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Summer Re-runs

We've picked out some of our favorites among the books we've reviewed over the past two years for your summer delectation (and so we can take a month off!), with lots of fiction and children's books, since we hope you'll have some extra time for good books in the next month or two. Happy reading!

Editor's Choice

This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland

This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland Gretel Ehrlich Pantheon; ISBN: 0679442006 I loved Gretel Ehrlich's The Solace of Open Places and now This Cold Heaven as well. Here she draws the reader into her fascination with the polar north, and her need to experience the life of the Inuit of northern Greenland who still follow their traditional ways, determined to preserve them as long as possible. Ehrlich describes the long nights of daylight (and the long days without sun), goes on hunting trips by dogsled, hears stories told over generations, and shares hunger and hardships. She finds a simple, dangerous, and exhilarating life but one complicated by decisions about how to proceed when the vast majority of the human population lives very differently, their ways inevitably seeping into the lives of the Greenland Inuit. Ehrlich weaves into her narrative passages from the diaries of early 20th-century explorers such as Knud Rasmussen, the Inuit-Danish ethnographer raised in Denmark but driven to experience his Inuit heritage, and the artist Rockwell Kent, who visited and painted in Greenland on three trips, one of them for more than a year (see Distant Shores: The Odyssey of Rockwell Kent). Ehrlich is a lyrical writer. Those who have seen the marvelous Inuit film Atanarjuat will find her book particularly rewarding. [CW]

History, Biography, Society

Decent Interval: An Insider's Account of Saigon's Indecent End Told by the CIA's Chief Strategy Analyst in Vietnam

Decent Interval: An Insider's Account of Saigon's Indecent End Told by the CIA's Chief Strategy Analyst in Vietnam Frank Snepp Univ Press of Kansas; ISBN: 0700612130 This book could not be published today, in no small part because of what happened when it was first published in 1977. The author, Frank Snepp, was the chief CIA policy analyst in Vietnam when the North Vietnamese won their final battles, drove into Saigon, and chased the Americans out of the country with their tails between their legs. Snepp watched it all happen, participated in the delusional processes that made it happen, and took notes while it transpired. This reads like pure Shakespearean tragedy. Kissinger was engaged in high-level negotiations with the Communist Russians and Chinese and had to maintain the fiction that American policy in Vietnam was stable, committed and functional. Ambassador Martin, the "next best thing to a B-52," was committed to preserving that fiction, to the point of utter personal belief. To this end all intelligence reports were bent, twisted and mangled to support the increasingly untenable position that South Vietnam was a viable and supportable regime. Even as the military situation deteriorated and large chunks of the country were being overrun by the North Vietnamese regular army, Martin stymied evacuation efforts as unnecessary, and as "sending the wrong signal." The last few chapters are harrowing as USAID, CIA, and Embassy staffers desperately try to save their Vietnamese workers, and finally themselves. The CIA sued Snepp for publishing this book and won, keeping Snepp from profiting from its sales. New laws and regulation have effectively prevented anything this revealing from being published again. A pity. As we have invaded another country with our intelligence analysts predicting an "easy victory," this book illuminates how far wrong wishful thinking can be. [MA]

Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography

Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography Gail Levin University of California Press; ISBN: 0520214757 If one of his evocative paintings ever piqued your interest in this most American of American painters, you'll find in Gail Levin's biography a detailed examination of how Hopper came to dedicate himself to a life centered on painting. One learns how he sustained himself at painting, from his 20s to the grand age of 85, living for years in a New York city walkup apartment with his wife Jo Nivison Hopper (74 stairs, as Jo recorded in her diary) in what would today be considered real deprivation. But his life and hers were focused on their work as artists and they had little interest in material wealth. Rather they participated in the cultural life of New York and traveled to Cape Cod and elsewhere (see Hopper's Places) for subjects for their art. Levin's biography has a lively immediacy, thanks in part to its incorporation of passages from the witty, irreverent journals kept by Jo. It illuminates the difficulties as well as the satisfactions of the life these two people made for themselves. The book is illustrated throughout and includes surprising cartoons by Hopper, who demonstrates an earthy sense of humor unexpected in this often dour man, many of whose paintings so effectively embody a sense of loneliness. A gratifying book for anyone curious about the realities of the life of an artist. [CW]

The Road to Oxiana

The Road to Oxiana Robert Byron Oxford University Press; ISBN: 0195030672 In troubled times like these, when fundamentalist Muslim crazies blow up Buddhas and Trade Towers and many people, when some citizens of Baghdad loot their own National Museum, and when many of the great old buildings of Afghanistan and Iraq have been recently reduced to rubble by American bombing, it is ironic to recall that several centuries ago some of the world's best architecture was in Muslim lands. In 1933 and '34 Robert Byron, a young Oxford-educated art historian, traveled overland from Jerusalem through Syria, Iraq, and Iran to Oxiana, the valley of the Oxus River in northern Afghanistan, to see, photograph, and document some of the great monuments of Muslim architecture before they fell to the devastations of time and vandals. He photographed many buildings that are no longer standing. The tile work alone will blow your mind. He had adventures along the way with mud and bugs, the desert sun, snow and sleet, broken-down cars, runaway horses, balky donkeys, bandits, crooked politicians, too-sly currency traders, urTaliban, and some really gracious and helpful folks. Both Lawrence of Arabia and Indiana Jones come to mind at times. So, what is this book? First and foremost it is a great piece of travel writing. Second, it is a very sound, well illustrated, scholarly piece of architectural history. And finally, unfortunately, it is all too timely. Byron's analysis of the Arabs' relations with the Jews in Palestine, and his observations of the ongoing conflicts around Herat and Mazar-el-Sherif in northern Afghanistan are like reading current issues of Time or Newsweek. [WW]

