Broken Boys / Mending Men: Recovery from Childhood Sexual Abuse

Book Description

Broken Boys/Mending Men awakens us to the realities of a grave situation: boys are the victims of sexual abuse. It is estimated that one in six males suffers some form of sexual abuse as a child or teenager. In most cases the victim knows and trusts the perpetrator - most often an adult or teenage male. Broken Boys/Mending Men, originally published in 1990, provides a frank discussion of the issue, describing the consequences of male sexual abuse and the ways that victims can find help in healing the pain. Candid first-person accounts illustrate issues commonly faced by males trying to deal with their early victimization - withdrawal, isolation, denial, the loss of security and self-esteem - and how society's traditional view of masculinity acts as a barrier to their recovery. Stephen Grubman-Black offers hope and encouragement to victims as well as useful insights for parents, teachers and mental health professionals who want to know more about the effects and treatment of childhood sexual abuse. Stephen D. Grubman-Black teaches in communications studies and in women's studies at the University of Rhode Island. He has offered workshops and trainings over the years for people affected personally and professionally by the traumas created by childhood sexual victimization. "I'm a mental health counselor in Miami, Florida and have been a fan of your work on adult male survivors of sexual abuse. I'm doing a presentation for my colleagues in June on the subject and plan on citing some information I read in your book Broken Boys/Mending Men. I can't tell you how much I learned from that book and how much it has helped my past clients." "Of all the books I have read on the subject this is by far the best one, it goes to the heart of the matter. I am 44 and this is the most helpful book on the market, that I have come across." "A very good book for all of us men who were sexually abused as children." "This book cleared up a lot of confusion for me. This book opened my eyes to my past that my mind had blocked out. I now understand why I have done and still do some of the things I don't want to do. I was able to see what I had lost and what was taken from me. Most of my life I was seeking an illusion now there is some reality in my life. I am not a freak; I was robbed of more than my innocence; I lost most of my life. Freedom is possible and I now know there is more hope than I ever thought there was. Buy the book and get free. I have even bought this book for some friends so they can see that they (we) are not alone in (our) their pain."

Customer Reviews:

Excellent reading.......2004-02-02

This book allows you to 'dip' into the various pages/issues and also allows you to see that no matter, theres nothing wrong with you, what was done to you was wrong!

Steve

Oh my God thats me........2004-01-27

I first read this book 1990 It started me in the road to recovery from what I did not know then but now I do. 7 copies have been stolden by men looking to heal the hidden pain and shame. I know that you will find strength and ability to move on in your life staying stuck is no longer an option. This book also helped me understand the different way we were abused and how to start back to a healthy way of living. If you want understand someone that you know has been abused or suspected some abuse. This book will give you some understanding and a place to start healing yourself and others.

The Clue of the Broken Blade (Hardy Boys, Book 21)

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The Hardys Take Up Fencing
Diamond In The Ruff
Not Very Exciting
Well Paced And Lots Of Action
Good Mystery

The Clue of the Broken Blade (Hardy Boys, Book 21)
Franklin W. Dixon
Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0448089211

Customer Reviews:

The Hardys Take Up Fencing.......2005-06-06

By coincidence I happened to be in one of California's wine regions when I read this book. Since a good portion of this book takes place in California's grape growing regions, I was able to imagine many of the scenes in this book quite well. Because of this coincidence, I found this book to be very enjoyable.

The Hardy boys have taken up fencing. One day their fencing master, Ettore Russo, tells the boys that he must close the fencing school because he needs to find a piece of a sword that may hold the key to his inheritance. Intrigued, the boys follow clues that lead to California, where they believe the broken piece to be. Of course, at least one other person is also looking for the sword, and that person is stopping at nothing to be sure that person locates the sword first, even if it means someone else gets hurt.

This story is relatively less complicated than many other Hardy Boys stories. To spice the story up a little the author added a subplot about a voice identification system. These systems are quite sophisticated today, but at the time this story was written the systems must have been very new.

While several other reviewers have indicated that this story is mediocre, the author paced it nicely and the story is plotted well. I found myself intrigued by the mystery of the sword, which makes this story more of a true mystery with less of a criminal subplot. Further, other than a few incidents, there is relatively less violence in this book than in many other Hardy Boys books. While the story has less action, the quality of the mystery and the accurate setting in California keep this mystery in the four star range.

