Book Description
Kim Edwards's stunning family drama evokes the spirit of Sue Miller and Alice Sebold, articulating every mother's silent fear: what would happen if you lost your child and she grew up without you? In 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins, he immediately recognizes that one of them has Down Syndrome and makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and to keep her birth a secret. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is an astonishing tale of redemptive love. BACKCOVER: “Edwards is a born novelist. . . . Rich with psychological detail and the nuances of human connection.”
—Chicago Tribune
“Unfolds from an absolutely gripping premise, drawing you deeply and irrevocably into the entangled lives of two families and the devastating secret that shaped them both. I loved this riveting story.”
—Sue Monk Kidd
“Anyone would be struck by the extraordinary power and sympathy of The Memory Keeper's Daughter.”
—The Washington Post
“Kim Edwards has written a novel so mesmerizing that I devoured it. . . . The Memory Keeper's Daughter has it all.”
—Sena Jeter Naslund
“Kim Edwards has created a tale of regret and redemption, of honest emotion, of characters haunted by their past. This is simply a beautiful book.”
—Jodi Picoult
Customer Reviews:
Really wanted to love this book but didn't even like it..........2007-10-09
I really wanted to love this book....after all, its a National Bestseller, on multiple critic's "must-read" list, on my Amazon recommendations list every time I check, and I have had more than a few people recommend it to me. Also, after reading the first thirty pages or so, I was riveted - such a unique and interesting plot....I though the rest of the book would be sensational. However, not only was I wrong and beyond disappointed, but I just can't understand the hype surrounding this book!
Once the plot is set-up within the first thirty pages or so, the book utterly failed to deliver and just tanked. The writing is boring, trite and the entire middle of the book is way too repetitive. Each paragraph I read felt like I had read it before...saying the same thing ten different times/ways does not make a book interesting. In fact, I had a hard time forcing myself to keep reading, but kept thinking about the fact that so many people liked this book so figured maybe the ending would somehow redeem it. It didn't. The book went downhill fast and never recovered, not even at the end. I DO NOT recommend this book at all!
A good concept, but fails in the delivery.......2007-10-09
I failed to connect with anything in this novel: not the plot, not the characters, not the writing style. It just didn't live up to the hype that seems to surround it. I think my biggest problem was with the author. Kim Edwards has "Lifetime Original Movie" scripts in her future, in my opinion. I found the story quite contrived and often cheesy. The reader KNOWS that the secret will be revealed at some point. Knowing what is coming just kills a book. I have a few ideas of how Edwards could have made this better, and they all involve some pretty major plot adjustments. I wish I felt SOMETHING (love, hate, whatever!) for the characters because I think that could have saved the story for me. I know I was supposed to care, to feel anger, resentment, frustration... I just didn't feel any of these things. So, unfortunately, I can't recommend this book, though I must say there is an audience for it. Several people in my bookclub found something personal that they could connect with in the book, and it clearly impacted their impression of it. Not sure why I didn't, but...it is what it is...
A Waste... .......2007-10-08
This novel was predictable, I had zero interest in the characters, and the writing was juvenile; I struggled to finish it. I would definitely not recommend this novel - what a waste of 400 pages.
contrite.......2007-10-05
i found the characters to be completely unrealistic. A mother who thinks that she lost one of her children at birth spends the rest of her life feeling empty. Her husband, albeit a good man, hides the secret (that their child is alive) from her his entire life. come on, you must be joking. i kept reading the book thinking that the characters would become more "real" but it didn't happen. and, it's a long book!
The husband was a good father to their son yet the sons spends his entire adolescent and adulthood hating the father. ridiculous! if, as in real life, the author would have simply let the boy go through what most adolescents do (disliking their parents) but then turning around in young adulthood, it would be so much more believable.
very disappointing.
Great book - couldn't put it down!.......2007-10-05
I really enjoyed this book, and found that I couldn't put it down. Edwards allows you to get really involved with the characters, and sympathise with all viewpoints. I would have one caveat: the subject matter was quite sad and depressing, and so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants a happy and jolly read!
Book Description
Using the best medical research, experience from her own practice, and numerous interviews, Dr. Meeker shows why Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters is not a slogan-it's a necessity.
Customer Reviews:
ATTENTION: If you have a daughter you must read!!!!!!!.......2007-10-11
I cannot believe how this book affected my relationship with my daughters. I thought I new what was going on with them! This book tells you what your daughter is thinkig and how to react and what to do in certain situations. It will make you a better father instantly! Very well written and easy to read. A Total Eye Opener!!!
Fathers & Daughters.......2007-09-30
This is an excellent book written by a medical doctor, who shows the supreme importance of a Dad in the life of a daughter. He is vital to her development as a girl and a woman. It took me back to my own relationship with my daughter, who now has her Ph.D. and is a psychologist. After I read the book, and I found myself hungry for each chapter, I am sending the book to my son, who has a young daughter himself.
Fathers need to read this book.......NOW!.......2007-09-28
Don't waste time , read this book as soon as you recieve it! Buy it now!
Very inisightful book.......2007-09-26
This book has been wonderful. I only wish i had read it years ago when all three of my daughters were young (2 r college age now). I now see how many of my defects/wrong assumptions in parenting set the stage for a lot of the heart ache that we went through with my older two daughters. It now makes sense to me and i know how to address the problem going forward. I can not recommmend this book highly enough for every father who wants his daughter to thrive and not struggle to survive. It opened my eyes to how different my daughter's world is from what i knew as a kid. And to how if i do not father her, there is a culture that is desperately trying to teach her that what is important is looking like Paris Hilton, partying, being promiscuous, etc .... The issue is whether i surrender her to that or protect and nurture her. Thanks to Dr. Meeker.
