Exploring What Works: The Frontlines of Peace

The Frontlines of Peace: An Insider's Guide to Changing the World
by Séverine Autesserre

Ms. Autesserre has served around the world in organizations supporting peace efforts. She shares her own experiences and failures in highlighting those efforts that have successfully decreased violence and how those successful efforts often employ methods at odds with the standard NPO strategies.

The very concept of work at the grassroots to address tensions that may affect only a few hundred people (but are connected to broader conflicts) was utterly foreign to them. So was the idea that the individuals most affected by violence--and not outsiders--should figure out what it would take for them to feel safe and how they can achieve this goal. (p. 8)

The successful projects are those that move slowly, include all local voices, and do not impose expectations or restrictions. These grassroots efforts should not replace traditional top-down negotiations and strategies; they should work in concert. To support her assertions, Ms. Autesserre provides a kind of portfolio of these successful projects in places like Democratic Republic of Congo and Somaliland.

Contrary to what most politicians preach, building peace doesn't required billions in aid or massive international interventions. Real, lasting peace requires giving power to ordinary citizens. (pp. 18-19)

Ms. Autesserre doesn't claim such a response is easy or without its own complications. For example, sometimes local responses withhold full rights from women or minorities. The author is writing from a modern political viewpoint that includes rights for actions or groups in ways Catholics may not support, but this difference in opinion does not detract from her argument. When an organization provides financial and bureaucratic support to people, it is difficult to allow them to make decisions that conflict with the principles of funders. Yet, this is exactly what Ms. Autesserre says best supports lasting peace.

The people who have to live with the consequences of a decision should be the ones making it.

This simple principle provides a moral compass for the dilemma that regularly haunts on-the-ground interveners: How can they possibly choose between, let's say, peace and democracy in Congo, or peace and women's equality in Somaliland? My answer: Let their intended beneficiaries decide, even if the result is unpopular, unfashionable, and uncomfortable, and even if it turns off some well-intended donors. (p. 163)

I find myself again thinking about Benedict XVI's Caritas in Veritate. This encyclical doesn't provide any easy answers, but asks that we allow those who are suffering to talk while we listen, and that we support them in providing their own answers to the problems they face. If I remember correctly, it's focus is the poor and marginalized (who are certainly those who suffer the most in conflict zones), but I believe its precepts could be useful in addressing war-torn regions of the world.

Chapter 7 provides some thoughtful insights into how these same grassroots methods have been applied successfully in the most dangerous areas of American cities. I found it useful, if a little uncomfortable, to see how listening and allowing local participants to shape their own solutions could be better employed in our own country.

This book is an excellent look at successful programs around the world. I'm seriously considering adding it to a modern government course I'm rolling around in my head for twelfth grade. Modern governments are inter-related through trade, commerce, and charitable programming with countries all over the world. Understanding how our actions and decisions promote peace in other countries is an important part of our democratic responsibility.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links. I checked this book out from the library. 

Our Bodies and the Body of Christ: Fearfully and Wonderfully

Fearfully and Wonderfully: The Marvel of Bearing God's Image
by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey

This is an updated edition, combining two earlier books Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and the sequel In His Image. It's a brilliant book, describing the body of Christ and how it should function through the metaphor of the human body. 

Dr. Brand studied as a carpenter, then served as a missionary doctor in India, mainly treating those who suffer from Hansen's disease (leprosy). His words and thoughts have been brought together and organized by Philip Yancey in a seamless way. All you hear is Dr. Brand, even in sections that were updated after Dr. Brand passed away.

Pain, so often viewed as an enemy, is actually the sensation most dedicated to keeping us healthy. If I had the power to choose one gift for my leprosy patients, I would choose the gift of pain. (p. 180)

One of the main goals of the book is to encourage Christians to reach out more to others in the world, those who are hurting physically or emotionally.

Not all of us can serve in parts of the world where human needs abound. But all of us can visit prisons and homeless shelters, bring meals to shut-ins, and minister to single parents or foster children. If we choose to love only in a long-distance way, we will be deprived, for love requires direct contact. (p. 22)

It is best for more mature readers. There are mentions of promiscuity, drug use, and other issues, always from within the Christian lens, but heavy topics nonetheless.

