Most Expensive Game
"Commercialization is obscuring the life lessons of youth
sports: striving, succeeding, and failing, always on the merits. In
an age when everything seems to be for sale--higher SAT scores, a slot
on a college sports team, or your child's name in lights--we've been
brainwashed to believe that exellence in sports is a product on a
shelf, like laundry soap or a necktie. It isn't, and
commercialization is drowning out a vital truth."
This is the basic idea behind Mark Hyman's The Most Expensive
Game In Town. In this richly researched and eminantly readable book
he shows how too many adults are making incomes off of kids' sports.
He also shows how this is often in the kids' best interests. Two group
of children lose out in this world of greed and exploitation: kids
whose families can afford to give them nothing but the best and those
whose families can't.
For well off kids, when it comes to sports, the sky's the
limit. They can start honing their skills in toddler gyms. Their are
posh sports camps. Travel leagues and tournaments can make big dents
in family time as well as discretionary income. There's a whole
industry built around getting high school kids coveted spots on
college teams.
At the other end of the spectrum are the kids who have been
squeezed out of organized sports as government funds have dried up.
In an increasingly play to pay world a lot lose out, especially inner
city children.
If you want to get a candid look at the commercialization of
children's sports today you'll find The Most Expensive Game In Town
well worth reading.
On a personal note, when Katie was in middle school she got
involved in a wonderful government funded sports camp program run at
University of Maine. The kids were exposed to academics as well as
athletics. The goal was to raise aspirations. For many kids from
disadvantaged families and neighborhoods the being on campus made
college seem like a real possibility. Unfortunately, like many
similar aspirations based programs, it fell victim to budget cuts.
Sadly. We so need programs like that to bridge the gap between have
and have not.
A great big shout out goes out to all who work to help the kids who
are left far behind by an overcommercial youth sports world.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Making Whoopie
Making Whoopie
For sure a book with that title will piqué curiosity, especially
for folks close to my generation who remember a racier connotation.
But this little pastry shaped book is about that favorite Maine snack--
the whoopie pie. It's a wonderful, cream filled confection that
legions of folks including the hubby consider an ultimate comfort food.
Nancy Griffin's Making Whoopie: The Official Whoopie Pie Book
tells you all you might want to know about this delectable treat.
You'll learn how both Pennslyvania and Maine claim to have originated
this pastry. You'll learn about commercial immitations. You'll learn
about some of the intriguing folks who are continuing its making the
old school way including Brothers Don and Ken of Bangor's own Friars'
Bakehouse who are two of the genuinely nicest guys God saw fit to lend
to this Earth.
However, no two ways about it, what really makes the book is the
recipes. There's everything from the traditional chocolate cake
sandwiching vanilla frosting to more escoteric variations like red
velvet, pumpkin, peanut butter, and Hawaiin wedding. There are more
healthy recipes including one for our gluten intolerant friends.
If you're a fan of the whoopie pie, you'll really want to dig
into the book.
On a personal note, I baked up a batch of cupcakes. I plan to drop
some off to Betsy Webb at her superintendent of school office when I
return books to Bangor Public Library. I imagine the family can take
care of the rest.
A great big shout out goes out to Brothers Don and Ken who had better
be practicing weight lifting so the crowns of jewels waiting for them
up in heaven won't give them whiplash. If you're ever in Bangor visit
their restaurant. You'll find their confections heavenly.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
For sure a book with that title will piqué curiosity, especially
for folks close to my generation who remember a racier connotation.
But this little pastry shaped book is about that favorite Maine snack--
the whoopie pie. It's a wonderful, cream filled confection that
legions of folks including the hubby consider an ultimate comfort food.
Nancy Griffin's Making Whoopie: The Official Whoopie Pie Book
tells you all you might want to know about this delectable treat.
You'll learn how both Pennslyvania and Maine claim to have originated
this pastry. You'll learn about commercial immitations. You'll learn
about some of the intriguing folks who are continuing its making the
old school way including Brothers Don and Ken of Bangor's own Friars'
Bakehouse who are two of the genuinely nicest guys God saw fit to lend
to this Earth.
However, no two ways about it, what really makes the book is the
recipes. There's everything from the traditional chocolate cake
sandwiching vanilla frosting to more escoteric variations like red
velvet, pumpkin, peanut butter, and Hawaiin wedding. There are more
healthy recipes including one for our gluten intolerant friends.
If you're a fan of the whoopie pie, you'll really want to dig
into the book.
On a personal note, I baked up a batch of cupcakes. I plan to drop
some off to Betsy Webb at her superintendent of school office when I
return books to Bangor Public Library. I imagine the family can take
care of the rest.
