A Strange Stirring Book Review

In Anne Tyler’s “Teenage Wasteland,” the reader is given insight into the difficulty of parenting through Daisy’s desperate attempt to stop her son from his seemingly uncontrollable downward spiral. The paranoia of her “perfect” parenting techniques leads to the tainting of Donny’s innocence over time and eventually his mysterious disappearance at the end of the story. Through symbols of innocence and corruption, Tyler demonstrates the importance of keeping one’s head clear and focused while parenting, and that using common sense and logic is far more effective than relying on idealism and hope.

The reader cannot help but feel the burden the daughter will be sharing with the mother. And while the plight of the mother is real, the reader cannot ignore how the isolation and loneliness of this type of community, or lack there of, has effected Tome's judgment in mothering.

Without the proper guidance from a healthy role model in Baby’s life, she has trouble forming and maintaining proper romantic and sexual relationships. Throughout the novel Baby is shown to

Born on Christmas Day in Philadelphia, Kay S. Hymowitz is a graduate from Turks University, Brandeis University, and Columbia University. The 66 year old is currently a professor at Brooklyn College and Parsons School of Design. In 2010, she was named William E. Simon fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the contributing editor of City Journal. Hymowitz enjoys writing about American childhood and education. Her books include, Ready or Not: Why Treating Our Children as Small Adults Endangers Their Future and Ours (1999), Liberation’s Children: Parents and Kids in a Postmodern Age (2003), Marriage and Caste in America: Separate and Unequal Families in a Post-Marital Age (2006), and Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men Into Boys (2011). Hymowitz is a wife and mother of three. She currently lives in Brooklyn. In 1998, she wrote “Tweens: Ten Going On Sixteen.”

In “Girl”, by Jamaica Kincaid, the mother is warning her daughter about what to expect, and how to act, in society. The story represents a time when the daughter knew that her mother loved her enough to spend the time to give her the advice, but is also emotionally distant. I believe this to be representative of Kincaid’s life, and how after her brother’s were born she felt that her mother did not have enough time for her.

The line between being an acceptable and unacceptable parent is often blurry and is seen on different perspectives when it comes to class, culture, and generation differences. Based on the two stories of Amy Tan’s, “Two Kinds” and Tillie Olsen’s, “I Stand here Ironing” we see these two perspectives that derive from different maternal upbringings of the children in the stories. What is found between them is the conflict of being too little or heavily involved in a child’s life has had more negative outcomes during their childhood than positive.

Leman describes his qualifications in the psychological field and media platform to provide a well balanced background for his book and obtain the audience's trust. Throughout, The Birth Order Book Leman tells of his thirty-five years as a psychologist, his appearances on the radio and television talk shows, and his own anecdotes as a parent, sibling, and child. Aside from his own personal praises Leman includes quotes from readers who claim that The Birth Order Book “has changed [their] life. And how [they] see life too.” (Leman 16) Including, describing, and supporting the audiences quotes are tactics Leman applied into his writing to grasp the reader's attention and assure the reader of his ability to teach on the subject of personalities. In one of Lemans most famous books, The Birth Order Book, none his thoughts are influenced by an issue within the writing, but I believe they are influenced by the time period of its publication. Created before the modern day takeover of the cell phone, before the infamous Millennials, and before the turn of the century, The Birth Order Book theory could be swayed in another direction solely based on the large change in lifestyle and attitude that the current generation has brought to

These children’s go outside and end up in a bad influence. One of the impact of this on girls is sexual assaulted and teenage age pregnancy. In this society, there’s a high number of teenage pregnancies. These teenagers have sexual intercourse, but they don’t recognize the consequences of it. It is said parents are so busy with their lives that they don’t have time for their kids. Some parents are alcoholic, which is why they can’t take care of their kids. As a result, children’s go outside to find the love which they didn’t have from home. For every teenager the love of a parent is important. If he or she finds love from home, if they are taught what can happen to girls outside, they would be more protective for themselves. I believe that parent’s should do proper care of children’s and girls should be more protective of themselves to prevent them from pregnancy. Firstly, a child being pregnant doesn’t look good. When one is a child herself, she’s the mother of another child. How’s the girl supposed to take care of the child when she’s growing up, plus knows nothing about it. A teenage mother does not like anyone to make fun of her or to talk behind her back. Pregnancy suits a married woman because a person has been matured at this time and a child knows who’s her father and mother. In addition, child pregnancy takes away childhood dreams. A person can’t study well when she has to take care of a little

