Why? (Nikolai Popov)

 

Sometimes a simple analogy can be really powerful. This one is a simple analogy on the fruitlessness of war. This book made me think of The Lorax and it's powerful yet simple message about the environment.


Goodreads says:

A frog sits peacefully in a meadow. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, he is attacked by an umbrella-wielding mouse in a confrontation that quickly turns into a full-scale war. "A strong anti-war message and lithe, incandescent artwork propel this affecting wordless picture book".--"Publishers Weekly"

Is Was (Deborah Freedman)

 

This is beautiful. I also loved This House, Once. The simplicity of this book would be a great conversation starter in a classroom. 

Goodreads says:

Explore the connections found in nature in this simply stunning picture book that explores the idea of change, both big and small.

This sky is
the same sky that was blue,
and now is
spilling down in drips and drops…
until rainclouds pass…

Over the course of one day, a small child experiences the way the natural world changes from sun to rain and from day to night as things transform from is to was in this breathtaking book.

Inside Cat (Brendan Wenzel)

 

Follow up to They All Saw a Cat. Brilliant illustrations. Worth taking the time to soak them all up!

Goodreads says:
Told in rhyming text, Inside Cat views the world through many windows, watching the birds, squirrels, and people go by--but when the door opens it discovers a whole new view.

Hello, Star (Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic)

 

Definitely a book to save and read at the carpet....when we finally get a carpet back and can sit close together to read a story! 

“The girl felt her heart pinch at the idea of the star slowly losing its light all the way out there on its own.”


Goodreads says:

When a young girl learns that a bright light in the sky is coming from a dying star, she promises to keep it company until the light goes out. Every night the girl reassures her friend that she is still there.

As the years pass, the girl learns everything she can about planets, space, and the universe, inspired by her dimming friend—until she realizes she needs to do something more.

This touching tribute to stars, space, and science celebrates how a small act of compassion can flourish into a life full of meaning and wonder.

Everything Happens for a Reason, and Other Lies I've Loved (Kate Bowler)

 

I first was introduced to Kate Bowler when her book, No Cure For Being Human, was chosen for the Happier podcast book club. I loved that book. I had a harder time with this one. A lot of it was the same story as her other book but this one was more philosophical. I found that sometimes I felt buoyed by it and admired her approached and other times I just found it depressing and had to take a break. Recently I have had a friend whose son died after trying for the nth time to get away from drugs. I also had a former student pass away after a 2 year battle with leukemia, searching for a stem cell donor match and in the end, not finding one and having cancer take him. Kate survives her cancer diagnosis and it seems like it has given her a new way to look at life. I especially appreciated the appendixes at the end with tips on and to not do/say to people who are facing death as well as things to do/say. I'm interested in her research about prosperity gospel and plan to read her book, Blessed: The History of the American Prosperisty Gospel, as well as The Preacher's Wife: The Precarious Power of Evangelical Women Celebrities.

She takes on touch topics and topics that I'm interested in. I like her. I plan to add her blog to my blogroll as well as her podcast. 

Goodreads says:

A divinity professor and young mother with a Stage IV cancer diagnosis explores the pain and joy of living without certainty.

Thirty-five-year-old Kate Bowler was a professor at the school of divinity at Duke, and had finally had a baby with her childhood sweetheart after years of trying, when she began to feel jabbing pains in her stomach. She lost thirty pounds, chugged antacid, and visited doctors for three months before she was finally diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer.

As she navigates the aftermath of her diagnosis, Kate pulls the reader deeply into her life, which is populated with a colorful, often hilarious collection of friends, pastors, parents, and doctors, and shares her laser-sharp reflections on faith, friendship, love, and death. She wonders why suffering makes her feel like a loser and explores the burden of positivity. Trying to relish the time she still has with her son and husband, she realizes she must change her habit of skipping to the end and planning the next move. A historian of the "American prosperity gospel"--the creed of the mega-churches that promises believers a cure for tragedy, if they just want it badly enough--Bowler finds that, in the wake of her diagnosis, she craves these same "outrageous certainties." She wants to know why it's so hard to surrender control over that which you have no control. She contends with the terrifying fact that, even for her husband and child, she is not the lynchpin of existence, and that even without her, life will go on.

On the page, Kate Bowler is warm, witty, and ruthless, and, like Paul Kalanithi, one of the talented, courageous few who can articulate the grief she feels as she contemplates her own mortality.

The Magician's Nephew (C.S. Lewis)

 

Since I claim to be a reader, I probably should have read this before now. Alas, this was my first time. I plan to read the entire series. I have read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe before but not the ones that follow. This book explains how the wardrobe became magical. There are a number of interesting connections and symbolism connected to Biblical stories.