A great big shout out goes out to Brothers Don and Ken who had better
be practicing weight lifting so the crowns of jewels waiting for them
up in heaven won't give them whiplash. If you're ever in Bangor visit
their restaurant. You'll find their confections heavenly.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Monday, May 27, 2013
Friendkeeping
Friendkeeping
Adult nonfiction
It may have partly to do with having parents overwhelmed with my
sister's disability. But close friends have always felt as essential
as me as air or water. I remember a day from before my fourteenth
birthday. I was walking with Mom and Harriet on the street we'd moved
to to get her a more responsive education. It was evening, close to
dusk. A few houses away there was a party. I could hear the music
and laughter. I thought if we'd stayed home I'd be part of it, not an
outcast. Decades later I can still feel the stabbing pain.
As a mother of grown kids I still find close chums right up
there with family as what makes life worth living. I nurture those
bests as carefully as master gardener John Jemmison tends to his chard
and onions. No wonder when I saw Julie Klam's Friendkeeping on a
shelf I grabbed it, even though that meant a return bus trip all the
way to Bangor Public Library.
I love that book. If you treasure the time you spend with your
girlz or regret being unable to connect with them more or both of the
above you will too. Klam uses an engaging conversational tone to
explore some of the most key (often the most frustrating) issues
effecting today's friendship complexities.
Do you find long distance friendships really difficult to
maintain?
Do you have a cherished chum who is married to or serious about
someone you feel homicidal being in the same room with? Are you there
for all your buds in trouble while maintaining a stoic "I'm fine"
facade even in your moments of deepest crisis? Does a three way
friendship make you fear being replaced? Klam addresses these and
other trials and tribulations in a candid and down to earth style that
is, in my opinion, irresistable.
Klam hooked me when she talked about falling in friendship.
Someone else actually felt the way I did. That heady experience of
sensing a soul mate and wanting to become as special to that person as
she could be to you. Nothing sexual. Better for that complication
being totally out of the picture. I knew I experienced it to the
hilt. But I thought it was just me. An author who can facilitate
that experience has bestowed an incredible gift.
On a personal note, I'm really enjoying friend time with my college
student chums who work in the University's Black Bear Cooperative and
their jovial boss, Lisa Morin.
A great big shout out goes out to them because they are really good
peeps and such fun to be with.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Adult nonfiction
It may have partly to do with having parents overwhelmed with my
sister's disability. But close friends have always felt as essential
as me as air or water. I remember a day from before my fourteenth
birthday. I was walking with Mom and Harriet on the street we'd moved
to to get her a more responsive education. It was evening, close to
dusk. A few houses away there was a party. I could hear the music
and laughter. I thought if we'd stayed home I'd be part of it, not an
outcast. Decades later I can still feel the stabbing pain.
As a mother of grown kids I still find close chums right up
there with family as what makes life worth living. I nurture those
bests as carefully as master gardener John Jemmison tends to his chard
and onions. No wonder when I saw Julie Klam's Friendkeeping on a
shelf I grabbed it, even though that meant a return bus trip all the
way to Bangor Public Library.
I love that book. If you treasure the time you spend with your
girlz or regret being unable to connect with them more or both of the
above you will too. Klam uses an engaging conversational tone to
explore some of the most key (often the most frustrating) issues
effecting today's friendship complexities.
Do you find long distance friendships really difficult to
maintain?
Do you have a cherished chum who is married to or serious about
someone you feel homicidal being in the same room with? Are you there
for all your buds in trouble while maintaining a stoic "I'm fine"
facade even in your moments of deepest crisis? Does a three way
friendship make you fear being replaced? Klam addresses these and
other trials and tribulations in a candid and down to earth style that
is, in my opinion, irresistable.
Klam hooked me when she talked about falling in friendship.
Someone else actually felt the way I did. That heady experience of
sensing a soul mate and wanting to become as special to that person as
she could be to you. Nothing sexual. Better for that complication
being totally out of the picture. I knew I experienced it to the
hilt. But I thought it was just me. An author who can facilitate
that experience has bestowed an incredible gift.
On a personal note, I'm really enjoying friend time with my college
student chums who work in the University's Black Bear Cooperative and
their jovial boss, Lisa Morin.
A great big shout out goes out to them because they are really good
peeps and such fun to be with.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Sunday, May 19, 2013
ICE!
ICE!
Most of us take it for granted that even on the hottest days we
can buy meat, milk, and even ice cream, knowing that the fridge back
home will protect our food from spoiling and melting. Not that long
ago food chilling was done in a whole different way involving man and
horse power rather than electricity. If you live in a northern state
like Maine you may have seen pictures of folks out on frozen lakes
with strange looking implements. Maybe you've seen these tools in
museums. If you're anything like me you've sensed that there's quite
the story behind them. Laurence Pringle tells it brilliantly in Ice!,
a lively narrative nicely enhanced with period photos and drawings.
Before the refrigerator or even the icebox preserving food took
a lot of ingenuity. Meat and fish could be smoked or salted. Root
cellers and streams provided a natural chill. As for access to ice,
it was a matter of location, location, LOCATION. If you
lived in the north (or were wealthy enough to have legions of slaves)
you were in luck. Otherwise, fugedabouthat!
