A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America's First All-Black High School Rowing Team

By: Arshay Cooper

Hennepin County Library hardcover 228 pages

Published: 2015

Genre: Memoir

I'm not sure where I first heard about this book, but it was so interesting! Arshay Cooper was growing up on the west side of Chicago in a crime-ridden neighborhood and a broken family.

Page 2: There were no pictures of me from before the age of thirteen; drugs took them. There were no memories of kisses good night or the smell of breakfast in the morning; rock cocaine's to blame. There were no good grades, no junior high sweethearts, no ability to be popular at school, and no sense of belonging, thanks to alcohol abuse. These were not my addictions, but my mother's, and bitterness was stamped on the tablet of my heart.

His writing is so expressive and I'm thankful that the bitterness he mentions here didn't stay with him.

Page 9: The weird thing is that sometimes my siblings will pray, sometimes they won't, but you can always tell one from the other. The sibling who prays always feels good afterward and minds their own business.

I love that his mom's life was changed through her faith and that her children's lives were also changed. His observation about prayer and how it affects his siblings is on point.

Page 25: "I am pretty sure putting a group of black kids from our hood inside a boat to race white people is a setup for disaster."

For some reason, this made me laugh out loud.

Page 38: Hip-hop and R & B are what we breathe, think, and dream. It even controls our decision making at times. If I am listening to Ginuwine, I want to kiss somebody. If it's Do or Die, I'm looking to smoke. Montell Jordan has me ready to sneak out my window to party, and if it's Kirk Franklin, we are praying.

His observations about music and mood are interesting.

 

Page 44: It takes a village to raise a child, and our village is gang members, drug dealers, drug addicts, and prostitutes. It's easy to become a product of this, but I feel like the coaches are using rowing to get us into college and to change our village.

It's amazing to me that children grow up in environments like this. I don't think many make it out of this village intact.

Page 46: "True, it would be gravy to live in a place where you don't have to watch every shadow. I need a life road map or something on how to get here. Nobody in my family has ever gone to college. Teachers try to help, but they're busy breaking up fights and teaching us how to survive."

The adults who came into Arshay's school and life made such an impact on him - through rowing, mentoring, and investing time.

Page 84: Ken was right; it's not all about athletic abilities but work ethic. What you put in is what you get out.

Work ethic! It seems to be from a bygone era.

Page 103: Running up the school stairs comes easy for me these days. Being in shape makes you feel alive and mentally well-balanced.

It's amazing how regular workouts can make a difference. (grin)

Page 109:There is vibrant energy throughout the school, as if one of our teams just won a championship. I notice that when the teachers and staff are excited, the mood of the whole school changes. It's rare to see all the teachers so happy all at once.

 

This makes me think of when I read the book If You Don't Feed the Teachers, They Eat the Students. It basically deals with the importance of good morale for teachers. It makes life better for the students!

 

Page  122: When we get to the car there are apples and fruit bars. I had never eaten anything healthy until I started rowing and it feels great. The healthy food makes me feel light on my feet. My mind is always clear now and I swear I'm less lazy.

The impact of eating healthy was noticeable to Arshay.

Page 135: "How did you get to where you are today?" I want to say church. "Ken, I learned from TV what is missing in my life: a trusted teacher, a father figure, a mentor, friends that are positive and loyal. I decided to seek those missing pieces because they aren't necessarily around me. I joined a team of brothers, I go to church on my own time to hang with positive influences, and I hang around you."

There are a couple of different times where he references the TV shows that truly shaped his attitude toward life. (earlier he said "I really believe that people don't understand how much I learned form watching Family Matters, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and A Different World.")

 

Page 138-9: "When you're in a tunnel you can only go one way. When you're in school, think about school. When you're with Grace, think about Grace. When you're rowing, think about rowing."

"Wow. That helps, because my mind is always all over the place."

 

Poor Arshay! This kind of focus and dedication doesn't come naturally for a teenage boy!

 

Page  145: "Don't ever talk back to the cops," Jeni warns us, "especially as young black men. Don't be intimidated, but be smart and do what they say. You won't win. That's a rule."

This was so hard to think about. A white woman advising these incredible young men about how to stay safe when interacting with police officers.

Page 146: Amidst this chaos on the West Side, I have never sold drugs, punched, shot, or disrespected anyone in any way. I mean, I haven't even broken a plate, and I still had my face pressed down on a police car numerous times. It's not fun when they stick their hands down your pants, looking for drugs. Once, when an officer took my backpack and flipped it upside down and made me pick my books up, I had so much on my mind. I wanted to tell the cop that I recited the preamble to the United States Constitution in front of my whole class with pride. 

When people deny white privilege, I wonder if their white sons have ever had this type of experience. My sons have never had this happen to them.

Page 154: As we walk away, it occurs to me what we've been missing. I think the problem is that we don't talk more about personal goals on the team; we're just going day by day.

 

 It's pretty easy to just go day by day in life.

Page 165: I knew Ken was being criticized for trying to turn us white, but he is just giving us access to something new and trying to diversify the sport. I don't know why the world is so complicated. Now I understand what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. meant when he said, "I just want to do God's will" out of frustration.

The world is complicated and frustrating. 

Page 169: I find myself in the corn fields of Iowa, surrounded by nothing familiar. This state has horror-movie potential. It's dark, and the cabins we drive past are creepy; now I am just waiting to see a scarecrow.

This also made me laugh!

Page 184: The power of speaking the right words to a young person can do something magical. I feel unstoppable.

I love when Marc, the rowing coach, gives Arshay a pep talk and tells him he believes in him.

Page 187: Alvin told me he thinks they both decided to get wealthy just so they had more to give. I admire their choice to live a selfless life because I've grown up around takers all my life.

I love the idea that Ken and Jeni used their wealth to make a difference in the world!

