Boys Books

Molly's Reviews:

Spanning some eighty-five pages the reader is treated to a variety of heartfelt odes written for and about sons by a loving Mom. A Mother of Sons: poems of love, wisdom & dreams is exactly that; verses filled with affection, common sense and reverie. Talented writer/poet Jayne Jaudon Ferrer presents elegant lyrical work in this sylvan composition. Moms and Grandmoms whether they are lovers of poetry or not are sure to enjoy A Mother of Sons: poems of love, wisdom & dreams. Lovers of poetry will be doubly delighted as they read each passage with care, stopping often to savor a word or a phrase and then moving on to the next enchanting portion.

I was given thsi book as a gift and I just treasure it. I don't think there is any other way to express your love, worries and concern, admiration and pride of your kids than reading those lovely poems. Each has its own message and feelings, simply written, with kids' quotations and words depicting your regular mornings, their baseball practices, their rivalry. Your own desperation, aspirations, and hopefulness.

A mother's heart full of love and sacrifice!

I've written letters to my Sons, who are grown and away from home, and this book said it like I have. From the time they are born, the joy and laughter and sometimes bittersweet memories carry us Mothers through. I recommend this as a must read.

As one of three brothers and now a father of two children, A Mother of Sons was both a reminder and a vision of what is in store. Jayne Jaudon Ferrer's poetry is magnificent, often taking me from belly laughs to the verge of tears in the same poem. My heart was filled with memories of my childhood with my Mother and her sons, and with the vision of my children going through life with similar but distinct memories. It is amazing to me how mothers, who have the hardest job in the world, make it look so easy. The joys and tears that mothers all over the world face are encapsulated in Ferrer's poetry. This book is both a gift and a treasure, which my wife and I keep handy whenever there is a chance to read. Bob - www.ebabypages.com

Did you know that this is based on a real Principal? He was the best part of lynnhurst elem. I loved him. Even when he through me out :)

The k-students in my classroom were captivated by this story, they loved the illustrations, and looked forward to when I would turn the page, so they could see what tie was on the page. The illustrations are fun and colorful.

"Mr.Tanen!" "where is your umbrella tie it's raining?!!"
Mr.Tanen ALWAYS wore great funfilled ties,until Mr.Apple told Mr.Tanen he HAD to be proper!!! Mr.Tanen didn't feel right one day so he stayed home. Mr.Apple was the sub principal. each of Mr.Tanen's ties in his closet held a symbol {ex.hearts for love}.See how Mr.Tanen's absence turns Mr.Apple into a good apple!!!

I loved this book and so did my kids. The colors and pictues are very inviting to children of all ages. Mr. Tanen is a very likable character and his story is funny and thought provoking. The story teaches a subtle lesson of tolerance while entertaining simultaniously. My 10 year old loved it as well as my 3 & 4 year olds, and so did I.

Although, Diamond's book is ostensibly about the reciprocal father son relationship through out the life cycle, he opines the importance and need for a "parental alliance", whereby both parents support the others role in active parenting. As Diamond re-asserts the important role of the father he by no means neglects a mother's role and at the same time stresses how this "united front" on parenting allows for the son (child) to experience
the gifts that both partners bring to child rearing. This is a MUST read for both men and women who are either new parents or seasoned parents searching for a mindful and contemporary paradigm on understanding the nuances of parenting.

This book was a delight -- informative and poignant, obviously informed by the author's experience as a psychologist, yet accessible to the lay-person (like me). This is an easy read, full of insights for ANYONE who's a parent or a child, not just fathers and sons. I heartily recommend!

Dr. Diamond is exploring the relatively uncharted waters of the psychological relationship between fathers and sons. As a father reading the book, I realized how many things I took for granted in the relationship between my father and me and between me and my sons that are broken down and discussed in this book. The analysis and the examples provide a reference for how I conducted myself at various times in my life and the effect it may have had on my family. This is a wonderfully insightful look, written in straigt forward prose, to learn how to be a better son and father.
P.S. It doesn't hurt to be a baseball fan. For those of us who love the game, there are lots of examples where baseball is the vehicle for insights and understanding.

