“Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside and it's ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'”
——-Bob Dylan

I am watching an interesting phenomenon take place in our country, and the teacher in me has something to say to the youth who have decided to stand up and make a difference. I admire you, I am proud of you, and I will continue to have your back, but I want to remind you that the strength you are showing has been come by honestly. It is in your genes, your DNA, your blood.

I know that many of you feel that you have been let down by the “older generation,” but nothing is further from the truth. It was your grandparents’ grandparents who had the fortitude to leave their families and all that was familiar in the early 1900’s, and they marched to a new land so that their children and grandchildren could live in a country where they would be free, safe and welcomed. They worked long hours doing menial labor to raise the funds to bring their families to join them in this great country, so one day you, their future generation, would have the right to speak your mind and be heard.

It was your grandparents who marched, and sometimes died, in the 1950’s and 60’s to bring equality to all people. They marched for voting rights, they marched for integrated schools and they marched so all children would feel safe. Their marching worked! In 1955 In Brown II, the Supreme Court ordered the lower federal courts to require desegregation of schools "with all deliberate speed,” and when desegregation didn’t happen fast enough, they kept on marching until it did. The Voting Rights Act signed by Lyndon Johnson in 1965, worked to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African- Americans from voting. Yes, your grandparents, both black and white, worked side by side to see that everyone could safely cast their vote.

Then, in the later sixties and early seventies, when our country became embroiled in a war that they didn’t believe in, they marched, and some died, to end the war and bring our soldiers home. Their cause was as important to them as yours is to you, and they felt just as disgusted with their politicians as you do with yours. Those grandparents who marched beside you in Washington and the hundreds of other marches around the world on March 24th, marched with experienced feet and hearts filled with hope. The older generation didn’t drop the ball guys, they were just patiently waiting for you to catch it.

Might I also remind you, that good old Bob Dylan belongs to that older generation.
When you loudly sing the lyrics,

“Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’”

remember that the man who wrote those lyrics is now seventy-seven years old, and he watched many times go “a-changing,” as your grandparents loudly sang those same lyrics.

Try to remember, when you feel you can’t trust any adults, that student organizer Jack Weinberg, who coined the phrase “don’t trust anyone over 30” in the 1960’s is seventy-eight today, and he probably has a different perspective on things now. He knows that there is a wealth of information to be gleaned from those who you look at as walking down “a rapidly agin’ old road,” and they are anxious to lend you a hand if you let them. Together we will show the world that America always was, is now, and always will be GREAT!

I read a fun book this week and wanted to share it with you. 1,339 Quite Interesting Facts to Make Your Jaw Drop by John Lloyd, John Mitchinson and James Hardin just might make your jaw drop as the authors share a host of historical, scientific and silly facts with their readers. It is a great way to forget all of the craziness in our world today and would make a good gift for the trivia buffs in your life.

As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.

We at Madderly Review wish all that celebrate Passover or Easter a very happy holiday.

Happy reading,

Beverly

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Genre: Non Fiction

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Did you know that a pint of milk in a supermarket can contain milk from a thousand different cows, or that a raw carrot is still alive when you eat it? Were you aware that the average woman wears only half the clothes in her closet or that women look their oldest at 3:30 P. M. on Wednesdays? If you love finding out bits of information like this, than Lloyd, Mitchinson and Harkin’s book, 1,339 Quite Interesting Facts to Make Your Jaw Drop, is just the book for you.

I am a trivia fan, so this book caught my eye. It turned out to be a book that lists many of the most outrageous pieces of information that I have ever come across. Do I believe it all? Perhaps not in its entirety, but I have no intention of checking it out. I just enjoyed it for what it is...a conglomeration of interesting historical, scientific and just plain trivial facts that might just make me the life of my next party.

The main author of this book, John Lloyd, is the creator of the BBC quiz panel show QI (Quite Interesting), and the other two contributed information to this book. I found it somewhat addictive and do find myself trying to search further on some of the topics. This might make a great gift for a teacher to use during down time in the classroom, as long as she encourages the students to verify the stated facts.

- Beverly
​

Publisher - W. W. Norton & Company
Date of Publication - ​September 2, 2014

“Censorship is the height of vanity.”
—-Martha Graham

More years ago than I care to think about, Two Live Crew, a hip-hop band from Miami, produced an album entitled "As Nasty As They Wanna Be." The sexually explicit lyrics and themes caused much controversy, and it was the first album in history to be deemed legally obscene, but this wasn’t the first we had heard of this group. Years earlier I would go to the bus stop every day to pick up Michael and Beth and hear Two Live Crew songs blaring out of cars filled with waiting teens. Having to discuss those lyrics with my two young children infuriated me. I was particularly angry when rumor had it that their lead singer recorded “clean” versions of his songs for his own children. I was indeed angry, but I didn’t believe in censorship of the arts.