I also love that Arshay Cooper became a writer and a motivational speaker. He has an incredible story to tell.

Sherlock Holmes: Three Tales of Intrigue

By: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Libby audiobook 3 hours

Read by: Edward Hardwicke

Published: approx 1893 (this version 2006)

Genre: detective, mystery

This audiobook included the stories "The Crooked Man," "The Greek Interpreter," and "The Naval Treaty." I had read all three previously, but didn't remember the details.

"The Crooked Man" had Teddy the mongoose, the missing key to the locked room where Barclay died, and the freaked out wife who seems to be the murderer. This one has its roots in India and is an example of serious karma.

"The Greek Interpreter" starts out with Watson learning of Sherlock's brother Mycroft, described as even more observant than Sherlock. They go to the Diogenes Club and discuss nature vs. nurture (but not in those words). The audio on this one was so low in places I couldn't hear what they were saying. Sophie's brother is starved to death, but they are able to rescue the interpreter.

"The Naval Treaty" has a lot of red herrings. Percy "Tadpole" Phelps was two years older than Watson at school. He is now in danger of losing his reputation and his job due to a treaty that has gone missing from his office. He is sick with worry ("brain fever") for nine weeks until he is able to ask Watson to please come to help, and bring Holmes.

Patchwork Quilt Murder

By: Leslie Meier

Libby audiobook 8 hours

Read by: Coleen Marlo

Published: 2024

Genre: Murder mystery

I don't usually blog about books that I don't finish, but I don't want to accidentally get this book (or others by this author) in the future. I was 29% of the way through the book and no one is dead yet. The characters are not especially noteworthy or engaging. Here are my notes:

Darlene

small town gossip

Tim

LOTS of characters

Natalie - busybody

Lucy - reporter

Pam - Tim's mom

weird pronunciations! (The word thermometer sounded like "thermo - meet - er" . . . there were a few others that were just strange.)

 

It was so sad when Libby (the dog) died, but then Lucy is telling someone she was "just a dog." What?! Less than 24 hours after being so sad, she's dismissing the importance of the family pet. Then a little later, she mentions that Libby was her BEST friend. 

 

What year is this set in?! 

 

Weird anachronisms.

 

Basically, I decided not to invest any more time in a book that was bugging me so much. I felt sad for Tim and curious about what he was dealing with, but I didn't care enough to keep reading this.

I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to The Blind Side and Beyond

By: Michael Oher with Don Yaeger

Hennepin County Library paperback 250 pages

Published: 2011

Genre: autobiography

Having read The Blindside (too much football strategy) and watched the movie (Hollywood always takes liberties), I was curious to hear Oher's story from his own perspective. Especially since it was just last year that he sued the Tuohys over some of the financial arrangements regarding his time with them. I'm a bit shocked that they had a legal conservatorship over him well into his professional career.

This book isn't especially well-written, but it was interesting and he definitely "set the record straight" regarding his own determination to break out of poverty. I like that he partially addresses his book to kids in foster care. He has a very challenging personal story but he has an amazing attitude and work ethic.

Page 22: Trouble was the biggest source of entertainment for the kids in my neighborhood. I think it was the favorite of some of the grown-ups, too.

As a teacher, I have definitely seen students who like to create drama and cause trouble. Getting yelled at is getting attention, even if it's negative.

Page 56: There are other people who become foster care parents because of the monthly check they get from the state. That's the part that people don't want to talk about, but, unfortunately, it's very real. There are some terrible people who slip through the cracks when the state is screening applicants to the system.

 

I'm not naive enough to think that everyone who becomes a foster parent does so to make a positive difference in young peoples' lives, but it horrifies me to think of people doing it just for a paycheck!

 

Page  75: It's amazing what regular attendance can do for you. Even if I had pretty much given up on trying to learn much, as I was changing schools so often, I still began to understand better what responsibility was all about and why it was important to show up where you are expected each day.

He did a lot of growing up on his own. Again, I love that he is trying to advise youngsters to make good choices in life. A big one is simply showing up.

Page 77: I carried that memory of Ms. Logan with me for years because she made me believe that I had a talent worth developing and the ability to see it through.

I love stories about teachers who made a difference! Ms. Verlene Logan was his fourth grade teacher at Gordon Elementary. She made an impression on Oher.

Page 125: I think that a lot of times students who come from rough backgrounds struggle to learn because they are afraid to embarrass themselves by asking questions about what they don't understand.

It seems as though one of the worst aspects of the movie's impact on Mr. Oher's life was the perception that he was stupid. No one likes to feel dumb! But if millions of people watch a movie which portrays you a certain way that you don't agree with, there's not much you can do about it. I'm glad he wrote this book about his life and I'm glad I've read it.

Page 139: I also got the sense that they seemed to understand what I was trying to do, but that I just didn't have the tools - or even know what the tools were - that I needed to get there. I wasn't dumb and I wasn't lazy. I was lost and hurt and I wanted to work hard but hardly knew where to start because ambition just wasn't anything I'd ever really seen modeled in my life.

 

Page 150: One thing I definitely understood, though, was how the game worked. In the movie The Blind Side, you see S.J. teaching me different plays using ketchup bottles and spices. I know stuff like that makes for a good story on screen, but in reality, I already knew the game of football inside and out.

Page 153: There is a right way and a wrong way to act in different settings. It is so important to have a basic working understanding of etiquette.

Yes! As people discuss whether or not we should teach money management, cursive handwriting, and other topics in schools nowadays, I think a basic etiquette course is more needed than ever!

Page 202: Who would want to write a book about my life? . . . .Besides, I was starting college, so I had a lot more pressing things on my mind.

How ironic! A LOT of people have read about this man! But as an 18 year old going off to college, this must have seemed absurd. Again, when I read the book I remember thinking it was much too football detail - no thanks. It's Mr. Oher's story that holds sway.

