I struggled with The Crimson Rooms by Katharine McMahon. My struggle, however, had nothing to do with the writing of the book. I found it to be an interesting and extremely well-written book. A piece of historical fiction, the book follows a grief stricken family after the death of their only son/brother after he dies in World War I.

I should tell you: I love war stories. Whether in novel or movie form, I find myself constantly attracted to them. This one, being about post-war life, throws a different twist on the issue. Not only do we get to see and feel the issues that faced women as they tried to work (you know, like men) but we also get a good look at grief. That’s where I struggled. If you read my blog at all, you know that my family just endured two deaths in less than a month. Reading this book for review during that time conjured up all kinds of emotion. The main character, Evelyn, is occasionally haunted by dreams of trying to reach her brother. I had a similar dream earlier this week. And so, it isn’t in the story or the writing where I struggled. It was in my own personal life challenges at this time.

The book got more interesting when a woman showed up on their doorstep with a child she claimed was the son of their dearly beloved, almost sainted (in their own eyes) son and brother. I won’t spoil the story for you but I found this particular storyline to be quite interesting. Meredith brought some color to a house that was still dark with mourning, though she didn’t always do it in the kindest way possible.

Evelyn herself is working, one of the first women in a graduating law class. Throughout the story she muddles her way through pre-feminist London, fighting for equal treatment of not only herself but her clients. I can’t decide which storyline I liked more, really, the Baby Mama issue or the woman fighting for her right to work. I think, perhaps, that the two storylines worked together and made for an interesting view of what life might have been like for women, and families, at that time.

In the end, I suggest this book to anyone who enjoys a bit of historical fiction, has a bent for feminism and generally likes a well-written book. I enjoyed it and will be passing it on to my friends as I do with all books that I thoroughly enjoy. The book is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indie Bound and other online retailers.

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[Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by MotherTalk on behalf of G.P. Putnam's Sons / Riverhead and received a copy of the book to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.]

Shortly after I read and reviewed The Weight of Silence, a book about girls who have gone missing, the author of another book contacted me. After Etan by Lisa R. Cohen is not a fictional tale of a missing child. Instead, this is the true story of “The” missing child, the one who changed it all. How?

On May 25, 1979, six-year old Etan Patz walked to the bus stop. However, he never made it to school nor did he come home after school ended. The media-coverage that followed Etan’s disappearance changed how missing children cases were handled. In fact, May 25 is recognized as National Missing Children’s Day in Etan’s honor.

This book was hard for me to read in some ways. Who wants to think about their child going missing? Who wants to consider that something so awful can occur? That in a two block walk, your life can be turned upside down forever? This book, however, was well-written and sheds a lot of light on the processes that followed, both initially and over the years.

We all watch television shows like Law and Order. We watch everything unfold nicely in the span of 60-commercial-interrupted minutes. What we don’t see are stories that span decades. The hard-fought stories that certain individuals, from police to the media to the FBI, find themselves dedicated to; they can’t stop working for or fighting toward a resolution. This particular story, while not exactly the happiest read on the block, is somehow still uplifting. The final chapter, which shows how Etan’s parents endure National Missing Children’s Day all these years later is a glimpse at hope. And a life no parent ever wants to live.

Still, the uplifting part of the story can be summed up with this paragraph found in one of the last chapters.

In the years after Etan was lost to them, Stan had witnessed so much proof of the good in man. The accumulation of all those smaller acts of kidness over time had muted Stan and Julie’s enormous sense of loss, like the sweet strains of Mozart and J. S. Bach that obscured the ringing in Stan’s ears as he worked. He took his small comfort from finally knowing the fate of the child lost to them, always the cruelest part of this long story. But he took much greater comfort in what he had held on to. He thought of Lev Sviridov heading off to Oxford, and the labor-of-love library that had opened so many little minds, and the stories Julie would regale him with of “her kids.” Jose Ramos may have tested Stan’s faith in humanity, but he hadn’t destroyed it. The best and most obvious example was the woman sitting next to him.

As I’ve said before, there are certain things I can’t imagine. Losing a child in this manner is one of those horrors. This book has the potential to scare parents. I encourage parents who have, at the very least, a minor interest in the legal processes or true crime dramas to go ahead and grab this book. I don’t want to say that I enjoyed the story itself as the loss of any child is unimaginable. I did, however, enjoy Cohen’s fabulous writing. The years of research and writing are evident in her finely chosen words. She did a great job of “showing, not telling” which is hard to do with a story of this nature. It’s quite a task to take a subject like this one and make it an enjoyable read. Cohen did just that and she should be commended for a job well done.