We have learned that what seems attractive and alluring may in fact prove damaging, and that some guidelines on behavior exist for our own good....The state God desires for us, shalom, results in a person fully alive, functioning optimally to the Designer's specifications. (p. 105)

The book is written by non-Catholic Christians, but I didn't see anything concerning in terms of theology. The few comments regarding communion are ones my kids would recognize immediately as Protestant beliefs and therefore not confusing. Catholics are always mentioned with respect. He also touches on his experiences as a Christian in non-Christian countries and in secular environment like medical school in a practical way. Here, he's using the skeleton as a metaphor for his faith.

As I have grappled with these and other issues, I have learned the value of accepting as a rule of life something about which I have intellectual uncertainties. In other words, I have learned to trust the basic skeleton and rely on it even when I cannot figure out how the various bones fit together and why some are shaped the way they are. (p. 113)

He even ends the book with a quote from Teresa of Avila.

Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world.

There's a discussion guide at the end that some students may find helpful. I would also like to point out that the dust jacket for the hardcover is beautiful. It's a little busy for my taste, but it's embossed and reflects light from the images and the lettering. The pages feel very nice, too. It's always satisfying to see a publisher create a quality product in both the content and the package.

This book has been discussed in the Mater Amabilis Facebook group many times. Some people suggest it for biology or health, but it's really not sufficient as a biology book. While it does explain some aspects of the human body, it only does so in parts, using those parts to uncover a truth of the universal church. I believe it fits best as spiritual reading, but will be most useful in that place for someone who has already learned a little about biology and the human body.

I loved this book. The insights brings aspects of God's kingdom into focus. I intend to recommend it as an option for First Son (twelfth grade) for spiritual reading. First Daughter may begin anatomy and health this year (ninth grade), but I think I'll recommend it to her when she has finished those courses, in tenth or eleventh grade.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links. I purchased this book.

Read Widely and Be Curious: Range

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World 

by David Epstein

This book was recommended to me by a fellow moderator in the Mater Amabilis group. I immediately recognized it as a kind of counter to Outliers, which I read a few years ago and included in the high school health course First Son completed. 

Range argues against the idea of early and thorough specialization. Early in the book, he explores a 2009 paper coauthored by two researches with opposites points of view who found that early specialization leads to success in only certain domains (like chess). They were able to differentiate those areas as ones that had rapid and consistent feedback, as opposed to fields that don't present clear rules or patterns or where feedback comes too late to allow immediate connections.

The book goes on to elucidate some of the ways we can educate ourselves to apply broad thinking strategies in a wide variety of areas, arguing such training would be beneficial to everyone and perhaps more beneficial than some of the specialized training people receive in college or graduate programs.

Some tactics are applicable in our home education. For example, being forced to provide an answer, even one devised by wild guessing, improves the chance of a student remembering the correct answer at a later time. This strategy is apparent in our spelling or dictation practices where students must write something, even if I immediately point out the correct spelling and ask the student to change it. (My kids hate this, by the way, so I've been telling them all about my recent reading.)

Another key point that is helpful to highlight for children is that encountering challenges or frustration when struggling with problems is a sign of learning, while easily parroting back answers isn't.

For a given amount of material, learning is most efficient in the long run when it is really inefficient in the short run. If you are doing too well when you test yourself, the simple antidote is to wait longer before practicing the same material again, so that the test will be more difficult when you do. Frustration is not a sign you are not learning, but ease is. (p. 89)

I am constantly reminding my children that learning happens when things are hard (but not too hard). If it's easy, either you're going to forget it as soon as we finish or you already knew it. You want to be right on the boundary of what you know. 

Mr. Epstein presents lots of examples of people whose education and career paths meandered through disparate fields of study. Many of them have found a satisfying, challenging, and engaging career by melding their knowledge and interests. Surveys show those who follow their interests are happier, even if they experience a decrease in salary. Also, maintaining a regular interest in playing an instrument or singing seems to be indicative of success in scientific fields, suggesting time spent practicing a hobby can benefit a career.

