Series trophy. So many years with so much to tell, and Kathleen Cleary has been able to share these years, giving us a view of an extraordinary man.



Reviewer: Elaine Fuhr, Allbooks Reviews

I am not an avid runner. Nor have I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Leonard. Readers may not know the people or recognize the local names in this book, but the Kathleen Cleary's message is unmistakably universal: Tommy Leonard touched the lives of many and made his and our world a better place. Read this book and learn how and why he did it. The title alone is worth the price of admission into Leonard's remarkable life.
Mike Considine, Lenox, MA

This book is a true delight from start to finish. In this day and age where we hear so many stories of people doing bad things, it is so uplifting to read about a man who is such a good person through and through. Kathleen Cleary has captured the spirit of Tommy Leonard for everyone. I highly recommend this book and I promise it will bring tears to your eyes, a smile to your face and probably quite a few belly laughs. Enjoy!

This book is very interesting and well-written and is not just for running fans. The life of Tommy Leonard serves as an example of how enthusiasm and a positive attitude can prevail over almost any difficulty life may throw at you. If you want to read an uplifting book, this is the one!

Joe Concannon, Boston Globe sportswriter and chronicler of the Boston Marathon, tabbed Tommy "The Guru" as every runner of note made their way to the Eliot Lounge, from all corners of the planet so that they could counsel with the great one: Thomas Francis Leonard!

Read this book and find out why, or read this book and feel all warm & fuzzy like. The man has had quite a life.

The quotable Tommy:

". . . Tommy Leonard, the running guru at the Eliot Lounge talking in a TV interview about the particular appeal of the Boston Marathon: "It's better than sex."

Tommy got some strange looks from folk's after that one.

A great book to enjoy over the Holidays!

I enjoyed this novel thoroughly with its lively writing, tight plotting, and memorable characters. I'd love to read further adventures with Myx in the middle of it all. My only complaint is that Myx is a mere fourteen. I'd feel a lot more comfortable is he were 16 or even 15. 14 just feels wrong for all this boy gets into.

For fourteen-year-old Myx Amens, a walk down a city street is a sensory experience the likes of which Ken Kesey never approached with his notorious Acid Tests. Myx, however, requires no psychoactive substances to experience synesthesia - the sensory cross-wiring that results in seeing music, smelling colors, or tasting words. All he had to do was die a couple of times.

Myx has so carefully ordered his life in the Massachusetts town of Miracle that he can literally come and go as he likes, anywhere, any time. He knows a lot more about the residents than they know themselves, in some cases. Most especially in this case - the murder and mutilation of a small-town high-school bitch queen.

In his first novel, Dave Diotalevi presents a neatly-plotted mystery, as well as the most wonderfully disorienting first-person POV since Robert Montgomery's film noir classic, Lady In The Lake.

As a life-long synesthete, I can assure readers that Diotalevi's evocative prose offers a convincing authenticity. For example, my non-synesthete husband was taken utterly by surprise by the Big Reveal at the end of the book, while Myx more or less told me precisely what it was by the middle of the story. In addition, my husband experienced none of the sensory out-of-kilterness I felt. He's a pretty literal kind of guy. He was, however, as enthusiastically engaged as I was by this tale. Diotalevi deftly inserts clues in more forms -- literary and pop cultural references, as well as archetypal and iconographic images -- than John Campbell could shake a Jungian stick at.

Hints of a richly-textured backstory and foreshadowings of Myx's future activities offer hope for follow-up novels.

I can think of only two complaints about Miracle Myx. First, I was distracted by the frequent product placements. Myx's eidetic memory could register traits other than brand and model or style of food, clothing, and electronic gear. Some segments read like the novelization of an M. Night Shyamalan film. Second, the book was too short. I want more Myx!


**a later note**: Michael disagrees with me once more. Says the flurries of product names never really attracted his active attention. He agrees with the 5 stars I awarded in his name, and states for the record that has zero complaints, can't wait to read Miracle Myx again, and wants to see more Myx.

