Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts

The Sky Isn't Visible from Here: Scenes from a Life Review

The Sky Isn't Visible from Here: Scenes from a Life
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The Sky Isn't Visible from Here: Scenes from a Life Review"The Sky Isn't Visible from Here: Scenes from a Life" is a particularly apt title. Felicia Sullivan uses scenes from her childhood mixed together with chapters that follow her adult life through her addiction and into her recovery. In doing so, the book gains depth, as we know some of the "why" behind Felicia's troubles and addiction. We also see her incredible honesty as she bares her life and soul to the readers, displaying to the world her own wrongs and embarrassing times, which many people would bury. Felicia gives us a window into her world, and then pulls us through the window as we are caught between the memories and her current life.
Felicia worked hard to separate herself from her mother (at the time the book was written, she hadn't been in contact for in 11 years), and at first I couldn't grasp why she became an addict. My thoughts are mirrored in the discussions between Felicia and her friends as she is struggling with her own addictions. Felicia is determined not to become like her mother, but the cocaine calls to her:
"you wonder how it is you got to this point. Because you told yourself in your bathroom that first time in December ... with two rolled bills and neatly cut lines that you'd never be an addict like your mother because you survived the war that was her, because you convinced yourself you were stronger than she was. And then, there go the lines."
Felicia follows this quote a page later with a description of her feelings about cocaine. First, she describes it for her friend, and then she completes the description for the reader:
"'It's like Broadway up my nose,' I say.
What I fail to tell Emily is how many times I've tried it since. And although I savored my first glass of red wine and the many that followed, cocaine is different. I like -- no, I love cocaine. I tolerate the nausea, the constant swallowing, the teeth grinding -- anything for that rush when the world seems simple, beautiful, and large enough to fit me in."
When she is on cocaine, Felicia is able to escape "the awkward, stammering girl who never feels smart enough, white enough, pretty enough." After struggling to fit in as a child, first alcohol and then cocaine give her the confidence to change her self-image. The change between shy, bullied child and self-confident writer and executive is so well written and well examed that the reader can truly grasp the impact addiction can have. If you are suddenly feeling a sense of self-worth, how do you give that up?
Felicia bares her soul, giving us a good long look at her life. She chronicles her own fight with addiction and mixes in childhood memories. The Sky Isn't Visible from Here is not an easy read by any means - Felicia's childhood experiences were not like those of the children of addicts I knew, well-fed and sheltered in the suburbs. These are vignettes of a year eating only potatoes, of shielding her eyes so she wouldn't see cockroaches scurrying in the floor in front of her, of seeing her friend's mother unconscious for 36 hours, and of taking her mother to the Emergency Room over and over. I have never read a book that pulled me so far into the real world of addiction; Felicia uses such intense detail when recounting the horrors she survived that I feel as if I was walking in her shoes beside her.
While Felicia has cut off contact with her mother, The Sky Isn't Visible from Here isn't a psychobabble "blame the mother for everything" book. It's an intense look into the dark world of addiction. Readers will walk away from this book with a much deeper understanding of what it is like to be caught in the life of an addict, or caught in an addiction. I highly recommend The Sky Isn't Visible from Here, to everyone, but especially for anyone who knows addicts or those recovering from addiction.The Sky Isn't Visible from Here: Scenes from a Life Overview

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The Fairy Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm, Book 1) (Bk. 1) Review

The Fairy Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm, Book 1) (Bk. 1)
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The Fairy Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm, Book 1) (Bk. 1) ReviewThe author came to my son's school and spoke to a gymnasium full of kids. When my son came home, he couldn't stop talking about it. He thought the author was the funniest adult in the world. Apparently, Mr. Buckley taught the kids how to write their own fairy tale, and let the kids participate. From what my son told me, they created the story of a bald princess who had to shave the back of an elf in order to get hair. Anyway, I'd never seen him so excited to read a book. He was not disappointed and read the whole thing in two days. This book is over 200 pages! I couldn't believe it. I figured he'd forget about it, but then he said he found out the next one comes out on Halloween and he wants me to pre-order it for him AND, get this, he wants to read the original Brother's Grimm fairytales. As I remember, those are pretty messed up, but I suppose they can't be any worse than playing "Halo." Anyway, I started reading this book for myself, and I have to admit, it's brilliant and amazingly funny. I don't know if the Harry Potter books are this well written, but from what I've seen in the movies, they're not this funny. And it's not toilet humor. It's WITTY. In fact, I was surprised how much my son liked it, considering how smart it is. The author has won me over as a fan as well, and I'm a 41 year old man. Dear God, please don't tell my golfing partners.
Anyway, I was so impressed I felt I had to write a review. Anything that can get my kid to read rather than sit on his butt playing video games is a godsend.The Fairy Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm, Book 1) (Bk. 1) Overview