Then there was this guy from Boston who had well learned the law
of supply and demand. His family used ice harvested from their pond
to chill food and drinks in the summer. Frederic Tudor realized that
people in warmer regions would pay big for this luxery. In 1805 he
laid out a plan "for transporting Ice to Tropical Climates". The
reaction? People thought he was a few fries short of a Happy Meal.
It's true that there were a plethora of real world challenges to
this idea. Tudor and his peers, however, did not back off.
Incrementally by trial and error these drawbacks were overcome and his
vision came to change the world. ICE! is a fascinating history of the
ice industry--well worth reading.
My favorite piece is the story of Josephine Walter. Not all
those who worked out on the lakes were men and boys. Josephine would
lead horses out on the lake and attach ice blocks with chains so they
could pull them to shore. Not all people thought this was appropriate
work for a girl. In fact on payroll she was listed as Joe to keep the
company in the dark.
On a personal note, I promised last night I'd tell you about my thrift
shop find. It is an exquisite floor length evening gown embellished
all over with fancier bands at neck and hem. Opera gloves included.
I slipped it on and felt transformed. Just a little long but nothing
the right shoes couldn't fix. Since I hadn't brought friends with me
I let the staff and other customers vote on whether I should buy it.
There was a consensus on YES!!! Too bad school board business isn't
that easy.
A great big shout out goes out to writers who carefully and lovingly
research life in days gone by to give the rest of us up close and
personal peeks into a history much more fascinating that names and
dates involving rich white men, often spin doctored to make them seem
a lot better than they really were.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Most of us take it for granted that even on the hottest days we
can buy meat, milk, and even ice cream, knowing that the fridge back
home will protect our food from spoiling and melting. Not that long
ago food chilling was done in a whole different way involving man and
horse power rather than electricity. If you live in a northern state
like Maine you may have seen pictures of folks out on frozen lakes
with strange looking implements. Maybe you've seen these tools in
museums. If you're anything like me you've sensed that there's quite
the story behind them. Laurence Pringle tells it brilliantly in Ice!,
a lively narrative nicely enhanced with period photos and drawings.
Before the refrigerator or even the icebox preserving food took
a lot of ingenuity. Meat and fish could be smoked or salted. Root
cellers and streams provided a natural chill. As for access to ice,
it was a matter of location, location, LOCATION. If you
lived in the north (or were wealthy enough to have legions of slaves)
you were in luck. Otherwise, fugedabouthat!
Then there was this guy from Boston who had well learned the law
of supply and demand. His family used ice harvested from their pond
to chill food and drinks in the summer. Frederic Tudor realized that
people in warmer regions would pay big for this luxery. In 1805 he
laid out a plan "for transporting Ice to Tropical Climates". The
reaction? People thought he was a few fries short of a Happy Meal.
It's true that there were a plethora of real world challenges to
this idea. Tudor and his peers, however, did not back off.
Incrementally by trial and error these drawbacks were overcome and his
vision came to change the world. ICE! is a fascinating history of the
ice industry--well worth reading.
My favorite piece is the story of Josephine Walter. Not all
those who worked out on the lakes were men and boys. Josephine would
lead horses out on the lake and attach ice blocks with chains so they
could pull them to shore. Not all people thought this was appropriate
work for a girl. In fact on payroll she was listed as Joe to keep the
company in the dark.
On a personal note, I promised last night I'd tell you about my thrift
shop find. It is an exquisite floor length evening gown embellished
all over with fancier bands at neck and hem. Opera gloves included.
I slipped it on and felt transformed. Just a little long but nothing
the right shoes couldn't fix. Since I hadn't brought friends with me
I let the staff and other customers vote on whether I should buy it.
There was a consensus on YES!!! Too bad school board business isn't
that easy.
A great big shout out goes out to writers who carefully and lovingly
research life in days gone by to give the rest of us up close and
personal peeks into a history much more fascinating that names and
dates involving rich white men, often spin doctored to make them seem
a lot better than they really were.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Intentions
Intentions
YA novel
"Before those two words, I thought that most people were basically
good, and I was sure that holy people were, well, holy.
I just had the crap beat out of that stupid idea."
In two sentences Deborah Heligman summerizes the plight of
Rachel, protagonist of her spell binding coming of age novel,
Intentions. Rachel's world is falling apart. Her parents have gone
from happily married to unable to be in the same room without
fighting. What if they split up? Her best friend, Alexis, has become
distant and unpredictable, no longer someone to be counted on to
care. She feels abandoned. Then when she arrives early for religious
class she discovers that her beloved Rabbi is cheating on his wife.
So here you have it. A teen ager has experienced the
unthinkable. Yet she has to carry on like nothing happened. Sick at
her stomach from her unwelcome revelation, she has to attend religious
education and try to act like she's expected to. That night and again
and again...
Imagine learning that someone you would not have expected it of
has violated the most fundamental values and ethics you hold dear and
you can't say a word. It hurts. I was a happily married woman with
kids older than Rachel when I had a similar experience. For a young
girl in high school with her world already precarious...