Tipper Gore, wife of then senator Al Gore, was an active member of a group called Parents Music Resource Center(PMRC), and everyone was discussing the possibility of censoring this type of music. PMRC settled on promoting a rating system similar to the movie system, but controversy continued as to what should or shouldn’t be censored.

In 1987, photographer Andres Serrano displayed his offering entitled Immersion (Piss Christ) and received much acclaim for it. The photograph was of a small plastic crucifix submerged in the artist’s urine. Two years later U.S. Senators Al D’Amato and Jesse Helms became infuriated when they realized that Serrano received thousands of dollars from the tax-payer funded National Endowment for the Arts. People tried to censor the piece, and the artist lost funding and dealt with death threats. Through the years it has been vandalized when on display, and in 2012 religious groups and some politicians asked President Obama to denounce the artwork. To have done so would have been an example of religious censorship, yet many people were horrified at what they saw as the highest level of disrespect. I agreed the piece was disrespectful, but I didn’t believe in censorship of the arts.

From their beginnings movies, books, and television have also faced critics who want to censor them. In 1894, the silent film Carmencita was banned in Newark, New Jersey, because the dancer’s underwear (a large petticoat) was showing. In 1907 Chicago authorized the police chief to screen each movie to determine whether it should be shown. The Motion Picture Association established movie ratings in 1968, but the PG-13 rating didn't come about until “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”  There was one violent scene in it, so they couldn’t give it a PG rating, but they thought an R rating for that movie was too much.

When television brought entertainment into our homes, those who believed in censorship had a field day. In 1952, when Lucille Ball got pregnant, the very word pregnant was not allowed to be used. In 1956 Elvis’ pelvis became an issue. He had to be shown from the waist up. Lest you think things have changed, Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during Super Bowl XXXVIII received over 500,000 complaints from American viewers.

As for books, the first censorship of the written word took place in 1629; and it was downhill from there on. Some of our most beloved classics have been banned throughout the years. To Kill a Mockingbird, Huck Finn, Of Mice and Men and even Harry Potter books have been challenged time and again.

There is a major problem with censorship. What is offensive to me might not be offensive to you, and if we start trying to protect everyone’s sensibilities than we will have no artistic expression at all. Since censorship is constitutionally frowned upon, perhaps we should learn to be our own censors. I have every right to NOT go to a movie, watch a television show that offends me, or visit a museum showing people’s naked bodies. I am not forced to read a book that I find too explicit or listen to lyrics of any song. If any of the above bothers me all I need to do is look the other way, but if none of it bothers me, I should have every right to enjoy the art as it was intended to be shown.

So years ago, when my children saw me fuming over Two Live Crew lyrics and asked if I thought their music should be taken off of the radio, I told them no. I explained that I would never buy their music or go to a concert, but I would not want to take away anyone’s right to express himself or herself artistically. I agree with Martha Graham and would never expect anyone to think my way is the only correct way. In every aspect of life we must learn to accept and enjoy what we find acceptable and enjoyable without trying to make the rest of the country accept our beliefs and standards.

The book that I read this week is not a censored title...yet. Rick Mofina, one of my favorite authors, wrote Last Seen, a thriller about a missing child that will keep you on the edge of your seat as you try to figure out “who done it.”

As always a complete review of this book follows this blog.

Happy reading,

- Beverly

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​Genre: Thriller

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Rick Mofina has had the ability to capture my attention on the first page and keep it throughout most of the novels that he has written. While some authors tend to get complacent as their list of published titles grow, Mofina only gets stronger. His descriptions are so vivid that I often have to remind myself that I am reading a work of fiction.

In Last Seen, Cal and Faith Holden take their son, Cage, to a neighborhood carnival so he can prove his bravery to himself and his friends. The haunted house, known as the Chamber of Horrors, is filled with blood and gore, mock killers and ghosts, and a sense of foreboding that is palpable even to the reader. The chapter where Mofina walks this family through the Chamber is as intense as any I have ever read, and it honestly kept me on the edge of my seat until Cal and Faith exited....and then I waited.

My anxiety grew along with the Holdens’ when Cage never came out of the Chamber of Horrors. As the story progresses the carnival closes down the ride, the police and eventually the FBI are called in, and it becomes obvious that Cage has been kidnapped. Everyone becomes a suspect, even the parents, who have been experiencing marital problems are not exempt from suspicion. Cal is a journalist who attempts to use his connections to aid in the hunt for his son, and the reader feels his panic as he hits dead end after dead end.

