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• Current

Type: children's

Status: liked

Author: Kevin Brooks

Tags: drugs teen prostitution childrens_lit

Description: 2005. 16-year-old Joe Beck tells the story of how he chanced to meet Candy near King's2005. 16-year-old Joe Beck tells the story of how he chanced to meet Candy near King's Cross tube station -- and fell under the spell of her beauty. But she's a prostitute, hooked on heroin, and her pimp, Iggy, is big, black, and dangerous. They have a day out at the zoo and she comes to hear his band play a gig in London -- before Iggy descends and beats her up. Joe manages to find her and rescue her, though Iggy is injured and comes after them. Hiding away in his family's weekend cottage in Suffolk, Candy goes through withdrawal, but Iggy hunts them down -- with Joe's beloved older sister Gina as a hostage. In the showdown, Candy ends up killing Iggy. Epilogue: Candy is in rehab and an adolescent unit and Joe is still in love for her... waiting for her. NB: to counteract the negative image of the big, black Iggy, Gina has a good-hearted, worthy boyfriend Mike -- who is also big and black -- and who helps Joe and Candy. Also there was a subplot about the divorced father started to date his ex-wife -- the kids' mother -- again, yet the mother has not bothered to see her kids in several years. An unusual detail that was never expanded upon -- is it important to Joe's experience with Candy?...

2006-06-07

  & 5 users

• Current

Type: children's

Status: liked

Author: Gabrielle Zevin

Tags: teen death afterlife ya_lit

Description: Liz is 14 and has just died -- though she doesn't realize it for some time as she thinksLiz is 14 and has just died -- though she doesn't realize it for some time as she thinks she's dreaming she's on a boat cruise. When she lands at Elsewhere, the grandmother who died just before she was born is there to welcome her -- and help her get acclimated. But she resists -- and becomes addicted to the Observation Decks, where you can pay 'eternim' coins to watch your past life. In Elsewhere people's ages reverse and they grow young until their birthday when they are released into the river to float off to a new life on Earth. In Elsewhere you have avocations, not vocations. And love can occur, as Liz (and her grandmother Betty) discover. It was a book that grew on me (the concept more than the plot or writing). Interesting to think about, but not gripping....

2006-05-31

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: children's

Status: liked

Author: Helen Dunmore

Tags: fantasy uk childrens_lit absent_fathers mermaids

Description: 2005. First of a planned trilogy. First-person narrative by Sapphy (Sapphire) who is perhaps2005. First of a planned trilogy. First-person narrative by Sapphy (Sapphire) who is perhaps 10 years old and lives in Cornwall, right next to the sea. When her fisherman father disappears at sea and his boat -- but not his body -- is found, children at school taunt her that he left her mother for another woman, but Sapphy and her brother Conor (2 years older) know he's still alive somewhere -- and they come to discover that he's likely gone to Ingo, the underwater world peopled by the Mer. After all, her father is named for a man who once left his "Air" family for the mermaid of Zennor, immortalized by a wooden statue in the church. Sapphy and Conor have some Mer blood and meet a Mer brother and sister who take them under. Sapphy in particular is drawn to the sea -- unlike their mother who hates the sea due to some horrible fortune-teller's prediction. When the mother's new boyfriend Roger, a diver, almost dies because he inadvertently was diving near the Mer people's dying ground, Sapphy and Conor go to rescue him -- with the help of Faro and Elivira, their Mer siblings. Though Sapphy resents Roger potentially replacing her missing father, she also appreciates him supporting her in her desire for a dog. Granny Carne helps the children understand the balance of powers between Air and Ingo -- and she is represented as a white witch ruling the Air. Ends with Sapphy hearing her father's voice in the Mer language saying 'my daughter' and her resolve to find him -- in the next installment of this proposed trilogy....

2006-06-07

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: liked

Author: John Wood

Tags: books libraries global_concerns

Description: An inspiring account of how John Wood came to leave Microsoft to devote his life to foundingAn inspiring account of how John Wood came to leave Microsoft to devote his life to founding the charity Room to Read -- to build and stock libraries for children in remote and underprivileged parts of the world, e.g., Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam, Africa, etc. ...

2007-01-13

• Current

Type: children's

Status: liked

Author: Mal Peet

Tags: uk childrens_lit

Description: 2005. A story that flips between Holland during WWII and the present day where a girl named2005. A story that flips between Holland during WWII and the present day where a girl named Tamar comes to learn just what her name means -- which is far more than just a river in England. Her grandparents were resistance fighters and after her grandfather kills himself, which is not long after her father ups and disappears, Tamar is left with a box from her grandfather holding clues to the mysteries. With the help of a Dutch distant cousin, she discovers her grandfather is not her her blood grandfather. Instead he is the one who betrayed her real grandfather in order to be with the grandmother -- and even the grandmother has never known the truth. While a good depiction of wartime Holland, the book is quite long and I'm not sure that many children will find it gripping enough to get through....

2006-05-28

• Current

Type: business

Status: liked

Author: Seth Godin

Tags: marketing business perseverance

Description: A short book that discusses the need to be the best in the million micro-niche markets thatA short book that discusses the need to be the best in the million micro-niche markets that abound today. Forget about the long tail, you want to be the short head in your niche. How dips are there to sort out the winners from losers -- though it can be smart to quit... ...

2007-12-27

  & 19 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: liked

Author: Nicole Krauss

Tags: stories holocaust love poland authors

Description: Terribly clever -- well constructed -- the unraveling of a mystery by a 12-year-old (?) girlTerribly clever -- well constructed -- the unraveling of a mystery by a 12-year-old (?) girl trying to understand her dead father -- involving the secrets of an old Polish refugee from WWII who never got to know his own son (who didn't know his true father) -- also involving stories as the means of survival. Supposedly based on stories the author heard within her own New York Jewish family. Admirable, but wouldn't necessarily recommend to anyone. Made me think I should finish reading Zusak's "The Book Thief" as there are similarities....

2006-05-27

• Current

Type: business

Status: liked

Authors: George M. Prince

Tags: psychology metaphors creativity cognition group_psychology meetings

Description: A 1970 book, hailed as a classic -- starting in the Last Whole Earth Catalog. "The practiceA 1970 book, hailed as a classic -- starting in the Last Whole Earth Catalog. "The practice of creativity thgourhg Synectics -- the proven method of group problem-solving". Recommended in the book on web usability I recently read. Assumes all humans are natural problem solvers and analyzes what goes wrong in meetings. Focuses on how to foster sensitivity and contain aggression -- the two elements found in all meetings -- so as to allow ideas to be fairly considered and creativity encouraged. The use of analogies and metaphors in considering ideas is emphasized....

2007-08-03