Then things get worse. Coming home one day Rachel sees her
mother and rabbi kissing. Maybe it's not one but two of the people
most central in her world who are being unfaithful to vows and spouses.
Rachel struggles to get through her days. She makes some
decisions she probably wouldn't have made under better circumstances.
Still her conscience and judgement do not desert her. After she
plants unpaid for jewelery on Alexis following yet another painful
betrayal
She goes to the store to rectify things. And in the very end...
Find out for yourself. Read the book already. It is one of the
most riveting stories ever written about a woman child coming to terms
with a very adult revelation. If you're anything like me you won't be
able to put it down.
On a personal note, I had the most amazing library volunteer day.
Instead of shelving books I got to help with a children's program
about insects. We met those critters up close and personal: netting,
examining, microscope gazing, holding. We made coffee filter
butterflies and antennae. Yes, I wore mine. Purple to match my
favorite dress with the pink wasps crawling all over it. The kids
were spell bound. It was heavenly to talk with them about these small
but critically important denizens of our world. Then at the thrift
shop I found...tell you next review!
A great big shout out goes out to all folks in positions of
responsibility who do not give in to temptation and live up to the
trust people put in them, who don't go on to break their hearts. Also
to Louise, Naomi, Tamara, Mary, and all the others who went all out to
give the young library patrons such a memorable learning experience.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA novel
"Before those two words, I thought that most people were basically
good, and I was sure that holy people were, well, holy.
I just had the crap beat out of that stupid idea."
In two sentences Deborah Heligman summerizes the plight of
Rachel, protagonist of her spell binding coming of age novel,
Intentions. Rachel's world is falling apart. Her parents have gone
from happily married to unable to be in the same room without
fighting. What if they split up? Her best friend, Alexis, has become
distant and unpredictable, no longer someone to be counted on to
care. She feels abandoned. Then when she arrives early for religious
class she discovers that her beloved Rabbi is cheating on his wife.
So here you have it. A teen ager has experienced the
unthinkable. Yet she has to carry on like nothing happened. Sick at
her stomach from her unwelcome revelation, she has to attend religious
education and try to act like she's expected to. That night and again
and again...
Imagine learning that someone you would not have expected it of
has violated the most fundamental values and ethics you hold dear and
you can't say a word. It hurts. I was a happily married woman with
kids older than Rachel when I had a similar experience. For a young
girl in high school with her world already precarious...
Then things get worse. Coming home one day Rachel sees her
mother and rabbi kissing. Maybe it's not one but two of the people
most central in her world who are being unfaithful to vows and spouses.
Rachel struggles to get through her days. She makes some
decisions she probably wouldn't have made under better circumstances.
Still her conscience and judgement do not desert her. After she
plants unpaid for jewelery on Alexis following yet another painful
betrayal
She goes to the store to rectify things. And in the very end...
Find out for yourself. Read the book already. It is one of the
most riveting stories ever written about a woman child coming to terms
with a very adult revelation. If you're anything like me you won't be
able to put it down.
On a personal note, I had the most amazing library volunteer day.
Instead of shelving books I got to help with a children's program
about insects. We met those critters up close and personal: netting,
examining, microscope gazing, holding. We made coffee filter
butterflies and antennae. Yes, I wore mine. Purple to match my
favorite dress with the pink wasps crawling all over it. The kids
were spell bound. It was heavenly to talk with them about these small
but critically important denizens of our world. Then at the thrift
shop I found...tell you next review!
A great big shout out goes out to all folks in positions of
responsibility who do not give in to temptation and live up to the
trust people put in them, who don't go on to break their hearts. Also
to Louise, Naomi, Tamara, Mary, and all the others who went all out to
give the young library patrons such a memorable learning experience.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Friday, May 17, 2013
One Thousand Tracings
One Thousand Tracings
Picture book
Often when times are tough help comes to suffering folks not
from governments or programs, but from kind hearted people reaching
out the best they can. Even people they had been at war against.
That is the timeless message of Lita Judge's One Thousand Tracings:
Healing The Wounds of World War II, a sweet loving narrative told in
free verse.
What makes this story truly special is that it's the real
thing. Judge was cleaning out the attic of her grandmother's house.
She found envelopes holding tracings of feet. She showed them to her
mother and learned how her grandparents had organized a relief effort
to help the desperately poor people in Europe after World War II--
people without shelter, food, adequate clothes, the basics we take for
granted.
The narrator of the book is a young girl. Her father has come
home safely from the war. She thinks everyone she loves is safe until
she learns that family friends in Germany are in dire straits. She
and her mother send a care package. The friends write back asking for
help for others. Her father asks for names. They come in faster and
faster. The families and their friends work dilligently to send all
that they can to sustain life. The foot prints are used to find the
right size shoes. Wool socks were hand knit to go with the shoes.
During her research Judge discovered that the care packages had
reached over 3,000 people in 15 countries. Imagine that! A thank you
letter included this heart touching passage, "We are full of thanks to
our American colleagues; their friendship lets us believe once more in
the future, which otherwise lay before us in frightful darkness." Who
sent that hope? People like me and you. Imagine that!