I gave it a 5 on GoodReads because who am I to give CS Lewis anything less? I am not sure many of my students would ever enjoy it. It would be a stretch for them and that is usually the reason I read most Children's Lit books. Maybe I need to expand my purpose in reading though.

Narrator, explaining what happened to the uncle when all the animals started surrounding them: For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are. (p. 136....chapter 10)  

Digory and the Witch (who represents evil):

"Foolish boy," said the Witch.  "Why do you run from me? I mean you no harm. If you do not stop and listen to me now, you will some some knowledge that would have made you happy all your life." (p. 175 ...chapter 13)

"What has the Lion ever done for you that you should be his slave?" said the Witch. "What can he do to you once you are back in your own world? And what would your Mother think if he knew that you could have taken her pain away and given her back her life and saved your Father's heart from being broken, and that you wouldn't - that you'd rather run messages for a wild animal in a strange world that is no business of yours?" (p. 176 ...chapter 13)

Why friends matter: The meanness of the suggestions that he should leave Polly behind suddenly made all the other things the Witch had been saying to him sound false and hollow. And even in the midst of all his misery, his head suddenly cleared, and he said (in a different and much louder voice): 
"Look here; where do you come into all this? Why are you so precious and fond of my Mother all of a sudden? What's it got to do with you? What's your game? (Digory to the Witch)

later, she continues to try to create a sense of urgency to follow her:
"Go then, Fools," called the Witch. "Think of me, Boy, when you lie old and weak and dying, and remember how you threw away the chance of endless youth! It won't be offered you again." (p. 178 ...chapter 13)

On seeing people's beauty on the inside:
All the sharpness and cunning and quarrelsomeness which he had picked up as a London cabby seemed to have been washed away, and the courage and kindness which he had always had were easier to see. Perhaps it was the air of the young world that had done it, or talking with Aslan, or both. (p. 181 chapter 14 the cabby and his wife once they're made King and Queen of Narnia)

On the fruit from the tree:

Aslan: That is what happens to those who pluck and eat fruits at the wrong time and in the wrong way. The fruit is good, but they loathe it ever after.
"Oh I see," said Polly. "And I suppose because she took it in the wrong way it won't work for her. I mean it won't make her always young and all that?"
"Alas, said Aslan, shaking his head. "It will. Things always work according to their nature. She has won her heart's desire; she has un-wearying strength and endless days like a goddess. But length of days with an evil heart is only length of misery and already she begins to know it. All get what they want; they do not always like it."  (p. 190 ...chapter 14)

Goodreads says:

When Digory and Polly are tricked by Digory's peculiar Uncle Andrew into becoming part of an experiment, they set off on the adventure of a lifetime. What happens to the children when they touch Uncle Andrew's magic rings is far beyond anything even the old magician could have imagined.

Hurtled into the Wood between the Worlds, the children soon find that they can enter many worlds through the mysterious pools there. In one world they encounter the evil Queen Jadis, who wreaks havoc in the streets of London when she is accidentally brought back with them. When they finally manage to pull her out of London, unintentionally taking along Uncle Andrew and a coachman with his horse, they find themselves in what will come to be known as the land of Narnia. 

The Reckoning (Mary Trump)

 

This is a book that makes you sit back and think. While Donald Trump is a big player in the story, it isn't really about him. It's about American racism. It looks at the big picture, rather than the close day by stories we see on the news. It's well re-searched (100 books/articles are listed in the references section in case you are looking for a bit more reading on the topic) and well-written.

She says that Donald is someone with a gaping wound where his soul should be (p. 87). Because of that, the whole world has been affected.

The first chapter of this book is a brutal look at the history of racism in the US. It surmises that racism is the basis of the problem. It starts off with a terrible story about a community that lynched a man who had killed his owner. They didn't just hang this man though. They hunted him and his wife down for hours, finally capturing him, and then tore his body apart, first his fingers, then his ears, then his legs and arms and threw the bits to the crowd as souvenirs. I think her purpose starting off with this terrible story is to shock the reader. It works. Later in the chapter, she quotes a man named Ezra Klein in 2017: "I actually think the great evil of American slavery wasn't involuntary servitude and forced labor. The true evil of American slavery was the narrative we created to justify it. They made up this ideology of white supremacy that cannot be reconciled with our Constitution, that cannot be reconciled with a commitment to fair and just treatment of all people. They made it up so they could feel comfortable."