Dr. Diamond's book is accessible and informative and warm. His clinical work with his patients comes through so beautifully and tenderly. As I read his book, I was filled with emotion for all the fathers and sons I know. And as a clinician, I was rethinking my work with my own male patients. Lives are multifaceted and complex; and in Dr. Diamond's case examples he provides vignettes of many different kinds of relationships. Each vignette educates the reader and illustrates the capacity of people to grow and heal at any age. I recommend this book for fathers, sons, mothers, sisters, and clinicians of any persuasion.

Within the span of two months, Theodore Roosevelt's "last chance to be a boy," as he dubbed his South American adventure, permanently broke his health, and transformed him from a person of vigorous middle age into an old man.

The 1914 journey of exploration that he and his companions made by paddling down what had been called "the River of Doubt" in dugout canoes quickly became an unrelenting exercise in exhaustion, pain, disease and near starvation. Roosevelt wrote of the experience, "Under such conditions whatever is evil in men's natures comes to the front." By journey's end, the river had been rechristened "The Rio Roosevelt" and the former president was no longer capable of seriously seeking another term as chief executive.

Joseph Ornig's "My Last Chance to be a Boy" describes this excruciating odyssey from origins to aftermath. It makes a fine companion piece to Theodore Roosevelt's own account of his journey, "Through the Brazilian Wilderness." Mr. Ornig's story is strengthened by adding the perspectives of other voyagers, including T.R.'s son Kermit Roosevelt. It also describes the trip preparations and T.R.'s South American city tour which preceded the jungle adventure.

Surprisingly, some of the comments T.R. made in speeches during that progression touched on what are today still hot-button issues. In Buenos Aires, for instance, he counseled against judges acting as lawmakers.

Mr. Ornig also gives us a look at the kinds of contributions T.R's second wife, Edith, made to the success of the enterprise. It was she, according to the author, who encouraged Kermit to accompany his father into the wilderness. It was fortunate that she did. Kermit's Portuguese fluency and wilderness savvy contributed materially to the party's survival. By inference, we also see just how useful to T.R. Edith must have been during her husband's political career.

The book is filled with facts, descriptions and quotes. Fortunately, the writing is conversational, without wasting words. The story lifts effortlessly from the page to the reader's mind. Mr. Ornig's research for the story at hand is scrupulous, but his work also gives the impression of his being a Roosevelt scholar in a broader context. He mentions, for example, T.R.'s use of the expression "black care" to describe what we would today probably call depression.

T.R's great grandson, Tweed Roosevelt's foreword and the comprehensive photo section both contribute to an already first rate account. This is a story which should jack up the adrenalin level of armchair adventurers and T.R. aficionados alike.

Ornig's book is the first full account of this amazing adventure since Theodore Roosevelt was alive to tell it himself. Thanks to the author's years of meticulous research, we get to see the ex-president up close as every ounce of courage and determination that can possibly be required of a human being is exacted by this perilous expedition. Why would a man, having already carved his name in history, literally risk his life in service to exploration? The book title is informative; it was the kind of thing he loved to do. Roosevelt's passion for for life was abundantly demonstrated on the River of Doubt as he and his party encountered one life-threatening obstacle after another. If it wasn't the hostile natives who tracked them, it was the piranhas. If it wasn't a lack of food and supplies, it was flesh-eating disease.... As if fighting just to survive the forces of nature weren't enough, there was also the recklessness of some, including his own son. And there were personal conflicts among the explorers--disagreements, arguments, theft--and a murder. This wilderness adventure had it all--and it wasn't reality TV. No camera crew, no global positioning system, no one to bail them out at any point. In this age of apathy and plasticized existence, this story is all the more striking.

Thus, out of this book emerges a fresh portrait of Theodore Roosevelt. We learn a great deal about him under conditions of maximum stress. We also get to know the group of explorers who accompanied him. And the generous 48 pages of maps and photographs are a real plus. Many thanks to the author for rediscovering this story and dusting it off for us with such literary finesse. For a non-fiction history work, it reads like a novel.

