Review: The Prize, by Dale Russakoff

THE PRIZE: WHO'S IN CHARGE OF AMERICA'S SCHOOLS

by Dale Russakoff

Houghton Mifflin

September 2014

0547945019 ISBN 13 9780547840512

304 Pages

THE PRIZE: WHO'S IN CHARGE OF AMERICA'S SCHOOLS, commands your attention throughout.  An absorbing book and necessary read for all who think educational reform will ever be realized. There is no easy solution as Russakoff gives the reader insight from a recent example in the Newark, NJ public school system.  The players: I expect had grandiose intent: Christ Christie, Cory Booker, Mark Zuckerberg and Cami Anderson. Who doesn't want to reform education these days?

I consider myself an optimist, but Russakoff's years of research took me on a painful roller coaster ride through the urban city of Newark.  Juggling below amid the dropping test scores, high crime, gangs, single parent homes, and general indifference is the powerhouse quartet with a staggering $200 million to play with, to reform the failing district. Lofty goals for sure, but obviously misplaced. It becomes evident in this case that political gain supersedes all. Once again, uninformed capitalists believe they can mold schools into their corporate model structure. NO!

It is not the teachers! You can't replace community schools without considering the insiders. What about people...students...parents...yes and those dedicated teachers? Support is needed on so many levels. 

Dale Russakoff, a 28 year veteran reporter for Washington Post has delivered a well researched, well paced and comfortable style for all readers. Her experience shows. Her first book gives promise for her future projects. 

As the author concludes and I concur,  you need to 

"....put the real needs of children at the center of the national conversation about education reform, which in its ideological decisiveness is in danger of leaving them behind." (218)

Kudos to Dale Russakoff for unveiling the shortsightedness of people in power. This is a dynamic and valuable addition to educational library book stacks.

~Wisteria Leigh 
September 2015

Disclosure: Self-purchased book. 

View all my review on Goodreads

Disclosure: An uncorrected proof was sent to me with a request for an unbiased review.  This review is my honest opinion.

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2015]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Review- Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani

Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
ISBN-978-1-4767=0909-3
Atria Books
Published: 2013
Novel: History-Iran, post-revolutionary Iran, 1983-2011

This is one of the best books I have read this year!  Sahar Delijani has a poetically beautiful writing style. She is able to capture the smallest nuance of life. When you read Children of the Jacaranda Tree, you will be immersed in the lives of people caught up in ongoing conflict in Iran from 1979.  You will experience their lives as if a person is dictating it to those who can not see. The detail is spot on, the imagery is gorgeous.  As a reader, I felt connected to the lives of the characters in her book. Honestly, it was a visual movie in my mind. Such a talented writer. Don't mis this one.


View all my review on Goodreads

Disclosure: This book was sent to me for review and possible post by Atria Books.  I have written my unbiased personal reflection.

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2014]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Review: A Soul's Calling, by Scott Bishop

 

A SOUL’S CALLING
Scott Bishop 
Wanderlust Publishing House
January 4, 2013
Print Version: 341 pages
0615695353
List Price $14.95 Paperback





Once in a great while a book lands in my lap that is breathtakingly beautiful and at the same time personally illuminating. Such is the case with A Soul’s Calling by Scott Bishop.  
This is the story of Scott who has the ability to communicate with the Other Side.  It is during his encounter with the Spirit World that he realizes his soul is in jeopardy.  As he grapples with this revelation, he makes a choice to travel to Nepal.  He expects a mythical adventure that will take courage, but his soul beckons him to go. He must face Mount Everest in hopes that the Spirits will help to mend his soul.

Scott is an attorney who is not exactly your typical experienced mountain climber.  He describes himself as conservative, predictable and responsible. Undaunted, he researches the feasibility of the trek and physically trains for the arduous journey.  He gathers a melange of symbolic objects and prayers with obvious personal significance.  He believes he will need these things when he reaches Base Camp.  Along with the requisite guide, (reticent and wary of the American) Scott is eager to begin the climb.  Soon he realizes his preparations have fallen very short of his actual needs and he must adjust.  The challenges begin early on as he must overcome his fear of heights and acclimate to breathing at high altitude.  On the ascent, each stage of the climb gets harder, with seemingly endless stairs and rugged terrain. Each day he feels weaker with increasing doubts and an ominous outlook.

A Soul’s Calling will take you where most will never go. The author builds drama and captures the nuances of the sweeping resplendent landscape.  He allows all senses to experience this man’s pilgrimage, the natural rhythm of his journey unfolds with fluidic imagery. The prose is rich with visual brilliance, words so carefully blended together. Scott Bishop captures the majestic and graceful soul of these virginal peaks.  He unveils the simple serenity and spectacular attraction of the Himalayan Mountains.  A Soul’s Calling is a humbling and reflective novel that will polarize most readers. 

Visit Scott Bishop's Homepage


Note:
Amazon Current Promotion
Currently $9.54 @ Amazon
Kindle $6.95,
Note: Prime Members may borrow Kindle Version at no cost.

