No comments about My Green Years Along the Rappahannock.

1 comments about Now, When I Was a Kid . . .: Nostalgic Ramblings by.

1. Now, When I Was A Kid... is the personal and nostalgic autobiography of Dan McGuire's growing up as a young man in a semi-rural town from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. With "the big city" (Chicago) a streetcar away, the simple small town ease of sharing a peaceful time on the neighborhood porch was to be overshadowed by the terrible threats of World War II and the ensuing Cold War. McGuire tells of a sheltered childhood, and the fun of just being a kid when the heavy responsibilities of adulthood were just around the corner. A wistful and fondly told reminiscence, Now, When I Was A Kid... is a particularly well written and highly recommended memoir of what it was like to grow up in a yesteryear America that will never come again.

No comments about Diary of a Little Girl in Old New York.

2 comments about White Poplar, Black Locust.

1. I thought this was a phoenominal book. Louise weaves this memior of her childhood in a company logging town integrating social insight with the logging haydays of the 1950's and 1960's. Well researched and poignant. My copy was devoured by fellow employees while I was on vacation...



2. White Poplar, Black Locust is about the joys and sorrows of growing up in a small town in the `50s, but it's no Leave It to Beaver or Happy Days. Louise grew up in an isolated company logging town on the California-Oregon border, in many ways a paradise for kids. But it wasn't all white poplar, her childhood had its thorny locust side as well. One marvels at the resiliency of the human spirit in memoirs like Jeanette Wall's Glass Castle and Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes. This spirit is very much in evidence in White Poplar, Black Locust, as is the same tone of detached and loving acceptance of circumstances and parents who are not as good as they could be. Wonderfully written, I loved this book from the first sentence to the last, and many times in the midst, I stopped just to marvel at a particularly apt phrase or to take in the deep honesty of the author.

No comments about A Young Girl's Diary: Prefaced with a Letter by Sigmund Freud.

1 comments about Willie.

1. This book was interesting because of it's variety of subjects. It follows the life of a medicine man in rural Canada, the struggles of a child,the fascinating people he meets, his interest in horses and racing,the happy and sad times in his marriage and family and finally the exciting musical talent that emerges. It is well worth the read for it's description of life in the depression in Canada, and the endurance of the spirit and finally the triumph of the music.

4 comments about Father Figures: Three Wise Men Who Changed a Life.

1. This account of a young man's search for someone to teach him the lessons and values that his dead father could not is a beautifully written, thoughtful book. His style of writing is straightforward and candid, as the struggles of his large, financially-strapped family are detailed. Especially well-drawn are the three men he chooses as father figures, and his strong yet vulnerable mother. It would make a good book to give to a man who may have served this function in your life, or someone in need of a father figure.



2. Following the devastation of September 11, 2001, the author of the remarkable new memoir, "Father Figures," wrote an online essay to remind Americans of one of the grim realities of that day: the thousands of children who were suddenly left without a parent, and what others could do to help these kids as they made their way from grief to growing up. The response felt by many to that first essay led to the writing of "Father Figures."

   Kevin Sweeney knows an unfair amount about this sad subect. His own father passed away when he was three, leaving a loving but now nearly destitute mother to raise six children alone.

   The Sweeneys, without a father, husband, provider, faced a grim challenge, but the young boy named Kevin was determined to work his way through the loss.

   Each child who loses a parent must inevitably come to terms in his own way, but Sweeney, by some quirky inspiration that only an innocent youth could summon, came up with a novel solution. He would adopt a father; in fact, three. Secretly. Without their knowing it.

   His plan was simple: without a father of his own to guide him, he knew something was missing, so to fill in the chasm he would select the best, the wisest men in his small world, watch them, learn from them, but never tell. And bask in their glow when he was brought into their gentle orbits.

   His powers of observation as a child serve him well as an adult. Sweeney has rendered wonderfully a world that is so quaintly American, so hopeful, that one wishes to step back into it, if only for a sweet neighborhood picnic, or a summer pick-up baseball game with the kids. A time when an entire suburban block came out to cheer the neighbor girls on their way to the prom. That was all in the outdoor world of youth. Inside was a different story.

   They were tough times growing up, and Sweeney brings alive an almost Dickensian tale of the private sacrifices his family endured for years after his father died. Nor does he pull punches when, growing up, he begins to discover some of the flaws of hiw own beloved dad. Refreshingly, Sweeney tells this story without a hint of bitterness. The optimism of a boy who is determined to survive and flourish is alive and well in the grown-up who set out to record his past.

   Sweeney has done a remarkable job in showing us how a child navigates, poorly at times, the shifting tides of growing up, the yearnings and fears and disappointments. But also the joys and thrills of the little victories, like learning to hit a curve ball. He is funny, honest and blunt and does not spare even himself from his critical eye, not even when it comes to reliving those inexorably dumb decisions adolescent boys seem driven to make.

   Above all, he is a gracious and grateful memoirist, and that spirit rubs off on his readers. He is grateful for these three remarkable men and how they, chosen secretly by a bright, fatherless boy, helped him steer his way. It is a wonderful tribute to them, surrogate fathers who deserve a pat on the back from all of us who read Sweeney's memoir.




