#91, "The Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth"

"The Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth"
by Ellie Hattie

Beautifully illustrated! The artwork is truly amazing and wonderful. The story is about a boy and a magical mammoth searching for the baby mammoth in a museum that has come alive. The story is fun, and there are lots of flaps with both story elements, as well as--slightly confusingly--trivia about the animals, art, and people that the characters find in the museum. I didn't care for the non-story parts, like the trivia, as it seemed that the book didn't really know whether to be educational or a magical mystery. One or the other would have made for a better, simpler and cleaner book. Fun reading it, though. And, again, the artwork is fantastic.

#89, "I Wish My Teacher Knew"

"I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything For Kids"
by Kyle Schwartz

This book was inspired by a simple question in the author's 3rd-grade class, a question initially intended to get to know her class. She asked her students to finish the sentence "I wish my teacher knew...", and the results were funny, sobering, and occasionally shocking. Apparently the idea of the lesson went viral a couple of years ago. I had not heard of it before. The book has only a little to do with that lesson in particular. Instead, it uses the idea of things that students wish they could say but can't or don't and explores the different kinds of pain, turmoil, or abuse that children undergo. She talks about students who change schools, due to financial or family problems, deportation, military moves. She talks about students who live in such poverty that their only meals are from their schools. She talks about students who suffer abuse. She also talks about students who lift themselves and their classmates from their challenges, who meet and overcome obstacles through their own wills and with the help of their classroom community and, often, the love and support of a caring teacher. Real learning can happen in spite of terrible circumstances when children know there is at least one place they are safe, loved. The book isn't what I would call brilliant, but it is a forceful reminder of the importance of the classroom teacher, the impact--true, real, lifelong, everyday, life and death impact--that we as teachers can and do make when we make our classes safe places for children who need help, who need strength, who need community. Every child deserves love, deserves a chance to live and grow and learn. That is really the foundational object of teaching, and something I hope to cultivate in my own classroom every day.

#88, "The Courage to Teach"

"The Courage to Teach"
by Parker J. Palmer

This is a beautifully written book. Palmer has invested a substantial amount of thinking in the topics he talks about, and his depth of scholarship and carefully considered language is reflected in every weighted sentence. The text is part memoir, described in encounters, failures and successes along his career as an educator, and part prescriptive guide for teachers to rediscover their identities as humans and teachers, and ultimately for reforming the state of modern education for the good of all.

Palmer addresses three entities, each larger than the last: the teacher, communities of teachers, and finally teaching institutions. Teachers, he says, must connect, or reconnect, with themselves in order to really fulfill their identities as teachers. There is quite a bit of mystic and Buddhist terminology here, as he exhorts us to "listen to the inner teacher" and "find your truth." From a Christian perspective, I found that once I filtered his terminology into true statements, it made more sense for me. I agree with his premise, that we must live, or strive to live, "undivided" lives, though I think we disagree on what that means. I think, too, that once we--teachers especially, but really all humankind in general--once we have found our identities, we ought to live in community with others, and that real progress can be made once honest, open community is established. He ends by examining some aspects of educational reform, and presses the reader to live with integrity for what is right, even at the cost of prestige, power, or paycheck; a sentiment I stand behind myself. When integrity is gone, from the classroom, the pulpit, the home, we have become hollow men and hollow women. Anyway, I will not philosophize, even though the Mariana-level depth of the thoughts and writing in this book make it hard not to reciprocate with philisophication.

#87, "The Time Machine"

"The Time Machine"
by H. G. Wells

This book was published in 1895. I love the old-timey writing (most of the time). Wells has a fairly good sense of character and realism of tone, though the pacing and the propulsion of the book I felt was lacking. It is short enough that you can just hash through the story fairly quickly, as there is no character development, no subplots, and is realistically written as if some guy was telling a tale to his colleagues of something he just did. I suppose that's what Wells was going for. As a thought-experiment, then, it is interesting, but as a novel, it is not particularly compelling once you get past the time travelling bits. My favorite part of the novel was when the Time Traveller went 30 million years into the future. It's one thing to think about what the world will look like a hundred years from now, or even a thousand...but 30 million years! It would be a different place altogether. There is a lot of speculation on human development, a lot of evolutionistic theory and talk--though the Time Traveller admits that most of his theories end up being dead wrong and we aren't given any resolution as to what actually happens, which keeps the book from being preachy or prophetic, as you might expect from such a book today. It is low on plot and explanation. A fine read, but not a favorite, and, if I compare it to other of Wells' stories, certainly less compelling than The War of the Worlds. However, as I say, it is a worthy thought-experiment and in that it succeeds quite well.