Though the Hardy Boys series is written in a relatively archaic fashion, as reading material for an increasingly younger audience they are excellent. The stories were once recommended for children ages 10 to 14. As children are exposed to more violence and seem to require greater levels of stimulation, the recommended age range has move to 9 to 12. I think any child capable of reading some of the challenging words in these books will enjoy them, regardless of how tame most of the action may be. Once a child has reached age 12 or so the stories may be of less interest, but given the combination of mystery and action, these books remain good safe choices for parents who want to know what their children are reading.

Diamond In The Ruff.......2004-04-30

Published in 1942 - Although I rate this book a three star which denotes an average book, I cannot slander this book for any particular reason. In fact I cannot find anything wrong with it to any degree - except for this: There are other books in the series that are better and it would be unfair to them to give this volume the same high rating as them. Broken Blade was less breath taking, less action packed and less exciting than several other HB volumes, but I still regard this as a very good volume. The plot is about a search for part of a sword and a race against time as the Hardys and unscrupulous characters hunt for the same sword simultaneously. Their objectives are the same but the goals are different. Who will find the blade first? Broken Blade is one of the least talked about HB books. People rarely list it among their best or worst and it tends to go unnoticed by comparison. RATED B-

REVISION: The 1970 revision was not as good as the first but I still regard it as a pretty good book in its own right and definitely worth reading.

Not Very Exciting.......2002-10-16

This review concerns the revised 1970 edition. Frank and Joe help their fencing instructor, Ettore Russo, by going to California, along with Chet, to find the guard end of a broken saber. The saber had belonged to Russo's grandfather, and proof that Russo is the rightful heir to his grandfather's estate is supposed to be engraved on the saber. Also looking for the saber is a gang on bank robbers, who have stolen some of Mr. Hardy's voiceprint records. Personally, I didn't care much for this book. I found that the first few chapters weren't all that important and could have been eliminated or shortened without hurting the rest of the story much. Also, the Hardys are told to track down a certain man who may be able to give them clues as to the whereabouts of the saber and it takes them very little time to find him. I didn't feel that the book had much action and the last chapter was pretty bad. Frank and Joe don't even catch most of the gang; the only one that they do catch is in, of all places, the city dump. You can read this book if you like, but its not one I'd strongly recommend.

Well Paced And Lots Of Action.......2001-11-11

This review concerns the original 1942 edition. Mr. Hardy's case of thieves stealing merchandise as it is being unloaded from ships leads Frank and Joe into another case concerning a broken sword blade. This book is well written, fast paced, has plenty of action and has a good beginning that quickly grabs the reader. My big problem with the book was that, while Mr. Hardy played a prominent role in this book, he was the only one of the other main characters of the series to do so, since most of the book was set outside of Bayport. Still, it was a really good book that most Hardy Boys fans should enjoy.

Good Mystery.......2000-10-08

This was a very good mystery book. It is about fencing (swordfighting) and the search for an old missing blade that has a will written on it. In order to gather clues to find the blade, the Hardy Boys go on-set at a movie filming to help with stunts. In the process they actually partially team up with their father who is working on a separate but closely related case (which makes this book a bit different from others in its series). Although the plot was rather predictable (gosh, could it possibly be that Frank and Joe save the day?!?), the book was still a fun read and will be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys fencing.

THE RACONTEURS BROKEN BOY SOLDIERS (Guitar Recorded Versions)

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THE RACONTEURS BROKEN BOY SOLDIERS (Guitar Recorded Versions)
The Raconteurs
Manufacturer: HAL LEONARD CORPORATION
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Jet - Get Born

ASIN: 1423423143

Book Description

Notes and tab for all 10 tunes off the debut from Jack White and Brendan Benson's side-project band. Includes the title track, the hit single "Steady, as She Goes" and: Blue Veins * Call It a Day * Hands * Intimate Secretary * Level * Store Bought Bones * Together * Yellow Sun.

