November 2010

Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks: a Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. New York: Knopf, 2005. Print.

Apparently I read this first in 2007, possibly from the library, but received it as a Christmas gift last year and recently re-read it again.

I think it’s a pretty big compliment to Birdsall’s storytelling that I didn’t realize right away that this wasn’t an old classic that I’d missed in my childhood.  I probably should have noticed sooner, but I was quite willing to be charmed by a summer story of four sisters and their adventures at a rented house. What tipped me off were the deliberate, fake-nonchalant insertions of descriptions of the girls that are clearly designed to bust female stereotypes.  Although only one of the sisters is a “math whiz” and brings an Algebra textbook with her on vacation, they are all athletic and good at sports.  They’re also mostly loud, energetic, and mischievous – no quiet, traditionally “good” girls in this family.  I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but it certainly sets a book apart from something like The Five Little Peppers.

It’s certainly worth giving to any child from ages 8-12 to read, or for anyone who enjoys reading the occasional children’s book.  (Surely I’m not the only one?)  You probably won’t love it enough to keep it on your shelf, but by all means get one of the library’s many copies and encourage them to keep it in the circulating stacks.

May, Julian. The Golden Torc. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982. Print.

Here’s an unanticipated problem with writing book reviews… I read the first book in this series, The Many-Colored Land, before I started writing reviews. I guess I’ll have to review both at once, which isn’t too big a hardship.

I’m not sure when I was introduced to this series, but I think it was during high school.  I’m not sure that I can really “review” it properly, because books that you read when young take on their own mythology in your mind.  However, this series is one that I find holds up very well when I re-read it as an adult.  I’ve always been fascinated by how May weaves the future of our planet with the past, with the device of a one-way time portal transporting society’s misfits into the Pleistocene era.  They arrive to find, not the pre-historic paradise they expected, but a well-developed civilization of aliens who were the misfits of their own planet.

There’s a stereotype that says that science fiction novels tend to have poorly-developed characters.  That might be true of mediocre books, and only true sci-fi fans will enjoy those ones, but I’ve always been fascinated by the characters in this series of books.  The core set is a group who went through the time portal at the same time, and their stories overlap and collide throughout the series.

To mention this second book specifically, I think it is my favourite – it has tense pacing, big battles, and some of the bad guys get what they deserve in fairly spectacular ways.  Eventually I’ll get around to reading the third book in the series (probably the next time I’m sick, assuming it has surfaced out of the attic by then), and we’ll see if I decide that *it’s* my favourite.

Cox, Adam J. No Mind Left Behind: Understanding and Fostering Executive Control– the Eight Essential Brain Skills Every Child Needs to Thrive. New York: Perigee Book/Penguin Group, 2007. Print.

This came recommended from a colleague, but I have to admit I didn’t finish it.  I think I still need to review it, though, for that day in the future that I’m trying to remember either the author’s name or the title of the book, and all I can remember is “Factor Ex”.

So, it’s about executive functioning, something that some kids learn slower than others.  I’ve had several students with learning disabilities specifically concerning their executive functioning, and after 77 pages, I’d learned a bit more about it.  But, I’d gotten progressively more and more annoyed with the self-help style of the book and the endless “Factor Ex”. I kept thinking that it wouldn’t have been out of place in a self-help guide to divorce, with “Factor Ex” being that ex-spouse that keeps intruding on your way to a happier life.

In any case, I will probably revisit this again, once I’ve gotten over my annoyance with it, and when I’m in the mood for it.  It’s good to know that I can get it through the public library, since many teaching-related books I can’t – of course this is for parents, not teachers.  There’s a selected bibliography and an index.

Barnes, Christine. Before & after Bathroom Makeovers. Menlo Park, CA: Sunset, 2006. Print.

I got this off the shelf at my local library, suspecting – correctly, as it turned out – that I would get some good ideas from the ‘before’ pictures, and mostly dislike the ‘after’ pictures.  Our new summer place is a 1913 farmhouse, and I wanted to see examples of old bathrooms.  They did turn out to have the one picture I needed – a 1914 bathroom with white subway tile on the walls, hexagonal tiles on the floor, a free-standing (but not clawfoot) tub and a pedestal sink.  Great stuff.

There were a few nice, traditionally-styled bathrooms too, but nothing I liked well enough to scan a picture of for reference later on.

I was actually surprised that more of the old baths weren’t, well, old.  Quite a few were fairly recent renovations that the owners didn’t like, and re-renovated.  I would really like to get mine right the first time.

There are some floor plans.  Besides the main before-and-after part of the book, there are sections dealing with topics such as flooring, storage, and what-not.  There is an index.

Grooms, Steve. Maintaining a Vacation Home: a Practical Guide to Seasonal Maintenance, Opening and Closing, Guest Procedures, Pest Control, Repairs. Chanhassen, MN: Creative Pub., 2006. Print.

This was on the shelf at my local library branch, and I got it out while we were putting an offer in on a summer place that we hope will become our retirement home.  By page two I was reluctantly deciding that it was a bad idea – this author goes to great lengths to make sure you understand what you will be getting yourself in to!

However, the rest of the book, although slim, was packed with good information.  There are lots of checklists, most notably the obvious opening and end-of-season lists.  He covers pests such as mice, how to store firewood, interior and exterior maintenance.  No detail is too small – like how you shouldn’t use anti-bacterial hand soaps if you’re on a septic system, because it will kill the beneficial bacteria in the tank.  News to me, yet it makes sense.  He also has a whole chapter on guests, and another with working with the local community.  My favourite anecdote was him trying to reach a local carpenter who was highly recommended, and after many unsuccessful phone attempts, going to the local bar and asking the bartender about him.  The answer?  A quizzical “he’s sitting on the bar-stool right next to you”.  The pictures are black and white, and although there aren’t many of cottages and cabins (most pictures are in the how-to section, where they should be), it’s nice to see pictures of modest structures instead of high-fashion getaways.

I’m sure I’ll end up taking this out of the library again once we actually have our summer place, especially if we have signs of mice or have any trouble with the woodstove.

I found the do-it-yourself building projects to be the least useful part – they would be better covered in a separate book where they could assume a consistent level of knowledge and tools on the part of the reader.

There is an index, but no bibliography.