After Etan is available on Amazon for $17.15 (11/2). Pick it up.

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[Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.]

I love the books that Mother Talk introduces me to by asking me to write a review. The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf is no exception. The back starts out with this engaging explanation:

It happens quietly one August morning. As dawn’s shimmering light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night.

Every parent’s worst nightmare.

I’ll be honest: it wasn’t an easy, light read. I took it on vacation with me, hoping to read it while relaxing on the beach or even on the deck in the evenings after the boys went to sleep. It’s not a beach-type read. As the story revolves around the disappearance of two little girls, it deals with some topics that don’t make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Of course, books that fall somewhere in the suspense genre aren’t really looking to create a warm and fuzzy feeling.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good book.

I really got into the book on our twelve and a half hour return trip (which was supposed to be a ten hour trip, mind you). In fact, I got so into the book that I was reading the book with the flashlight app that I installed on my iPhone right before we left for our vacation. Do you know how difficult it is to read a phone by iPhone flashlight in a moving vehicle? That’s how good this book is to read.

I will warn you that in addition to the anxiety that accompanies any story about a missing child, let alone two, there are some other issues that may be hard for readers. There are traces of domestic (wife) abuse, child abuse, sexual assault and the loss of a baby. (See? Not particularly beachy.) However, they weren’t used in a way that made me felt that the author was trying to use all the tricks in the book to make her readers uncomfortable. In order for this story to be as effective and engaging as it was, these things needed to take place. Even in the case of the disappearance and eventual location of the girls in question, there are no graphic descriptions of the injuries or what took place for them to occur. Had those been in the book, I might not have been such a fan.

The book itself leads you to doubt yourself. For awhile, you think you know the story. And then you question yourself. Are you right? Did you properly pick the perpetrator? Do you know what caused the one girl to become a selective mute? Will she talk? Won’t she? All of those questions, and more, are why I kept turning the pages in the dark of our vehicle, desperate to find out the answers.

Did I like this book? Yes. Is it one I will keep in my library? Yes. Do I think most of my readers would enjoy this particular novel? Yes. I do believe that some readers who have dealt with the issues I mentioned above might struggle with various parts of the book. However, I do believe that the author dealt with such heavy issues in a respectful, non-graphic way and I offer her a pat on the back for attempting such issues. In the end, I loved the book, the writing and the way the book came together at the end. This is one book where I was pleased with the resolution.

The Weight of Silence is available on Amazon for $10.94. It is also available for purchase via Kindle for $9.99.

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[I received a complimentary copy of this book and a gift card from Mother Talk in exchange for my balanced review.]

What to Expect When You’re Expecting. I remember reading the book when I was pregnant with BigBrother. I kind of laugh at the thought now. Why? You have no clue what to expect when you’re still expecting. Soon, that little baby is born and your world is thrown upside down. In good ways, in different ways and sometimes in bad ways. While they can’t cover every aspect of everything you will experience, books and parenting guides can be a great resource to help you get on the right track, get back on the right track or stay on that track. I learned so much in reading such books while waiting for BigBrother to arrive.

That’s why Clorox and the What to Expect Foundation have paired together to create a guide for parents. When Mom Central asked if I would review the guide, I said sure, feeling that I knew everything I could need to know about healthy homes, babyproofing and the like. (I was wrong.) Entitled the What To Expect: Guide to a Healthy Home, the 11 page guide gives parents tips for babyproofing, cleaning, food preparation, germ safety and other necessary and healthy tips. Even things you didn’t know to consider, think of or… expect!

When it comes to a clean house, there were things I simply didn’t consider before there were children running through our house. One thing that totally caught me off guard was the general ick of playgrounds and other community play spaces. The What to Expect guide says it best so let me quote.

Would you believe that there are more germs on outdoor playground equipment than on a toilet? It’s true. Tests show that more bodily fluids, such as saliva and other things you don’t want to know about, hang out on monkey bars, swings, and slides than in public bathrooms — giving you yet another reason to insist your little ones wash their hands after they come in from romping on playground equipment (or better yet, use a hand sanitizer — supervised, of course — before they even get home or in the car).