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The Icarus Girl Review

The Icarus Girl
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The Icarus Girl ReviewEight-year-old Jessamy Harrison, the daughter of a Nigerian mother and a British father, sometimes spends five or more hours hiding motionless in the family's linen closet, attempting to find some sort of "fragile peace." Prone to uncontrollable screaming fits, both at home and at school, she also has high fevers and panic attacks, and often talks to herself. Struggling with obvious emotional problems, Jess is a bright but lonely child, with no friends, a mother who spends most of her time writing, and a father who is away most of the day.
When her mother takes her to Nigeria during a school vacation, she sets in motion a series of events which ultimately leave Jess struggling to hold on to her selfhood. While visiting her Yoruban grandfather, Jess explores an abandoned building and discovers a strange girl her own age secretly living there. Titiola, whom Jess calls TillyTilly, becomes her first true friend, and though Jess explores the countryside with her, no one in her family ever sees her.
When Jess returns to school in England, her friend TillyTilly follows. Jess is delighted at first, but TillyTilly begins to monopolize her time, deliberately breaking things in the house, "getting" people who make Jess unhappy, and causing accidents. Jess's parents become alarmed at the havoc, especially when Jess insists that it is caused by her mysterious, unseen friend. Then TillyTilly reveals a family secret, and the battle begins in earnest for possession of Jess's soul.
Nigerian author Helen Oyeymi, who wrote this book when she was eighteen, incorporates aspects of Nigerian culture when Jess returns to Nigeria on a second visit. Oyeymi keeps the action fast-paced and creates considerable suspense as Jess, through TillyTilly, becomes physically dangerous to those around her. Only her Yoruban grandfather, who believes in magic and traditional ceremonies, seems to have the resources necessary to exorcize the demon.
The novel moves along smartly, developing tension and excitement by recreating many of the nightmares of childhood, though the author's simple approach to complex problems may reflect her youth. Jess, an eight-year-old, is far too sophisticated about TillyTilly and too articulate about her fears to inspire much reader empathy, and she never feels quite realistic, especially when she herself questions whether TillyTilly really exists. Both her ultimate battle with TillyTilly and the conclusion of the novel feel artificial. Still, Oyeyemi has created a psychological horror novel which dares to be different, incorporating a clash of cultures and parallels with the Icarus legend in this memorable debut novel. (3.5 stars) n Mary Whipple
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The Complete Horowitz Horror Review

The Complete Horowitz Horror
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The Complete Horowitz Horror ReviewThis book by Anthony Horowitz includes 18 short stories around 25 pages each. The setting of most of the stories occurs somewhere around England; most of them take place in a modern-day unnamed city. The characters are all mostly 10-15 years old and are almost an even split between boys and girls. They are all somehow dragged into each story that's supposed to be scary, and tortured in a psychological form. However, there is a reason this review is named "Horror-ish." Only about 3 of the 18 stories had any form of thrill factor to them. The problem in this book varies depending on the story, but most of the time the horror occurs because the main character buys something or meets someone evil in each story, and this causes them to have bad luck or worse. For instance, in "The Monkey's Ear" the main character bought a monkey's ear that granted wishes. Yet the ear didn't hear well and every time they wished for an item something slightly different appeared. For example they wished for a Rolls Royce and got a roll of rice. There is no one resolution in this book because they are all short stories. Each short story has its own horrific ending. For example in "The Monkey's Ear" the horror doesn't happen until the last 2 pages when the father wished his son would go away forever. Overall, this book is decent, but it is not very scary at all. It is a good introductory horror book if there ever was a thing.The Complete Horowitz Horror OverviewNew York Times Bestseller Anthony Horowitz's horror collections, now in one volume!
Welcome to a world where everything seems normal. At least, at first. But the sinister and truly terrifying lurk just beneath the surface. Like a bathtub with a history so haunted, no one dares get in it...or an ordinary-looking camera that does unspeakable things to its subjects...or an elevator filled with cannibals just waiting for their next victim to walk in....This wicked collection of eighteen macabre tales combining both Horowitz Horror and More Horowitz Horror will send shivers up your spine.

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Ergonomics for Children: Designing Products and Places for Toddlers to Teens Review

Ergonomics for Children: Designing Products and Places for Toddlers to Teens
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Ergonomics for Children: Designing Products and Places for Toddlers to Teens ReviewI edited this book, so I'm not the most objective, but FYI, this is a very large book (984 oversize pages) with over 1,000 photos. It is written as a practitioner's manual, so there are many tables and bullets to find content quickly. Best, RaniErgonomics for Children: Designing Products and Places for Toddlers to Teens OverviewProviding guidance on a broad range of issues for young children and adolescents, Ergonomics for Children: Designing Products and Places for Toddlers to Teens give you a deep understanding of how children develop and how these developmental changes can influence the design of products and places for children. Copiously illustrated with photos and other images, the book helps you quickly find answers to your questions, grasp concepts, and apply them. Its subsections are organized to help you locate and understand the content you need. Edited by experts with contributions from an international panel, the book is both broad in coverage and international in perspective. The contributors review the ways in which children develop physically, perceptually, cognitively, and socially and then use this information to provide practical guidelines for the design of places and products for children.

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The Enchanted Castle Review

The Enchanted Castle
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The Enchanted Castle ReviewWorking in a bookstore, I meet a lot of people, especially parents buying books for their children. As you can imagine, several of them ask, "What do you have that's like Harry Potter?" I always recommend E. Nesbit's books. They never know who I'm talking about. But they usually become interested very quickly.
Edith Nesbit was an outspoken British writer who wrote enormously entertaining children?s books in her later years. Many of these books combine normal, everyday children with magical themes or elements. In 'The Enchanted Castle,' three children - Gerald, Cathy, and Jimmy - stumble upon a lush, beautiful garden, where they find a princess who has been asleep for 100 years. Or is she really who she says she is? All the children know is that something strange is going on - like why are the statues moving?
'The Enchanted Castle' IS enchanting. The writing is colorful, exciting, and engaging. If your child is looking for something in the Harry Potter vein, the E. Nesbit books are just what the doctor ordered. Kids won't even care that it was written nearly 100 years ago. It still reads pretty well today, and that's what counts.
291 pagesThe Enchanted Castle OverviewThis anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past, this is an invitation to reunite with old friends in a fresh new format.From Shakespeare's finesse to Oscar Wilde's wit, this unique collection brings together works as diverse and influential as The Pilgrim's Progress and Othello. As an anthology that invites readers to immerse themselves in the masterpieces of the literary giants, it is must-have addition to any library

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