Ron’s #16: Columbine by Dave Cullen

Why would anyone want to read a 400-page book on the Columbine High School massacre?

Several friends have asked me, “Why are you reading that?” and I don’t know. I cannot answer this question for myself, but I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading about this difficult subject. As for most, the events of April 20, 1999 are still vivid in my memory. I was student teaching then, and I came home after work to watch the newsreels. I was beginning a career in a place where something like that could happen. Over the years, I can’t say that I paid much attention to the facts and theories surrounding the tragedy beyond an article or two around the anniversary dates. After reading Columbine, I see how much I didn’t know about it, or, the facts that I did think I knew were wrong.

The journalist Dave Cullen sifts through 10 years of police records, evidence, testimonies, court cases, and interviews to offer readers a complete picture of what occurred on that Tuesday morning at 11:17 a.m. It was more terrifying than I originally thought.

This book alternates between chapters showing the planning of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold before the massacre and chapters showing the effects after it. This provides a unique perspective and narrative flow of this story. The pages are filled with intimate portraits of the victims, teachers, and other members of the community. He spends more time on some over others—Dave Sanders (the teacher) and Patrick Ireland (the boy in the window, as he came to be known) get far more ink than others, and rightfully so. Both stories are powerful ones.

The supposed “martyrdom” of Cassie Bernall was the topic of this book that I heard about last year when it was first published. Cassie was the girl that some Christians made a posthumous superstar during a supposed exchange with Eric Harris. “Do you believe in God?” Eric asked. “Yes,” Cassie replied. “Why?” he said before shooting her. This resulted in a whirlwind of media proclaiming Cassie a martyr. The problem is, as Dave Cullen shows, is that it wasn’t her who said it. Rather, it was another girl under the table who was shot but lived.

As one would expect, most of the book is focused on Eric and Dylan. He includes a full picture of what occurs in the final year leading up to the day they dubbed Judgment Day or NBK (an allusion to Oliver Stone’s uber-violent Natural Born Killers). Leaving behind journals, other writings, and videos help others see their twisted minds as they seek god-like power to wipe out mankind. We read about the real plan intended for April 20, one that would have resulted in far more deaths than 13. This was supposed to be a school bombing, not just a school shooting.

I remember in the days following April 20, many were defending violent video games and movies as they were targeted as the cause. This book does something similar. I know that the “cause” of the attacks is that Eric was psychopathic. The other elements must have fueled that need for violence. They both had a love for the violent video game “Doom,” and Eric wrote that he wishes that he could be in a real-world Doom game. They loved violent movies. They wrote violent stories. Eric listened to music with violent lyrics. Again, I know that the cause is a suffering mind, but you are a fool if you ignore the influence of these other factors.

Much in the book is about reactions to the parents of Eric and Dylan. They are not to blame, as it was Eric and Dylan who did the murders. I agree wholeheartedly. However, I find it troubling that the boys had a small arsenal of guns, ammunition, and bombs in the basement of their house and no one knew.

This book was a depressing read, knowing that there are boys like this in the world today, perhaps even in my school. Following the life of Eric and Dylan with the dramatic irony of how it ends made this a heavy and difficult story to read. It’s the story of unimaginable violence, but it’s also the story of healing. I’m not sure why I chose to read this, but I’m glad I did. I’d recommend this book to you, but I’m not sure why you should read it either.

Ron’s #15: Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef

Son of Hamas has been discussed on several of the blogs I follow, and I was eager to read it. This book did not disappoint. It offered more insight into the Israel-Palestine conflict than anything else I’ve read. It offered a better face of Palestine, reveals problems with how Israel handles the occupation, and shows the power of the Christian message.

Mosab Hassan Yousef is the son of Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas (the acronym of Islamic Resistance Movement) in Palestine. The younger Yousef describes his father as a good Muslim with a love for his people. However, he begins to question the terrorist actions that Hamas is involved in, and works with Israel’s Shin Bet—the equivalent of our F.B.I.—as a spy. Imagine the son of Hamas passing on key information to Israel to thwart future attacks.

