Highly worthwhile reading for religious youth looking for direction in planning their lives.
A well-executed self-help book for Christian teens.
Green provides a guide for young people which, if not unique, is certainly capable of holding its own and providing value in both the self-help and Christian-lifestyle markets. The author explores the idea of reaching for success in life by developing leadership abilities and what he terms “soft skills”: “a collection of abilities, behaviors, and attitudes that increase your effectiveness.” In both cases, he calls for youth to strive for success against a Christian backdrop. He notes early on that receiving salvation and exploring God’s plan for one’s life are definitive keys to a life well-lived. He then moves on to the “3Rs”; in this case, they are “Readiness,” “Relationships,” and “Results.” These three fundamentals create the framework for the rest of Green’s book. “Readiness,” for instance, includes being positive and keeping things in proper context; “Results” include problem-solving and accountability, among other points. There are several strengths to Green’s approach; perhaps chief among them is his skill at outlining points succinctly and visually. A diagram at the start of each chapter maps out for readers what subjects are being discussed and how they relate to the “3Rs.” Green also uses bold typefaces and other visual tools to focus readers on important points. Secondly, the author uses stories effectively as learning tools. For example, he relates a situation in which he was at a law enforcement shooting range and thought he was doing well until he was told he was firing at the wrong target—an effective allegory for unconsciously pursuing the wrong goals in life. Third, Green brings lessons back to readers with easy but effective exercises, such as simply making a list of “your true values.” Christian parents will appreciate the author’s consistent use of quotes from Scripture and basic, faith-based advice (such as, “Pray to God and ask Him to reveal His values for you”) over the course of the book.
Highly worthwhile reading for religious youth looking for direction in planning their lives.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-4575-4099-8
Page Count: 123
Publisher: Dog Ear
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Nutty and delightful.
Tragicomic first-person tale of what most men want and all women have, as told by a deliciously potty-mouthed dame.
In this too-short debut, the forthright Patsy tells of her realization–during and especially after a protracted, stop-start affair with a gentleman named Peter who showers her alternately with attention and indifference–that biology is destiny only so far as a gal’s willing to play by the accepted rules of the game. Her chosen man seduces her in person and via e-mail, and though the sex is great–and great fun to read about–something is missing: respect, trust, honesty and all the things that can turn desire into love. Part memoir of an affair gone wrong, part empowerment tract for women of all ages (“My book is lovingly, respectfully dedicated to my dear granddaughters and all young girls,” the author writes), Power of Pussy is a surreal first-person narrative enlivened with funny lists, factoids, poetic self-help musings and fascinating tidbits about the mating habits of praying mantes. It’s also a crisp dissection of her romantic misadventure with the aforesaid jerk. He cheats on her (maybe), she responds with jealousy, they separate and then regroup–and repeatedly continue the timeless roundelay. But eventually she gets wise to the fact that while it might be a “man’s world,” she and her sex–like the Athenian ladies in Aristophanes’ fourth-century comedy Lysistrata, who refuse to put out until their men agree end the Peloponnesian War–hold the real power. When Patsy finally realizes that power is hers for the taking, she starts biting back–thus the book was born.
Nutty and delightful.Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4257-3826-5
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Good-humored essays that chronicle an oddball odyssey through the urban outback. It's neither pristine river nor virgin forest that rattles the affable Rockland's wandering bones, but that awkward border—in the wilderness or in the city—where nature and man's handiwork collide. Chair of American Studies at Rutgers Univ., Rockland (A Bliss Case, 1989) undertakes a series of decidedly unscholarly treks across the wilds of the Northeast corridor. In his search for adventure, he boldly goes where no man wants to go: kayaking the south Jersey meadows in January; camping in Manhattan's Inwood Park; biking Route 1, known as ``Death Highway,'' through Newark, N.J. Prowling the forgotten canals and the traffic- and retail- choked highways of Megalopolis, the unlikely ``new frontier'' that sprawls from New York to Philly, he finds a Whitmanesque splendor in the flotsam of the industrial age. Seeking to ``redefine adventure in contemporary terms,'' he brings it within reach of the average schlepper: No triathlete, Rockland knows when to bag the tent and check into a motel. Hiking all 275 blocks of Broadway, as he does in ``Copping a Pee in the Big Apple,'' requires no superhuman effort. It is, however, a charmingly contrarian way to view the world. That charm—and his self-mocking style, boyish enthusiasm, and unrepentant (but harmless) male chauvinism—lend a refreshing tone to the contrapuntal ruminations on wildlife, geology, urban myth, Indian history, and the pleasures of PB&J scattered throughout his love song to postmodern America. Rockland delights in camp as much as any devotee of pop culture, but his inquiry into the things consumer culture values, then abandons (and the snapshots he presents of our deteriorating cities) forms a powerful cautionary tale. Perfect for armchair travelers or urban adventurers looking for new ideas.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8135-2115-7
Page Count: 165
Publisher: Rutgers Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1994
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