Follow This

Ye gads, books can pile up! Like garbage...which is a messy segue into this brief review of Malena Watrous' If You Follow Me.  To be clear, the book isn't garbage but it contains an extensive thread about gomi, (garbage) and the rules that govern its disposal in Japan.


(Thank you, Sherry, for recommending this book; I enjoyed it!) 


As a writer, I'm impressed with Watrous' first novel, based on her personal experience teaching English to Japanese children. While the story could be just a fish-out-of-water tale, it's really about love, loss, letting go, and learning to deal - while you're also a fish-out-of-water learning how to sort the damn trash, Japanese style. (Aside: I've read that the Japanese system is highly efficient and about as environmentally friendly as garbage systems can be. Of course, to be so requires reams of rules be followed t.o. t.h.e. l.e.t.t.e.r.)


If... isn't your average love story, and, frankly, isn't as much of a story as it is an extended slice of life. To her credit, Watrous chose an immensely interesting slice, and created the characters and setting so brilliantly that they shine, even when action is somewhat slow. 


Though its appeal will likely be lost on most male readers (it's not chick lit, but it is for chicks)  I highly recommend this paperback, light and comfortable enough to tote around and enjoy wherever you find yourself reading this summer. 

-   -   -   -   -   -   -   - If You Follow Me by Malena Watrous
-   -   -   -   -   -   -   - Harper Perennial (c) 2010
-   -   -   -   -   -   -   - US $14.99

Language lovers will appreciate that each of the book's chapters is 'titled' by a Japanese word or phrase. Readers learn sekushii means sexy, taoreru means to fall or collapse, and reizoku means refrigerator - and Watrous can elaborate on all three.

History in a Hurry

Gimme Rewrite Sweetheart and Front Page Girl are good old-fashioned books, meaning you can't judge 'em by their covers.

Doris O'Donnell and Don Bean have lived - and written - enough history to fully appreciate the current state of journalism, and both are honest enough to admit they can't predict the future of the game. When O'Donnell and Bean started writing for Cleveland newspapers, that's what it was called: the newspaper game.

There were three - count 'em, three - daily newspapers in Cleveland when Bean and O'Donnell got started in the game. The players weren't perfect and the papers weren't unbiased, but they had plenty of watchdogs on staff. As Bean ruefully points out, in his reporting era  reporters would measure the depth of the concrete on the street. And if it wasn't what the taxpayers had coming to them, well, somebody would print it.

In her book, O'Donnell describes discrimination in the business, certainly, but she also describes a business with a lot of principles. Regardless of sex, reporters were supposed to consider themselves representatives of the community. While female reporters were expected to wear white gloves and hats and to say "Yes ma'am" and "No sir," they were also tough enough to measure the concrete on the street and find out just what was buried in Sam Sheppard's backyard. (That's a teaser. Read the book.) They were also given an unbelievably long time to get a story. It's unbelievable today, anyway.

Bean and O'Donnell both spoke at today's meeting of Ohio Professional Writers, attended by about a dozen current college students (journalism majors) and many more with hair long gone gray, fellow journalists who were getting their first beats about the time O'Donnell and Bean were retiring.

O'Donnell likes to say journalism is history in a hurry. And while it's hurrying faster than ever before, it's not dead yet. We can hope that among today's budding journalists are some visionaries who see the value in the old, and a way to make it new again.

The plea from this graying writer: HURRY.

Lois Lowry's Having a Ball

I'm embarrassed to admit I've just gotten around to  Lois Lowry's latest, The Birthday Ball, a delightful new middle grade title that's lighthearted but not easily dismissed. As always, Lowry's writing is just right for her audience. Something of a reverse-Cinderella tale, it was published in April by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, The Birthday Ball will appeal very much to girls and not very much to boys, I'm afraid. Amazon offers an interesting Q&A with the author here.

The Birthday Ball had to wait until I finished the non-fiction NurtureShock, chock-full of important info about kids and their development.  http://what2readornot.blogspot.com/2010/05/welcome-shock-makes-great-teacher-gift.html

An obvious hint for hard-pressed shoppers: Lowry's latest would make an ideal gift for a tween girl's birthday.  And a timely tip for parents: NurtureShock makes a nice gift for teachers. 

A Welcome Shock Makes a Great Teacher Gift

NurtureShock, by psychologists Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, is some of the best non-fiction I've ever read. Each chapter is essentially a meta-review of current large, long-term studies on childhood development issues like sleep, sibling rivalry, achievement tests, and so on.  It could have been drier than toast. Instead, it's enjoyable reading; the authors and editors deserve lots of credit for bringing it to the mass market. Now let's all just take a few days to read it...

If only! Look, even if you don't plan to read it, consider the title as an excellent end-of-year gift for the terrific teachers in your life. (Or even for the bad ones.) The science is solid and the studies worthy of considerable thought and attention. The authors make the clearest case I've ever heard for pushing back the starting time for high school classes, for one thing. And yet they don't make the case - they simply present the information in clear, interesting prose and the book is so well-organized that it's not overwhelming.

I truly believe that the more school psychologists, teachers, and parents that read this book, the better off we'll all be. As a bonus, if you give NurtureShock to your kids' teachers as a gift, I'm pretty sure you'll make the parent honor roll. ;D