by Andrew Bridge |
CRITIC'S CHOICE
REVIEWED BY KIM HUBBARD
MEMOIR
The author was 6 when he saw his impoverished single mother lose the tenuous hold she had on sanity, slitting her wrists and then writing his name in blood on the walls of their shabby apartment. Taken eventually to the "violent dumping ground" that was L.A.'s MacLaren Hall "shelter care facility," Bridge proved to be one of the lucky ones: He was placed with a foster family and remained there—adequately educated and cared for—through high school. What this searing memoir reveals is just how soul-crushing "adequate" can be. Allowed only rare visits with his often institutionalized mother, he was at the mercy of the casual cruelties of his foster mother, a Dachau survivor who kept him at arm's length (he returned the favor). Bridge saves most of his anger, though, for the chilly bureaucracies of the foster care system—which, after graduating from Harvard Law School, he went on to help reform as director of the Alliance for Children's Rights. His story is shocking, inspiring, unforgettable.
by Barbara Delinsky |
REVIEWED BY ALLISON LYNN
NOVEL
What would you do? That's the question implicitly posed in Delinsky's provocative new novel when mother and daughter Deborah and Grace Monroe hit Grace's history teacher with their car, mortally wounding him. Grace, 16, was driving, but Deborah hides that fact and takes the blame. Delinsky is interested in how the lies we tell for love can destroy us instead—and she lays out this particular deception so painstakingly that even the most honest reader will sympathize. Like a car wreck about to happen, this family's near-undoing can be tough to watch, but it's even tougher to look away.
'My mother loved me more than she could care for me ...'
WHAT WE'RE READING NOW
VIGGO MORTENSEN Noam Chomsky's What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Power in a Changing World. It gives you information you didn't have.
KERRY WASHINGTON Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope. I love it. I read the first book, Dreams from My Father, too. He makes me feel hopeful.
JOHN LEGEND The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs. It's interesting what he goes through as an agnostic, trying to figure out what the Bible means to him.
For Autism Heroes, Barbara Firestone—President, CEO and founder of the Help Group, a nonprofit organization serving children with autism spectrum disorders and other special needs—asked parents to share their stories. With photos by Joe Buissink, the book, she says, is "a road map for other parents and a celebration of their commitment."
"The most important thing I can tell parents is not to be afraid of the diagnosis. And now I really understand the benefits of early intervention. The fear is gone for me. I think Norton is going to be all right" —JUSTIN KELL, NORTON'S DAD
"She was nonverbal for a very long time, and now I've even found myself saying, 'Irene, be quiet!' She's just always full of joy" —CHERYL GREEN, IRENE'S MOM
"Mary was responding to all of her therapies, and autism became a part of who she was as opposed to something that needed to be cut out of her ... 'Mary Cole' sounds like 'miracle' when you say it fast. She is that" —GARY COLE
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