In the chapter on covid, I never did get an answer to my question though about why he was so afraid to admit the dangers of the pandemic, of wearing masks and especially the importance of getting vaccinated, especially since he was. She talks about the terrorist attacks of September 11 and how it created a great moment of unity around the world. Covid killed more people each and every day than the September 11 attacks and yet it has become one of the most divisive tragedies in American history. It's bizarre and I don't understand why he'd be so reticent to show integrity on this issue.

So what's the answer? The racism must be addressed. It can't be swept under the carpet. It can no longer be ignored. Dismissing the pain of this racism only postpones the freedom from it. She further hypothesizes that we are in the midst of a mental health crises and we still treat it as an after thought or a moral failing. "The impact of COVID on our nation's psychological and emotional well-being underscores how dangerous it is to keep making that mistake." (p. 165) The other important issue is connection with each other.

The epilogue begins by discussing the Derek Chauvin verdict. Great quote: What this say to me is that in order to get a nominal degree of justice in this country, that a Black man has to be murdered, on air, viewed by the entire world. There would have to be a year's worth of protests, and a phalanx of other white police officers to tell one white officer he was wrong, in order to get on scintilla of justice." (Jason Johnson, a political scientist and commentator)

"In this country, American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate." - Toni Morrison

Until that changes, sadly, the problem will persist.

Goodreads says:

The instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller

America is suffering from PTSD—The Reckoning diagnoses its core causes and helps us begin the healing process.

For four years, Donald J. Trump inflicted an onslaught of overlapping and interconnected traumas upon the American people, targeting anyone he perceived as being an “other” or an enemy. Women were discounted and derided, the sick were dismissed as weak and unworthy of help, immigrants and minorities were demonized and discriminated against, and money was elevated above all else. In short, he transformed our country into a macro version of his malignantly dysfunctional family.

How can we make sense of the degree to which our institutions and leaders have let us down? How can we negotiate a world in which all sense of safety and justice seems to have been destroyed? How can we—as individuals and as a nation—confront, process, and overcome this loss of trust and the ways we have been forever altered by chaos, division, and cruelty? And when the dust finally settles, how can we begin to heal, in the midst of ongoing health and economic crises and the greatest political divide since the Civil War?

Mary L. Trump is uniquely positioned to answer these difficult questions. She holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology specializing in trauma, has herself been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and happens to be Donald J. Trump’s only niece. In The Reckoning, she applies her unique expertise to the task of helping us confront an all-encompassing trauma, one that has taken an immense toll on our nation’s health and well-being.

A new leader alone cannot fix us. Donald J. Trump is only the latest symptom of a disease that has existed within the body politic since America’s inception—from the original sin of slavery through our unceasing, organized commitment to inequality. Our failure to acknowledge this, let alone root it out, has allowed it to metastasize. Now, we are confronted with the limits of our own agency on a daily basis. Whether it manifests itself in rising levels of rage and hatred, or hopelessness and apathy, the unspeakable stress of living in a country we no longer recognize has affected all of us for a long time, in ways we may not fully understand. An enormous amount of healing must be done to rebuild our lives, our faith in leadership, and our hope for this nation. It starts with The Reckoning.

Negative Cat (Sophie Blackall)

 

This is so true to cats! And I loved how everything is made better with reading, because everything actually is made better with reading. 

Goodreads says:

Two-time Caldecott winner Sophie Blackall spins a winning tale about Max, a feline whose behavior doesn't win any raves, except from the boy who believes in him and finds a way to turn a negative into a positive.

When a boy is FINALLY allowed to get a cat, he has no doubts about which one to bring home from the shelter. But Max the cat isn't quite what the family expected. He shuns the toy mouse, couldn't care less about the hand-knitted sweater, and spends most of his time facing the wall. One by one, the family gives up on Max, but the boy loves his negative cat so much, he'll do anything to keep him. Even the thing he dreads most: practicing his reading. Which, as it turns out, makes everything positive!

The Lemon-Ade Ripple (Paul Reichert)

 

My students totally get the idea of a domino effect or a ripple. There were even some gasps when we read this one when they saw how many people showed up to the final event.

Goodreads says:

When Caroline watches her disabled friend Shannon struggling with an old, rusty, squeaking, and wobbling wheelchair, she decides to use her grandmother’s secret recipe to make and sell lemonade to raise money for a brand-new wheelchair. When the neighborhood kids see Caroline trying to help, they choose to pitch in, too. Some kids look for spare change, while others start a carwash. Seeing the difference all the children make inspires Caroline’s grandmother to organize a sponsored paddle race down the river, which gets them enough money to buy Shannon the best new wheelchair available. 
This inspiring book engages kids in charity and shows them the value of helping others in fun and creative ways. Like the ripples made in a river, one act of kindness can ripple out through the community and make a real impact on a person’s life. Proceeds from the sale of The Lemonade Ripple benefit the Foundation for Community Betterment. 

