Tuesday, December 31, 2013

NurtureShock

NurtureShock

Parenting
A California college professor had students keep gratitude
journals for ten weeks. The subjects became healthier, happier, and
more optimistic. When other college students kept gratitude journals
their surveyed friends reported that they were more emotionally
supportive and helpful. Not surprisingly this practice was quickly
incorporated into public schools. Then it was tested on middle school
students. The results were decidedly...
...lackluster. The kids were not more grateful during or later
than controls.
HUH?
That is the primary reaction you will have reading Po Bronson
and Ashley Merryman's NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children if
you're anything like me. That and AHA! The authors take some of the
most unquestioned assumptions about child development and shred them.
If you are curious and bold enough to tackle this book, you will
learn, among other things, that:
*Praising your child's intelligence frequently may make him/her more
risk averse and willing to cheat rather than motivated;
*The simple act of starting high schools later in the morning can not
only improve students' ability to learn, but cut down on their traffic
accidents and reduce the surliness we routinely ascribe to adolescence;
*Sibling rivalry, that bane of parental existance, is not competition
for our attention or the worst thing for our children's later
relationships;
*Baby educational DVDs actually delay, rather than enhance children's
language learning. However, talking to children per se is not the
panacea we've been told it is.
*A certain amount of conflict between teens and parents (another bane
of existence for moms and dads) is actually linked with honesty and
respect on the part of the kids...
Come on. Tell me you can read that and not want to get your
hands on NurtureShock. There may be a few points of discomfort due to
the authors' candor. However, this is a fascinating and insightful
volume that, in my mind, is a must read for parents, teachers, admin,
clergy, and others who work with children and maintain open minds and
curiosity.
On a personal note, it's the last day of 2013. I'm spending it
geeking out--reading and reviewing with plenty of candy, my reading
chair near my beautiful tree, and my good chum, tuxedo cat, Joey.
A great big shout out goes out to my readers--may you have a safe and
happy New Year and a wonderful 2014!
Julia Emily Hathaway




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Sunday, December 29, 2013

The Smartest Kids In The World

The Smartest Kids In The World

For much of her journalistic career Amanda Ripley avoided
education stories like the plague. They seemed to her to be too soft,
too devoid of real evidence...a waste of professional time and ink.
Then she was assigned to a story that opened her eyes to a wealth of
data. She began to wonder why some children learn so much more than
others. She became particularly interested in the countries that
manage to teach the majority of students critical thinking skills--the
skills most needed in the 21st century workplace.
"Most successful or improving countries seem to fit into three
basic categories: 1) the utopia model of Finland, a system built on
trust in which kids achieved higher-order thinking without excessive
competition or parent meddling; 2) the pressure-cooker model of South
Korea, where kids studied so compulsively that the government had to
institute a study curfew; and 3) the metamorphesis model of Poland, a
country on the ascent, with about as much child poverty as the United
States, but recent and dramatic gains in what kids knew."
What do these countries have to teach America? What is life for
their students like in contrast to that of their peers in the United
States? This is the focus of The Smartest Kids In The World And How
They Got That Way. Ripley chose Finland, Korea, and Poland. In
addition to thorough research she added a fascinating perspective--the
experience of an American exchange student spending a year in each
country.
Much of what you read will be eye opening, some counterintuitive:
*Kids of parents who are very involved in schools American style (fund
raising, coaching) actually do worse than their peers;
*In countries that teach kids critical thinking there is a lot less
investment in technology than in America;
*In these countries teaching is a profession reserved for the best and
brightest;
*Teachers are given more lattitude in choosing texts and curriculum,
in contrast to America's attempts to standardize...
Anyway, in my mind, Ripley's book is a must read for teachers, admin,
and all who want to see American students learning critical thinking
skills rather than fact memorization and the ability to fill in
bubbles. The combination of research and narrative makes it a fun as
well as fascinating and thought-provoking read.
On a personal note, I was very gratified to learn that parents who
want to help their kids master learning and critical thinking will do
best to read to their kids a lot when they're young, talk to them
about world affairs and other complex matters as they grow older, and
all along model reading for fun. All three I excel in. In fact this
evening I am modelling the joy of reading for my son.
A great big shout out goes out to all who strive to give our kids
meaningful education featuring higher order thinking skills.
Julia Emily Hathaway




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Tuesday, December 24, 2013

The Children We Remember

The Children We Remember

Juvenile nonfiction
On the back of Chana Byers Abells' The Children We Remember Elie
Wiesel is quoted as saying, "Look at these children. Look at their
faces. They will break your hearts." He's got that right.
The pictures, gleaned from the Jerusalem Yad Vachem Archives,
are the focus of the book. Most pages contain between three and seven
words. We learn that once the children went to school and played like
our own. Then the Nazis came. The children lost their schools and
homes. Many endured cold and hunger. Many were killed. Some
fortunately were able to survive and raise their own families.
I think every school, every house of worship, every library
should have a copy of this book so that we will never forget what can
happen when we totally make a scapegoat group the dreaded and hated
other.
On a personal note, as I look out the window, the ice encased trees
look like crystal chandeliers. Pretty but ominous. I surely hope
more people don't lose power tonight, Christmas Eve, when temperatures
are expected to plummet, shattering more tree limbs. That is a scary
sound. Just like a gun shot.
A great big shout out goes out to the power company people putting in
overtime to restore electricity.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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The Whole-Brain Child