Ornig provides the first detailed account of one of the most exciting adventure stories of the 20th century -- Theodore Roosevelt's exploration of the River of Doubt in Brazil's Amazon. The story is more incredible when you think that Roosevelt was a 55-year old former President at the time of the expedition. As we approach the 100th anniversary of Roosevelt's presidency, and as we consider our relationship with the earth, it is worth taking another look at this great outdoorsman. Ornig weaves together the political and diplomatic origins of the expedition and how Roosevelt, his son Kermit, and the rest of the expedition got much more than they bargained for. There's murder, there's drowning (and a question of whether Kermit Roosevelt was accountable), there's frustration, and there's a former President on the brink of death. After you read it, you'll want to read Roosevelt's account, "Through the Brazilian Wilderness." You'll enjoy that one too

TR's 1913-1914 expedition down the River of Doubt (subsequently renamed Rio Teodoro in his honor, and later Rio Roosevelt) is an astonishing piece of history - one often refered to in passing by other TR biographers, but not often fully explored, as it here. Author Ornig tells an exciting tale well, from the multitudious details of planning and executing a massive exploring expedition in the early 20th century, to vivid portraits of the characters involved. This book would be a wonderful companion for any adventure traveller (or even armchair adventurers).

Best of all, Ornig is no run-of-the-mill TR hagiographer (and there are plenty of them out there), nor is he interested in taking unfair potshots at the great man (plenty of those folks out there, too). Ornig simply relates events as they occured, and doesn't care a whit whether they cast TR in a favorable or unfavorable light: TR was a poor shot (due to his poor eyesight) and became grumpy and embarassed when he missed easy targets. TR was delighted with the impact on his waistline when the expedition was forced to subsist on reduced rations -- and argued against the restoration of full rations even though others were suffering. Do these facts detract from the TR legend, or add to it? I have never been a fan of Marble Men, and found that I loved TR even more after glimpsing some of his human flaws in MY LAST CHANCE TO BE A BOY. No student of TR should be without this volume.

The post-impressionist splashes of color (gashes of blue across Blue's bronze skin) remind the reader that this story is more than just a story, that the illustrations are more than that. "My Man Blue" is the story of a quiet hero, a constant gardener, so to speak, and a boy trying to find his way.

In case the reader loses track of setting, there it is on the title page--the top of a factory of some sort, an urban skyline. In this setting, Nikki Grimes tells the story of Damon, a fatherless boy, and Blue, a sonless man. The boy lost his father to the indifference of urban life and that lack of responsibility sometimes spawned there. Blue lost his son to the streets and gang life.

Blue deliberately cultivates Damon's friendship to fill that hole left by his father, a hole that needs filling one way or another. Damon taps into Blue's emptiness as well. It is a mutual friendship.

So it goes. Ms Grimes tells her story of Damon and Blue, one free-verse poem at a time, revealing a snippet of character here, a facet of courage there, a swath of lesson about strong men. Not only do the poems reveal Blue's character, but the illustrations do, too. The prevailing mood is somber (like the gritty, urban landscape) brushed through with intense, bright colors (of hope, maybe?).

Now if only every little boy had a Blue....

My Man Blue is a story about an african american boy named Damon who moves to his mom's old neighborhood. When they arrive this guy Blue stops them on the street. So Damon gets suspicous that his hello is on "mom's account." But he and Blue eventually become friends. As their friendship grows, Damon finds out that Blue lost his son Zeke to the streets. Blue teaches Damon how to control his temper, and about tolorence and about patience. There are several poems about Damon's expirences and problems.I enjoyed the book. I believe that the author is trying to tell you about the violence and how to deal with it.

This is an excellent collection of poems that are connected and tell a timely story of a boy and his mentor. The black males are portrayed realistically and it is definitely a story that will find a connection with young black males. My son read it when he was 7 and still talks about it and reads it at 9.

This book is wonderful. In a time when many boys do not have strong male role models, this book gives a wonderful example of a man mentoring a boy who needs him. The book is full of poetry, and beautiful illustrations. It teaches wonderful values, and is a must for any family. Excellent!