Yuck. We carry hand sanitizer. And, after a walk or a romp at the park, we take our shoes off before romping around our carpeted home. (Which, by the way, should be vacuumed once a week according to the guide. That made me feel awesome because FireDad does that… or more. Yes. He vacuums. He loves the vacuum. No, you can’t have him. He’s mine.)

There are tons of other important tips in What to Expect: Guide to a Healthy Home. I learned some things and I’ve been actively parenting for nearly four years. I’ve at least been reading about safety, health and other such topics for a full four years as I tried to learn things before BigBrother arrived… and threw everything I learned out the window (as kids do!).

You can download the guide for… free! Just head on over and download What to Expect: Guide to a Healthy Home. You can thank me, Clorox and Mom Central later when your home is safe and clean. (And then you can come clean my house, okay?)

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[I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Clorox and the What to Expect Guide and received a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.]

When Mother Talk asked me to review The Lace Makers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri, I didn’t quite know what to expect. As I started reading it, I knew I was in for a treat but I still didn’t know what kind of treat or or exactly how that treat would be delivered. In the end, I learned about Ireland, the Gaelic traditions, lace making, good writing and, shockingly, information about my own family that I did not previously know.

The book is wonderfully written. I will admit that it started off a little slow for my liking but the pace of the book is appropriate for the subject at hand. Kate, our main character, an American who has taken off to Ireland to find herself after her mother’s death and a bad breakup, needs that slower pace in order to heal. Of course, at one point, things do pick up rather quickly with an attractive Irishman. Throughout the book there are moments of quick-paced action and tongue lashing (the Irish tongue-lashings) along with moments that allow you to appreciate the Irish landscape, the process of lace-making and the wonderful, descriptive writing.

In Ireland, after a random turn of events, Kate finds herself in the very small town of Glenmara. She makes friends with a group of women who have a lace making society. Kate eventually has an idea as to how these women can turn their hobby into a profitable business but some people both in the group and in town don’t really embrace change. I was intrigued with each chapter to see how people would accept (or not) the changes to their town as things continued to move forward. I will admit that my favorite character was Bernie, a woman who had lost the love of her life. She was able to tell it like it was without being a mean and nasty type of character. I need a little bit of Bernie in my own character, I think.

I loved the story and how it evolved through all of the changes that came to the town. I loved the pace by the time I finished the book, feeling that it was a welcome slow down to my otherwise fast-paced life. I really can’t even begin to describe how much I loved the writing other than I have a renewed interest in Ireland and Gaelic traditions. The writing was so, well, well-written that I want to read more about Ireland! But only if it is that beautifully described that I almost feel as if I am standing on the cliffs as well. I know that those to whom I will pass this book on will love the escape across the pond to a world that seems much simpler than the lives we’re currently attempting to live. (But, I will demand the book to be returned as this is one that I am keeping.)

So, how did this book introduce me to something in my own family that I didn’t know about? In the process of reading this book, I went back to Pennsylvania to visit with my family. It was sitting on the kitchen table as my mom, paternal grandmother and I talked one evening. My grandma looked at it and asked as to what the book was about and I told her. She then let me know that my great-grandmother, her mother, used to make similar lace. Polish, not Irish, but lace all the same. She then went on to tell me that she still has doilies and a full tablecloth that took great-grandma forever to finish during the Depression due to lack of materials. She’s going to find said things for me in the Hope Chest. Without this book, I don’t think I would have learned such information. Little bonus feature for me!

And, so, do I recommend this book? Yes. Did it make me cry? A few minor times. (Word of warning: there is the mention of a miscarriage/stillbirth that I wasn’t expecting. Thought I should pass that on to others who find the subject to be triggering.) But, as I finished the last page of the book, I felt happy. I like books that make me feel happy. The book comes out on June 23, 2009 and you can pre-order it now on Amazon. I strongly suggest that you do!

When I started reading 10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea by Suzy Welch, I was excited. You see, I hate making decisions. In fact, I’ll be honest, even as I sit here writing this review, I’m not great at practicing what the book preaches. Why? I just had to take my mom shopping with me to force a decision on what curtains I should hang in our living room. We bought our house three and a half years ago. I thought that since we just got new windows, we should have curtains. Right? But I couldn’t do it.

That’s what Welch’s book is about.

Okay, not curtains. But decisions, big and small, that we all must make in our lives. I’m somewhat indecisive. When I say somewhat I mean majorly. Big decisions scare me. My brain refuses to function. It’s a mess, really. Welch’s book covers an idea that is helpful for people like me. Or, will be, when I start being able to employ it.