Mere Christianity (CS Lewis)

 

I've heard this quoted so much! I have been reading and re-reading a sermon this past week that referred to it and I decided finally that I really should read it. An interesting fact I learned was that it was originally written as a radio series. Imagine something like this being popular on the radio? I especially enjoyed his chapters on faith, hope and charity. 

The goodreads summary says he was one of the greatest writers of our time. I wonder how they decided that? Don't get me wrong....seems like he's written some great things...but the greatest of our time? 


Goodreads says:

In the classic Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, the most important writer of the 20th century, explores the common ground upon which all of those of Christian faith stand together. Bringing together Lewis’ legendary broadcast talks during World War Two from his three previous books The Case for Christianity, Christian Behavior, and Beyond Personality, Mere Christianity provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear this powerful apologetic for the Christian faith

Lilac Girls (Martha Hall Kelly)

 

I was drawn to the story, even though I felt like the writing was not stellar. I started it during the week of Remembrance Day and the timing seemed to make it more impactful. I didn't know about "the rabbits" and the all female camps ran by the Nazis. The urine letters written were fascinating as well. 

This book is centered around three women. One is a German woman that is a doctor. She seems like a good person in the beginning, but she ends up being a doctor in the camp that does experimental medical experiments on women, as well as letting them be killed. Her likability decreases as the novel continues but all along the way I felt like the author wanted me to feel sympathetic towards her. I suppose she did a good job of making some like-able qualities in someone who did some abhorrent things. However, you don't get a glimpse into how she makes the transition from a seeming good person to a doctor who does some of the worst atrocities in history. 

Another woman is from Poland and ends up being in the camp and a victim of the experimental surgeries. She had a lot of anger, which seemed understandable. 

The third was a woman from the US whose life was spent trying to help disadvantaged groups. She is based on a real person and did in fact do some great things in life, but I found myself irritated by her luxury and wealth running parallel to such atrocities. I should have hated the German doctor the most, but I found myself really not having any sympathies for Caroline. She's just too privileged and made out to be a hero that I don't connect with. Although she did have to sell her silver. I guess that is something (spoiler: she gets it back in the end). There was too much about the galas she organized, yearnings to be with someone she can't be with (even after she could actually be with him) and description of perfectly chosen outfits for different scenes.

I dislike the cover. When you go into the historical fiction section of a book store, almost all the books have a picture of a woman taken from the back. I don't know who the three women are on the cover. It certainly can't be the three main characters. Maybe it's Caroline (the woman from New York?) and Kasia (the Polish woman) and her sister? And the cut off with the lilacs at the bottom....weird. They're there, I guess, because Caroline had a lovely garden with lilacs. It's not a key part of the story though.

Apparently, it's the author's first book. The book is quite long, but I felt like many of the situations weren't well developed. For example, when Kasia decides she'll take up Caroline's offer and go back to Germany to identify the doctor, she must have had some internal conversation that wasn't shared. One page she isn't going, the next she gets up and goes. Not sure what changed her mind. There was also a few sex things that were odd. The German girl is abused by her uncle in the back of his butcher shop. It's not explained not does it seem to really negatively affect the character. It's just there. It seems to be implied that the mother of the girls gives sexual favors to soldiers to keep the family off their radar....but that isn't a key part of the story....it's just there and then it's not talked about anymore. Odd. Most of all, I found the sections with dialogue between two or more characters odd and choppy and not well developed.

There are a lot of amazing World War II books that are amazing. I'd skip this one. This one is definitely a story worth telling, but I told think it's very well told in this book. Disappointing. 

All that being said, I did read the entire thing. I wanted to see how issues would be resolved. I hadn't finished it when my book club met and everyone seemed to like it - which gave me hope. My hopes were dashed though. It just isn't a great book.

Goodreads says:

Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this debut novel reveals a story of love, redemption, and secrets that were hidden for decades.
 
New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.

On ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.
 
For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.
 
The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, Germany, and Poland—as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.

The Bravest Dog Ever: The Story of Balto (Natalie Standiford)

 

This really is a step into reading book: simple sentences (all subject openers) but kids love the story. 

Goodreads says:

Balto has a quiet life as a sled dog - until tragedy strikes. Dozens of children in Nome become sick with diphtheria. Without antitoxin serum, they will perish - and the closest supply is 650 miles away! The only way to get the serum to Nome is by sled, but can the dogs deliver it in time? Heading bravely into a brutal blizzard, Balto leads the race for life.

Watercress (Andrea Wang)

 

The author's note at the back of this book makes the book even more meaningful. My class totally got it. We all have stories and some we are leery to share...but we really should share them.