Strictest School in the World, The: Being the Tale of a Clever Girl, a Rubber Boy and a Collection of Flying Machines, Mostly Broken (The Mad Misadventures of Emmaline and Rubberbones)

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Fun Victorian Tale
It's Champion!
Agreed! Don't Miss this Book!!
A Fun, Madcap Adventure. Not to be Missed!
Mad Victorian Fun

Strictest School in the World, The: Being the Tale of a Clever Girl, a Rubber Boy and a Collection of Flying Machines, Mostly Broken (The Mad Misadventures of Emmaline and Rubberbones)
Howard Whitehouse
Manufacturer: Kids Can Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1553378830

Book Description

Fourteen-year-old pioneering aviatrix Emmaline Cayley is afraid of one thing: plummeting to her doom. (Actually two, if you count her Aunt Lucy's appalling cooking.) Fortunately, twelve-year-old Robert Burns, an indestructible village boy, is not. Absurdly unafraid of bodily harm (not to mention Aunt Lucy's sandwiches), "Rubberbones" is the ideal pilot for Emmaline's experiments with flight. But before Emmaline can perfect a flying machine with the aid of her new friend, she is sent off to St. Grimelda's School for Young Ladies - to be cured of her decidedly unladylike ways. It is a school so strict, so severe, so forbidding that it makes the brutal misery in the tales of Charles Dickens look cheery by comparison. With a horrifying headmistress, terrifying teachers and food that is even worse than Aunt Lucy's, this medieval stronghold also houses a terrible secret and a mysterious way of keeping its prisoners, er, its students in line. All Emmaline can think of is escape. But no one has ever escaped from St. Grimelda's. And our heroine soon realizes that the only way out is to face her greatest fear ...

Customer Reviews:

Fun Victorian Tale.......2007-03-11

Emmaline Cayley, an English girl who has spent her entire 14 years in India, has been shipped off by her parents to England to attend a boarding school, St. Grimelda's School for Young Ladies. Her letter of acceptance arrives from the school:

Miss Cayley,
You are to report to this school for educational purposes. Please do not even consider attempting to avoid this necessity. The arrangements are firm and will not be altered.

The harsh tone of the letter is nothing compared to what Emmaline finds the school to be when she arrives. Under such depressing circumstances, how is she supposed to follow her dream of creating a flying machine? Will she ever see her aunt and friend again?

I put The Strictest School in the World on my to-read list after I read Jen Robinson's positive review (she heard about it from Kelly). And I'm glad I did. Filled with charming illustrations and written in a delightfully old-fashioned manner, this story is enjoyable from start to finish. You will cheer for Emmaline and Rubberbones throughout their various adventures and mishaps. I'm hoping for a sequel!

It's Champion!.......2007-01-08

Fourteen year old Emmaline and 12 year old Robert Burns (Rubberbones) are trying to build a flying machine. They are almost done when....she is sent to a school from a horror movie, St. Grimelda's. It is a very funny book. I loved it. Any boy or girl that likes Harry Potter would like this. It is satisfying, and you won't fall asleep reading it. I couldn't put it down. You won't be able to either.

Agreed! Don't Miss this Book!!.......2006-12-02

I have to say upfront that "The Strictest School in the World" is my favorite type of children's novel. It's a Middle Grade adventure story involving a daring girl, a crazy aunt, a Dickensian boarding school, and flying machines. What more could you want? Written by Howard Whitehouse and illustrated by Bill Slavin, "The Strictest School in the World" is well written fun for the 9-13-year-old reader.

Emmaline Cayley dreams of flying. Her great-great-uncle was Sir George Cayley, a historical figure and pioneer in aviation, and she uses his plans to design flying machines. Her only problem is that she herself is afraid to fly.

When Emmaline is fourteen, she is sent by her clueless parents from India to England to attend St. Grimelda's School for Young Ladies. The only benefit to this arrangement is that she has the opportunity to stay with her slightly-unhinged Aunt Lucy before the term starts. There she meets "Rubberbones" or "Rab," a small boy who never hurts himself when he falls. Rather, he bounces on impact. Emmaline has found her pilot and, in her aunt, a source of funding for her inventions.

When Emmaline is sent to school, all inventing has to stop. Instead, she's a student at a the "strictest school in the world." The girls live in fear, the matron is a monster, and a couple of "birds" patrol the ground. Soon a rescue operation is under way to save Emmaline from St. Grimelda's.

"The Strictest School in the World" is funny, smart, and exciting. Emmaline is a wonderful character, a girl scientist who is unflinching in the face of danger. Give this one to a Middle Grade reader today!

