by Eustacia Tan
Oops, I think I gave the wrong answers. I guess I failed your quiz.
Last thing to note: all the teachers I've ever had have always been opinionated. And contradictory. This just means they taught us the difference between facts, opinions, and how to form your own opinion.
Chapter Three: What School is for. Apparently, to churn out workers. True, a lot of entrepreneurs end up dropping out of school, but for me and my friends, school was where we got our first taste of entrepreneurship. When you have to set up a Haunted House yourselves or find a product you can buy and sell at a profit, you learn about things like Supply and Demand really quickly. And no, my teachers weren't hand-holding us (they had a lot of other things to do). And yes, this was compulsory for us.
And then, she starts talking about teachers in Chapter four. The basic thing is that they're all fine people, but they don't teach from the heart.
...
I understand that you were once a teacher, but I'm beginning to thing that despite what you claim, you sought out schools where you would be stifled to prove a point. Either that, or I go to an exceptional school.
And I'm only at page 67 of 444. Do you guys really want me to go on? Bottom line is, the first part is where I disagree with everything. And these are the only things I have reservations from the later sections (which are actually the majority of the book).
There is one section where a European girl (girl living in Europe) reflects on her unschooling experience and mentions that due to the lack of resources, she basically lies to get what she wants. Nice skills for the future you got there.
And another section about Japan, which makes the schools sound terrifying. Well, I haven't gone to a Japanese highschool (I'm in university and all), but most of my high-school friends seem happy enough. I'm guessing that while the bullying and physical punishment do exist, it's for a rather small number of students.
Next, she brings in Yin and Yang (and also, she calls the Dao De Jing the Tao Teh Ching. What's with the "h"? I think the "t" and the "c", while not pinyin, are common ways of spelling - if you're not learning Chinese). I won't say anything about the yin-yang part, but I do want to say something about the section of the Dao De Jing she quotes. The quote is "The Tao Teh Ching reminds us, 'For all things there is a time for going a head, and a time for following behind; a time for slow-breathing, and a time for fast breathing;... A time to be up and a time to be down.' " Even if I'm not talking about how incredible hard it is to understand, let alone translate the Dao De Jing, I think she's mis-using the quote. The original Chinese is this "故物或行或随，或嘘或吹，或强或赢，或载或隳。" If you can't read Chinese, there's a pretty good translation here (this is from chapter 29). The meaning of this is actually: extremes are bad. Don't go to extremes. The way she uses this quote implies that there's an appropriate time for a certain extreme, but actually, this passage is telling to avoid all extremes and practice moderation. You may call this a subtle difference, but I think it's pretty important.
In other words, the book gets much better as she gets into advice on how to learn different subjects. The potshots at school and teacher get less, and it's much easier to ignore. Still, a lot of what she recommends to "unschool" are things that I either remember doing in school, or that the school offered (sometimes, I didn't bother taking advantage of everything - because I had no interest in it!).
Bottom line, my stand is the same as always: homeschooling is not for everyone. And yes, I carry serious doubts about unschooling. I think that if the child is not intensely self-motivated, unschooling will not work. Even though she claims that you'll be smarter even if you don't do anything, I doubt that will be true. How can you be smarter if you have no interest in reading (poor language skills), maths, etc? If this book didn't have the first section, I would have enjoyed it a lot more. Or to put it another way, if she didn't insult my love for school, my school experience or my teachers, I wouldn't have gotten so emotional.
I realise this is an extremely long review, and I've only touched the tip of the ice-berg! If you want me to write out a full review, chapter by chapter (because I don't think I can summarise it), let me know. I may just do it. And if you strongly disagree with me, please comment and let me know why (no ranting though). If you're really persuasive, you might just convince me(:
This review was first published at https://www.allsortsofbooks.blogspot.jp/2013/03/the-teenage-liberation-handbook-by.html
Your New Job Title is “Accomplice” by Scott Adams
I never thought that I'd get to read another Dilbert cartoon so soon! I normally get my fix from the libraries back home, so I thought I'd have to wait until summer break to read another volume. Thankfully, a new volume is coming up, and it was on NetGalley.
