As a one-time counselor and parent educator, I'm well-versed in the mantras of effective parenting: 1) have clear expectations and 2) be consistent.

Scott Gale has your back in the Clear Expectations arena. Your Family Constitution: A Modern Approach to Family Values and Household Structure outlines a plan for writing up a document for each family member to agree to, stating expectations and consequences. More importantly, it takes parents through a step-by-step process for determining what these expectations might be: what are our longterm goals for our children, and how can we help them develop the traits and habits we value most highly?

Gale, who doesn't have a background in counseling or family dynamics, also shares the parenting struggles which led him to devise a "constitution" for his own family. While his methods aren't groundbreaking, they are sound, and provide ideas parents can use to make "Have Clear Expectations" into something tangible. Gale advocates for as much child-involvement in the process as possible along the way.

I'll be interviewing author Scott Gale at the end of next week, so if you have questions for him about the book, I welcome them! I'm looking forward to learning more about how he incorporated rewards into the program (he alludes to using family activities as rewards, but I didn't find them written into the actual contract) and how the constitution has evolved since the book was written--since, as any parent can tell you, as soon as we get those kiddos figured out, they change.

Your Family Constitution was provided for review by Pump Up Your Book.

Green Books Campaign: Ecoholic

This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 great books printed in an environmentally friendly way. Our goal is to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books. This campaign is organized by Eco-Libris, a company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on Eco-Libris website. The above logo was created by Susan Newman.

Be careful what you wish for.

In recent years I've yearned for one place that would inform me about which products were good, bad or indifferent for the environment and my body. Not just a list of toxic ingredients to scan for on every bottle of sunscreen or shampoo--a list of safe products to make or buy. I know that certain cleansers are extremely toxic, but if a product says Clorox and "green" on the same label, is it truly green? And what about water bottles? The disposable ones are out, for so many reasons, but what to use instead?

Adria Vasil's Ecoholic has all this and more, in 370 readable pages. So readable that I started out reading it cover to cover, until I realized this method would kill me.

It's so comprehensive that unless you're a die-hard environmentalist of the no-deodorant-or-packaged-toothpaste variety, you run the risk of realizing that you're doing more things wrong than right. Between your polyurethane-filled mattress, the formaldehyde in your sheets and pillow, and the toxins you've slathered onto your body in the interest of being clean, you should maybe avoid breathing at night, just in case. And yet, last I checked, breathing is still necessary for survival.

This is where baby steps come in. Because, there are solutions to most of these issues, but a person can't tackle them all at once. I can't run out and buy a new mattress right now, but when I do, I'll be glad to have Ecoholic at hand to help me through the process. And in the meantime, I can start looking through my medicine cabinet and under my kitchen sink, and at least switch to an aluminum-free deodorant, right? Ecoholic also provides the motivation for paying that little bit more for biodegradable detergents and so on.

I highly recommend buying Ecoholic as a first step towards better health for yourself and the earth. It's one purchase you won't feel guilty about! It was printed using eco-friendly ink using a low-emissions process, on 100% recycled paper; this saved 212 trees in its first printing as well as over 13 thousand pounds of solid waste, 127 thousand gallons of water, and thirty thousand cubic feet of natural gas.

Diversity Roll Call: Early Readers

Yes, it's time once again (past time, actually) for another Diversity Roll Call. This week's assignment comes from Mary Ann of Great Kid Books.

I have an idea for a color challenge that I would LOVE help with: finding books for early readers (1st and 2nd grade) with children of color as the main characters.

I loved discovering Nikki & Deja last year, but I find it very hard to find either early readers or early chapter books with kids from different backgrounds. There are lots of picture books out there, but not many books that young kids can read for themselves.

So, you're assignment is one of the following:

1) Find a book for Mary Ann's library
2) Write the blurb for the book you'd like kids of that age to see on the shelves, or
3) Was this an issue for you when you were first reading books on your own? Tell us about it.
4) Got a diversity issue on your mind lately? We'd love to read your thoughts. Who knows, you may spark the next C.O.R.A. question!

The Diversity Roll Call is co-hosted by myself and Susan of Color Online, and everyone is invited to participate at any time. Answer on your blog and add a link (directly to that post) below, or answer in the comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Ripley's Believe it or Not: Seeing is Believing (Kid review)

Got a pre-teen boy to shop for this holiday season? Even if he's not a reader, I'd bet this book would pull him in. (There's plenty to interest girls, as well, of course).

I get a lot of books in the mail, and for my family, the novelty has worn off. "Another book for Mom," my sons sigh when UPS pulls up.

But this book got their attention from the moment they saw the shiny cover. "Oh! Fozzie* has this book!" And they proceeded to hoard it over the course of many weeks. Not that they didn't share with me:

"Look, Mom, a kitten with two faces!"

"Ew, they removed 788 rats from one house!"

Yeah, thanks for that info, sweetie.

But it's not all weirdly gross stuff. There's a whole section on amazing art, for example. We loved looking at the photos of thousands of soldiers lined up into picture-shapes.

Another section provides facts worthy of any science almanac: "Mom, this sounds funny. A peregrine falcon when diving can go 270 miles per hour. The three-toed sloth? 0.1 miles per hour."

My favorite was the reports of weird ways missing things have turned up, sometimes years later. The next time I lose something, I think I'll take up fishing. You never know when a lost item just might turn up days later, inside a fish.

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*name changed to protect the privacy of non-blogging families

What's the problem with problem novels?

On Diversity Roll Call Susan asks about "problem novels"--books, particularly in Young Adult lit, which focus on one particular social issue.

When you think about it, every novel is a "problem novel" in some form--after all, conflict is the cog that moves a plot along, and the definition of conflict is some sort of problem, right? Robinson Crusoe's problem is survival after a shipwreck; Hamlet and David Copperfield both have enough family problems to keep Jerry Springer busy for a week.

But when the problem or the character confronting it is one-dimensional, it doesn't make for an compelling story. A character who's defining characteristic is bulimia or a drug habit isn't interesting. Add a plot that revolves around MC-has-problem/gets-help/the-end, and you've got a novel whose sole attraction is the sort of rubber-necking that Jerry Springer relies on.

But books can have a social issue at their core, and also have literary merit beyond addressing a particular topic. Nick Hornby's Slam, for example, deals with teen pregnancy, from a guy's perspective--adding Hornby's signature style to the YA shelf for the first time. I'm always impressed with Hornby's ability to offer lighthearted entertainment that also takes a deeper look at life.

Speaking of which, Hornby's A Long Way Down isn't a YA novel, but with its focus on suicide, it could be pegged as a Problem Novel. It also manages to be among his funniest and most heartwarming novels. Four people meet on a rooftop on New Year's Eve, each with the intent to commit suicide--a situation which proves to be exceedingly awkward for all of them, and which bonds them in unexpected and far-reaching ways.


Another pair of books that focus on social issues in a three-dimensional way are the memoirs Beautiful Boy by David Sheff, and Tweak by Nic Sheff. Tweak offers the point of view of a young man in recovery from addiction to meth, and Beautiful Boy is his father's perspective. To read the two of them, one after the other, is a powerful experience for adults or older teens.


One thing I've never found is a novel that deals with anorexia without being a one-dimensional problem-focused novel. Does anyone know of one? What do you think about "Problem Novels" in general?

This post was written as part of the C.O.R.A. Diversity Roll call, which is running until tomorrow on Color Online, and there's even a prize involved this week! The next assignment will be posted early next week right here on Worducopia.