A Fun, Madcap Adventure. Not to be Missed!.......2006-10-02

I had read a glowing review of The Strictest School in the World last month, so I was quite pleased when a review copy showed up in my mailbox. The Strictest School in the World lived up to my expectations. It's so much fun! It's a book aimed squarely at the 9-12 set, featuring lovably eccentric characters, larger-than-life bad guys, two independent-minded protagonists, and madcap adventures.

The story is set in Yorkshire, England in 1894 (the late Victorian Era). The two protagonists are fourteen-year-old Emmaline Cayley and twelve-year-old Robert Burns (also called Rab). Emmaline is sent from India, where she has grown up, to live with her Aunt Lucy in England, prior to attending boarding school. (There are definite echoes here of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden and The Little Princess, though Emmaline is a more independent thinker than either Sara Crewe or Mary Lennox.)

Emmaline is obsessed with creating a flying machine, even though she herself is afraid of flying. Imagine her delight when she meets the intrepid Rab, called Rubberbones because of his rubber-like ability to survive falls with nary a scratch. Rubberbones, who has dropped out of school to earn money for his family, is more than happy to be paid by Aunt Lucy to support Emmaline in her flying machine projects. And Rubberbones turns out to have an instinctive knack for aviation. Together, with the support of Aunt Lucy and her unconventional butler Lal Singh, the two spend the summer constructing flying machines. They have varying degrees of success.

Their happy world is interrupted, however, when Emmaline is sent away to school. The school that her mother has selected for her, sight unseen, has a reputation for being "the strictest school for girls in the world." Emmaline has difficulty adjusting, particularly after the relative freedom of her Aunt Lucy's house.

"St. Grimelda's made her think of the novels of Charles Dickens, with their slum conditions, mean relations, dashed hopes, and general aspects of brutal misery (and miserable brutality). But they were cheery tales compared with daily life at St. Grimelda's.

The girls themselves were beastly to one another. Since almost nothing enjoyable was allowed, girls tried to hide small things, like sweets and trinkets. Every piece of this "contraband" -- as if it were smuggler's cargo -- would be seized by older girls.

...

Strangely, though the girls spent a lot of effort being horrible to one another, they were extremely -- in fact weirdly -- obedient to the teachers, especially Mrs. Wackett and Matron. Teachers simply reminded the girls of "the consequences of misbehavior," and the girls shuddered, turned pale and jumped to attention. Or fainted."

(Above quotes from Chapter 9: A Dickensian Sort of Chapter)

Yes, St. Grimelda's school is a terrible place, filled with rules, privations, meanness and betrayal among the students, and an undisclosed punishment that leaves the girls gibbering with fear. Emmaline quickly realizes that she must find a way to escape. However, escape is not so easy. She's not permitted visitors, and her letters are screened. The castle is surrounded by a wall, and hardly anyone is allowed in or out. Emmaline has to reach deep within herself for bravery and ingenuity to find a way out.

Meanwhile, her scatterbrained but loving Aunt Lucy, and Lucy's loyal companions Lal Singh and Rubberbones, quickly realize from Emmaline's colorless letters that something is very wrong. They put aside everything else to travel to the school, and work from the outside to find a way to help Emmaline escape. They, and Emmaline, receive help from a variety of unexpected sources, but also encounter dangerous enemies, in their mutual quest to extricate Emmaline from St. Grimelda's.

There is a lot to like about this book. The author's voice is hilarious, with matter-of-fact recounting of tragedies, and sly insertions of humor. The naming of the characters reminds me a bit of Roald Dahl (e.g. Miss Sharpelbow, a terrifying teacher, and Professor Bellbuckle, a mad inventor). The plot, with loyal relatives trying to help a young girl escape from a prison of a school, reminds me of one of the main sub-plots in Eva Ibbotson's The Star of Kazan. However, The Strictest School in the World is more humorous and in tone, with more over-the-top behavior. The humor of the book keeps the Gothic overtones from ever being too much.

This book has examples of both loyalty and betrayal. Emmaline learns what true friendship means, and what it takes to trust someone (and when not to trust someone). The lengths that the people who love Emmaline are willing to go to to rescue her are heart-warming. The ending is very satisfying, too. I think that upper elementary school kids, both boys and girls, will love this book. I look forward to future books in the series.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on October 1, 2006.