When I started reading Dilbert, I started from a long time ago. It had business concepts that I knew about, but quite a lot of the humour was dated. Here, the humour is dated too (or it will be in a few years). It's dated 201X. There are lots of references to the Cloud, start-ups, and even a reference to the popularity of Apple products. What doesn't change would be the characters - inept boss, inept workers, inept company (Dilbert is not a comic that inspires confidence in any sort of corporation).
Personally, I would have loved to read more about Dogbert. And that evil HR cat. Both animals are hilarious, and I love reading about the stuff they scheme about. Also, the dinosaur (I think his name is... Bob?), anyway, he's gone. Well.... I really liked the animals.
On the bright side, if you like seeing Dilbert at work, you have a lot more to read. The Elbonians are also a staple feature now (let's attack the Elbonian missile factory!), which is really funny. HR and stuff, on the other hand, don't appear so often.
There are a lot of pokes at the huge paychecks of top management (which is understandable, given the recent economic climate). In fact, I would say that you need to be fairly well-versed with business terms and the workplace to understand these jokes (which may explain why I'm the only one my age that actually reads and enjoys Dilbert).
For me, I love this! I'm so glad Dilbert is still coming out! Now, if only Foxtrot was making a new anthology and had it up on NetGalley.....
Disclaimer: I got a free review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.
The Other Side of the Page: Midnight by Alexandra Lanc
Hello, everyone! This is Alexandra Lanc, and I’m here to tell you a bit about my newest release, Midnight.
A few months ago I began releasing vampire-related stories. I’ve always loved to write about vampires, because I think they are a fun topic to explore, but it wasn’t until I began releasing more books about them that I finally decided to sit down and pen a story that had been brewing in my mind for a while.
Midnight marks the beginning of a series called the Knight Blood series, and it’s a story about an average girl who becomes less than average when she tries to help people by signing up for a scientific experiment that is meant to bring peace to the world. Throughout the story, the main character does a lot of growing up, and discovering where she fits into the world, as well as discovers her hidden talents that make her unique, and may help her save the world after all when the project fails.
This is a New Adult series that, to me, really is what the category is all about – focusing on characters that are new to adulthood, responsibility, and all that comes with growing up. Plus, there are some other great characters at play, too – especially my main vampire Zarrod, who is one of my absolute favorite characters to write! He’s very charismatic and enigmatic at the same time.
I hope you’ll enjoy Midnight! Happy reading.
~ Synopsis ~
Life has always seemed impossible for IxBryn Rowan, and it's about to get even more complicated.
IxBryn is a Knight Blood, an immortal human rendered by science to bring about harmony between the two races of Earth, the humans and the vampires -- at least, that was the plan. A terrible tragedy occurred, and
IxBryn is now the only surviving Knight, hunted for the potency of her blood, which will render any Immortal nearly unstoppable for a time.
With nowhere left to turn, IxBryn makes her way to Variance, the most prestigious and important City on Earth, to stay with her cousin Bristol, the only person alive who truly understands her, and in turn stumbles upon a secret war breeding within the shadows -- a struggle in which she soon becomes the prize.
With danger at every turn, IxBryn may have to learn to rely on those who appear untrustworthy -- even the labeled sociopath Zarrod Kingsbury, an Ancient vampire, and one of the Elite, who has interests of his own.
The first novella in the Knight Blood series, Midnight introduces readers to a parallel Earth, where vampires roam free, fate is never concrete, and where home can be found in the strangest of places.
Please note: This novella series contains violence and some suggestive material, and may not be suitable for all readers.
About Alexandra Lanc
Alexandra Lanc is an American author who writes New Adult, Young Adult, and Adult in a variety of genres including fantasy, science-fiction, contemporary, poetry, horror, and more. Alexandra has been writing since she was small, and draws inspiration from her friends, dreams, and the world around her.
Alexandra is a big supporter of fellow authors, and writing communities. She participates in and supports NaNoWriMo, and is a moderator for the New Adult Authors community on Google+.
Alexandra is also an artist, and her artwork can be found on her book covers.