Is a great book to read at this time...Oct. 2008. Should be a great book for seniors to remember their early years....a great book for their children to remind them of how things were during the depression of 1929. A MUST
read for the grandchildren.

I was ten years old when this book was read to me. My fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Podlinski, took a half hour out of every day to read a chapter to the entire class. My classmates and I eagerly awaited each new day just to hear more of the story.

I can't remember much of the actual storyline. I only found it again because I did a google search for "nickel milk book depression." I really only remember how much i liked it and how much I liked the main character.

I can't give a plot synopsis. I can tell you that when I heard this story, narrated by my teacher, I thought that this book was better than anything else. I would've given up recess to stay and listen to more.

I'm so happy I found it again.

When reading a Nickels' Worth of Skim Milk, I am transported in time and place into the ordinary life of a small boy. It teaches the complexities of an entire generation. I have given each of my three daughters copies of the book when they were in their young teens. It teaches what life was like during their granparents times and how that has influenced our lives. In a time of society's preoccupation with posessions and greed, this book brings us back to a simplier time when blessings were counted more often.

The author was a young boy in Southern Illinois during the Depression and this is a chronicle of those years. It is not a tale of sadness, but of community and extreme frugality. At that time, the spending of each nickel was an event to be pondered deeply, so much of the text deals with "small" purchases. The title is derived from when it was possible to take a bucket of any size and have it filled to the brim with skim milk for a nickel.
At that time, many people, including the author's parents, did not have steady jobs, but worked on a day-to-day piecemeal basis. Most of their income was made a nickel and a dime at a time, so the author describes his father, and himself doing many odd jobs for small wages. Despite these hardships, this is a tale of a boy and a family who was together and enjoyed each other and life. There was a lot of work to be done, but there was also a lot of together time, much of it with family and neighbors.
Some of the people that I know talk somewhat nostalgically about the Depression years. Yes, they have no fond memories of the hardships, but they have many concerning the sense of community that existed, both inside and between families. This is a chronicle that those people would understand and appreciate. By reading it, those who did not experience it can learn to understand it.

This is a beautifully written, deeply engaging and, in its quiet way, highly suspenseful book. The author does everything well here. She's able to animate an astounding range of characters without ever losing the thread of feeling holding the narrative together. Highly recommended.

I borrowed this from the library, but within a few chapters I went out and bought it! I simply had to own a copy to share with friends and family...yes, it's that good.

The writing is spectacular.

Abandonment, in all its forms is the theme, which ties the threads of this gorgeously evocative novel together. The characters in No Direction Home are always on the move, never sure where they're going to end up, but forever certain that they have to leave.

Converging on a house in North Hollywood, this mismatched collection of individuals discovers a gradual unfurling of hidden promises, of lives fraught with conflict and desire. New friendships are forged, old animosities are conquered, and a fragmented family finally comes together, the disparate elements becoming an integrated whole.

When her astronomer husband suddenly abandons her, Caroline Burton is left to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Her twin 10-year-old sons Will and Ethan are left fatherless, wondering why the man they so desperately loved and admired vanished so inexplicably.

In a fit of desperation Caroline packs up the car, leaves their Missouri home, and heads to Los Angeles to stay with Vincent, her distant father, and Eleanor, her ailing mother. For Eleanor is wracked with dementia, her mind moving in and out of lucidity, and Vincent, who is now caring for a woman who "is disappearing as fast as sand through fingers," is finding it all too much to handle.

Help arrives in the form of Amador, a Mexican illegal immigrant, who needs a job so desperately. Amador, having left his wife and children back in Mexico, is eager to make a fresh start in the country to the North, a country that for him is filled with opportunity. Rogelio, Amador's teenage son, eventually follows in an effort to find his father, making the illegal and often dangerous journey from a life in Mexico that has little or no meaning.