Goodreads says:

Gathering watercress by the side of the road brings a girl closer to her family's Chinese Heritage.

Driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl's parents stop suddenly when they spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road. Grabbing an old paper bag and some rusty scissors, the whole family wades into the muck to collect as much of the muddy, snail covered watercress as they can.

At first, she's embarrassed. Why can't her family get food from the grocery store? But when her mother shares a story of her family's time in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged. Together, they make a new memory of watercress.

Andrea Wang tells a moving autobiographical story of a child of immigrants discovering and connecting with her heritage, illustrated by award winning author and artist Jason Chin, working in an entirely new style, inspired by Chinese painting techniques. An author's note in the back shares Andrea's childhood experience with her parents.

Bear Island (Matthew Cordell)

 

Amazingly, everyone seemed to have a story to relate to this book. We have all experienced loss. The sadness and the anger was something we all knew about. This book beautifully depicts those emotions and also gives a sense of wonder. We don't know what happens to the bear in the end. We chose to believe he (she?) has a happy ending. 

Goodreads says:

Bear Island is a heartfelt picture book about healing after loss by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell.

Louise and her family are sad over the loss of their beloved dog, Charlie. "Life will not be the same," Louise says, as she visits a little island that Charlie loved.

But on a visit to the island after Charlie's death, something strange happens: She meets a bear. At first, she's afraid, but soon she realizes that the bear is sad, too. As Louise visits more often, she realizes that getting over loss takes time. And just when she starts to feel better, it's time for Bear to bed down for the winter.

Once again, Louise believes that life will not be the same. But sometimes, things can change for the better, and on the first warm day of spring, her family welcomes a new member. Here is a lovely, poignant story about loss and healing that will bring comfort to even the youngest readers.

The Good, The Bad and the Spooky (Jory John)

 

Everyone has been there. It's time for Halloween and you just can't come up with a good costume. Things like this stress us out - just like the baaaaad seed (who is quick to jump to rage). This is a great story on realizing what is important and what isn't worth stressing about. 

Goodreads says:

Based on the New York Times bestselling picture book sensation The Bad Seed, Jory John and Pete Oswald present: The Good, the Bad, and the Spooky! Includes two sticker sheets, perfect for decorating your own mini jack-o'-lantern.

Halloween is the Bad Seed’s favorite holiday of the year. But what’s a seed to do when he can’t find a show-stopping costume for the big night? Postpone trick-or-treating for everyone, of course!

Can he get a costume together in time? Or will this seed return to his baaaaaaaaad ways?

Find out in this hilarious, charming, and thought-provoking continuation of Jory John and Pete Oswald’s bestselling series.

Option B: Finding Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy (Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant)

 

I read Lean In and quite enjoyed it and this book was the same. I have definitely experienced adversity in life and love the topic of resilience. I could read this book again and again. I think most of us are stronger and more resilient than we realize. Sometimes we need a little help discovering that in ourselves. This book is a great way to do that. I have a few people in my life I'd like to share this book with, but I probably won't. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like most people need to discover their innate ability to bounce back on their own. 

For some reason, the summary on Goodreads is in some Asian language. So Amazon sums up the book like this: 

From Facebook’s COO and Wharton’s top-rated professor, the #1 New York Times best-selling authors of Lean In and Originals: a powerful, inspiring, and practical book about building resilience and moving forward after life’s inevitable setbacks.
 
After the sudden death of her husband, Sheryl Sandberg felt certain that she and her children would never feel pure joy again. “I was in ‘the void,’” she writes, “a vast emptiness that fills your heart and lungs and restricts your ability to think or even breathe.” Her friend Adam Grant, a psychologist at Wharton, told her there are concrete steps people can take to recover and rebound from life-shattering experiences. We are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. It is a muscle that everyone can build.
Option B combines Sheryl’s personal insights with Adam’s eye-opening research on finding strength in the face of adversity. Beginning with the gut-wrenching moment when she finds her husband, Dave Goldberg, collapsed on a gym floor, Sheryl opens up her heart—and her journal—to describe the acute grief and isolation she felt in the wake of his death. But Option B goes beyond Sheryl’s loss to explore how a broad range of people have overcome hardships including illness, job loss, sexual assault, natural disasters, and the violence of war. Their stories reveal the capacity of the human spirit to persevere . . . and to rediscover joy.
Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us. Even after the most devastating events, it is possible to grow by finding deeper meaning and gaining greater appreciation in our lives. Option B illuminates how to help others in crisis, develop compassion for ourselves, raise strong children, and create resilient families, communities, and workplaces. Many of these lessons can be applied to everyday struggles, allowing us to brave whatever lies ahead. Two weeks after losing her husband, Sheryl was preparing for a father-child activity. “I want Dave,” she cried. Her friend replied, “Option A is not available,” and then promised to help her make the most of Option B.
We all live some form of Option B. This book will help us all make the most of it.