Visit Alexandra on the web at www.AlexandraLanc.com
Visit Alexandra’s blog: Words Of The Worlds
Follow Alexandra on Twitter @AuthorLanc
Follow Alexandra on Google+: Alexandra Lanc
Alexandra’s Goodreads Page: Alexandra Lanc
Meet The Team
This issue could not have been possible without the following people. Please give them a round of applause (and visit them at their respective blogs/sites/social media pages ^^)
Eustacia Tan
I’m a bibliophile from Singapore. But I’ll be saying konnichiwa all the way from Fukuoka, where I’m pursuing undergraduate studies. I love all kinds of books and I’m really random. I record my musings on books at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile (www.allsortsofbooks.blogspot.com) and my life at With Love from Japan, Eustacia (www.nihonjinjanai.blogspot.com).
Pretty In Fiction (Jesse)
My name is Jesse and I'm a co-contributer for the Young Adult book blog Pretty In Fiction (https://www.prettyinfiction.com/). You can usually find me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/prettyinfiction), stalking my favorite authors and book bloggers!
Micha Fire
“Micha Fire” (artist name), was born on the 27th of June 1965, a Sunday, and lived as teenager with her family away from Germany (1976 - 1981). She has lived in Papua New Guinea (one year), Queensland, Australia (three years) and Tokyo, Japan (one year). Unfortunately, she couldn’t learn Japanese in one year, but can speak a few words.
The extraordinary possibility to experience other cultures and countries as teenager influenced the way she looks at everything today, and English has become a language as basic to her as German in those years abroad.
To have the possibility to self-publish books is a fortunate thing for her. This way she can write in her favorite language, English, for expressing thoughts in writing. Although it may not be perfect yet. All her self-published books are available as print version or PDF.
You can contact her at [email protected], [email protected], or visit her at www.michafire.net
Alexandra Lanc
Alexandra loves to write, and writes her stories in a variety of genres, including: Young Adult, Adult, Middle-Grade, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Contemporary, Old-Fashioned Horror, and Poetry. Her novels are fun, exciting, thrilling, creative, and focus heavily on the characters portrayed in them, and on their emotional journeys, without ever missing out on their fantastical plots. In short, Alexandra’s novels, short stories, and novellas bring words to life!
Alexandra is also an artist, screenwriter, and musician. Her artwork can be seen featured on her book covers, and in the paperback pages of her Foxfire Chronicles series.
Alexandra loves reading, and supporting fellow authors, and their creativity. She lives in Florida, USA, with her family and calico cat, Sanura.
Melissa Keir
Melissa Keir has always wanted to be an author when she wasn’t hoping for a career as a race car driver. Her love of books was instilled by her mother and grandparents who were avid readers. She’d often sneak books away from them so that she could fantasize about those strong alpha males and plucky heroines. In middle school and high school, Melissa wrote sappy love poems and shared them with her friends. She still has those poems today! In college, her writing changed to sarcastic musings on life as well as poems with a modern twist on fairy tales and won awards for her writing. You can find many of these musings along with her latest releases on her website and blog.
As a writer, Melissa likes to keep current on topics of interest in the world of writing. She’s a member of the Romance Writers of America and EPIC. Melissa is always interested in improving her writing through classes and seminars. She also believes in helping other authors and features authors and their books on her blog.
You can find Melissa at
www.melissakeir.com
https://www.facebook.com/melissaakeir
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMelissaKeir (fan page)
www.twitter/melissa_keir
Qilong Bi
I’m a Chinese student who is studying civil engineering in KU Leuven in Belgium.
Google+ : https://plus.google.com/u/0/113829489757948438326/posts
Kat Folland
Kat Folland was born in 1970 and adopted six weeks later by some really excellent people who, for some reason, opted to keep her. She grew up comfortably middle class – you could be comfortable in the middle class in those days – getting a fairly useless degree in History and an even more useless minor in Anthropology. Dabbling in writing all her life, she finally got around to finishing a novel in her forties, and is now publishing with some regularity. Her website is https://www.katsquill.com/