Page 204: It turns out that football fans weren't the only people reading the book. Most people weren't excited about the ins and outs of the left and right tackle positions; they were connecting with the human side of the story.

So true! His story is much more compelling than all the football stuff.

Page 223: In neighborhoods like the one I grew up in, it can be hard to find people who behave responsibly, hold down a solid job, support their families, and generally live lives they can be proud of. I really can't explain to someone who hasn't lived in poverty what it's like to struggle to find some kind of hope.

It makes sense that no matter how empathetic someone might be, it can be hard for them to truly understand another's mentality in a radically different environment.

Page 224: Make the decision today to commit yourself to something better. It's going to take work and it's going to be tough at times, but you've already taken the first step by thinking about wanting something different.

He has lots of good advice for young people.

Page 228: The people you choose to hang out with are going to have a huge impact on the choices you make and the person you end up becoming. If you hang around with people who are always negative, you're going to start acting that way, too, because it will just seem normal.

His final chapter is titled "Ways to Get Involved" and deals with some of the organizations and programs that help young people in the foster care system. I love the tone of this book and the observations Mr. Oher makes. Even his acknowledgements were fun to read.

One Church Many Tribes: Following Jesus the Way God Made You

By: Richard Twiss

Hennepin County Library paperback 213 pages plus appendix, notes, etc.

Published: 2000

Genre: Non-fiction Christianity

This book is five days overdue because I've had too many books to read at once! I've just finished it and need to get to the library. I was curious enough to look up the author. He died in 2013 at age 58. That makes me so sad. He was born on the Rosebud Reservation and actively worked to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with other First Nations People. 

Page 37: It is said that those who win the wars get to write the history books. Most recorded history is actually a very subjective accounting of past events. People with pen and paper sit down and attempt to accurately and ethically describe their perceptions of events they have seen, heard about and researched - a far cry from any guarantee of accuracy.

I'm no history buff, but I understand that there are different perspectives. I am trying to read from multiple POV to better understand what has happened in the past.

Page 38: Yet as a fellow believer in Christ, please allow me to challenge your assumptions about nationalism, patriotism, and Christian love. 

I love this! There is not just one "right" way to follow Jesus Christ. Or to be patriotic.

Page 39 has a long list of the statistics about Native people in Canada and the United States. It's heart breaking to think that a population of 10 to 12 million (pre-Columbus / conservative estimate) people became "By 1900 only 237,000 Native people were left in the United States." This entire page is just filled with sorrow for me.

Page 54: We all see and experience life and the kingdom of heaven differently. Our ethnic cultures as well as our experiences heavily influence how we perceive, define and interpret the world around us. Our worldviews are filters and lenses through which we see and focus, or take in, our world. Then, after our experiences have been filtered, we project our interpretations onto the world as though what we define to be normal, rational social behaviors are the only acceptable behaviors - for ourselves and everyone else. 

 

Ouch. It's too easy to have our own perspective feel as though it is the best perspective. Lord, please help me to listen and learn.

 

Page 81: I asked if they had ever heard anyone teach that their cultural expressions could be used to praise and worship Jesus Christ. Some of the family members had been Christians for 20-plus years, but they answered, "Never."

It's kind of amazing that any Native peoples became believers if they were told that their cultural identity was demonic. How glad I am for Twiss' ministry and for other Native believers like him!

Page 91: As I mentioned, the Navajo have a word or concept called Hozho, which roughly means "walking in beauty" or "walking in harmony." The Navajo believe harmony is the perfect way to live in this world. When things go wrong - sickness, disasters, communication of human problems - it is because someone is out of harmony and no longer walking in beauty.

I wish I could hear what words like "hozho" sound like. I listened to some Native music (after a portion later in this book where he talked about Johnathan Maracle and Broken Walls.)

Page 95: Instead of dividing our lives into sacred / spiritual and secular / natural compartments, as Christians we would all benefit by seeing our faith as central to everything we do. . . . We are spiritual beings living in this physical world.

I can't think of the Scripture right now that encapsulates this idea, but it makes so much more sense than having our faith be separate from everything else.

Page 98: A word to describe one of the major qualities of time among the Indians is "appropriateness." An event begins when it is appropriate. Most Indian languages do not even have words to designate time. In Western cultures, however, time is regarded as a commodity. Americans sell it, buy it, borrow it, waste it, kill it, make it up, take it, and, if we run afoul of the law, do it.

As a fairly time-obsessed person, I see myself in this statement. It's a hard habit to break, being cognizant of the calendar and the clock!

Page 101: Our greatest strength as the Body of Christ lies in the fact that though we are different individuals, we are one in Him. We must regain what Natives have never lost: the understanding that our togetherness is more important than our individuality, that we are members one with another.

Honestly, I don't see that changing in America. Individuality seems to be our priority. Selfishness reigns.

Page 107: Native children by and large are not "disciplined," however - at least not in the Anglo-evangelical sense of the word. One characteristic of child raising that has not changed much among most tribes is the almost complete freedom given to children. Love and affection are lavished upon the young, and they are allowed to run in an unruly and undisciplined manner.

This made me think of working at the Akina camp this summer! He went on to explain how children are raised and trained. It was very interesting. And a bit contrary to my parenting approach!

Page 158 mentioned a young Native man sitting in a church pew. His name was Moses. "He explained to me that he knew if he made a commitment to Jesus Christ it would mean he would have to stop hating White people and learn to love them." I immediately thought of the character Mose in William Kent Krueger's This Tender Land. This church pew scene is the opening of the chapter "A World in Need of Healing." 

Page 163: Reconciliation is the healing and restoring of divided or broken relationships. It is only in the fertile seedbed of repentance that true reconciliation can find life. Biblical repentance is always a turning away from a former way and turning to God, authenticated by actions.

Repentance and reconciliation are things I've not thought about much lately. I haven't been very good about confession in my own prayer life, either. 