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters.......2007-09-17
This book came highly recommended, but had to be one of the worst I have ever read - great title, horribly written - read the first 44 pages, skipped a couple of chapters, and all that was said was the same thing over and over - watch out for STD's, be there for your daughter, here's some examples of girls without fathers who turned out horribly, etc.
Over and over facts are stated about a father staying in his daughter's life - common sense stuff mixed in with a few eye opening facts - don't waste your money on this book!!!!
Amazon.com
Bestselling author Jodi Picoult's The Tenth Circle is a metaphorical journey through Dante's Inferno, told through the eyes of a small Maine family whose hidden demons haunt every aspect of their seemingly peaceful existence. Woven throughout the novel are a series of dramatic illustrations that pay homage to the family's patriarch (comic book artist Daniel Stone), and add a unique twist to this gripping, yet somewhat rhetorical tale.
Trixie Stone is an imaginative, perceptive 14 year old whose life begins to unravel when Jason Underhill, Bethel High's star hockey player, breaks up with her, leaving a void that can only be filled by the blood spilled during shameful self-mutilations in the girls' bathroom. While Trixie's dad Daniel notices his daughter's recent change in demeanor, he turns a blind eye, just as he does to the obvious affair his wife Laura, a college professor, is barely trying to conceal. When Trixie gets raped at a friend's party, Daniel and Laura are forced to deal not only with the consequences of their daughter's physical and emotional trauma, but with their own transgressions as well. For Daniel, that means reflecting on a childhood spent as the only white kid in a native Alaskan village, where isolation and loneliness turned him into a recluse, only to be born again after falling in love with his wife. Laura, who blames her family's unraveling on her selfish affair, must decide how to reconcile her personal desires with her loved ones' needs.
The Tenth Circle is chock full of symbolism and allegory that at times can seem oppresive. Still, Picoult's fans will welcome this skillfully told story of betrayal and its many negative, and positive consequences. --Gisele Toueg
Book Description
Fourteen-year-old Trixie Stone is in love for the first time. She's also the light of her father, Daniel's life -- a straight-A student; a pretty, popular freshman in high school; a girl who's always seen her father as a hero. That is, until her world is turned upside down with a single act of violence. Suddenly everything Trixie has believed about her family -- and herself -- seems to be a lie. Could the boyfriend who once made Trixie wild with happiness have been the one to end her childhood forever? She says that he is, and that is all it takes to make Daniel, a seemingly mild-mannered comic book artist with a secret tumultuous past he has hidden even from his family, venture to hell and back to protect his daughter.
With The Tenth Circle, Jodi Picoult offers her most powerful chronicle yet as she explores the unbreakable bond between parent and child, and questions whether you can reinvent yourself in the course of a lifetime -- or if your mistakes are carried forever.
Download Description
Jodi Picoult, the New York Times bestselling author of Vanishing Acts, offers her most powerful chronicle yet of an American family with a story that probes the unbreakable bond between parent and child -- and the dangerous repercussions of trying to play the hero. Trixie Stone is fourteen years old and in love for the first time. She's also the light of her father's life -- a straight-A student; a freshman in high school who is pretty and popular; a girl who's always looked up to Daniel Stone as a hero. Until, that is, her world is turned upside down with a single act of violence. . . and suddenly everything Trixie has believed about her family -- and herself -- seems to be a lie. The Tenth Circle looks at that delicate moment when a child learns that her parents don't know all of the answers and when being a good parent means letting go of your child. It asks whether you can reinvent yourself in the course of a lifetime or if your mistakes are carried forever -- if life is, as in any good comic book, a struggle to control good and evil, or if good and evil control you.
Customer Reviews:
I'm Glad I Discovered Jodi Picoult.......2007-10-04
So, Jodi has written a ton of books, and I finally got around to reading one... I picked up The Tenth Circle when Amazon recommended it because I liked "We Were the Mulvaneys" by Joyce Carol Oates. Plus the Dante reference really piqued my curiosity. While it dealt with a violent crime and the enduring repercussions (topics Oates often tackles), it was a completely different story and occurred a generation later than Mulvaneys. It was a rollercoaster of emotions that never stalled. The additional graphic novel illustrations were a great supplement. I look forward to reading more of Jodi's books and enjoying her great narrative style.
Unrealistic Characters.......2007-08-30
I have read two books by Jodi Picoult, The Tenth Circle and Nineteen Minutes, and I don't plan to read any more of them. In both books, the characters seem exaggerated to the point of being caricatures. They're just not believable as real people. Also, in both books, there is a plot twist at the end which I found completely out-of-character and unrealistic, with very little explanation given by the author.
Bit Too Melodramatic For My Tastes.......2007-08-29
This is hard for me because as much as I loathed certain aspects of this book, I couldn't put it down. Despite my best efforts, I got sucked in and had to know what happened next. That says something, doesn't it?
Okay, the premise ... turn on Lifetime or an after school special and you'll get the same kind of story. I won't spoil anything about the book, but Picoult managed to throw in every possible trauma a family could go through in an amazingly short span and then make sure we learned our lessons by practically beating us over the head. But, perhaps such escalation of eccentric plot devices was the point. The mother of her main character is a specialist in Dante's Inferno, and so part of me wonders if this story is supposed to mirror the nine levels of hell, but if so, I think it was done rather melodramatically.
One interesting tool used in this book, however, is actual comic book pages "drawn" by the main character's father who is a renowned comic book artist. Shocker, the comic book is called The Tenth Circle as well. At the end of each chapter are components that make up a larger comic book, which parallel the actual story and play off of Dante's Inferno. I'll admit, Picoult had some impressive concepts going in this book; I simply didn't care for her style of execution.