I just love Myx, the sneaky, fascinatingly quirky, frightfully intelligent young man who takes on the mystery of some grisly murders in his small Massachusetts town. Somehow Dave makes us like this fellow who stops at nothing to learn all he needs to know about people.

And I not only love Myx, but I love the storytelling! Dave weaves this tale in a way that keeps us thinking, wondering, and laughing. Every page is interesting and fun!

Diotalevi hits the ground running with Miracle Myx.

Myx Amens is an astounding and addictive character that you'll immediately like and find yourself caring and cheering for. His synesthetic memory, two near death experiences, (I think he really died twice) and natural curiosity propel Myx into the realm of the next great fictional hero.

Diotalevi's rich writing style makes for a read that you can't put down.

Miracle Myx starts with Myx Amens, just finishing his last adventure and one quickly learns of his near supernatural powers through Diotalevi's intricate character development.

The author weaves an old world whodunit with an inexplicable modern day adolescent hero into one great read.

I highly recommend this book. When does the next book come out?

"I learned that nothing is yours until it's yours, and that you make it yours by taking it, protecting it and hiding it," says Myx Amens, a uniquely talented 14-year-old foster kid living in Miracle, Massachusetts. In Dave Diotalevi's debut novel, Miracle Myx, we encounter 42 hours in the life of Myx as he investigates a series of murders.

There's a seminal chapter in this twisty mystery of hidden secrets where Myx is in jeopardy from several thugs at the estate of their boss - a powerful Italian business man. Myx artfully escapes from the thugs and finds himself in the company of the boss' wife, Mama. Suddenly, Myx's intuitive mix of synesthesia offers up a song, for which he quickly scribbles onto paper. In Italian, no less. Mama reads it and recognizes it as her mother's homemade gnocchi recipe - written in her mother's handwriting. This isn't the first or the last time Myx uses his talents to tease out what someone needs at the moment they need it. And to this reader's point of view, this scene tells us much of what we need to know about the heart of this unique man/boy character whose primary desire seems to be easing the way of others. Particularly, if they are female.

One will read this book as much for fast-action, 42 hours in the life of Myx as they will for the poetic turns of phrase such as "My hand sang the music of its curves as I wrote," and "Air currents made the flames and shadows move in interesting ways. To me, they felt pliable and sounded like the wind in a field."

This smart, sexy novel from Dave Diotalevi may be his debut, but it is clearly not his first try at beautiful prose, evocative language, and moving storytelling. Let's hope there's more to come from this author.

As the synopsis says, the main character is obsessed with the movie The Sound of Music. I am also a big fan of the movie. I used to watch it all the time when I was little. Anyway, because of this, I thought the book would follow the movie's story in some fashion. Instead, it's a modern take on Pride and Prejudice (think a G-rated version of Bridget Jones--one of my favorite movies, by the way!).

I loved this book. It is a sweet and simple romantic story. It is also humoress with pop culture and literary references thrown in. I really liked this aspect because I am the dorky girl who loves musicals and things of that nature, so I got all the references to musicals and such. I also enjoyed the literary references being an English major myself (the main character has an English degree).

This is the perfect book for people who enjoy sweet romance novels, especially the ones with a P&P feel to them. I feel that Must've Done Something Good is a book I'll keep as one of my comfort books to read when I'm feeling sad and need a good pick me up. :)

This may be tagged "chick-lit", but as a guy who greatly enjoyed this book I think anyone would enjoy it. There's so many situations that anybody can relate to. Go Sylvie!

I am a mother to 5 kids and one step son so, needless to say, I usually don't have time to read however for this book it was easy to make time because I enjoyed it so much!