Page 167: Jesus didn't tell us that to practice a truth we have to understand it intellectually first. He didn't tell us to understand his word and then do it. He said do my Word (see John 14:23; Jas. 1:22). I've found that understanding often comes as the result of doing, not the reverse.

God's Word has the answers for us!

Page 175: As the family of God, we are being called to bring healing to these divisions among cultures and people groups and to demonstrate to the world a power and grace to walk with one another in true honor and respect, declaring that there is a better way - the Jesus Way.

Bringing healing sounds good to me!

Page 177: Today the former military post in present-day Spokane is named in his honor - Fort Wright.

How horrific! Twiss has just written about a delegation of Indians flying a white flag of truce, coming to the fort to discuss a peaceful resolution (at Wright's request) and being immediately gathered up and hung. And after becoming known as the "hanging general," he is honored with the naming of the fort?!?! That is messed up!

Page 177: The U.S. government broke more than 98 percent of all the hundreds of treaties - signed and ratified by Congress - made with the sovereign First Nations of North America.

Twiss goes on to talk about God's covenants, which he always kept. A treaty or covenant should be an unbreakable promise. But our history as white people in dealing with the First Nations is horrific.

Page 185: Few will disagree that America is struggling spiritually. With violence in the schools, increased social dysfunction, economic concerns, decreasing church attendance, shrinking financial giving and political animosity, one must wonder about the apparent loss of spiritual power and influence of the Church in this land.

Knowing that he wrote this 24 years ago . . . and he has since passed away, I wonder what he would think of America now. It can be disheartening to think about. But Praise God! He is able to do what we cannot do!

Page 211: We represented Wesleyan, Baptist, Nazarene, charismatic and Pentecostal traditions. Various tribal backgrounds were also represented, including Mohawk, Lakota, Cherokee, Dakota, Wyendot and Navajo. Reaching lost people with the good news was the vision and purpose that drew us together, rather than lifting up culture, denomination or religious traditions.

I'm glad I read this book. It gave me a lot of food for thought. God is good.

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Sherlock Holmes: Three Tales of Avarice

 By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Libby audiobook 3 hours

read by Edward Hardwicke

Published: 2006 (this version)

Genre: Detective Mystery

This audio contained "The Adventure of the Priory School," "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League," and "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle."I had read the latter two stories before. Hardwicke does an excellent job vocalizing these stories.

 

The Priory School story was weird. A baron's son has been kidnapped from his boarding school. The school master is super upset but dad wants to keep everything low key. Bicycle clues, a dead teacher, and the spoiled illegitimate son make this an unpleasant story.

"Red Headed League" was fun. I vaguely remembered the story but forgot about the bank robbery attempt. It would be maddening to try to work with Holmes when he has intel / insights that he doesn't share!

I didn't remember the "Blue Carbuncle" from the title, but I immediately recognized it from the goose! I like Holmes' deductions from the hat and the trail he traced to find where the goose had been. (Yes, I thought about "wild goose chases.") 

 

How does a precious stone get called a "carbuncle" - that sounds like a barnacle! I like that Holmes refers to it as a "forty grain weight of crystallized charcoal." He refers to its "sinister history" and recounts the crimes and deaths connected to it. (Top dictionary.com result for "carbuncle" is "A group of pus-filled bumps forming a connected area of infection under the skin.")

Cleopatra (Reading Log)

 By: ???

Chaska East Middle School, 120 pages

I read this and made notes in my Reading Log in October 2006

Story of Cleopatra's life and achievements. (Borrowed from East for a student's research.)

My response: Fascinating. I like how the authors point out that most of the info we have on her was written by her enemies. . .

This brief entry makes me curious to find and re-read the book!

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (Reading Log)

By: Gary D. Schmidt

Book on CD / Carver Cty lib / 6:49 hours

Read by: Freed, Sam - reader - wow! He really brings the story & characters to life

Published: 2004

Genre: YA Historical fiction

I had this on my reading record from December 2006.

Summary:  Turner Buckminster didn't want to come to Phippsburg, Maine. Right away, he is set apart and ridiculed. Constantly being told to act like a proper minister's boy, Turner is miserable until he makes friends with Lizzie Bright Griffin, the granddaughter of a black minister on Malaga Island. The townspeople want to get rid of the poor residents of Malaga Island so they can develop a profitable tourist trade to replace their dying boat-making trade.

My reaction: Sad, sad story. It made me even more sad to find out that it's based on a true story. I had such a strong visceral reaction to this book. I listened to it on CD in my car. It was SO powerful! I want to own a copy of this story. The character development was sublime. This book should have won the Newbery instead of Kira-Kira!!!

That was eighteen years ago! I recently re-read it on my phone using the Libby app. <Below added 11.02.2024.>

This is definitely the best of Gary D. Schmidt's books, followed by The Wednesday Wars. This is beautifully written. It's also painful! From the early scene where Turner goes to play baseball and learns that they pitch softball style to the burning of Malaga Island, there are so many cringe scenes. I loved Mrs. Cobb (not at first, but as her character warmed to Turner and then to Lizzie). The way Mr. Stonecrop communicated and conducted his life was so awful. Turner is a delightful protagonist. Lizzie is amazing.

The Author's Note and the Afterword are fascinating and moving. This is a magnificent book.

Rez Life

By: David Treuer

Libby eBook 6 chapters and lots of extras

Published: 2012

Genre: Memoir, history, non-fiction First People

This was amazing and took me a long time to read. Along with One Thousand White Women (fiction) and another book I recently started, I feel as though I'm gaining some understanding outside of my (privileged) white life.

Introduction: Reservations and the Indians on them are not simply victims of the white juggernaut. And what one finds on reservations is more than scars, tears, blood, and noble sentiment. There is beauty in Indian life, as well as meaning and a long history of interaction.