The Whole-Brain Child

Parenting
If you have more than one child I can practically guarantee you've
been here. You're going about your day when you approached by an
outraged son or daughter who accuses you of loving [sibling's name]
more and giving her/him preferential treatment. Of course you don't.
But your carefully thought out response seems to, if anything, add
fuel to the fire.
Wouldn't you love to find a way of understanding those parenting
impasses that seem to make no sense whatsoever?
We've been through those hectic weeks leading up to Christmas
when social obligations, food preparIng, gift shopping and hiding, and
getting kids ready for concerts, plays, and class parties can make
hectic family schedules feel even more frenzied and kids act up more
than usual (despite admonitions that Santa's watching).
Would you like to feel that even when life seems to consist of
same old same old interspersed with disciplinary crises, rather than
the idealized quality time, you can be helping your children become
happy, productive people capable of making good decisions and
sustaining meaningful relationships?
Those of you who answered yes to at least one of the questions
will be thrilled by my discovery of The Whole-Brain Child: 12
Revolutionary Strategies To Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind by
Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson. It's the total parenting
cat's pajamas. Basically it takes really exciting discoveries on
brain organization and development and serves them up in a way parents
can use in real world day to day life. How's that for a concept?
Let's take the sibling preference meltdown that does not respond
to logic. You and your child are coming from very different places.
Our left brains handle more logical, linear stuff in our life while
our right brains specialize in memories, images, and emotions. When
kids or any of us are at our best both sides work together. But there
are times one side dominates strongly enough to shut the other side
down. Think temper tantrum. Chapter two covers that very nicely.
Or how about the despair of feeling that in the rat race of day
to day life you aren't doing long term development. The authors know
about that. "In our nobler, calmer, saner moments, we care about
nurturing our kids' minds, increasing their sense of wonder, and
helping them reach their potential in all aspects of life. But in the
more frantic, stressful, bribe-the-toddler-into-the-car-seat-so-we-can-
rush-to-the-soccer-game moments, sometimes all we can hope for is to
avoid yelling or hearing someone say, 'You're so mean!'" The wonderful
and empowering message of the book is that the mundane, overwhelming,
and frustrating moments in life can, when handled mindfully, become
times of engagement, discovery, security and character building. It
gives plenty of ways to make that happen.
YOWZA! I sure wish this book had been around when my kids were
shorter than me. Each chapter covers a specific topic such as
integrating right and left hemispheres. You get a good balance of
theoretical background and practical suggestion. At the very end of
each chapter there is a section on understanding and nurturing
ourselves so we can parent better.
In non expensive paperback, The Whole-Brain Child is an
excellent investment for parents, other relatives, teachers, admin,
guidance folks, pediatricians, clergy, and just about anyone who works
with and cares about children.
On a personal note, I'm great at using my higher mental powers to
inhibit my lower brain from making me do dangerous or unwise stuff.
That's probably a good trait for a school committee vice chair. But
when something really upsets me my left logic brain is MIA. Last fall
I learned on my birthday by form letter that I did not get the library
job I spent weeks preparing for the interview for. I felt myself
drowning in despair, unable to think logically enough to see viable
alternatives for quite awhile.
A great big shout out goes out to all our kids (of all ages) who
believe in the spirit of Christmas and eagerly await Ssnta's arrival.
Julia Emily Hathaway



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Mojo

Mojo

YA fiction
Sometimes a good mystery with surprise twists and turns and a
very unexpected ending can be a really fun read. Tim Tharp's Mojo is
a gem in this genre. If you're anything like me once you start
reading you won't be able to set it down.
Dylan covets the special power he calls mojo. In real life he
has anything but. He's an overweight kid who goes to school and bags
groceries. Like Rodney Dangerfield, he gets no respect. Even when he
discovers the corpse of a schoolmate in a dumpster kids begin to
harass him, calling him "body bag". At the dead boy's funeral he
feels like a total loser. "...If I died five years out of high
school, I probably wouldn't have a single person at my funeral. If
someone found me dead in a Dumpster, they might as well just leave me
there. It'd save the city money for having to bury me."
Little does Dylan know he's about to become a lot less
invisible. A girl from an exclusive private school for wealthy kids
goes missing. Volunteers are asked to scour a nature park. He
discovers a sneaker belonging to the missing girl. He also starts to
fall in with her wealthy schoolmates who seem impressed that he's
working on an investigative story for his school paper. He begins to
pal around with them, thinking that they'll give him the clues he
needs to solve the mystery, collect the hefty reward, and gain some
major mojo.
However, while he's watching them someone is watching him:
someone who feels he is snooping in matters that are none of his
business and will go to any length to nip that in the bud--maybe
someone who has killed at least once.
This is a really good book for the kid who is not fond of books
but needs some reading matter for school. It's also a good read for
people who enjoy a fast paced, suspenseful mystery.
On a personal note, I had the greatest reading experience. Just when
I got to the point where the suspense was really building up all the
lights went off. I got to finish it by the much dimmer glow of the
hubby's camp lantern with moving shadows lurking in every corner and
even the Christmas tree having a sinister aspect. Not that a power
outage is totally unexpected when central Maine is in the grips of an
ice storm. But you want to talk about perfect timing. YOWZA!
A great big shout out goes out to all who are coping with this pre
Christmas inclement weather. Hang in there! It's nothing we can't
handle.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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Loving Every Child

Loving Every Child

Parenting
"The child is like a butterfly hovering above a raging torrent
of life. How to imbue her with toughness without encumbering her
lightness in flight; how to temper her without wetting her wings?"
It's a good thing I don't judge a book by its cover. When I
picked up a slim volume entitled Loving Every Child: Wisdom For
Parents (in which I later discovered the above quote) I envisioned
trite cliches with Hallmark card illustrations. A quote on the back
that it would change my life as a parent had me thinking, yeah,
right. Then I saw the name of the author: Janusz Korczak. That
changed everything.
Maybe a few of you have not heard of Janusz Korczak. Although
he was never a father, he devoted his life to children right up to the
end. A doctor and writer, for decades he ran a Jewish children's
orphanage in Poland. When he and his charges had to move to the
ghetto he spent his days tending to the children's physical and
psychic needs. He refused to let people save him from the Nazis.
"You wouldn't abandon your own child in sickness, misfortune, or
danger, would you? So how can I leave two hundred children now!". In
1942 he and his children died in the gas chambers of Treblinka.
Fortunately his words lived on. The truth is that today,
seventy years after his death, we so need to hear and reflect on them.
Korczak was an unwavering advocate for the rights of children.
Time spent as an Army doctor led him to observe, "Before a nation goes
to war it should stop to think of the innocent children who will be
injured, killed, or orphaned. No cause, no war is worth depriving
children of their natural right to happiness. One must think first of
the child before making revolutions." Or maybe before going after
nonexistent weapons of mass destruction?
When it came to parenting, he was well ahead of his time and our
time too for that matter. He would have the parent learn from the
individuality of each child. "When is the proper time for a child to
start walking? When she does? When should her teeth start cutting?
When they do...". He was critical of parents who would accept nothing
but the best in their offspring and those so preoccuppied with their
children's future success that they cannot be mindfully present with
them in moments that will never return.
Korczak was treating injured and dying soldiers during World War
I when he wrote Loving Every Child. Almost a century has passed since
then. But if you read this book (which I strongly recommend) you will
feel as though he was here in this time, speaking to your heartfelt
concerns.
On a personal note, I had to laugh when following paragraphs about
infant self discovery Korczak added,
"And in the future, she will have to find her place in society,
herself amidt humanity, and herself within the universe.
Well, well, now the hair has turned grey, but this work is still
not done."
As one whose hair is transitioning, I find myself thinking, that's for
sure!!!
A great big shout out goes out to all who preserved and translated
Korczak's words of wisdom so they are available to us today!
Julia Emily Hathaway