Mofina, a journalist himself, brings a sense of reality to his narrative and uses his knowledge of his trade to keep the plot moving along. Last Seen is mostly a police procedural, and that is something that Mofina shines at, so this book is one that I can comfortably recommend.

- Beverly


Publisher - MIRA
Date of Publication - ​March 1, 2018

"No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you.”
—Muhammad Ali Jinnah ( founder of Pakistan)


The world celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8, and for some reason it made me a little sad. I am happy with my gender, don’t get me wrong, I just don’t understand why it is cause for celebration. You see, this celebration sets me apart, and in truth, all most women want is equality.

I don’t need McDonald’s to make their arches into W’s one day a year, rather I need to be assured that everyone who works there gets equal pay for equal work. I don’t need Mattel to unveil 17 new “role model” Barbies, unless some of them are heavyset, or have frizzy hair or are walking with one child on her hip and one on her ankle. I surely don’t need Johnnie Walker to make a one month “limited edition” of Jane Walker to prove that I am equal to the men who spend their hard earned money on scotch with a name. Instead I need every company to recognize that women are equal in every way and treat them as such.

I have been lucky through the years to have a father who believed that I could accomplish anything I set my mind on and a husband who has supported all of my endeavors unfailingly, yet I have often come across blatant bias in my life.  I know that when I taught, the male teachers were given almost all of the extra money assignments each year. When I questioned my principal about his choices he explained that men, after all, had to support their families. When I brought up the fact that most of our female faculty was either single mothers or part of a two “necessary” salaries family, he smiled and said he “liked my feminist attitude” as he walked away. Men still claimed a preponderance of the available after school activities.

There are several Plastic Surgery practices in my extended neighborhood, and they all advertise extensively. One before/after picture following another in magazines, on line and on billboards. Almost every one features a woman who became “beautiful.” Rarely do we see a man in these advertisements, because men are not the target audience. Men don’t feel the need to change the way they look for the women in their lives. They aren’t made to feel unattractive if they are ten pounds over weight or lose facial definition as they age. They are told grey hair makes them look distinguished while women are given hair dye at the first sign of a grey hair.

Interestingly enough, in this time of fighting so all groups are afforded equal rights, women remain one of the few groups that are not constitutionally protected. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was first introduced to protect the rights of women in 1921. It has had a long and complicated history, and now, almost a century later, it still waits to be passed. Strangely enough, women have been some of its strongest opponents. Although it spent many years as part of the Republican platform, some conservative women fought it tooth and nail. They were afraid that they would lose some of the workplace considerations they received and worried that they would be drafted. Their voices were heard, and the ERA support was dropped from the Republican platform. Although we do see women in key political positions in the United States, the presidency still seems unattainable, and although the amendment has been reintroduced in every session of Congress since 1982, that too seems out of reach.  So as much as I appreciate the motivation behind International Women’s Day, I would prefer to see all women seen as, and treated as, equals 365 days a year, and I would like to believe that the ERA will pass in my lifetime.

The book I read this week, Justice Returns (Ben Kincaid series) (Volume 19) by William Bernhardt, was a politically driven legal thriller featuring one of my favorite fictional attorneys. Ben Kincaid is a nice guy who makes it easy to root for him, and this was one of his more interesting cases. I found it a bit heavy on politics, but It was definitely relevant and fun to follow.

Happy reading,

- Beverly

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​Genre: Legal Thriller

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Ben Kincaid is another fictional attorney whom I have followed through the years. Bernhardt  has done a good job maturing Kincaid through his journey, both in his personal life and his career. He is now a married man with twins whom he adores and worries about incessantly. His sister, who occasionally shows up in his life is back, and her former boyfriend, Oscar Kirby (Oz) is in trouble.

Oz is a former Iraq war veteran with Islamic leanings. He was apprehended and tortured by a former Iraqi “interrogator”(Nazir) who now works for the CIA. When Oz, who has now become Omar al-Jabbar, visits Kincaid, he explains that the CIA now sees him as a terrorist. While he admits that he works for a non-profit organization that protests the Patriots Act, and, in fact, dates the founder’s sister, Mina, he swears he is not a terrorist. He wants Ben to help him sue the people who wrongfully imprisoned him.

Things become more complicated when Nazir is murdered and Oz is found at the scene with a weapon. Kincaid is now embroiled in the toughest case of his career and needs the help of all of his friends and colleagues to save his client and himself. As always, Bernhardt sets his story in Oklahoma City, and I find his descriptions and references an enhancement to the story.