Mencken Chrestomathy

Mencken Chrestomathy Henry Louis Mencken Random House; ISBN: 0394752090 Mencken never goes out of style. He never becomes irrelevant. He's always funny. He can see right through you even though he's been dead for dozens of years. If you've never read Mencken then you must, simply to understand the innumerable references to him in books, articles and interviews. If you read Mencken you'll have to go and read the authors and writers he's commenting on. If you've read Mencken you'll read him again and again, and laugh at his humor and marvel at his absolute mastery of the English language. Words aren't static things for Mencken; they writhe and leap at his command. If the right word didn't exist, he made one up that was so good we still use it: "ombibulous," "booboisie," indeed "menckenian" is to be found in the dictionary as well. To be skewered by Mencken, and so very many were, was to be flayed, trussed, pierced, rotisseried, and eaten for dinner with a giant glass of beer. This volume was edited by Mencken himself from many sources, and represents an excellent cross section of his reviews, articles, essays, diatribes, and quips. Mencken resurrected the title word, which means "a collection of choice passages from an author." There is also a second volume of Chrestomathy edited by Terry Teachout who recently came out with a new biography of Mencken . Mencken wrote over five million words before his stroke in 1948; you owe it to yourself to read as many of them as you can. [MA]

The Age of Empire: 1875-1914

The Age of Empire: 1875-1914 Eric Hobsbawm Vintage Books; ISBN: 0679721754 A history of the world, for any span of time, can easily be turned into a superficial narrative or a disjoint collection of encyclopedia articles. Hobsbawm does neither with his brilliant book on the end of the 19th century. He selects several central themes to focus on, in interconnected essay-like chapters. Hobsbawm's books largely concern the burdens and prospects of common folk. The period covered raised expectations of overcoming severe disparities in wealth, privilege, and opportunity. At the same time, it gave rise to new mechanisms to confront radicals and dissuade folks from becoming revolutionaries. The end of the 19th century was the beginning of the world we know, of consumerism, suburbs, mass media and orchestrated democracy. Of all the rich variety of topics covered in The Age of Empire, imperialism and the birth of nationalism are the most timely. Imperialism engendered the popular belief that rich and powerful nations owed it to backward barbarous ones to bring order and encourage progress and civilization. Ostensible good will toward remote subjects led to very little benefit for them in reality, as empires served almost exclusively to seize and exploit resources. Patriotism in the modern sense arose during this period. Common folk became increasingly aware of being citizens of a nation. Nationalism came about largely as a response to increasing immigration, unification (as in Germany and Italy), and deliberate manipulation through education policy and mass media. I return to this book often for fresh insights into the origins of many of our contemporary issues. [EG]

Taken for a Ride: Detroit's Big Three and the Politics of Air Pollution

Taken for a Ride: Detroit's Big Three and the Politics of Air Pollution Jack Doyle Four Walls Eight Windows; ISBN: 1568581475 Big corporations seem to take on lives of their own. They don't necessarily behave like rational beings: the tenets of capitalism may dictate otherwise. The needs of the bottom line can lead to actions that seem insane by human standards. Nothing exemplifies this behavior more than the "big three" auto makers' decades-long opposition to cleaner cars. Doyle shows us that this is no mere side effect of the chase for profits. He gives compelling evidence that there has been a concerted effort, and dare we say conspiracy, politically to prevent the application of technological innovation to make cars less polluting and more efficient. It was no solo (trio) effort. Doyle reveals that business-friendly politicians walked hand-in-hand with the auto makers to effectively choke dissent and the American public. It's not surprising that a big name publisher didn't distribute it. Self-preservation in a predatory environment is a strong instinct. The references and documentation are exquisite, and they eloquently support assertions that lead the reader down the path to the inevitable conclusion that indeed, we have been "taken for a ride." Read this book. It will make you angry. [GB]

Borrowed Finery: A Memoir

Borrowed Finery: A Memoir Paula Fox Owl Books; ISBN: 0805071849 Paula Fox is a novelist (e.g., Desperate Characters) and writer of award-winning children's books. As Borrowed Finery reveals, she had a singularly insecure childhood and lived to tell her tale, with open-eyed, unsentimental clarity and dry wit, self-deprecating where she deems appropriate. But for her first five years she was cared for by an intelligent and gentle country minister, a former journalist, and his elderly mother, who provided the security, love, and mental stimulation that allow a child to thrive. These years, so important in nurturing a child, gave her a sturdy foundation and a sense of what a coherent and fulfilling life could be. Her own mother couldn't tolerate her presence. Her mostly unreliable father, a writer who never stayed long in one place, offered sporadic affection and guidance and showed some interest in her well-being. This beautifully-written book is a reminder of the effect on children of the self-preoccupations of the adults who gave them life. And it demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit, given just a bit of encouragement. It's full of the fresh observations a child makes as an understanding of life is gradually gleaned from sometimes harsh experience. A very rewarding book. [CW]

Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions

Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions Ben Mezrich Free Press; ISBN: 0743225708 Self-appointed Morals Czar William Bennett's recent exposure as a degenerate gambler did not come as a shock to too many people. Rich, important, smart, powerful people need an outlet. What comes as a shock is that his game of choice was high-stakes slot machines. A sucker's game. There's only one game of skill played against the house in the gambling halls of the world: blackjack. It's the only game where skill and teamwork can give you an advantage over the casino. Bringing Down the House tells the tale of an MIT team who used role-playing, card counting, and human engineering to win millions from Las Vegas. Mysterious backers front the money to a picturesquely motley crew of nondescript brainiacs led by a secretive mad scientist who teaches them all how to break the bank scientifically. It works. They make millions for the team. They're comped into the ritziest casinos in the USA. They date supermodels. They are betrayed. Someone, identity never revealed, sells them out. They get caught, threatened, and beat up. Apartments are searched and trashed. If it all seems too much like a movie to be real, I can tell you that I play poker with one of the characters ("Andrew Tay") and he really is a tall, arrogant dufus who plays a mean mean game of cards. [MA]

The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-To-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege

The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-To-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege Marilynne K. Roach Cooper Square Press; ISBN: 0815412215 This is a terrifying book. As the father of a 15-year-old girl, I try to imagine what it would be like to give her the power of life and death, based on her ability to throw a fit. It's not a pretty contemplation. In an era, not unlike our own, when occult powers were given great credit, and religious principles formed the basis of government, the infamous witch hysteria swept out of Salem Village into New England, eventually claiming twenty lives. Using over 25 years of meticulous research, the author Marilynne K. Roach chronicles the accusations, trials, and consequences of the Salem Witch Trials day by day from 1692 to 1697. The formal examinations of the accused suspects are particularly disturbing. Imagine standing in the dock in front of convulsing teenagers who claim that your invisible spirit (visible to them) is pinching, choking and stabbing them. Imagine that despite your protests the judges agree with the tormented children, and sentence you to death for your misdeeds. This is not merely ancient history. I live about 5 miles from where these events took place. Recently a stone sculptural image of one of the victims was formally removed from a neighboring high school, guilty once again of associating with the wrong sort of spirits. [MA]