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Bully

Bully

Parenting:
Did you see the movie Bully? (The actual title of the DVD has a
circle surrounding and slash going through the word. I have no clue
how to achieve this with my iPod touch). If you haven't, that is a
good and doable New Years resolution. I scored a copy through my
public library. It's a truly thought provoking movie that documents
kids being bullied in public school.
If you have seen it or follow my advice and see it and then are
inspired to do something, you're in luck. Bully: An Action Plan For
Teachers, Parents, And Communities To Combat The Bullying Crisis
(again with the circle and slash), edited by Lee Hirsch and Cynthia
Lowen, is a wealth of information. It follows up on people introduced
in the movie, talks about how this movie has morphed into a movement,
and introduces experts in various fields who have down-to-earth advice
on exactly what bullying is and what we can be doing to combat it in
daily life. (Two of the contributers are Haley Kirkpatrick, author of
The Drama Years, and Rosemary Wiseman, author of Queen Bees &
Wannabees, whose books also are must reads for folks who care about
this topic. You can find reviews on my blog.)
*Why are children with disabilities more likely to be targeted?
*How can adults be made more aware of the problem as something darker
than "kids just being kids"?
*What can parents do if their child is bullied, bullying, or both?
*How can schools be transformed into safe places where all children
can learn and thrive?
These are some of the questions you'll be challenged to wrap your mind
around.
What I like best about the book, apart from its
comprehensiveness, inclusion of a real diversity of voices, and down-
to-Earth readability, is that it nudges us away from quick fix non
answers like zero tolerance, the unidimensional bully/victim mindset,
and having your school board write such an airtight policy your school
couldn't possibly be sued. It also stresses the fact that schools are
not exercising due dilligence if they wait until bullying is
discovered and then react. What needs to be done in all schools is
creating environments where all kids learn the skills that enable them
to work together respectfully and caringly beginning in the earliest
grades. You also need techniques in place where the perpetrators as
well as the victims are helped to get back on track and in good graces
when bullying does happen. And you need the adults to make sure
they're walking the walk as well as talking the talk, modelling rather
than just preaching the virtues of, the behaviors they want to see in
their kids. The bottom line is this: OUR CHILDREN DESERVE NOTHING
LESS!
As I bet you suspect, I recommend this book to parents and other
relatives of kids in school, older students, school board members,
teachers, admin, and, of course, guidance counselors.
On a personal note, the most proficient bullies aren't anywhere near
schools: people cutting back on SNAP (formerly food stamps) funds,
the jokers who gave gazilionaire multi national corporations
personhood, United States United Nations people questioning clean
water and sanitation as basic human rights... If there is a book on
dealing with that I sure want Santa Claus to leave a copy in my
stocking.
A great big shout out goes out to people who strive to make our
schools safe and welcoming places for all kids and all families.
Julia Emily Hathaway



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Monday, December 23, 2013

Dirt Road Home

Dirt Road Home

YA fiction
In Dirt Road Home Watt Key has created a rarity. It's a high
quality highly relevant read for high school boys who would rather do
anything but read. It's also a cautionary must read for adults. More
and more kids are going to juvie and prison for stuff that would have
earned them in school penalties back in the day. More and more of
these institutions are becoming privatized. A lot of bad stuff is
going down.
As the story starts Hal is being delivered to the Hellenweiler
Boys' Home. He wants to stay clean, do his time, and be reunited with
his recovering alcoholic father and his girl friend. A lot easier
said than done, it turns out.
For one thing the other boys belong to rival gangs: the
Ministers and the Hounds. New boys are solicited by both groups.
Staying apart, which is what Hal wants to do, is a very dangerous
option.
His peers, however, are the least of Hal's problems. The people
who run the place are more concerned with image management than the
boys' safety and well being. They can put whatever they want on their
records to make inmates sound evil and dangerous. They can even
withhold medical care if too many boys being injured would put their
institution under scrutiny.
I highly recommend this poignant coming of age story to teens,
parents, teachers, and guidance counselors.
On a personal note, we had a bit of an ice storm this morning. Scads
of churches were cancelled. In fact Maine Catholics were given
permission to cut without having to confess in the interests of
safety. YOWZA! That hardly ever happens.
A great big shout out goes out to people who advocate for the kids
most folks don't want to be bothered thinking about.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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My Chemical Mountain

My Chemical Mountain

YA fiction
In my mind, Corina Vacco's My Chemical Mountain is a dystopia
whose time has come. Vacco was inspired to write it when she heard
teachers talking about a landfill much too close to a primary school.
She says that in real life tens of thousands of kids attend schools
that are close to and even on places that are dangerously polluted.
Should we be surprised? No. Should be do something about this? You
betcha! Reading the book is a very good start.
Jason and chums, Charlie and Cornpup, live in an enviroment that
seems like a ring of Hades from Dante's Divine Comedy. There are
scads of factories, running and shut down. The water in the creek
might have come from the caldrons of MacBeth's witches. Mutant
animals missing body parts or bearing tumors abound. All too many
people come down with cancer.
Jason has a personal reason to feel anger, a drive to expose the
evil doings that have destroyed his neighborhood. His dad had a fatal
accident at work. He had been trying to prove his company, Mareno
Chemical, was producing an illegal chemical substance. Company folks
say he was negligent with his safety precautions. Jason won't believe
that for a moment. He's also in a way lost his mom who has become an
obsessive eater, missing his eighth grade graduation to chow down on
Hamburger Helper.
There are also more everyday complications in Jason's life. His
pal, Charlie, is simultaneously friend and betrayer. A kid named
Kevin with a fondness for guns has said he's going to kill him. Girls
have gone from yucky to desirable. "....I liked my life a lot better
when girls were gross and dead frogs were beautiful. Now everything
is so complicated." Summer is passing much too quickly and the start
of high school looms ever everything.
My Chemical Mountain is a book that must be read and discussed.
Remember that, like all great dystopias, it is a distortion of
reality, not an out and out fabrication.
On a personal note, at our most recent Veazie Community School
Committee meeting we had a visit from nursing school students who
showed us there are alarming levels of trihalomethanes
(chronic exposure to which ups the risks of cancer and liver, kidney,
and CNS problems) in the school's drinking water. Each of my kids
spent nine years in that school. What the Hell?
A great big shout out goes out to all the brave folks who educate us
about these chemical plagues and spur us on to fight back.
Julia Emily Hathaway



