An important and touching book
931248
I read a lot and there aren't a lot of books that really touch me to the core, put me through a wide range of emotions and compel me to discuss them with others.  This one did all of those things.

The Grass Sweeper God is a unique story set in an Appalachian coal miners town in the 1950's.  The main character is a young boy named Smiley and he is treated as mentally disabled and an outcast because he is effeminate and likes to wear women's clothing to school.  While he has the support of his best friend, Lee, during the daylight hours, things are not as supportive at home with his aunt and uncle that are raising him.  Smiley is chosen to play the lead in an odd spin-off of the Wizard of Oz, called Oz Coal Camp.  This doesn't sit well with many as it's a female lead and some tragic events come to pass as a result.

This was a powerful read for me.  I'm gay and often thank my lucky stars that I was born and ""came out"" in a day and age when I am accepted by nearly everyone I meet.  I am also so grateful for those who came before me who had to suffer the indignities and discrimination in order for the acceptance to be at the level that it is right now.  Regardless, a book like this is an important one because I think that it illustrates a very real part of our history and one that we should never forget.  Not to mention the fact that there are still places that this sort of discrimination exists today.  Whatever can be said to bring light to hateful activities has my vote.

Social commentary aside, Doug Howery is a great writer and did a fantastic job with this material.  He had me hooked and this is a book that nearly anyone can find an emotional connection to.
2138457
What a moving book, both the story it tells and the story behind it. The illustrations are unique and beautiful, the words carefully chosen. Although ostensibly a children's book, I was deeply touched as an adult. It would be a great starting point for discussion in schools or youth groups and I will recommend it to my librarian and teacher friends.
4237321
This is a courageous and important book. I am an identical twin and my mother sent me this book. When I finally got around to reading it I couldn't believe how moved I was - often to tears. Paula and Elyse's willingness to so honestly write their story is a gift to many others, especially identical twins. Their ability to reflect on the realities and challenges of their reunion is a unique insight into twinship. In many ways they have reflected on it more powerfully than I have been able to having been enmeshed in the dynamics of twinship my whole life. The parallel story of dealing with depression is also powerful, honest, and moving. You will be grateful to share a piece of their story!
2198077
After reading this very touching book, I have several images that are transfixed and permanently encased in my mind.

The first is an obvious one: Rupert and Kristin Isaacson are amazing loving parents, that have paved a bright light of hope at the end of a swirling tunnel of emotions called autism.

The second is HOPE in knowing that there are these types of humans still inhabiting this earth, with unconditional love and support, with turbulent times in hand, but still willing to go that extra mile or even thousands of miles for LOVE.

My heart goes out to everyone involved... I only wish this was required reading for those whom have their doubts.

And last, but by far not the least, Rowan, you are such a special boy to be able to communicate with the animals... sometimes when I speak to them in my mind I finally understand why I am here.
3839823
An important and beautiful book whose flawed and courageous characters become a measure of our own humanity and willingness to see and act and love.  You will not be able to put it down. The best book I have read in years!
1298519
There is something in this book for everyone, and a message to each of us just how important even the smallest moments of personal interaction with others may prove, how profoundly they may impact another's life far disproportionately greater than we personally might anticipate or expect at the time.

It's also somewhat of an essay upon how that, despite omnipresent Internet-connected devices and access to social media to connect us with others in our families and communities, given the nature of social media posts, more like a bulletin board than a letter or conversation, somehow knowing what is happening in other's lives, without that broader direct person-to-person contact which is more and more being displaced by 'likes', Instagrams, and the like, somehow some of us, maybe even ALL of us may find themselves or ourselves more lonely and alone than they have ever been.

So often we read about how lonely, embittered and socially-disconnected individuals experience deeply-affected moments of despair which may lead to nihilistic acts revenge and violence, as much self-directed as outward. It seems such events are increasing in number and frequency exponentially even as it might seem that we have more tools to connect with our communities more omnipresent than has ever been possible in the entirety of human history. And yet, somehow, we may be leaving so many individuals behind with no check against self-perpetuating cycles of negativity, and a deep bitterness at feelings of being very personally excluded from the rest of their families and community.

This book begins in the aftermath of tragic violence born of such personal feelings of exclusion, social antipathy or neglect, social derision, feelings of unjust persecution, and a desire to be rid of it all, perhaps taking a moment to share the ride with a prominent persecutors or two.  It ends with several developing a keen understanding of both their roles in the build-up to the violence, and with their responsibilities to themselves and others to forge deeper interpersonal connections to others in their social networks of the human face-to-face sort, to keep themselves and their communities healthy.

The voices of the characters are very authentic and meaningful, their circumstances familiar enough that one may easily feel their lives linked with moments of our own.  The central theme is an important one for this moment in time, enough so to forgive how forcefully it is pounded into the reader.