Listen, I know a lot of people really like this book and love Jodi Picoult, and I can't deny the fact that I could not stop reading. I slapped my forehead the whole way through as the plot got more and more outlandish, but I couldn't stop reading. If an author can keep you going even when you don't want to, they're obviously doing something right.
If you're into Picoult, you'll probably dig this. As for me, as good as she was at hooking me, this'll probably be the last book of hers I read. Just a tad too heavy on the family drama and forced "life lessons" for my tastes.
Not great.......2007-08-27
This novel sounds promising, but there were too many things going on with not enough explanation or reasoning - it was hard to be sympathetic to the 14 year old daughter - or to the mother, both of whom made terrible choices - and neither really faced up to the consequences personally (the mother, clearly, had to pay some dues for her crime) - but I didn't feel the characters grew over the course of the book, with the exception of Daniel, and frankly, I didn't believe in his angst. Overall, disappointing.
Love this author, but not this book.......2007-08-25
I've read most of Jodi Picoult's books, and truly appreciate her mastery of characterization. In this one, however, I feel that there was just too much going on. The premise was promising, and the storyline started out to be very engrossing. I found the whole parallel of Dante's circles of hell with what the father was going through to be very clever and interesting. I thought the concept of using cartoons (since the father was a comic artist) interspersed throughout the book was fresh and new. But overall, there was something missing, a link that would somehow pull it all together. Even though the characters were complex and had intriguing backgrounds, I just couldn't connect with any of them, especially Trixie, who was at the heart of the story. Maybe if I could have felt some sympathy for her, there would have been that emotional attachment to a character to help, but instead I felt nothing. Overall, the story seemed too long and drawn-out and then abruptly came to an unsatisfying end. When I turned the last page, I was left with this empty, unsettled feeling. I realize that I'm not going to love every book by a certain author. I commend Picoult for tackling a very difficult and sensitive subject matter, but this definitely was not one of my favorites.
Book Description
Despite the fact that Juarez is a Mexican border city just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, most Americans are unaware that for more than twelve years this city has been the center of an epidemic of horrific crimes against women and girls, consisting of kidnappings, rape, mutilation, and murder, with most of the victims conforming to a specific profile: young, slender, and poor, fueling the premise that the murders are not random.
Indeed, there has been much speculation that the killer or killers are American citizens. While some leading members of the American media have reported on the situation, prompting the U.S. government to send in top criminal profilers from the FBI, little real information about this international atrocity has emerged. According to Amnesty International, as of 2006 more than 400 bodies have been recovered, with hundreds still missing.
As for who is behind the murders themselves, the answer remains unknown, although many have argued that the killings have become a sort of blood sport, due to the lawlessness of the city itself. Among the theories being considered are illegal trafficking in human organs, ritualistic satanic sacrifices, copycat killers, and a conspiracy between members of the powerful Juárez drug cartel and some corrupt Mexican officials who have turned a blind eye to the felonies, all the while lining their pockets with money drenched in blood.
Despite numerous arrests over the last ten years, the murders continue to occur, with the killers growing bolder, dumping bodies in the city itself rather than on the outskirts of town, as was initially the case, indicating a possible growing and most alarming alliance of silence and cover-up by Mexican politicians.
The Daughters of Juárez promises to be the first eye-opening, authoritative nonfiction work of its kind to examine the brutal killings and draw attention to these atrocities on the border. The end result will shock readers and become required reading on the subject for years to come.
Customer Reviews:
Daughters of Juarez.......2007-10-03
Daughters of Juarez is a disturbing story, but it is a true account of the unsolved mysteries of these young women's lost lives. It is an insight into the poverty and injustice that occurs daily in this border town and surrounding areas.
Compelling story, purple prose delivery.......2007-09-09
I would have to agree with the previous reviewer who said that the story was compelling and important, but the overlong purple prose descriptions of what the families went through and the overly dramatic descriptions of the situations, with speculations on what everyone was thinking mar an important and compelling book.
Some straight crime reporting, an analysis of the facts and maybe some more social analysis (for instance, how do the drug culture, the male dominated hispanic culture, the pervasive corruption of the border towns, etc. contribute to this holocaust against women) would have helped a lot.
Still, there is not much written about this problem, which if it were happening here or in any first world country, would be page one news everyday, so the book is valuable.
So, good subject and investigative reporting marred by overly dramatic writing.
I would recommend it, you can skip over the long emotional descriptions of background, thoughts and other contrived elements.
Daughters of Juarez.......2007-08-26
I live in El Paso and have followed much of this in the newspaper including the two Bus drivers, The FBI coming to help, etc. Now I know it was all lies.
Mexico has been called the most corrupt nation on earth and I've heard the stories and now I see it in action. I have too many chilling stories direct from American victims of the Juarez Police to share here.
This corruption has spread to El Paso with corruption in the Border Patrol, the government, the police and I'm not just saying this, I've talked to people and have examples both from the Newspaper and people in the know. The FBI has been conducting an investigation into the El Paso government for several months and people are going to jail. Halleluiah!
Personally I've been afraid to go across the Border for years based on these stories and now I'll be spreading the word. Do not go into Mexico!
This book hits hard with details that would make a strong man cry. The horrible end to young lives, the Police laughing at parents asking for help and the intimidating of helpless mothers who might "know too much", the framing of innocents, The corruption of "investigations" run by incompetents.
This book is an indictment, a denunciation of a government and society gone terribly wrong. Bribes are necessary just to get your TV cable hooked up and this pattern of behavior climbs to the very top.
I hope this book helps but in a society that accepts incompetence and corruption as a given I have my doubts. If Mexico is to change it must come from the bottom and it is so instilled in the poverty stricken common people to not make waves how can we expect them to effectively rise up. But enough publicity might send the rats scurrying, we need more books and TV exposes like this.
