Living with Feeling: The Art of Emotional Expression

Average customer rating:

Good practical book for learning to work with feeling through artistic expression

Living With What...?

A Unique, Complete, and Effective Approach to Emotions Work

What we all need to help us with the turmoil of last year

old concepts presented without feeling

Living with Feeling: The Art of Emotional Expression
Lucia Capacchione
Manufacturer: Tarcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Creative Journal: The Art of Finding Yourself

Recovery of Your Inner Child: The Highly Acclaimed Method for Liberating Your Inner Self

Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams

The Art of Emotional Healing

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ASIN: 1585421006
Release Date: 2001-06-04

Book Description

From acclaimed designer and art therapist Lucia Capacchione comes a practical and sensitive guide to sharing our mind, body, and spirit with our own feelings.

We cannot control our emotions; however, unless we recognize and express them, they can end up controlling us. The author of ten self-help classics, including Recovery of Your Inner Child and The Power of Your Other Hand, Lucia Capacchione now introduces us to the methods she has developed in workshops and with private clients for achieving an emotional equilibrium through artistic expression.

It is only through letting our emotions come forth and understanding them that we can further the process of self-acceptance and healing. The simple exercises outlined by Capacchione teach us to express pent-up anger by drumming, release hurt feelings by molding clay, and contact our inner child by writing with our non-dominant hand. Clearly, self-discovery has no limits.

Illustrated throughout with art therapy projects of her clients and rich with inspiring stories of personal triumph, Living with Feeling presents the key to making peace with our emotions by giving them a voice and the power of creative expression. Bibliography. Notes. Index.

Customer Reviews:

Good practical book for learning to work with feeling through artistic expression.......2007-02-03

This is a very practical book for working with feelings in a non-cognitive way. It is especially geared toward reclaiming buried feelings through the use of artistic expression. It contains many useful activities using a variety of mediums and for many people this type of work is quite powerful. I work in the psychology field and while I don't focus on this area as a specialty, I have witnessed the power of these techniques first hand. These ideas have also been useful to me in my own self-development work.

Living With What...?.......2002-04-30

If you were raised, as I was, with parents who believed it was simply not all right to feel certain feelings; then, as I have, you will find this book liberating and very helpful. After reading the book, I wanted to particapate in a workshop session based on these writing and lead by the author. Because it took place with art therapy students at a graduate school in New York, NY where I live and practice psychotherapy, I was able to attend. What happened during the workshop class seemed nothing short of amazing as everybody in the group discussed their experience of new feelings while doing exercises from the book. Being given access to new parts of our feelingful life is a very useful gift -- that's what this book delivers!
Dr. Capacchione vividly describes the nine different areas of feeling and put forth ways that each of us, through simple, doable, exercises might bring forth those feelings in our own experience. I realized, while working with the ideas in this book, how I have avoided experiencing certain feelings that I surely must be having during a work day. But, why was I not able to feel all my feeling, all the time, and use the whole range of them to construct a better way of living? Dr. Capacchione's has written a guidebook for living in a new way, for engaging in a new process which is constructive and developmental in core ways .
Like many baby boomers, I, too, was trained from early childhood that any sign of certain feelings; curiosity (killed the cat), anger (bad), self interest (selfish), thoughtfulness (sullen) would make me into a "not nice person". This old notion from my youth, methodically suppressing and repressing whole areas of feelings, within me, in order to be a 'nice' person, became a very bottled-up, unhealthy way to live. It has become clear to me from reading this book that my living must include the art of feeling as I go into the fullness of adulthood and maturation.
The good news is that the work of learning to live with feelings is not too difficult. In fact, a lot of feelings are just plain fun, as I think you'll find this book to be. Take heart. Living life more fully and more naturally will bring about change for the better. This wonderful book has opened up a whole new area of understanding and healthy expression for me, my colleagues, students and patients. I highly recommended it to you. Marilyn H. Hamlin, PhD.

A Unique, Complete, and Effective Approach to Emotions Work.......2002-04-27

This is like having a series of workshops in a book. One can have his own workshop experience in whatever arts media and feelings arena he desires. Capacchione invites, indeed encourages the reader to experience, accept and express his emotions using an entire menu of sensory, experiential exercises. Offered for our pleasure are drawing, collage, painting, clay, music, dance, mask making and voice dialog. She explains the positive outcomes of using arts media to express feelings, useful examples from her workshops participants and invaluable resources for further study. This author is an artist with a background in psychology. She has done an extensive amount of work in the expressive arts field, including authoring many self-help books in this genre. I found this book to be a very positive, hands-on tool to use myself and to use with my clients.