I liked how he wrote - straightforward and honest. As a white person, I didn't feel judged but reading this was hard at times.

Introduction: After breakfast we drove back up to my grandmother's trailer and I asked her if there was anything I could do. There's always something to do. That's one nice thing about Indian funerals whether Catholic, traditional, or a mixture of both. There's always something - gathering sage, cooking, digging the grave, getting tar paper to cover the mound of dirt until a gravehouse can be built, building the rough box, carving and shaping the clan marker, getting drunk. I actually like digging the grave. It's mindless and communal.

It's so true that there's always something to do when someone has died. I like that the author and his family all made themselves available to grandmother when grandfather died.

Chapter 1: "Could it not be contrived to send the small pox among the disaffected tribes of Indians? We must on this occasion use every stratagem in our power to reduce them." Colonel Bouquet agreed heartily: " I will try to inoculate the bastards with some blankets that may fall into their hands, and take care not to get the disease myself."

General Amherst and Colonel Bouquet (British) wrote letters during the siege of Fort Pitt in 1763. The attempt at biological warfare is well documented. Sometimes I'd prefer to be ignorant of this evil, but I know it's important to understand history so we don't repeat the horrors.

Chapter 1: A local militia, later known as Paxton's Boys, grabbed weapons and attacked a peaceful village of Christian Susquehannock farmers, killing six of them. The rest fled to Philadelphia . . . "

I'm sure the men who formed this group said they were just defending themselves, but they were clearly attacking. There are people nowadays who spew violent rhetoric and claim they're just protecting themselves and their families. Against what?

Chapter 1: The Delaware were betrayed almost immediately. White Eyes, one of the Delaware chiefs who signed the treaty and who was one of the staunchest supporters of the United States, was murdered by his allies within a month; his death was covered up and officially attributed to smallpox.

All of the broken treaties broke my heart. It makes me think of scammers committing elder abuse but on a much larger scale. It's horrific to think about how much land and natural resources were stolen from First Nation people over the centuries. Greed is ugly.

Chapter 1: . . . the U.S. government made treaties with Indians for two main reasons. First, the United States had to make treaties, because Indian tribes were powerful. They had command of routes of travel, many warriors, and plenty of resources when the United States had very little of any of these. The second reason was cynical: paper was cheaper than bullets. Despite the power of Indian tribes, it was often the case that the United States had no intention of honoring the treaties it made. Treaties were a way to reduce the power of tribes.

Sigh. Again, greed is powerful and nasty.

Chapter 1: The early to mid-nineteenth century was dark for Indian tribes. White encroachment continued.

Reading this made me wonder how this era in history is taught nowadays. Do kids ever hear the Native population's perspective on what was happening?

Chapter 1: As of today, on Leech Lake, like many other reservations, the tribe owns roughly 4 percent of the land within the reservation boundaries. The rest of the land is divided among county, state, federal, corporate, and private owners.

This made me look up the boundaries of the White Earth reservation. Our lake place is smack within those lines. What does that mean for me? Why is this privately held land? My sister-in-law lives on Leech Lake. How many of us "own" land that should belong to someone else? I have a lot more learning to do!

Chapter 2: Its primary architects were John Collier and Felix Cohen. When the borderline socialist Collier was appointed commissioner of Indian Affairs by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933, things began to change, if only temporarily, for Indians.

<Later in the chapter:>

"We find the Indians, in all the basic forces and forms of life, human beings like ourselves. . . . Just as we yearn to live out our own lives in our own ways, so, too, do the Indians, in their ways."

 

Treuer was writing about the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934. It was also known as the Wheeler-Howard Act. There was a lot more to this section, but I wanted to note it here. I'm trying to get caught up on all my reading and blogging, but I'm curious to know more about Collier.

Chapter 2: "Save a Walleye . . . Spear an Indian" became the rallying cry for the many non-Indians who gathered at boat landings to protest against Indians' fishing rights. Indians in Wisconsin were subjected to almost continuous harassment.

Wow. I understand being passionate about your stance, but there's no excuse to abuse others. I could picture the adults who screamed epithets at little Ruby Bridges as she went to school. People can be pretty awful.

Chapter 2: The Mille Lacs - enduring, patient, and stubborn - sued the state of Minnesota.

I'm glad they won in 1990, but I wish it didn't take lawsuits to respect people's legal rights to hunt and fish. I wonder if some of the people fighting the band's rights were jealous.

Chapter 3: "It was a powerful thing. That's how it happened: that's how the reservations broke the BIA, not the other way around. It happened in bits and pieces. Some of it was the civil rights movement. Some of it was a side effect of boarding schools. All those Indians who got sent to boarding schools were supposed to be whitewashed there, but it didn't always happen like that. A lot of them went back to their reservations and they had skills - as carpenters and accountants and farmers. And a lot of the vets from World War II came back. They knew how to operate heavy machinery. They knew how to organize. And all of this combined with Native grit. It changed things."

My father hastened to add: "It sure as shit wasn't AIM that did it. AIM was too polarized and too explosive to build anything. They couldn't build power lines or consensus or community. They just used people. They were all a bunch of Al Sharptons. And you can quote me on that. Make sure that gets in there."

I love when he interviews people and they tell it the way they see it.

Chapter 3: The White Earth Land Settlement Act (WELSA) was passed in 1986 extinguishing the White Earth land claims by retroactively approving the illegal land transfers. In exchange, WELSA provided that the allottees or their heirs would be compensated financially. 

Another topic for me to research more thoroughly at a later date.

Chapter 3: He looked at us and looked at his assistant and said to him, "Do something about this, will you?"

I love this! Some men from the tribe approached Hubert Humphrey and told him they applied for CAP money but were told they were too poor to qualify. After this scene in his office, their application was approved. I liked that Humphrey!