Marlene is a teenage girl living in the Midwest. The daughter of Caroline's absent husband by an earlier woman, Marlene is haunted by the memory of father whom she never really knew. Feeling an urgent need to at last connect with him, she travels to Los Angeles thinking that she has finally tracked him down.

All the characters have arrived at a place and a time when pain and confusion have softened into a stew of bearable sadness. But there is also a longing and the hope of vague fulfillment: Only now with the onrush of dementia is Vincent actually getting to know his wife better. It's a lifetime that is cleaving open and he is finally being allowed to glimpse inside the seams and chasms of her past.

Marline can't imagine leaving her whole life up to chance, especially in a place where nothing happens that hasn't happened a thousand times before. All her life she's been looking behind her waiting for the rest of her to catch up. She has no idea what she'll find when she gets to Los Angeles, but she's willing to take the risk.

Amador is content to remain "a tiny parasite on the back of a cow," resolving to lose himself in a city that does not sleep. Sometimes he feels the world is so big that he is lost inside it, and he's constantly ambushed by memories of Ruben his first child, who died suddenly, and his wife Erlinda, left back in Mexico and who is gradually slipping away from him.

Will is gradually going blind. Life is now fraught with sight and shadow - night will soon become the opposite of day and the objects of the world will fade into the deep background of his perceptions. Eleanor is the only person he's met outside of his brother who isn't scared of him. His father was always constantly angry with him and his mother worries in a way that makes her overenthusiastic.

Rogelio wants to hurtle across the horizon "like a comet" to find his father and bring him home. Gangs, hunger, and a life living on the edge are what lie in store for him, while his mother Erlinda, pines for both husband and son. Yet Erlinda knows the world is huge and that there is a magic that exists out of their town of El Rosario, she wants Rogelio to feel the painful ecstasy of possibility - "she wants to plant in him the seed of yearning."

Caroline is burdened with shame and remorse. She doesn't want to think about her mother - it's a cavern of guilt and sadness she cannot allow herself to fall into. Everything - hope and disappointment, relief and despair have traveled across country with her, packed tightly into her "soda-smelling car."

Everyone is searching and none of them can predict what lies ahead or even what direction they will find home. The house soon becomes overcrowded with people and anger and individual desires, all at cross-purposes with one another. The characters find themselves adopting a posture of emotional deafness in order to cope with the awkwardness of being pushed up against one another's frailties.

Marisa Silver has written a startling and soulful tale, full of richly drawn characters. No Direction Home maybe about abandonment, but it is all about love; it's a love that often trips over its feet like an "awkward dancer" and where you have to bear the dull pain of surprise and hurt. And it's a story where physical and emotional borders eventually become nothing but a thought, "nothing but air." Mike Leonard June 05.

Abandonment leaves a scar that is all but invisible, but lies, corrosive, next to the heart that bears such a burden. No Direction Home tells the stories of abandonment in its many forms, the men who run from their families, the wives and children left to cope with unexpected grief and the long road to forgiveness, a treachery-laden path, at best.

Ten-year old twins, Will and Nathan, are born with impaired vision, a disappointment to their astronomer father, who seeks solace in the beauty and mystery of the universe. When Frank abandons Caroline and the boys, Will takes the blame unto himself, certain his father would have stayed if he had been the right kind of son. Caroline left California, reinventing herself in Missouri, wife to Frank and twin sons, only to find herself abandoned once more, her father's leaving still fresh in her grownup mind.

Caroline's father, Victor, returns home eventually, his acting career on the descent, life with Eleanor a quiet oasis after bachelor apartments and casual acquaintances. What neither anticipated is Eleanor's swift decline into dementia. Now Victor cares for his ailing wife, a woman's whose mind is no longer accessible to her daughter, Caroline. Grown weary from the burden of caretaker, Vincent hires Amador, an illegal immigrant with family problems of his own, wife and children left behind in Mexico. Victor admires Amador's quietude: "to be present and not present at the same time is a quality that recommends a person to such unrequited duty". In truth, Amador cannot speak Victor's language.