Compelling read, but with reservations.......2007-08-09
The Daughters of Juarez, by Teresa Rodriguez (with Diana Montané and Lisa Pulitzer), chronicles a series of horrific murders of young women (and teens) in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, over the last fourteen years, the law enforcement/governmental response to them, and the myriad theories as to the perpetrator(s). Over this period, a good part of 400 poor women were raped, tortured and killed, then dumped in desert areas and vacant lots around the city. The book details a rich tapestry of police and governmental brutality, corruption, blatant sexual discrimination, disregard for public safety, and just plain incompetence.
Although many suspects have been charged and held, it is doubtful that any of the murders can ever be considered legitimately solved because of this pervasive and persistent institutional dysfunction. In fact, one can say that this is a glaring example of how not to run a criminal justice system. It's heartbreaking to consider that the families of these slain women will never see justice done. Additionally, it must have been so frustrating for those in law enforcement and government who made efforts to run effective investigations, only to be stymied at every turn by the very system they should have been able to trust, forced out of their jobs because they wouldn't falsify results or analyses, or even physically threatened.
Daughters is definitely a compelling, true tale and Rodriguez does a service to those affected by these horrors by airing them for everyone to examine. The book, however, suffers from a lack of organization: Rodriguez bounces around dates, people and events so much so that it's hard to keep them all straight. Also, she makes a point of maudlin over-description of the women and their families so as to make them more sympathetic. This in my mind is unnecessary; most people will find the thought of someone (not to mention hundreds) being subjected to the extreme violence that these women experienced and the grief (on multiple levels) that their loved ones were forced to endure to be inconceivably horrible - no matter who the reader is. I also think Rodriguez could have used some citations to support what must have been years of research and investigation. In the end, I would recommend this book as a real eye-opener, but with these reservations.
Thrilling Read.......2007-08-05
I stumbled onto The Daughter's of Juarez after having a discussion on the term femicide (the act of killing a woman is a more generic term but this term is often applied to specific mass killings of women). In Juarez, Mexico women from all social classes and with distinctly different family ties have been going missing. Now and then bodies (and the occasional mass grave) of women that have been sexually abused and mutilated show up. The Daughter's of Juarez explores the lives of these missing women, the media blips that have occurred as a result, the political turmoil caused over these cases, as well as the possible answers to what has happened to so many women. After reading about this I was horrified by what had happened and because I had never heard of anything about this prior to the reading. A thrilling and exploratory read of the lives of women in Juarez, Mexico as well as a look at the relations between the U.S. and its border neighbor.
Book Description
Reviving Ophelia meets The Mother- Daughter Book Club in a book that offers a proven model for staying connected through adolescence
There is no comment more troubling to the mother of a young girl than “she loves you now, but just wait 'til she's a teenager.” Ten years ago, SuEllen Hamkins and Renee Schultz, psychotherapy professionals with a combined forty years' experience and both mothers of then seven-year-old daughters, created The Mother-Daughter Project with several other women in their community, with the hope of disproving this damaging assumption. With their young daughters, the group met regularly to speak frankly about such issues as girls' friendships (and aggression), puberty, the media's influence on their self-image and esteem, drugs, and sexuality.
As their daughters matured, the mothers marveled at the strength and confidence with which the girls thrived through adolescence. The Project had succeeded in creating a haven from the many perils of teen culture. Equally important, it helped the mothers navigate their own fears and concerns about adolescence with integrity and grace.
At once simple and revolutionary, this book details the success of the Mother-Daughter Project's groundbreaking model, providing the reader with a road map for strengthening her bond with her own daughter, and providing strategies for staying close through adolescence and beyond.
Customer Reviews:
Incredibly Useful and Beautiful.......2007-10-09
The Mother-Daughter Project is a most practical, theoretical, and hopeful guide to dealing with our predator culture -- a culture that expects and even thrives upon mothers and daughters becoming separate during the daughter's adolescence. My mother-daughter group, just begun with help from the book contains 11 & 12 year old girls and their mothers and is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic group who have various economic backgrounds. We did one of the exercises ("our perfect day") from the book and it elevated us to a surprising new level, created an introduction to community within the group and highlighted some marvelous differences and similarities between the generations. My own 11-year-old daughter said, "I noticed that everyone in our group had something going for mangoes AND liked climbing...also that we all wanted to get up really early so that we could really live large during the day!"
This is an incredible book for anyone interested in women, girls, psychology, spirituality and community. The extremely readable information about our culture's approach to girls and women and the valuable stories about the mother-daughter pairs in the authors' M-D Project make "The Mother-Daughter Project: How Mother and Daughters Can Band Together, Beat the Odds, and Thrive Through Adolescence" truly a book to read, re-read and USE.
good for rich white people.......2007-09-13
Three years ago, you could not have convinced me that my mother and I would have a functional adult relationship. In addition to a life crisis that brought us back onto speaking terms and into each other's lives, we learned to set aside most of our differences because life is too short to do otherwise. When I heard about The Mother-Daughter Project, a book that promises "a proven model for staying connected through adolescence and beyond," I felt a glimmer of hope that young women would no longer spend their twenties overcoming the verbal scars of youthful wars with our parents. Maybe my expectations were quite high, but this overly self-referential, self-help book in disguise is written in such a fluffy, insulting way that I found it hard to accept any of its legitimate advice.
It should first be noted that the ten-year group experiment on which this book is based took place in greater Massachusetts, where I currently reside. While that doesn't immediately lend itself to a myriad of privileges, two educated, white women wrote this book from their own experience. They do make a cursory acknowledgement that mothering is more than their version of the status quo, but this recognition simply doesn't show through in their analysis or supposedly practical application, and I just can't get down with that kind of written tokenism.