What we all need to help us with the turmoil of last year.......2002-04-26

Lucia Capacchione uses all of the artistic modalities to touch those emotions which are often difficult to express. She leads the reader through a series of easy to follow directions and exercises which helps you tap into emotions and then interpret your own words and pictures. Whether you are an artist or a novice, you will be guided through this self discovery process and given samples and testimonials along the way. Capacchione helps you capture, express and understand the your feelings which will release you and allow you to move on. I loved the format of her books, unlike most of the therapuetic books on the market, she offers you exercises that you can do without needing an instructor, follow up projects to expand the process and sample drawings and stories which anyone can relate to. If you are still feeling the effects of the 9-11, this book allows you to process those emotions in the privacy of your own home.

old concepts presented without feeling.......2002-01-02

Lucia Cappachione has written a number of reasonably good books for the popular press over the past decades-- unfortunately, this newest book indicates that she has nothing left to say that is new or innovative. The exercises and examples are tired and over-used and are not "pioneering" as she claims. I am disappointed that a fine publisher like Tarcher fell for this material and added it to their line of self-help books.
The reader who is looking for something substantial on how art taps emotions might look to Pat Allen's Art is a Way of Knowing. Living with Feeling lacks both depth and feeling and substance. I hope that Cappachione will someday take a risk and really dig down deep for some new material that will help readers once again use art as healing in a meaningful way and that she will quit rushing to get another book out onto the shelves just to make a quick sale.

Average customer rating:

Not as good as some of these reviews
fun read, but....
Beyond Good
A path of deceit, confusion and, ultimately, the bitter truth.
Now You See Her

Now You See Her
Jacquelyn Mitchard
Manufacturer: HarperTeen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0061116831
Release Date: 2007-02-27

Book Description

Hope has it all: brains, beauty, and acceptance at Starwood, a prestigious arts prep school. A mere sophomore, she has won the lead in Romeo and Juliet, beating out seniors for the role—seniors who have been in movies and on Broadway! And with handsome Logan as her Romeo onstage and off, her life couldn't be more perfect.

So why would this talented teen throw everything away? Why would she fake her own abduction? Hope wants to explain what really happened, and gradually the truth comes out: Maybe her life wasn't that perfect after all.

In her first novel for young adults, national bestselling author Jacquelyn Mitchard takes us into a world where appearance is everything, and nothing is exactly as it seems.

Customer Reviews:

Not as good as some of these reviews.......2007-09-04

This book starts to get good about halfway through. To be honest, if I had not read all the glowing reviews and bought the hardback book, I probably would not have finished it.

fun read, but...........2007-08-23

Hope or Bernadette or the next Gwennyth or whoever she is.....is definately a Jon Benet only almost all grown up. while the book is kind of forgettable and Hope isn't particularly likeable, the story raises many important issues in today's society. what happens when nutty stage mom's push their kids beyond reason? celebrity and fame obsessed teens turn into...what? and what happens in the 'after' when a teen who has delusions of grandure turns herself into a world spectacle?
teens will enjoy this book much more than i did, but hopefully they will ask themselves the same questions as a result.

Beyond Good.......2007-07-05

Expecting this to be a book I would want my teenage grandchild to read, I went into it thinking it would be fun, light and somewhat less than captivating. I was dead wrong. Took me about two days with a very busy schedule to finish because I was so committed to finding out about the true Hope Shay (Bernadette). Whole range of opinions from disgust to sympathy. Great good!!

A path of deceit, confusion and, ultimately, the bitter truth........2007-06-01

To Hope Shay (real name: Bernadette Romano, which just won't cut it in Hollywood), Romeo and Juliet is more than just a school production. It's life. Only a sophomore, Hope has scored the part of Juliet, a role that makes her the envy of all the upperclassmen. And why shouldn't she be envied? She has a special talent for acting, a way to make characters come to life. Her talent is what got her into the famed Starwood Academy, a prep school for fine arts students, and it's what makes a film actor named Logan Rose fall in love with her.

Hope's mother calls it The Gift. The Gift is what gets Hope the lead in a production of Annie and some spots in TV commercials. It makes Hope different from other kids --- more mature, more ambitious --- but a side effect of this difference is that she has no friends. At Starwood, she believes, people will be more like her. Instead of thinking she's stuck-up for having an agent, they'll admire her and talk acting with her. Or so she hopes.

What a tangled web we weave, when we first practice to deceive.

Life imitates art as Hope tells a story of falling in love with her (onstage and real-life) Romeo, Logan. They have to keep their romance a secret for many reasons, so Hope becomes consumed with their clandestine meetings. Together, they make what Hope calls The Plan. They'll move to L.A. or New York, waiting tables and auditioning for the roles that will make them stars, and then get married. The Plan, however, starts to crumble when Logan asks the question that engenders The Idea: "What would you say your parents think you're worth?"

The Idea is for Logan and Hope to fake Hope's kidnapping and get about $20,000 in ransom money from Hope's parents, enough for them to start on The Plan. Logan will "find" Hope and be considered a hero. But when Hope goes through with The Plan, staging her own kidnapping without Logan, we begin to see that all is not right in Hope's mind. Is she really in love with Logan, or is it more an unrequited obsession? Where do her lies begin and end?