As I read Range, I was struck repeatedly by how the kind of education edified in the book followed many of the precepts outlined by Charlotte Mason and already present in our little homeschool. We read from a feast of subjects, even into high school, offering readings and experiences in music appreciation, drawing, geography, mythology, and so much more along with traditional mathematics, composition, and sciences. These kinds of vastly different readings offer students different ways to think and reason through a variety of problems. They may provide a spark, a remembrance, of a situation or problem from a different area that can be applied to a current problem.

Also, our wide range of readings are spread over an extended time. We may read from a book only once a week and take an entire year to finish it (or two or three years). The time in between forces children to reflect to themselves about what was happening at the end of the previous reading (reinforcing the material) and allows them to easily make their own connections between completely different topics as they encounter them intermittently throughout a year or level.

One of the things I liked about using Outliers in our health course was how it highlighted the kind of early focus and opportunities that allowed some people to surge ahead in a field, with the idea of guiding my own children to understand 1) the power of opportunities (which are often absent in those of low socio-economic backgrounds) and 2) how focused practice leads to competency and excellence. Range does touch on the second point (often by explicitly contrasting experiences with those in Outliers), but the first I am probably going to address in a modern government course.

There are also a few examples we as Catholics may not appreciate in the same way as the author. One of the people highlighted in the book was the woman who led the Girl Scouts into the modern day by incorporating activities and teachings of which many Catholics disapprove. They don't feature prominently in the book, and I think the idea of someone willing to draw on unexpected experiences in crafting a way forward can be appreciated.

After reading this book, I see again and again in articles and essays descriptions of education and career paths that fit much more with that described by Range than that described in Outliers. 

Overall, Range is an excellent book to read late in a Charlotte Mason education as a student transitions from an education designed and shaped by a parent to one shaped by a college or life-long student. I'm going to replace Outliers with Range in our Range high school health course. If First Son has time, I'm going to assign it to him for senior year as a kind of "get ready for college and life" book.

I have received nothing in exchange for this review. Links to Bookshop or Amazon are affiliate links. I borrowed this book from my library and then bought a used copy.

An American Odyssey: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

audiobook from Audible, performed by Elijah Wood

First Son is completing a blend of the beta Mater Amabilis high school plans and the updated ones, so I have to condense the six novels from Level 6 (eleventh and twelfth grades) into three novels for senior year. After talking with Kansas Dad and polling the Facebook group for thoughts, I think I've narrowed it down to four. I already own Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on Audible, and I'm going to assign this to First Son as a free-time listen. He's not as devoted to audiobooks as First Daughter, but he'll find it easier than reading so I think we can squeeze it in as a fourth novel.

Mark Twain is not my favorite author, though I very much enjoyed his Joan of Arc. Listening to Elijah Wood's performance was vastly more enjoyable for me than reading the book would have been. He does a terrific job. It is a little disturbing for modern listeners to hear the language of the characters, but I feel like it's true to the historical dialogue Twain was invoking and the harshness of it to our ears is a reminder of the traumas of slavery and racism.

Because I listened to the book rather than reading it, I don't have many reliable quotes to share. My favorite parts of the book illuminated Huck's thought processes as he desperately tried to discern right and wrong in a world that honored the legal ownership of slaves. Twain skillfully reveals much of the despair and inequality of the institution of slavery, but without challenging it entirely, even though it was published after the Civil War.

I also loved the descriptions of the weather and natural world of the Mississippi River. Mark Twain knew that land inside and out and beautifully describes it, whether in narrative text or in the voice of Huckleberry Finn.

Huckleberry Finn lies at every town up and down the Mississippi. He lies even when he doesn't have anything to fear. Sometimes, these whoppers are tremendously entertaining, but I personally would have preferred half of them, and the ones remaining lasting only half as long. First Son will probably enjoy them more.

I'm pleased to include this book in our high school studies. It's a complicated book with lots of room for discussions and thoughts, most of which we won't cover explicitly, but I think it's an important American novel I'm sorry I missed before now. Now that I've read it, I feel sure I'll hear echoes of it in many other American works.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon are affiliate links. I purchased this audiobook.

