Going

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home
$14.00
As Rhoda's cousin, I am not in the best position to be an objective reviewer, but I can verify that she absolutely nailed what it means to be raised in the Mennonite Brethern church community circa 1970's. While reading it I both howled in laughter and had to put it aside for a few moments to cry it out. It was a cathartic and therapeutic read.

This narrative is authentically Rhoda's. Although it's been years since I've seen or talked with her, I would instantly recognize her even if she wrote under a pen name. Likewise, her portraits of her family were spot-on, even though it was a bit confusing for me at first to figure out who was who, as she changed the names and a few identifying details to protect the privacy of all but her mother--who, by the way, is my own mother's sister--and shares many traits in common with her. How refreshing to benefit from Rhoda's knack of articulating what it meant to be the daughter of a Loewen sister: all of those cringe-worthy traits that from an adult perspective turn into something honorable and loveable. Even though Rhoda's story is uniquely hers, I felt that in respect to her childhood she was speaking on behalf of so many of us who shared a similar upbringing, and as an adult trying to come to terms with the faith of our fathers, she was describing my own agonizing journey. It is brilliantly rendered.

Although this book is nakedly truthful, there were a few details that made me raise my eyebrows. For example, she refers to her mother as one of seventeen siblings, when in fact she is ninth of ten siblings, unless you count those who didn't survive infancy, of which I have always understood there were three. In another spot, Rhoda refers to her mother as having five older sisters, whereas she has six.

However, errant details like these seem trifling in light of the killing accuracy with which she relates stories from our family's legendary origins in the Ukraine, the harrowing journey across the Atlantic, and the accounts of hardship and privation as well as hilarity of our mothers' childhood on the Canadian prairies. Rhoda clearly is a riveting storyteller who does not need to resort to hyperbolic embellishment to entertain. Her genuine interest and respect for our heritage is evident along with her hysterical accounts of the oddities and foibles of the coutercultural propensities of being Mennonite. The older generation's tendency to portray our ancestors and traditions in hagiographic terms has always been exaperating to me; Rhoda's refusal to do so in her account is refreshing and long overdue.

As other reviewers have noted, Rhoda's narrative sometimes seems to get sidetracked in accounts that are not clearly relevant to the overall theme. For example, I wasn't sure where we were going with the lengthy account of her sister's s-i-l Yvonne, as she was not a member of the Mennonite community. Though she evidently provided rich material for caricature, her inclusion seemed more of a filler than anything else. However, Rhoda's thoughtful passages on her brother-in-law's suicide and her musings on organized religion were meaningful and profound.

Altogether, I am immensely grateful to Rhoda for writing this book, and appreciate the numerous admirable qualities of this important work. I am not sure if my own mother will get as much out of reading it as I did, but I know plenty of others who will.

Going Rouge: The Sarah Palin Rogue Coloring & Activity Book
$12.00
The reviewer who said that Palin never said she could see Russia from her house is splitting hairs. Yes it was Tina Fey who said exactly that. But here's the actual transcript of what Palin DID say:

GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

In other words - I can see Russia from my house.

Palin is dangerous and mercurial and vengeful, and has no business on the national stage or in position of power over anyone. Many are afraid of her in her own town with good reason. Any whack job that shoots wolves from helicopters for sport should be watched carefully. And definitely satirized. I'm buying several of these coloring books for Christmas presents.

Going Bovine
$17.99
Libba Bray's GOING BOVINE tells of a teen looking to get through high school and life with a minimum of effort - until he finds out he's sick and going to due. A punk angel appears to tell him there is a cure - but he must undertake a strange journey to find it in this different tale.

What's Going on in There? : How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life
$20.00
Author does a very good job of balancing between easily understandable information and detail.

Very interesting and enjoyable book.