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Friday, December 20, 2013

Simply Beautiful Photographs

Simply Beautiful Photographs

Adult
If a picture is worth the proberbial thousand words, Annie
Griffiths' Simply Beautiful Photographs speaks at least a gazillion.
Horses pull a buggy through a snow storm. A lion cub clings to its
mother in a vista of tawny hues. A mother gazes adoringly at her
sleeping baby. A gull swoops over its shadow.
Each page is like a little universe beckoning you to enter.
National Geographic has a humungous photography archive that
goes probably back just as far as there have been cameras. This
collection is set apart not only for range of subjects and locations,
but for the skill and artistry, the passion the photographers bring to
their craft. Simply Beautiful Photographs was a truly collaborative
venture. "Encouraged by the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 'Beauty is
its own excuse for being," we decided that this book should take us to
a world of beautiful dreams, memories, and meditation. So Lori, Anne,
and the test of the team searched for the most beautiful of pictures:
by memory, by photographer, by place, and by subject."
In my mind they succeeded admirably.
Purple mountains are shrouded in mist. A rainbow seen from
above rises from a reef in the Caribbean. A lighthouse on the Nova
Scotia coast keeps a lonely vigil. A child walking a dog is framed by
a covered bridge. A ballerina helps a friend prepare for a
performance. A river is occuppied by scores of white pelicans.
The book is mercifully short of words. Here and there are
descriptions of various aspects of photography. You won't miss out on
a thing if you skip them like I did. The quotes, though, are pretty
awesome.
"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart." Kahlil
Gibran
"Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the
future." Oliver Wendell Holmes
"An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world."
George Santayana
A polar bear mother hugs her cub. A spotted owl seems to fly
right at you.
"What was any art but a mould in which to imprison for a moment the
shining elusive element which is light itself--light hurrying past us
and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose." Willa Cather
I'm not a big fan of coffee table books which seem to serve as
dust collectors and attempts to impress others with how classy we
are. However, in my mind, Simply Beautiful Photographs is an
investment. No matter how many times you return to it, it will never
fail to transport you.
On a personal note, I am at the library dressed in a Victorian style
children's dress (black velvet bodice, puffy red skirt) waiting for my
grand entrance as Santa's little elf. :)
A great big shout out goes out to all photographers and other visual
artists who speak a truly universal language.





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Loose Threads

Loose Threads

YA fiction
Growing up in Florida, Lorie Ann Grover enjoyed the love of her
four generation family. When she was fourteen her grandmother was
treated for breast cancer. Five years later a recurrance took her
grdndmother's life. Not surprisingly, Loose Threads, based on Grover's
experiences, has the ring of authenticity. Sometimes it gets too
real. But it's a beautiful and loving narration that is well worth
reading.
As the story opens, 7th grader Kay is enjoying M*A*S*H. During
the commercials her Grandfather Margie announces the discovery of a
lump in her breast. The biopsy reveals a particularly bad strain of
cancer. As her grandmother copes with surgery and chemotherapy Kay
struggles with questions of faith and fears.
School becomes difficult to cope with. The concerns of the
other students seem so superficial. Once showering after PE she hears
other girls complaining about being skinny, fat, or flat chested and
finds herself asking,
"Who cares
What shape
Everything is
If it's healthy?"
After a meeting with a teacher she reflects,
"Being with Grandma Margie
Is a whole lot harder
Than making good grades.
I'm failing both."
I think Loose Threads would be a good book to help young people
deal with a friend or family member's cancer. Teachers, clergy, and
especially guidance counselors should read it.
On a personal note, I remember way back the first time I lost someone
to cancer. It created the biggest theological conflict in my then
young life. Pat was in seminary, studying to be a minister. I was
unconfirmed well beyond the average age because I didn't feel I
understood enough to make an adult commitment. Pat very much wanted
me theologically safe before she passed on. I saw it as lying under
oath. Would that condemn my soul to Hell? But when I realized that
was the only good gift I could give her I went through with the
ceremony, hoping God would understand.
A great big shout out goes out to all who have lost loved ones to that
terrible disease.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

The Drama Years

The Drama Years

Parenting
Haley Kilpatrick grew up in Georgia with a mother, father, and
younger siblings. Life for her was fine until her best friend moved
away during sixth grade. The girls she wanted to be friends with
vaccilated between meanness and acceptance. She lost confidence. Her
grades dropped. She dreaded going to school. When she hit high
school she saw her younger sister going through a similar
metamorphasis. She realized many middle school girls face similar
issues. She decided to do something about it.
Girl Talk is a mentoring program based on weekly discussion
groups. High school girls help middle school girls discuss relevant
issues like getting along with parents, dating, and dealing with
bullies. Each chapter is involved in service projects and
volunteering. The program has grown from one chapter with 45 members
to over 40,000 girls in six countries! Yowza!
During her travels running the organization Kilpatrick met lots
of parents and people who work with them who wanted advice on helping
girls navigate the turbulent middle school years. So she wrote The
Drama Years. In each chapter she covers one of the big issues such as
frenemies, bullying, and sexuality. Middle and high school girls and
adults share their thoughts and concerns. Concrete ideas for adults
to implement are included. She has high hopes. "After reading The
Drama Years, I hope you'll be able to influence the middle school girl
in your life in a positive manner, and I hope you'll know that you're
making an investment in girls everywhere when you do.". Yowza!
I would strongly recommend this book to parents, teachers, and
all who work with and care about middle school girls. There's a lot
of wisdom packed into this very lively read.
On a personal note, as I write this I'm betting the middle school
girls in this part of Maine will be going to bed with visions of a
snow day dancing in their heads.
A great big shout out goes out to Michelle, Lisa, Carolee, and all the
other guidance counselors who strive to help children thrive in
America's public schools.
Julia Emily Hathaway



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Sugar

Sugar

Juvenile fiction
Sugar, title character of Jewell Parker Rhodes' Sugar, despises
the substance she's named after. Living alone (father was sold away
during slavery time, mother died) in a shack on a sugar plantation, at
the age of ten she knows the back-breaking work that goes into
producing this sweetener. "Cane is all I know. Cutting, cracking,
carrying pieces of cane. My back hurts. Feet hurt. Hands get
syrupy. Bugs come. Sugar calls--all kinds of bugs, crawling,
inching, flying. Nasty, icky bugs."
Emancipation has caused young adult workers to flee to the North
in search of a better life. There aren't enough workers to handle
harvest rush times. Sugar, left without peers, is terribly lonely.
She often wonders why she and Billy, the plantation owner's son who is
also socially isolated, have to keep their friendship secret.
Billy's father decides to solve his personpower problem by
hiring a gang of Chinese workers. To the elderly black workers this
presents a serious threat. These young, faster workers may cost them
the only work they know how to do and the only home they've ever had.
Where can they go and what can they do? Sugar thinks the two groups
of workers have a lot to offer each other. But how can she convince
the adults who feel so terribly threatened?
On a personal note, Sugar is sadly still relevant today. Just as the
two groups of workers in the book wasted suspicion on one another
initially, we in the insecure 98% of Americans spend too much time
feuding among ourselves (working poor/welfare; native/immigrant)
instead of working together to address the greatest income gap since
the 1920's.
A great big shout goes out to my soul sister, Lily, and all others who
are brave enough to embrace solidarity. In my mind, strength through
unity needs to be the ideal and goal of the twenty-first century.
Julia Emily Hathaway



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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Is It Night Or Day?

Is It Night Or Day?