Caroline returns, her sons in tow, to Eleanor's small house in Los Angeles, trekking across country, hoping for a fresh start once they reach their destination. Victor is uncomfortable with his daughter, without a sense of her adult self. To Vincent, "Caroline is like a room full of funhouse mirrors. He doesn't want to act trapped and end up staring at his elongated or horrifically fattened self". Meanwhile, two teenagers, one from Mexico and the other from the Midwest, set out on their own, making their way to the same destination. Rogelio is Amador's fourteen-year old son and Marlene is Frank's daughter from an earlier relationship, each determined to locate an errant father. Theirs is the world of the streets, the inherent dangers of moving unprotected through a treacherous underground.

The author creates a variety of characters, each voice blended into a chorus of hopes, needs and unanswered questions. None have expectations, but all are driven to the source, their fathers, men as befuddled as their wives and children, but who retain the power to change lives. Silver's prose is insightful, deeply empathetic and nonjudgmental, focused on individual struggles for connection and the all-too-human face of suffering, a language charged with grace. Trenchant observations render this novel a pleasure to read, the intimate details exposing the characters' vulnerabilities. There are lessons here, clues to navigating a random world made livable by those we love and the unexpected bounty of forgiveness. Ultimately, Caroline realizes "that it is not given to us to occupy the life we live, that we must choose each day to be present". Luan Gaines/2005.

Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein

Great story for most children but especially for the child who deems himself out of sync with his classmates. Young Albert proves the point that we all have something to offer, faults in all.

Some very smart kids just don't fit in the classroom. They learn differently. This book assures those kids that they are not "weird", but just might need to learn lessons differently. Unfortunately, most state educational programs do NOT address these needs.

Hopefully, these different-learning kids will learn to accept themselves rather than to succumb to any titles that may be assigned to them, ie, slow learner.

If every adult biographer has his or her own personal style, why should the case be any different for children's book biographers? And when it comes to picture book biographies, certain names come to mind. David Adler, of course, though his books are so uncommonly dull that I tend to pity the children I hand them to (being a children's librarian and all). Peter Sis, though his bios require a great deal of time and patience to parse. James Rumford to some extent, though "Sequoyah" is probably his best bio to date. No, when it comes down to it Don Brown is the picture book biographer that nine of ten kids prefer every time. I don't have any actual statistics to back that statement up, I just say what I see. And what I see is an author who is able to take unknown heroes (Mary Kingsley, Alice Ramsey, Ruth Law, etc.) and too well-known heroes (Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, etc.) and give them interesting picture book biographies that kids will both relate to and love.

We all know some basic facts about Einstein. He was a guy with a head of white unruly hair. When you yell, "Hey, Einstein!", you are making reference to the fact that he was once a genius. So how much do you know about this great man as a child? In this book, Brown introduces us to Albert from day one (March 14, 1879, to be exact). As a boy, Albert has his good moods and he has his bad moods. In a good mood he can create a house of cards fourteen stories high and ponder the mysteries of a compass for fun. In a bad mood he is prone to hitting his little sister, terrifying his tutor, and getting so upset that his nose turns white. As we watch, Albert is given an amazing amount of freedom. He wanders the Munich streets alone at the age of four. He discovers geometry with the help of a friendly medical student. The book progresses and we learn a little about Albert's personality from offhand comments. "Soldiers on parade excite the boys. They disturb Albert". At end of this journey, Albert comes up with theory of relativity and, "For the world, Einstein comes to mean not fat baby, or angry child, or odd boy, but great thinker". And now our children can understand where all genius has its beginnings. In the ordinary and familiar.

What I enjoyed about the book was that Brown doesn't linger on just the good things in Einstein's life. No child's a saint, and Albert is no exception. Brown humanizes this latter-day god, giving him a family, a childhood, and a history that kids today (in spite of their love of computerization and high-tech toys) will understand. Who amongst us doesn't recognize Albert's reluctance to engage in organized sports as something we, or someone we know, have also felt? The story is laid out beautifully. The illustrations are little more haphazard. Granted, I really liked the picture of Albert engaged in a temper tantrum. His little fists are clenched and his nose, true to the text, is a slightly whitish color. By and large these pen and ink pictures colored in with watercolors work well. There's just the occasional oddity. When teachers wonder if Albert is dull-witted, Brown illustrates a disturbingly glazed-eyed kid who reinforces their concern. It's a peculiar picture, but there's no denying that it conveys the text well.