Habit Training Now: Atomic Habits

Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones
by James Clear

A few years ago I read The Power of Habit and decided to include it in my plans for a semester of health, which my oldest used when he was in tenth grade. Atomic Habits builds on that book's foundation and transforms the research into an action plan. Mr. Clear explicitly credits The Power of Habit a few times and encourages the reader to read it as well.

I read this book quickly, too quickly to take my time implementing some of the author's tips for habit formation, but based on my own past experience and what I have read in other places, it looks like excellent explanations and recommendations.

There were things I really liked about assigning The Power of Habit. The chapter and information on gambling was, I thought, an excellent introduction to the dangers of gambling that might (maybe?) give a teenager enough information to avoid ever falling into that kind of trap. Other chapters brought up aspects of marketing that are also interesting and important. Overall, though, Atomic Habits is both an easier read for a high school student and more directly applicable in an immediate way. 

I intend to replace The Power of Habit with Atomic Habits for my remaining three kids in our Health course. I'm going to keep The Power of Habit for any student that may be interested in some of the research and more wide-ranging applications of habit formation. I may also consider, if there's time in the schedule, finding a few essays or recent news articles that touch on the wider public health aspects of habits.

I have received nothing in exchange for this review. Links to Amazon or Bookshop are affiliate links. Kansas Dad had purchased this book for his own collection after listening to the audiobook borrowed from the library.

Healing: The Ghost Keeper

The Ghost Keeper

by Natalie Morrill

Historical fiction books set during World War II are everywhere. This one was recommended by a friend who said it was worth sharing with her (older) children. My son doesn't need any supplemental reading (since he doesn't read anything not explicitly assigned), but my daughter will (because she can never have a long enough reading list). I decided it was worth reading even if I don't need it for another three years.

The book follows young Josef, a Jew in Vienna who comes of age between the world wars. Though his family is not religious, he comes to believe in God. He marries and becomes a father as World War II looms. His joys, sorrows, and struggles form the thread of the tale, weaving a story of all those close to him. 

All of the usual griefs attend this story. There are those who suffer, those who die, those who live but continue to suffer. Josef's greatest friend, Friedrich, saves him, his wife, and his child. He also saves Josef's cousin, hiding her in his attic. But Josef learns how difficult it is to balance the treasure of the lives saved against everything else Friedrich did during the war, a balance Friedrich struggles to find as well.

This is definitely a book for older, more mature teens. There are intimate scenes and violent ones.

The writing is beautiful. I loved the descriptions of Josef's love for his wife and of his experience of fatherhood.

New life comes into the world, the quiet seems to tell me, but you will be forever counting up and up, because the subtraction at the other end of life will never be un-birth. We go out a different door than the one we came in through. (p. 73)

Josef's faith remains firm, grounding him through his many years of work and waiting. His aching prayers to heaven are sprinkled through the book.

Oh, Lord--he begins to pray, but he has no other words, just his heart between his two thin hands. He offers it up, in case it should mean anything. (p. 138)

This is a book I intend to share with First Daughter when she's a little older, certainly by the time she studies World War II in history in high school.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon are affiliate links. I purchased the book used. 

Making Monterrey Home: My Heart Lies South

My Heart Lies South: The Story of My Mexican Heritage (Young People's Edition)

by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño

This was a delightful light-hearted book I enjoyed so much, I promptly found some more books by the same author to add to my shelves. (We already own and love Nacar: The White Deer.)

After an exceptionally short courtship, Elizabeth Borton gave up her life in the States to marry a young man in Mexico. She moved to Monterrey in the 1930s and, with the generous help of her husband's large family, adopted the ways and life of her new homeland. She writes of her mishaps as a young bride in an unknown culture with wit, hope, and warmth. An insert in the middle shows many wonderful photographs of the author and her family.

Many of the anecdotes feature the Catholic faith, integral to the lives of the author's friends and neighbors, though perhaps experienced differently than in America today. 

This is the Young People's Edition printed by Bethlehem Books. I have never seen a non-young person's edition and cannot speak on the differences between them. This edition is not diminished by adaptation and is just as enjoyable by adults as by young adults. I think the focus on a newly married young woman means the book is most appealing to teenagers or adults rather than younger readers. There are also references to courtship rituals, pregnancy, drinking, and smoking.

