Book In Review

This children’s picture book is about a difficult subject; however, I think the author handles the subject very gracefully and in a way that doesn’t talk down to a child.   Jenevieve Fisher is the author of I’m A Kid Living With Cancer.   She introduces the main character who talks about what cancer is and how a person who has cancer gets tested and treated.  The explanations are honest, direct and simple.

In explaining these issues, in this way, she takes some of the fear of such procedures out of them; making it easy for an adult reading this story to their child to explain what may happen to them (if they are a pediatric cancer patient).  There isn’t an emotional script in the book about how a child should feel…this leaves the job of exploring the child’s emotional reactions to any given treatment or procedure open to discussion between the reader and the patient.  That is as it should be because it is hard to write the reality of treatments in a meaningful way without trivializing it or overwhelming a child with a pre-conceived idea of how it will feel. Read the rest of this entry…

Unbearable Lightness is a memoir written by actress Portia De Rossi.  It details her growing up years and her early years in Hollywood and her struggles with a healthy relationship between her self image and eating methods.  She struggled trying to suppress her feelings of self worth and her self image with food and exercise.  She also struggled with her sexual identity.  Ms. Rossi is a lesbian who felt she had to hide her sexual identity from the media and her fans if she were to remain successful.  While I do not condone homosexual relationships I can understand how her fear of being discovered contributed to her eating disorder.

The book is very explicit in it’s depiction of the mental and emotional struggle between the person who is and the person that they see in the mirror.  Part of anyone’s struggle to feel love and acceptance depends on their spiritual condition; although not much is said about that in the book.  Portia’s voice in her head abused her verbally…that voice, she calls it the drill instructor, criticized her and demanded an accounting of each and every morsel she consumed.  She was reduced to a very strict process of what she ate, how, and when she ate, and the continual lowering of calories until she wasted away.  She swung back and forth between binging and purging and then near starvation. Read the rest of this entry…

Eleanor Roosevelt is a very good beginner biography published by ABDO Publishing Company, written by Sarah Tieck and copyrighted in 2010.  What I enjoyed about this book is the multiple photos and the information that covered so many different areas of Eleanor Roosevelt’s life.  I loved the way the book described the social changes that Eleanor was instrumental in bringing about in our country; as well as abroad, through her work in the United Nations.

For an interested reader in history this book was very informative.  It talks about Eleanor’s family, her education, her life in the White House and her political and humanitarian works.  Eleanor lived a very full life.  She and FDR made a huge impact on the United States and we still are affected today by many of the changes that they were instrumental in setting into motion during their lives.

If you are interested in learning more about this book continue reading here: http://www.abdopublishing.com .

Abbie Against The Storm is a great children’s picture book that tells the story of a young girl who lives and trains with her father at a lighthouse in Maine.  It is a true story of a time in history when sailors and people who traveled on the water depended on the lighthouses along the shores to keep them aware of the dangerous rocks and reefs that could damage their boats as they traveled the water ways.

Abbie’s mother becomes ill and her father must leave the lighthouse to get help.  A storm is on the way and it is up to Abbie to keep the lights lit in the towers.  The storm takes on a horrific power and the family must climb to a higher level than the lower living space due to the storm washing upon the rock where the lighthouse was built.

It is exhausting and a tremendous responsibility to keep the lights burning and bright.  Abbie battles the storm and her own exhaustion performing the duties that her father normally was in charge of.  This book was wonderfully written and illustrated.   The pictures are rich in color and convey the urgency of the storm in the story.   The author is Marcia Vaughan and the illustrator is Bill Farnsworth.

Anna’s Return is a work of fiction written by Marta Perry.  It is classified as a Christian Romance book.  However, I really found it just to be just a great work of fiction.  The characters were not only believable but they were multi-layered and their interactions were so filled with genuine responses that the reader could quite easily lose themselves in the storyline.