Chapter 3: He wrote hundreds of letters to local, regional, and national political figures. Each letter contained a statement about the radio broadcasts and a transcript of Kohl's editorial. And each and every envelope was hand-addressed by Jourdain himself in his neat boarding-school script.

This whole section is so good! I loved the outcome.

Chapter 3: And though to an outsider it might matter little or seem like one small click of the wheel of social justice, it was the first time anyone could remember white people publicly apologizing to Indians not because they wanted to (well-meaning liberals have been apologizing to Indians for close to 500 years) but because they had to.

 

When people work together, they can make their collective voice heard.

 

Chapter 3: A cynic might say that after doing away with the corruption, mismanagement, and paternalism of the BIA and government agents, tribes took on the job themselves. . . . despite the design flaws of tribal governmental power on the part of federal and tribal leaders, tribes have managed to grow. With them, tribal courts have also grown.

The author doesn't shy away from writing about the times and ways Indian leadership has been corrupt or ineffective. But he shines a light on the struggle and the positives as well as what hasn't gone right over the last five hundred years.

Chapter 3: We're keeping politics out of government. We're striving for fairness for our own people.

I hope that this continues!

Chapter 4: Then a new Indian counselor showed up at the school: Sean Fahrlander.

The stories and language in this chapter were intense! But I love that the author and some of his peers were powerfully impacted by an Indian man in a leadership position at school. Kids can benefit so much by having adults with whom they can identify.

Chapter 4: George Copway, another earlier chronicler of Indian history, wrote about his own parenting.

This is another person I'd like to learn more about.

Chapter 4: In Beltrami County one in four children lives in poverty; this is the highest rate in the state. At Red Lake, 47 percent of children live in poverty.

As Treuer went on with some of these statistics, I was overwhelmed on behalf of these young people growing up poor and struggling in school. Actually, I think I tagged this initially because one in four is 25%. He says that's the lowest in the state and then goes on to say that 47% in Red Lake are in poverty. I kind of want to ask him to explain himself. The math doesn't make sense. Also, what's the solution for these children?

 

Chapter 5: . . . the U.S. government all came into conflict with one other over the pleached issues of control and power.

 

Again, reading the entire sentence aloud almost made my head hurt. What? Do you mean "with one another" or . . . ? And yes, I love learning new words. What is "pleached" ? . . . "Pleaching or plashing is a technique of interweaving living and dead branches through a hedge creating a fence, hedge or lattices." (from Wikipedia)

 

Chapter 5:  In my opinion, everyone should. Send your dollars to Helen (Bryan) Johnson, 60876 County Road 149, Squaw Lake, MN, 56681.

 

The story of Helen Bryan standing up for herself and the ruling in her case benefiting so many people made me smile. She reportedly said, "if we did so much maybe if every Indian in Minnesota sent us a dollar, we'd be rich!" I'm not an Indian, but I'm tempted to send her money.  

 

Chapter 5: Some say this isn't fair - some Indians get rich while others still don't have a pot to piss in. But in this, Indian country mirrors America nicely: a shrinking middle class, a large underclass, and an elite that controls most of the wealth. So while they may be eating Kobe beef in Mdewakanton and Palm Springs, on most Indian reservations, even those with casinos, they are not. Some reservations have made just enough to provide some employment, pave some roads, build new government offices and new schools - enough to edge toward the middle class. This in itself is a huge accomplishment.

 

Fairness isn't the point, but I like the comparison between Indians and the rest of the country - a few rich, a shrinking middle class, and a large group of people. We're all in this together.

 

Chapter 6: But governments really aren't spiteful just to be spiteful. They are like animals - they do what they do out of self-interest. And for many years, Indians were a threat - a constant, powerful, very real, very physical threat - to American imperial expansion.

 

Interesting perspective. Government as an animal.

 

Chapter 6:  But as bad as the U.S. government has been in its treatment of Indians, sometimes Indians are as bad or even worse to one another. . . . Indians have rules, based on genetics and "blood quantum," that determine whether or not someone is officially an Indian.

Again, I appreciate that the author identifies that sometimes Indians themselves cause difficulties for their community.

Chapter 6: The stunning fact of life for many reservations is that there are more white people living there than Indian people.

Again, I learned a lot reading this book.

Eulogies: Finally, in anger and spite, he picked up every single dog he could coax into the convertible, took down the top, and drove slow circles around the village, singing Johnny Cash so loudly the dogs howled along with him.

The "eulogies" section was filled with stories of people Treuer knew and loved. This story is about "Bumsy," who got drunk and drove around Bena. These stories made me feel as though I knew these people.

Author's Note: Like reservations themselves, this book is a hybrid. It has elements of journalism, history, and memoir. As such it is meant to be suggestive rather than exhaustive.

I like the way Treuer communicates. This was an interesting and thought provoking book.

 

 

Closed Casket

By: Sophie Hannah

Libby audiobook 9ish hours

Published: 2015

Genre: murder mystery, Hercule Poirot

I need to stop getting "Agatha Christie" books that weren't written by her! Sophie Hannah was pretty true to Christie's style, but I much prefer actual Christie books.

Wikipedia summary: "Lady Athelinda Playford, the author of a popular series of children's mystery novels, summons her children, lawyers, Hercule Poirot, and Scotland Yard detective Edward Catchpool to her home, Lillieoak, in Clonakilty, Ireland. At dinner, she announces a shocking change to her will. She has disinherited her son Harry and daughter Claudia in favor of her charismatic secretary, Joseph Scotcher, who is terminally ill and has only weeks to live. She intends to take Joseph to her own doctor and make all efforts necessary to save his life. Harry's wife Dorro lashes out, while Claudia and her fiance, Dr. Randall Kimpton, are disdainful. Joseph is alarmed by the change to the will but spontaneously proposes marriage to his nurse, Sophie Bourlet."

