Book Review: Dear Mr. Wasn't Me (children's book)

Dear Mr. Wasn't Me, by Laura Jensen-Kimball* (WackyStack Books [self-published], 2020, $19.99, 32 pages, ages 2-10) Also available as a CD. Watch the trailer here.

Mom's four kids won't let her sleep in on Saturday by yelling, "It wasn't me!" so Mom falls out of bed and rushes downstairs to see what's the matter. Her toddler doesn't have any clothes on, her daughter is tied to her bedposts by her sleeves, the dog has peed on the carpet, and the list goes on and on with several 'incidents' on every page to chat about. 

With a summary page of sorts for young readers to recollect about the chaos of the morning and with a twist at the end, you will remember this funny, true book for a long time. 

The story starts when Mom starts a letter to Mr. Wasn't Me and tells him about her day, then ends the book with the letter's end - cute!

And yes, there is a dog (who else would pee on the carpet?) but he is an interesting cat-looking-like dog - or is that the cat?

Caveat: This book was sent to me for review.

*Also the author of Momster. If that doesn't sound scary I don't know what does.

Book Review: Dead Soldier (mistakenly classified as deceased. . . .killed before his time - on paper)

Dead Soldier: A Story of the Living, by Carmelo Rodriguez (Absolute Author Publishing House, 2019, 182 pages, $10.99)

(Dead Soldier is a selection for the second year of the Veterans Book Group in Howard County, Maryland. This review, part one, is being written before the VBG meets and a second blog will appear after it meets, to include the views of others besides myself. In addition, the book's author will take part in the discussion in March via Zoom.) And, yes, there is a dog*.

"Dead Soldier, a story of the living, the memoir of Sergeant Carmelo Rodriguez who was mistakenly declared dead. Now he battles for his identity BACK!"

Imagine This 

Killed before your time - on paper at least.

Imagine being injured in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), medically discharged from the Army, currently attending college, when you receive a letter from the Veterans Administration, a declaration of death - your own! Living in New York City, you spend hours on hold the next day with the VA, trying to correct the error - to no avail. 

But it's not only the VA (and you are not the only one) - it's also the IRS and SSA and credit cards and not being able to afford tuition to finish the semester without the GI bill payments which have also stopped. Many, if not all agencies exchange information in order to prevent fraud from the bad guys - but sometimes things backfire and it seems almost no number of phone calls and visits to offices and writing letters and having to go up the chain of command and show identification. . . . 

Dead Soldier tells the true tale of the next several months of waiting (on hold), of trying to convince lawyer after lawyer to take your case (but no attorney has experience in this area), of taping your own vlogs** about the situation, while working full-time - until finally you get a strange phone call that sets the solution in motion. . . . 

Dead Soldier

The book comes full circle - it ends with the beginning (the beginning repeats the end) and within chapters we read about author Rodriguez' love for the Army and his Battle Buddies alternating with the lack of progress in his case, justifiably losing his temper time and time again, and reliving nightmares about the Iraq War. But life goes on and 'Rod' works out (and is injured) and looks forward to the weekends that he has custody of his toddler son.

In addition, you may notice the creative punctuation and unique sentence structures. Nevertheless, the discussion of this book by veterans (with the author) next week should be intriguing!

Caveat: This book was sent to me for review.

*Rodriguez and his girlfriend have a dog and a cat, a fact I missed the first time through the book!

**LivingThe LifeOfADeadman.com

Book Review (OT): The Dispossessed: A Story of Asylum at the US-Mexican Border and Beyond (OT)

The Dispossessed: A Story of Asylum at the US-Mexican Border and Beyond, by John Washington (Verso, 2020, 334 pages, $26.95)

The Title Says It All: A Memorable Book Club Selection for Discussion

Do you know the difference between an asylum seeker and a refugee? How about the etymology of asylum or crisis? And what about fear? The history of the concept of refugees and how it plays throughout the past century is well-covered yet still provides much food for thought and discussion. 

Author John Washington takes the reader through a large smattering of literature, poetry, history, politics, international relations, current events, and the account of one young man from El Salvador who attempts to make it to the US - three times! In other words, both the subject matter and the details are well-covered: history and government positions (dry, in places) and human interest stories (however, it is a long book and could easily have been abridged to reach a larger audience).