There is one episode early in the book (pp. 26-27) in which a young maid threatens to kill herself. The story is told as if young woman was merely being melodramatic with no intention to actually harm herself, but you might want to preview that scene before sharing with a young person who has lost a friend or family member to suicide.

This is one of the books recommended in the Mater Amabilis curriculum for high school geography when studying North America. I think it would be a wonderful choice for a free read, though it's difficult to know how much has changed in Monterrey since the 1930s. It's as a memoir of an earlier time, not necessarily an accurate depiction of life today.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. I purchased the book directly from the publisher during one of their frequent sales. Links to Amazon are affiliate links.

Justice, not just Generosity: Winners Take All

Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World

by Anand Giridharadas

Mr. Giridharadas was pleased to be named a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. He attended events and talks surrounded by other bright and idealistic professionals. As time passed, however, he became uncomfortable with the message and methodology of the fellowship.

It bothered me that the fellowship asked fellows to do virtuous side projects instead of doing their day jobs more honorably. [...] Instead of asking them to make their firms less monopolistic, greedy, or harmful to children, it urged them to create side hustles to "change the world." (p. 266)

This book argues essentially that large corporations create enormous profits for a minority of people by taking advantage of the poor and marginalized, creating or exacerbating problems of poverty, unemployment, and violence. Then, rather than changing their business practices, they donate a small portion of their profits to organizations of their own design to address the effects of their business practices without accepting responsibility for their role in the problems. 

By refusing to risk its way of life, by rejecting the idea that the powerful might have to sacrifice for the common good, it [today's elite] clings to a set of social arrangements that allow it to monopolize progress and then give symbolic scraps to the forsaken--many of whom wouldn't need the scraps if the society were working right. (p. 7)

The elite decide what to fund, how to address change, and how to measure progress.

For when elites assume leadership of social change, they are able to reshape what social change is--above all, to present it as something that should never threaten winners. In an age defined by a chasm between those who have power and those who don't, elites have spread the idea that people must be helped, but only in market-friendly ways that do not upset fundamental power equations. (p. 8)

Even with the best of intentions, inviting companies and their owners to be involved in addressing inequity or poverty immediately limits the creativity and revolutionary aspects of change. Not many board members are willing to entertain solutions that might inhibit their ability to pass on their wealth to future generations or that might disrupt the very companies that lead to their financial success.

Moreover, the charitable world is now described in the language of business, rather than something like justice or human dignity. Politically, for example, we have fewer people rising in the ranks of government organizations but are filling leadership positions with men and women from the business world, asking them to "regulate" their former colleagues and employers.

Young people who want to change the world are easily drawn into the narrative:

What threads through these various ideas is a promise of painlessness. What is good for me will be good for you. [...] You could help people in ways that let you keep living your life as is, while shedding some of your guilt. (p. 38)

Not only are capitalists able to assuage some of the problems, the prevailing wisdom is that they are better able to do so. However, the author argues this situation merely allows the winners to continue winning and pull even farther ahead.

There are still winners and losers, the powerful and the powerless, and the claim that everyone is in it together is an eraser of the inconvenient reality of others. (p. 50)

One of the key points of the book is how the large corporations manage to impact the messaging from speakers and authors. Many who begin by criticizing the current methods of philanthropy end up adjusting their talks and books as they are invited to conventions or retreats. As their income is more and more dependent on the wealthy, their words transform from calling for radical change to ones calling for change within the current system.

Inspire the rich to do more good, but never, ever tell them to do less harm; inspire them to give back, but never, ever tell them to take less; inspire them to join the solution, but never, ever accuse them of being part of the problem. (p. 155)

Then, not only do they continue to amass wealth at the expense of the week and poor, but they turn around and tell them something like "We know how best to solve your problems."

Leave us alone in the competitive marketplace, and we will tend to you after the winnings are won. The money will be spent more wisely on you than it would be by you. You will have your chance to enjoy our wealth, in the way we think you should enjoy it. (p. 164)

Interestingly, the book describes some companies that were designed to more directly benefit clients.