#86, "Outliers"

"Outliers"
By Malcolm Gladwell

I have wanted to read this book for a few years now, though I'm not sure where I first heard of it. "Outliers" is about the concept of success; why some people find success and others do not, its accompanied complexities, and the hidden and sometimes surprising factors that influence a person's success. He looks at several groups in order to unpack and examine what contributes to success; Canadian hockey players, Korean pilots, Silicon valley executives, 1830's millionaires. His primary point is that success is based on factors out of our control as much, or more, than factors within our power. The place, the year, even the month we were born, the social class of our fathers, the power distribution of our cultures, all things that we have no influence over, have real and lasting impact on the paths our lives take. Success is a mixture of predetermined conditions, innate talent (though this is less important that we are often led to believe), hard--like, crazy insane hard--work, and opportunity. No one just falls into success. Gladwell's perspectives are fresh and insightful and are written in a great style that encourages one to continue reading. I really enjoyed the unusual settings of his examples, and even more how he tied each unusual example back into the larger picture. A masterful book on a subject I think most of us are interested to know more about.

Didn't Write Reviews, But

I finished two other books this month:

#84, "Creating the Constitution," a quick account of the circumstances and some of the debate surrounding the writing of the US Constitution
#85, "A Good Marriage," a Stephen King novella about the wife of a serial killer who must decide her future after she learns of her husband's deeds (the title is ironic)

The former was good but not exhaustive--bullet points only--which left me wanting more. The latter was also good, in the sense that it is well-written, but a little reaching in terms of plot.

I have been wanting to read a book called "Bioshock: Rapture," which is the pre-story to one of my favorite video games, for years, and I finally started it on Monday. Sadly, I stopped reading it after the first chapter, as both the writing as well as the narration were horrible. I don't have time to spend with mediocre material, really, and have moved on to H. G. Wells' "The Time Machine."

#83, "A Christian Manifesto"

"A Christian Manifesto"
By Francis A. Schaeffer

This was a bit of an odd book. Like the last one I read, it is very short and I finished it in just a day or two. I say it is odd because, though I've read a lot of Schaeffer, I've never read anything of his that was so political and that I wrinkled my nose at quite as much. I think it is important, vitally, crucially important, to read critically; even--maybe especially--when you read something by an author you respect. And by critically I don't mean "as a critic," reading only because you want to say something about the work, but "critically" as in "thoughtfully," considering the merit of the ideas presented on their own terms and deciding whether they are valid or invalid. When the author is one whom you are familiar with, this process becomes the more important because no man is perfect. There is always something to disagree with between any two people, and I think there can be value in disagreement. Disagreement shows me better who I am, what I think. It shows me that I think for myself, that I am not a mere robot copy-and-pasting ideas that others have, but that I have my own ideas about how the world works. Even so, it feels strange to read a book by Francis Schaeffer, one of the greatest Christian minds of the 20th, and have some reservations about what he says.

"A Christian Manifesto" is a response, of sorts, to documents published earlier in the 20th century titled "The Humanist Manifesto" (1 and 2). Schaeffer describes humanism as a worldview diametrically opposed to Christianity--which is quite right--and warns against that worldview becoming mainstream, the "normal." Of course, when this was written in 1982, there was still hope (?) of humanism's downfall and a return to the values of truth as defined by true Christianity. As we know, this hope has been torn to pieces. Schaeffer's worst fear, humanism as the modern standard, has largely come true. Modern man no longer accepts the answer that there is only one true truth--I daresay that even many who call themselves "Christians" would hedge on this point and say there are ways for each of us to find our own path to heaven. It seems to me that humanism is winning the "culture war" and Christianity, at least as it appears in the United States, is largely impotent to curb the widespread change in ideology.

Schaeffer is not at his best here. His points on religion and worldview are as sharp as ever and always on point, but when he gets into politics he loses focus. Perhaps, as I mentioned above, my own view is skewed as a result of growing up and living in what I consider post-Christian America. Even so, he is not a political scientist, but a philosopher and pastor. I can't really pin down what exactly he wrote that made me wrinkle my nose, but, for me, this book missed the mark as a response to humanism--of course, for Schaeffer, even missing the mark still leaves us with excellent thoughts and mindful commentary.

#82, "The Mark of the Christian"

"The Mark of the Christian"
By Francis A. Schaeffer

This short book--essentially an extended essay--is an examination of Jesus' words from John 13:35: "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This love must exist both within and without the Christian community. That is, true Christians must love each other; but at the same time true Christians must love the unbeliever. Schaeffer writes that this love is the "mark" that distinguishes the Christian as set apart, and, further, is the visible testimony that Jesus came from the Father. If Christians cannot love one another, then the non-Christian has every right to doubt the truth of our claims. Love is the ultimate command: first, love toward God, then love for every one of our fellow humans, Christian and non-Christian alike.