This is another book that I want my child to read to help him understand how important the sense of personal connection is, how it is not to be slighted without consequence, and to illustrate how important even the smallest of our individual acts may be in either leading to or toward thwarting tragedy in our communities, families, and personal lives.  I'm recommending the title to all my 'connected' Internet-connected 24x7x365 friends, too.
4288376
This is a wonderful memoir that is easy to read - with the average chapter being about 3 pages in length.  It's an interesting, entertaining, and very touching (it will make you laugh and cry)  book about the challenges and blessings of raising an autistic child.  It's an extremely important book to read for anyone who is raising, working with, or connected to an autistic child - or if you just want a really great book about family. I not only enjoyed the story of Ian and his family, but am very thankful for the insight it has given to me.
3702340
Virginia Chase Sutton's "Of A Transient Nature" is an important book.

Embedded into the collection of poems is the painful story of a young girl who was preyed upon, by the very people whose job it was to protect her. Enduring her father's molesting and her mother's indifference, plus repeated bullying at school, it is remarkable that this little girl survived at all.

What emerges is a triumph of the human spirit, not only to survive, but to still see the beauty elsewhere in the world. Perhaps it was the knowledge that there was beauty beyond the present moment that made it possible to endure such a horrific childhood, and soar to a different life. A life with the courage to trust, to marry, to have a child, to travel out into the world. The title suggests that somehow she knew the abuse would not last forever; that there was a life beyond the horror.

What is remarkable about this book is that the author is still able to focus on the feelings of others and not be swallowed up by self-pity. One of my favorite poems in the book is about a long-ago, beautiful Valentine card that was sent to someone beloved, who discarded it, and now that card has ended up in a thrift shop display. A poignant moment, considered generations after both the sender and recipient have passed away.

This book is filled with raw, searing emotion that needs to be read, to validate the stories of other little children who have been so violated. Here we have the words of one who survived, and we can celebrate the transcendent spirit of a woman brave enough to let herself be happy.

Review by Aurora Dawning, author of "Moon Music"
3831094
A beautiful, thoughtful, important book. I originally borrowed it for a weekend but had to buy myself a copy as it addresses such rich themes - loss, wilderness, vision, community, ideology-- and ultimately, responsibility.
6623
"Because of Katie" is a book that should belong in everyone's library.  There is, literally, something precious for everyone in this story and the insights and life lessons Ms. Gerstenberger graciously share are powerful and applicable to all of us.  The author has a unique and intimate manner of connecting with her readers, as she tells us a gripping, powerful, personal story and yes, there is pain, but there is also humor, honesty and intense growth and discovery.  "Because of Katie", Karen Gerstenberger wrote a meaningful, compelling and rich book that takes the tragic illness of her 12 year old daughter, and rather than leaving the reader filled with despair, offers spiritual lessons and light that spring from the darkest of places.  "Because of Katie" is not only a celebration of Katie but, indeed, a celebration of LIFE.  If you purchase this book, put on a pot of tea and settle in for a wonderful, moving read.
1239881
For those in the Legion of the Damned, this is a very touching book. The author has shared his bitter experiences of the past involving individual turmoil and social alienation that will affect many who read it. Even in cultures where the standard prohibition was "If you ask for psychological treatment, it will go down in your record" (whatever that was?), readers will deeply sympathize with this autobiographical book and realize that they were not alone at their time of deep emotional pain. This is a very brave act on the part of the author re-visiting a psychological past that even the memory must have been difficult to deal with. Still for others daily contemplating Graham Greene's "Russian" solution in their own version of "Clapham Common", the fact that somebody else suffered in different ways and came out of it, broken, but not destroyed, will give hope to many. As I finished the last chapter of this very poignant book, my mind returned to that closing image in Tony Palmer's TESTIMONY when the Great Leader appeared as a ghostly presence to the dying Shostakovitch - "Without me, you would not have been creative" is his final sentence. I'm sure both composer and author of so many other creative works would have wished that the cost of such creativity was not that high. However, this book is essential reading. There is no such thing as standard normality and we should accept those who are different as well as understand the differences within ourselves, where they emerge from, and how they may be directed in creative and positive ways.
833424
A beautifully written, wise and compassionate book about the authors' successes and failures in connecting with African-Americans in a way that reaffirms our common humanity. I too have considered this an important part of my life's work, though I am well behind them and their efforts, but I learned subtle but important pieces of wisdom from them. Highly recommended for people who are serious about the work or who might like to be. It's important, but it needn't be scary.
2627860
Part advanced science presentation, part advocacy for the return of love and genuine caring to the raising of children from birth, part fierce and reasoned assault on modern American medicine, culturally approved parental child-rearing delegation, and the inappropriate and potentially harmful elevation of pharmaceutical fix as a patch for damaged psyches. This extraordinary book, written by three psychiatrists, who care deeply about love and truly healthy human beings, and are saddened by its inferior status in the pantheon of American cultural values, give us an important book that ultimately questions some of our most cherished values and beliefs about what constitutes `the good life', and, perhaps most especially, how do we care for and develop that most important, but woefully neglected, natural resource-children.

