Relax Kids - Marneta Viegas

Advantages: funny, an easy read,
Disadvantages: none

...I was bought this as a gift,and then proceeded to wake my wife up in bed as I laughed out loud. This was written about life in small town America 30 to 40 years ago but it could be nearly anywhere in the western world. How as a kid you are indistructable and the difference of what you could do then and what we do not let our kids do now, because we might get sued. And the super powers we all had as a kid after waching superman, spiderman, the fantastic 4, our laser vision and super strength. I've read it once and I'll read it again. If you have heard Bill Bryson's voice it's even better, his relaxing tones just relax you, if you haven't, try, it'll be on you tube I'm sure. just imagining his tone of voice as you read adds to the pleasure and the humour. Buy it !!... Read review

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Advantages: Hilarious and interesting
Disadvantages: None in particular

...1950s America. A time of postwar boom when everything was perfect - people lived in suburban comfort, housewives prepared wholesome meals and children played freely in the street. Except it wasn't quite like that. Underneath this outward perfection, people were terrified of polio, nuclear war and alien invasion. Black people continued to suffer, exemplified by a case in which a fourteen year old black boy was beaten and killed - for whistling at a white girl. The murderers didn't bother covering their tracks, but the all-white jury found them "not guilty". They later confessed openly, knowing they couldn't be retried. Amongst all this perfection, fear and racial crime, The Thunderbolt Kid was enjoying a childhood of the like that has never been seen before or since. The term "biography" doesn't quite describe this book. Bill Bryson... Read review

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Advantages: Fantastic book, gripping read, interesting real characters, true story
Disadvantages: Nothing I really enjoyed this book

...“Somebody Else’s Kids” by Torey Hayden is a fantastic book. It is the sort of book that once you start to read you just can’t put it down because you need to know what is going to happen. This is the true story of Torey Hayden an educational psychologist and a special-education teacher who works with children with problems in a school in America. This book tells the story of 4 very different children who all find themselves in Torey’s class. All have very different problems but share one thing in common and that is their teacher who shows them love and caring that has been missing in their lives. To Torey these children aren’t just “somebody else’s kids”, they are hers and she will do all in her power to get the best out of them. We have Lori, a twin who is 7 years old and very intelligent but who has brain damage from being... Read review

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