Graceful and charming.
Brodie (English/Washington and Lee Univ.) home-schools her daughter for a year, with engaging, unpredictable results.
The author had no religious or philosophical objection to the public-school system, but she knew it was not serving her ten-year-old daughter well. Julia displayed “a deep inwardness, an engagement with her own imaginative universe,” and her mother wondered at times about autism and ADD. With considerable humor and clarity, Brodie chronicles the process of letting her little caged bird out, “offering her the sky, the clouds, the freedom to let her mind soar”—or, equally likely, to crash and burn. This story is no rosy manifesto to homeschooling, nor a condemnation, but a real-life encounter, full of stormy battles, power struggles and, most of all, passion. There are moments of pedagogic beauty, as the author segues with ease from history to music to geography to fractions, following the natural rhythm of conversation. There are also quite a few less-idyllic moments, duly noted in the chapter titled “The Winter of Our Discontent.” “Away from home,” she writes, “we enjoyed the pleasures of hands-on learning…[but]…as most parents can attest, extended spells of homebound mother-daughter contact are a recipe for trouble.” With a sure hand, Brodie tracks their progress through the whining and discontent, the crush of a mother’s high expectations, the bribery, the great field trips, the reintroduction to the outdoors and the closeness that comes from sharing your favorite things. Without the author’s prompting, readers will understand that this was a fruitful year for Julia.
Graceful and charming.Pub Date: April 6, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-170646-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2010
A straightforward tale of kindness and paying it forward in 1980s New York.
When advertising executive Schroff answered a child’s request for spare change by inviting him for lunch, she did not expect the encounter to grow into a friendship that would endure into his adulthood. The author recounts how she and Maurice, a promising boy from a drug-addicted family, learned to trust each other. Schroff acknowledges risks—including the possibility of her actions being misconstrued and the tension of crossing socio-economic divides—but does not dwell on the complexities of homelessness or the philosophical problems of altruism. She does not question whether public recognition is beneficial, or whether it is sufficient for the recipient to realize the extent of what has been done. With the assistance of People human-interest writer Tresniowski (Tiger Virtues, 2005, etc.), Schroff adheres to a personal narrative that traces her troubled relationship with her father, her meetings with Maurice and his background, all while avoiding direct parallels, noting that their childhoods differed in severity even if they shared similar emotional voids. With feel-good dramatizations, the story seldom transcends the message that reaching out makes a difference. It is framed in simple terms, from attributing the first meeting to “two people with complicated pasts and fragile dreams” that were “somehow meant to be friends” to the conclusion that love is a driving force. Admirably, Schroff notes that she did not seek a role as a “substitute parent,” and she does not judge Maurice’s mother for her lifestyle. That both main figures experience a few setbacks yet eventually survive is never in question; the story fittingly concludes with an epilogue by Maurice. For readers seeking an uplifting reminder that small gestures matter.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-4251-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Howard Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
The sub-title of this book is "Reflections on Education with Special Reference to the Teaching of English in the Upper Forms of Schools." But one finds in it little about education, and less about the teaching of English. Nor is this volume a defense of the Christian faith similar to other books from the pen of C. S. Lewis. The three lectures comprising the book are rather rambling talks about life and literature and philosophy. Those who have come to expect from Lewis penetrating satire and a subtle sense of humor, used to buttress a real Christian faith, will be disappointed.
Pub Date: April 8, 1947
ISBN: 1609421477
Page Count: -
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1947
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