I love, love, LOVE this book. I'm sure you will too.
On a personal note, when my birthday rolls around in September we are
once again going to raise money for UNICEF. This time the festivities
will take the form of a sock hop with music from the 50s and 60s.
Can't you just see me in a poodle skirt? Donations and silent auction
earnings will go to help children in other countries survive and
hopefully thrive.
A great big shout out goes out to Lita Judge. Bless you for showing
us so beautifully that we all can have a chance to make a real
difference in the world by reaching out to those in need.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
Often when times are tough help comes to suffering folks not
from governments or programs, but from kind hearted people reaching
out the best they can. Even people they had been at war against.
That is the timeless message of Lita Judge's One Thousand Tracings:
Healing The Wounds of World War II, a sweet loving narrative told in
free verse.
What makes this story truly special is that it's the real
thing. Judge was cleaning out the attic of her grandmother's house.
She found envelopes holding tracings of feet. She showed them to her
mother and learned how her grandparents had organized a relief effort
to help the desperately poor people in Europe after World War II--
people without shelter, food, adequate clothes, the basics we take for
granted.
The narrator of the book is a young girl. Her father has come
home safely from the war. She thinks everyone she loves is safe until
she learns that family friends in Germany are in dire straits. She
and her mother send a care package. The friends write back asking for
help for others. Her father asks for names. They come in faster and
faster. The families and their friends work dilligently to send all
that they can to sustain life. The foot prints are used to find the
right size shoes. Wool socks were hand knit to go with the shoes.
During her research Judge discovered that the care packages had
reached over 3,000 people in 15 countries. Imagine that! A thank you
letter included this heart touching passage, "We are full of thanks to
our American colleagues; their friendship lets us believe once more in
the future, which otherwise lay before us in frightful darkness." Who
sent that hope? People like me and you. Imagine that!
I love, love, LOVE this book. I'm sure you will too.
On a personal note, when my birthday rolls around in September we are
once again going to raise money for UNICEF. This time the festivities
will take the form of a sock hop with music from the 50s and 60s.
Can't you just see me in a poodle skirt? Donations and silent auction
earnings will go to help children in other countries survive and
hopefully thrive.
A great big shout out goes out to Lita Judge. Bless you for showing
us so beautifully that we all can have a chance to make a real
difference in the world by reaching out to those in need.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Frog Song
Frog Song
Picture book
It's getting to that time of the year when it's much more fun to
sleep outside than inside. You get cool breezes instead of energy
draining humidity. You can swap the whine of air conditioning and
blah blah blah of television for the orchastra of branches swishing in
the breeze, wind chimes, insects, and, of course frogs.
Ya think all frogs are the camo colored critters munching bugs
in Maine ponds and streams. Well then you don't know frogs. Better
check out Brenda Z. Guiberson's Frog Song. You will learn about
fascinating critters like
*the bright red poison dart frog (I guess with venom you can afford to
stand out);
*the Great Plains narrow-mouthed toad that has a symbiotic
relationship with a tarantula spider;
*the (male) Darwin's frog that carries his tadpoles in his vocal sacs
until they are ready to hop out;
*the water-holding frog that burrows into the ground during periods of
drought...
But there are reasons other than their being fascinating and cool that
we need to understang frogs and their environments. Amphibians are
very sensitive to changing conditions. Some have called them our
canary in the mine, an allusion to the birds in underground chambers
whose deaths would alert miners to the build up of toxic gases and the
need to get out quick. Keeping the world safe for them will go a long
way toward keeping it safe for ourselves and the other species with
which we share this precious, fragile planet.
On a personal note, I am so excited about volunteering at the library
tomorrow because we're going to have a program on insects in honor of
Edith Patch, a pioneering entomologist who showed her male peers that
women's place was out in the field. I lived in her house (well after
her decease) for two years. It was a vegetarian co op.
A great big shout out goes out to Louise, Orono Public Library's
professional children's librarian who has discovered how much she
enjoys acting.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
It's getting to that time of the year when it's much more fun to
sleep outside than inside. You get cool breezes instead of energy
draining humidity. You can swap the whine of air conditioning and
blah blah blah of television for the orchastra of branches swishing in
the breeze, wind chimes, insects, and, of course frogs.
Ya think all frogs are the camo colored critters munching bugs
in Maine ponds and streams. Well then you don't know frogs. Better
check out Brenda Z. Guiberson's Frog Song. You will learn about
fascinating critters like
*the bright red poison dart frog (I guess with venom you can afford to
stand out);
*the Great Plains narrow-mouthed toad that has a symbiotic
relationship with a tarantula spider;
*the (male) Darwin's frog that carries his tadpoles in his vocal sacs
until they are ready to hop out;
*the water-holding frog that burrows into the ground during periods of
drought...