One father is separated from his 6-year-old daughter for a month in US detention before both are returned to their country of origin: to get to the US, they had paid a coyote thousands of dollars and spent days in a 'safe' house and many hours in a semi-trailer, crowded in like sardines with no water or food or facilities. Once in US custody with little knowledge of English he is subject to the whims of asylum judges and even some corrupt border patrol agents.

Highlights

I highlighted nearly 40 pages which is too many to include here but that fact reveals so much about what is important about The Dispossessed. 

You are much more likely to be killed by lightning - twice - than to be killed by an improperly vetted immigrant (1 in 328 million)(page 40). ("That is, offering refugees a roof doesn't threaten your life, but denying them one threatens theirs.")

We have, as a nation and as a world, been focused more on the result of refugees than the cause of refugees, climate change being one (e.g., Guatemala). New highways (and runways) are conduits to employment but also to gangs and narco trade and the emptying of resources.

What's Missing

It is obvious the author has done his homework and read reams of books and reports: I only wish he had included a bibliography or reference list although he does provide enough information that the reader can easily search for and find the published paper or book. And, not being a Central America expert or a current events person or Spanish speaker, I also would have appreciated maps (the meanings of the Spanish words and phrases that Washington uses are fairly easily discernible from the context).

We Cry for One

As has been said, we cry for the death of one person but the death of hundreds is just a statistic. The Dispossessed alternates between history of government policies and retelling one young man's story and his attempted escapes from El Salvador to 'break' into the US - the times he arrives and is eventually deported back home to danger and possible death once again.

The Dispossessed is perhaps the book that may goad you into volunteering if your church is a sanctuary.  "It's easy to be outraged: it's hard to act. . . . Waiting for the government to . . . implement any positive change, will be waiting too long." (page 325) Perhaps we can't extend our roof because the foundation is in shambles (page 324).

The Dispossessed is one book that you will not soon forget.

Of Course, There is a Dog!

Page 329's photo does show a couple of cute pups (no caption, of course - is that the new norm in publishing?) and pups were mentioned elsewhere, too.

Caveat: This book was sent to me for review.

Comment: This review has been overwhelmingly frustrating - there are so many quotes and ideas I wanted to include to explain the importance of The Dispossessed. Had I been able to include them all, the review would be pages longer. I guess you will just have to read with a highlighter as I did!

Book Review: Mill Town (OT)(Reckoning with What Remains)

Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains, by Kerri Arsenault (St. Martin's Press, 2020, 354 pages, $27.99) 

Two stories are intertwined by author Kerri Arsenault - one, of the land and its resources, and the other, of a family, over generations - how the people worked in the paper mills and how the paper mills eventually killed the people, slowly. But they stayed because it was all they knew and they loved the other people there (Mexico, Maine, was a mill town [nearly everyone worked at the mill all their lives]) and because it was easier to stay than to leave. Isn't that true of everyone's hometown?

The history of Acadia* Maine over the centuries entangled with the more recent history of her Acadian family, both tainted by the pollution of the paper mills but also of the monetary enhancements such steady but monotonous (and physical) employment brings.

Can one every really go back home again, excluding visits, weddings, holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and funerals ? 

On the other hand, how long does it take one to become a 'native'? If one's family lives in a small town for generations but one child in a large family leaves, only to return occasionally over the next 20 years and then just happens to try to improve the public health of the townsfolk through education and change and political action, is she an outsider - or to be followed?

LLBean and Bass shoes and Poland Spring bottled water (one of Nestle's 48 brands with 30% market share) and Burt's Bees (including how it got its start) and the vacationland that Maine is, juxtaposed against the working middle class of factory men and their tedious but steady work and adequate pay, albeit also killing pollution. The hard jobs, they pay well. 

Overall Grade: A-

     Writing Style: A

     Organization: B (or A+)

     Research/Content: A+

     Discussability: A

Writing Style: A+

Delightful long sentences. ". . . before the ocean pulls the river away, so many things have gathered in its draft: a tire, a plastic bag, chicken bones, car parts, an old shoe, chromium, rotted wood, arsenic, a disagreeable tangle of wire, a shopping cart from a grocery store that no longer exists, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, mercury, dioxin, even a corpse." (page 155)

Rather than writing something like "the colors were blue, pink and white," Arsenault would write (like in the paragraph above) "the colors were blue, pink, white, green, yellow, red, purple, lime, chartreuse, lavender, and burgundy, not black, brown, orange, cream, turquoise, navy or melon." 