Mad Victorian Fun.......2006-09-14

Howard Whitehouse has crafted a hilarious tale about a Victorian schoolgirl's struggle to build her own flying machine. While the story enchants the pre-teen in your life, the Pythonesque humour is sure to keep you in stitches. At no additional cost, you also get to imbibe the gorgeous illustrations of Bill Slavin. All told, it's a rollicking ride. Highly recommended!

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The book was written only two years after the accident
A Treasured Friend
Broken Arrow Boy
My classmate, Adam

Broken Arrow Boy
Adam Moore
Manufacturer: Landmark Editions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

Book Description

The Special Gold Award Winner for the 1989 National Written & Illustrated By...Awards Contest for Students, this is a remarkable true story of human courage.

When Adam was eight years old, he fell and ran an arrow into his head. Nine operations in six months. With rare insight and humor, Adam tells of his ordeal and his determination to get well.

Customer Reviews:

The book was written only two years after the accident.......2004-05-05

You know, I have found that being thrust into that world of white (hospitals, nurses, and doctors) has actually increased my quality of life. Sure, I was dealt a rather unfortunate hand, but in my opinion, only recently did I realize this, I am the way I am and I will always be the same person as before. Now, in the minds of children, a character never 'grows up'; however, I have. Now, I write as a 25-year-old associate in college. Since the publication of my book, I have endured over 40+ different surgeries in various parts of my physical body, though my love and compassion for others has not wavered. Hopefully, someday I will be able to fully document my trials and tribulations for anyone interested. For now, I am content in my wheelchair - a result of my most recent surgery - but I am working towards walking again with my cane. For those concerned, my determination shall shine forth and once again I will be the Adam Moore I once was.

A Treasured Friend.......2003-01-09

I bought this book more than a decade past at a convention about gifted children. I loved it then and marveled that a boy so young could write such an incredible book, and that there was a publisher so brave and generous to bring it to the public eye. Just recently, January 7, 2003, I revisted this old friend of a book and was even more inspired by its courage and vision than I was all those years ago. I am sure Adam Moore is all grown up now and I pray that he is happy and well. Thank goodness, I now discover via Amazon.com that his terrific book is still available to both kids and adults. This is a great story and one of a boy's triumph over enormous odds and terrible pain to regain his life. Broken Arrow Boy is a triumph of the will and the spirit that people will benefit from reading again and again. This is a book children and their parents should share. Broken Arrow Boy is like an old friend. It calls for many reunions.

Broken Arrow Boy.......2001-08-02

This book is incredible to have been written by a young boy. Adam Moore kept a positive attitude through many complications that occured after he fell on a arrow that went into his brain through his eye. He gives details of many medical procedures in a way that is interesting to children. I have read it to second graders every year since I discovered it, and they love it. I use it to encourage them to write about things that happen to them.

My classmate, Adam.......2000-11-03

Adam's story takes place when we were in 3rd grade in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. His story touched all the students and we were very impressed with his book. Being a teacher, I like to share stories that touch me with my students. Adam's book is obviously written by a child for children. The students love the fact that they are around the same age Adam was at the time. They also like the idea that a child can actually write a book to be published. It gives them inspiration to be writers themselves.

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None Better..
good warning for young men to avoid sexual abuse
An Eye-Opener
THE FIRST STEP TO BEGIN MY RECOVERY BEGAN WITH THIS BOOK

Broken Boys/Mending Men
Stephen D. Grubman-Black
Manufacturer: Ivy Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers

ASIN: 0804109400
Release Date: 1991-11-24

Book Description

One out of six males was sexually abused as a child, yet these crimes continue to be underreported and misunderstood. The boys (even as adults) find it difficult to disclose what has happened to them for the very real fear that they will be blamed or shamed. In fact, stereotypes about men and masculinity actually engender sexual victimization and prevent society from protecting male children against this crime.

Now in Broken Boys/Mending Men, Stephen Grubman-Black, a counselor, seminar leader, and survivor of childhood abuse, explores what happens to adult survivors when the trauma of sexual abuse haunts their lives. In their own words, survivors describe how fathers, mothers, brothers, uncles, and trusted family friends robbed them of trust, and the ways in which these events have had a lasting impact. Grubman-Black reminds survivors that it is never too late to tell and that talking is the first step toward recovery and self-understanding.