3. Kevin Sweeney has created a whole world in Father Figures, giving us not only a strong portrait of what it is like to grow up without a father, but also of a modern Catholic childhood. His writing and insights are strong and often simply beautiful. He's a wonderful story teller and will keep any reader turning pages long into the night.



4. So useful for boys who have no father figure in their lives. Almost a guide to identify willing candidates and make sure you have that vital male role model in your life! Even though I have a real, live father, (thanks Dad!) this still tugged at my heartstrings no end, especially the initial scenes when Sweeney's father is dying and he describes his sister's grief about not kissing him goodbye on the fateful day - incredible.

4 comments about The Story of My Boyhood and Youth.

1. John Muir, one of the great leaders of the ecological movement in America, tells of growing up on a farm in Wisconsin. He gives detailed information about the wildlife he sees growing up, which is interesting but does get a bit tedious. It was interesting to learn how Muir became interested in being an inventor; before reading this book I hadn't known of his inventions. It gives some insights into how he came to love and appreciate nature, and hints at his later desire to protect all things wild. Near the end of the book he writes, "I wandered away on a glorious botanical and geological excursion, which has lasted nearly fifty years and is not yet completed, always happy and free, poor and rich, without thought of a diploma or of making a name, urged on and on through endless, inspiring, Godful beauty." Certainly Muir's writing recalls Thoreau, and his spirit has lived on through the writings of such diverse people as Rachel Carson, Jack Kerouac, and Adolph Murie. This book is not one of his classics, but if you're interested in Muir or life on the plains before they became completely tamed, it's worth reading.



2. I wouldn't recommend this as a first book for those who are interested or curious about Muir (try _My First Summer in the Sierra_ or _1000 Mile Walk_), but it gives a lot of insight, for me at least, on why Muir turned out the way he did. He had a cruel, strict father and had to endure a lot of pain and hardship, which made his latter wilderness travels so much easier and free in comparison.



3. The central symbol of Muir's abusive father is the father's decision to become a lay preacher, and thus his determination to study the Bible all day, while dumping all the farm chores on young John. This puts John at the bottom of a new well, hacking through the rocky ground in search of water. While the holy father urges him on between inspirational readings. One wonders if the father was reading of Jesus's encounter with the woman at the well, offering himself as the living water.

   John concluded it's time to get the heck out of Wisconsin and away from his dad, to roam around the mountains and forests of the great unexplored Western U.S., appreciating the water where God placed it in plain view.

   Muir's experience of being forced to work like a Calvinist, while his dad sat around like a pietist, presents a juxtaposition which can be applied to other relationships we all come across in our lives. That, and the lesson that you need not be a perpetual victim of a rotten childhood. Muir certainly overcame it.




4. John Muir was a genius of natural understanding, and this book doesn't really explain why. His life is beyond explanation. But he sure can tell a tale! It's a fascinating look at new immigrants to the U.S. in the 1800's. John Muir is such a man apart that every page is mindblowing. He has thoughts and experiences that will appeal to nearly every reader. His schooling was remarkable, his work ethic unrelenting, his desire to learn insatiable, his boldness irrefutable. He relates his thought processes in a way that opens the window to his soul, and you learn to know a man who you really want to know. His instincts, thoughts, motives, and wonderings guide the reader's mind to productive and beneficial thoughts.
   I loved this book!

No comments about The Orphan Home: The Memories of Laurence K. & John H. Buchholz.

2 comments about The Legacy of Roxaboxen.

1. The Legacy of Roxaboxen is a delightful memoir, a tribute to a young girl who created, along with her sisters and neighborhood playmates, an imaginary town situated on a small desert hill in Yuma, Arizona, in the early days of World War I. The book is an intimate look into the life of Marian Doan, the author's mother, who penned a history of the children's "settlement," Roxaboxen, where "homes" were outlined with rocks, boxes, and desert glass, and where the children fought legendary wars and traded their wares in imaginary stores. Relying on memoirs of aunts, cousins, and her mother's childhood friends, Alice McLerran has created a loving daughter's tribute to her mother's life and creativity, as well as a reverent salute to the wonderful world reserved for the mind of children. Roxaboxen is a real place, and has been preserved as a natural desert park for local and visiting children to enjoy and in which to imagine. The Legacy of Roxaboxen intertwines Marian's early life and the history of Roxaboxen with the events of the era. The book, and McLerran's picture book "Roxaboxen" will encourage readers to unearth their own memories of childhood play. It is a rare gem -- a must read for anyone who values family, friendship, and the unmatchable imaginations of children!



2. Roxaboxen is one of my favorite picture books because it reminds me so strongly of the place I can visit, only in memory, where my childhood friends and I used to play. I'm sure many of us share that special memory place. It was a delight to learn that Roxaboxen was a real place, and to discover the stories of the children who played there. The author does such a good job of relating this "story behind the story" that one can feel the summer sand and sense the Arizona winds. The photos and design of the book enhance this experience, as does the special journal tucked inside the book. Thanks to Alice McLerran for sharing her family's story with us in this very special way.