117. "Help Yourself" by Dave Pelzer

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Pelzer, Dave. Help Yourself: Finding Hope, Courage and Happiness. New York: Plume Books, 2001.

218 pages

Reviewed by J. d'Artagnan Love

Most people know Dave Pelzer's most famous work, A Child Called It. Dave experienced one of the most severe documented cases of child abuse and neglect in United States history. I was interested in reading this particular book because of curiosity about the concept of resilience discussed ad nauseam in developmental psychology research. Dave has experienced horrors from which few would recover, but seems to have become a moderately well adjusted, productive, and happy adult. I was curious to know how he got there and thus, picked up this book. 

In this book, Dave chronicles what he did to survive his situation, not just physically, but psychologically. He discusses how he manages his life now and the psychological significance of the trauma he experienced. His goal is an honorable one: an attempt to help others by sharing how he overcame and continues to overcome his childhood experiences. 

Perhaps I should not have been surprised to find that the strategies Dave uses and suggests in his book aren't ground breaking. The advice provided is the same advice found elsewhere in other self-help books and research. Keep a positive attitude. Practice forgiveness, not for the sake of the offender but for your own mental health. Practice self-reflection and take responsibility for your choices. Try to spend time helping others to get out of your own head. These are all valid options for improving a life but nothing new was really added to the conversation on resilience and trauma recovery. 

While it may seem so, I'm not terribly disappointed with this book. I'm sure it will be and is helpful to those who have never encountered these concepts before. For me, it fell flat because of the amount of exposure I've had to the ideas. Had I read this in high school before I became steeped in trauma research, it would have probably seemed ground breaking and inspiring to me then. Alas, that is not how my experience with this book was in reality though, and so I can't say I liked it all that much.

RECOMMENDED FOR: Readers with no experience or background on the topic of resilience and trauma recovery. It's a good "starter" book on the topic. 

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: Readers with any previous background on the subject. The ideas are repeats of ideas already well known.

2 darts out of 5

116. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

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Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Ballantine Books, 2009. 

289 pages.

Reviewed by J. d'Artagnan Love

Maya Angelou has a writing voice both melodic and forceful. In this memoir, she recounts her childhood, the mysteries of growing up in the deep south, the excitement and energy of spending time in cities like St. Louis, and the trauma of being raped. She reaches into the heart of her family system and the lives connected to the family like threads of a spider's web. 

My experience reading this book was visceral. In a traumatic scene, my stomach cramped and I broke out in a sweat. My chest felt tight and I had to breathe deeply. She pulled me so deeply into her life, it affected me physically. This is the first time I've experienced this from a piece of literature. 

When she describes the power of words, especially the power of the spoken word, it opened my eyes to how magical language truly is. I have always loved language but she made it clear just how important the spoken word is. How you can hold a word on your tongue, let it roll around a bit, let it seep in different vocal intonations so that the word becomes more than a word--it becomes an experience, an energy, an incantation. This Angelou's power with words. Her poetry shines even in her prose. 

RECOMMENDED FOR: Readers who can appreciate lyrical memoirs, readers interested in Black history, and readers interested in women's history. 

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: Those who could be triggered by scenes of rape and assault. 

5 darts out of 5

115. "The Leader in Me." by Stephen Covey

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Covey, Stephen. The Leader in Me: How Schools and Parents Around the World are Inspiring Greatness One Child at a Time. New York: Free Press, 2009. 

242 pages. 

Reviewed by J. d'Artagnan Love

The Leader in Me is a program implemented in K12 school systems based on Covey's book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. This program is implemented in most of the schools in my local community with at least one of the schools being categorized as a "Lighthouse" school. A Lighthouse school is, apparently, a school that has reached a certain level of sponsorship and implementation of the this program. 

This book, The Leader in Me, describes how this program started at A.B. Combs Elementary school. Essentially, the principal at A.B. Combs wanted to make the school a magnet school focused on fostering leadership skills. Covey's ideas weren't the only ideas she used but, instead, she pulled from the work of leaders all over the world to build the program. The concepts were interwoven into the culture of the school and results seems to indicate increased teacher satisfaction, improved test scores, and reduced discipline issues. 

I read this book as part of a research project I'm working on so it is hard for me to give a "review" in terms of quality for the general reader. I'd say this is definitely interesting stuff for educators and parents to comb through, but you should also be aware that this isn't the only program out there doing great things in schools. There is actually a lot of controversy surrounding the Leader in Me program especially when it comes to the cost of implementing the program through the official sponsoring organization. 

Overall, the book does a good job describing the program, its roots and how to implement it. The bias is quite obvious so readers definitely need to use critical thinking skills when determining whether this is something to consider for their own school systems. 

RECOMMENDED FOR: K12 educators, parents, and researchers interested in education. Just keep the bias in mind and don't let it blind you.

NOT RECOMMEND FOR: The general public--it isn't a book to read unless you have a specific interest in education. 

3 darts out of 5