Like the other reviewers on this site, I too found myself laughing out loud on so many occassions throughout the book. Everywhere I went with it, people would ask me what I was reading and I couldn't help but go on and on as to how much I loved this book! It was absolutely outstanding! (I actually broke out in a chorus of "My favorite things" the other day in front of my 8 yr old and he had the oddest expression on his face...priceless!)

I hope Cheryl Cory decides to write many more novels! If so, I may just turn out to be her biggest fan!

This is a great book, very funny and entertaining. To think of it solely as 'chick-lit' is a major disservice. Guys, like myself, will enjoy the characters and plot and irreverent humor as much as anyone. Sylvie's trials in the classroom are amusing, especially if one has any background in teaching, and it is nice to note her progress at adapting to this new situation as the school year progresses. This is really a neat book we can all like.

This is a great book. I loved it. My wife read it too and she loved it. It's a must buy!!

I enjoyed this book, but the story is very sad. This author did a great job of portraying the foster care system from a parenting perspective.

I love this book!!! It is very easy to read and is well written. The author has fostered hundreds of kids in her lifetime. Daisy is a foster child that is very special for many reasons, she is a challenge, she is from a well respected family and has extended family that loves her. This is the story of one special little girls turbulant begining and her recovery in foster care.

I love the book. Unfortunately, Amazon cannot always deliver to the correct address - so my order was canceled.

This was a very perceptive and honest protrayl of the challenges and heart warming experiences a foster mom faces with each placement. As a foster mother, I identified and empathized with her stories and situations of individual cases. She speaks from her heart. I would recommend this book to anyone who does foster care or who is interested in doing it, or who just wants a peak inside what it is like for us and the foster children we love and care for.

I read this book because I had loved her previous book, Another Place at the Table. Both are her true memoirs of being a foster mother. She's really loving and kind and also down-to-earth and real and funny.


These are the stories of kids who ended up in foster care because they had been abused, so it's not always a light-hearted subject matter. But the books are far from sad. They're really hopeful and inspiring. It's so wonderful to see how a mother's love (in this case, a foster-mother's love) can make such a difference to a child. They're not sappy, though. She stays away from sap. A lot of it is about the daily nitty-gritty of parenting -- getting supper on the table even though the high-needs toddler is clinging and the older kid needs to go to the doctor, etc. etc. Highly recommended.

Gary Braver has done it again. Having read all his books he just continues to amaze me. After reading FLASHBACK I could not wait for Gary to write again. I wondered how could he do better. Well he has. You will not be disappointed. In fact, you will beg him to write another one. The book is excellent and is well written. His ability to develop characters is absolutely outstanding. The way in which Gary formulates the conflicts within the protagonist is stunning. SKIN DEEP covers an array of intriguing themes. His attention to detail is remarkable. The accuracy of his forensic science concerning the murders clearly demonstrates he did his homework. The physical and psychological profiling provides the story with significant depth and credibility. It is a must read. Do not deprive yourself. Get the book. You will not put it down until you are done. Fom the first to the last page, you will be captivated and surprised.

Go meet him at a book signing. He is an extraordinary person and a gentleman. You will immediately realize why he is a tremendous author.

You have to view his narrative regarding the book at his website.

Skin Deep raises the bar for Gary Braver. It's certainly thrilling, and incredibly fast paced with more plot twists than the road to Hana, and more levels than a MonaVie marketing scheme. As always he challenges the reader with moral dilemmas. But this time out Braver has raised the level of his craft and announces his arrival among the elite novelists of our day.
This work is thoughtfully crafted with fully developed characters, beautifully pure dialogue, and crisp narration. His writing artfully pulls us through a loom, weaving the several threads back and forth with wonderful skill. It leaves us with a whole cloth of luxurious quality...and wanting more.

There's a killer on the loose in Boston!