Through her novel The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver attempts to convince her readers that motherhood, in all its various forms, is important to the development of children by exploring the maternal relationships of characters. Kingsolver introduces many forms of motherhood, from relation by blood to community bonds. Through the development of the characters in the novel, readers understand the impact that mothers have. The novel explores the effects of motherhood, both to the mothers and their children. The actions and struggles of the various mother figures also persuade the readers to sympathize and relate to motherhood.

In her book, Southern Horrors: Women and the Politics of Rape and Lynching, Crystal N. Feimster discusses how race, gender and politics shaped the post-civil war south from reconstruction into the 20th century through the use of historical statistics, narratives and recorded court cases. Through the juxtaposition of Rebecca Latimer Felton and Ida B. Wells, born a generation apart as a plantation mistress and the other into racism, Feimster explores the differences in the treatment of and the reactions to a white woman and an African American woman fighting against rape and for women’s rights. The author, discusses how institutionalized racism, patriarchy and mob violence helped and hurt these women on their quest for equal rights.

Self-esteem and self-worth are some the most important factors when growing up as a teenager in today’s world. Peer pressure and parental relationships, are just a couple of obstacles that can hinder a teenager’s value. With good communication and guidance from a support group or adults, they can overcome these challenges. In Max Apple’s, “Stepdaughters,” Stephanie has to deal with a very intrusive mother named Helen, who is interfering with her love for throwing the shotput. Stephanie’s stepfather tries to stay neutral throughout the whole matter, but is made to feel as though he is on Stephanie’s side by Helen.

She couldn't really talk to anyone and when she did she didn't know how to express herself or carry on a conversation very well. Her family never really talked to her or even tried to help her with her social life. Just talking to your child can make a huge difference in the way they act and live. When the incident of the rape at the beginning of the book happened she couldn’t speak out loud to tell him no because of the inability to be social and verbal with how she felt and what she thinks. The fact that all she ever wanted to do was go home and sleep shows that she isn’t very social.

Containing a neutral tone throughout her article, Coontz creates a vision for her audience to expose who is the "richer sex". Containing enough thorough

puberty bring with it a complex tradition of restrictions and behavioral guidelines. Kincaid’s poem reveals the rigidity and complexity of the social confines the girl is expected to operate underl. A girl is an induction into the women community as well as an orientation into the act of womanhood (Walkerdine et. al.). The lectured instructions given to the silent girl child vary from the housekeeping, “this is how you sweep a whole house”, to dealing with intimate relationships, “this is how a man bullies you; …how to bully a man” to medicine, “this is how to make good medicine (to abort)” (Kincaid).The inane patriarchal society expects gender stereotypes to prevail. The mother is tasked to give her daughter instructions on how to be a good woman in the stereotyped society. The advice the mother gives to the daughter cements the gender stereotype and portrays limitations on a woman (Bailey and Carol 107).

The mother-daughter relationship is often scrutinized, publicized, and capitalized on. Whether from tell-all biographies, to humorous sit-coms, or private therapy sessions, this particular relationship dynamic gives some of the most emotion-activating memories. When female authors reflect and write about their relationships with their mothers, they have a tendency to taint their reflections with the opinions they have as an adult, reviewing the actions of their mother when they were young. These opinions set the tone of the story independently and in conjunction with the relationship itself and manifest in creative literary styles that weave an even more intricate story. Case in point, when reviewing the two literary works “I Stand Here