Toxic Sludge Is Good for You!: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry

Toxic Sludge Is Good for You!: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry John C. Stauber, Sheldon Rampton Common Courage Press; ISBN: 1567510604 Bar the doors, round up the children, the PR firms are coming! An extreme response? You won't think so after perusing this piece. Stauber and Rampton have compiled a damning treatise on the travails of the public relations industry: how they stretch the truth, spin yarns, and lie outright. They do this to get the American public behind their clients' ways of thinking, with little concern for the well-being of the individual, society, or our species. It's about the pursuit of the almighty dollar, and the extremes that kings of commerce will resort to. This is no wacko collection of conspiracy theories. This readable book is chock full of well-researched and referenced specific examples of how you have been manipulated by the mouthpieces of industry. They equate the current promotion of spreading sewage sludge hither and yon with the earlier arguments that "DDT is perfectly safe" and "asbestos is a miracle fiber that poses no danger at all." What goes around comes around and heavy metal isn't only on the radio, it may be in the veggies on your neighborhood market produce counter. Frightening required reading. [GB]

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Mary Roach W.W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 0393050939 You're driving and you spot something in the street. Carpet or road kill? You can't take your eyes off of it. There is a morbid curiosity that won't be satisfied until you get a good look. Dead things are repulsive yet fascinating, especially if the dead thing was human. Roach stokes the (funereal) pyres of fascination and provides us with a detailed look at the "lives" of dead people. You might think that a book of this nature would be dry, morbid, or perhaps even macabre. It doesn't seem possible, but Roach has taken a typically humorless subject and injected wit with the embalming fluid. The prose is as captivating as the topic. You'll be enthralled by the historical treatment of cadavers, grave robbing, surgical practice, detailed descriptions of decay, and many other topics ranging from crash testing to crucifixion. This winner is extremely well written and is surely destined to be on many best-seller lists. The buzz is already developing, and these are flying off the shelves at your local (virtual) bookstore. By the way, it was a brown shag area rug. Thought you'd want to know. [GB]

Science/Technology

The Map that Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology

The Map that Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology Simon Winchester HarperCollins; ISBN:0060931809 Simon Winchester is one of those disgustingly well-educated Englishmen who can write convincingly and entertainingly about a variety of subjects. Brings the intellectual realm into the reach of the common man, he does. NetSurfer Books September 02 issue, includes another reviewer's evaluation of Winchester's The Professor and the Madman, which concerns the genesis of the Oxford English Dictionary. Here, in The Map that Changed the World, Winchester traces the intellectual history of the modern academic discipline of geology. According to Winchester, the founding father of geology as we know it was William Smith, a self-educated English commoner who, alone, starting in the early 1790s and for about twenty years following, walked the English countryside trying to make some systematic sense of the rocks and fossils that came to hand. On August 1, 1815, he finished his A Delineation of The Strata of England and Wales with part of Scotland, the first true geological map of any place in the world. It took a while for the aristocratic Oxford dons who prized their cabinet collections of crystals, fossils, and other mineral "curiosities" to come to terms with the fact, but geology had just become a science. Smith led a very interesting life and made a signal contribution to our understanding of how the world is, and Winchester has done justice to his subject. A very stimulating intellectual history, recommended to anyone in need of such stimulation. [WW]

Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA

Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA Brenda Maddox HarperCollins; ISBN:0060184078 By 1950 most molecular biologists realized that it would be a giant step forward for their discipline if they could determine the exact molecular structure of DNA, a difficult but possible goal. Most assumed that Linus Pauling at CalTech could do it if he tried, but his mind was then on other matters. Some eager young Brits decided to try to 'scoop' Pauling, and raced forward toward the goal at breakneck speed. They succeeded. In 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick of Cambridge, with the help of Maurice Wilkins of London, determined and published the double helix structure of DNA, for which they received the Nobel Prize in 1962. However, there was a fly in the ointment. Wilkins had, more or less, stolen, more or less, the X-ray photographs of the B form of DNA which his Cambridge Ph.D. colleague Rosalind Franklin had managed to take in the lab at London, which photos more or less showed the structure of DNA, and he had secretly shown the photos to Watson shortly before Watson had his "Eureka!" moment of insight. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins (and the Nobel Committee) then and still have failed to acknowledge Franklin's contribution. Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1958 at age 37. A lot has been written about this episode from wildly divergent points-of-view. There is James Watson's 1969 best seller: The Double Helix, and on the other hand Anne Sayre's 2000 feminist screed: Rosalind Franklin and DNA. Brenda Maddox's excellent new biography of Franklin is neither self-serving nor axe-grinding. [WW]

Brotherhood of the Bomb : The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence and Edward Teller

Brotherhood of the Bomb : The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence and Edward Teller Gregg Herken Owl Books; ISBN: 080506589X Robert J. Oppenheimer is my personal hero of the 20th century. A left-wing radical who personally fathered the atomic bomb. A man who read Sanskrit poetry in the original language who helped father the military-industrial complex. A man who fought for international control of atomic energy while fighting for his top military security clearance. In short, a man of profound talent and deep personal conflict. Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and the recently-departed Edward Teller had the most crucial roles in the development of atomic and thermonuclear weaponry. For a time they all worked together, and were even close friends, but by the time WWII ended their relationships had begun to shred and by the fifties they were in deep conflict. Not just a personal conflict but a conflict that played out in public and which shaped national nuclear policy for generations. Recent declassification of both US and Soviet archives sheds light on much of what went on then, but for those familiar with the period these files mostly enlarge and enhance what was already known. During congressional hearings on Oppenheimer's loyalty Teller famously questioned his one-time collaborator's trustworthiness, losing Oppenheimer his security clearance and losing Teller the respect and friendship of many of his fellow scientists. Oppenheimer returned to academia. Teller gave us "Star Wars." [MA]

