Angry Fat Girls

Kuffel, Frances. Angry Fat Girls. New York: Berkeley Books, 2010.

Kuffel details the weight loss and gain of her online group, the Angry Fat Girls (AFG).  The women relied on each other for support as their weight went up and down.  Kuffel also details various diet plans the women had tried, as well as the emotional issues surrounding weight loss and gain and living life as one of America's extremely obese people.

This was an interesting and unusual book.  The title was what caught my attention.  I don't necessarily recommend adding it to one's personal library, but it was worth a day's perusal.

Bringing Adam Home

Standiford, Les. Bringing Adam Home. New York: Harper Collins, 2011.

The 1981 kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh changed the face of America.  Parents no longer let their children run out the door with the warning, "Be home by dark." Schools added curriculum about stranger danger and warned children not to accept promises of toys or candy from strangers. I remember being warned of this as early as kindergarten, one time declining a ride home from a classmate's parent, since I knew my classmate but had never met her mother.

The Walshes went on to create America's Most Wanted, a television series responsible for the capture of numerous criminals, and they have fought hard for laws protecting children and harsher punishments for kidnappers. Unfortunately, the police were not able to solve the most personal of the cases, Adam Walsh's kidnap and murder, until very recently.   This book details the Walsh case as well as the developments in legislation since 1981.  This was an interesting book, although not a happy one.

Nick of Time

Downs, Tim. Nick of Time. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011.

A good friend of mine introduced me to the Bug Man books, and I've been addicted ever since.  This new book, Nick of Time, is slightly different from the other novels, but still definitely worth reading.  The ending definitely surprised me, and my only complaint against this book is that it's too short. I finished it in two days and there isn't a sequel yet.

Your Teacher Said What?!

Kernen, Joe. Your Teacher Said What?! Defending our Kids from the Liberal Assault on Capitalism. New York: Penguin Group, 2011.

I thought this book would be a description of things that have sneaked into the curriculum of our educational system, or bizarre things that teachers are telling students these days, all along the theme of capitalism, progressivism, and our nation's economy.

Instead, this book was a discussion of capitalism, progressivism, and our nation's economy, but with little mention of school, curriculum, teachers, etc.  The book itself is fairly interesting, although its bias is quite obvious, but I was disappointed by the misleading title.

The Boy from the Basement

Shaw, Susan. The Boy from the Basement. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 2004.

Charlie lives in the basement of his home.  He is being punished, so he is not allowed out of the basement.  Every night after his parents fall asleep, Charlie sneaks out of the basement and takes one drink of water from the faucet.  If there happens to be enough bread in the bread drawer, he'll eat one piece of bread with peanut butter on it.  Then he opens the back door and uses the back yard as his toilet, only to sneak back inside and head back down to his basement.  Until one day the back door slams shut behind Charlie and he is trapped outside.

Charlie is picked up by an ambulance and taken to the hospital, where the doctors are concerned about his frail, dirty body and his inability to answer simple questions like "What's your last name?" or "What's your phone number?"  This concern is heightened when his parents don't report him missing or attempt to visit him in the hospital for weeks. Why has Charlie been locked in the basement for so long, and what will happen to him when he's released from the hospital?

I found this book to be very sad.  It was sad that Charlie, at 12, didn't own any clothes and had not been to school. It was sad that Charlie's father was so consumed by his own issues that he tried to coerce Charlie into lying to the lawyers about his mistreatment.  It was sad that Charlie is going to have a lot of catching up to do before he can join the rest of society.

This was a good book, and I am glad that I read it.  It's definitely a sad story, but I know there are other Charlies out there.  Here's hoping they all find a way to escape.