The title, 10-10-10, refers to the idea. Basically, it asks: how will this decision affect me in 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years. The 10’s aren’t exact measurements of time meaning that you are to ask yourself how the decision will affect your life and the lives of those around you immediately, in the near future and in the distant future. Really, it’s a great idea.

The book goes on to explain the reasons why this works and backs it up with interesting stories of people who have put the 10-10-10 idea to work in their lives. I found it to be an interesting, quick read. Quick not because it was light on the good advice but quick because I wanted to know more.

Despite still not being able to make decorating decisions in my decorating life, I have found that it has helped me make some decisions as to what is and is not “absolutely necessary” when it comes to the schedules that we keep. Since reading the book, I’ve quit two things that weren’t necessary. I am thankful to Suzy Welch for writing this book. Our schedule is a bit freer… even if I have to rely on my mom for decorating advice/decisions.

Pick up 10-10-10 today. That’s one decision you shouldn’t need to dwell on too long. Trust me!

[Thanks to Mother Talk for including us on this (self-benefiting) book tour!]

I’ve been feeling some guilt lately. Last fall, I auditioned for and made our local chorale. While practices for the Christmas show took up time, they were nothing compared to the time I’ve had to spend preparing for the spring show. Just under a month away, I’m preparing to spend the week leading up to the show basically living at the theater. I felt pretty bad.

Until I read Mojo Mom: Nurturing Your Self While Raising a Family by Amy Tiemann, PH.D.

In fact, this book is probably up there on my favorite parenting books even though it’s less about parenting and more about me, both as a mother and as a woman. The book even inspired me to break out a new journal and write through the activities posed at the end of each chapter. It’s been awhile since a book has inspired me in such a way. It’s likely because it helped me work through issues that I was dealing with at that very moment but I think just about anyone, not just a mom who sings, can find something positive and life-affirming within the pages of this book.

In short, Mojo Mom reminds mothers that they are more than diapers, burp rags and piles of laundry. Working moms, work at home moms and stay at home moms all have challenges in remembering that fact. It’s hard work, trying to find the balance between motherhood and self-awareness but this book reminded me that being myself and allowing myself that space makes me a better mother to my children. This quote, from the prologue, really spoke to that:

All women need to continue to grow as individuals, not just as Moms.

How many books have I read about being a better mom? How many books have I reviewed about parenting the best way? Being told that I need to grow as a woman as well was something that I needed to hear. I know I’ve been doing the right thing for me by pursuing my goals but sometimes it’s hard to remember that when I miss bedtime or they do something cute while I’m not at home. I needed this book, now.

I read Chapter Two which is for mothers in the early months of motherhood mainly because it made me remember that life is much easier now. As such, I encourage mothers who are still deep in the throes of learning motherhood that it does get better. And if you follow the book’s ideas about taking time for yourself and accepting help from others, it will be a much easier transition for you.

The chapters that spoke most to me were “Letting Go of Guilt, Worry and Anxiety” and “Beyond Opting Out and The Mommy Wars.” Both had lots of things that I needed to read right now. Such as, it’s not a crime to take time for myself right now. And realizing the the Mommy Wars are stupid. We all have challenges, home or not home or working at home or any variation thereof. It’s hard, mothering. And we need time for ourselves.

The really great thing about this book were the Mojo Activities at the end of each chapter. Journaling them, considering them and talking about them helped me put some things in perspective. (Like the fact that I’m somewhat overscheduled myself with things that aren’t absolutely necessary, meaningful or fun. Since then, I’ve quit one thing and turned down a few other offers. And I’ve made more time for my husband and my friends.) I encourage all who read this book to actively journal the questions at the end or discuss them with your friends or partner. Reading is one thing. Discussing helps bring it home.

If you’re a mom, brand spankin’ new or with several years under your belt, you can benefit from this book. Be sure to pick it up.

[Thanks to Mother Talk for including me in this book tour.]

Parenting books. What can I say? I’ve read a bunch. In fact, I’m now at that point where I am wondering if I have read too many. The good news is that I continue to learn something from each one I read. Out of the Mouths of Babes: Parenting from a Child’s Perspective by Dyan Eybergen, RN is no different.