This killer leaves his victims breathless. The victims are strangled with a black stocking. The latest victim to fall prey is none other then Terry Farina. Terry was a professional fitness trainer during the day and part -time stripper by night. Now it's Detective Steve Markarian's job to find the killer before it's too late. When he starts investigating why Terry Farina was killed, Steve uncovers the disturbing and twisted mind of a psychopathic killer. But the more Steve digs, he realizes that the killer just may be closer then he thinks. In fact the killer's next victim is none other then Steve's wife Dana. The problem is Steve still has no clue who the killer's true identity really is. Can Steve solve the mystery before Dana's put to rest forever?


First off let me start by saying when I saw that Skin Deep by Gary Braver was coming out, I was so excited. This is one author that anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers will enjoy. I read Elixir by Mr. Braver a couple of years ago and was captivated by it. So much that I can remember it still. The plot in Skin Deep is dark as well as a heart-pounding thrill ride. From the moment I picked up this book I found myself immersed in it. I couldn't stop reading it. In fact I finished this book in two days. I felt that the killer's character has some great depth to it. Detective Steve also has a good range of emotion to him. Skin Deep is everything I thought it would be and more. Gary Braver's books are a must read! So go out and pick yourself up a copy today of Skin Deep. You won't regret it. In fact you will be asking yourself "Why didn't I read one sooner".

Skin Deep
Just finished Skin Deep and once again, Mr. Braver did not fail to impress. Someone is killing beautiful women in Boston. Unlike Braver's other books, this is quite a departure for him. Where his other books have been mostly medical thrillers, Skin Deep adds a criminal aspect. It is a crime novel above all else. Kind of surprising after reading a few of his other books, but he pulls it off in spades. There are enough suspects here to lead you down dead ends and quite a few red herrings. Definitely a departure for Mr. Braver but one I think that is well worth reading. I look forward to his next book.

As a fan of Gary Braver, I've read all his books, but I think this one may be the best, because it's so multidimensional. The psychological suspense is excellent, and the characters compelling. Who is choking the beautiful redheads in a manner reminiscent of the Boston Strangler? Could it be the lead detective and main character, Steve Markarian? This plot line is almost Dostoeveskian. The English professor? This character's an inside joke for those of us who know Braver is a college English teacher. Or is Markarian's tempermental partner the villian?)

Then you've got the medical subplot, about plastic surgery, which Dana, Markarian's separated wife (who he still loves), is pursuing. The details here are well researched and informative for those of us curious about the practice. And as the book progresses, what appeared to be a subplot twines neatly into the main murder mystery plot.

And finally, there's the fascinating back story of one of the male characters - presented in alternating chapters - about their twisted relationship with their stepmother - but which one is it? Markarian? His partner? The professor? Though we figure it out before the climactic scene, as I think Braver intended us to, it's still quite delicious.

This is Braver's most sexually explicit book, but he handles it in classy way. There are shades of greatness here and it's wonderful to see a favorite author upping his game instead of letting things slide, as so many do.

Walden Pond is a classic which everyone should be required to read. I read this years ago and wanted to add this one to my library. What a wonderful surprise it was. The pictures enhance this classic. I recommend this book to anyone interested in Thoreaus' works, Nature and getting back to the basics in life. In this busy life we live, it is relaxing to spend time reading this book.

Bought this as a gift for my husband and he really loved the photo illustrations. They are beautiful. Makes a nice "coffee table book".

* "I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion . . . I have thus a tight shingled and plastered house, ten feet wide by fifteen long . . . A lady once offered me a mat, but as I had no room to spare within the house, nor time to spare within or without to shake it, I declined it, preferring to wipe my feet on the sod before my door. It is best to avoid the beginnings of evil."
~ Henry David Thoreau; "Walden"

* "Walden has become as much a state of mind as it is a place."
~ Scot Miller; "Walden - 150th Anniversary Illustrated Edition"

For my birthday in 1984, my dear friend, Marty ("rhymes with party"), gave me the 1981 Avenel books hardcover edition of WORKS OF HENRY DAVID THOREAU. This compilation contained all of the famous transcendentalist's most significant writings and the thirty intriguing Herbert Wendall Gleason, black and white photographs that graced the 1906 publication of Thoreau's complete works.