Hope's journal is a passionate, frightening look at the destructive power of mental illness. In her story, she is both the heroine and the victim, while everyone else is the villain. Since we readers only see Hope's side of the story, we are led to believe that Hope is the stage star with the perfect boyfriend --- the person she not only wants to be, but would like everyone else to believe she already is. As in Chris Lynch's INEXCUSABLE and Gail Giles's DEAD GIRLS DON'T WRITE LETTERS, we have no choice but to follow an unreliable narrator down a path of deceit, confusion and, ultimately, the bitter truth.

--- Reviewed by Carlie Webber

Now You See Her.......2007-04-21

Now You See Her, written by Jacquelyn Mitchard, is the tragic story of Hope Shay. Hope is an incredibly commited actor, and always was. The older she became the more she pushed herself. She lived life upon the stage, and off the stage she didn't have one. Hope trained her to be the best, and she was. She was talented, and she and her mother knew it. Once off at new school for teens like herself- the kind that are destined for fame; Hope is pushed too far, too hard, too long. And when a teen is pushed farther than they can go.... it can end painfully. Mitchard does a wonderful job of writing as a fifteen year old.

Average customer rating:

Liberating without being corny
Inspirational!!
Ish
Buy it today!
Cute Story

Ish

Manufacturer: Candlewick
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 076362344X
Release Date: 2004-08-19

Book Description

A creative spirit learns that thinking "ish-ly" is far more wonderful than "getting it right" in this gentle new fable from the creator of the award-winning picture book THE DOT.

Ramon loved to draw. Anytime. Anything. Anywhere.

Drawing is what Ramon does. It¹s what makes him happy. But in one split second, all that changes. A single reckless remark by Ramon's older brother, Leon, turns Ramon's carefree sketches into joyless struggles. Luckily for Ramon, though, his little sister, Marisol, sees the world differently. She opens his eyes to something a lot more valuable than getting things just "right." Combining the spareness of fable with the potency of parable, Peter Reynolds shines a bright beam of light on the need to kindle and tend our creative flames with care.

Customer Reviews:

Liberating without being corny.......2007-06-16

Some inspiring books are just too heavy handed. This one seems so natural and child-like that the concept just flows out of the pages.

Inspirational!!.......2007-05-24

I bought this book for my four year old son who had practically zero interest in creating art. He would take crayon to paper for about 14.6 seconds before tossing both aside and moving on to his other toys. After several readings of Ish, he (independently and unprovoked) picked up a marker and paper and drew something person-ish!!! As he was drawing, he was telling me what the body parts were. I was glowing and speechless. Since then, he has been walking around proud as can be with his art and creating more to boot. I am so happy to have found this book. I think every child has a creative side and I'm happy to have found a way to get my little guy to express his ish! If you have a reluctant artist, I highly recommend this purchase! As a matter of fact, I even recommend it for the most artful child as a reminder to draw happily and with abandon!

Ish.......2007-04-09

Ish is a wonderful children's book that addresses perfection and lack there of it. I have shared it with my fifth graders for the sheer fact that nothing in the world is perfect, and we all can use a little "ish" at times in our lives. We cannot always be so hard on ourselves or the work that we do. We have to accept that in all of us there is uniquness and perfection, however it will always look differently for all of us. I would reccomend this to everyone to help realize our potential.

Buy it today!.......2007-02-14

You can't go wrong with this book! It's appropriate for anyone, anytime! It should be on every teacher's and parent's bookshelf. I love it. :)

Cute Story.......2007-02-07

Love to read this story aloud to students in primary grades. It also could be linked to using suffixes. :)

Average customer rating:

Good Kids' Book

Bringing Ezra Back
Cynthia DeFelice
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374399395
Release Date: 2006-08-08

Book Description

September 1840 marks five months since twelve-year-old Nathan Fowler’s life-threatening encounter with Weasel, the heartless man who stalked Nathan like a wild animal through the forest. Nathan hasn’t been the same since, wary of every new person he meets – including the visiting peddler Orrin Beckwith. When Beckwith shows Nate and his family a handbill advertising a show with a “white Injun,” a man without a tongue, Nathan is sure the man is his friend Ezra, who lost his tongue to Weasel’s knife. Determined to save Ezra from this traveling show of “human oddities,” Nathan sets out with Beckwith from Ohio to Pennsylvania. On the way, Nathan encounters more people than he’s ever met before, and he begins to learn a thing or two about human nature. The biggest shock, however, is Ezra himself, and it will take more than Nathan bargained for to bring him back home.

This long-anticipated sequel to Weasel is a masterful adventure story, in which Nathan Fowler triumphs over the legacy of fear left him by the villain Weasel.

Customer Reviews:

Good Kids' Book.......2007-05-24

Bringing Ezra Back is a sequel to DeFelice's Weasel (1990) and is set in 1840 on the Ohio Frontier. Twelve year old Nathan still has trouble trusting strangers since his frightening experience with a man named Weasel. When Nathan learns that his friend, Ezra, is in Pennsylvania with a traveling show of "human oddities", he knows he must find him and bring him home. As he journeys alongside a traveling peddler, he begins to watch people to learn about human nature, and discovers that not everyone is like Weasel. In the process, he also learns about his own strength.
While this book can stand alone, I would have had more insight into the characters involved if I had read Weasel first. From reviews I have read, that book seems to be much more suspenseful and mysterious than Bringing Ezra Back. However, this sequel is a good novel in its own right, and watching Nathan and other characters develop is quite interesting.