When one reads a series, an investment in the characters' lives becomes inevitable, and Bernhardt’s books are no exception. Kincaid’s relationships with his wife, sister and colleagues make us root for this nice guy who really wants to believe that his client is innocent. While I feel that the author might be using the novel as a forum for his political beliefs every now and again, it is his book to do with as he pleases. The story is definitely relevant politically, and I am looking forward to Bernhardt’s next book.

- Beverly
​

Publisher - Babylon Books
Date of Publication - ​October 21, 2017

Don't let the light go out
It's lasted for so many years
Don't let the light go out
Let it shine through our love and our tears
——Peter, Paul and Mary


We are a country of people who thrive on hope. We need to believe that tomorrow will be better than today. It gets us through our bad days and makes our good days better. It drives our political wagon. Although it wasn’t the only thing he had going for him, I believe the fact that Bill Clinton came from Hope, Arkansas put him over the edge. His campaign was smart enough to use headlines like, "It's a story as old as the American dream, and it begins in a small town called Hope,” and who could compete with that?

I was at a concert this past weekend, and the headliner finished the show with Lee Greenwood’s hit, God Bless the USA (I’m Proud to be an American), and as everyone stood and sang along, I felt the same pride it always brings to me. Even though I am horrified and embarrassed at some of the things my country has seemed to represent this year, I realize that no other country would allow its people to speak about their frustrations in such an open manner.

Our constitution, in its old-fashioned way, allows us to worship, write and speak in the manner that we see fit. It protects us from tyranny and each amendment allows us to grow as a country.  The immigrants who flock to our country do so to obtain these rights that many of us take for granted. It gives them hope. Who can blame them for risking everything to live in a country filled with people who march (and are permitted to march) so that all people will feel safe in their country.

When I stood and sang along with that song I realized that I am feeling hopeful. For the first time in many years I am seeing a spark of activism exactly where we need to see it...in today’s young people. The horror that the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School students faced on Valentine’s Day is one no person, let alone child, should ever face, but if we can salvage anything of worth from this tragedy, it is the awakening of a youth movement. These kids are strong, committed, well educated and ready to fight. I am proud of them, and I will support them. They are fighting with the greatest weapons known to man...words. They are not radical. They are not trying to destroy all guns and trample on the second amendment. They are speaking up for common sense laws, and our Florida legislature is listening.

The bill that they are trying to pass is far from perfect, but it is a step. I don’t think librarians, counselors, etc should be armed, and I do think semi-automatic weapons should be banned, but this bill is a compromise. It is a start that would not have happened if Emma, Cameron, David, Jaclyn and the rest of these strong survivors hadn’t used their heartache to foster hope for a safer tomorrow.

I have hope because a very large majority of our country listened to these children and the hundreds of thousands of young people who joined their cause. I have hope that this majority will push their representatives to do the right thing, or vote them out. The second concert I saw this week featured Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary fame. I sat in the audience and felt the same belief that we can change the world that I did years ago when the three of them sang the words my heart felt. When he sang Light One Candle I realized the words were as meaningful and important now as decades ago, when they were written.

Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand
But light one candle for the wisdom to know
When the peacemaker's time is at hand

I have hope because I believe our children are lighting the candle and showing everyone the wisdom found in peace.

This week Phillip Margolin’s book, The Third Victim hit the bookstores, and you are all in for a treat. As always he takes us into the recesses of the darkest minds of criminals while showing us the bravery and resilience of those who fight them. I couldn’t put this book down.

As always a complete review of this book follows this blog.

Happy reading,

- Beverly

​Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog

​Genre: Thriller

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I have often joked that I don’t want to meet Phillip Margolin in a dark alley, and The Third Victim does nothing to change my mind. His ability to get into the mind of a sadistic killer is both brilliant and horrifying. His descriptions of torture, like bad accidents, render the reader unable to look away. As an attorney, his access to the criminal mind serves him well.

When Meredith Fenner stumbles onto a road, bleeding and obviously tortured, the police quickly connect her case to two other similar ones. A suspect, attorney Alex Mason, is quickly apprehended, and the case seems airtight. Between DNA evidence and his wife’s statements of his sexual sadism, even the reader is convinced he needs to be put away for good.

When Mason hires legendary criminal defense attorney Regina Barrister, we realize that the fight is far from over, but something seems slightly off about Barrister. She is experiencing periods of confusion and finds herself forgetting some of the most basic things. Her young associate, Robin Lockwood becomes alarmed as she occupies second chair on the Alex Mason case. Things about the case just don’t seem right, and the young attorney fears that her mentor is becoming a liability as the case unfolds.

