Book of the Day Roundup: March 7-11, 2022
The Child Is the Teacher
A Life of Maria Montessori
Cristina De Stefano
Gregory Conti, translator
Other Press
Hardcover $28.99 (368pp)
978-1-63542-084-5
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Cristina De Stefano’s The Child Is the Teacher is an intimate, comprehensive biography of Maria Montessori, whose revolutionary approach to early childhood education provoked storms of controversy, brought about a new appreciation of the mind of the child, and incited a global movement for social change.
Born in Chiaravalle, Italy, in 1870, Montessori became known for her strong will, fiery temper, and drive to make more of herself than was dictated by bourgeois Roman society. A feminist at heart and opposed to marriage, she had set her sights on a career in medicine, even giving up the newborn son she birthed out of wedlock in order to pursue her dream.
A visit to Rome’s San Lorenzo slums awakened Montessori to the bleak existence of the poverty-stricken and mentally disabled children who were committed to psychiatric asylums. There, she found her calling. Her success at teaching children considered to be “little idiots” was astounding. Still, she faced almost insurmountable obstacles as she worked to create schools wherein all children could reach their full potentials.
The book’s absorbing narrative shows independent, determined Montessori facing health challenges; the effects of war; longing for her distant child; lack of adequate funds; and harsh criticism of her methods. But even when failure appeared imminent, Montessori maintained her indomitable spirit and firm belief in her purpose. She benefited from amazing synchronicities and allies, including an unfortunate link to Mussolini. Ultimately, the fact that her methods were both innovative and successful, enabled her to prevail.
Bolstered by rare access to Montessori’s unpublished diaries, personal letters, notes, and texts, The Child Is the Teacher is a deep, comprehensive biography that rewards both intellect and emotion.
KRISTINE MORRIS (February 27, 2022)
Requiem for America’s Best Idea
National Parks in the Era of Climate Change
Michael J. Yochim
High Road Books
Hardcover $34.95 (296pp)
978-0-8263-6343-5
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Pondering the impact of climate change on the national parks, Requiem for America’s Best Idea is a nature guide and travelogue with a powerful message of environmental advocacy.
Featuring five of the largest Western parks—Olympic, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Yellowstone, and Yosemite—the book is captivating on many levels. It is a lyrical introduction to the parks’ geology, history, and microclimates, packed with fascinating details about their local vegetation and wildlife, from the tiny canyon wren to the towering sequoia. It is also a rousing adventure story recounting dozens of Michael J. Yochim’s trips, including rafting on the Colorado River, skiing the backcountry of the Sierra, and climbing the peaks of the High Divide. It is comprehensive in summarizing the science of climate change, with discerning views of the natural world’s vulnerabilities and adaptations given rising temperatures, droughts, and wildfires. And it serves as an affecting memoir of Yochim’s struggles with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which robbed him of the abilities to hike, walk, eat, and breathe.
Yochim drew his last breath while writing this manuscript, using eye-tracking technology because, long before, he’d lost the ability to type or speak. While the disease devastated his body, Yochim’s memories of the parks sustained him: “If there are any places that energize the body, mind, and soul…[if] there are any places that calm the hurried, that soothe the wounded, that quiet the troubled, they are these islands of tranquility.” Weaving together accounts of the parks’ changing ecosystems with Yochim’s own physical decline, the book makes an impassioned case for addressing the causes of global warming.
Among the many works on the natural world and climate change, Requiem for America’s Best Idea is an exceptionally touching, persuasive, and urgent plea for preserving these “natural cathedrals”— places of wonder, renewal, and transcendence—for future generations.
KRISTEN RABE (February 27, 2022)
Truth and Other Lies
Maggie Smith
Ten16 Press
Softcover $18.99 (356pp)
978-1-64538-262-1
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
In Maggie Smith’s novel Truth and Other Lies, three driven women make life-altering decisions about the secrets they’ve kept in order to get ahead.
Megan, a young, liberal journalist, moves back into her overprotective mother’s Chicago home after being fired from a reporting job. Her mother, Helen, has a surprise for her: she’s running for a Congress seat as a pro-life Republican. This puts a pause on Megan’s journalism career: no newspaper will hire the daughter of a political candidate to dispense unbiased reports.
But after Megan attends a feminist rally and punches a skinhead in defense of a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Jocelyn, she’s hired to be part of Jocelyn’s public relations team. There’s buzz churning about Jocelyn’s forthcoming memoir. An anonymous tweet calls her integrity into question, turning Megan’s job into a nightmare. In her off hours, she’s tenacious about sniffing out the source of the tweet; she finds out the ugly truth behind Jocelyn’s prolific career—as well as a dark piece of Helen’s past. Megan pitches the scoop to local newspapers, and is forced to decide whether her career or her mother’s is more valuable to her.
The story moves at a quick pace, with shocking secrets revealed at every turn. Though Megan is grating at first, arguing with her mother and expecting to be handed a newspaper job, she comes into her own as a strong woman and tough reporter by the book’s end. Indeed, each person in the novel is authentic—both complicated and flawed. Even the conclusion avoids tidy solutions in favor of open-ended optimism and a look toward the future.
In the thrilling novel Truth and Other Lies, a young reporter works to uncover the truth, which could have ruinous implications for others.
ASHLEY HOLSTROM (February 27, 2022)
Elephant Island
Leo Timmers
Gecko Press
Hardcover $18.99 (40pp)
978-1-77657-434-6
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
A shipwreck is usually a disaster, but Arnold is a resourceful elephant calf, with a built-in snorkel-slash-horn. He makes it safely to an island the size of his feet and signals for help. The one impediment to his rescue? He’s not quite aware of his size. This light-tension, winking tale of a makeshift homecoming is sure to delight audiences at story time. Its mixed-media illustrations evoke stop-motion films; the animals’ stiff, bewildered looks are humorous, and the colors and clever details are electrifying.
MICHELLE ANNE SCHINGLER (February 27, 2022)
My Volcano
John Elizabeth Stintzi
Two Dollar Radio
Softcover $17.99 (330pp)
978-1-953387-16-5
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
The chaos of current events takes on a supernatural dimension in John Elizabeth Stintzi’s novel My Volcano.
In the summer of 2016, all over the world, there are strange occurrences. The most spectacular event of all: a volcano sprouts in the middle of Central Park and keeps on growing, destroying large sections of New York City. But the volcano is only the start: for years, there are terrible experiences of loss, violence, grief, and predictable, preventable upheaval.
Some react to the volcano with curiosity or anger; others, like the advertisers who clutter its slopes with billboards, are cynical enough to take advantage of even the most terrible opportunities. But most, out of fear or ennui, try to live their lives as if the city were not shaking to pieces around them. These parallels to the real world are incisive and painful.
Beyond the volcano, the book’s diverse cast faces problems that range from eerie to horrifying to just bizarre: people appear where they aren’t supposed to be, or disappear without explanation, or merge with other forms of life. Meanwhile, more ordinary catastrophes continue apace: Black and queer people die violent deaths, relationships stagger, pollution runs rampant, and too many people struggle with loneliness and discomfort in their own bodies.
The nonlinear narrative moves back and forward and back again, showing how the characters’ stories could have ended before “resetting” to explore other outcomes. Each episode stresses the interconnected nature of all: whether an individual likes it or not, their lives and actions affect not only themselves, but their friends, their neighbors, and their planet. The suggestion is sobering: while the world in My Volcano may proffer second chances, the real world does not.
My Volcano is a captivating novel about the consequences of letting obvious dangers fester and grow.
EILEEN GONZALEZ (February 27, 2022)
Barbara Hodge