My dear friend died in an auto accident five years later, but part of his legacy is the passion for Thoreau's philosophy that his gift awakened in me, and that book which occupies a prestigious place in one of my bookcases right between my Holy Bible and my 1st edition copy of Mark Twain's 1872, Roughing It. And my book, though yellowed now, looks pretty good for a volume 23 years without a dust jacket (I nearly always trash the things immediately), and for having been completely read twice, and thumbed through hundreds of times!

A couple of years ago, GFM (Good Friend Melanie) gave me a softcover copy of WALDEN AND OTHER WRITINGS, and I was glad to have it as it contained a couple of essays and excerpts I'd not previously read, and it provided me with a copy of Thoreau's best that I could loan out to others.

Therefore, when my friend, Pooh, and I flew into Philadelphia in late August 2005, to visit the birthplace of our nation, and then to drive north to visit Walden Pond and environs, I did not consider purchasing a copy of this 150th ANNIVERSARY ILLUSTRATED EDITION of WALDEN for myself while in Thoreau's hometown. I already had two copies of this true classic and couldn't see buying a third despite the stunning pictures included in this publication. I did, however, bring home a copy as a gift for GFM. (The woman in the bookstore in downtown Concord, Massachusetts, pointed out to me that the original publishing price - printed on the inside flap of the dust jacket - was $28.12, half a cent less than Thoreau tells us it cost him to build his little house at Walden's shore in 1845. (He officially moved into his homemade home on the appropriate date of July 4th, and an American classic was born!)

One day, shortly after returning from my memorable trip, I borrowed from GFM the copy I had given her, so I could gaze upon the nearly 100 SCOT MILLER photographs once again. And I was so awed by the indescribably gorgeous and practically breathtaking pictures of the Walden area and its flora and fauna, that I realized I needed to own this book like Thoreau needed solitude. And that's how I came by Thoreau's WALDEN for a THIRD time! While Marty's gift reigns for sentimental reasons, the 150th Anniversary Illustrated Edition is tops in exquisite beauty - a lovelier and more profound coffee table book is simply unimaginable; a richer gift for a valued friend couldn't be purchased at ANY price! This edition is simply a divine marriage of Thoreau's insight into the nature of Man and his place in nature, and Scot Miller's illustrations of the natural world wherein Thoreau made those treasured observations over a century and a half ago. Hey, I even left the dust jacket on this book despite the fact that the jacket's photograph is also reprinted on page 2, and it barely even hints at the wonders inside.

In Thoreau's WALDEN, the naturalist makes the following observation in the chapter titled, "Sounds": "I had this advantage, at least, in my mode of life, over those who were obliged to look abroad for amusement, to society and the theatre, that my life itself was become my amusement and never ceased to be novel. It was a drama of many scenes and without an end." And Scot Miller has brilliantly captured with his camera the splendor of that "drama of many scenes" at Thoreau's old stamping ground.

I'm not knowledgeable in the techniques of photography, so I can't explain to you HOW Miller was able to make photographs like these (it seems obvious to me, however, that he must employ an array of various filters and such). All that I CAN tell you is that words can't describe the virtual explosion of colors (like nature vibrantly celebrating that 1845 4th of July within Herself) and the uncommon degree of visible detail (staring at those rocks and leaves in "Still Life Under Ice", I can almost feel the bone-numbing cold that any one of those stones would penetrate my hand with). "Magical Fairyland Pond" is the perfect caption for that dreamlike picture of Walden's sister pond. I can almost hear a lonely dog barking from across the glittering snow while hidden deep in the distant, wooded shore, when I'm lost in the "Sunrise On Frozen Walden Pond." I'm not even going to attempt to describe the "Nature's Palette, Heywood's Meadow" photograph on page 32. Suffice to say that God is "The" Master Painter. Incredible! (And Scot Miller, you're a wonder, too!)