Average customer rating:

Easy Race Relations
One of my favorites.............
Dave at Night
Excellent!
Dave at Night Book Review

Dave at Night
Gail Carson Levine
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0064407470
Release Date: 2001-02-19

Amazon.com

"Gideon the Genius" and "Dave the Daredevil," their father called them: two Jewish boys growing up in 1920s New York, playing stickball and--in Dave's case--getting into trouble. But when their father dies, Dave finds himself separated from his older brother and thrust into the cold halls of the HHB, the Hebrew Home for Boys (which he later dubs the "Hopeless House of Beggars" and the "Hell Hole for Brats," among other things).

Eager to escape the strict rules, constant bullying, and tasteless gruel of the orphanage, the Daredevil hops the wall one night to explore the streets of Harlem. He hears what he thinks is someone--or something?--laughing, but traces the sound to a late-night trumpeter shuffling backward into a wild "rent party." And just as quickly as he'd found himself stuck in the HHB, Dave is immersed in yet another world--the swinging salons and speakeasies of the Harlem Renaissance. Cramped, crazy parties packed with the likes of Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen give Dave refuge from life at the orphanage and awaken his artistic bent. And Dave's new friends, among them a grandfatherly "gonif" ("somebody who fools people out of their money") and a young "colored" heiress who takes a shine to him, help turn things around for him at the HHB.

The skilled Gail Carson Levine, Newbery Medal-winning author of Ella Enchanted, clearly tells this tale from her heart, as the story is based on her own father's childhood spent in the real-life HOA (Hebrew Orphan Asylum). (Ages 8 to 12) --Paul Hughes

Book Description

If nobody wants him, that's fine.He'll just take care of himself.

When his father dies, Dave knows nothing will ever be thesame. And then it happens. Dave lands in an orphanage -- the cold and strict Hebrew Home for Boys in Harlem -- far from the life he knew on the Lower East Side. But he's not so worried. He knows he'll be okay. He always is. If it doesn't work out, he'll just leave, find a better place to stay. But it's not that simple.

Outside the gates of the orphanage, the nighttime streets of Harlem buzz with jazz musicians and swindlers; exclusive parties and mystifying strangers. Inside, another world unfolds, thick with rare friendships and bitter enemies. Perhaps somewhere, among it all, Dave can find a place that feels like home.

Customer Reviews:

Easy Race Relations.......2007-07-04

Dave is eleven when his father dies, leaving him with his brother and their stepmother. Their stepmother insists she can't handle raising the boys, so their uncle agrees to take Dave's quiet and smart older brother. Nobody steps forward to take Dave, though, so he is sent to live at the Hebrew Home for Boys, an orphanage.

Dave is devastated about being in the home, and things don't go smoothly for him there. A bully sits next to him at meals and eats half of his food. Instead of teaching, his teacher simply lectures about what a chore it is to try to teach orphans. And the headmaster of the school steals a carving done by Dave's father and then beats Dave when confronted about it.

One night shortly after arriving, Dave leaves the home after lights-out and explores the city. He stumbles upon an amazing party where he meets Solly, a strange fortune-telling man who tells everyone Dave is his grandson. Dave also meets Irma Lee, a beautiful black girl about his age. She seems as enthralled by him as he is by her.

As the weeks pass, Dave comes up with a plan to run away from the home. The only problem is that he is starting to like it there. He likes the boys his own age, who stick up for each other and are better than family. He likes his art teacher, who recognizes that he has real talent. And Dave even has a plan for taking care of the bullies at meals. Will he stay after all?

Solly's character was great; he had such interesting reactions to Dave and great interactions with the people at the parties. Dave's buddies at the home were also good characters. I liked that they were able to make a kind of new family and support system for themselves.

I don't know if it was realistic for whites and blacks during this time period to mix as easily as they did in this book. This story seemed to indicate that there was no animosity between the races and everyone would be accepted in Harlem. I found that hard to believe.

One of my favorites....................2007-03-26

This is one of my favorite books! I enjoyed it alot, to be compleetly honest with you at times it was a little boring but then the excitment would come and everything would show up.Like hey now that makes cense.This book is one that you can not belive that a story so big of greatness could be in a small book.Dave at night is not just a children's story it is for everyone.I got hurt when dave got hurt, when Dave cried i cried inside, when he fights i feel like punching the one he is fighting.Oh yes you are more into this book than tv shows that are just so good get you into their story.You are,almost Dave in Dave at night you are like his soul.This is an incredible story.
DAVE AT NIGHT

I am if woundering not Melanie Litzinger i am Carly Litzinger age:11!