Most helpful for their references to other similar, more groundbreaking works, this is a good book for mothers who literally have no clue about how to start relating to their teenagers. The overly simplistic solutions and embarrassing language do not make it an effective read for teens, however. If my mother had handed me this when I was in middle school, I'd have laughed in her face despite my strong desire to heal our relationship even then. An overly indulgent attempt to debunk myths like the "perfect girl" or the "supermom," this book is mainly a solution for upper class white folks who have a built-in support system ready to consciousness-raise and spend long hours dissecting how to best grow their relationships.
a wonderful resource for parents.......2007-08-31
I think "The Mother-Daughter Project" is a terrific book. I have recommended it to parents that I see in my practice as a child psychiatrist, to friends who have daughters, and to anyone whom I meet who has daughters! I believe this book is a rich tool, from the perspective of understanding and, most beneficially, from the perspective of practice: on how to foster strong, nurturing, and enjoyable bonds between mothers and daughters and between mothers and mothers. The common experiences and challenges that different generations of females encounter in our society, and life itself, as well as the resources needed to meet those challenges, are richly explored in this book through the discussion of the evolution of the mother-daughter group.
With detail and humor, the authors share with the reader the journey of this group of mothers and daughters over 10 years, as they start meeting monthly when the daughters are seven years old and continue up to the time of college. We learn about the very rich array of activities that these very thoughtful and intentional mothers used to educate their daughters about the tasks they will encounter in each coming stage in their development. Age specific challenges to mothers and daughters, together and separately, are covered in an overview level and in the very rich detailed activities the mothers and daughters used to prepare for, practice, and develop the skills and abilities to deal with all that is involved in moving from protected childhood into adulthood. This book is a wonderful resource to all parents-whether or not they are in such groups.
great message for mothers and daughters!.......2007-05-20
I bought this book earlier today and am over halfway through it. I am the mother of two daughters, age 9 & 12. While I wish I had this book five years ago, it doesn't feel like it's too late. A great resource for years to come, with positive self, daughter and relationship building ideas.
Book Description
In this moving and compelling memoir about parent and child, father and daughter, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lucinda Franks discovers that the remote, nearly impassive man she grew up with had in fact been a daring spy behind enemy lines in World War II. Sworn to secrecy, he began revealing details of his wartime activities only in the last years of his life as he became afflicted with Alzheimer's. His exploits revealed a man of remarkable bravado -- posing as a Nazi guard, slipping behind enemy lines to blow up ammunition dumps, and being flown to one of the first concentration camps liberated by the Allies to report on the atrocities found there.My Father's Secret War is an intimate account of Franks coming to know her own father after years of estrangement. Looking back at letters he had written her mother in the early days of WWII, Franks glimpses a loving man full of warmth. But after the grimmest assignments of the war his tone shifts, settling into an all-too-familiar distance. Franks learns about him -- beyond the alcoholism and adultery -- and comes to know the man he once was.Her story is haunting, and beautifully told, even as the tragedy becomes clear: Franks finally comes to know her father, but only as he is slipping further into his illness. Lucinda Franks understands her father as the disease claims him. My Father's Secret War is a triumph of love over secrets, and a tribute to the power of the connection of family.
Customer Reviews:
A Book You Just Can Put Down.......2007-10-04
After all the hype and with the authors oh-so-impressive cred, one expects a book that you just can't put down. She delivers a nice, warm story, but by all means, you CAN put it down.
Slow start.......2007-09-10
As I read the other reviews, I realized they are all true. In many ways this is a poignant and touching story. But Franks takes so long describing their disfunctional family and getting to the interesting part -- her father's war experiences and the process of finding the information -- that I almost put it down without finishing it. I'm glad I stayed with it, as Lucinda finally gets to the real story and redeems herself. (I didn't like her at all at the beginning of the story but I forgave her for her honesty at the end.)
Disappointment.......2007-06-16
You asked me for comments. Perhaps I was expecting more focus on the father. If one enjoys home videos of other families, this book might be of interest.
Buried secrets.......2007-06-13
I almost wish Lucinda Franks chose not to write this book.It was fairly obvious from the start that her father didn't want to remember his role in war..at one point she even asks him if he was a nazi sympathizer.definitely not.My goodness Ms. Frank,leave the poor old guy alone.The book tells a lot about her father and a lot about his daughter.When one of his old buddies phones her and said her dad needs living expenses, some extra cash, she responds that she and her husband have to maintain 3 houses, she can't send dad a few extra dollars..she visits , sees a pile of rancid leftovers in the refrigerator and proceeds to reheat the freshest one for her dad's meal..Golly Lucinda, buy and roast a chicken, peel a few potatoes, buy some canned vegetables.. how hard can that be? Poor dad wears K-mart clothes, so order something for him from Lands'End, you don't even have to go to a store. Again, this is a book that didn't need to be written.
My Father's Secret War: A Memoir.......2007-05-30
I found this book to be very well-written, powerful and thought provoking. I can't even imagine what I would have done or felt in the authors situation. Reading this book made me re-evaluate some of my thoghts, feeling and actions as my mother was dying of cancer. The historical aspect of this book alone makes it worth reading, but if you are dealing or have dealt with someone afflicted with cancer or alzhiemers, this book can make you both laugh and cry.
Book Description
ABRAM's DAUGHTERS introduces readers to an Old Order family, a close-knit community and a devout people whose way of life and faith in God is as timeless as their signature horse and buggy. Set against the backdrop of post-World War II, this compelling saga spans three generations of a Lancaster County Amish family. Abram Ebersol and his devoted wife are raising four courting-age daughters on a firm foundation of Plain tradition, and they expect their girls to carry on that heritage by joining the church and making a covenant with God. But the ''running-around'' years known as rumschpringe are often a time of sowing wild oats. Each of Abram's daughters, choosing her own path, must come to terms with the Old Ways of thinking and living. And sometimes that path has detours and forks in the road with unknown destinations...
