A detailed but mostly straightforward kids-safety guide.
A brief, practical manual for parents and caregivers who want to help children identify and safely respond to dangerous situations.
This book aims to encourage kids’ eventual independence by teaching them basic principles of situational awareness and problem-solving. Quesenberry, a retired federal air marshal, firearms trainer, and defense training consultant, is passionate about his message that even very young children can develop ways to recognize potential threats and learn how to get help, when needed. He cautions adults against pursuing an overly simplistic “stranger danger” approach and focusing too much on kids’ use of technology, such as smartphones,rather than on real-world threats. He encourages readers to use everyday family activities to build children’s skills and strongly discourages teaching fearfulness or pushing lessons too hard. Throughout, he emphasizes building family teamwork, listening closely to kids, and talking with them honestly in ways that are developmentally appropriate. Some concepts derived from law enforcement, such as color-coded awareness levels and the OODA loop (“Observe,” “Orient,” “Decide,” “Act”), could have been presented in more reader-friendly terms, and an explanation of learning styles seems more appropriate to a business context, as few parents are likely to present their kids with flowcharts or PowerPoint presentations as learning aids. However, Quesenberry clearly explains his key concepts as well as a step-by-step process for teaching them to kids at different age levels, including recommendations for “Family Game Night” activities. Chapters include brief “Kids in Action” anecdotes involving heroism by real-life children between the ages of 3 and 13; simple exercises for parents and children to do together (usually in the form of games); and a helpful summary of “Key Points.” As the book goes on, readers are sure to gain confidence in their own ability to sensibly safeguard their young ones.
A detailed but mostly straightforward kids-safety guide.Pub Date: May 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-59439-811-7
Page Count: 168
Publisher: YMAA Publication Center
Review Posted Online: Feb. 27, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An above-average celebrity memoir from an intriguing spirit.
The longtime Hollywood actor looks back.
“What does it mean to be a ham?” asks the author, rhetorically. “Was I a ham? I was naturally and inordinately theatrical. I liked to carry on. I liked attention. I liked extravagant speech. I liked to emote. I liked to talk.” All of these qualities are abundantly evident in Kilmer’s memoir, which is as much a spiritual journey as it is a chronicle of his life and career. The author recounts the depth of his Christian Science faith, his formative years in a family of privilege in Los Angeles, his teenage romance with fellow actor Mare Winningham (“my first real girlfriend”), his training and rebellion at Juilliard, and his decision to leave Broadway for Hollywood. There, he writes, “I was not yet a burgeoning talent but ‘Cher’s lover,’ ” when she was in her mid-30s and he in his early-20s. After scoring big with Tom Cruise in Top Gun, Kilmer turned down Blue Velvet and Dirty Dancing: “Neither part spoke to me.” He played Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s The Doors, which he considers “one of the proudest moments of my career.” Marlon Brando and Sam Shepard went from being idols that Kilmer worshipped to becoming friends. He was slated to star as Batman in three films but jumped ship after Batman Forever, which he considers “so bad, it’s almost good.” He married and divorced British actor Joanne Whalley and wooed Daryl Hannah (“kind of the female me, only better”), and he wrote and starred in a one-man show as Mark Twain. When he was hospitalized for surgery due to his throat cancer, he prayed, he read Twain and Christian Science’s Mary Baker Eddy, and he “didn’t wrestle with my angels. I sang and danced with them.” Kilmer was never a shrinking violet, and he still refuses to wilt.
An above-average celebrity memoir from an intriguing spirit. (photos)Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9821-4489-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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