Dave at Night.......2006-10-25

This book is about an orphane named Dave. His father had fallen of a roof and died. When he came home from school he was in dinile. His step-mom Ida had every one come to their house after the funeral. Well while they were all there she desided that she could care for Dave and his brother. But no one wanted to take Dave because he was to loud. The boys' uncle took Daves brother with him when he left. So Ida Deicide that DAve was going to live in an orphange. Before his brother left he gave Dave a carving that their father had made. But when he got to the room and looked in his suitcase it wasn't there. Well it turns out that the owner of the HHB,the Hebrew Home for Boys, took the carving.
Thats when dave deiced that when he got the carving back he was going to leave. The first night he was at the HHB he snuck out to a park and met Solly. They became friends and went to rent parties. So after the first party Dave went back to the HHB. And every night after that he stuck out and met up with Solly and his "girlfriend" Irma Lee. But he still wanted to get the carving before he laft so he went back to there every night till he can get the statue. If I tell anymore I'm going to ruin it so You'll have to read it and find out.

This was an awesome book I thought. If you like it you wont be able to put it down till tour done.

Excellent!.......2006-09-07

When Dave's father dies, he is sent to the cold, gritty orphanage 'The Harlem Home For Boys' (the HBB). Levine tells her tale with warmth and humor, and creates a memorable and well developed cast of characters. Dave is an engaging hero who will linger in the memory of the reader.

Dave at Night Book Review.......2006-03-08

DAVE AT NIGHT

Dave at night is about a young boy named Dave. He is living with his Dad, step mom and brother in an apartment in England. His Dad dies unexpectedly when he falls off of a ladder. His step mom can't support the family so Dave's brother had to live with his uncle and Dave has to go live at the Hebrew Home for Boys (HHB for short). There with a couple hundred other boys, he is given little food and a meager education. He is an orphan now but some of the other boy's parents visit sometimes and bring food to them. Dave brings a boat that was carved by his Dad with him to the HHB and Mr. Bloom of the HHB steals it. Dave sneaks out one night and meets a man by the name of Solly who takes Dave to a party. There he meets a young African American girl by the name of Irma Lee. They become instant friends and Irma invites Dave and Solly to her mom's party. Dave sneaks back into HHB and is caught. He is beat and sent to classes once more. Solly comes to HHB and says he is Dave's grandfather. They go to Irma's party and have a good time. When Dave gets back to the HHB, he and his buddies plan to steal the boat that Mr. Bloom stole. When Mr. Bloom leaves his office, Dave sneaks in and gets the boat. As he is leaving Mr. Bloom comes in and catches him. Dave is about to be in serious trouble when Irma Lee's mom, Mrs. Packard saves the day. She catches Mr. Name and gets him fired. The HHB gets better food, better teachers and a new furnace. In the end, Dave is happy.

Average customer rating:

The Day My Mother Left
Jeremy's spirit will inspire us all to be better people.
Understanding Prosek
Courtesy of Teens Read Too
A Gem

The Day My Mother Left

Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 141690770X

Book Description

Jeremy's whole life changed the day his mother left.

When his mother leaves with the father of his worst enemy at school, nine-year-old Jeremy seeks to make sense of her abandonment. He throws himself into recreating the Book of Birds, a collection of drawings that his mother took with her on the day she left. While his father fights his own depression and his sister distances herself from their lives, Jeremy turns wholeheartedly to nature, and finds solace in the quiet comfort of drawing.

In this novel, James Prosek tells Jeremy's story without blame, without self-pity, and without excuses. The Day My Mother Left should be read by anyone who has gone through the pain of losing a parent, and by anyone who wants to meet Jeremy, a boy who can see inside himself the person he wants to become.

Customer Reviews:

The Day My Mother Left.......2007-06-13

The Day My Mother Left beautifully captures the agony and the pathos of an adolescent abandoned by his mother. The novel includes a myriad of conflicts that are typically found in realistic contemporary fiction. We see the conflict of person vs. person with the main character dealing with his father, mother and the school bully. The main conflict; however, is between Jeremy, the protagonist, and himself. His unresolved issues with the divorce, his mother leaving and offering no communication and his burgeoning artistic talent contribute most to the overall theme of the novel: beauty and love can grow from struggles and pain. Each character is round and dynamic; the major characters in this story evolve and change subtly as time progress in the novel. One of the highlights of the book is how the author reveals these character changes. The book is told through the eyes of Jeremy, an early adolescent. His self-centeredness only shows the other characters flaws and transformations when Jeremy finally sees them. Prosek reveals his characters and themes so movingly and realistically. This novel will appeal to late middle school students and up.

Jeremy's spirit will inspire us all to be better people. .......2007-06-01

Nine-year-old Jeremy has a close relationship with his mother. She goes to every one of his baseball games, cheering him on from the bleachers. Jeremy gets teased for her enthusiastic encouragement, but he doesn't care. The bond they share is special. In fact, she is the only one to whom he has ever shown his collection of bird drawings. But when she abandons the family, Jeremy's world shatters into a million painful pieces.

