BOOK NOTES: Looking back over ‘07 titles

It is always a privilege to review someone’s work, whether a 17- year-old or a world-renowned author. In some cases, it is unexpectedly rewarding. The process of writing is always stimulating and often it is gr

By Joan Ruddiman Special Writer
    As the days of the old year dwindle away, we look back and reflect. In this last column of 2007, I’d like to take a moment to recall the fascinating and fun people Book Notes brought my way.
    With the wonders of the Internet, Book Notes now goes far beyond my little hometown where the column has been running for more than a decade. In the past several years, interesting people from around the world have e- mailed questions about Allentown’s history or authors spotlighted in the column. Some have come to visit, enriching my life as they find answers for their studies.
    Since August 2006, when Book Notes became a regular feature in the greater Princeton area, my horizons have continued to expand. Not only have entertaining titles come my way, but conversations with the intriguing people behind them.
    In psychologist Teena Cahill, I found a kindred spirit. Teena is well known in the Princeton scene for her good works as well as her professional contributions, which now includes her book, “The Cahill Factor” (SterlingHouse, 2007). Oh, but would life slow down a bit for another delightful afternoon of tea and conversation!
    I was surprised and quite honored by Roger Morcomb’s invitation to serve as a guest moderator of the West Windsor Seniors’ book group. We spent an engaging afternoon in August discussing Kim Edwards’s “Memory Keeper’s Daughter” (Penguin Books, 2005). What a wonderful experience to participate in a book group, as most of my musings about books comes through engaging solely with the keyboard!
    In the past year, I’ve met several interesting people thanks to Lifestyle editor Michael Redmond suggesting I follow up on press releases that cross his desk.
    Last spring, I spent a fun afternoon with Jean Quinn when she made an appearance at a Trenton bookstore. Ms. Quinn is the editor of The Gazette, Journal of the Wolfe Pack. This group enjoys a rich social life that centers on the characters and circumstances of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe mysteries. We were honored to have the Book Notes column titled “Wolfe’s contentious heritage attracts cult of devoted readers” reprinted in the Fall 2007 issue of the Gazette, which goes around the world to members of the Wolfe Pack.
    Another highlight of the year was meeting Madeline Levine, who writes about the challenges of raising teens in our complex world. In her book, “The Price of Privilege” (Harper Collins, 2006), and in conversations I liked her no-nonsense style but also appreciated her empathy for the tough realities families face.
    Often my own teaching and travel with students provides subjects for Book Notes. This fall, I met Michael Bradley soon after interviewing Ms. Levine. He wrote “Yes, Your Teen is Crazy” (2003) and “Yes, Your Parent is Crazy” (2004), both from Harbor Press.
    It was both confirming and discomfiting that these two psychologists — one in California and one in Pennsylvania — recognize the same issues I grapple with on behalf of students. I was encouraged, as well, as they offer sound advice to parents and kids on how to build healthy relationships grounded in a healthy sense of self.
    For a history groupie, National History Day over the years has offered a host of amazing experiences and 2007 was true to form.
    In June, Ken Burns spoke to more than 3,000 students and teachers as the keynoter for the opening ceremonies of the annual National History Day contest at the University of Maryland. He is the rock star of history for kids who have discovered their own fascination with the past through his documentaries on the Civil War, baseball and, mostly recently, World War II.
    On that same trip, I had lunch with Julian Kulski who was the keynote speaker the previous year at the NHD opening ceremonies. Book Notes ran a review of Mr. Kulski’s memoir, “The Legacy of the White Eagle” (HMP, 2006), where he tells the harrowing story of his teen years when he fought the Nazis in his native Poland. He liked the review and requested to meet me.
    On the way to the NHD contest, I zipped by the University of Maryland to D.C., where Mr. Kulski met the train at Union Station. I was treated to brunch at the historic — and elegant — Cosmos Club on Dupont Circle. This stately European gentleman many years ago became the youngest member, at that point, to be invited to join that prestigious professional association. Framed photo portraits of notables from all walks of fame in the 20th century cover the walls from floor to ceiling.