Disclosure: The author provided a free digital copy of his book.  This review is submitted without bias.


© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2013].

Review-Race-Baiter by Eric Deggans

 

RACE BAITER:
HOW THE MEDIA WIELDS DANGEROUS WORDS TO DIVIDE A NATION

by Eric Deggans

Palgrave Macmillan(2012), Hardcover
288 pages, 0230341829.




Eric Deggans' social commentary is a worthy and important book for all. As an educator in the field of media literacy,  it is a valuable book with current analysis of what the author calls "media ecology". He defines media ecology as "the constellation of websites, social media spaces, radio and TV outlets, print publication, and even music platform that each person regularly consults each day. What I found interesting is how he points out that if as a media entity, your news, your delivery happens outside of any person's media ecology, it doesn't exist to them.

The author's purpose “is an attempt to decode the ways media outlets profit by segmenting Americans.”  He shows how the reporting of journalists can influence, persuade its audience to the left or right. His focus through most of the book is on racial bias and the consistency of managing the news with untruths and misleading reporting. Is there anyone who really believes that television and all media in our purview is not biased?  Deggan outlines his argument with countless examples of the ways media alters dialog, images and general news gathering to suit a specific audience or slant the news left or right. in reporting. He shows the irony of the term "Reality Shows" and how they are chiseled to each a specific audience.  

He offers solutions to breaking down the race-baiting of our modern media and how we must work to break down segregation that still exists. A phrase that tells so much...Deggan says, "we have to learn to sit together." This may sound preachy...but he is not.

In his view,  racial equality is looked at differently by whites and African Americans. Here is an example, in Eric Deggans' words:

“Whenever someone tells me in a well meaning voice, that they don't see color, I always respond, What's wrong with seeing my color?" The key is that when you see my skin color, you don't think it's a bad thing."

As I witnessed this personally in an interracial marriage, his observation is accurate. There is "the look", an experience that is repeated often when you are in public. Anyone who has been given "the look" understands what I mean. It's better to talk about racial difference than to pretend it doesn't exist.

Race Baiter is a candid and necessary book that should provoke a deeper awareness of the powerful messages that try to perpetuate fear or confirmation of your beliefs through any media possible.  

 Disclosure: Library Thing sent me a copy of Race-Baiter to review for the Early Reviewer program.

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2012].

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2013].

Review-Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS: LIFE, DEATH, AND HOPE IN A MUMBAI UNDERCITY

Katherine Boo

Random House,
February 12, 2012
$28.00, Hardcover
288 pp, 978-1400067558
Genre: Non-fiction




Sixteen year old Abdul is a collector of garbage, an astute teenager who makes a success of his trade. He deals and competes for small economic gains in the Annadawi slum. Located just beyond the financial capital of Mumbai, it is owned by the Airports Authority of India, yet travelers heading toward the international terminal are greeted by a concrete wall of sunny yellow. A corporate slogan weaves along the wall, “Beautiful Forever Beautiful Forever Beautiful Forever, yet the irony is what is just on the other side. 

Abdul’s younger brother Mirchi says it best: 

“Everything around us is roses, and we’re the shit in between.” 

Katherine Boo reports the uncomfortable truth that several families must endure in the Undercity. The three thousand residents belong to all castes and sub-castes, Muslims, Hindus and the untouchables. They live in 335 huts that sit atop a landscape of slushy waste, toxic debris, unimaginable combinations of obnoxious odors, offal and filth laden with disease. Despite the pervasive dangers and keen competition, Abdul has acquired more than most, and his family’s future appears to be on the rise, but will this trend continue?

Survival is key with the hope that one day life will be better. Abdul has a theory for prosperity that speaks more to the randomness of his fate.

 “It seemed to him fortunes derived not just from what people did, or how well they did it, but from the accidents and catastrophes they dodged. A decent life was the train that hadn’t hit you, the slumlord you hadn’t offended, the malaria you hadn’t caught.” 


Katherine Boo details everyday life, the repulsiveness, squirmy truth and the desperation of those who live in the Mumbai Undercity.  She shares what she has witnessed in her book as she follows the lives of several families.   Imagine living in this environment, let alone having to pay rent to a slumlord who oversees the residents small space carved out amid the detritus. The author manages to show the sorrowful sadness that divides the squalor of slum against the economic gains India has acquired as part of our borderless global community.  She is sensitive and frank with objectivity, although I imagine her subjectivity was hard to curtail. Without hiding behind the airport wall of shining yellow, Katherine Boo reveals the inhumanity and suffering that the people endure and despite the odds, somehow survive. Katherine Boo has received meritorious praise and notable awards, which as readers will discover, are well deserved Thanks to the author for writing an unforgettable book. BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS,  is a reflective book with global appeal, heartfelt and insightful with a promise to linger long after the end. 




DISCLOSURE: I PURCHASED THE KINDLE EDITION OF THIS BOOK.

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2012].