The story is more than a spy tale; it’s an account of the crisis of conscience that Yousef undergoes as he wants the best for his people while realizing that bombs and guns are not the answer. He is a man between two worlds, and he no longer belongs to either.

This alienation is complicated further when he meets a British missionary who invites him to a Bible study. Being an inquisitive man, Yousef attends and learns about the teachings of Jesus. Even though he isn’t yet a Christian, Yousef begins to put Jesus’ teaching into practice: he’s a Muslim becoming more Christi-like. Finally, in 2000, Mosab Yousef becomes a Christian.

I enjoyed this book because it was many genres in one: history book, spy thriller, political overview, and a conversion story. All are told well in this volume.

Son of Hamas is a book that you should read regardless of your religious persuasion or political affinities. It will provide you an important overview to the Middle East conflict, one that will be with us for some time to come.

Check out Mark's review here

Ron’s #14: Life, the Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams

I’ve slowly been working my way through the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series over this past school year. Science-fiction is not a genre I typically like, but this series seems to be written for readers like me. It focuses more on humor and ridiculousness than it does on the fantastic nature of futuristic events. The main story of the stolen Heart of Gold ship and Arthur Dent’s reluctant traveling through time and space is not nearly as interesting and enjoyable as Adams’s small side notes and descriptions. In this book, the pieces are weightier than the whole.

Here are a few tidbits:

“He just won an award at the Annual Ursa Minor Alpha Recreational Illusions Institute Awards ceremony [for]..the Most Gratuitous Use of the Word ‘Belgium’ in a Serious Screenplay. It’s very prestigious.”

“…pausing at a bar on the way back for a quick glass of perspective and soda.”

“It’s all right,” she said in a voice that would have calmed the Big Bang down.

Life, the Universe, and Everything was a quick read and a good distraction, but I was impatient for its end. I’m sure I’ll finish the series, but it may be a little while before I get to it. I know that these books are beloved by many, and I want to understand why. If you have an answer, please let me know.

Ron’s #13: Churchill by Paul Johnson

Winston Churchill has been on my mind lately for no apparent reason. I thought it was time I read something about him.

This slim book was a nice introduction to this great man, even though most of it read more like an encyclopedia than a passionate account of one of the greatest personalities of the 20^th century. When the timeline reaches World War II, the narrative begins to sparkle and offers more dimensions to this mythical, larger-than-life statesman.

Here are a few interesting facts that I’ve learned from this book:

• Churchill hated the movie Citizen Kane. (Strangely enough, I couldn’t stop making comparisons between these two men.)
• Churchill’s son-in-law was a stand-up comedian.
• He became a prolific painter later in life, amassing over 500 pieces.
• He has little tolerance for whistling and those who did it. Coincidentally, Hitler was a notorious whistler.
• His famous pseudo-angry blurb regarding the prepositions at the end of sentences: “Up with this I will not put!”
• Churchill is often cited as the source of the V-sign (for victory) and the terms “iron curtain” and “cold war.”

Winston Churchill is a politician to be admired, especially during wartime. He provided his countrymen leadership, determination, pride, and hope in the face of Hitler’s terrorism throughout Europe. In the current milieu of pandering and appeasement with our current American president, a biography of Churchill is a refreshing read.

The world needs fewer Chamberlains and more Churchills.

Ron’s #12: Chew On This by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson

I read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation several years ago and loved it. It opened my eyes to specific problems in the fast food industry. Chew On This is the teenage version of that book, and I bought a class set to teach to 8^th graders next month. It should be fun, and I think they’ll like it, mainly because of the gross-out stuff.

My favorite part of the book is the history of the key players. Like the computer industry, I love reading about how these world-changing companies were started by some key personalities. Ray Kroc is the Steve Jobs of hamburgers.