YA fiction
"What is left when a child has everything taken away--home,
family, language, loyalties, identity? Only a story remains."
Did you know that between 1934 and 1945, in an operation similar
to Europe's Kindertransport, a group of Americans saved 1,200 Jewish
children by bringing them to this country? I surely didn't until I
discovered Fern Schumer Chapman's Is It Night Or Day?, in which I
found the poignant quote with which I started this review. Chapman's
mother, Edith Westerfield, was one of those rescued youngsters,
traveling alone in 1938 from her native Germany to live with an uncle
and aunt in Chicago. Fortunately for us, she turned her mom's
experiences into a haunting work of historical fiction.
As the story begins Edith is being taken by her parents on a
train ride from their small town to Breman where she will embark on
her voyage. Her parents had wanted to emigrate before but had been
deterred by her grandmother's refusal to leave. Through months that
turned into years they had clung to the hope that things would get
better. Then her father had been severely beaten. He and her mother
had decided their daughters must be sent to America where they would
be safe.
America is somewhat less than welcoming. Her aunt despises
anything German. She enforces an English only rule in the house and
is always correcting her husband's pronunciation. Although she seems
to resent Edith's presence in her household, she has no problem with
giving her scads of household chores.
School holds its own challenges. Placed in first grade where
she can't even fit into the desks, she is ridiculed by the kids her
age. Even after she has been promoted to seventh grade she is
excluded. When she finally makes a friend she is not allowed to bring
her home or visit. The library, the only place she feels like she can
be herself, becomes her refuge.
Apart from the fact that this coming of age story is beautifully
told, Is It Night Or Day? is unfortunately relevant to the twenty-
first century. Immigrant children, as Chapman reminds us in her
afterward, are still being torn from family and homeland and sent to a
very confusing and often much less than welcoming United States. Only
now, instead of Germany, they're coming from countries like Sudan.
The quote is sadly as relevant to them as it was to Edith and her
fellow travellers.
On a personal note, I have happily entered my voracious reading
vacation. Other than cooking, laundry, minimal cleaning, and quality
time with family and friends it's reading all the way.
A great big shout out goes out to all who help our country's newest
arrivals feel at home.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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Bag in the Wind

Bag in the Wind

Picture book
Pulitzer-prize winning poet, Ted Kooser, and his wife, Kathleen,
are serious about recycling. For quite awhile until he found thrift
shops that would reuse them he had scads of plastic bags no one
wanted. Luckily he found a story, Bag in the Wind, in his experiences.
The story has a very unusual main character. "It was a bag for
carrying groceries, just the color of the skin of a yellow onion, and
it had two holes for handles. It was a perfectly good bag, but
someone had thrown it away." The bag is blown out of a landfill and
sent on a series of adventures. A little girl uses it to collect cans
to cash in. A storeowner stuffs in under a door to keep drafts out.
It's rescued from a river by a homeless woman...
A note at the end tells us how many plastic bags Americans use
each year (100 billion), how long it will take each one to decompose
(fifteen to one thousand years), and how many animals are killed each
year by ingesting or getting caught in them (a million birds and
100,000 other creatures). Ways to recycle them or never use them in
the first place are discussed. Bag in the Wind is an excellent way
for children and parents to become mindful of the dangers these
ubiquitous carriers pose to our planet and the need to do something
about it.
On a personal note, one of the things that really aggravates me about
the hubby buying groceries in a certain big box store is that when it
comes to bags they have no paper option. He brings home scads of
plastic ones. I scoop them up before he can throw them into the
trash. I give many to the thrift shop and Black Bear Exchange. I
have also found that libraries find that they come in handy for
patrons who get lucky finding must read books.
A great big shout out goes out to all who work to teach us that
mindless disposal of plastic anything is not as harmless as we might
want to believe.
Julia Emily Hathaway



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Two Nun Stories

Two Nun Stories

Picture books
Growing up in a working class city, I found nuns scary and
fascinating. My Catholic friends painted pictures of knuckle rapping
no nonsense authorities whom you did not want to get on the wrong side
of...sort of ecclesiastical mafiosa. Adults painted pictures of
saintly women who had forsworn the pleasures of the flesh, whatever
those were, to serve God. Neither description seemed to fit. When
I'd see a nun in her penguin outfit I'd study her eyes and see what
seemed to be a flesh and blood human returning my gaze. Recently on
the Orono Public Library shelves I found two lovely picture books
featuring these women of God.
Snow Day by Moira Fain harks back to the days when I was young.
Maggie Murphy has the toughest teacher in her school, Sister Agatha
Ann. Usually when she's breaking rules she can fly under her radar.
One day, however, she's caught drawing a picture when she isn't
supposed to be and assigned to write a poem and recite it to her class
the next day.
A snow day gives her not only a reprieve, but an unexpected
insight into the hidden soul of a dreaded disciplinarian.
Sister Anne's Hands by Marybeth Lorbeicki is also set in the
sixties. When Anna is about to start second grade she hears her
parents talking about her new teacher. She hears her father tell her
mother, "I don't know how a woman of her color is going to survive."
The first day of school she discovers what he's talking about. Sister
Anne intercepts a paper airplane that has
"Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Don't let Sister Anne
get any black on you."
on its wings
Sister Anne's reaction to the hatred inscribed on the plane is a
lesson in grace that makes a picture book into a vivid coming of age
story.
Both stories are told convincingly and touchingly with perfectly
paired illustrations. They are absolute gems.
On a personal note, I enjoyed a snow day yesterday. It was church,
not school, that was cancelled. As much as I love my Methodist
services it was such a gift to have an unexpected day to stay to home
with the kids making us all good things to eat like pancakes with
strawberry syrup and chocolate chip cookies to eat fresh out of the
oven with milk and reading in my comfy chair near the beautiful tree.
A great big shout out goes out to Pastor Steve and all the other
clergypeople who had the good sense to cancel services and not
endanger their congregations.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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Monday, December 16, 2013

Here Come The Girl Scouts

Here Come The Girl Scouts

Picture book
These days Girl Scouting is about as all American as motherhood
and apple pie. Uniforms, merit badges, cookie sales...I think all of
us have at least some script for this organization. It's hard to
realize that over 100 years ago when it was just getting started it
was ground breaking and controversial. Fortunately Shana Corey's Here
Come The Girl Scouts! gives us insight into its history and very
colorful founder.
When Daisy (Juliette) Gordon Lowe was growing up in Georgia,
young ladies were supposed to be oh, so dainty. She was anything
but. My favorite picture shows her hanging upside down from a tree
while her more demure peers sip tea from china cups.
As an adult she traveled all over the world. Not even an
infection robbing her of much of her hearing slowed her down. She did
things like sneaking out of fancy parties to go fishing, riding
elephants, and flying in a plane.
There came a time in her life when adventure alone was not
enough for her. She wanted to make a real difference. About that
time Boy Scouts and Girl Guides had started in England. She decided
American girls deserved nothing less. In Here Come the Girl Scouts
you'll learn how she transformed this dream into a reality that helped
shape many of our childhoods.
On a personal note, some of my favorite girlhood experiences centered
around Girl Scouts and camping. I know having this identity helped me
set a high bar for myself integrity wise. The first time I went to a
movie theater after turning twelve I paid the adult fare. The cashier
tried to talk me into passing for child's fare. I was so tiny and
young looking. I stood up to my full unimposing height, looked her in
the eye, and announced that girl scouts were honest.
A great big shout out goes out to the Girl Scout leaders who continue
to keep this wonderful program alive.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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20 Big Trucks