But there are reasons other than their being fascinating and cool that
we need to understang frogs and their environments. Amphibians are
very sensitive to changing conditions. Some have called them our
canary in the mine, an allusion to the birds in underground chambers
whose deaths would alert miners to the build up of toxic gases and the
need to get out quick. Keeping the world safe for them will go a long
way toward keeping it safe for ourselves and the other species with
which we share this precious, fragile planet.
On a personal note, I am so excited about volunteering at the library
tomorrow because we're going to have a program on insects in honor of
Edith Patch, a pioneering entomologist who showed her male peers that
women's place was out in the field. I lived in her house (well after
her decease) for two years. It was a vegetarian co op.
A great big shout out goes out to Louise, Orono Public Library's
professional children's librarian who has discovered how much she
enjoys acting.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
City Fish, Country Fish
City Fish, Country Fish
Juvenile nonfiction
I'm sure we're all familiar with the tale of the city mouse and
the country mouse where two rodents swap habitats and learn the joys
and dangers of each others' worlds. Mary Cerullo's City Fish, Country
Fish is a delightful play on this theme. We get a close up look into
the lives of city (tropical) and country (cool water) fish.
City fish are the denizens of high rise coral reefs. Their
bright colors attract mates and warn would be preditors. They are
designed for quick escapes. They engage in symbiotic relationships
for food and protection.
Cool water fish swim around the open ocean floor. Their
camoflage colors help them blend in with their background. They are
designed for stamina and long distance travel. They travel in schools
for safety in numbers.
Pictures are beautiful, strange, and sometimes amusing. And
yes, you can find Nemo.
On a personal note, I sure miss the ocean. Right up til high school I
lived so close to the shore I could hear waves at night. I was
constantly at the beach. I sure am glad the conference I'll be going
to is in coastal Bar Harbor.
A great big shout out goes out to all who work so valiently to get the
ocean clean and healthy for both city and country fish.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile nonfiction
I'm sure we're all familiar with the tale of the city mouse and
the country mouse where two rodents swap habitats and learn the joys
and dangers of each others' worlds. Mary Cerullo's City Fish, Country
Fish is a delightful play on this theme. We get a close up look into
the lives of city (tropical) and country (cool water) fish.
City fish are the denizens of high rise coral reefs. Their
bright colors attract mates and warn would be preditors. They are
designed for quick escapes. They engage in symbiotic relationships
for food and protection.
Cool water fish swim around the open ocean floor. Their
camoflage colors help them blend in with their background. They are
designed for stamina and long distance travel. They travel in schools
for safety in numbers.
Pictures are beautiful, strange, and sometimes amusing. And
yes, you can find Nemo.
On a personal note, I sure miss the ocean. Right up til high school I
lived so close to the shore I could hear waves at night. I was
constantly at the beach. I sure am glad the conference I'll be going
to is in coastal Bar Harbor.
A great big shout out goes out to all who work so valiently to get the
ocean clean and healthy for both city and country fish.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Lucifer's Child
Lucifer's Child
There are some crimes that are so cruel and twisted just reading
about them tears at our souls. The Boston Marathon bombing is a
recent example. How could anyone? These emotions and modern media's
in our face constant coverage make for moral and ethical dilemmas.
Our country offers equal treatment under the law. But what if taking
on as a client such a detested defendent could be the kiss of death
for a lawyer's career? Can a jury objectively contemplate a case that
has already been judged in the court of opinion? And there's the
controversy concerning not guilty by reason of insanity. We all
pretty much agree that someone capable of such an act is a very sick
individual. But some people see this defense as a way lawyers get
their clients off.
Veteran trial lawyer Elliot Epstein brings these issues to light
in the context of a quite notorious Maine case: the 1984 murder of 4-
year-old Angela Palmer. She was quite literally cooked to death in an
oven, still conscious as her skin sizzled. Her mother's boyfriend,
John Lane, convinced that she had morphed into Lucifer, had committed
the crime with her mother, Cynthia Palmer, and sister in the
apartment. Both adults were jailed and tried. Was lane in a mental
state in which he was unable to see the wrongness of what he was doing
or conform his behavior to the law? Was Palmer a willing participant
or another helpless victim?
Succinct and vivid chapters juxtapose details of the horrific
discovery, the jail, and the trial with Lane and Palmer's life
stories. The whole is very disturbing, not for the faint of heart.
However, for those who want to gain insight into the challenges facing
law in such notorious cases the book is a must read.
On a personal note, the Veazie school budget is quite the controversy
this year. Town council is calling for a $200,000 cut. Some people
want the school shut down. This past week this town of about 2,000
has had three stories on the subject in the Bangor Daily News. I have
no idea what will happen. I am experiencing trepidation. This is not
an easy time to be on school board.
A great big shout out goes out to the lawyers who have the courage to
not give in to threats and villifying when they represent clients who
are despised by the public.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
There are some crimes that are so cruel and twisted just reading
about them tears at our souls. The Boston Marathon bombing is a
recent example. How could anyone? These emotions and modern media's
in our face constant coverage make for moral and ethical dilemmas.
