A Girl’s Gotta Do What a Girl’s Gotta Do: the Ultimate Guide to Living Safe and Smart

Baty, Katherine. A Girl’s Gotta Do What a Girl’s Gotta Do: the Ultimate Guide to Living Safe and Smart

This frank, informative book concerns all aspects of personal safety for women. Baty, known as the “Safety Chick,” appears on TV, writes articles, and gives presentations on personal safety based on her own experience of being stalked. The information, though brief, proves illuminating, e.g., five pages on self-defense aerosols like pepper sprays (how they work, foams vs. sprays, etc.) feature in the chapter on self-defense products. Other chapters are similarly broken into sections that contain tips for different realms, such as the home (draw the curtains) and work (have security escort you to your car). The advice is thoughtful and comprehensive, and while much is common sense, this book gathers it all in one place, much like Kenneth Shore’s Keeping Kids Safe: A Guide for Parents of Toddlers and Teens–and All the Years’ in Between. Baty’s friendly, open style succeeds in making learning about personal safety a positive experience. Recommended.

This review appeared in Library Journal. 128.3 (Feb. 15, 2003): p156. The galley was shredded on January 28, 2012.

Truth in Dating: Finding Love by Getting Real

Campbell, Susan. Truth in Dating: Finding Love by Getting Real. New World Lib., dist. by Publishers Group West. Feb. 2004. c.256p. ISBN 1-932073-06-X. pap. $14.95.

Ten years ago, psychologist Campbell, then 50, found herself single after many years of marriage. To pick up the pieces, she put her considerable professional wisdom and life experience to work. The lesson she shares here: be yourself. Campbell’s personal, encouraging book (an ironic follow-up of sorts to her preceding work, The Couple’s Journey: Intimacy as a Path to Wholeness) focuses on keeping dignity and integrity intact through the dating process. While relating her own experiences and those of others, she advocates using “dating as an awareness practice” for learning, growing, and ultimately being dependent on a relationship for a sense of well-being. “Truth skills” (e.g., giving and asking for feedback, sharing mixed emotions) help readers remain honest with themselves and with prospective mates. Campbell’s book is recommended for all libraries.

This review appeared in Library Journal 129.3 on Febuary 15, 2004: p.146. The galley was shredded on January 27, 2012.

What the Heck Were You Expecting?: A Complete Guide for the Perplexed Father

Hill, Thomas. What the Heck Were You Expecting?: A Complete Guide for the Perplexed Father. Three Rivers: Crown. Jun. 2000. c. 144p. illus. ISBN 0-609-80516-9. pap. $11.95. PSYCH

Sticking to the irreverent style of his previous book, What To Expect When Your Wife Is Expanding (Andrews McMeel, 1993), Hill presents a roadmap of a baby’s first year. His flippancy permeates every page, and his wit ranges from saucy (seven-month-olds may find reruns of The Jeffersons “somewhat predictable”) to droll (“Answering the question `Have I got everything?’ is easy; `Do you feel like a pack mule?’ If not, you’ve forgotten something”). Sprinkled throughout is genuinely useful information on real issues like giving a bath. Readers will find these and many other helpful particulars in other child-rearing manuals, such as Arlene Eisenberg’s ubiquitous What To Expect the First Year (Workman, 1996) or Jean Marzollo’s Fathers & Babies (LJ 5/15/93). If Hill’s first book was popular in your collection, by all means purchase it; however, public libraries that require something more on the serious side should consider this an optional or supplemental purchase.

This review appeared in Library Journal way back on June 1, 2000 v125 i10 p166. The galley wasn’t shredded until January 26, 2012.