Customer Reviews:
couldn't get enough of these characters.......2007-09-04
I hate fiction but picked this book (the covenant) up because I am interested in the Amish and enjoy visiting Lancaster, PA which is only 1 hour away from where I live. Well, I was totally hooked...bought all 5 in the series...passed them on to all my family and friends that like to read...each and everyone of us LOVED these books and are finding it hard to find anything that compares in holding our interest as much.
Do yourself a favor and buy all 5!! Beware: you will stay up late reading these!!
The Covenant/The Betrayal/The Sacrifice/The Prodigal/The Revelation (Abram's Daughters 1-5).......2007-08-26
I really enjoyed these books. I bought them during my school vacation. I read one a day until I was finished. I really hated to finish reading these books. They were so good I hated to see them end.
Abram's Daughter.......2007-08-25
I got so drawn into these characters and couldn't put down these books because I needed to find out if Leah would get her happy ending and live happily ever after. This is a very well written series that you need to finish once you start it. I breezed through these 5 books in 2 weeks. A friend started reading book 1 when I was into book 3 and feels the same way and lucky me! I get to relive the series each day when she comes into work and tells me what she read the previous evening.
If you read only one of Ms. Lewis' series, this is the series to pick. It's some story full of scandal, heartbreak and lots of love. Excellent!
Amish Ways.......2007-08-19
I tried to read a few of these books, but being from a family of formerly Amish folks, it just doesn't quite ring true. It's obvious to me at least, that Beverly does not have first hand experience in capturing the Amish ways.
Abram's Daughters.......2007-07-31
I have not been able to stop reading from book to book anxious to find out what happens in the next step of Leah's life.
Average customer rating:
- A great book for moms of preteen girls
- A must-read to understand adolescent girls OR boys!
- Realistic and honest
- A "must read" for every parent!!!
- Disappointed
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Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence
Rosalind Wiseman
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Parenting
| Parenting & Families
| Subjects
| Books
Teenagers
| Parenting
| Parenting & Families
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Parenting & Families
| Subjects
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General
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
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ASIN: 1400047927
Release Date: 2003-03-04 |
Book Description
The Basis for the Movie Mean Girls
PARENTS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN GIRL WORLD
Do you feel as though your adolescent daughter exists in a different world, speaking a different language and living by different laws? She does.
This groundbreaking book takes you inside the secret world of girls’ friendships, translating and decoding them, so parents can better understand and help their daughters navigate through these crucial years. Rosalind Wiseman has spent more than a decade listening to thousands of girls talk about the powerful role cliques play in shaping what they wear and say, how they feel about school, how they respond to boys, and how they feel about themselves. In this candid and insightful book, Wiseman discusses:
• Queen Bees, Wannabes, Targets, Torn Bystanders, and others: how to tell what role your daughter plays and help her be herself
• Girls’ power plays, from birthday invitations to cafeteria seating arrangements and illicit parties, and how to handle them
• Good popularity and bad popularity: how cliques bear on every situation
• Hip Parents, Best-Friend Parents, Pushover Parents, and others: examine your own parenting style, “Check Your Baggage,” and identify how your own background and biases affect how you relate to your daughter
• Related movies, books, websites, and organizations: a carefully annotated resources section provides opportunities to follow up on your own and with your daughter
Enlivened with the voices of dozens of girls and parents and a welcome sense of humor, Queen Bees and Wannabes is compelling reading for parents and daughters alike. A conversation piece and a reference guide, it offers the tools you need to help your daughter feel empowered and make smarter choices.
Customer Reviews:
A great book for moms of preteen girls.......2007-06-08
This book was such an eye opener. It helped me to not only understand where my girls are right now but also helped me understand some of the things I experienced as a girl in middle and highschool. I think every mother of a preteen daughter should read this book.
A must-read to understand adolescent girls OR boys!.......2007-05-07
Though this book is intended for parents, anyone who spends time with young people- mentors, teachers, program administrators, etc.- will benefit from the insights and detailed instructions contained in this highly readable volume!
It is clear that Ms. Wiseman has done her homework. Working with diverse groups of teenagers for years myself and having been one not THAT long ago) I recognize and relate to the characters and conflicts she describes and value the advice she offers.
If you've seen the movie, MEAN GIRLS, which was based on this book, you've gotten a small taste of what's addressed here- cliques, fads, teen politics, gossip, sex, and parental influence- but there's lots more!
And for those of us who are raising boys to be honorable and respectful young men, Queen Bees and Wannabes is a terrific resource, too.
I've often heard that there is no "manual" for raising kids. I respectfully disagree- there are MANY manuals for raising kids and this is the best one I've read dealing with adolescents and teens.
READ it and encourage others to do so. The young people in your life will thank you for it!