This message was especially relevant to me this week, as I was talking with my wife just last weekend about a misanthropic streak that has grown in me as I've gotten older. This cynical and often downright antagonistic feeling is, of course, completely wrong. If I respond to human failure by myself failing, I do not complete Jesus' commands but, in my actions, reject them. I cannot make other people more loving, but I can and must love others better in my own words and deeds, and ask forgiveness daily for my own lack of love. Jesus won't judge me based on other people's actions, but my response to them. This is made all the more important for, as Schaeffer deftly explains, this response, the response of love, is what ought to separate me as a Christian.

#81, "Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography"

"Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography"
By John Toland

This is by far the largest book I have read this year; probably it will remain the largest as I go through the remainder of the year. Toland tells the story, year by year, month by month, day by day, and occasionally hour-by-hour, of Adolf Hitler: his origins, his childhood, his formative teenage years, experiences in the First World War, his pledge to join politics, his rise to power as head of the National Socialist Party, his leadership of Germany as chancellor and Fuhrer, the actions that he took to lead to the Second World War, and finally the inevitable defeat of Germany and his suicide in the final year of the war. The amount of information is staggering, as is Toland's exquisite attention to detail. He leverages historical documents, public domain as well as personal interviews, photographs, personal letters and government paperwork to bring every point of Hitler's life to light. There is almost no editorializing, speculating, or prescribing. Toland is a pure scholar, and faithfully reports facts. You can really feel his painstaking devotion to presenting each moment as an artifact, without allowing his subjective opinions to color it. He achieves this scholarly aim as well as any historian can. In fact, occasionally you think, "Good God, he has to have a comment on THIS insanity." But he rarely comments at all. I think that puts the burden of opinion, on analysis and critique, on the reader. You aren't told how to think. You are given facts, and expected to come to your own conclusions. That makes for a great history.

Hitler was fanatical. That word is used over and over again in the book to describe his thoughts, motivations, and deeds. Once he had decided the path his life would take, he followed it with incredible, unyielding passion and drive. The result is that his life is, arguably, the most influential single life that existed in the 20th century. Without Hitler, Germany would have taken much longer to recover in the aftermath of World War I. Without Hitler, National Socialism would have been just one of hundreds of insignificant political parties in the 1920's and 30's that sought to reclaim Germany's former glory and re-establish her place in the global community. Without Hitler, the names Goering, Goebbels, and Himmler would all be standard German names, without their modern historical weight. The United States as it stands today would not exist, as its current status as a superpower was born in the destruction of the WWII. Paradoxically, as Toland points out, the Jewish state of Israel would probably not exist without the turmoil brought on by Hitler's extreme antiSemitism and the Holocaust. These things, and a thousand others, mark Hitler's life as one of distinction. He changed the course of history. Persistence makes a difference, and I think there must be some lesson in the unrelenting doggedness of his fanaticism. If only those who seek truth, justice, goodness, righteousness were so unmovingly driven! What might be done in such a life? As it was, his crusade was one of death, of suffering, of horrifying tragedy at every level. The dangers of fanaticism are as clear to see as the benefits.

I had so many thoughts as I read this book and learned about this man, possibly the most reviled name in any tongue and in any history. One thing I wanted to say that stood out to me was on the nature of national pride. Today, we hear lots of talk of patriotism, of being proud of our country and our heritage. Proud to be an American, we say. I see in the life of Hitler the dangerous extreme of nationalism, an extreme that, as I analyze the world day by day, becomes more and more normalized in America. We should--no, we must make ourselves cognizant of where national pride can lead to if not held in check. Hitler thought first and only of his people; their racial purity and supposed superiority to other peoples, their economy and borders at the expense of other nations, Germany-first, Germany-only. His message of victimhood resonated with the common people of Germany in 1924. His party, rooted in Germany pride, went from less than a dozen people to over half of the country in less than ten years. It then devastated the entire world. National pride can bring us community and common goals. It gives us protection, and it recognizes the sacrifices made in order to bring us to where we exist today. Yet when it brings a nation to the point of despising other peoples, it cannot anymore be legitimized. In this time of flux and continuous change, we are not merely citizens of one nation. We are truly citizens of the world. We must take the lessons of Nazi Germany--the lessons of history--and apply them to our our times, or else we fall in danger of following in similar paths. National pride is shameful if your nation exists only to belittle, subjugate, and control others. Therefore be wary of being too proud of your nation. I say this especially as a Christian, and now I write to the Christian reading this: We are first citizens of heaven, not of any arbitrary borders written by man. Do not allow blind nationalism to distract you from your true citizenship. Hitler wanted to rekindle Germany's greatness after being "betrayed" by world. His nationalist spirit controlled his every move, and led to horrors the earth has yet to recover from.