A company not run purely in shareholders' interests risked lawsuits from its investors. The dominant interpretation of corporate law, as we've seen, has since the 1970s come to regard companies' first duty as being to earn a profit for shareholders. (p. 248) 

Mr. Giridharadas provides many examples showing how the current ideology (allowing capitalists to determine our goals and methods for social change) is failing. He argues we need more government discussion of corporations and their behavior to address the root problems of inequity. I believe he would like to see more government regulation, but what he argues for is actually a more explicit and amicable public discourse on the causes of inequality and the methods for addressing it. Bringing those conversations out of private elite conferences and into the public arena allows everyone to participate.

It is solving problems in ways that give the people you are helping a say in the solutions, that offer that say in equal measure to every citizen, that allow some kind of access to your deliberations or at least provide a meaningful feedback mechanism to tell you it isn't working. It is not reimagining the world at conferences. (p. 227)

This book is written for elites, most of whom are firmly in the American left, politically. Some of the arguments, therefore, are along the lines of, "This is why Trump won the election," in ways that conservatives may find distasteful.

I think it's worthwhile to ask whether the weakest members of our society are making any progress and tying our goals and assessments of progress towards those goals to measurements of the quality of life for the least powerful.

Now that I've read this book, I find myself noticing evidence of its arguments in articles and TED talks. It has helped me to be more critical of those who are promising to change the world without changing our lifestyles or our hearts.

Benedict XVI's Caritas in Veritate offers a rich contemplation of walking in love and solidarity with the poor and marginalized. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in charity or societal change, even if not Catholic. 

For Catholics, though, changing the world is a matter of bringing forth the kingdom of God. Charities and governments can participate in that transformation, but what it requires most of all is allowing the love of Christ to change our hearts and then go forth to love and cherish every human person. Those of us who are comfortable in our lives must learn to sacrifice our own luxuries for the benefit of the marginalized if we want to follow Christ. Part of that sacrifice might mean admitting the deficiencies of our society's status quo.

Generosity is not a substitute for justice... (p. 182)

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop are affiliate links. I checked this book out from the library. 

Quotes from Dorothy Day: The Reckless Way of Love

The Reckless Way of Love: Notes on Following Jesus

by Dorothy Day, edited by Carolyn Kurtz

This year I became a patron of the Fountains of Carrots podcast, which includes a patron book club. The first book of 2021 was The Reckless Way of Love. 

Servant of God Dorothy Day was a Catholic convert and a social activist, living her faith in a dramatic way. I have read only a little about Dorothy Day and nothing by her, so this book was all new to me. It's a compilation of selected quotes from any and all of Dorothy Day's writings centered around five themes: faith, love, prayer, life, and community. It's very easy to dip in to the book at any time and in any place as the quotes are only connected by the part's theme.

As it's a book of quotes, it's very easy to find words that speak to any reader's personal circumstances. In a time of Covid recovery and uncertainty as we move back to normal, many quotes like this one resonated with me:

I should know by this time that just because I feel that everything is useless and going to pieces and badly done and futile, it is not really that way at all. Everything is all right. It is in the hands of God. Let us abandon everything to Divine Providence. (p. 48)

I also loved this one about moving forward freely.

But there is no point dwelling on the past excessively. My mother used to warn us against that; she'd say, "Doting on what's gone is wasting precious time." It's stealing time, really, from the present and from the future. If you believe in the mission of Jesus Christ, then you're bound to try to let go of your past, in the sense that you are entitled to his forgiveness. To keep regretting what was is to deny God's grace. (pp. 62-63)

I do wish the book identified the source of each quote. Many times I wished to know if it was from her diary, a published book, or an article. With today's online search capabilities, I could probably have found them each myself, but it seemed like the sort of thing an editor could have done rather easily.

I enjoyed reading a little of Dorothy Day's own words. The Fountain of Carrots book club discussion was a fun way to continue pondering the quotes.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. I requested the book from a member of PaperBackSwap (not an affiliate link). Links to Bookshop are affiliate links, but links to Fountains of Carrots are not affiliate links.

Martyrs in England: God's Secret Agents

God's Secret Agents: Queen Elizabeth's Forbidden Priests and the Hatching of the Gunpowder Plot 
by Alice Hogge

This book was recommended multiple times by a friend of mine (Sally Thomas) so I was thrilled when I was offered a copy on PaperBackSwap.com (not an affiliate link). 

