Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller

Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller by Steve Weinberg

The title is a bit misleading. This is primarily a biography of Ida Tarbell interleaved with a biography of Rockefeller. The "battle" is a muckraking exposé that happens near the end. Though not much of a battle, it did turn public sentiment away from Rockefeller. I'm not sure if he cared. He was heavily involved in running his company. However, for his philanthropy he did things quietly with little involvement. His strong Christian background may have contributed to this "doing good in secret". He helped found Rockefeller University and University of Chicago - two institutions that have produced a huge number of Nobel Prize winners. He also funded significant public health research and education. His philanthropic legacy is among the most important, yet least publicized.

Rockefeller first had to accumulate his fortune. He did that in the oil industry. He initially focussed on refining. Gradually he got into all aspects of oil. His companies grew and used economies of scale to their benefit. They got sweetheart deals from railroads to transport oil and were able to benefit from uses and innovation. Government tried to crack down on Standard Oil's power. However, they were often able to maneuver around these regulations to their benefit.

Ida Tarbell was from the original "oil country" in Pennsylvania. She was a dedicated career woman who loved to write. She had decided that she would not marry or date. (The author does bring up the possibility of lesbianism, but the evidence points to celibacy.) She had a falling out with a boss that may have been due to a romantic come on. She did not follow the feminist doctrine and advocate for woman to stay at home with their families. She settled into writing for a magazine and would heavily research her topics. She did big, heavily researched stories on Napoleon and Lincoln. Then her story finally intersected with Rockefeller as she did her story on Standard Oil. It brought her fame and sold well. It damaged Rockefeller. Both of their legacies relied on each other, even though they never met. 

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir by Elizabeth McCracken

The author spent her early adulthood writing while traveling between the US and Europe. She conceived later in life. The baby was stillborn at full term. She grapples with that in her experiences. It is a key part of her identity as she is working through it and trying again. Other issues (such as issues with immigration officials) can be extra stressful during hard times. Some responses by others can be helpful, while others can make things worse. The book is fairly short and probably best for people that relate towards similar situations. 

Stacey the Soccer Fairy

Stacey the Soccer Fairy by Daisy Meadows\

This was originally "Francesca the Football Fairy" in the UK. The girls attend a soccer game with their parents. It is very clearly European Football - it is very popular and relegation is a thing. A goblin has stolen the special soccer ball that helps people to play well. The goblin team hopes to win a tournament. However, like in other fairy books, if the wrong people have this object, things mess up. The girls and stacey need to hunt down the goblin to get the soccer ball. This includes a bus chase in the parking lot - something that seems a little more intense than the typical fairy book. However, they are able to clean up the mess and the girls go back to the game, where one of their dad's is fully decked out in gear, wig and face paint.

Victoria the Violin Fairy

Victoria the Violin Fairy by Daisy Meadows

The girls see a performance by a band with weird instrumentation that sounds really good. Turns out they are goblins with the magic violin. Victoria the violin fairy comes and helps them rescue the special violin. First they ring the other guy in the audience's cell phone to get him to leave. Then they shine spotlights on the violin goblin and drop a stage scene and curtains to try to separate him. Then they try to have him go back while swapping out the old violin with one they find sitting around. They cut the lights and then swap out hte violin. Now the goblin band sounds awful. Why do they need to do certain things when fairy magic can handle it also? I guess you just need to suspend beliefs. And don't goblins like bad sounding music? It was interesting that it started out with the girls searching online for music to purchase and download. This sets it in a very narrow range of time. 

Sadie the Saxophone Fairy

Sadie the Saxophone Fairy by Daisy Meadows

Sadie is the last of the music fairies. Jack Frost has her magic saxophone and this makes him a great musician and rapper. They manage to get it from the goblin that has it by having his shining wipe turn it invisible. After that Jack Frost's band sounds horrible and another band winds the talent show. The girls get to go off to a fairyland festival. It is a bit different than the typical goblin encounters.

Fiona the Flute Fairy (Music Fairies #3)

Fiona the Flute Fairy (Music Fairies #3)

Fiona's magic flute has the ability to lure people to follow it. In the Goblin hands this can lead to plenty of problems. Alas, the goblins fight over it, causing it to separate to pieces. The girls help get the pieces back and restore peace in the land.

