"The Mare" by Mary Gaitskill

The Mare by Mary Gaitskill is for the most part, told by Velveteen, an 11-yr.-old girl and Ginger, a young woman who hosted Velveteen for two weeks.  The interaction between these two made this book.  It was not always good and they got to really see the differences between them.  Ginger's horses were also a part of the book that I enjoyed. 

Entertainment Weekly gave this book high praise and they were right!  The ending is fantastic!  They byplay with Velvet's real mom and her was very good too.
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

A Chance To Win--Boyhood, Baseball, and the Struggle for Redemption in the Inner City by Jonathan Schuppe

Gerard gave it 5+ stars, Karen gives it 3 stars

A Chance To Win--Boyhood, Baseball, and the Struggle for Redemption in the Inner City by Jonathan Schuppe is inspirational non-fiction based on the real lives of several people living in the ghetto in Newark, New Jersey.  Rodney, a drug dealer who gets shot, paralyzed from the waist down, winds up in a wheelchair and seeks to make a difference in the lives of others by getting kids to play baseball and get off the streets.  I was surprised that parents didn't mind their kids being coached by an ex-con, but guess since many of the parents were ex-cons too or into drugs.  That was my favorite part of the book, when it was about the coaching and ballgames. 

Unfortunately, that was just a small part of it and most was more about the lives of several of the players and their struggles with their family, particularly their fathers.  It was interesting for the most part, but did not care about the part about the mayor and the city.  I would classify this as an inspirational read because the message is not to ever give up, no matter what the circumstances.  I was somewhat disappointed in the ending and found myself plowing through it near the end.  It felt to me like a news article rather than a novel and didn't end as I hoped so was kind of a let down.

My husband liked it much more than I did.  You can read his review here.
(Karen's review, rating 3 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We received a free copy to review but have not received any compensation. This did not affect our review in any way.

"A Chance To Win: Boyhood, Baseball, and the Struggle for Redemption in the Inner City" by Jonathan Schuppe

A Chance To Win: Boyhood, Baseball, and the Struggle for Redemption in the Inner City by Jonathan Schuppe is not a baseball book. It is a book about life in the inner city. Rodney, an ex-con, is left wheelchair bound after a shooting and decides to coach a little league baseball team to give young boys an outlet in an attempt to keep them from his former life of drugs. Most of the book deals with the people with whom Rodney has every day contact. These people have a rough life to say the least, but they never gave up and the part about the baseball team was enjoyable.  I think you will like this one, I did. I was rooting for the people to get their lives on track.
(Gerard's review, 5+ stars)

Karen did not like it as much as I did.  You can find her review of it here.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We received a free copy to review but have not received any compensation. This did not affect our review in any way.

"The Emergency Teacher" by Christina Asquith

I was disappointed in The Emergency Teacher--the Inspirational Story of a New Teacher in an Inner City School by Christina Asquith.  It’s about a journalist who decides to be an emergency teacher for a year in an inner city school in Philadelphia that has a reputation as a bad school.  The school district was so desperate that it accepted practically anybody—no teaching degree necessary.  Even then, the special Ed class never did get a steady teacher.  This book tells the tragic story about the inequities in education in America.  The author wrote about her own experience in teaching a 6th grade class in a bilingual school.  She soon found out teaching was not as easy as she thought it would be. 

This is not the typical inspirational story about how a teacher goes into a tough class and turns it around, making a difference in their lives.  This one sadly is probably more realistic.  Yes, the teacher tries to teach; yes, she becomes attached to her students and cares about them; and yes, her students come around and like her for the most part.  However, few if any graduate.  It shows more failures than successes.  It started off very slow and I almost gave up on this one but then about halfway through it finally got better.  
(Karen's review)

Here's my teaser.

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