Realistic and honest.......2007-04-20
I am a 25 year-old girl who has experienced many of the situations cited in this book, either as the target or the bully. I grew up an overweight, unpopular, artsy little girl. In the 8th grade, I lost a ton of weight, grew, and my clothes became trendy. Needless to say, things changed. With one easy swoop, I went from victim to bully. Only now, as a (young) adult, I come to terms with both my nerdy, victim past and my mean girl high school years, with the help of this book. As other reviwers noted, most teenage girls will probbaly experience both sides of the scenario and often are a combination of the traits lised for each of the diff. person. types. As others noted with this book, there is no judgement imposed on the "mean girls". Most girls have "mean" moments, no matter how quiet, shy or unassuming, and I think Wiseman portrays this accurately. Sometimes, the worst bullying is from girls who simply follow others or stealthily do things, like not inviting someone out with a group of friends or not being honest because they're too "nice". I find it completely annoying that alot of the mothers/teachers/family friends/etc. who are commenting on here refuse to believe that their daughtes/students are not like that. ALL girls, or kids, are to some degree. It doesn't make them evil or not great kids. It makes them human. You can still be "hysterically funny, kind, emotional, creative and most of all INDIVIDUALS" as one reviwer wrote but still have mean girl moments. I don't think Wiseman oversimplifies. I think alot of the parents and teacher do in their reviews. Kids are much more complex than being good or bad. The mean girls need love too and have problems as well. I'd like to believe that some people are just mean and that's it but that's often not the case. Some are defensive or have family problems or are insecure or are being abused or may be depressed. Wiseman doesn't demonize anyone in this book, which I find great. In addition, to the reviewer who said she has no credentials and should not be writing about this, as a youngish adult woman, I'd rather have someone who knows what goes on and is close in age commenting on this stuff than someone who is out of touch.
A "must read" for every parent!!!.......2007-04-01
It can be painful to look back honestly at your junior high and high school experiences. But it will better enable you to help your children navigate through those emotionally turbulent years. Rosalind Wiseman has the personal and professional experience to guide any reader to a better understanding of the pitfalls and landmines on this journey. She offers not only her words, but the words of many 11-21 year olds that are currently in the trenches. Very interesting, very insightful, and seemingly dead on target. A surprisingly easy read although the subject matter is almost gruesome at times, in the degree of painful insight it offers.
Disappointed.......2007-02-28
Just not that impressed with this book. The write-up was much better than the book itself. Superficial. Will be selling my copy as used.
Book Description
Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy. A little hapless, somewhat neurotic, sort of a hypochondriac. He's what's known as a Beta Male: the kind of fellow who makes his way through life by being careful and constant -- you know, the one who's always there to pick up the pieces when the girl gets dumped by the bigger/taller/stronger Alpha Male.
But Charlie's been lucky. He owns a building in the heart of San Francisco, and runs a secondhand store with the help of a couple of loyal, if marginally insane, employees. He's married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. And she, Rachel, is about to have their first child.
Yes, Charlie's doing okay for a Beta. That is, until the day his daughter, Sophie, is born. Just as Charlie -- exhausted from the birth -- turns to go home, he sees a strange man in mint-green golf wear at Rachel's hospital bedside, a man who claims that no one should be able to see him. But see him Charlie does, and from here on out, things get really weird. . . .
People start dropping dead around him, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death. It's a dirty job. But hey, somebody's gotta do it.
Christopher Moore, the man whose Lamb served up Jesus' "missing years" (with the funny parts left in), and whose Fluke found the deep humor in whale researchers' lives, now shines his comic light on the undiscovered country we all eventually explore -- death and dying -- and the results are hilarious, heartwarming, and a hell of a lot of fun.
Customer Reviews:
A Dirty Job is Minty Fresh.......2007-10-02
I am a huge fan of Christopher Moore, and in particular, this book. It is in my top ten all time favorites. A Dirty Job is the type of book you will read more than once just to see what you missed. I read this one first and felt the need to possess more of his novels. I actually own two copies because I keep on passing them on to more people.
Charley is a grim reaper who believes he is the ultimate Death. The descrptions and prose are laugh-out-loud funny, to the point where I had tears running down my cheeks. That rarely ever happens. The suppporting cast of characters are such that they should get their own books. It is well written with a type of sarcasm that is impossible to write let alone pull off.
I have and will keep on recommending this book to anyone with an interest in(first and foremost) great writing, quarky characters and a great sense of comic timing.
Nice book, like bear........2007-09-10
I want a sequel. No, that'd probably be bad. I want a continuation of this book. As in, I want to get off my chair, thumb to the end of the book and find 200 or so unread pages just waiting to be devoured. Chris Moore's imagination knows no bounds, from dark seductresses who live in the sewers to tiny walking creatures assembled from different body parts of different animals. This is a great book, my first from Chris and it's whet my appetite for some more. One of the funniest authors, and a rare one too; his writing never gets old.
I actually recommened it to my friends.......2007-09-05
I got to the "kitty" part and laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. I had to stop and email my friends to tell them to pick it up. Two of them plan on reading it, or something else by him soon.
On a less light note, it made me feel better about the whole death thing. I'm going through a tough time with a family member facing his mortality (he's 85) and this is just what I needed to give me hope of an after life!
minty fresh.......2007-08-30
What impressed me most of this book is the excellent dialogue, riotous to say the least. The story is original, interesting, and profound while at the same time seeped in absurdity. Solid set of well developed and memorable characters, both male and female, and a rich setting (San Francisco). The story revolves around the true secret about what happens to our souls upon death. They go into an important material possession which is retrieved by a Death Merchant to then be sold at a rummage store to another soulless human who possesses it and continues the upwards journey of the soul to a higher level. I did not realize that how it works. Upon the death of his wife, Charlie Asher (if they ever make a movie of this novel, it would have to be Paul Giamatti) becomes one such merchant-perhaps even more than that- and with the assistance of other death merchants fights beings from the underworld attempting to steal the souls to gain power and take over the world, classic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. The style of the novel is a blend of Tom Robbins, Elmore Leonard, Kurt Vonnegut, and simply a style of its own making. This writer is awesome and I shall right away purchase and read another of his novels.
Hilarious.......2007-08-27
I've read three and this is the best Christopher Moore book so far. It's full of quirky and clever mouthed characters that, at one point, left me laughing in tears on the couch. I recommend it for anyone who's looking for a humorous fiction to pass some time with.