Supportive and caring, Broken Boys/Mending Men is written for male survivors, the people who love them, and their counselors. Readers will learn to listen and look for signs in themselves and others and help bring to light this hidden tragedy that so many boys and men have faced alone for too long, so that the healing process can begin.

Customer Reviews:

None Better.........2002-09-10

Of all the books I have read on the subjuct this is by far the best one, it goes to the heart of the matter. I am 44yrs old and this is the most helpful book on the market, that I have come across.

Kofi-1

good warning for young men to avoid sexual abuse.......2001-08-23

I read this book a few years ago as part of a class assignment. I choose this book without knowing if I was going to like it. When I compared this book with other books on the same subject of sexual abuse on children, I think it is a well written book. It goes to the point without being nasty or melodramatic (as a couple of books on sexual abuse on female children written by women). I believe it can prevent sexual abuse on young men if this book is read by potential victims. This book could accomplish a social favor to society by being distributed among young people. Unfortunately I do not know any book as good as this written by women relating their sexual abuse.

An Eye-Opener.......1998-10-01

A very good book for all of us men who were sexually abused as children. This book cleared up a lot of confusion for me.

THE FIRST STEP TO BEGIN MY RECOVERY BEGAN WITH THIS BOOK.......1998-09-21

This book opened my eyes to my past that my mind had blocked out. I now understand why I have done and still do some of the things I don't want to do. I was able to see what I had lost and what was taken from me. Most of my life I was seeking an illusion now therre is some reality in my life. I am not a freek I was robbed of more than my innocance I lost most of my life. Freedom is possiable and I now know there is more hope than I ever thought there was. Buy the book and get free. I have even bought this book for some friends so they can see that they (we) are not alone in (our) their pain

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Polio
Polio in Cork

The Broken Boy
Patrick Cockburn
Manufacturer: Vintage Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 009945923X
Release Date: 2006-07-25

Book Description

A personal memoir of the last great polio epidemic, affecting 50,000 people, and of the author’s own experience of polio; a portrait of his parents, both radicals; and the story of the epidemic in Cork, Ireland, where the author and his family lived in the mid 1950s.

Customer Reviews:

Polio.......2007-01-18

I had polio, about the same in immediate and long-term effect as Cockburn, at about the same time. The reason for the reticence the earlier reviewer notes is that at that time we were all bombarded by images of kids in iron lungs, and by encouraging stories about other little boys and girls who'd had polio or other crippling diseases and accidents (the miler Glenn Cunningham was a teacher favorite) and who'd gone on to greatness of one kind or another.

Part of that message was that if we weren't going to be cheerful overachievers we should at least have the grace to shut up about it, since so many others (the coffin kids) had it so much worse. To be a polio survivor is to know absolutely that whatever you may think you deserve, there's another kid in the ward who deserves much more; however great you think you are there's another kid who's better. It screws me up at job interviews but otherwise makes me a better person than I might otherwise be -- though not, as noted, as good as Patrick Cockburn, most likely.

This is a good book. A nice comparison read would be Wilfrid Sheed's _People Will Always Be Kind_.

Polio in Cork.......2006-12-04

The author, who contracted polio at age six, was one of many victims of the polio epidemic in Cork,
Ireland. Over 50,000 got the virus in 1956, "one of the last great outbreaks of
polio anywhere in Western Europe." An outbreak that occurred just a few years
after a vaccine had been developed in America.

The book is interesting when it describes the way that the community denied
and downplayed the effects of epidemic. Newspapers, then still the main source
of information in Ireland, never named polio victims and only published, more or
less uncritically, official reports on the epidemic. This, and apparently, the
desire of the business community to maintain economic stability in the
community, created an environment of incoherent hysteria where children
were kept home from school and public swimming pools closed, but pubs
remained opened.

Patrick Cockburn, a distinguished international news correspondent, was
gravely affected by the disease. Today, he walks with a limp, cannot run or
drive a car. He tells quite a bit of his days in hospital and feelings at the time.

He seems, though, a bit reticent about it at times, because it was so long ago and also
perhaps because of a resentment at his parents moving house to Cork, despite
warnings about the epidemic.

His parents were Claud and Patricia Cockburn. His father was a leftist writer
and his mother a daughter of Anglo-Irish upper-class parents. Both were
adventurous and neither were accustomed to changing their plans if risks were
involved. Much of the book, perhaps too much, is written about his parents and
their background. For those readers of Alexander Cockburn, Patrick's brother,
this family background is very familiar ground.