On page 185 for example, "We could hunt, fish, snowmobile, hike, paddle, log, ski, camp, and snowshoe. . . ." Sentences reminiscent of a pre-teen but constructed so adroitly that I had to smile as I enjoyed them. Nearly every paragraph had a gem.

Organization: B (or A+)

Arsenault seamlessly weaves together history, autobiography/memoir, and science/technology and artfully makes it read like a novel. Halfway in, she includes an Interlude and at the end, a Coda. Chapters have titles (thank goodness).

The author gracefully jumps from one aspect to another and back again, from the technology of highly polluting paper mills and their resulting cancers to its chemistry and 'thesis research' including growing up in a small town.

If I had been able to analyze the jumps, I would have given an A+ but perhaps they were meant to be non-apparent and allow the reader to merely slide from one to another.

Research/Content: A+

Arsenault astounds the reader with her technical and chemical vocabulary and explanations including the now well-known chemical dioxin** but the reader is not overwhelmed (nor educated). Nearly 40 pages of notes back up the 10 years of research by Arsenault, whose work began with her own grandfather's obituary. This is a technical book written by a novelist, a text book interspersed with human interest anecdotes. A textbook about one family whose three generations tolerated the carcinogens in order to make a living. After all, ". . . normal is just what you get used to." (p. 31) 'The solution to pollution is dilution' was the thinking of the day even for mill workers.

Discussability: A

I can see Mill Town being the selection of many book clubs, especially those composed of various types of people from fiction readers to chemists and engineers and historians and genealogical-dabblers and  hippies and environmentalists and New Englanders and politicians (or their staff). 

Nothing ever seems to change: we just take from the earth. And take from the earth, and take, and take some more.

I want to meet the author - or at least read another book by her!

Comment: Mill Town would be more striking if it were shorter. Alternatively, it could be rewritten as a strong, memorable article or two (one on each theme of personal story and politics/technology/history/legal issues). In addition, a few photographs are scattered throughout. . . willy nilly, with no explanation but there is a dog pictured on page 190 -  a really cute one at that!

Caveat; This book was sent to me for review. It is also available in the Howard County, MD, public library system.

* Longfellow's 1847 poem Evangeline tells of a couple separated by the pogrom of Acadians from Maine

**Times Beach, MO, 40 years ago, and Julia Roberts' and Albert Finney's Erin Brockovich (2000)(PG&E, Hinckley, California, and hexavalent chromium)

Book Review: Little House on the Prairie (Special Read-Aloud Edition)

Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Harper Collins, 1935, 335 pages, all ages, about $25, large print - perfect for grandparents!)

Of course there's a dog in this book!

We all know of Laura Ingalls Wilder's wonderful stories about growing up in the late 1800s in the Midwest: they were so much a part of the TV culture from 1974-1983 and beyond, that even if we never saw one of the many episodes, we saw parts of them or knew about them somehow, perhaps because Pa (Michael Landon) was the wonderful father everyone wanted and Laura was the normal girl (Melissa Gilbert) everyone wanted to be.

Little House on the Prairie actually depicts only one year of frontier adventures and daily life but the TV program goes on from there and has never been off the air. 

Why Do We Love Little House So Much?

Could it be because those were simpler times, and happy, in the midst of such extreme weather and hard labor on the land? In the words of Melissa Gilbert, the series was about compassion, community, faith, and love.

Laura reminds us that children should be seen and not heard, that they should not talk unless spoken to. She also tells us of seeing rabbits and snakes every day on the prairie, of being scared of the Indians but mesmerized by their ponies, of building the 'little house' and barn, putting up the roof and putting in the fireplace, making the door without any nails. It might be thought of as a girl's book but  the instructions to build a house will keep any young boy enthralled.

The Read-Aloud Edition

This edition has 26 chapters and large print - perfect for reading a chapter a night before turning off the lights and tucking the young one in to bed. Not only was Wilder a very good writer but she selected the most exciting situations to write about, as well as some very routine aspects of prairie life in all four seasons. When they finally could buy glass for their windows, it was a happy day indeed.