 

There were plenty of clues, misdirection, etc. Poirot is of course the hero of the day when he solves the mystery. It was okay, but I kind of wanted Bridgette the cook to be the killer. I'm not sure why the story was told from Catchpool's POV. It was almost like he was Poirot's Watson. I think lawyer Michael Gathercole was my favorite character.

Until Leaves Fall in Paris

By: Sarah Sundin

Dakota County Library paperback 371 pages

Published: 2022

Genre: Christian historical fiction

The start of WWII in Paris. Lucie has been dancing with the Paris ballet, but takes over Green Leaf Books for her Jewish friends the Rosenblatts when they need to return to America. Paul Aubrey is running his dad's Paris factory for Aubrey Motors but has to work with the Germans. Paul's daughter Josie is four. His wife is dead.

Page 22: But words niggled in his brain, his father's words. "Nothing of any worth lies on the easy path."

Paul Aubrey wanted to leave Paris but was asked to stay and pass on info. As he struggles with wanting to bring Josie home or to serve as an intermediary, thoughts of his dad help guide him. I liked how Paul's dad had a presence in the story even though he was not really "in" the story until the very end!

Page 108: She matched his posture, leaning against the wall on the far side of the doorway. "Not everything God created is useful, but it's all good. He didn't have to create beauty, but he did. He didn't have to create color, but he did. He didn't have to create music, but he did. None of it useful. Then he created us in his creative image with the ability to make beauty and color and music. It might not be useful, but it's good."

Lucie is responding to Paul's earlier comment, "Isn't that typical of you artists? No gift that actually makes money is good." There were a lot of contrasts between the two of them. I like how the author made connections and tied it to God.

Page 135: Mr. Pendleton lifted a bit of a smile. "I'll explain this simple truth. If I were to ban sinners from this church, the pews would be empty. So would the pulpit."

 

Mr. Pendleton rocked! I love when he preached from the pulpit to his congregation who had been shunning Paul and his daughter, thinking Paul was a Nazi collaborator. Scripture says ALL have sinned and fall short of God's glory. Preach it!

Page 229: With the store empty, Lucie arranged the yellow linden leaves among the orange plane leaves and the chestnut leaves, her favorite. Each of the seven rounded lobules changed from green in the center to yellow to orange to brown on the serrated edges. 

Soon all the leaves would be brown, but that would be attractive too.

 

The leaf imagery saturated this book, but I liked it. The symbolism of a leaf having a darker side and a lighter side, the beauty of the leaves, the name of the bookstore, . . . this was well written.

Page 237: Her face took on a dreamy look. 'Art and engineering working together."

Form and function. Designing the Aurabesque. I would have loved to have seen drawings of this imaginary vehicle.

Page 294: But fretting had never once solved a problem. 

When Lucie and Josie separated from Paul after leaving Paris, she is so worried about him. I love that she reminds herself that worrying won't solve the problem.

Page 324 - giving thanks for each thing.

I thought about putting an image of this page here, but let me just say that I loved praising and thanking God even in dire circumstances. That's what Scripture tells us to do. I liked this story a lot and enjoyed the discussion at book club. I would gladly read more of this author's books.

Murder at Mallowan Hall

By: Colleen Cambridge

Libby audiobook 9 hours

Read by: Jennifer M. Dixon

Published: 2021

Genre: mystery

 

I need to start with what I liked: the era / setting, some of the characters, the mystery aspect.

 

Here's what bugged me:

 

1.  It irritates me when I look for an Agatha Christie audiobook and I get a result like this. I've read one other like this (about Agatha Christie's mysterious disappearance in 1926), but can't find my blog entry. I thought I'd give this book a try, but it's no Christie book!
2. Phyllida Bright is not a very inspiring protagonist. She is an amateur detective who trash talks the actual law enforcement. And she doesn't like dogs!!!
3. When she got to her denouement, it just went on and on and on. I was like some of the characters, asking if it was almost over yet. (I wrote "make it end!" on my note sheet in my car.)
   
4. The author goes out of her way to make the point that illicit homosexual intimate photos are nothing untoward and it's sad that society doesn't see things that way. Why make the photos a central plot point, then? 

 

I liked Bradford the chauffeur a lot, though I was certain he was going to turn out to be an undercover officer. No such luck. I liked his surliness and the black puppy he brought in at the end! 

Summary from Libby and Google Books:

"Tucked away among Devon’s rolling green hills, Mallowan Hall combines the best of English tradition with the modern conveniences of 1930. Housekeeper Phyllida Bright manages the large household with an iron fist in her very elegant glove. In one respect, however, Mallowan Hall stands far apart from other picturesque country houses. For the manor is home to archaeologist Max Mallowan and his famous wife—Agatha Christie…

Phyllida is both loyal to and protective of the crime writer, who is as much friend as employer. An aficionado of detective fiction, Phyllida has yet to find a gentleman in real life half as fascinating as Mrs. Agatha’s Belgian hero, Hercule Poirot. But though accustomed to murder and its methods as frequent topics of conversation, Phyllida is unprepared for the sight of a very real, very dead body on the library floor…

It soon becomes clear that the victim arrived at Mallowan Hall under false pretenses during a weekend party. And when another dead body is discovered—this time, one of her housemaids—Phyllida decides to follow in M. Poirot’s footsteps to determine which of the Mallowans’ guests is the killer. Now only Phyllida’s wits will prevent her own story from coming to an abrupt end…"

The Mystery of the Locked Rooms

By: Lindsay Currie

Libby audiobook 6 hours

Read by: Eleanor McCormick

Published: 2024

Genre: Children's / YA mystery, adventure

Cute little story about three friends who like to solve escape room puzzles. Sarah's family is in danger of losing their home and having to move away to live with grandparents when she and her friends West and Hannah (the Deltas) come up with a plan.

