MixedUSA TodayWhile much of his book reads like cocktail-party chatter, Shapiro knows what he\'s talking about ... Shapiro\'s arguments are compelling and Luddite-proof, but what The New Childhood is missing – due to a lack of research in the field, not scholarship on the author\'s part – is an exploration into what the long-term effects of all this screen time are ... also fails to address head-on parental concerns that too much screen time may lead to social isolation, obesity, mental health problems and poor grades among kids.
Ariel Burger
PositiveUSA Today\"Burger transports the reader to those salons of learning on the Charles River, where Wiesel\'s students over the years ranged from the granddaughter of a Nazi SS officer to a Korean minister in training ... Witness does have a Wednesdays-with-Wiesel feel. Burger intersperses bits of his own life and background as he shares an album\'s worth of snapshots from Wiesel\'s time at BU. Burger\'s tone and execution are exactly what his title promises – and in keeping with the way Wiesel lived his life.\
Mark Kurlansky
PositiveUSA Today\"The first 70 pages of Milk! are a slog (too many recipes and factoids), but keep going and you\'ll strike calcium-heavy gold ... As Milk! slowly churns from a laundry list in those opening pages to a faster-paced history, Kurlansky returns to his trademark style — well-ordered sentences jam-packed with big ideas and trivia tidbits. And then, the fine cream of the book rises to the top.\
Elaine Weiss
PositiveUSA Today\"Weiss\' reportage clearly shows she did a huge amount of research, which enables her to add splashes of color to what could have easily become a snooze-worthy political-science tome ... But much of the drama seeps out of the book, due to too many unnecessary details and chapters that bounce between themes and timelines.\
Paul Kix
PositiveUSA TodayKix's real-life adventure book is informed by interviews with members of his subject's family, piles of government records and the now-deceased La Rochefoucauld's autobiography. Kix fastidiously cross-references dates and other facts to keep the timeline aligned with reality and uncolored by clan lore and the protagonist's sometimes fuzzy memory … The ability of Kix...to infuse every chapter with historical fact and analysis makes the book an enjoyable read. He telescopes between the larger themes of the period — the atmosphere of post-invasion France, the rise of the resistance movement, how England's clandestine training program for saboteurs evolved — and his protagonist's unrivaled personal story.
Jeff Goodell
PositiveUSA TodayGoodell talks about climate change and what it means to every person on the planet in a way that will engage even the non-Nova crowd. Yet at times the book is repetitive. Amid swirls of statistics come the same points over and over: Fossil fuels get much of the blame. Millions of people will be displaced as water moves inland permanently. Many also will lose their livelihoods and life savings invested in their homes. Policymakers move at a glacial pace. Real estate developers refuse to heed warnings. People who believe in climate change will find themselves nodding and tsk-tsking as they zip through this easy-to-read volume. Global-warming skeptics might want to invest in some diving gear.
Jennie Melamed
MixedUSA TodayDaughters is derivative at best and a faded photocopy at worst ... Melamed's plot suggests some real storytelling chops. Crafting a new society with its own bizarre rules is a big undertaking and the writing is fast-paced. You get a feel for what the girls face and how they strain against the island dogma to find their own voices and freedom. Whether they succeed, Melamed never tells us. Gather the Daughters works as a light — yet dark — beach read, but you might find yourself looking for a tongue-less ferryman (don’t ask) to take you from the sand back to the real world.