Well-written and interesting in places, this is a slight contribution to the
literature on diseases and epidemics. Cockburn laments the lack of information
on polio epidemic in Cork, so perhaps this is spadework for another, larger
book. For those who are interested in epidemics in general, Cockburn points to
a classic account, Journal of a Plague Year by Daniel Defoe.

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The Clue of the Broken Blade (Hardy Boys, Book 21)
Franklin W. Dixon
Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Clue of the Broken Blade (Hardy Boys, Book 21)
Franklin W. Dixon
Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GTGDH4

Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street, The

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Queen for a day (give or take a decade)

Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street, The
Sharon Flake
Manufacturer: Jump At The Sun
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1423100328
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Customer Reviews:

Queen for a day (give or take a decade).......2007-08-06

I'm probably the laziest person I know when it comes to reviewing books. I'm okay on the reading part, and I'm just ducky at putting a book in my To Be Reviewed Pile. It's at the point when the book merges with the general pile that I tend to get distracted, though. Books get seriously frighteningly buried. I guess that's the danger with a vertical rather than a horizontal pile. Then the mediocre books begin to disappear from my mind. I forget their details and their characters. I can't conjure up a notable scene or moment from them, and then the end of the year rolls around and it's too late to review them anyway. Once in a great while, however, I'll bury a book deep down into my pile and it'll remain in my brain for months on end. Today's example of this is Sharon G. Flake's, "The Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street". I read this book so long ago that I've no clear-cut memory of the time or season anymore. Yet when I plucked it up just now it was if I'd finished it in its entirety only yesterday. Until this book the only Flake title I'd ever read was the mighty YA, Who Am I Without Him?. "Broken Bike Boy", then, proves that Flake's talent for switching genres is rivaled only by her strong characterizations.

It's enough to drive even the most superior member of the royal family bonkers. Queen knows that she's smart. Her father and her older brothers tell her every single day, and she loves correcting her teacher whenever she has the chance. That the kids in her school don't immediately recognize her innate superiority would be tolerable if they didn't all go and actually like nasty old Leroy instead. Leroy stinks and he lies. He says he's royalty from Africa, and Queen seems to be the only kid in her class that can see through his lies. Yet somehow this nasty boy has managed to charm everybody. Her teacher. Her parents. Her classmates. Everyone! But Queen's attempts to get at the truth behind Leroy's past teaches her a thing or two about what it truly means to be royal and, more importantly, a good person in this life.

At first when I was reading this book, I was ... well, basically I read this book like a kid would. I really did NOT like silly stuck-up Queen and I was feeling more than a little mad at Ms. Flake for forcing her upon me. I mean, this is a gal doted upon by her father and all her brothers. When one of them sends her a present she recounts how, "Then like always, he told me how much he loved me. Right after that I called my other brothers, to see what they would send me." ARG! Tell me that doesn't make you feel just a little crazy. Spoiled kids make for frustrating if intense reading. I'm ashamed to say that I was probably halfway through the book before it occurred to me that maybe you weren't supposed to like Queen. Maybe that was kind of the point. I've been so used to reading characters like Ida B from the novel of the same name that I had difficulty recognizing when I was supposed to be annoyed by my protagonist. Kudos to Ms. Flake then. It takes guts to make an unlikable hero. Guts and talent.

Pity about the end, really. Chapter 26 goes way too fast and ends the book with an abruptness that takes your breath away. Spoiler alert for those of you who'd rather not know the end. First of all, the villains are punks with pink hair. It's so retro it almost works. But then the action sequence starts and the herky-jerky writing throws everything off. For some reason, the style that serves the rest of the book so well goes wayward and odd here. Sentences are short and don't connect to one another in a pleasing fashion. Then the next thing you know you're at the end of the book and it's all happened so quickly that you don't know if you're coming or going.

Be all that as it may be, I'm a fan. The book sticks with you. Queen is so infuriating that it's nothing short of amazing that Flake is capable of making her sympathetic. The feeling of wanting to root for Queen even as you throttle her makes this book a standout in a fairly dull year. Ideal for booktalks, book discussion, and reading aloud in the classroom. Two thumbs up.

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