From the author's website:

"Sarah feels helpless until the day Hannah mentions a treasure rumored to be hidden in the walls of an abandoned funhouse. According to legend, Hans, Stefan, and Karl Stein were orphaned at eight years old and lived with different families until they were able to reunite as adults. Their dream was to build the most epic funhouse in existence. They wanted their experience to be more than mirror mazes and optical illusions, so they not only created elaborate riddles and secret passages, but they also claimed to have hidden a treasure inside the funhouse. 

​

Once in, Sarah, West, and Hannah realize the house is unlike any escape room they've attempted. There are challenges, yes, but they feel personal. Like the triplets knew who would get in. It seems impossible, but so does everything about the house. As soon as they're in she immediately worries that attempting the funhouse is a bad idea but Sarah has no choice but to continue, since her future is at stake."

 

I liked the clues, puzzles, etc. I liked that the three friends had a close relationship. I was irritated by the exaggerated sense of danger and the unrealistic outcome. Wonderful title for sixth graders!

One Summer in Savannah

By: Terah Shelton Harris

Libby eBook  ?  chapters / Scott County Library hardcover 437 plus extras

Published: 2023

Genre: realistic fiction (Libby calls it "African American fiction" . . . )

 

I waited a long time to get this, read a bunch of chapters and couldn't renew it, waited a long time, . . . finally got it in print. Sometimes I just have too many books going on at a time! A friend recommended this as a community read book (in early spring!) and it has a lot of readers! I requested a print copy so I finally was able to finish it. The chapters are told from Sara's and Jacob's POV. Spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk!

Sara was raped by Jacob's twin brother Daniel as an 18 year old. Daniel's wealthy and connected mother was awful to Sara during the trial, accusing her of lying and trying to ruin Daniel's life. Sara moved to Maine when she learned she was pregnant, not wanting the Wyler family to try to take her baby away or make her life any more difficult. Loving little Alana isn't easy at first (due to how she came to be) but Sara falls in love with her daughter and is determined to protect her. When Sara's dad becomes gravely ill, Sara returns to Savannah, Georgia to be with him. Jacob, who defended her at the trial, has also returned home from working far away. His brother has cancer and needs a bone marrow transplant. (I keep forgetting that Jacob was originally David . . . his name change had to do with distancing himself from what happened when he and Daniel were eighteen. I think.)

On her opening page, she has two quotations:

"Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could be any different." - Oprah Winfrey

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." - Mahatma Gandhi

The author wrote this book to be about forgiveness. I think this is a wonderful way to set the tone. In her Author's Note at the start of the book, she writes:

"If you find pieces of yourself in parts of Sara's story, please feel free to step away and come back when you feel comfortable; that's okay. If you choose not to return, that's okay, too. More than anything, I want you to be safe."

I don't think I've ever seen a message like that from an author. This new author is someone to watch! Also in her Author's Note, she writes:

"Forgiveness can be a powerful tool. It can loosen the knots we often tie ourselves. It can bandage up wounds, large and small. It can heal traumas, visible and invisible. But withholding forgiveness can also cause more harm than good. It can tighten its grip on you and keep you bound to the person who hurt you."

 

Because I read this book over several months (Libby ebook and physical print book), and the chapters are not numbered but just say "Sara" or "Jacob," these comments may not be in order! 

Sara: "That's the thing with Maine: Don't like the weather? Wait five minutes."

I thought that was a Minnesota thing! I wonder if people in all fifty states have that sense of the weather's changeability.

Sara: "I acknowledge the smothering grip I maintain on Alana. Being a mother is a lesson in impossible love."

 

 Love can show itself in many forms, but a mother's love for her child is powerful and unique!

 

Sara: "I was nine years old when my father started incorporating poetry into his speech. He finds peace in poetry, spending hours every day studying the artistry of it in all its forms, styles, and rhetoric. It beings a fresh sense of life to communicating, he once told me when he still spoke in prose. After my mother died in a car accident when I was five, words became difficult for him, and he spoke less and less. Eventually, other people's words became his way entirely."

 

I would not be as sanguine as Sara if my father only spoke to me in poetry. She is good at figuring out his intent, but it's not the most direct way to communicate. And how did he run the bookstore business without speaking in a clear, straightforward manner to vendors, customers, and employees?

 

Sara: "Remember this, I think. Remember him as he is now. The crescent dimple between his brows. The tenor of his voice. The love in his dark-brown eyes."

 

I have specific moments (mostly with my mom) that I remember all the more clearly because I knew that she would soon be gone.  I loved holding hands with her toward the end of her life. Sara is trying to hold on to the best of her father before he dies.

 

Jacob:  I learned that poems are as much about facts as anything else in the world.

 

It was very interesting that Jacob was a scientist (astrophysicist?) and yet was drawn to poetry, first by Sara's father, then by Sara. He was my favorite character in this book.

Jacob: They say the truth hurts. This truth knifes my heart and bleeds for my family, for Sara and Alana. One mistake. How one bad decision can alter the course of so many lives. Set us all on a course we never planned or imagined. But no matter how painful this truth is, it needs to be free.

This sadness comes on the heels of Jacob getting Daniel to admit that he raped Sara and didn't stop his mom from skewering her in court. I can't imagine the tension of both loving your sibling and hating what they've done.

Sara: (Sylvia) "Let's leave it alone and be grateful. Sometimes we don't need to question everything. We just need to let it be."

Sylvia was a pretty fantastic character, too! I'm so glad she was loving, calm, and wise. She was good for Sara and Sara's dad. Sara had been asking her about the Wyler money helping her dad's bookstore. She wanted answers. (I can relate!)

Sara: Forgiveness, I've learned, is like a door. You can open yourself up to it or close yourself off from it at any time. We can't rewrite history or change the outcome. Life is a series of choices. And we live in and with those choices we make.

This is part of an ending I didn't anticipate! Alana is the hero in this end scene in the hospital. I wish I'd read this in a timely fashion and had gotten into a book club discussion about it!