Amazon.com
In Wild Swans Jung Chang recounts the evocative, unsettling, and insistently gripping story of how three generations of women in her family fared in the political maelstrom of China during the 20th century. Chang's grandmother was a warlord's concubine. Her gently raised mother struggled with hardships in the early days of Mao's revolution and rose, like her husband, to a prominent position in the Communist Party before being denounced during the Cultural Revolution. Chang herself marched, worked, and breathed for Mao until doubt crept in over the excesses of his policies and purges. Born just a few decades apart, their lives overlap with the end of the warlords' regime and overthrow of the Japanese occupation, violent struggles between the Kuomintang and the Communists to carve up China, and, most poignant for the author, the vicious cycle of purges orchestrated by Chairman Mao that discredited and crushed millions of people, including her parents.
Book Description
Blending the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history, Wild Swans has become a bestselling classic in thirty languages, with more than ten million copies sold. The story of three generations in twentieth-century China, it is an engrossing record of Mao's impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love.
Jung Chang describes the life of her grandmother, a warlord's concubine; her mother's struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents' experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution. Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a "barefoot doctor," a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving -- and ultimately uplifting -- detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.
Customer Reviews:
Entertaining and educational.......2007-10-08
I read this book in preparation for a trip to China. The book follows the lives of 3 women (daughter, mother, grandmother) in China. Chang does an outstanding job teaching the reader about China's history and politics while at the same time giving us the women's stories. You will learn a lot about China during WWII, Japanese occupation, Communist revolution, Mao's great leap forward and the cultural revolution.
On the downside, the author does not do a particularly nice job in helping the reader understand the characters. You don't get into their brains. This is a minor criticism and I still highly recommend this book if you are at all interested in learning about China in the last 100 years. You will learn a lot without having to read a boring textbook.
Amazing insight into 20th century China and Mao inparticular.......2007-09-19
It is incredible to read this true story about 20th century China. So little is really known about China to those of us in the West. It is hard to believe that so many "intellectuals" here in the West used to, and even still, have so much admiration for Mao when there is truly only evil behind this man. There is a lot of history in this book but really it is the personal story of the author and her family. A must read for us all!
Wild China.......2007-09-15
"Mrs Shau slapped my father hard. The crowd barked at him indignantly, although a few tried to hide their giggles. Then they pulled out his books and threw them into huge jute sacks they had brought with them.
"When all the bags were full, they carried them downstairs, telling my father they were going to burn them... the next day after a denunciation meetings against him. They ordered him to watch the bonfire 'to be taught a lesson.' In the meantime, they said, he must burn the rest of his collection.
"When I came home that afternoon, I found my father in the kitchen. He had lit a fire in the big cement sink, and was hurling his books into the flames.
"This was the first time in my life I had seen him weeping. It was agonized, broken, and wild, the weeping of a man who was not used to shedding tears. Every now and then, in fits of violent sobs, he stamped his feet on the floor and banged his head against the wall.
"My father had spent every spare penny on his books. They were his life. After the bonfire, I could tell that something had happened to his mind."
(Wild Swans, Jung Chang, p.439)
Me, I might've lost mine completely.
After being near-perfectly obedient to a Party whose values you put above your family, to be accused of anti-Party-ism, judged for the very tasks you were instructed to unquestioningly and unconditionally, publicly humiliated and beaten (even made to kneel on glass) and forced to burn the very items you've spent a lifetime collecting and loving...why, I would've been long-gone crazy.
But then these Chinese Communists are dedicated to their work and politics (independently of the cash factor, which wasn't much in Mao's China in the 1950s' to 60s') in a manner quite unheard of today.
I mean, how many of us believe our local politicians are in it primarily because of their "commitment to the unity, harmony and welfare of the country" (to ask is to scoff). Not for Jung Chang's dad, one of the many victims of the Cultural Revolution.
Chang is kinda like Josephus, who escaped a burning Jerusalem (whilst she a 'burning' China) to become a historical-political writer.
Josephus' authorial intentions were of course far more motivated by their allegiance to his benefactor, Vesapian. His was a history of the Jews, but also a thinly veiled exaltation of Rome. Chang's agenda, on the other hand, is an outright expose of the delusions, the cruelty, the very insanity of life and government in China from the start of the 20th century.
From foot-binding to scheming mistresses to escaping third-wives(!); from miscarriages due to long treks (because wives are discouraged to ride in their husbands' vehicles lest 'bourgeosie privilege' is suspected) to the terror of city sieges; from communal self-delusion about a glut (which was really a famine!) to hungry peasants kidnapping babies for food; from profiting from the black-market in banned books (supposedly to be burnt but conveniently set aside for secret trade, especially the erotic ones like Stendhal's Le Rouge et Le Noir) to the Little Red Book 'loyalty dance' (how? Gyrate, wave the book, sing Mao's quotes) - Chang spills everything one would want (and maybe not want) to know about life before and under Mao, structured and timelined by the lives of her grandmother, mother and her own.
The language is simple and clear and not at all 'profound', twisty or avant-garde-ish. Not unlike something you might read in an exercise book from a good Asian secondary school.
Therefore, you sorta know it's the content alone that won Wild Swans the 1992 NCR Book Award and the 1993 British Book of the Year Award. The book is proof you don't need kewl-sounding language to make a serious impact on the literary stage.
Read 'em and (you will) weep.
Wild Swans.......2007-09-01
Well written memoir that reviews the history of China immediately before, during and after the civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists, and also the early days of the Communist government. The good and the bad of Mao's rule is vividly portrayed.
Learned, laughed and cried........2007-08-31
It took me over a year to finish reading for it is a large, amazing book and I wanted to make sure that I was very alert when reading. Ms. Chang has a terrific writing style that makes you feel you are right there. Each chapter contributed to my knowledge of China as viewed through three women's eyes. It is the type of book you can finish a chapter and then go back to later for she has organized chapters to complete a period in time. Kathy Condon
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