As for the dog in the book: Jack was a French Bulldog while the TV Jack was a large 'scruffy' nondescript best friend who also was a workdog, helping Pa keep the family safe. As a matter of fact, it all starts with Jack. In an early chapter, the family has to ford a deep fast river in their covered wagon and little Jack is swept downstreaam. The family and horses make it safely across but don't see Jack. This is very hard on Laura, especially.

More About Laura

Laura Ingall Wilder (1867-1957) wrote nine books about her growing-up life with her family, between 1932 and 1942, primarily for elementary school children. At least one was written for adults but wasn't successful until she rewrote it for the younger set. Evidence also points to the fact that her daughter (Rose Lane) assisted or co-wrote with her.

So many exciting adventures happened to Laura in participating to build a family and life on the prairie in various states that several states now house created museums or maintained her homes as a shrine of sorts: in New York, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, South Dakota and even in Florida where the Wilders lived for a short while!

She is a five-time runner-up for the Newbery prize and even has a crater on Venus named after her!

Covered Wagon Days Again

Read the nine books again and watch the years of TV to relive a happier, more exciting yet routine time. You will even learn how to build a bed!

Book Review (OT): Monogamy, a novel by Sue Miller (OT)

Monogamy, by Sue Miller (HarperCollins, 2020, 338 pages, $28.99)

Prolific* New York Times best-selling author of 11 novels, a short story collection and one memoir, Sue Miller keeps on writing good, long character studies about families and marriages (with sex and profanity). I had picked up Family Pictures

several years ago but simply could not get into it. I usually finish the books I start: perhaps I'm a good book selector! But, had I not had to read Monogamy, I would not have finished it.

But it does grow on you.

At First Glance

Monogamy sounded like I would like it: quaint, academic Boston, the owner of a cozy bookstore. . . .what more could I want?

Maybe a nice plot?

My Word and a Warning 

I finished Monogamy because I gave my word that I would - and it did get better page by page, but I must warn you, dear reader, that the first 50-plus pages contain almost too much profanity and sex. Notwithstanding the title, it is not, however, a romance novel. The rest of the book is more 'normal' - actually very homey in that it reminds me of letters from Mom when I was at camp or deployed. Descriptions of every-day life at home that make one homesick and yearn for the three generations depicted in the book.

Sometime photographer Annie and her husband, gregarious and jovial Boston bookstore owner, Graham, are both close to his first wife. Two adult children (one in New York, married and expecting, the other in San Francisco). Book readings, wine, parties, families, holidays - all the things memories are made of.

"She'd thought she was memorable. How clear it was that she was not.

"It wasn't a quality you possessed, she thought now. It was a quality other people endowed you with." (p. 323)

And to tell you the truth, I did grow to like Monogamy. As the pages flew by, I couldn't wait to get back to the book to see what would happen next (spoiler alert: not much). Perhaps, after all, it was the story of one woman's marriage, cut short too soon, followed by memories of what could have been - but then our protagonist comes to realize maybe she did truly love her husband after all.

I think I'll try reading While I was Gone

Audiobook

next. It sounds like the one I would like best. Plus, Oprah's Book Club can't be wrong!

-----------------------------

*Ballantine Reader's Circle award for The World Below and While I was Gone

Movies: The Good Mother (Diane Keaton),

Inventing the Abbotts (Roger Ebert review here),

Family Pictures (Anjelica Huston),

While I was Gone (Kirstie Alley)

Caveat: This book was sent to me for review.

Product Review: The Red Badge of Courage (OT) (book, 2 movies, free audio book, Cliff's Notes)

The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane (independently published 15 December 2019 [originally published 1895], 108 pages, $6.75, 11 years and up)

From Cowardice to Courageous? (In One Book, Two Movies, a Free Audiobook, plus Study Guides)

The Red Badge of Courage has been read by countless students (required reading), viewed in the movie or made-for-TV version by countless more, and listened to by others. 

A Classic

The Red Badge tells the story of a young soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War. If you haven't read it, you are at least familiar with it, probably in book form. Now is the time to read it: it is fairly short. 

Two Movies and . . . !

If you can't find it anywhere (even your local public library), why not watch the movie? The 1951 version stars that most decorated WW2 veteran Audie Murphy and is available on Kanopy while the newer, made-for-TV version with 'John-Boy' Richard Thomas is available on YouTube (originally shown on 3 December and lasting 1 hour, 14 minutes). Because I had misplaced my copy of the book, I watched the 1974 movie prior my Veterans Book Group Zoom meeting - then I listened to the free audiobook version (if you have 4 hours and 45 minutes, listen free here on LibriVox) and even read part of the very helpful SparkNotes (similar to CliffsNotes). Then, would you believe it: I found the book the day after we discussed it!