The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World

The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World Jenny Uglow Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ISBN:0374194408 Jenny Uglow's Hogarth is one of the best biographies I have ever read, and The Lunar Men does not disappoint. The "Lunar Society" comprised a group of friends who lived in the Birmingham area of the English Midlands during the last half of the 18th century. Uglow concentrates on five men at the core of the group. Erasmus Darwin was probably the best medical doctor in England at the time and, briefly, England's most popular poet. His theories of biological evolution prefigured the work of his grandson Charles. Compulsive experimenter Joseph Priestley was the first to isolate oxygen and a number of other gases. His radical politics and theology finally landed him in the new American republic. Potter Josiah Wedgewood brought inexpensive, well-made, durable, mass-produced utilitarian ceramic tableware to the world. James Watt worked most of his life making ever better steam engines and, on the side, ever better scientific apparatus and measuring instrumentation. He earned his living as a surveyor, mostly of canal projects. Matthew Boulton owned an iron and steel smelter and fabrication factory that employed about a thousand men, women, and children. He made buttons and buckles, cannons and coins, steam engines and whatever else you might want to order. They corresponded with Joseph Banks in London, Linnaeus in Sweden, Lavoisier in France, and on and on with Benjamin Franklin. They theorized, hypothesized, experimented, argued, and supported one another for fifty years. They are generally credited with jump-starting the industrial revolution in England. Recommended to anyone interested in intellectual history or the history of science. (WW)

Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond

Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond Gene Kranz Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 0743200799 Space is big, really big. There are countless multitudes of objects great and small whirling about us. Stellar nurseries crop up in an "instant" from dust and gas. We hear about recent discoveries of planetary systems around our stellar neighbors. This is terrific stuff, but a more compelling story is a bit closer to home. Over 30 years ago we took a few tentative steps into the void because exploration is a human responsibility that goes with that lump of gray between our ears. This is the story of America's heroic exploration of our nearest neighbor, the moon. Kranz shows us that the ten men who walked on the moon weren't the only heroes of their day. They may have enjoyed the ticker tape parades, but these moon men would not have achieved the pinnacle of their lives without support, structure and guidance from the folks on the ground. These earthbound people were the keystone in our bridge to the moon. They were with the astronauts every step of the way, but their view port was through telemetry from consoles in Mission Control. This is Gene's story, a no-holds-barred, edge-of-the-seat account of an incredibly dedicated team of engineers, scientists and technicians who took everything the unknowns of space flight threw at them. Through this very readable book, Kranz helps us realize that sometimes we must gaze outward to better see the greatness within ourselves. [GB]

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information Edward R. Tufte Graphics Press; ISBN: 0961392142 A picture is worth a thousand words. How about a chart or graph instead? Using visual methods to represent tables of data is a relatively recent development. Concepts in mathematics and data collection have existed for millennia, but graphs in various forms have only been around since the late eighteenth century. Tufte has produced a "celebration of data graphics" (his words) that explores the power of replacing tables of data with working pictures. He presents historic examples of the development of data graphing and describes their varying degrees of success. Comprising both theory and practice, this update of a classic technical treatise is for the serious data processor. If you spend much time doing data interpretive tasks, this book is a must. With the right graphical representation, solutions to some problems might seem to reach out and smack you in the face. Within these pages you'll find the techniques of data visualization. Carefully warping the results to appear as desired is up to you. [GB]

Fiction

Pattern Recognition

Pattern Recognition William Gibson G.P. Putnam's Sons; ISBN: 0399149864 Good news, cyberpunk fans! The newest William Gibson novel is, in my humble opinion, his best since Neuromancer. It is his first "historical" novel, set back in the mists of 2002, just slightly post-9/11/01, on the streets of London, Tokyo and Moscow. The technocultural milieu is what you would expect from Gibson, stocked with a cast of hackers, industrial spies, crooks and mobsters, tycoons and dragon ladies, government spooks and internet obsessives. The basic subject matter is market research. The principal character is Cayce Pollard (yes, pronounced 'Case'), a young woman unusually sensitive to emerging market trends, a "coolhunter" always searching out the next big thing. Any more about this book will just spoil it for you. Recommended to all sci-fi fans, and mystery novel readers too. [WW]

The Minority Report

The Minority Report Philip K. Dick Pantheon Books; ISBN: 0375421874 Philip K. Dick got the future right. Not the details: we haven't colonized Mars or endured nuclear catastrophe; you can't buy a can of UBIK and I've yet to meet a Ganymedean Slime Mold. What Dick understood about the future (which, by the way, is now) was the paranoia. You can't trust the media, you can't trust the government, and you can't trust your friends. You can't trust yourself; you can't even be sure that you *are* yourself. Perhaps this is why seven of his books and stories have been made into movies in recent years. The Minority Report is a novella in the classic PKD vein. Commissioner John Anderton is responsible for the Precrime System. Police "Precogs" can see into the future and finger future criminals who are then sent away to detention camps. Crime is prevented and society is safe. When his own name turns up as a future murderer he has to face the implications of his own creation. Steven Spielberg released The Minority Report, the movie, last June starring Tom Cruise. Many Dick adaptations have missed the mark by focusing on the plot and ignoring the essence of PKD's dystopic future. Read the novella and judge Spielberg's success for yourself. Interested in some Philip K. Dick novels that haven't yet been Hollywoodified? Try: Dr. Bloodmoney, Clans of the Alphane Moon, or Ubik. [MA]

December 6: A Novel

December 6: A Novel Martin Cruz Smith Simon & Schuster; ISBN:0684872536 Hands down, Martin Cruz Smith is my favorite contemporary mystery novelist. I got hooked back in 1981 with Gorky Park, then followed his great and sorrowful Russian detective Arkady Renko through Polar Star, Red Square, and Havana Bay . On another track, his historical mystery Rose, set in a mining town in Victorian England, is also a great page-turner. These are not books to start on an evening when you have to be up, bright-eyed and alert at 7:00 the next morning, unless, of course, you have a lot more self-discipline than I have. Smith's new novel, December 6, is set in Tokyo during the last few days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. His protagonist, Harry Niles (think of Orson Welles playing Harry Lyme in The Third Man) is a gaijin, the more-or-less abandoned son of American missionary parents who more-or-less raises himself as a street urchin in the more-or-less criminal underworld of 1920s and 30s Tokyo. By 1941 he has become a rather complicated character: ethnically American, culturally Japanese, a gambler, a confidence man, and the owner of a successful multicultural bar (think of Humphrey Bogart playing Rick in Casablanca). As war threatens, the Japanese suspect him of spying for the Americans, the Americans suspect him of spying for the Japanese, and we, the readers, suspect him too, but of what is the question. I guess you'll just have to read the book to find out what he is up to. You won't be disappointed. [WW]