20 Big Trucks

Picture book
Most little kids and quite a few big ones find trucks
fascinating. If you want a counting story that depicts a lovely range
of these vehicles and carries the message that big people don't always
know what to do, you can't do better than Mark Lee's 20 Big Trucks In
The Middle Of The Street.
A young boy riding a bike encounters a broken down ice cream
truck in his neighborhood. Next thing you know it's blocking a mail
truck. Add in a truck carrying hay, a crane, and two moving vans and
you have the start of a serious traffic jam. The boy knows how to set
things right. But will the adults listen to him?
On a personal note, I can remember when Adam was fascinated by trucks
like the young protagonist of the book. Now he can drive a truck, ride
a motorcycle, and even fly a plane solo. Yikes!
A great big shout out goes out to the hubby and all the others who
were using their trucks and other big machines to clear up after a
serious snow storm today.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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Cherry Money Baby

Cherry Money Baby

YA fiction
Have you ever felt you understood all you wanted your future to
hold, only to have a random event leading you to question your
decisions and maybe want more? If so, you've been in a similar
predicament to Cherry Kerrigan, protagonist of John M. Cusick's Cherry
Money Baby.
Cherry is finishing her senior year of high school much less
well that her dad wants her to. They do not share his college
aspirations for her or his fervent belief that she'd be better off
anywhere else. She loves their run down working class town, takes
more pride in her restaurant job than in academics, and wants to marry
her boyfriend and keep house for him and bear and raise their children.
Cherry's town has been invaded by a movie making cast and crew.
One day at work she saves a star, Ardelia Deen, from choking by
performing the heimlich maneuver. That night Ardelia stops off at
Cherry's trailer to thank her for saving her life. That is the start
of a very intense friendship.
Cherry's new life is very heady and intoxicating. Gaining
access to venues she had never known existed and people she had never
dreamed she'd mingle with makes her feel enchanted, able to take risks
she wouldn't in her more real life. But could she be going too far?
And will her decisions take her too far away from what she wants most
in life?
This coming of age novel is a really fun and suspenseful read.
Cherry is a gritty, resilient heroine it would be hard not to cheer
for as she strives to make sense of her challenging and perplexing new
life.
On a personal note, I can relate to Cherry. For the first four years
of being on school committee I served in a Veazie only group. We
shared a superintendent with Orono and met together annually but
otherwise were on our own. We pretty much did the same thing year
after year. Then, under a mandate from the governor we joined with
Orono and Glenburn to form a regional school unit. Suddenly I was
able to work with a diverse body to define our vision for ourselves
and our school unit. We were big enough to make really big changes
like adding an alternative high school and preK classes. Taking on
challenges like policy writing and contract negotiating put me in
touch with strengths I never knew I had. Then the RSU was torn
apart. Now that I've seen what's possible, serving on a small one
town school committee is torture in a way it could never have been
before.
A great big shout out goes out to those who bring change and challenge
into our lives and serve as catalysts for exploration and growth!
Julia Emily Hathaway


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October Mourning

October Mourning

YA fiction
My children were very young when I heard of the brutal murder of
Matthew Shepard. Still I could think ahead to how I'd feel if my then
one-year-old son were killed just for being himself. My heart went
out to his parents. I also thought about his assailants. What kind
of person could do this? What families and communities raised them to
be capable of this cruelty and indifference?
Fifteen years later I have no answers. Sadly I can't say we've
advanced enough so that something like this couldn't happen again. I
just know one thing. We must never forget.
I was very encouraged when I saw Leslea Newman's October
Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard. It is a beautiful and moving
volume, evocative and thought provoking. In a series of eloquent
poems Newman imagines how various people involved (Matthew, an
assailant, a police officer, a doctor...) and non human entities (the
fence he was tied to, a deer, the stars in the sky...) might have
thought and felt.
One entitled What You Can Do In Eighteen Hours lists a number of
options like giving birth and studying for an exam and finally:
"...Wait to be discovered
lashed to a fence

Shivering under a blanket
of stars"
The one that got to me the most, probably because I read the
book with Joey cuddled up purring in me ear, was Where Is My Boy?:
"...Where is the sad boy who tickles my ears
While telling me all of his dreams and his fears?

Where is the sweet boy who loves me so much
His whole face lights up at my purr or my touch?..."
This is a book meant to be read out loud, discussed, passed from hand
to hand, especially since so many kids today were born since then and
need to know.
It was a very personal book for Newman to write. She was the
keynote speaker at Gay Awareness Week that was planned by the
University of Wyoming's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered
Association. One of the last acts of Matthew Shepard's too short life
was participating in a planning meeting. Ten years later she wrote
October Mourning to think about the event and the way she and the
world had been touched by it.
In my mind October Mourning is a must read for human beings.
On a personal note, one of my deepest hopes is that my children will
live to see a world in which people are not condemned for who they
love or who they are. Those of us who are parents or teachers have
the chance to teach our children well. Nearly all of us have the
chance to say "That is not acceptable" when we hear hate words like
"faggot" or comments like "That's so gay!". Marginalizing and
dehumanizing are the necessary conditions for the unspeakable to happen.
A great big shout out goes out to all our LGTB friends, colleagues,
kin, and neighbors.
Julia Emily Hathaway


Sent from my iPod

Saturday, December 14, 2013

The Weight of Water

The Weight of Water

Juvenile fiction
Cassie, Kasienka in her native Poland, has just moved to England
with her Mama. Her Tata (father) had left the family with just a
short note. Despite warnings that it would not to be good to chase
after him, her mother is doing just that. When she is not working or
sleeping she marks maps and walks the streets, house to house, asking
if anyone has seen her missing husband. She barely seems to notice
her present daughter.
Cassie is not having an easy time. They live in a one room
apartment in a derelict neighborhood. At school she is the foreigner,
the odd one. She describes poignantly how it is when she is one of
the students who is not chosen for a group project and has to be
assigned by the teacher.
"There is eye rolling and chair scraping
As we shuffle forward,
Unwanted and misused,
Like old boots dragged
From a river."
The girls in her class are cliquish, mean, keeping her in a state of
confusion as to what exactly is wrong with her. Sometimes they are
downright cruel as when one cuts chunks out of her hair in a school
assembly. The teachers never seem to notice a thing.
One day a neighbor gives Cassie her father's address. She is to
go there alone without her mother. When she does her world is torn
even more apart.
However, Cassie has swimming, a sport she excells in. Just
being in that other element makes her feel in control, secure.
"At the pool's edge I might be ugly
But when I swim strokes
I am beautiful."
There is also a boy who shares her interest and seems to feel that
she's someone special.
Told in poignant and vivid free form verse, The Weight of Water
is a coming of age story about a girl bravely making the most of a
confusing and often painful new life. It's a must read, especially
for anyone who has experienced the break up of family or peer cruelty.
On a personal note, my tree is so beautiful, especially the side where
I have my beloved cross stitch ornaments and delicate crocheted
snowflakes.
A great big shout out goes out to our teachers and principals,
juggling family time and the huge work load that must be done before
school lets out for holidays. Especially my buddy, Darcie.
Julia Emily Hathaway.