Ellie the Guitar Fairy (The Music Fairies #2)

Ellie the Guitar Fairy (The Music Fairies #2) by Daisy Meadows

One of the girl's dad has a band that sounds awful. The girls see a fairy pop out of the guitarist''s case. She is the guitar fairy and is trying to find the magical guitar that helps people play well. The Goblins have it and want to use it to win a competition. They find the goblin, but he is reluctant to give up the guitar. He is going to go to a music store to show that he is better than "Heddie Van Walen" (hmm, who is that based on.) The girls and fairy get there before him and trick him to go down an alley where the pelt him with rotten fruit. The fairy manages to get the guitar back and then clean up the mess. They go back and help make the dad band sound good. It was fun to see them sneak in a bit of pop culture reference into this fairy book. They also ran into somebody that they thought might be a goblin, but wasn't. A few "differences" from the typical book give it a slightly higher rating.

Who Was Abraham Lincoln?

Who Was Abraham Lincoln? by Janet Pascal illustrated by John O'Brien

This short biography of Lincoln has enough unique points to bring him alive. There are the challenges of his childhood as well as experiences with his wife and kids in the white house. It helps answer the questions of who he was as a person.

Reaching Out

Reaching Out (The Circuit book 3) by Francisco Jiménez

The third book in this autobiographical series covers the undergraduate experiences at Santa Clara. The whole family drove up to drop him off at school, though father was feeling reluctant. His younger brother took over his jobs to help support the family. Additional challenges happened back home that would test his resolve. Their father moved back to Mexico. He was suffering and felt bad that he could not support the family. The family house also burned down. His family did not tell him about either of these until he came home. They didn't want to negatively impact his schooling.

At school, he had a football-playing roommate from Woodland, California. They bonded with their hard-working bootstrap background, though they had differences. Francisco was not into school spirit and sports. He preferred to focus on academics. He struggled initially with English and Spanish and needed to work hard at school. He also needed to find a way to support himself and his family. He had a great deal of help from teachers and priests at school. They saw some of his struggles and helped counsel and encourage him. They also found opportunities for him to work and better support himself as well as thrive in service-minded extra-curricular activities. Toward the end of his time, they nominated him for a graduate fellowship and helped him through the process, even getting him a suit to make it through the interview. We may have lost a lot as religious schools are dropping much of their religious character and requirements. There is value in the higher purpose and service. It seems that he may have benefited significantly by ending up at a small Jesuit institution instead of a large public school.

Aladdin: The Desert Race

Aladdin: The Desert Race by Catherine Hapka, illustrated by Disney Storybook Art Team

Jasmine has a fast horse, but it will only go for her. The ruler wants Aladin to race instead. Aladdin gets genie to be the "horse". Jasmine races in disguise. Aladdin and Jasmine both beat the "bad guy". However, Aladin is disqualified. There are bits of humor, in this predictable knock off.

Top 50 Questions Rocks and Minerals

Top 50 Questions Rocks and Minerals by Seymour Simon

This book uses 50 questions to identify different types of rocks and how they are found. Some of the questions are very forced to provide their answers. However, most are fairly reasonable. It has some nice pictures.

Magic Tree House: Monday with a Mad Genius and Dark Day in the Deep Sea

Magic Tree House Monday with a Mad Genius and Dark Day in the Deep Sea

The kids help Leonardo da Vinci fly and retain his faith in his work. In the second book, they save an Octopus that saved them. That magic wand comes in handy. This historical fiction approach feels a bit too sanitized, but works for kids.

Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka

Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka

Jon Scieszka grew up in a  family of boys in Flint, Michigan in the late 1950s. He was the second boy, and thus got a lot of hand-me-downs (and got ot hand down a lot of things.) He went to Catholic school, and then later a military school. He got into trouble in various ways, doing a lot of "boy things". He also fell victim to various aspects of culture of the day. In one case, he ordered a large army set. He eagerly awaited the arrival, only to find they were super tiny. The content and delivery make for an entertaining look into boomer childood.