Cadillac Jack

Cadillac Jack Larry McMurtry Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 0684853833 Jack McGriff, having become World Champion bulldogger, has moved on from his rodeo career to become an antiques scout. He happens to have a very good eye as well as the knowledge to recognize pearls in the unlikeliest places: a Sung vase found in a junk barn in De Queens, Arkansas, paid for his pearl-colored Cadillac. His roots are in Texas, but he ranges around the country scouting flea markets, attending auctions, and visiting the possessive owners of such articles as Billy the Kid's last boots, keeping a mental list of who collects what. A particularly stellar find will prompt him to locate the collector who will pay anything to obtain that particular treasure. But the heart of the book is curly-headed, obstinate, three-year-old Belinda, who steals Jack's heart as he tries to court her prickly mother. Being tall (and handsome, judging by his effect on women—Jack as narrator is way too modest to describe his own looks), and wearing cowboys boots, he tends to stand out in a crowd in Washington, where the story opens. His love of the wide open spaces and capacity to find interest in the cities of this country, his love of the artistry to be found in the objects he seeks out, and his love of beautiful women come together to make this novel a delight. Any E-Bay aficionado who hasn't read it should indulge immediately for its useful information in addition to the pleasures the novel offers. McMurtry is a great hand at the nuances of human relationships and he provides the rich and unexpected details that move a novel from a good story to the plane of fascination for the reader. [CW]

Pop. 1280

Pop. 1280 Jim Thompson Vintage Books; ISBN: 0679732497 Pop. 1280 is one of the scariest crime novels ever written, by possibly the scariest crime writer to ever live, Jim Thompson. It's not that Sheriff Nick Corey's actions are so very terrifying; by crime novel standards they're rather mundane. It's the inside of his head that's so terrible. Written in the sheriff's voice, the novel slowly draws one into Corey's little universe, population 1280 people, in deep rural Texas. He doesn't seem like much of a sheriff, he's pretty easy on the crime, mildly corrupt, fat, lazy, and he seems pretty stupid. People take him for granted, he's not particularly liked, but he fills his role in a comfortable way. It's a tribute to Thompson's brilliance as a writer that the reader is taken in by Sheriff Corey the same as the people of Potts County, even though you're seeing everything through the sheriff's eyes. Events from earlier in the book change meaning and purpose as later events unfold. Laziness turns out to have been patience. Stupidity is a disguise for deep, duplicitous cunning. And the comfortable state of contempt people hold for Nick Corey merely allows him to get close enough to force them to his purposes. Like so many of Jim Thompson's novels, this masterpiece has been made into a movie, Coup de Torchon, in French, by Bertrand Tavernier. [MA]

The Lovely Bones: A Novel

The Lovely Bones: A Novel Alice Sebold Little Brown & Company; ISBN: 0316666343 Every once in a while an author will devise a premise on which to base a truly novel novel. Sebold has created an extra-worldly heroine who sits above the Earth in her own personal heaven. She's in heaven because she was murdered. Murdered in the book's second sentence. From her perch Alice can see, hear, and feel everything that happens to those she left behind, but we share her frustration at an inability to touch or influence the people she loves (or hates) in even the slightest way. We are allowed a diorama view of life back home as it haltingly continues: her father's endless pursuit of her killer, her mother's slow unraveling, and her two siblings' brave attempts to cope. The words flows from the page in a story so compelling that it's difficult to set aside. This first-effort novel from Sebold reads like one by a veteran best-seller. It will be very surprising if it doesn't garner an award or two. It's wonderful reading that will have you experiencing feelings you'd thought were long forgotten. A truly fabulous effort. [GB]

Salammbo

Salammbo Gustave Flaubert Viking Press; ISBN: 0140443282 Adult fantasy is too often juvenile fiction, colored with a bit of pulp action or soft core pornography to hold the reader's attention. Fortunately, there are a few great works, full of fine story telling, exotic and evocative, which prove a complete exception. Salammbo is set in Carthage between the Punic wars. A mercenary army, demanding pay and other conditions, rises against Carthage. The revolt will have terrible consequences for Carthage and the mercenaries. The course of events is decided by a few central characters, who are aware of and struggle with their roles. This novel exceeds historic fiction, since it conveys the perspective of the characters in the context of the time in which it is set. Their world is full of magic, the imposing presence of the Gods, and fate. Flaubert's ornate vision lingers on the opulent and the grotesque. His attention to minute detail brings life to feasts, street scenes, battles, and the pivotal obsessive relationship of the chief protagonists—Salammbo, the Carthaginian General's daughter, and Matho, the leader of the mercenaries. While neither the Carthaginians nor the mercenaries are very appealing to the reader, the brutality of the military conflict becomes increasingly tragic and appalling. This is adult fantasy fiction at its best, a diversion which ignores or transcends limits, tells a grand story, and leaves the reader enriched, if disconcerted. [EG]

Time Enough for Love

Time Enough for Love Robert A. Heinlein Ace Books; ISBN: 0441810764 Though Heinlein may be best known for his immensely popular and influential Stranger in a Strange Land, this novel is without a doubt one of his very best and by extension one of the very best classic sci-fi works. The book is centered around the life of Lazarus Long, an immortal man who's lived for many centuries. Late in his life, Lazarus Long is ready to die. His descendents attempt to coax the story of his life out of him, both for its historical value and as a means of goading his will to live. This book is essentially Long's narrative of a life lived in full. Long himself is certainly one of the most memorable characters in fiction, an irascible, clever, often irritating, and occasionally overbearing man. You'd love to have him as a friend or partner, but you wouldn't want to live with him. The book ranges in time from Long's birth in the early 1900's to more than 2000 years into the future. There is plenty of exotic science and adventure, but Heinlein's main focus is a character study of Long and of the many others who cross his path over the years. This book is the centerpiece of Heinlein's so-called Future History stories and novellas, all of which touch on Long's long and eventful life (collected in The Past Through Tomorrow). But Time Enough for Love stands on its own, and is certainly the best of all of them. A classic science fiction epic, and part of the essential 20th-century science fiction canon. [AB]

Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances and Home Remedies

Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances and Home Remedies Laura Esquivel Doubleday; ISBN: 0385420161 Set on a Mexican ranch during the revolution, the novel's subtitle captures Esquivel's quirky approach, in which recipes and home remedies provide light relief to the tragi-comic plot. Employing a beguiling magic realism, Esquivel manages to blend ingredients ranging from fierce disagreements between mother and daughter, incendiary love-making, and down-to-earth instructions for treating burns and stomach gas in her story of a tough, controlling woman who locks her daughter Tita into the family tradition of the youngest 's dedication of her life to serving her mother. Anyone who has suffered from the demands of a domineering mother or the pain of a requited but somehow frustrated love will find comfort here. And each chapter opens with instructions for making such traditional Mexican dishes as turkey mole with almonds, Tezcucana-style chile with beans, quail in rose petal sauce, and Chabela wedding cake. The pleasures of the kitchen run throughout the book as Tita, essentially raised in the kitchen by her mother's cook, masters traditional cuisine and prepares fabulous meals, even when suffering a broken heart. This fresh and unusual novel offers many pleasures. And the film is available on video. [CW]

The Complete Sherlock Holmes

The Complete Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Gramercy; ISBN: 0517220784 I write in praise of Sherlock Holmes. One of the most printed and read books of all times, the consulting detective stories and novels of Sir Conan Doyle are as fun to read now as they were in the Victorian era in which they were written. Holmes himself is a curiously modern man, utterly devoid of the sentimentality of his age; he is utterly focused on the pursuit of crime, not for money, or from altruism, but because it amuses him. Watson, an intelligent and resourceful gentleman in his own right, is our window into Holmes' very private obsessions. Modern detective fiction springs complete from Doyle's vision, indeed the very concept of a private detective begins here. I was struck on my most recent reading that the script model for the popular television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigations is lifted directly: a mysterious crime takes place, the detective arrives on the scene and minutely examines the evidence using specialized tools, the evidence suggests further researches, and finally he announces his conclusions to the amazement of his peers and consternation of the accused. No library is complete without Sherlock Holmes, and he can be pleasurably read again and again and again. [MA]

Briefing For A Descent Into Hell

Briefing For A Descent Into Hell Doris Lessing Vintage Books; ISBN 0394746627 I think I was fifteen when my mother passed me this book. At that time, on a steady diet of mediocre science fiction, I didn't know what to make of it. The novel begins with the case notes for a completely delirious man checked into a hospital. Much of the novel occurs inside the head of the far-from-lucid main character. Briefing for a Descent Into Hell certainly classifies as 'science fiction.' Lessing takes on many problems of technology and the individual in society. Her central theme is the form of social control imposed on adults which leads them to engage in and accept or even expect destructive and compromising behavior. Without giving away too much, the title plays off the idea that occurs to the protagonist in his ideation: One could live more peacefully and harmoniously with others and nature. Perhaps those who know this are part of a hidden group, dedicated to bringing it about. Plot twists reveal that more may be going on than a nervous breakdown. The psychiatrist's investigation of his patient's life through correspondence reinforces this impression. Perhaps the main character's fever dreams are closer to 'sanity' than the world the psychiatrists are trying to bring him back to. Foremost in this book, ahead of its time, Lessing insinuates that modern pharmaceuticals are a means of constraining the mind and maintaining normality. Unlike most science fiction, this book contains some challenging literary language and doesn't attempt to explain or pursue every avenue which it opens onto. The rich writing offers poetic glimpses of our complex inner life, full of potential we rarely if ever fulfill. [EG]

The Light of Other Days

The Light of Other Days Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter Tor Books; ISBN: 0312871996 Are you a closet voyeur? Do you tend towards the exhibitionist? Probably not, but the premise of this story will certainly get your motor running because privacy, it seems, is fleeting. If we are to buy into this novel by Clarke and Baxter, all we need to do is hitch a ride on a wormhole, and the universe is instantly opened up to us. The beauty of the story is that these two veteran collaborators got together to make it so very easy to believe that the impossible has somehow been made routine. In The Light of Other Days we join a journalist as she covers the story of a major technological breakthrough introduced by an aging billionaire industrialist. We follow development of the "Wormcam" from early innovation to its society-changing popular implementation. Clarke and Baxter do a great job of exploring what it might mean to be able to peer into the lives of anyone at will and how it would affect our everyday existence. After you read this story, you may feel compelled to look over your shoulder, smile, and say "cheese." [GB]

Beowulf

Beowulf Seamus Heaney, translator Farrar, Strauss and Giroux; ISBN: 0374111197 Beowulf was written in the Anglo-Saxon language in northern England about 1,000 years ago. It consists of about 3,000 lines of heroic narrative concerning the deeds of a Swedish prince named Beowulf who goes to Denmark to slay for the Danes a man-eating monster named Grendel and Grendel's even nastier mother, then returns home to rule Sweden as king for fifty years before finally killing and being killed by a dragon which has been ravishing his own country. This is shorter but in the same vein as The Iliad and The Odyssey, and every bit as good. What we have in this book is a very useful Introduction and a brilliant translation into modern English verse by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney, who quite rightly won the Nobel Prize for Literature a few years back. The book is set up with the Anglo-Saxon and the modern English translation on facing pages. You will want to read both. Heaney's translation of lines 1384-1389, Beowulf speaking: "It is always better/to avenge dear ones/than to indulge in mourning. /For every one of us, living in this world/means waiting for the end. Let whoever can/win glory before death. When a warrior is gone,/that will be his best and only bulwark." This is one of the earliest and greatest pieces of English literature, so what can I say to recommend it? Two things, I guess. First, I really like this new translation, and second, to point out to any who don't already know it, that this is an absolute must-read for all J.R.R. Tolkien fans. [WW]