It starts with an argument about her excessive drinking, the fact that Jeremy's father isn't making enough money, her crazy behavior at the fancy dinner party, his lack of attention, and especially about her seeing another man --- the father of Jeremy's rival, Rick. The two of them met at one of Jeremy and Rick's baseball games. Somewhere in the middle of it all, Jeremy's mom decides to leave and be part of a different family, one that doesn't include Jeremy.

Jeremy's older sister responds by escaping in her car for work and friends, while their father becomes imprisoned in his own despair. Jeremy must decide for himself how to put the pieces back together. Recreating his collection of bird drawings is the first step, since his mom took the old one with her. Jeremy finds comfort in the birds, in mirroring their beauty, in tromping through their wooded habitat. He also takes an art class to improve his talents and meets a girl named Casey.

Over the next three years, Jeremy continues to struggle with the fact that his mother abandoned him and never even called him on the phone, much less paid him a visit. But life continues, with even more obstacles to overcome, such as his dad remarrying and his beloved uncle getting sick. Jeremy learns to wade through the tough times without overloading his heart of bitterness. He even manages to say a prayer for Rick when he needs an operation. But will he ever be able to forgive his mom for leaving him?

James Prosek has created a beautiful story that all ages, genders and races will enjoy. He has an obvious love of nature, which shines through in his vivid descriptions of feathers, fish and forests. His novel's voice is precise and rare, nailing perfectly Jeremy's preteen character enduring pain and grief. Jeremy's spirit will inspire us all to be better people.

--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman

Understanding Prosek.......2007-05-07

I have been a fan of Prosek since his Trout days. This introspective book helped me to understand his precocious talent for observation and drawing and his need to get out on the stream. I wish him well.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2007-04-26

Jeremy's mother has often been disappearing for hours at a time, but on a Sunday afternoon all truths are told.

His mother has found a new love - the father of Jeremy's enemy at school and on the baseball field. A fight occurs between Jeremy's mother and father. His mother leaves, and she takes everything with her - including Jeremy's Book of Birds that he had been illustrating himself.

No one can believe that she left. Especially Jeremy. He feels abandoned and hurt. Through his father's sadness and his own mixed-up feelings, Jeremy recreates the Book of Birds and finds solace within himself through nature.

James Prosek's THE DAY MY MOTHER LEFT is very moving. Coming from a divorced family myself, it's easy to relate and understand Jeremy's feelings. Mr. Prosek uses outstanding details within the story and has also created lovely drawings. It is a great book and experience from beginning to end.

Reviewed by: Jeremey

A Gem.......2007-04-10

I first became aware of James Prosek through his artistic and literary treatments of fly fishing and thought I would give The Day My Mother Left, his first fictional effort, a go. I am so glad I did--what a wonderful little book! Though it is intended for young adults, as a mature reader I found it very engaging.

This autobiographical novel is a very candid picture of a difficult time in Prosek's, and his protaganist's, life. Prosek tells his touching story beautifully and without remorse. I would liken this book to Angela's Ashes in its portrayal of an unbalanced family and their troubles in a voice that does not blame but instead finds grace in the struggle. In the case of Prosek, his gravitation to art and nature provides ballast and equanimity; he shows us an inner journey enabled by his exploration of the natural world. And it is a damn good story. . .

Yale-educated James Prosek is clearly an extremely gifted and multi-dimensional creative talent. I know of few other YA books that tell such a story of charm and tenderness from the male point of view. I highly recommend it!

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The Power of Practice
Great Reading
"Mirette on the Highwire" is entertaining and profound.
Mirette on the High Wire
Many valuable lessons for children

Mirette on the High Wire
Emily Arnold McCully
Manufacturer: Putnam Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0698114434

Amazon.com

Mirette and the "Great Bellini" traverse the Paris skyline on high wire in the climactic scene of this picture book about conquering fear. The two meet at Mirette's mother's boarding house, where Bellini is staying with a troupe of traveling performers. Mirette persuades Bellini to teach her his art, and soon enough the two are performing above the rooftops of Paris. While Mirette gets to step outside her daily routine of peeling potatoes and scrubbing floors, Bellini manages to reaffirm his mastery. The story affords a spunky, down-to-earth role model for readers who like to dream big dreams. It also offers rich, scenic portraits of 19th century Paris. The book won the 1993 Caldecott Medal.

Customer Reviews:

The Power of Practice.......2007-01-26

Mirette is a young girl who works in her mother's hotel. This hotel is frequented by entertainers and performers. One day an interesting man checks in. Mirette discovers him walking on the clothesline one day and becomes fascinated with wire walking. She gives it a try and promptly falls off. She keeps trying and trying during every free moment and gradually gets better.

When she learns the new guest is the greatest wire walker of all time, Mirette pleads for him to teach her. He is reluctant at first but, having seen her dedication to practice, relents and begins to teach her and eventually Mirette learns his dark secret. I won't give away the ending so you will have to read it to find out.