Our country offers equal treatment under the law. But what if taking
on as a client such a detested defendent could be the kiss of death
for a lawyer's career? Can a jury objectively contemplate a case that
has already been judged in the court of opinion? And there's the
controversy concerning not guilty by reason of insanity. We all
pretty much agree that someone capable of such an act is a very sick
individual. But some people see this defense as a way lawyers get
their clients off.
Veteran trial lawyer Elliot Epstein brings these issues to light
in the context of a quite notorious Maine case: the 1984 murder of 4-
year-old Angela Palmer. She was quite literally cooked to death in an
oven, still conscious as her skin sizzled. Her mother's boyfriend,
John Lane, convinced that she had morphed into Lucifer, had committed
the crime with her mother, Cynthia Palmer, and sister in the
apartment. Both adults were jailed and tried. Was lane in a mental
state in which he was unable to see the wrongness of what he was doing
or conform his behavior to the law? Was Palmer a willing participant
or another helpless victim?
Succinct and vivid chapters juxtapose details of the horrific
discovery, the jail, and the trial with Lane and Palmer's life
stories. The whole is very disturbing, not for the faint of heart.
However, for those who want to gain insight into the challenges facing
law in such notorious cases the book is a must read.
On a personal note, the Veazie school budget is quite the controversy
this year. Town council is calling for a $200,000 cut. Some people
want the school shut down. This past week this town of about 2,000
has had three stories on the subject in the Bangor Daily News. I have
no idea what will happen. I am experiencing trepidation. This is not
an easy time to be on school board.
A great big shout out goes out to the lawyers who have the courage to
not give in to threats and villifying when they represent clients who
are despised by the public.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Hope And Tears
Hope And Tears
I'm a long time fan of books about Ellis Island. The drama of
people from so many nations taking huge risks, leaving family and
friends maybe never to see them again in the hope of a better life is
so compelling. One of the most lovely and accessible books I've read
recently is Gwenyth Swain's Hope And Tears: Ellis Island Voices.
What I like the best about Hope And Tears is that it is a
seamless blend of the visual and verbal. A wide range of people tell
their stories in free form poetry. A child, obviously with a crush,
tells about a teacher on Ellis Island who worked with temporarily
detained kids. A teen age girl worries that her parents might not
recognize her after two years of separation. A woman ruminates on the
difficulties of cooking for huge numbers of immigrants from many
countries with wildly divergent tastes in food. The many well chosen
vintage photos add so much richness to the narrative.
Swain was inspired by her own grandmother who had shared her
childhood Ellis Island story to write the book. Her word pictures
were crafted carefully with help from experts. Her devotion to a
beloved relative is tangible in this vivid and tender tribute to
those indomnitable souls who had risked all in hope of a better life.
Who knows? Maybe one or more of your ancestors passed through.
I'm pretty sure some of the folks on my father's side of the family did.
On a personal note, the hubby came home today with a beautiful bouquet
of roses: red, white, pink, yellow, peach. They look so lovely in a
china vase and evoke memories. My mother was known for her roses. My
teachers coveted them. Her bete noire was those too ubiquitous
Japanese beetles with a voracious appetite for leaves. She would hand
me tin cans partly full of kerosene and pay a cent for every dead
beetle which played very nicely into my desire for penny candies. Oh,
those shelves and shelves of penny candies in the neighborhood stores!
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow mothers. Tomorrow may we
all have a wonderful Mother's Day!
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
I'm a long time fan of books about Ellis Island. The drama of
people from so many nations taking huge risks, leaving family and
friends maybe never to see them again in the hope of a better life is
so compelling. One of the most lovely and accessible books I've read
recently is Gwenyth Swain's Hope And Tears: Ellis Island Voices.
What I like the best about Hope And Tears is that it is a
seamless blend of the visual and verbal. A wide range of people tell
their stories in free form poetry. A child, obviously with a crush,
tells about a teacher on Ellis Island who worked with temporarily
detained kids. A teen age girl worries that her parents might not
recognize her after two years of separation. A woman ruminates on the
difficulties of cooking for huge numbers of immigrants from many
countries with wildly divergent tastes in food. The many well chosen
vintage photos add so much richness to the narrative.
Swain was inspired by her own grandmother who had shared her
childhood Ellis Island story to write the book. Her word pictures
were crafted carefully with help from experts. Her devotion to a
beloved relative is tangible in this vivid and tender tribute to
those indomnitable souls who had risked all in hope of a better life.
Who knows? Maybe one or more of your ancestors passed through.
I'm pretty sure some of the folks on my father's side of the family did.
On a personal note, the hubby came home today with a beautiful bouquet
of roses: red, white, pink, yellow, peach. They look so lovely in a
china vase and evoke memories. My mother was known for her roses. My
teachers coveted them. Her bete noire was those too ubiquitous
Japanese beetles with a voracious appetite for leaves. She would hand
me tin cans partly full of kerosene and pay a cent for every dead
beetle which played very nicely into my desire for penny candies. Oh,
those shelves and shelves of penny candies in the neighborhood stores!