Auto-da-fé

Auto-da-fé Elias Canetti Noonday Press Enlightenment can be grim business. This complex novel concerns the limits of wisdom cut off from the world. The protagonist Peter Kien lives alone with his massive library, devoting his life to the study of Chinese sages. Not only is Kien easily duped, his responses to brutality and acquisitiveness show how close insanity and mastery of philosophy can be. After having been seduced by his housekeeper, Kien begins a protracted struggle in which his wife, now his adversary, progressively overcomes his pleasant retreat from the world. The characters in this novel are like evil cartoons, funny and terrible at the same time. A series of horrible yet amusing situations ease the reading experience somewhat, though the heavy symbolism and allegory is hard to miss. The sections of this book 'A Head Without A World,' 'Headless World' and 'The World in the Head' chronicle Kien's descent. These could coincide with the central biblical themes of redemption, revelation and creation, here turned upside down. Canetti took a long hard look at the limits of reason, scholarship, and philosophy as a means to confront adversity and hard reality. The result is a fascinating though grotesque inverted salvation story. [EG]

Children's Books

Nutshell Library

Nutshell Library Maurice Sendak Harpercollins Juvenile; ISBN: 0060255005 There's a treat in store for any of you who don't already know and love this delightful, whimsical boxed set of four tiny books by Maurice Sendak (of Where the Wild Things Are fame). With one book devoted to the alphabet, one to numbers (one to ten and back again), one to the months, and a "Cautionary Tale" in rhyme, Sendak covers the bases for one- to three-year-olds, who will giggle at the Sendak sensibility. Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months offers nursery rhymes that incorporate the comforts of chicken soup into each month ("In June I saw a charming group of roses all begin to droop. I pepped them up with chicken soup!"), and Pierre: A Cautionary Tale features an obstreperous little boy who undergoes a change of heart after an unexpected experience. Sendak's expressive drawings of alligators illustrate the ABC with, for example, two parental types in bed with cloths over eyes for H: Having headaches, while for M, mother in a feathered hat is Making macaroni, enthusiastically anticipated by junior. Junior, being indulged by both parents, stars in S Shockingly spoiled. If you haven't kids or grandchildren of your own, this is the perfect gift for those who do or will soon. [CW]

Father Fox's Penny Rhymes

Father Fox's Penny Rhymes Clyde Watson; illustrated by Wendy Watson HarperCollins; ISBN: 0060295015 The delightful, detailed illustrations and fresh and memorable rhymes make this book a classic (first published in 1971 and, happily, reissued in 2001). First you catch a small child, then find a comfortable armchair, and together you will find great mutual pleasure in reading or singing the rhymes and scrutinizing the vivid ink and watercolor drawings. They convey the pleasures (and sometimes difficulties) of family life, the changing seasons, the comforts of parental and sibling love. They're silly and serious and down-to-earth. The reader isn't surprised to learn that author and artist are sisters, whose inspiration, says Wendy, was "our childhood at home on the farm in Vermont." The pleasures of family and a spare New England life shine through both pictures and verse: "Ride your red horse down Vinegar Lane, Gallop, oh gallop, oh gallop again! Thistles and foxholes & fences beware: I've seventeen children but none I can spare." [CW]

Zeralda's Ogre

Zeralda's Ogre Tomi Ungerer Roberts Rinehart; ISBN: 1570982678 Tomi Ungerer has been writing and illustrating subversive (in the best sense) books for kids for many years. He is marvelously able to capture precisely the look of obstinacy that can appear on a child's face (even in the guise of, say, a cat, as in No Kiss for Mother) when an adult interferes with the child's perfectly good plan. But in Zeralda's Ogre, it is the adult who needs curbing, since he's an ogre with a taste for small children for breakfast. And Zeralda, who by age six has become a master of the culinary arts, is just the one to subvert the ogre to the pleasures of suckling pig, smoked trout with capers, veal cutlets on a bed of truffled aspic, and Ogres Delight: candied fruits, ladyfingers, and ice cream cakes. This is one of those funny-scary books that delight small children when read to them by a trusty adult, and every page glows with Ungerer's detailed, solid, richly-colored illustrations. [CW]

Brave Irene

Brave Irene William Steig Farrar, Straus & Giroux; ISBN:0374309477 Another delectable book by the inimitable William Steig (among his others, now classics: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and Shrek). Steig puts his young heroes and heroines, who at first don't necessarily appear to be made of heroic stuff, into challenging situations and shows how their curiosity, perseverance, loyalty, spunk, and bravery bring them through. A reassuring theme of parental love runs through all of his stories. Here her mother's concern for Irene is balanced by Irene's expert nursing of her mother, preparing tea with lemon and honey before undertaking her mission of delivering the gown her mother finished before falling ill. Although the publisher rates the book for the 4-8 set, Steig never writes down but consistently uses language in a fresh and sophisticated way, offering the adult reader openings for expanding the child listener's vocabulary: "She coaxed her mother into bed. . . . With great care, Irene took the splendid gown down from the dummy and packed it in a big box with plenty of tissue paper." Steig'svery expressive and colorful drawings perfectly illustrate his delightful story of a young heroine. [CW]

Be a Friend to Trees

Be a Friend to Trees Patricia Lauber; illustrated by Holly Keller HarperCollins; ISBN: 0064451208 Here's a fine book to introduce a child to the essential role trees play in our environment and in our lives and the lives of animals, insects and birds, in the weather, and the ecosystems of our planet. In addition to showing the dependence of various birds and animals on trees, the author and illustrator explain and illustrate photosynthesis. The book concludes with suggestions of how children can protect trees by using less paper, reusing paper bags and sheets of paper, recycling newspapers etc., and even helping to plant a tree. In a low-key way, the book plants the seeds of a sense of living sustainably—a valuable goal and important to nourish even in young children. Good, clear, informative and appealing illustrations accompany a text that conveys a lot of information invitingly. This is a book in the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series, intended for children 5 to 9, in the primary grades. [CW]