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The Cat Who Liked Potato Soup

The Cat Who Liked Potato Soup

Picture book
Terry Farrish's The Cat Who Liked Potato Soup is a made to be
read aloud gem of a book. It's a lovely little piece on love, on
acceptance of frailty and shortcoming, on growing old together. It
will be loved by children and even more by parents and grandparents.
An old man, a grown up Texas boy, lives with his cat, the only
one left from an army of felines, on a road called Chatterpie due to
the presence of blackbirds on the telephone wire. They're creatures
of habit, both fond of the potato soup the man concocts. This is a
good thing because the cat kills nothing, neither bird nor fish. Her
human companion loves her, "but not so you'd notice."
One day the cat does not go with the man on their daily fishing
trip. When he comes home she's gone...
On a personal note, tonight is Orono Arts Cafe. YOWZA! I am so
psyched to read my poetry in that lively venue.
A great big shout out goes out to our older cats and dogs and their
beloved human companions.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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Out Of The Easy

Out Of The Easy

YA fiction
You get a book that starts out with these four sentences:
"My mother's a prostitute. Not the filthy, streetwalking kind. She's
actually quite pretty, fairly well spoken, and has lovely clothes.
But she sleeps with men for money or gifts, and, according to the
dictionary, that makes her a prostitute."
You know what you have on your hands? A must read. Ruta Sepetys' Out
Of The Easy lives up wonderfully to the promise of its first
paragraph. It grabs your mind and heart and just won't let go. YOWZA!
The year is 1950. Josie (17) is trying to find a way to go to
college far from New Orleans. For her the Big Easy is anything but.
Her prostitute mother doesn't have the sense to look after herself,
never mind a daughter but is in her life enough to have her bear the
shame of being a hooker's child. Josie works in a bookstore, lives in
a room above it, cleans house for her mom's madam, Willie, and plans
to escape to a place where folks won't expect her to follow in her
mother's footsteps.
One day a distinguished gentleman shops at the bookstore.
Josie, who has no idea who her father is, imagines he could be. So
she is shaken when he dies under suspicious circumstances that night.
She's even more shaken when her mother is accused of the murder and
when her mom, fleeing town, saddles her with a debt to the mob well
beyond her ability to pay.
The plot is spell binding. The characters are captivating. And
things are far from how they'd seem on the surface. The whore house
madam is the giver of acts of kindness and generosity. The hubbies of
some of the elite familiies, how do I say this, keep her girls in
business. Remember the good old law of supply and demand?
I am so going to read Sepetys' first book, Between Shades of
Gray, and review it if it's anywhere near as good as I expect it to
be. I also plan to read the book, The Last Madam: A Life in the New
Orleans Underworld, that inspired Out of the Easy.
On a personal note, I've got some news that should rock my readers'
worlds. Every year I give myself a special Christmas gift. After I
have the presents wrapped and delivered and the tree decorated I give
myself a few weeks to stay close to home, enjoy family, and read near
the beautiful tree with candy to snack on and dear Joey cat on my
lap. Heavenly!
Of course this means more reviews which is my gift to you!!! Enjoy!
A great big shout out goes out to the students who are in the last
stretch of projects and exams before vaca!
Julia Emily Hathaway


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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

One Size Does Not Fit All

One Size Does Not Fit All

It seems like everyone these days has an opinion on what's wrong
with America's schools. Usually there is one perspective missing from
the melée: that of the students experiencing education on a day to
day basis. That is why I was thrilled to see Nikhil Goyal's One Size
Does Not Fit All: A Student's Assessment Of School on the Orono
Public Library's new books shelves.
When I started reading I was very impressed with the level of
scholarship and research Goyal presents. The passion comes through
also. He started school eager to learn with a joy in reading and
writing and a view of the library as being "...like a candy store and
an ice cream parlor, rolled into one kid paradise.". By high school he
had become a test acing honor student. His family even moved to a
wealthy community with an ultracompetitive school system. This all
led to an epiphany. "After being assimilated into the Syosset High
School ecosystem, I noticed that I was bored as hell in class and
absolutely nothing I was taught was relevant to real life. I was
trained to be a drone...Testing, more homework, and memorization did
not equate to true learning." Speaking to students from other states
and realizing they had common frustrations led him to write a book to
get their voice heard.
Does he have legitimate grievances. In my opinion, yes! Some of
the things he is highly critical of are:
*an educational system that doesn't adequately prepare students for
the job market of the future;
*the lack of support for critical and collaborative thinking,
collaboration and communication, curiosity, risk-taking, and
overcoming failure;
*the centrality of fill-in-the-bubble standardized tests for all
children including four-year-olds;
*the corporate takeover of education by use of unrealistic
expectations that doom public schools to failure;
*merit pay systems that treat teachers as factory workers rather than
skilled professionals...
Goyal has hope, though, and he ends the book with some really
good ideas on ways to make schools places where true education can
happen and curiosity and creativity are not crushed. A lot of them
are excellent. I'd say that for teachers, admin, school board
members, parents, and anyone else who has skin in the game One Size
Does Not Fit All is a must read. YOWZA!!!
On a personal note, this month I have two venues to read my poetry
in. Last week I read at the Sigma Tau Delta (University) Open Mic
Night. This Friday peeps can catch me at Orono Arts Cafe.
A great big shout out goes out to my new friend, Lily Eskelsen-Garcia
who is a truly inspirational speaker, a staunch advocate for the right
of all children to learn, and, oh yeah, NEA vice president. You go,
Girl!
Julia Emily Hathaway



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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Eat Move Sleep