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow mothers. Tomorrow may we
all have a wonderful Mother's Day!
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
The Parent App
The Parent App
Some of the best books I review are ones I discover as
fortuitous accidents. I was in Fogler Library looking for books Katie
needed for a paper when I was intrigued by a plain white volume. Lynn
Schofield Clark's The Parent App: Understanding Families in the
Digital Era radically changed the ways I think about kids and
electronic media. I think it will give you food for thought.
Clark had been studying family uses of electronics for fifteen
years when she had an epiphany. She was late picking her kids up from
school and wondering how to best let them know. She realized that she
felt unpreared to give her children cell phones. "I realized then
that what all parents really need, or wish we had, is some way to
discern the most caring, smart, sensitive, and effective responses to
the dilemmas that digital and mobile media have introduced into the
lives of our families. What we need is a Parent App." Fortunately
what for most of us would have been a wistful moment became for her
the impetus for the book.
One of the most intriguing discoveries Clark made was that the
issues we're exposed to the most, for instance pedophiles disguising
them as teens to lure victims or cyberbullying, are only part of the
story. Another was that different groups of parents use different
sets of guiding principles in deciding on family media use. These
uses are in accord with larger issues in their life.
In upper income families children attend good schools, live in
safe neighborhoods and have reasonable expectations of good careers as
adults. Their parents use an ethic of expressive empowerment. In
this context much media use is for educational purposes. More casual
usage, say video gaming, is frowned upon as unproductive and must come
after more structured activities like sports and lessons. Electronics
are also used to coordinate the lives of busy families.
Less advantaged families are more likely to follow an ethic of
respectful communication. Children in these families do not have the
plethora of devices or opportunities available to wealthier peers.
Engaging in media popular with them can be riskier. A child with
relatives who are undocumented aliens may be discouraged from posting
on Facebook. Security may be found in family and community
interdependence and media is used mainly to foster this.
Clark has done extensive interviewing. Her many subjects emerge
as fascinating individuals engaged in complicated environments. The
challenges they face are palpible. If you're like me you'll emerge
with more questions than answers. If you have kids, care about kids,
or want to know more about family media use than what's in the
surface, I highly recommend The Parent App. My book club will be
discussing the book in September.
On a personal note, I found the most amazing cocktail dress at a yard
sale. It's red pure silk with a woven in flower pattern. Real 60s
vintage. Like glamerous singers would wear to belt out the Motown
sound. Only $1. Fits me like it was made just for moi.
A great big shout out goes out to all families striving to find the
best ways to incorporate electronic media into our lives.
Sent from my iPod
Some of the best books I review are ones I discover as
fortuitous accidents. I was in Fogler Library looking for books Katie
needed for a paper when I was intrigued by a plain white volume. Lynn
Schofield Clark's The Parent App: Understanding Families in the
Digital Era radically changed the ways I think about kids and
electronic media. I think it will give you food for thought.
Clark had been studying family uses of electronics for fifteen
years when she had an epiphany. She was late picking her kids up from
school and wondering how to best let them know. She realized that she
felt unpreared to give her children cell phones. "I realized then
that what all parents really need, or wish we had, is some way to
discern the most caring, smart, sensitive, and effective responses to
the dilemmas that digital and mobile media have introduced into the
lives of our families. What we need is a Parent App." Fortunately
what for most of us would have been a wistful moment became for her
the impetus for the book.
One of the most intriguing discoveries Clark made was that the
issues we're exposed to the most, for instance pedophiles disguising
them as teens to lure victims or cyberbullying, are only part of the
story. Another was that different groups of parents use different
sets of guiding principles in deciding on family media use. These
uses are in accord with larger issues in their life.
In upper income families children attend good schools, live in
safe neighborhoods and have reasonable expectations of good careers as
adults. Their parents use an ethic of expressive empowerment. In
this context much media use is for educational purposes. More casual
usage, say video gaming, is frowned upon as unproductive and must come
after more structured activities like sports and lessons. Electronics
are also used to coordinate the lives of busy families.
Less advantaged families are more likely to follow an ethic of
respectful communication. Children in these families do not have the
plethora of devices or opportunities available to wealthier peers.
Engaging in media popular with them can be riskier. A child with
relatives who are undocumented aliens may be discouraged from posting
on Facebook. Security may be found in family and community
interdependence and media is used mainly to foster this.
Clark has done extensive interviewing. Her many subjects emerge
as fascinating individuals engaged in complicated environments. The
challenges they face are palpible. If you're like me you'll emerge
with more questions than answers. If you have kids, care about kids,
or want to know more about family media use than what's in the
surface, I highly recommend The Parent App. My book club will be
discussing the book in September.
On a personal note, I found the most amazing cocktail dress at a yard
sale. It's red pure silk with a woven in flower pattern. Real 60s
vintage. Like glamerous singers would wear to belt out the Motown
sound. Only $1. Fits me like it was made just for moi.
A great big shout out goes out to all families striving to find the
best ways to incorporate electronic media into our lives.
Sent from my iPod
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