_Lincoln's Grave Robbers_ by Steve Sheinkin

When I was in school, I really didn't dig history. Presented in standard (boring) textbook format, it didn't engage me. If you'd ever told me in 6th grade that I'd enjoy reading a history book, I would have thought you were crazy or from Mars.

Flash-forward many a year. I'm now trying to teach my children to enjoy history. Our history curriculum definitely makes it easy and interesting to like history. Add in books, both fact and fictional, related to the same time period, and history does become more than enjoyable.

Lincoln's Grave Robbers ties together historical details with which you will likely be familiar (things you can learn in a textbook) and more obscure facts that really flesh out the story. And it is a story. It's not a list of dry facts. It follows both those who sought to rob President Lincoln's grave and those who attempted to stop them. And it's suspenseful, and in that spirit, I won't give anything away.

I definitely give it two thumbs up with no reservations. Unless your child is highly, highly sensitive and squeamish. Really, it's not too gross, but the subject matter does involve graves and dead bodies. There is some discussion about grave robbers, in general, and why doctors robbed graves. My sensitive son read it and had no problems. He loved it.

_The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism is Harming Our Young Men_ by Christina Hoff Sommers

I mentioned this book in an earlier post. I was curious and ordered the book from our library. It is not an easy read because it is scholarly, but it was a good read. By "good" I mean that if you have sons or if you are a teacher, you should read this book or the updated version of it which I have not read (The War Against Boys: How Misguided Policies are Harming Our Young Men).

What struck me about this book is that I needed to read it about 16 years ago when I began teaching. I was taught to believe in and use (in education classes and in teacher in-services) so many practices that Sommers debunks. I pushed for students to vomit out their feelings in journals and practiced so many other teaching methods that put boys at a disadvantage. I can see it so very clearly in the rearview mirror. I certainly didn't mean to hurt them or their learning, but I can see that I was misinformed. The sad thing is that those who misinformed me also were educators who really wanted to help all of the children, but they were misinformed, too. It seems that somehow really poorly researched findings about girls' voices being squelched in our society caught on and became the shaky basis for well-meaning but bad policies and initiatives.

While this book leans solidly to the right, it is well-researched and filled with logic and common sense. Sommers does a good job of pointing out flaws in a respectful way that considers her opposition. Even if you are more liberal-leaning, I think you would find this book thoughtful and useful.

_Marley: A Dog Like No Other_ by John Grogan

I saw the commercials on television for Marley & Me when it first came out, and I thought it looked hilarious. It wasn't until just this past year that I finally saw it on television, and it was better than I had expected. In January I read the memoir that the movie was based on (as recommended by a friend a few years ago), and it was even better than the movie. I laughed out loud and cried. I wanted to read it to my children, but there were just too many adult themes.

*Spoiler Alert* If you don't want to know what happens, then don't continue reading. Of course, that means you won't know my opinion of the book, so proceed with caution.

Then a few weeks ago I spotted Marley: A Dog Like No Other by John Grogan on the library shelves. The front cover claims it is a "special adaptation for young readers," so I had to check it out. After reading it as quickly as possible, and laughing and crying out loud again, I knew I wanted to read it to my older two boys. 

The problem is, as you know if you've seen the movie or read the grown-up version or understand that dogs don't live as long as people, that the lovable, furry, and stupidly boisterous main character dies in the end. I wasn't sure one of my boys could handle that part of the story. I decided to just ask him if he wanted to listen, making sure that both boys realized ahead of time that in the end, Marley would die and that it would be sad. 

He chose not to listen. Except he forgot to leave the room once. After that, he wanted to listen to the whole thing. Except when it became clear that the end was near. Then he didn't listen. Instead, he read the rest of the book on his own and skipped any parts that were just too intense for him. 

In the end, both of my boys absolutely loved the book. They rolled on the floor laughing. Apart from the whole sad part (which really is one of those sads that makes you happy), the book is stinking hilarious.

Now. There are parts some parents may not want their children reading. First--poop. If you have a problem with your children reading about poop, especially dog poop and sometimes vomit and gas, then don't bring this book home.  Second, the death thing. If you think you child can't handle it, preview it first before you let him read it. Third, if your family rejects anything that isn't doctrinally sound, this one mentions doggie heaven in the context of a father trying to comfort his children. 

The fourth thing is that some of the language is. . . hmmm. . . well, not "bad words" exactly, but phrases I mostly don't want my children using or phrases I wasn't ready to explain. These are the only parts I felt strongly enough about to leave out while I read aloud. The wife in the book jokingly shouts to her husband (when the dog plows him over and is on top of him) something about "when you two are done making out." Also, once when Marley was in a movie, a child actress screamed that Marley's "thing" was out.  One phrase I wasn't certain about but read anyway because I wasn't paying close enough attention was about Marley "in pursuit of hot poodle butt-sniffing action." Again, these phrases may be fine for you and yours, but my prudish self cringed a bit when thinking of reading them to my 8-9 year old boys.

That's it. I recommend this book heartily if you are cool with the issues I highlighted. It's not just funny; it's also good writing. Grogan has a way with words. His writing style isn't just humorous; it's also beautiful.