I loved this book, and have learned so much from it, both for my own personal use, simply for the knowledge and wisdom it imparts, and for what it can teach all of us about the value of love for individuals and for society.

Disseminating recent scientific discoveries (as well as debunking many old accepted scientific beliefs) about the biological basis of love, and presenting love and its attendant qualities and manifestations as the most significant difference between the reptilian brain and the mammalian one. These three thoughtful and passionate men explain the ramifications and importance of the development of the mammalian brain, and its superiority to a truly successful human life because the heartbeat of love resides within its neuronal pathways. (They go so far as to argue that because the presence of a healthy appreciation for and proper education about love, that the mammalian brain is more important than the cognitive brain.)

I recommend this book to those of you interested in the science of brain development, and recent discoveries about the brain and its evolution. Readers interested in a biologic basis of love, and what the authors forcefully argue as the most important quality a child, and therefore, an adult can learn during the earliest years of life when most permanent psychological and emotional learning are imprinted within the human brain, will eat up the material presented in this treatise.

I could go on writing about this book, and my enthusiasm for it, but moving to some final words, the authors, in the first thorough explanation I've read, argue for the value of psychological/psychiatric and emotional therapy, and not the several weeks' kind most offered by the misdirected and economics-focused health care system in this country. They do not promote any specific technique, but state unequivocally the importance of finding the right type of therapy.

There is so much packed into its 230 pages.

I will read this book, at least once again. I hope as many people as possible learn from its wisdom, at least for the sake of our children, who are our future.
4056428
An important and beautiful book! I admit it; I'm a sucker for a story about hope. Throw in some gritty truths that make me squirm, a series of impossible choices, and a healthy dose of uncommon bravery, and I'm in positive reading heaven. Lucky for me, Barbara Claypole White pulls this off brilliantly with The Promise Between Us. In this important and beautifully written story, the curtain is lifted on the day-to-day trials of grappling with mental illness and crippling personal histories. It's not always pretty. In fact, it seldom is, but with her usual care and passion for the subject, White shows us that with enough truth, resilience, and a great support systems, hope is always within reach.
4519540
A very important book about a very important topic. People and individuals that have felt marginalized and oppressed can find a voice that speaks for them. The challenges of healing the wounds of Internalized Oppression are many, and unfortunately the book doesn't go into that enough. Perhaps it's because it's such a new topic that, although it's pervasive and been around for centuries, it's only beginning to come to light.
4026088
This is a wonderful, touching book. It is a harrowing story of a young women's struggle to survive the Holocaust and save her toddler daughter. The story takes place in Hungary in the last year of the war. A resourceful and courageous woman, the mother manages to hide as a servant woman. She is both willing and able to do whatever it takes to stay alive. The latter part of the book is devoted to her husband's search for her and his daughter. This search is eventually successful and the family builds a happy life after the war.

The book moved me to tears because it touches the raw pain and desperation both of the mother and of the bewildered child. Unlike many other Holocaust books, this one focuses not so much on the cruelty of the Nazis and their Hungarian helpers, but on the many kind people who took risks to help the two survive or just showed them kindness when it was most needed.

One of the central themes of the book is the young child's struggle to understand God in the context of the losses she suffers. Throughout her life, the protagonist yearned to believe in a God that she felt did not exist. It's an interesting theme and is handled in a nuanced manner.

This is a graphic novel, in cartoon strip format. I did not fall in love with the images. They lack the graphic power of "Maus." Spiegleman made the cartoon medium work for him, forever changing it. Katin's images seemed to me to be less interesting and challenging. They are carefully drawn and capture the mood, but what made the book work for me was the dialog, and that could have been captured as a narrative as well.

This book may not, in my opinion, be appropriate for the younger student because of sexual content. There are two situations of forced sex, and while they are not graphically depicted, the themes are rather adult. There is also discussion of an abortion. The older highschool student should be able to contextualize the material appropriately.
4913408
I very much consider this a very important book to read.  It may not be the easiest, because you will find promotion of a way of thinking which is significantly different from our own western philosophy. This way of thinking opens the way for the stories of many "miracle workers" who perform feats that defy western logic.  And these stories can be stumbling blocks to many readers.
These stories do, however, illustrate various points of the vedic philosophy.
I believe that any person interested in religious thought will find much of value here.  Many precepts of the Hindu religion are explored throughout this autobiography, and some of them shed light from a different perception upon the Christian and Judaic faiths.  If a person is open to looking at one's own beliefs through another person's eyes, understanding of all beliefs may be increased.  A person who does not wish to understand beliefs of another person's religion should, however, stay away from this book.
Along with the personal, spiritual autobiography and the open sharing of belief and faith are stories of many swamis and saints, and also of two of current culture and times.  One chapter is devoted to noted horticulturist Luther Burbank, and his friendship with Yogananda, giving a different view of the man and of his accomplishments than that generally learned in our schooling.  Another chapter is given to Mahatma Ghandi as Yogonanda briefly knew him.
This isn't the easiest book for the western mind to understand, much less accept.  However, it's worth the effort.