    On that trip, I went from champagne in crystal poured by white-gloved waiters to four days of dorm living (no air conditioning) with students.
    It is a remarkable life.
    On a trip to the Future Problem Solving Internationals, also in June, I met a young woman who published her first book months before she graduated from high school. “Stoodie” (Broken Oak Publishing, 2007) is based on one of Taffeta Chime’s scenarios she wrote for an FPS contest. I liked it so much, I reviewed it for Book Notes and then bought a dozen copies to share with my scenario writers.
    This was the year teaching colleague and friend Bob Krech won acclaim for his first young adult novel. “Rebound” (Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books, 2006) is a super novel for teens. That’s not just my bias, but was confirmed by the American Library Association that put the book on its Best Books for Young Adults list. Well done, Bob!
    A plan to meet Jasper Fforde was superseded by summer travels, but fans Matt and Melissa did make the trip to New York City on a hot July day to greet this quirky guy — and brilliant storyteller — at one of his book tour stops. Though I didn’t meet him, Matt and Melissa brought back an autographed book and a really cute photo taken with Mr. Fforde. That’s a treasure.
    One of Book Notes’ biggest fans is Sister Margherita Marchione, who introduces me as a “reporter,” even though we share teaching stories as much as journalism interests. She appreciates the reviews of several of her books (of more than 40) that have run in Book Notes. On a rainy day in August, I drove to the top of a mountain near Morristown to visit Sister Margherita at the convent for the Religious Sisters Filippini that she has called home for a half a century.
    I first met Sister years ago when I attended a talk she was giving at a local church on the Catholic Church and the Holocaust. “Consensus and Controversy” (Paulist Press, 2004) and “Yours is a Precious Witness: Memoirs of Jews and Catholics in Wartime Italy” (Paulist Press, 2001) are but two of the books and many articles Sister has written in her fight to restore the reputation of Pope Pius XII as a protector of Italian Jews during WWII.
    The first inkling I had that Book Notes was out there in cyberspace was when a doctoral candidate in Australia e-mailed my editor to inquire about a review of one of Sister Margherita’s books. The man was working on a dissertation about Pope Pius XII and his connection with the Nazis. In my reply, I suggested that he e-mail the feisty little nun who seemed to know more than most on the subject.
    Sister Margherita, a Ph.D., is professor emerita of Italian Language and Literature at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She offers compelling evidence, much of it from primary sources, that Pope Pius and the Catholic Church worked tirelessly — and of necessity, surreptitiously — to save Jews from Nazis in Italy.
    I later heard from the newly minted Ph.D. that Sister did expand his thinking, and that dissertation.
    It is always a privilege to review someone’s work, whether a 17- year-old or a world-renowned author. In some cases, it is unexpectedly rewarding. The process of writing is always stimulating and often it is great fun.
    This year with Book Notes has been all that and more. I offer my thanks to Michael Redmond for bringing me aboard in August of 2006. After years of comfortably writing for The Messenger- Press in my hometown, writing for an expanded audience was a bit daunting. Michael is the best of what editors should be — professionally exacting and personally gracious.
    My special thanks are sent to the readers of Book Notes. I so appreciate that you share book ideas with me and am humbled that you are generous with your praise. It helps to know that the solitary hours at the keyboard connect me to a world of kindred folks who share a love of books.
    Happy New Year to all. See you in 2008!
Joan Ruddiman, Ed.D., is the coordinator/ facilitator of the gifted and talented PRISM program at the Thomas R. Grover Middle School in the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District.
Editor’s Note: 2007 brought the news that more and more newspapers are eliminating or cutting back on book reviews. This is yet another impoverishment of opportunity for what some of us refer to as “the life of the mind” — and it most affects, paradoxically, the very people newspapers should be cultivating, i.e., people who like to read. “The good Lord willin’ and if the crick don’t rise” (my favorite Kentuckyism), Lifestyle will continue to emphasize book reviews and book-related features in 2008. M.R.