This five-star beauty of a book represents the pinnacle of the publisher's art, and it includes a shot of the exact site of Thoreau's 1845 cabin (previously obscured by a cairn), and Henry's simple tombstone, which I visited at the Author's Ridge section of the Concord cemetary where our hero's physical body gradually became a part of the nature that his spirit loved so much.

On a family vacation many years ago, I visited Walden Pond and walked all around it. In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Thoreau's Walden, the Walden Woods Project published, in 2004, this illustrated edition of the work with stunning color photographs by Scott Miller of Walden Pond and its environs. The Walden Woods Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of Walden Pond and to the legacy of Thoreau. I found this book a fitting memorial of my walk around Walden Pond and of my earlier readings of Walden. The lovely edition, photographs, and memories inspired me to turn again to Thoreau's book.

Henry David Thoreau (1817 -- 1862) lived at Walden Pond, Masachusetts from July, 1845 -- September, 1847, in a cabin he built himself on a tract of land owned by his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was two miles from Concord, Massachusetts and one mile from his nearest neighbor. A railroad passed near the pond, and it was frequented regularly by farmers, hunters, picnickers, and others. During the two years, Thoreau left Walden Pond at times to visit friends in Concord, to lecture, and to visit other ponds and sites in the area. He made no pretense of being entirely isolated. In his book, Walden, published in 1854, Thoreau described the first year of his life at Walden Pond (he tells us that the second year was much the same) and his reasons for living there. Much of the book was written at Walden Pond, and Throreau also wrote other works there.

The book is short but it is written in a dense, difficult and condensed style with many long, complex sentences. It is also highly allusive and shows Thoreau's learning in classical literature and his interest in Eastern thought and religion. It is filled with many short, pithy, and provocative comments which have become proverbial in American literature.

In the opening and closing chapters of the book, Thoreau describes his motivations for living at Walden Pond and abandoning the life of commerce. For Thoreau, most people are owned by their possessions. He saw a need to live with little encubrance in order to understand himself and find inner peace. "Simplify, simplify, simplify" was his goal. In one of my favorite sentences of the book, he states (p. 67) "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Then, towards the end of the book, Thoreau recounts some of the lessons he had learned in the following passage:

"We should be blessed if we lived in the present always, and took advantage of every accident that befell us, like the grass which confesses the influence of the slightest dew that falls on it, and did not spend our time in atoning for the neglect of past opportunities, which we call doing our duty. We loiter in winter while it is already spring."(p/253)

In the middle sections of the book, Throreau describes his life in the woods, again with recognition of his substantial interactions with other people during the time. (He was not a hermit.) He describes the books he read, his activites at his cabin, Walden Pond and woods, the changes of the seasons, and the plants and animals. The pond and its creatures are described with great detail, but Thoreau gives even more attention to internalizing his experiences and explaining their significance to his readers.

Scott Miller's beatiful photographs of Walden Pond add a great deal to this edition. They are well-placed to correspond with the discussion in the text, and they illuminate Thoreau's descriptive passages. The photographs, and the book itself, brought back reading and visiting memories and made me want to see Walden Pond again.

But much as Walden is revered for its descriptions of nature, the book remains for me primarily internalized and intropsective. Thoreau has many polemical things to say which will not, and should not, appeal to all readers. But the book documents the effort of an individual to try to understand his life, to reflect, and to understand change. As I have suggested, it is not an anti-social book as Thoreau was never far removed from friends and company. But it is a book about understanding one's life and learning not to be afraid of solitude or of being with oneself.

Robin Friedman

I'll not dwell on the author's content but on the publisher's choice of binding. Thoreau calls for a complete abandonment of possessions and to always choose the simpler, less expensive if something is needful. This beautiful coffee table book uses expensive glossy enamel paper with gorgeous photographs going way beyond necessity. Every time I picked it up to read, it's irony struck me first and weighed upon me until I set it down. It's a shame really, because with other content it would be luxurious.