Eat Move Sleep

I couldn't help but enjoy the irony of the situation when I
cracked open Tom Rath's Eat Drink Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to
Big Changes shortly upon arrival at the in laws' house on
Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, more than any other day of the year, is
the occasion gluttony is excused and even celebrated and planned. So
in true jules fashion I had selected a volume that encourages and
celebrates mindfulness. Serendipitously as I read through the day I
found it influencing that I consumed. I did put outside exercise off
til Friday though, since walking in rural Maine minus two items of
blaze orange at the height of deer hunting season carries a fairly
substantial hazard of its own.
Eat Move Sleep is only the second book of all that I've read and
reviewed this year that I plan on getting a personal copy of (Rapt
being the other). It is encouraging and empowering. Instead of the
huge life style changes many books tout that can leave one failing,
giving up, or paralyzed into inaction, it shows how small, manageable
adaptations can build up incrementally. Instead of a one size all
logic, it acknoowledges the individuality of life and personality
styles.
When we think of life style changes for optimal health, we all
think of exercise and diet. Rath boosts sleep to equal importance.
He shows how the elements of this well being trinity interact in daily
life for better or worse. Have you ever stinted on sleep and craved
processed foods the next day? Have you ever stuffed at a meal (say
Thanksgiving) and found the thought of exercise very unapoealing?
That's what he's talking about.
Rath tells us that life is a series of seemingly small but
significant decisions. When we eat or skip breakfast, walk or drive
to a nearby store, defend our right to a restfull sleep or burn the
midnight oil, we are doing things that stack the odds for or against
longevity and health. Even when genetics are not promising we are
more in control than we usually realize. (Rath himself got one of the
worst genetic hands possible.)
Rath encourages us to examine our lives and choose small,
manageable challenges we can incorporate into our lives mindfully
until they become automatic and it's time onto the next. They can
include:
*cutting out sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages in favor
of more wholesome beverages,
*breaking up big blocks of seat time by getting up and moving on a
regular basis,
*shutting off electronics for the hour before bedtime,
*putting the healthiest foods in easiest reach,
*picking a personal motivation for moving more,
*taking the stairs instead of the elevator,
*and so many more.
The bottom line; if you carry genetic risks, weigh a little
more or have less energy that you'd like, or just feel like you can do
better diet or exercise wise Eat Move Sleep is a very wise
investment. Pick your first challenge, find a way of keeping track,
and enlist a friend or two to encourage you. You will find this time
well spent.
I'd encourage you to go one step beyond. Many people face huge
obstacles to making small steps. Folks on fixed incomes or supporting
families on minimum wage, for example, often can't afford wholesome
food. What can the rest of us do? Plenty. Members of Orono
Community Garden, for example grow veggies for low income senior
citizens during the summer and early fall. We get in some exercise
while we help them with good food choices. I'd call that a win win of
the most powerful kind. Is there anything you and yours can do?
On a personal note, one day in October at the University of Maine I
saw a poster for a 30 day challenge. People were encouraged to commit
to doing one thing every day for the month of November and then
getting together to celebrate. YOWZA! I signed up to do something
every day to make someone's day better or happier. I bought a journal
to record my acts and then started a week early. The irony--although
I was focussing on others, the one who gained the most happiness was
me. In December I have two new ones. Taking a page from Rath's book
I'm cutting sugar from coffee and cutting on unhealthy beverages. The
other will be incorporating touch into more of my interactions. So
many people are deprived of the healing power of human touch,
especially our senior citizens.
A great big shout out goes out to all who accept the challenge to take
steps to improve their lives and the friends and family members who
encourage and empower them.
Julia Emily Hathaway



Sent from my iPod

Change The Way

Change The Way

If my mentor, Betsy Webb, had been with me in Orono Public
Library the day I discovered Kathryn Cramer and Hank Wasiak's Change
The Way You See Everything Through Asset-Based Thinking she would have
instructed me to read and reflect on it. That would not have been a
hard sell. Everything about it from the texture of the book cover to
the generous use of photographs to the upbeat, conversational tone is
enticing.
Basically the book shows the difference between deficit-based
and asset-based thinking. Deficit based thinking prepares us to
protect ourselves from danger. Dating back to the days when homo
sapiens were a lot lower than we are now on the food chain, it can be
adaptive under certain circumstances. Despite the dire threat
drumbeat of the if-it-bleeds-it-leads media, many of us today don't
live in those circumstances. At its most benign this modus operendi
keeps us stuck in a narrowly focussed fight or flight life style,
preventing us from seeing larger possibilities. At worst the effect
of constant stress can be lethal.
Asset-based thinking, in contrast, allows us to look at the
wider picture with its possibilities. We focus on strengths rather
than weakness and on possibilities rather than dead ends. We change
(this is the tough one) problems into opportunities. The wider lens
can allow us to think outside of the box and envision new
possibilities. Since it is based on optimism rather than pessimism,
its far more conducive to optimum physical and psychological well being.
The situation doesn't change. How we look at it does. Take a
recent snap shot from my life. I did not get a job I would have been
otherwise ideally suited for because of a computer skills deficit
acquired while at home parenting. Since classes are too expensive, if
I'd taken a narrow focus I'd be filling out fast food applications.
However, I took a step back and thought of all the strengths I have. I
set up an appoinment to convince a university dean that a volunteer
spot where I work twenty hours a week in exchange for learning those
skills would be a bargain for his school. I'll let you know how that
turns out.
The book is divided into three sections: changing the way you
see yourself, changing the way you see other people, and changing the
way you see situations. Each one carries a lively blend of
instruction written in a down-to-earth conversational style,
narrative, and amazing photographs. If there is something in your
life--personal, professional, or spiritual--you'd like to change, it's
a good place to start.
I do have one cavaet. Books like this carry the danger of
playing into the hands of the personal responsibility crowd. More and
more people these days are truly endangered no matter how they look at
their situations as economic conditions grow worse for most who aren't
in the elite. If I didn't have a husband willing and able to support
a family, if our children had been seriously handicapped instead of
high achieving, if any number of things I would not have the option of
holding out. So let's not confuse perspective changing with a panacea
that will apply to all folks, no matter how dire their situation.
On a personal note, I jotted down a number of quotes that I found
inspiring. One in particular stunned me. "In everyone's life, at
some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an
encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for
those people who rekindle the human spirit." That's by Albert
Schweitzer. Thank God I encountered Betsy when my soul flame was
extinguished or dangerously close to being so. With her friendship
and guidance it now burns brighter than ever. YOWZA!
A great big shout out goes out to all sentient beings (It's not only
two footers) who rekindle the human spirit.


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Monday, December 9, 2013

The Blessing Cup

The Blessing Cup

Picture Book
Patricia Polacco knows how to make the past come alive for our
youngest children. In The Keeping Quilt she had told of her
grandmother fleeing with her family to America. In this companion
volume, The Blessing Cup, she tells the story of another precious
family heirloom.
The story begins long ago and far away in a village in Russia.
A young bride receives a very special gift from her Aunt--a china tea
set of such beauty everyone in the village admires it. A note says
that anyone who drinks from it receives God's blessings. The marriage
prospers and children arrive. Although never wealthy, the family
members feel rich.
One night the temple is set on fire. The Tsar has decreed that
Jews may no longer live in Russia. They must leave with only the
belongings they can carry or pull in carts. The family decides to go
to America where the father has a cousin. They set out with the
parents pulling a cart loaded with their most precious treasures
including their two very young children. Most nights the father
sleeps on the cold ground while his family sleeps in the cart. Then
one day the father collapses from pneumonia...
The Blessing Cup is a lyrical reminder of what is truly most
important in life, a true blessing to all who read or hear it.
And, yes, Polacco's family still has a cup from the set.
On a personal note, my family has a number of heirlooms that have been
passed down through generations. My Amber is a genius at uncovering
their stories. I am very thankful for her talent and willingness to
use it to make our past come alive.
Do you have treasures handed down in your family? One of the greatest
mitzvahs you can do for future generations is to record their stories.
A great big shout out goes out to all who have the gift of keeping the
past alive.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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