Mel Fell (Corey Tabor)

 I love this story! Sometimes others may be horrified by our choices. They may have the best of intentions when they try to save you or stop you. Only you can know what is right for you....take the leap! You just might fly.

Goodreads says:

From Geisel Award–winning author-illustrator Corey Tabor comes a tale about self-confidence and taking a leap of faith, starring an adorable, brave kingfisher.

Sometimes, you might fall

down,

down,

down,

before you learn to fly

up,

up,

up…

A charming and innovative tale about a plucky little bird, from the award-winning author of Fox the Tiger.

Unspeakable (Carole Boston Weatherford)

 

Wow. Stories like these make me feel so sad for history. It is written well for children. It shares the horrors without showing too much of the horror (how is that possible). I'm not sure I can share it with my class though. It is such a difficult topic. I read this while in the waiting room of my mammogram appointment. I had to hold back tears and I missed them calling my name. It's one of those stories that makes me want to say to everyone, "Did you realize...."

Goodreads says:

A must-have--Booklist (starred review)

Celebrated author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper provide a powerful look at the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation's history. The book traces the history of African Americans in Tulsa's Greenwood district and chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community.

News of what happened was largely suppressed, and no official investigation occurred for seventy-five years. This picture book sensitively introduces young readers to this tragedy and concludes with a call for a better future.

The Beatryce Prophecy (Kate DiCamillo)

 

I really wanted to love this book. It just doesn't feel like a book that kids would get at all though. Are kids really the audience? Or adults? I enjoyed the interviews of Kate DiCamillo talking about the book and the concepts more than the book itself. Maybe I need to read it again. I did love the idea that stories save the family.

‘What does, then, change the world?
If the hardheaded goat Answelica could speak, she would answer with one word: “Love.”
And if you were to ask Beatryce of Abelard?
She too would answer “Love.”
Love, and stories.’

Goodreads says:

From two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo and two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall comes a fantastical meditation on fate, love, and the power of words to spell the world.

We shall all, in the end, be led to where we belong. We shall all, in the end, find our way home.

In a time of war, a mysterious child appears at the monastery of the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing. Gentle Brother Edik finds the girl, Beatryce, curled in a stall, wracked with fever, coated in dirt and blood, and holding fast to the ear of Answelica the goat. As the monk nurses Beatryce to health, he uncovers her dangerous secret, one that imperils them all--for the king of the land seeks just such a girl, and Brother Edik, who penned the prophecy himself, knows why.

And so it is that a girl with a head full of stories--powerful tales-within-the-tale of queens and kings, mermaids and wolves--ventures into a dark wood in search of the castle of one who wishes her dead. But Beatryce knows that, should she lose her way, those who love her--a wild-eyed monk, a man who had once been king, a boy with a terrible sword, and a goat with a head as hard as stone--will never give up searching for her, and to know this is to know everything. With its timeless themes, unforgettable cast, and magical medieval setting, Kate DiCamillo's lyrical tale, paired with resonant black-and-white illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall, is a true collaboration between masters.

After the Fall (Dan Santat)

 

This is well written and actually quite brilliant. Kids like it and it will speak to adults even more.

Goodreads says:

My name is Humpty Dumpty.
I'm famous for falling off a wall.

(You may have heard about it.)

But that's only half the story...
Because I decided to get back up.
And when I did, something amazing happened.

This story is about my life...
AFTER THE FALL.

Inspiring and unforgettable, this epilogue to the beloved classic nursery rhyme will encourage even the most afraid to overcome their fears, learn to get back up--and reach new heights.
(front flap)

No Cure For Being Human (Kate Bowler)

 

Wow. This book was really compelling for me. The author is Canadian and refers to many places in Canada where she and her family have lived. It's quite current, published just this past September! She talks about the pandemic and the impact it has had. Also, just having lost my brother to cancer, I really related to the fear and the rollercoaster cancer treatments bring. Happily, she recovered. Hopefully, life continues that way for her. She also talks about what she will do when this pandemic is over. Sometimes I can't even imagine that....but we have to look forward. Have to!

This book has made me want to read anything else she has written. She talks about prosperity gospel preaching - a subject I have found fascinating for years. She seems to lean towards Christianity in a lot of her topics. 