I found a copy of "The Winthrop Woman" in a box of old books my neighbor gave me -- at first glance, I dismissed it as a cheesy bodice-ripper. Then one day in a fit of boredom I cracked it open -- and was immediately transfixed. This is a fictionalized account of a real woman, Elizabeth Fones, niece of Mass. Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop, and a perpetual embarrassment to the Winthrop family. By virtue of circumstance and her own volatile nature, Elizabeth found herself a beautiful young widow with a child and embarked on a rather unfortunate second marriage, accusations of witchcraft, run-ins with Indians, and along the way bore seven children and finally found true love. She certainly experienced more in her forty-five years than most of us moderns will in ninety. This book is currently out of print, but well worth the effort to seek out a used copy.

This is a dazzling work of historical fiction that I first read as a young adult. Now, over thirty years after first reading it, I find that time has not diminished the power and passion of this exquisitely written work of historical fiction. At the heart of this fine novel, is Elizabeth Fones, an Englishwoman who would marry her first cousin, Harry Winthrop, and would go on to lead a life of which few of us would dream.

As a member of the austerely Puritan Winthrop family, Elizabeth would chafe under its restrictive influences. When the family fortunes abated in England due to the religious beliefs of the family patriarch, John Winthrop, Elizabeth's uncle and father-in-law, the entire family sets off for the New World to become founding members of the Massachusetts Bay colony, a theocracy under which Elizabeth was to know much heartache.

A passionate and vibrant woman, Elizabeth would have a number of personal situations that would cause her to become notorious amongst the Puritan colonists. She would be both reviled and admired for her actions, which were singular for those times. This is an absorbing, page turner of a book that takes a look at sixteenth century England during the tumultuous time that preceded the civil war that would see an act of regicide and the rise of Puritan Oliver Cromwell. It also relates the turmoil that underlay the government of the nascent Massachusetts Bay colony with all its factionalism, restrictive practices, and bigotry.

The novel, set against a historical backdrop filled with well known personages of the time, both English and Dutch, lovingly chronicles and explores Elizabeth's passage in life as a member of the illustrious Winthrop family, her troubled marriages, her relationship with the Siwanot Indians, and the trials and tribulations that she underwent as a compassionate, independent woman in a time when to be such was to destine oneself to become a pariah within the larger community.

This is a historical novel that is epic in its telling, beautifully written, and one to be savored until the very last page is turned. Bravo!

It is fun to remember books that made an impression on you as a young adult. An aunt gave this book to me when I turned thirteen and it is still in my top ten.

I recently re-read it again after reading Tracy Chevalier's, "Girl With a Pearl Earring." Both books are set during the 1600's -- although one in Delft and the other in England and early America.

I have recommended this book to several people over the years and not one has been disappointed. It is such a fabulous story (and you learn lots to boot!). Unfortunately, it is out of print -- but do not despair, it is easily found in used book stores.

This is a dazzling work of historical fiction that I first read as a young adult. Now, over thirty years after first reading it, I find that time has not diminished the power and passion of this exquisitely written work of historical fiction. At the heart of this fine novel, is Elizabeth Fones, an Englishwoman who would marry her first cousin, Harry Winthrop, and would go on to lead a life of which few of us would dream.

As a member of the austerely Puritan Winthrop family, Elizabeth would chafe under its restrictive influences. When the family fortunes abated in England due to the religious beliefs of the family patriarch, John Winthrop, Elizabeth's uncle and father-in-law, the entire family sets off for the New World to become founding members of the Massachusetts Bay colony, a theocracy under which Elizabeth was to know much heartache.

