Bottom Line: I can recommend this book to anyone involved with homeschooling and to those who wonder just what's up with homeschooling.
Quinn Cummings, Oscar nominee and recurring character actress on the TV show Family, writes with honesty and wit about her trials and tribulations during her adventure with homeschooling her daughter Alice. I came to this book by way of my book club, made up of mostly home school moms. Hang on, I'm going to brag about my group for a moment. Unlike some other home school groups, notably the ones Cummings reports in her book, we are kind of a fringe group in that we don't all attend the same kind of churches or have the same kind of leisure activities. We have ex-lawyers, ex-college professors, people with masters and PhD degrees, people who never finished college, people who dance, drum, play bass in country bands, sing, and quilt. Some of us work full time and home school still. We also have women whose children are done with the school journey and who now are working on their own educations and independent entrepreneurial careers.
I tell you all this to show that we are a group who are uniquely qualified to review the "truth" of Cummings book, and let me tell you, the recount of her experiences is dead on, especially in that no two homeschooling families will have the same things happen because no two family dynamics are just the same. When Cummings locks herself in the laundry room and breathes into a bag, I am sure several other women nodded in sympathy for feeling the same way at times. As Cummings moves through her search to find her "tribe," I know exactly what it feels like to be an outsider and want connection, but because I am already a bit unorthodox it can be a struggle to find other independent people who want to have a group interaction.
Readers who are not part of the home school world will get a glimpse into the some of the reasons why so many parents are choosing this option for their children. Cummings impressed me by her research and her argumentation skills in considering deeply all sides of the issue. She is also very funny. I don't want to spoil any of the LOL moments in the book, but I was reading this in a doctor's waiting room and got some pretty curious looks thrown my way when I got to the section on Radical Unschooling.
I love the scene toward where the storyteller is giving the commencement address at a home school graduation. He says, "As life can be well lived if you find someone who really loves you for who you are, if you find something you love to do and you find someplace that feels like home." That's advice I think any home school parent can agree with and wish for her or his children.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Book Review: Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Bottom Line: A clever, witty book that made me laugh out loud several times.
Amazon kept recommending this book to me, and I gave in and bought it for my Kindle. I am so happy that I did. Sloan does a great job of marrying old-school table-top adventure gaming with Google, modern culture, and ancient secret societies.
The plot centers around unemployed graphic artist Clay Jannon who finds a job in a strange 24-hour bookstore that doesn't seem to sell books. Instead an interesting assortment of people come in a check out books from a three-story stack of strange tomes named for people. Clay's job is to keep a log book of each borrowing that includes details about the person's appearance and behavior. While Clay is wondering what's going on, he is simultaneously living with his roommate Mat's growing art project and his own interest in a woman named Kat Potente who works for Google.
The book is part mystery, part allegory for role playing games, part lesson in teamwork, and part examination of contemporary culture. If that sounds ponderous, don't worry. Sloan's writing is joyous to read. The book is lighthearted with lots of really funny moments in Clay's internal monologue. In one instance, Clay tries to boost sales in the shop by putting out a Google ad. When the mysterious Kat Potente appears in response to the ad, Clay almost blows the moment by hyper-responding. He thinks, "Google's astonishing advertising algorithms have delivered to me a supercute girl, and I have no idea what to do with her." Alliterative heaven right there.
Sloan's characters all come together for an adventure of their own, mirroring the world of D&D or Dragon Age. During the first half of the book I wanted to live in Clay's world and by the end, I realized that I already did. Even if these particular characters and conflicts are fictional, the lessons learned by Clay and company are the same that we all have to learn.
This is no Harry Potter with real wizards and quidditch. Instead it is a related story with many of the same themes of friendship, teamwork, bravery, and good choices. It is also a rare book that I and my 21-year-old son can both enjoy.
Amazon kept recommending this book to me, and I gave in and bought it for my Kindle. I am so happy that I did. Sloan does a great job of marrying old-school table-top adventure gaming with Google, modern culture, and ancient secret societies.
The plot centers around unemployed graphic artist Clay Jannon who finds a job in a strange 24-hour bookstore that doesn't seem to sell books. Instead an interesting assortment of people come in a check out books from a three-story stack of strange tomes named for people. Clay's job is to keep a log book of each borrowing that includes details about the person's appearance and behavior. While Clay is wondering what's going on, he is simultaneously living with his roommate Mat's growing art project and his own interest in a woman named Kat Potente who works for Google.
The book is part mystery, part allegory for role playing games, part lesson in teamwork, and part examination of contemporary culture. If that sounds ponderous, don't worry. Sloan's writing is joyous to read. The book is lighthearted with lots of really funny moments in Clay's internal monologue. In one instance, Clay tries to boost sales in the shop by putting out a Google ad. When the mysterious Kat Potente appears in response to the ad, Clay almost blows the moment by hyper-responding. He thinks, "Google's astonishing advertising algorithms have delivered to me a supercute girl, and I have no idea what to do with her." Alliterative heaven right there.
Sloan's characters all come together for an adventure of their own, mirroring the world of D&D or Dragon Age. During the first half of the book I wanted to live in Clay's world and by the end, I realized that I already did. Even if these particular characters and conflicts are fictional, the lessons learned by Clay and company are the same that we all have to learn.
This is no Harry Potter with real wizards and quidditch. Instead it is a related story with many of the same themes of friendship, teamwork, bravery, and good choices. It is also a rare book that I and my 21-year-old son can both enjoy.
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