The story is entertaining and the illustrations are delightful. But what I really like about this book is that it does a better job than so many others at showing how long practice can take and how willing someone has to be to undertake it. Too many books seem to have the character become a great ball player, ballerina, magician, whatever in almost no time at all. We use this book when one of our kids gets disgruntled over not learning a new instrument on the third try or some such thing. All in all a fun book with a good lesson to be leaned (and it won't take months to learn it).

Great Reading.......2007-01-07

This book is great. My class enjoyed hearing the story. Good to use with science activities.

"Mirette on the Highwire" is entertaining and profound........2006-12-01

Emily Arnold McCully's MIRETTE ON THE HIGH WIRE is entertaining and profound. McCully conjures up a thrilling story with a premise that seems to suggest overcoming fear. Plotting a young girl inspiring a famous wire-walker is fresh and pleasant, and may evoke appreciation for the collaboration of young prodigy and old artists. McCully's watercolor illustrations are slightly abstract, but full of tone and vigor. Shadows are distinguished, and the contrast between ground and height can be differentiated. These lavish illustrations change consistently covering two thirds of each page. The conflict in this book is engaging because it is reasonable and believable, and it transpires between a young girl and a famous adult, prompting the question of who is in charge. Mirette's assertiveness is not insolent but provocatively charming. Employing a young girl and a man as main characters enriches McCully's plot with an avuncular flare and renders a more intriguing story. This book received a 1993 Caldecott Medal Book honor.

Mirette on the High Wire.......2006-05-25

I enjoyed reading this children's novel very much. I liked the unique subject and the author's creative and innovative ideas. The author did an extremely good job illustrating some of the difficulties with walking on a high wire. In addition, the novel had an important morale, never give up. A must read for everyone!

Many valuable lessons for children.......2005-07-14

Confidence in yourself is everything when your occupation is a dangerous one. Generally, once you lose it, getting it back is impossible. In this book, a retired tightrope walker named Bellini has lost his courage and is staying at a boarding house. Mirette is a young girl who works at the boarding house and she watches him walk on a rope that is only a few feet off the ground. She begs him to teach her how to walk the tightrope, but Bellini refuses. Not to be denied, she learns on her own and so he agrees to teach her. They become friends and she learns of his incredible feats. When she asks him why he retired, he tells her of his lost courage. Bellini is eventually persuaded to walk again but his courage fails after he begins. Mirette then comes to his aid, showing him that he can still perform as the Great Bellini.
The theme of this book is an important one for children. Even talented people can lose their confidence and everyone suffers from an occasional lack of confidence. Children, with their zest for life and irrepressible optimism can often be the catalyst for recovery and Mirette proves to be a courageous girl who also exhibits an intense desire to succeed. It is easy to see why this book received awards for excellence.

Feelings Are Facts: A Life (Writing Art)

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portrait of the artist as a young woman

Feelings Are Facts: A Life (Writing Art)
Yvonne Rainer
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0262182513

Book Description

If you're interested in Plato, you're reading the wrong book. If you're interested in difficult childhoods, sexual misadventures, aesthetics, cultural history, and the reasons that a club sandwich and other meals--including breakfast--have remained in the memory of the present writer, keep reading.
--from Feelings Are Facts

In this memoir, dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker Yvonne Rainer traces her personal and artistic coming of age. Feelings Are Facts (the title comes from a dictum by Rainer's one-time psychotherapist) uses diary entries, letters, program notes, excerpts from film scripts, snapshots, and film frame enlargements to present a vivid portrait of an extraordinary artist and woman in postwar America.

Rainer tells of a California childhood in which she was farmed out by her parents to foster families and orphanages, of sexual and intellectual initiations in San Francisco and Berkeley, and of artistic discoveries and accomplishments in the New York City dance world. Rainer studied with Martha Graham (and heard Graham declare, "when you accept yourself as a woman, you will have turn-out"--that is, achieve proper ballet position) and Merce Cunningham in the late 1950s and early 1960s, cofounded the Judson Dance Theater in 1962 (dancing with Trisha Brown, Steve Paxton, David Gordon, and Lucinda Childs), hobnobbed with New York artists including Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Morris (her lover and partner for several years), and Yoko Ono, and became involved with feminist and anti-war causes in the 1970s and 1980s. Rainer writes about how she constructed her dances--including The Mind Is a Muscle and its famous section, Trio A, as well as the recent After Many a Summer Dies the Swan--and about turning from dance to film and back to dance. And she writes about meeting her longtime partner Martha Gever and discovering the pleasures of domestic life.

The mosaic-like construction of Feelings Are Facts recalls the composition-by-juxtaposition of Rainer's work in film and dance, displaying prismatic variations from what she calls her "reckless past" for our amazement and appreciation.

Customer Reviews:

portrait of the artist as a young woman.......2006-11-02

This is a beautiful piece of writing and one of the most candid memoirs of the artist as a young woman that I have read. Although dance is not one of my major interests, I found Rainer's attraction to performing and her development as a dancer fascinating and applicable to anyone passionate about any field. Her descriptions of family members and her account of the difficulties of integrating sexual/intimate relationships and her work life are particularly moving and compelling. I was sorry when the book ended and recommend it particularly to young women trying to compose their lives. Also, the book itself is a delight to look at: great paper, interesting photographs and quality production.