I loved her appendix at the end....things people say: 

- things happen for a reason

- let go and let God

- be present

- No regrets

- facing the past is part of facing the future

- make every minute count

and more

All those things end up being questioned when someone gets cancer or a pandemic happens or your husband has a stroke and struggles to heal his heart issues or....so many things. 

Goodreads says:

The bestselling author of Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I've Loved) asks, how do you move forward with a life you didn't choose?

It's hard to give up on the feeling that the life you really want is just out of reach. A beach body by summer. A trip to Disneyland around the corner. A promotion on the horizon. Everyone wants to believe that they are headed toward good, better, best. But what happens when the life you hoped for is put on hold indefinitely?

Kate Bowler believed that life was a series of unlimited choices, until she discovered, at age 35, that her body was wracked with cancer. In No Cure for Being Human, she searches for a way forward as she mines the wisdom (and absurdity) of today's "best life now" advice industry, which insists on exhausting positivity and on trying to convince us that we can out-eat, out-learn, and out-perform our humanness. We are, she finds, as fragile as the day we were born.

With dry wit and unflinching honesty, Kate Bowler grapples with her diagnosis, her ambition, and her faith as she tries to come to terms with her limitations in a culture that says anything is possible. She finds that we need one another if we're going to tell the truth: Life is beautiful and terrible, full of hope and despair and everything in between--and there's no cure for being human.

When The Body Says No (Gabor Mate)

 

I'm sure there are many scientists who'd poo poo this book. However, there's got to be something to the peace that comes from therapy, from meditation and from good boundaries. This book has been talked about a lot on the podcast, The Virtual Couch. There's something about acceptance and commitment therapy, I'm sure of it! 

The last chapter is the most important one. It lists keys to good health. I listened to this book though and so I couldn't write while I was driving. LOL I found a good summary of the points on the FourMinuteBooks.com: 

1. When you’re stressed, every system in your body goes on alert in response to a perceived threat.
2. Your body attacks itself when you’re overwhelmed.
3. Negative thinking can help you beat stress. 

Lesson 1: Stress happens when your body perceives a threat, and it affects every system in your body.

Many of us experience stress for a myriad of reasons. We all have the same basic processing system, but what makes a stressor for someone is very individual. For instance, losing a job can be an extremely stressful situation for a person living paycheck-to-paycheck, but for a person with a large amount of savings, maybe it’s not so much. However, at the end of the day, most types of stress are the result of a perceived threat to our survival in some way or another. 

The impacts of stress are felt across many parts of the body, some of which you might not even be aware of. The main places it affects are your hormones, immune system, and digestive system. When you perceive an imminent threat, a series of hormones stimulates the release of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol acts on almost every single system in your body. It gets your heart beating faster, takes blood from your organs to your muscles, and suppresses your immune system. All of this is to make sure you react better to the threat at hand. It’s a useful system in real, short-term threats. But if you have cortisol chronically it can destroy tissue, damage the heart, and raise your blood pressure. 

One study examining the effects of chronic stress on immune cells called natural killer cells found that those experiencing chronic stress had significantly suppressed natural killer cells. These have the essential ability to destroy malignant cells such as cancer. Additionally, wounds on a chronically stressed person took an average of nine days longer to heal than the control group.

Lesson 2: When you get overwhelmed, your body begins to attack itself.

Our immune system needs to be kept at a specific balance, and it’s easy for things to go wrong if things are off. Stress can cause your immune system to start harming the tissues it is supposed to defend. This can actually lead to the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases in some cases. Autoimmune diseases happen when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body and damages connective tissue, joints, and organs. 

There are many things that can cause autoimmunity, but one thing in common with many autoimmune disorder sufferers is they struggle with boundaries. They tend to repress their own needs and put others first. The stress of this emotional repression results in problems with the immune system, which starts to struggle to know which cells to attack and which to leave alone. 

In a study, scientists look at healthy relatives of women who had rheumatoid arthritis. Fourteen out of 46 tested positive for RA antibodies. This group scored much higher than RA antibody-negative participants on psychological scales showing the level of anger inhibition and concern about the acceptability of social behaviors. This suggested that emotional repression resulted in immune reactivity in these women.

Lesson 3: You can beat stress with negative thinking.

After learning how harmful stress is you may be wondering what you can do about it. Mate teaches we can overcome stress through negative thinking. When he was a palliative caregiver, the author came across many people who didn’t understand why it was they who got cancer. One person wondered why this could happen when he’d always been so positive and not given into pessimistic thoughts. 

The truth is, being positive all the time actually isn’t very good for you. Positive emotions increase well-being but being constantly positive actually can turn into a harmful coping mechanism. When you ignore your negative emotions, it increases stress, and we know this makes you more prone to disease. 