A Very Special Snowflake

A Very Special Snowflake by Don Hoffman, illustrated by Todd Dakins

Two kids are hunting for their dog, Snowflake. They go around town asking for him. Every they talk to thinks they are talking about the snowflakes that are falling. Finally they realize that the dog has been next to them all this time. They are happy to find him. The people in the town now realize what they were talking about. It is a simple little book. Kids start to notice that the dog is in the background of most of the pictures.

Tales from the Hood: The Sisters Grimm

Tales from the Hood: The Sisters Grimm #6 by Michael Buckley

This Sister's Grimm book deals with a lot of court activity in the case of the Big Bad Wolfe (Mr Canis). They investigate the case and find what really happened. It can be challenging due to the current insanity of Little Red Riding Hood. The story is more a wrapper for all sorts of fairy tale zanniness.

Skinny: She was starving to fit in...

Skinny: She was starving to fit in... (False Reflections Book 1) by Laura L. Smith

I had this book on my "to read" list with a note that it has a "Bizarre Love Triangle" reference. I wish I could remember how I found out the reference. In the book, the song is mentioned at the very end as a a dance number that the lead character is performing: "It's a jazz routine with a killer beat. You know that 80s tune I've been playing, 'Bizarre Love Triangle'?"

That was it for the reference. The book does name drop a number of songs and artists, including popular bands like the Beatles as well as Christian bands like Audio Adrenaline. the author seems to enjoy doing this, but it is not critical to the story.

As for the book itself, it was not bad. Melissa is a freshman in high school. She is smart and on the dance team. However, she feels that she is too fat. She takes even little comments about weight as something directly towards her. She carefully watches what she eats. She even worries about putting "peaches and cream" lotion or brushing her teeth because that might add weight. Generally she just controls what she takes in. However, there is a case where finds herself indulging in what she feels is too much food and then turns around and vomits up her excess food, and then works to cover it up.

In school, a new boy from Louisiana joins her French class. They fall for each other and begin a budding teen relationship. Things seem to go well. However, after basketball season starts, his parents do not want her spending much time together. This breaks her heart and makes her think that the they have broken up (because, you know, teenagers.) 

She is active on her school's dance team and is going to extra early morning "captain tryout" practices.  Captainship is open to all girls, and she is the only freshman trying out. However, her eating habits end up hurting her. She doesn't eat before the practice and ends up fainting. After the second time, the dance coach sends her home and won't let her come back until her family takes her to the doctor. She sees the doctor, gets diagnosed with an eating disorder and gets ordered to gain more weight. After she makes the effort to comply, her life starts to get back in order. She actively participates in the dance team and can now spend time with her boy again.

The characters in the book are church-going Christians. However, it deals primarily with the "secular" in-school activities. The girl will read her bible in the evening and write in her journal about her life and how some teachings relate to her life. The characters will also occasionally talk about church activities. Church is part of their lives, but the problems are general ones that happen to everyone. 

Snow Trucking! (Jon Scieszka's Trucktown)

Snow Trucking!: Ready-to-Read Level 1 (Jon Scieszka's Trucktown) by Jon Scieszka (Author), David Gordon (Illustrator), Loren Long (Illustrator)

It has snowed for a few days. The trucks are excited for a snow day. They play in the snow, doing all there special truck things. After all that play, the streets are all cleared.

Hola, Hombre Mosca [Hi, Fly Guy!]

Hola, Hombre Mosca [Hi, Fly Guy!] by Tedd Arnold, translated by Madelca Domínguez

Buzz wants a pet. He finds Fly Guy. People say that he is not a pet. However, Fly Guy wins everyone over with his tricks and communication with Buzz. The translation is easy enough to understand even with some words that I had not known.

My Dog, Buddy

My Dog, Buddy by David Milgrim

Buddy does all sorts of ruckus. He doesn't seem to listen to anybody except for the boy. After a few episodes of this, he runs away and only the boy can get him back. Pictures are fun and story is just goode enough.

Valentine Surprise (Clifford the Big Red Dog)

Valentine Surprise (Clifford the Big Red Dog) by Quinlan B. Lee, illustrated by Steve Haefele

The kids and their dogs exchange valentines. There is a big valentine party. It is a derivative Clifford book.