Hey World, Here I Am! (Harper Trophy Book)

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An old favorite
Childhood nostalgia that stands the test of time
Great for Classroom Use!
Short, but still a gem.
I'M GLAD KATE IS HERE!

Hey World, Here I Am! (Harper Trophy Book)
Jean Little
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 006440384X

Book Description

Kate Bloomfield is back! And she's got a lot to say -- about school and friends and parents, about cartwheels (she can't do them), about parsnips (she won't eat them), about being alone and being herself, about life and love...even about Dave Nelson, who doesn't know she's alive. Outspoken, funny, sometimes confused but always observant, Kate is writing it all down -- "Hey World, Here I Am!"

Notable Children's Books of 1989 (ALA)
Best Books of 1989 (SLJ)
Notable 1989 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
Children's Books of 1989 (Library of Congress)
1989 Children's Books (NY Public Library)

Customer Reviews:

An old favorite.......2005-06-13

I purchased this book at a library book fair in the second grade. After one reading, I fell in love with the goofy pictures (I like Kate's hair and messy bedroom) and poetry. It combined poetry and pictures, my two favorite things in a book at that time. Over many years, I have gotten rid of the old books of my childhood, but I have never parted with this one. I take it off the shelf about once a year and read it (since I was seven I've read it ten times). I can empathize with Kate and her love of books, spats with her mother, and her dislike of interpreting poetry. Even though I am not Jewish like Kate, after reading the Diary of Anne Frank like her friend, I felt Jewish too. I also write poetry, but they are usually about my cat and nature. After reading this book many times, my love for Hey World, Here I Am! has never faded.

Childhood nostalgia that stands the test of time.......2004-02-12

I was about eight years old when my mom first brought this book home for me. I was so thrilled because I shared the name of the character in the book, Kate. I absolutely devoured the book, enjoying it more for the humor Jean Little displays impeccably in her writing, and the utter appropriateness of Sue Truedell's wonderful illustrations. Later, when I was a teenager, I went back and read the poems again because they seemed to describe the utter tumult and solitude that I felt during such a trying time. Poems like "Today," "Alone," and "Yesterday" capture perfectly feelings and emotions that nobody ever thinks to capture, yet Ms. Little does it in such a fabulous way that one instantly understands just what kind of mood she is describing. Now that I am a young woman, near to having a family of my own, I treasure my battered old copy of this book, nearly worn to pieces from repeated readings. Even today I can still find wisdom in every poem and piece of prose. The writer, Jean Little, is blind; I can only say it has sharpened her other senses and her intuition of basic human emotion powerfully. Bravo!

Great for Classroom Use!.......2003-11-08

I discovered this little book while gathering material for my Grades 5/6 poetry unit. Jean Little captures large truths in small poems. Many students, girls particularly, found themselves in several of the selections. One small poem about War has become my introduction for my Remembrance Day unit this year.

Short, but still a gem........2001-03-24

I had been meaning to read this book for quite awhile, but never quite got around to it until today. This book is a quick read. (I think it only took me about 45 minutes to read from cover to cover. However, I didn't take time to ponder most of the illustrations.)

Kate is a great character. Strangely enough, the title poem "Hey World, here I am" is probably the one I liked the least in the whole book. I haven't read any of the other books that include Kate, but this book does stand alone. With this book, the reader gets an insight into Kate that is refreshing.

Rather than using long journal entries, Kate relates little things in her world through poems and through short stories. Some of these things are quite moving, such as the time that Kate's mother yells at her to clean her room. Later, Kate's mother comes back to apologize, saying she had a bad day at work, etc, and that she didn't mean to snap like that. Kate's observation on the situation is that she could deal with being snapped at, but having to deal with her mother's sadness was something much harder. Other observations are more joyful, such as the hope for spring (in February in Canada!) or being happy to have a best friend like her friend Emily.

I think this is a wonderful book. Don't let it's shortness put you off. Not every book is meant to be 300 pages.

I'M GLAD KATE IS HERE!.......2000-12-16

I loved the poetry that outlined the story. Kate, whom we first met in "Through My Window" is the central figure in this story. Bright and outgoing, Kate speaks her mind on a myriad of subjects such as her religious identity, her social concerns and people she encounters regularly.

Book Description

Ella love-love-loves her brand-new umbrella. It's sky blue with white clouds, and it makes the most satisfying whoosh . . . click sound. Rain or shine, Ella insists on taking it with her everywhere. Unfortunately, a whoosh-clicking umbrella can cause serious trouble . . . especially at a ballet recital. It's a good thing Ella is a problem solver, because she's going to need to be creative to get what she wants.

Sarah Weeks and Doug Cushman deliver a hilarious and universal tale about a little girl's trouble letting go of a favorite object.

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