Best parts: history of the industry, slaughterhouse descriptions, advertising campaigns

Weakest parts: too much time with the Yupiks in Alaska, the blow-by-blow account of one girl getting a soda machine removed from school, and the Edible Schoolyard narrative. Kids will skip over these dull parts, and I wanted to as well.

My main criticism of this book (and other books and articles that attack the power of big companies over what people buy/eat/consume) is that they ignore the other “forces” out there that attempt to manipulate culture. Where are the outcries about what TV shows teenagers watch, about the popular music with violent or sexual lyrics, about over-protective parents who try to be buddies over mothers and fathers, or about allowing kids to have three televisions, cell phones, and any other electronic device they whine loudly enough for? The Saw series of movies and the Kim Kardashians provide a generational numbness that disturbs and frightens me more than the methylphenylglycidate in strawberry shakes. These produce something far worse than overweight teenagers with pre-adult onset diabetes; they produce a morally anemic, self-serving, and self-obsessed generation unable to look beyond their digital navels.

I’d take the fat kid any day.

Ron’s #11: Why Don’t Students Like School? By Daniel T. Willingham

I get tired of hearing the phrase, “Brain research shows…” to prove whatever point teachers are trying to show at the time. Whether it is about the importance of play, the use of movies, standing on your head before a test, or studying on the toilet, educators pull these three words and throw them down on the table like the trump card they’ve been saving to illuminate a point. The problem is that most teachers, including me, have no idea about brain research or even where to begin. Because of this, I sought to find a book to offer a basic understanding for dum-dums like me.

The subtitle of this book is, “A cognitive scientist answers questions about how the mind works and what it means for your classroom.” This is a better explanation for the information, as I still don’t know why students don’t like school (perhaps it has something to do with me!). I suppose I could sum up the book as follows:

1. People are naturally curious.
2. Teachers create “problems” far too easy or too difficult.
3. Students do not have background information necessary to engage a problem, thus making it easy to quit.
4. Teachers present information in a disconnected way, thus students cannot remember background information to address critical thinking problems.
5. Students sit and force themselves to hold back both sleep and drool, while dreaming about that cute girl sitting in the front.
6. Students are no longer curious.

As I read, I made liberal notes throughout, and it will be a book to revisit. If you are a teacher, I think that you’ll find this to be an important work for your professional growth. At face value, here are the three main points that I have thought most about since completing this:

1. As I already listed, people are naturally curious. I like this idea, and I must remember it as I teach. Am I creating problems that challenge students to think and wrestle with in class, problems that are still within their reach for success? Reducing the amount of other work to focus on more of this kind of work is something that I want to do. This includes offering more opportunities for students to play with language and words. Sometimes, I forget about this as I try to meet content standards.
2. Memorization is important, as it provides the building blocks for critical thinking. The author is not suggesting long lists of information to remember. However, in order for our brains to conquer a problem, basic materials are needed. This could be definitions, word parts, poetry, multiplication tables, etc. Modern teaching often belittles memorizing as outdated pedagogy, but when students do not know the times tables or what the definition of an allusion is, the critical thinking engagement is crippled.
3. The effectiveness of “multiple intelligences” is over-emphasized in education. According to Wellingham, educators put too much stock in this, as there does not seem to be different intelligences, rather strengths and talents. We do students a disservice when we tell them that they are smart in some area, even if they are not the same. His suggestion is that we focus on varying the lessons (sometimes visual, using music, acting, etc.) rather than on each student. This is the area that teachers will squirm and protest the most. Multiple intelligences are the sacred cows of education. If you don’t believe me, as a teacher you know about them. Their eyes will light up as they tell you about how they had students act out what a commas does or sing about a Picasso painting.

Why Don’t Students Like School? is the perfect primer for educators to get a peek into the complex and deep world of brain research. I still won’t use “brain research shows…” in my next conversation, but I found this book a good first step in understanding how it relates to education.