While much of what Berman suggests can be found in other similarly intentioned books, the way she phrases her ideas is...
How to set limits for your child in a balanced, supportive way.
On one hand, there’s no shortage of books about parenting, and all these guides can lead to confusion. However, it’s also true that different parents learn and benefit from different styles. Berman (Psychiatry/UCLA) finds a nice balance between presenting information from a research-minded orientation—the author is a psychiatrist and a parenting group leader—and from a grounded, of-the-moment, culturally current orientation. (She’s also on the advisory board of Matthew and Camila McConaughey’s Just Keep Livin’ foundation.) Berman couches her narrative in mostly current cultural references; before readers are even out of the introduction, the author has referred to Ashton Kutcher and parents “feeling punk’d.” This is both a boon and a weakness throughout the book; some cultural touchstones have longer cache than others, and building too many of them into the structure of a book weakens the integrity of the book as a whole. That’s a minor quibble, though; Berman’s teachings are mostly sensible, easy to understand and backed with common-sense reasoning. She writes about how to maintain balance for families inundated with smartphones, tablets and video games, and she offers advice on being “an emotional grown-up” that should be required reading for all parents. She also provides advice on encouraging self-reliance and self-esteem and how the two are intertwined. Throughout the book, there’s a thread of encouraging parents to reflect, without judging themselves, on how their behaviors do and do not sync up with what they tell their children.
While much of what Berman suggests can be found in other similarly intentioned books, the way she phrases her ideas is welcoming to parents and encourages them in all the best ways to grow into that important role.Pub Date: May 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-227729-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Harper Wave
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
A moving, unvarnished look at living with autism and a helpful guide to action.
In this emotionally charged memoir, Hall tells the story of her first 15 years with her severely autistic son.
The author was a successful acting coach for children in feature films and television. In her mid-30s, intensely spiritual with strong ties to her Jewish religion, she also felt the pull of motherhood. When that didn’t pan out, she and her husband adopted a two-year-old boy from a Russian orphanage. When Neal started to display autistic behavior, and Hall moved past her denial, she had the good fortune of hooking up with a doctor who counseled loving engagement with Neal—not to control, but to seek understanding—something that struck a familiar note from her professional work. Here she details the process of broaching Neal’s protective sequestration. She has gainful experience—even wisdom—to impart, as well as the engrossing tales of the intense realities of living with an autistic child, including the constant search for caretakers who appreciate “that the seemingly bizarre behaviors of autism have meaning and purpose.” Hall excels in capturing the piquancy of the Russian orphanage, the explosiveness of Neal’s caustic tantrums and, most impressively, getting readers into her son’s head to recognize the profound mental energy involved in organizing each little step of activity and the excruciating pain that attends sensory sensitivity. Answering a felt need for community, she started The Miracle Project, which brings autistics and their families together in a safe, dynamic environment to foster creativity through the theater arts.
A moving, unvarnished look at living with autism and a helpful guide to action.Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-174380-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Neal Porter/Flash Point/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2010
Dreary self-serving portraits of failed marriages and their messy ends. Feifer, whose last book was on the battle for Okinawa (Tennozan, 1992), sees parallels between military combat and divorce. Twice a survivor of divorcehis own and his parents'Feifer found dozens of fellow survivors willing, in fact eager, to share their memories of the experience. Twelve divorced women and twelve divorced men, plus one man currently going through a divorce, give their versions of what happened, and two children of divorced parents tell how they felt about it. Speakers range from the freshly divorced to those for whom it is ancient history, the working poor to the affluent, those whose marriages lasted only a few years to those married for decades, but all share a common theme of pain, grief, and anger. Mixed in with these unhappy stories are the points of view of various professionals: two marriage counselors, a social worker, a social demographer, two divorce lawyers, a law professor, two judges, and a divorce mediator. The lawyers seem mostly concerned with defending their profession, but the others take a broader view of divorce as a social problem. One judge recommends that the courts be turned to only after reconciliation, therapy, and mediation have been tried. Another cautions people to look for a family lawyer with the skills of a negotiator and mediator, one who ``makes peace instead of war.'' Feifer, who makes no claims to inclusiveness or authority, does not insert himself in these conversations except for an occasional question, but his introduction and his choice of voices makes it clear that he sees divorce as a destructive, adversarial process for which alternatives are available. Slow, tedious, and devoid of fresh insights.
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1995
ISBN: 1-56584-272-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: The New Press
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1995
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