Like most parenting books, there are some things that I took away from this book that I not only agree with but hope to employ in our family. Thankfully the chapter on sleep issues is not (currently nor hopefully ever again) applicable to our family. We are having a minor sleep interruption at night due solely to LittleBrother’s molars but we are hoping to return to normal sleep patterns in the next week and a half as the last has officially broken through the skin. All the same, I found that chapter to be truly beneficial to those reading because it taught readers to think outside of the box. Or, rather, that it was okay to think outside of the box and that one sleep “treatment” won’t work for each (very) individual child. I think that’s the key to remember as you continue reading through the book.

One chapter that stuck out at me due to recent conversations and age-appropriate issues for my children was the chapter on eating. While we have some special issues not discussed in the book (BigBrother has texture issues that cause gagging when a new food is introduced), my “inner ear” perked up when the discussion of throwing sippy cups came up. The way in which the author reacted and, as such, told her readers to react is exactly what we do with LittleBrother right now. We pick them up, we remind him not to do it and, if necessary, we remove everything from his tray. Eventually the throwing for that meal stops. And, to be honest, it’s far less than it was when he initially learned about the coolness of gravity. This discussion in the book really stuck out to me as just last week a mother in an online baby age-range group told us that she smacks her son’s leg if he throws his sippy cup down too many times. I will tell you that spanking is not endorsed by this book (or this family). Anyway, I also took away some good ideas to help keep our own mealtimes a bit calmer even while dealing with BigBrother’s texture issues. The point she made that when children are forced to eat something that they genuinely don’t like (not just that they haven’t tried before), they learn to ignore their body’s own signals. That struck home and I dont’ think I’ll be putting strawberries on BigBrother’s plate any time soon.

Like any parenting book, there were other things that didn’t sit particularly right. Her total dismissal of “reward charts” for things like potty training kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Then again, ours wasn’t a full reward chart. It was just a piece of paper that he placed a sticker on for months and months, even after he was fully trained, each time he went to the bathroom. (As he also has texture issues with touch, we were just excited he’d touch stickers.) That piece of paper was the last little nudge he needed to finish his potty learning experience. Will it work for LittleBrother? I don’t know. Do I know other children for whom a true reward chart worked? Yes. I think the strict “this is bad” way that the idea was discussed brought me back to the beginning of the book in which the author reminded us all that every child is unique and will deal with and learn things in different ways. Perhaps her background in child psychiatry gives her an edge but to say that reward charts don’t work simply doesn’t work for me. I simply disagree.

Her chapter on discipline was one chapter that I half-liked and half-questioned. Again my issue was with the inability to consider that different things work differently for different children. I do agree, however, that many parents are improperly employing the use of time outs. However, I believe that some children will better respond to a set amount of minutes while other children will better respond to the idea that they should stay for however long it takes them to self-soothe. Furthermore, I also believe that children can evolve or switch from one to the other and that it might vary from issue to issue. But, the thing I took away from this chapter that I give a hearty thumbs up to is consistency. I am working on that one myself. This chapter really encouraged me to keep working on it!

All in all, I did like this book. Yes, I disagreed with some things. But I haven’t yet read a parenting book of any type in which I finished reading it and thought, “Wow! I agreed with everything in this book!” Furthermore, the snip-its of conversation from the children and various parents added a little something to the book that you don’t always get in other variations. I really enjoyed each of those and found myself chuckling at a few, thinking that I had heard something of that sort in our own home. In the end, it was a quick read (121 pages of information) that was broken up into sections that can be easily revisited when and if an issue arrives. Despite the few things that I disagreed with, I’ll be keeping it on my (ever-growing) parenting book shelf for easy reference. You should pick it up yourself. It is currently listed at $10.17 on Amazon!

[Thanks to Mother Talk for including me in this book tour. I'm always happy to learn a few new things!]

I’ve had the unfortunate experience of reading books that weren’t all that great as of late. They weren’t horrible but they didn’t really inspire me to think past the end of my nose. The Help by Kathryn Sockett is not one of those books. In fact, this book was such a refreshing change of pace that I am hopeful that my next few books will be similarly awesome. Somehow, likely due to the sheer amazingness of this particular one, I feel I will be sorely disappointed. All the same, it now sits somewhere between 3 and 5 on my current top 10 favorite books list. Oh, yes, it’s that good.