I saw Mr. Brown speak not too long ago to a gathering of librarians, and I found that I was not especially impressed with him as a person. Nonetheless, the man does nice work. And of the work that he has done, "Odd Boy Out" is probably one of his best. It's a beautifully rendered story that kids will prefer far above and beyond similar Einstein biographies. Not genius, but pretty darn close.

Odd boy out is a wonderful book with nice illustraions of the life of Albert Einstein.
Albert was born a fat baby with a big head. He had a bad temper
and was condsidered very odd. He didn't like to play sports, and he was disturbed with the things other boys liked. Einstein grows and soon becomes what we know as the famous scientist Einstein.

I stumbled upon Patty Friedmann a few months ago. This is one of those books that you get consumed in and can't but down. I almost felt if I had to read it in one sitting. There are a few quirks about some of her characters(like the two Georges), but it does not take away if, not add to the theme for the book.

I didn't like any of the characters in Patty Friedmann's book, Odds, except for George Duffy, the fireman. The others were too mean (George Duffy, the lawyer, and his son, George); too good to be true (Gregor, Ella and her husband); too clueless (Anna and her mother-in-law); and too weird (Dorothy). All of them were predictable.

What I loved about this little volume was Patty Friedmann's skillful use of humor in handling subjects such as adultery, drowning, compulsive gambling, and biological aberrations. That's a stupendous accomplishment. It kept me turning the pages.

Odds should be the next Oprah selection. If not, you should definately choose it for your book club. It is filled with issues near and dear to everyone's heart: how do you react in a crisis? after a crisis? how much is your marriage worth? how well do you know your spouse? what's is the impact of your spouse's parents on your marriage?

All these issues and more are raised through the tale of a woman and her children. While this book is a quick read, it is definately not a story you will soon forget. Buy one for yourself and one for your best friend. Then sit down and talk about it. Honestly.

ODDS is an amazing new book by a quirky New Orleans writer. Friedmann's writing is full of humor, wit and charm. The book centers around the life of Anna Riggs Duffy, and the after-effect of a choice that she is forced to make in the face of a tragic swimming pool accident. This book is a true rarity-- it will make you aware of the fact that we are all "dealt a hand" in some way or another, and it sheds light on our struggles to survive the odds that life gives us.

I LOVE this book. As a mother of three boys I turn to this book when I am at my wits end and need to lighten up. The antics Karin's boys perform are so similar to the ones that my boys act out, I can't help but laugh...many times hysterically! It really helps me put things in perspective.

The trouble with raising boys in today's environment is that most grow up to be superpredators or Nintendo potatoes. Often both. Oh Boy, does it not have to be so! Karin Kasdin is like a Rosie O'Donnell for our time -- presenting us one woman's children (her own) who are neither caricatures nor abominations, but very human boys. We wait to see where she will go next. After Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh BOy, it's obvious that she could write anything from parenting guides to compelling comic theater.

An amazing text of what it is like to be a mother to young boys. It is at turns hysterical, touching and frustrating just like parenthood. As a non-parent, I was completely taken with the book. Kasdin possesses a flair for a clever phrase and positions these gems within a wonderful narrative. A nice change of pace from the usual dreck that makes it on the Best Seller's List

After reading this book, I felt I had bonded with every woman who has ever undertaken the task of raising sons. At once hilarious and poignant, Karin Kasdin expresses herself thoughtfully and eloquently, and touches on issues that affect all mothers of sons in the 90's. The love she holds for her three sons is palpable even as she scratches her head in confusion or mourns the daughter she will never have. This has become my gift of choice for all the women I know who are in the trenches of son-rearing. No advice, just good humor and warm pathos. The thank-yous I get are heartfelt. If you've ever loved anyone's son, don't deny yourself this truly delightful reading experience.