Anna is a young woman of the Amish background who had left her family and her friends in her search for freedom.  This is her time of rumspringa or period of rebellion that many young Amish individuals experience before they commit to being baptised into their church.  Read the rest of this entry…

The Ark is a novel written by Boyd Morrison and is an interesting read concerning an intriguing concept about the Biblical story of the Ark.  The book takes creative license with the concept of not only where the Ark has been hidden but also with the very basic story of the ark and why it was built.

There is action and a perfect blending of characters who have skills and knowledge which blend to bring the story to an exciting climax.  Many aspects of the story could have been taken off of the evening news with biological agents, modern day travel, historical excavation, military secrets and knowledge that is kept from society for it’s own good.

The Ark explores many areas of science and technological advancement that is fascinating to consider.  Does it change my personal religious beliefs about the biblical version of the story?  No.  However, I will say that I found the book to be very interesting and to be well worth my time reading.  The book was copyrighted in 2009 by Gordian Fiction, LLC.  Published by Touchstone a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

As Simple As It Seems is a wonderful book written for tweens.  It is about a young girl who struggles with the knowledge of her very origins in life.  She has been dealing with the knowledge that she is the daughter of a man who is legally her uncle…a man who is not a good person.  The young girl named Verbena Colter is adopted.

As she processes the knowledge, she begins to be confused about who she really is and whether she is a good person or a good person who is infected with bad genes who will turn into a bad person because of the blood that runs through her veins.  This is the old story about the importance of what creates who we are to become as an individual; is environment or genetics more important.  She risks alienating her parents affects because of her behavior and her self esteem.

Verbena doesn’t know who she is but she thinks she knows who she will turn out to be.  She forges a new friendship with a summer resident and that helps her to figure out what is really important in life; but will she figure it out in time?

Sarah Weeks is the author of As Simple As It Seems and she does a great job of writing believable characters.  Before you know it you are swept up in the story that is Verbena’s life.  This book was published in 2010 and was published by Harper Collins.  You can view their site here:  http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com

While most people learn about Clara Barton and her nursing work on the battlefield during the civil war; we don’t really learn about the extent of Clara’s influence on America. I found the book to be very interesting as it discussed Clara’s early childhood and the foundation she gained through her family and their work ethic.

Ms. Barton was a highly effective individual when it came to influencing people in positions of power…the very rich as well as those higher up in the government.  Equally influential with the poor and those who were injured or displaced because of war or natural disasters, Ms. Barton knew how to prepare and dispense supplies that helped people to survive and overcome whatever hardships that they were facing.  It was the very establishment of America’s first endeavor of organized humanitarian aid.

In a time when women were regulated to very defined roles in society either in the home or in very limited careers such as teachers; Clara Barton opened doors to women fulfilling their purpose in societies in ways that were previously closed to them.

Clara was either revered and respected or resented and resisted by most everyone she came into contact with.  Those who supported her efforts stood by her side and tried to aid the areas of impact that she felt called to contribute to.  Those who resented or resisted her goals often times were successful temporarily at standing in her way.  Clara suffered physically because of her dedication to her calling.  She had to restore her health for lengthy periods of time so that she could again, gain the strength to put her heart and soul into establishing guidelines for providing ethical and medical standards regarding those who fought in wars.

Compassion combined with a diligent effort to organizing and streamlining aid to those in need was what was needed.  She also helped to find and organize information regarding the loss of lives due to war; which was a great comfort to those family members who lost loved ones in war and had no idea of their burial places.

Clara Barton is a woman who has earned her place in history and is one whom both men and women can admire and pattern their own behavior after.   She was called the “Angel of the Battlefied” because of those who had gratitude in their hearts for her nursing skills.

This book was written by Susan E. Hamen and was published by ABDO Publishing Company in 2010.  It was printed on recycled paper and was nicely put together with wonderful pictures that go a long way towards keeping the interest of the reader.    If you are interested in the book or in more information about Clara Barton you can visit their website here:  http://www.abdopublishing.com