The book revolves around the story of three women set in the Deep South in the 1960’s. The three women are very different in just about every way you can be different at that time in our country’s history. One, Aibileen, is a black maid raising her 17th white child (to a woman who seems to care little and/or know little about parenting). Aibileen is so loving and so caring that I want to curl up on her lap and just soak up some love. Another, Minny, is Aibileen’s best friend, and is what the publishers refer to as the “sassiest” woman in their town. And then we have Skeeter, a young college graduate whose “mother won’t be happy until she has a ring on her finger.” While I initially thought, “well, what could these three characters have in common,” the storyline pits them together in such a way that I couldn’t put the book down. No, really, my laundry and other chores suffered for two days. I can assume that I would have read the book at a faster rate of speed if I didn’t have two boys crawling over me even as I write this review. All the same, the book was one of those must-turn-the-page-and-keep-reading-sleep-be-darned type of books. I don’t want to give anything away other than this small little quote that I think bloggers, no matter their niche, can relate to. (It gives away a smidgen of the storyline as well but no  more of that!)

I like telling my stories. It feels like I’m doing something about it.

How often have I said something like that over on The Chronicles of Munchkin Land? While I don’t think that we, in present day, are fighting the same battles of racism  (though that’s still happening, isn’t it?), segregation and freedom, I think we can all attest to how telling our story brings about an inner peace about whatever the issue is that we’re facing. Perhaps that’s why I related so well to this book. (On other levels as well. Gee, I have you very intrigued now, don’t I? You just need to read the book. Trust me.)

While I normally have a hard time liking books that tell a story by jumping from character voice to character voice in each chapter, I must admit that I think it lent a lot to the telling of this story. Of course, the success of how this story-telling came across can be attributed to Sockett’s amazing writing ability. And, really, in the end, that’s what makes this book so fabulous: the writing.

Yes, I liked the story. Yes, I found it intriguing, engaging and inspiring. Yes, I even learned a thing or two about history, human nature and life in genral. But the real gem of this book is the outsanding writing brought to us by a rookie novelist. Yes, rookie. This is Sockett’s debut novel and, really, I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t read it prior to sitting down with the book. It is so well-written in both word choice and flow that I can only expect the best out of Sockett in the future. (And with the glowing things I’ve been reading around the book world and the blogosphere, I can only hope she takes these words to heart and writes another. And soon.)

If you’re going to read one book this year, I would definitely make it Sockett’s book, The Help. If you’ve got a long list of books that you’d like to read this year, throw this one in somewhere near the top. Yes, let it jump ahead in line a little bit. You won’t be sorry.

Head on over to Amazon where the book is currently listed at $16.47!

[Many, many thanks to Mother-Talk.com for sending this beautiful gem among books my way. I will pass on the love by sharing it with my friends and family!]

No, my review isn’t ridiculous, hilarious, terrible and cool all at once. That’s the title of the book. Or, rather, part of the title. The whole title is: ridiculous/hilarious/terrible/cool: a year in an american high school by Elisha Cooper. I signed on to review this book with Mom Central for a few reasons. Mainly I’m feeling nostalgic for my high school days as my ten year reunion approaches ever-so-quickly.

I must note that prior to reading this book, I read a few young adult novels. Why? Well, I wanted to boost my average for the year and they were quick reads on subjects that I found interesting. But they were horrible to actually read. The writing was not what I was used to and wasn’t even what I was used to reading in high school. But that’s not what ridiculous/hilarious/terrible/cool is like, I am happy to report. It’s a well-written book about high school. It is not poorly written. It is not drivel. It is not annoying or stereotypical. It is a great insight into what is going on in high schools today. In fact, while the target demographic for this book might not include me as I am not currently parenting a high schooler nor am I one, I found some great insight in the pages of this book. It is one I will keep on my shelf. Should my boys someday be book worms like me, I’ll pull it out for them as they begin to make their plans for the future.

Cooper, the author, spent time with these high school students throughout a year’s time. The way he wrote the book, however, you can’t really hear his voice. Instead, you hear the voice of these teens who are making life-altering decisions about things like college and whether or not school work matters in the long haul. They are doing things like working jobs and playing in bands and doing all sorts of things. Do you remember those days? Somewhat? Not at all? We get to read their stories, hear their words and live with them for a year. It was greatly interesting to read. What would an author of this caliber written about my high school (or, gulp, me) in 1998-1999 if one had followed my senior year? Who knows. I don’t want to know. Do you?

If you like to read things that are well-written, if you are feeling nostalgic for high school or if you have a high schooler who likes to read well-written things and is starting to make college and real life decisions, this might be the perfect gift for yourself or for someone else. I know I enjoyed it and I hope you will as well!