190,000 Expendables (the 1974 movie)

It was spring, 1863, in Virginia near the banks of the Rapidan River. The ragtag New York 304th company of mule drivers and mud diggers morph into guidon bearers within the space of two days, albeit with numerous flashbacks. The music is such, all the way through, that you realize how familiar it is, along with "Charge!" and "Fire at Will!" and perhaps even "My First and Last Battle."

Thinking, enlisting, a long goodbye to Mom with her numerous admonitions to be careful and to not do anything he would regret later, our hero sets off for battle and to prove himself a man in glorious battle.

The first long conversation took place the night before the set-piece battle with Private Henry Fleming (referred to as The Youth) wondering out loud if anyone in the regiment will run or if they will stand and fight. "Will I be good enough? Will I be a brave soldier? Or will I run?"*

Crane wrote Red Badge in 1895, when he was 21, too young to have experienced the Civil War so the fact that he 'got a lot of it right,' is commendable: a realistic description of the monotony of war (99% waiting, 1% fighting). Hurry up and wait. Impatient men. 

While marching off to battle, there is plenty of time to ponder. And to worry. And to write the final letter home, giving it to a Battle Buddy, just in case. Some things change in the army but some things never change: you fight for your buddy, that fellow next to you.

The characters, the actors, including the general, the colonel, the lieutenant, the tall soldier, the loud soldier, the youth, the private - this is what we know them by, more so then by their names. This makes The Red Badge of Courage timeless, for all times and for all readers.

War Flowers Bursting into Fierce Bloom

"A dog, a woman and a walnut tree: the more you beat 'em, the better they be" (Ch. 16) was a quote two of us highlighted.

And as for cowardice turning to courage, the protagonist "coming of age," becoming a man - our group disagreed. Some believed he really did evolve into a (reckless) hero while others felt he wanted to atone for his cowardice by dying quickly and gloriously - hence, becoming the guidon bearer up front in the battle.

If you haven't read The Red Badge in a long time, read it again. If you have never read it, now would be a good time since it is part of our collective knowledge as a military nation. If it isn't required reading for all military leadership courses, it should be. And if you can't read it (it may be slow for some people), try the audio version or one of the movies.

1951 Movie

-----------------------------------

*I never wondered this when I was on my way to Afghanistan in 2007 and doubt if many others did (except possibly for infantrymen and the like), if I believe my fellow soldiers who later talked about the book.

Product Review: You Desrve a Great Pair of Dog Socks!

"Wear your Heart on Your Heels*"

Marylanders!

So, you spent hours on the holidays - shopping online, wrapping, cooking (and delivering), partying online. Your days are back to ho-hum normal and now you crave some color in your life - a quick pick-me-up that doesn't break the bank but brightens up the old winter coat, the same old mittens and scarf and ear muffs, the drab winter boots.

Red Wine

A Colorful Affordable Pick-me-up

During the pandemic, we are spending more time shoeless because we are spending more time home (alone). 

Why not treat yourself to a new passion - a colorful, meaningful yet comfortable pair of warm novelty socks!

Wheel House Designs - "Sock Art Inspired by Nature"

WheelHouseDesign* is the company to explore first for comfy fun winter socks! Created in Vermont more than 30 years ago at a kitchen table, WheelHouse has kept up with ideals of comfort, quality and delight. Gail Wheel (hence, the company name) Bourne is the creative head who started the company while raising a family. Designs change often so check the website often for the current stock of more than 500 sock designs.

WheelHouse started with and specializes in lifelike dog designs with nearly every breed. Their socks can be found in gift shops,  specialty stores, resorts, boutiques, and online - worldwide - with designs of cats, birds, wildlife, wine and country-living. My second favorite pair is an Arizona desert sunset with cacti.

I bought my first fun pair at a local bird seed gift store, Mother Nature's.

Made in the USA

For those dog people among us, WheelHouse specializes in dog designs like Golden Retrievers or Labs or Rotties or Vizlas or Berners in white, natural, navy, blue, black, . . . . Get yours today!

*WheelHouseDesigns.com