Margolin shows us the evil side of many of his characters and makes us wonder who we can trust. Pimps, hookers, even a brutal policeman populates a novel that hits the reader in the gut and keeps on punching. On the other hand, Robin Lockwood shows us that the young and idealistic can often overcome overwhelming odds when put in an untenable situation.

Margolin will definitely grip you from the first chapter and hold on until the exhausting ending of a well written addition to his collection.

- Beverly


Publisher - Minotaur Books
Date of Publication - ​March 6, 2018

“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts.”
—C. S. Lewis

I am a teacher. My mother was a teacher before me. My sister was a teacher with me. My daughter is a teacher after me. It is in our blood. It is in our hearts. It is in our souls. I have taught about Shakespeare, Emerson and Thoreau. I have taught iambic pentameter, haiku, and sonnets. I have taught nouns, verbs and prepositions. I started a drama program, wrote and taught a humanities curriculum and coached my wonderful debate team.

I have held a student’s hair as she vomited. I have sat with a boy as he went through a seizure. I have dealt with pregnant teenagers more often than I can count and wiped a million tears from the cheeks of heartbroken girls and boys who believed that they would never love again. I have cheered at their football games and cried at their funerals. I was a surrogate mom, a nurse, a counselor, a policeman and a friend when the job called for it.

I gave lunch money out regularly, bought school supplies that the school could not afford, and even bought my own desk chair because there was none to replace my broken one. I was assigned “duties” during my planning periods. I did bus duty, cafeteria duty, hall duty and anything else they conjured up...all without extra pay. I spent hours grading and planning during nights and weekends...again with no extra pay.

I did it all (and loved it all) because I love your children. I learn from them and loved helping them see what they can be. For a year at a time, they were “my kids” too, and I would have protected them with all of my heart and body if I needed. I was not surprised that teachers stood in front of bullets to protect their students in Parkland. They weren’t taught that, but most would do that without a thought. Protecting our kids comes naturally. Shooting at them or around them does not.

Please don’t ask us to carry a gun. Don’t expect us to be able to pull that trigger when there is a room full of students between us and a madman. Don’t expect us to shoot that damaged madman if we taught him last week. Don't put that onus on us. Don’t tell us you have extra money to arm us and give us gun-carrying bonuses but not enough for textbooks, pencils, and a living wage. We need supplies and protection and the assurance that no one (except security) has a weapon with him/her in school. We need politicians with common sense to let us do what we love...help your children become the person they are meant to be.

This week I needed to laugh and Skeletons in the Closet (Laundry Hag Series, Book 1) by Jennifer L. Hart was the perfect book to read. It is a mystery filled with humor that kept me guessing while it kept me laughing. If you are a wife or mother...or if you know one...this is the book for you.

As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.

Happy reading,

- Beverly

​Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog

​Genre: Mystery

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Sometimes you just need a book that will make you giggle at yourself, and if you have ever been a wife, a mother or had to live with one, Skeletons in the Closet: The Misadventures of the Laundry Hag, Book 1 by Jennifer L. Hart is the book for you. It starts with our heroine, Maggie, attempting to ready herself for a new neighbor’s “soirée,” while her husband, Neil,  patiently (not so much ) waits for her to finish. The reader is privy to Maggie’s thoughts as she is almost ready and suddenly notices dandruff marring her almost finished hairdo. No choice for Maggie...it is a rewash with dandruff shampoo as hubby collapses on the bed.

The exposition continues at the party where we meet the best friend, the snooty neighbors, and the hostess' sister...and suddenly college educated Maggie finds herself being offered up as a housekeeper to the eccentric neighbors. Although the idea of cleaning toilets isn’t pleasant, she decides that the extra money might be worth it. Of course the fact that the husband keeps a locked room that could pass as a torture chamber should probably have given her second thoughts, but...

Suddenly there is a murder mystery to occupy Maggie, who turns out to be the alibi for the individual accused of the murder. As she attempts to help prove the accused's innocence, she also battles with drop-in relatives. Her brother, in-laws and friends add an unbeatable cast of characters to this well written mystery that will definitely lighten your day.

Author Hart does a great job balancing humor and mystery as well as narrative and dialogue. Her ability to keep the humor going throughout the story kept me chuckling until the last page, but it did not take away from the well plotted mystery. Her characters’ descriptions made me feel as though I could recognize any of them if they ever crossed my path. In fact, I would love a glimpse of ex-Navy Seal Neil, because he seems a bit too good to be true.

I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say that this Laundry Hag series has a new fan, and I will definitely check out the next book as soon as I can.

- Beverly


Publisher - Amazon Digital Services LLC
Date of Publication - ​​July 21, 2011