So instead, it’s okay to indulge in negative thinking sometimes. We don’t have to be constantly pessimistic, but it’s healthy to embrace all of reality, including the bad. This helps us find a way to fix what’s wrong rather than ignoring it. 

A study found that melanoma patients who tended to suppress emotions had a higher likelihood of relapse and death. On the other hand, another study found those who resigned to their illness and had a harder time coping were actually less likely to relapse. Many of us react to illness by denying it or minimizing it. But science shows being “tough” isn’t what we need. 

Goodreads says:

In this accessible and groundbreaking book--filled with the moving stories of real people--medical doctor and bestselling author Gabor Maté shows that emotion and psychological stress play a powerful role in the onset of chronic illness, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, multiple sclerosis and many others, even Alzheimer's disease.

When the Body Says No is an impressive contribution to research on the physiological connection between life's stresses and emotions and the body systems governing nerves, immune apparatus and hormones. With great compassion and erudition, Gabor Maté demystifies medical science and, as he did in Scattered Minds, invites us all to be our own health advocates.

Look Both Ways (Jason Reynolds)

 

I read this book for my Children's Literature book club. I don't read short stories very often. This one seemed to be full of great fodder for discussion. It's one of those books that makes me wish I taught older kids. When I was reading it, I told a lot of people about it and it was fascinating that they had never heard of it as it has won a number of awards. They were all very curious about the stories though. There are lots of surprises in the stories which can serve to remind you to be more compassionate towards kids and the challenges they face. Challenges ran the gamut: cancer, bullying, phobias, tragedies like your mother being hit by a bus, your sister dying, and more. My favourite one was where the kids were making money to buy ice-cream. My brother just died of cancer and that one got me right in the gut.

Every chapter mentions a bus falling from the sky. The symbolism of that was brought out in the very last story with all the things a bus is. 

I think I'd enjoy more by this author.


Goodreads says:

From National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds comes a novel told in ten blocks, showing all the different directions a walk home can take.

This story was going to begin like all the best stories. With a school bus falling from the sky. But no one saw it happen. They were all too busy—

Talking about boogers.
Stealing pocket change.
Skateboarding.
Wiping out.
Braving up.
Executing complicated handshakes.
Planning an escape.
Making jokes.
Lotioning up.
Finding comfort.
But mostly, too busy walking home.

Jason Reynolds conjures ten tales (one per block) about what happens after the dismissal bell rings, and brilliantly weaves them into one wickedly funny, piercingly poignant look at the detours we face on the walk home, and in life. 

What Happened To You? (Oprah Winfrey and

 

 I listened to the audio book. It's mostly Bruce Perry but now and then Oprah interjects and asks questions as if she is interviewing him. Bruce Perry apparently has done a lot of work for her and with her with different people. One significant group was girls at the school Oprah started in Africa. He has also worked with children who survived cults as well as many other extremely traumatized individuals. It's clear he knows what he's talking about.

The gist of the book seems to be that we shouldn't be asking what is wrong with you, but instead, what happened to you. This brings about more understanding and compassion and leads to healing. 

My favorite part was the last chapter where Oprah shared her story and talked about how what happened to you can lead to your super power. Earlier in the book they had talked about how all super hero stories begin with a crisis. They become super heroes through an accidental tragedy. It's good to think of our trauma as something that can create greatness in us.

Goodreads says:

"Through this lens we can build a renewed sense of personal self-worth and ultimately recalibrate our responses to circumstances, situations, and relationships. It is, in other words, the key to reshaping our very lives.”
―Oprah Winfrey

This book is going to change the way you see your life.

Have you ever wondered "Why did I do that?" or "Why can't I just control my behavior?" Others may judge our reactions and think, "What's wrong with that person?" When questioning our emotions, it's easy to place the blame on ourselves; holding ourselves and those around us to an impossible standard. It's time we started asking a different question.

Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry offer a groundbreaking and profound shift from asking “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” Our earliest experiences shape our lives far down the road, and What Happened to You? provides powerful scientific and emotional insights into the behavioral patterns so many of us struggle to understand.

Here, Winfrey shares stories from her own past, understanding through experience the vulnerability that comes from facing trauma and adversity at a young age. Joining forces with Dr. Perry, one of the world’s leading experts on childhood and brain development, Winfrey and Dr. Perry marry the power of storytelling with science to better understand and overcome the effects of our pasts.

In conversation throughout the book, the two focus on understanding people, behavior, and ourselves. It’s a subtle but profound shift in our approach to trauma, and it’s one that allows us to understand our pasts in order to clear a path to our future―opening the door to resilience and healing in a proven, powerful way.