Mrs. Armitage and the Big Wave

Mrs. Armitage and the Big Wave Quentin Blake Harcourt Brace & Company; ISBN: 0152016422 Quentin Blake's wacky drawings suit his story very well. The intrepid (if bespectacled) surf dude Mrs. Armitage and her trusty dog Breakspear challenge the surf and are rewarded for their patience with a Big Wave. But while waiting, Mrs. Armitage sees to their various needs in ways that will delight both child and adult readers, at least all those of us who aren't serious surfers and who may be more attuned to other considerations such as a dog's need for a rest (she buys Breakspear an inflatable desert island). A plastic duck that can carry a box full of inviting snacks is added to their paraphernalia, and a megaphone to hail other surfers, as well as a sturdy boat hook to ward off any shark that might show up. The boat hook comes in handy to retrieve a child out beyond her depth just as the big wave arrives, and, after a few cool moves on Mrs. Armitage's part, all arrive safely on the beach. This one will provoke giggles for sure. Blake is a prolific, much-loved illustrator. A child who likes this book would doubtless be intrigued by his website, and his newest Mrs. Armitage book, Mrs. Armitage, Queen of the Road. [CW]

Disgusting Digestion

Disgusting Digestion Nick Arnold Scholastic Paperbacks; ISBN: 043904362X This book is the shining star in the sublime Horrible Science series. Yes, science can be funny and offered in a way that kids can't wait to get more. Full of cartoon illustrations, quizzes, and varying typography, there is not a single page in this book that even looks boring. The subject couldn't be more interesting! What goes in, what comes out, and what eating the wrong stuff can do to the human body. What kid isn't interested in digestion, when you come to think of it? This book considers burps, farts and so on, but it doesn't dwell on toilet humor. The reader learns about germs, malnutrition, tooth decay, and the role and function of the entire digestive tract. Get a copy of this one for the next long car trip and you will hear a long series of chuckles from the back seat. [EG]

The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster Random House; ISBN: 0394820371 Milo's dreary life gets a fresh start when he discovers a gift-wrapped cardboard tollbooth in his bedroom. The story takes him to the Lands Beyond and moves briskly forward towards its conclusion in the Castle In the Air. Milo learns, through a hilarious sequence of characters and situations, how absurd and dangerous those with too much knowledge and too little judgment can be. Though lacking in conviction and knowledge, the child protagonist perseveres in his quest to restore some order to the world, just because it's the reasonable thing to do.I am not sure how many times I have heard this book read aloud, or read it aloud to others. It's a treasure for many who first learned from this book how important it is to distrust authority and to beware people who are too filled with certainty and purpose. Every other page has a wonderful pen-and-ink illustration, so even very young children find the story accessible. Adults also greatly enjoy the irony and profound, if light, treatment of a vast number of topics. [EG]

The Man Who Made Time Travel

The Man Who Made Time Travel Kathryn Lasky; illustrated by Kevin Hawkes Farrar Straus & Giroux; ISBN: 0374347883 Enhanced by warm and vivid illustrations, this book conveys the excitement of invention and the perfectionism that can drive an inventor to devote his life from childhood to old age to meet his own high standards. The invention is the chronometer—the means of determining longitude—and the inventor John Harrison. As a boy he was bell ringer in his village church and learned carpentry from his father, and he began to build clocks while still in his teens. When he was 21 the English government, after having suffered countless shipwrecks from lack of a means to determine longitude and thus precise location, announced the Longitude Prize of 20,000 pounds. Harrison concluded that an accurate clock, designed to withstand changes of temperature and heaving seas, could make it possible to measure distance and establish longitude, and he set about designing and building one. With no formal education, Harrison was not well received by the scientific establishment even though his several chronometers, each smaller and more accurate than the last, proved themselves in tests at sea over the years. It was finally a petition to King George III that won him the prize late in his life. Kathryn Lasky's admiration for Harrison's intelligence and perseverance gives her book dramatic momentum. Those of you who were fascinated by Dava Sobel's Longitude will be pleased to see a book to introduce the subject to 8 to 10-year old kids. [CW]

The Neverending Story

The Neverending Story Michael Ende Dutton Books; ISBN: 0525457585 This remarkable fantasy confronts indifference and personal limitations, drawing the reader into the story in a unique fashion. Bastian, a boy in a crisis, reads an adventure story and becomes increasingly personally involved. The story and the story within the story converge and transcend the boundary between them. The book itself figures in the story, which is why the beautiful hardcover edition is definitely worth the moderate additional cost. The successful movie of the same name only scratches the surface; it adapts and abridges the first half of the book only. While the first half appeals to both children and adults, the second half holds particular appeal to a sophisticated and introspective adult reader. Here Bastian confronts the difficulties of having the freedom to choose and burden of living with the consequences of his choices. This situation poses problems which dwarfs those posed by ennui. The Neverending Story magnifies the dilemma of choice by removing the boundaries normally limiting it. We discover that escaping from Fantastica is much harder than entering it. The series of challenges and revelations which Bastian encounters form an allegory of the natural tendency for selfishness, desire for recognition and control to emerge when given the chance. These ultimately frustrate Bastian's aims and reduce his accomplishments to cynical failures. What at first delivers as an exquisitely written novel of epic adventure continues as a profound tale about overcoming oneself. [EG]

It's Our World, Too! Young People Who Are Making a Difference

It's Our World, Too! Young People Who Are Making a Difference Phillip Hoose Farrar, Straus & Giroux; ISBN: 0374336229 Few children can be oblivious to the intense debate around the world about whether war is an appropriate solution to a perceived political problem. But many kids doubtless feel helpless to participate in this debate, even though its outcome may have a significant effect on their lives. This book provides examples of children, some as young as 7 or 8, who took it upon themselves to achieve constructive change, either on their own or by organizing or joining with others. These are children who saw an injustice, or a stupid policy, or an unaddressed need, and they set about figuring out how to address it or reach a goal. A girl who passed homeless folks on her way to school realized she could help them by rounding up family and friends every Friday night to prepare meals. A 12-year-old was horrified to learn that a developer planned to replace the woods he'd loved from childhood with 180 condominiums, no matter that the water table couldn't handle the effluent that would result. He went to the library, learned about the relevant laws and regulations, and set about lobbying his city council until they had to recognize he was right. And now he's working to have the woods made a nature preserve. Another boy, in love with racing bikes, realized he could bring others some happiness by rebuilding old bikes and giving them to needy kids. Besides reporting on kids who achieved adult-sized goals, the book offers their advice on how to organize an effort to influence their world. An inspiring book for older kids to read on their own or for a family to read together. [CW]