Ten Days In A Mad-House by Nellie Bly

 

Source: I purchased a copy

Genre:  Memoir

My fascination with this book came when my students had to read an excerpt in my Middle School English class.  They struggled to understand why someone would purposely get themselves committed to an asylum. Nellie Bly had a lot of guts in my mind. First of all she was a female living in a male dominated world. Many women were put away by husbands who no longer wanted them around. Nellie Bly wished to let the world know what actually went on inside. Why you may ask. There was no one to speak for those women. Bly came up with a plan to tell their story. She got herself committed by acting like she was insane and used a fake last name. They sent her to the asylum where she spoke with these women and documented the abuses they suffered.  She had pre-arranged with her editor to have them get her out after ten days. She exposed the atrocities and created change.

 

Genre:  Young Adult, Fantasy, Ghost Stories

Source: I won a copy from LibraryThing. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I had never heard of this series before I won a copy of this book from LibraryThing. It has so many things that I love in books I read. I love reading books where one or more of the main characters are underdogs.  We have Luis who loves math but gets bullied. We have Zuri who practices mixed martial arts. She and her mother have moved to Pinedale to get away from her father who is very violent. She actually saves Luis from the bullies and they become best friends. Then of course who doesn’t love stories that have ghosts. Zuri meets one in her school library. Zuri has a ghost friend she meets in the library and helps her with her math. I wish I had a ghost when I was in school to help me with my math.  As I read I learned there was an evil entity in the sub-basement.  I have had a fear of basements since I was about ten years old. Zuri, Luis and many of the other ghosts in the school decided to help Zuri protect the ghost helping her with her math.  Here is why teens will love this book. It deals with so many issues they often deal with. Zuri has to deal with not only a violent father, but also with racism.  Then there is Luis who has to deal with bullies.  They can identify with and relate with so much in this book.  Of course this is a great book for anyone who loves reading about people who overcome major obstacles in their lives and especially for those who love ghost stories. I would most definitely recommend this book.

Calm Within Chaos by Paul DeRenzo

 

Genre:  Nonfiction

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

As a middle school teacher I found this book to be a wealth of knowledge. The author has definitely done a lot of work with teens.  The first section talks about emotions and how to learn to regulate them.  The first thing is to understand emotions and how and why teens react to them the way they do. There is an entire section on how to deal with those emotions and a quiz at the end.

The fifth chapter talks about resiliency. This to me was one of the most important chapter. The reason I found this chapter so important is because we have resiliency lessons  every month at school. We are teaching them some of the same things that this book teaches. The book is far superior to the simple lesson we give once a month. The author explains what resiliency is and why it is important to our mental health.  This is a practical guide for teens, parents and anyone. I say anyone because teens aren’t the only ones who need to learn to regulate and deal with their emotions.  This should be used in every school.  Great book that every parent should have.