Building Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues That Teach Kids To Do the Right Thing

Borba, Michele. Building Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues That Teach Kids To Do the Right Thing. Jossey-Bass. Jul. 2001. c.310p. index. ISBN 0-7879-5357-1. $24.95. CHILD REARING

Writing with confident authority and providing good, current references, Borba offers “a step by step blueprint for enhancing your child’s moral capacity”–the ethical compass that charts a youngster’s moral fate. She first defines seven intertwining “essential virtues of moral intelligence and solid character”: empathy, conscience, self-control (these first three form a “moral core”), respect, kindness, tolerance, and fairness. Ensuing chapters suggest how to incubate, nurture, and master individual virtues using realistic, workable methods. The book recalls Becky A. Bailey’s Easy To Love, Difficult To Discipline (LJ 2/15/00), which frames “loving guidance” in seven-part structures (seven values for living, seven powers of self control, etc.). It’s also similar to Borba’s own Parents Do Make a Difference (Jossey-Bass, 1999). All these books have noble goals yet require a high initial investment of energy and time; this is not a quick fix but a way of living. Of course, many of those who really need Borba’s book won’t read it; if more people mastered these traits, the world would be a different and better place. Recommended for larger public libraries.

This review appeared in Library Journal 126.12, July 2001 on page 116. The galley was recycled on Jnuary 18, 2012.

How To Increase Your Child’s Verbal Intelligence: The Language Wise Method

McGuinness, Carmen &; Geoffrey McGuinness. How To Increase Your Child’s Verbal Intelligence: The Language Wise Method. Yale Univ. Mar. 2000. c.269p. permanent paper. LC 99-066923. ISBN 0-300-08318-1. $35; pap. ISBN 0-300-08320-3. $16.95. PSYCH

The McGuinnesses (Reading Reflex) observe that “language is that thing that most strongly connects us to our fellow man” and bemoan the dumbing down of American elementary education. While referencing an impressive number of studies and research projects, their discussion of the components of verbal intelligence is uneven. Each of the six chapters fails to achieve all of their stated objectives. Undefined terms like M-Factor and document literacy level clog the text, and many concepts that should have been explained by exposition are poorly illustrated by example. The book includes 38 improvement exercises, which seem like fun. While the book may enable six- to eight-plus-year-olds to become more “language wise” and to understand, judge, store, retrieve, and discuss what they think, hear, and read, it is debatable just how much of an organized method this constitutes. While parents would do fine with something like Harvey S. Wiener’s Talk with Your Child, now, regrettably, out of print, this is more appropriate for curriculum and teaching collections.

This review appeared in Library Journal 125.5, March 15, 2000 on page 113. That is far too long a time to be carrying around a book I didn’t even like much to begin with! The galley was recycled on January 17, 2012.

Dad was a Carpenter: Blueprints for a Meaningful Life

Kemp, Kenny. Dad was a Carpenter: Blueprints for a Meaningful Life. HarperSanFrancisco: HarperCollins. 2001. c.128p. illus. LC 00-054096. ISBN 0-06-251763-5. $18.

Men, it is said, love to take things apart; the tricky part is putting them back together again. In this memoir the authors successfully disassembles and rebuilds his relationships with his fathers. Kemp’s is a brief but beautiful love letter to his deceased pops. Winner of the 1999 Writer’s Digest National Self-Published Book contest’s Grand Prize, this work recalls the author’s meaningful connections (e.g., “I had the best go-cart in the world and … [he] built it for me”) and chronicles parts of his dad’s life. Writing in a frankly inspirational style, Kemp, a Salt Lake City–based attorney, focuses on what his father taught him about life’s big lessons.
There is much accumulated wisdom here, and Kemp’s is an idealized account that will work well where inspirational titles for men are needed. Libraries might also consider Ted Solotaroff’s Truth Comes in Blows (LJ 11/1/98) and Hugh Howard’s House-Dreams (LJ 5/15/01). Appropriate for Father’s Day gifts and for public libraries.

This review appeared in Library Journal 126.10, June 1, 2001 on page 193. The galley was shredded January 13, 2012.