A passionate and vibrant woman, Elizabeth would have a number of personal situations that would cause her to become notorious amongst the Puritan colonists. She would be both reviled and admired for her actions, which were singular for those times. This is an absorbing, page turner of a book that takes a look at sixteenth century England during the tumultuous time that preceded the civil war that would see an act of regicide and the rise of Puritan Oliver Cromwell. It also relates the turmoil that underlay the government of the nascent Massachusetts Bay colony with all its factionalism, restrictive practices, and bigotry.

The novel, set against a historical backdrop filled with well known personages of the time, both English and Dutch, lovingly chronicles and explores Elizabeth's passage in life as a member of the illustrious Winthrop family, her troubled marriages, her relationship with the Siwanot Indians, and the trials and tribulations that she underwent as a compassionate, independent woman in a time when to be such was to destine oneself to become a pariah within the larger community.

This is a historical novel that is epic in its telling, beautifully written, and one to be savored until the very last page is turned. Bravo!

This is not my favorite of Anya Seton's novels (that would be Katherine), but it is worthwhile and fairly engrossing to read.

I wonder why some enterprising publisher doesn't re-issue her books? It is so sad that they're all out of print.

Susan Kelly has produced a very thoroughly researched and documented book on the subject of the Boston Strangler case of the early 60's.

The Preface tells of the circumstance that led to the author's interest in the case.

She describes the political and public pressure to solve these cases. The media distortion was a major problem.

The author frequently references books by Gerald Frank and F.Lee Bailey as well as numerous newspaper articles.

A few things brought up in this book make a very strong case that Albert DeSalvo wasn't the strangler. His confession in it's entirety would have exonerated him. There is evidence strongly suggesting that some of these cases weren't even related by M.O. or victim type.
DeSalvo was the "Green Man" guilty of sexual assault but the leap from that to the Strangler was tenuous at best.

Susan Kelly makes a strong argument that Albert Desalvo was looking for fame for himself and financial security for his family. He was offered a chance at both by one of his attorneys and he was no doubt coached by nore than a few people, one being the man that killed some of the "Bostan Strangler" victims. Another factor was that details were published in the newspapers regularly. A casual reader could pick up enough information to make a more compelling confession than DeSalvo did on some of the cases.

The author examines some of the prominent suspects known to be in the areas of the killings, as well as information on the victims, their actions and crime scene details.

"The Boston Stranglers" is an excellent book on the subject and characters involved. It is well written and I highly recommend it.

This book is obviously extremely well researched, and the narrative is easy to read, but only 100 pages into it I am finding it necessary to make my own lists, timelines, and charts to keep track of the players and events. She failed to provide any, even though she introduces multiple threads. She discusses at least three sets of victims (DeSalvo's, Nassar's, and the Boston Stranglers'); several players at several levels of police, judicial, and political jurisdictions; several attorneys, and several different political factors, including cross-jurisdictional squabbles and who gets what kind of publicity. Nevertheless, the reader is given no tie-backs to help keep all of those straight, including which names belong to which set of victims or law enforcement agency, even though 50 pages and multiple other players frequently separate references to specific individuals or significant factors.

I very much enjoyed this extremely well-researched, suspense-filled account of the saga of Albert De Salvo. The writing is marvellous - one forgets that this is non-fiction, as it runs as smoothly as a novel from evidence to evidence and crime to crime. It really reads like a superb piece of detective fiction. I am impressed by the research involved, and by the wealth of detail that never bogs down the reader, but rather keeps us turning pages. The "Update" is particularly interesting, as it combines a suspenseful journey with gruesome detail and real hillarity. This is a standout in the works of true crime.

I read a number of books about this subject, and this is one of the best written. Susan Kelly interjects humor and irony at just the right moments and for a true crime account, it reads more like a novel. I truly enjoyed this book.

I was blown away by the last chapter, which describes in detail....wait, I don't want to spoil it. Read it for yourself!

This book is very well-written and documents years of painstaking research.

Particularly fascinating to me was the section on how the film version got it entirely wrong. It makes me wonder how many other films embedded in our consciousness are wildly different from the true events that took place.