Take Action! How To Meet Women and Get Dates

SCOTT, KENNETH. Take Action!: How To Meet Women and Get Dates. Personal Development Pub. Dec. 2004. c.144p. ISBN 0-9755914-0-1. $19.95. SELF-HELP

Gentlemen, uncap your highlighters! [On the other end of the spectrum is the considerably less slick] Scott, a Houston attorney who advises men on the basics. With boyish exuberance, he demonstrates that getting a gaggle of dates is easier than pie. Chapters offer rudimentary how-to on being attractive (dress well, get in shape), ice breakers, sample compliments, and whom to approach (any woman you find attractive) and whom to avoid (women with rings). Scott’s bluntness is sometimes unintentionally funny, e.g., the two-page chapter titled “Get Near Her” literally details the physical approach, much like a playbook for a caveman. Unrefined as it is, Scott’s encouraging, reassuring work has homegrown charm and is an optional purchase for larger collections.

This review appeared in Library Journal 29.19, November 15, 2004 on page 76. The galley was shredded on January 12, 2012.

Move Over Mrs. Robinson: the Vibrant Guide to Dating, Mating, and Relating for Women of a Certain Age

SALISBURY, WENDY & MAGGI RUSSELL. Move Over Mrs. Robinson: The Vibrant Guide to Dating, Mating, and Relating for Women of a Certain Age. Robson, dist. by Parkwest. Dec. 2004. c.214p. ISBN 1-86105-628-1. pap. $14. SELF-HELP

These veddy British journalists dare to explore “the horror of wrinkly sex.” Aging female readers looking for signposts and encouragement will be partially satisfied, but this is more like a pub crawl alongside an English girlfriend jawing on about everything to do with sex (including not having it). Frequent man-bashing confuses the unwritten goal of making “single sirens” feel better about needing men in the first place. Reminiscent of Barbara Herrick’s The Blackberry Tea Club: Women in Their Glory Years, this is of limited usefulness.

This review appeared in Library Journal 129.19, November 15, 2004 on page 76. The galley was shredded on January 11, 2012.

Rookie Dad: Fun and Easy Exercises and Games for Dads and Babies in Their First Year

Pocket. May 2001. c.272p. photogs. index. ISBN 0-7434-1034-3. pap. $13.95. CHILD REARING

Fox, director of Seattle’s Pediatric Therapy Clinic, offers this gentle, sports-themed book filled with 72 activities. Her easy, stimulating games encourage father-child intimacy from birth (e.g., the aptly titled “Daddy Huddle” in which the new team snuggle together) to about 18 months (e.g., “Halftime Band” involves music). Chapters are grouped by the age of the child and feature short advisory sections. Writing in an authoritative voice that will reassure new, and most likely nervous, fathers, Fox resorts to familiar sports metaphors, as when she compares learning diapering to rookie basketball: “Did your coach stick you in the middle of a game with a bunch of experienced guys and expect you to play like a pro? No … [and yet] eventually you put all the pieces together and learned to play basketball.” Accompanying photographs vividly demonstrate the joy of bonding. Appropriate for gifts and public libraries.

This review appeared in Library Journal 126.6, April 1, 2001 on page 129. The galley was recycled almost 11 (!) years later on January 10, 2012.

Cinematherapy for the Soul: the Girl’s Guide to Finding Inspiration, One Movie at a Time

Delta: Dell. Feb. 2004. c.240p. ISBN 0-385-337704-3. pap. $14. SELF-HELP

Peske and West have collaborated on three previous “Cinematherapy” collections; this one suggests 150 flicks to change mood (or, as the authors rather dramatically put it, to “inspire, refresh, uplift, and reinvigorate your tired spirit”). The chapters are thematically organized (e.g., “Your Soul Mate”) and contain brief entries summarizing movies and postulating why they will help readers. Some of the comments are crude. such as “pour some tequila shots, watch Frida and celebrate your own palette of possibilities,” and though most of the films discussed would be considered chick flicks, occasionally gender-neutral stuff (e.g., Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) surfaces. Recipes and movie quotes are interspersed throughout. Libraries should remember that this was designed as a gift book–it has a limited readership, a brief shelf life, and a lack of the critical perspective needed for a collection tool. Not recommended; consider the many existing alternatives, like Video-Hound’s Golden Movie Retriever, 2004.

This review appeared in Library Journal 129.3, February 15, 2004 on page 147. The galley was recycled on January 9, 2012.