How could you tell apart the man who behaved like a secret agent and was a secret agent, from the man who behaved like a secret agent, but was a man of God (even if you, yourself, had forced that mode of behaviour upon him by your laws)? (p. 296)

The answer, according to God's Secret Agents, is not very well. 

This book thoroughly explores the context and conditions of the Catholic priests of the English Reformation. The extensive research reveals thoughts and declared intentions of Catholics in England, government officials, Queen Elizabeth, and the priests caught between them all. It's an invaluable book for anyone interested in the Catholic Reformation, and an excellent background for books like Edmund Campion by Evelyn Waugh. The Gunpowder Plot is actually only a small part of the book, though as an American Catholic, I found those chapters as enlightening as the rest.

One of the interesting things I have noticed about English history and literature is how often being Catholic is just unacceptable to proper Englishmen. For example, Winston Churchill's History of the English-Speaking Peoples seems to frown worriedly at any Catholic he mentions. According to Ms. Hogge, it began centuries ago, as a Catholic invasion from Spain was thwarted on their very shores.

What remained unclear, though, was how many of their countrymen would still be prepared to welcome them in, now that Catholicism had been linked so strongly with un-Englishness in the public consciousness. For if to be Catholic was to be an unnatural Englishman, then to draw attention to that unnaturalness in the weeks and months following the Spanish Armada was tantamount to signing your own death warrant. (p. 98)

Late in the book, she argues such bias continues today. She recounts how newspapers published a flurry of worrying articles when the Prime Minister was spotted in a Catholic cathedral in 1998.

It was as though the voices of long dead Tudor, Stuart and Hanoverian MPs, churchmen, and pamphleteers had suddenly crackled into life again and centuries on were venting their old bias. (p. 391) 

The author did a magnificent job presenting all sides of the issues arising in the course of the book. The martyrs are heroic in their service to their countrymen, the politicians are often simply trying to make peace and smooth things over, and the pope doesn't always ease the situation.

Pope Pius V, responsible for excommunicating Elizabeth in 1570, and releasing her subjects from their allegiance to her. This act, more than any other single event, defined the English Catholic dilemma of divided loyalty. (second photo insert)

It was a time when men and women of much and little learning were working out their salvation amidst uncertainty, mortal and immortal, with wise and trusted individuals often disagreeing about not just the proper response to questions, but the relative importance of the questions themselves. It is a reminder not just of the danger of easily vilifying (or idealizing) people of the past, but of the present as well.

St. Nicholas Owen was one of the most fascinating people in the book. A brilliant carpenter and devoted Catholic, he designed and crafted priest holes all over England. Eventually, he was captured and martyred under torture, apparently without divulging any of his secrets.

In life he had saved them, in death he would too: not a single name escaped him. (p. 365)

I love his example of humble craftsmanship in service to God, and he's now one of my new favorite saints. (Coincidentally, an artist recently recommended in the Mater Amabilis Facebook group, offers a lovely icon of him with St. Joseph.)

There are graphic depictions of torture and gruesome deaths, not for the faith of heart, though many of these public executions led to conversions of heart also described in the book.

I do wish there had been some sort of a list of people in the back of the book to reference. Many men appear and reappear in the pages, sometimes with different names (those English have a distressing habit of becoming Lords or something and getting a new name). If I had known how very many there were, I would have made my own list as I read.

I wouldn't assign this book to a high school student, but only because it's rather long. You would have to dedicate a substantial amount of time to the English Reformation to justify it. I will definitely include it on a list of recommended reading for an interested student.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. I received this book from PaperBackSwap.com (not an affiliate link). Links to Bookshop are affiliate links.

The Chiefest of these is Love: Charis in the World of Wonders

Charis in the World of Wonders

by Mary Youmans

My friend, Sally Thomas, recommended this book repeatedly, so I put it on my wish list and was thrilled to receive it for Christmas. It was the perfect book to read as I recovered from Covid, when I was tired of all the streaming videos, but not yet focused enough for anything beyond a delightful novel.

It's a beautifully evocative book set in Puritan New England as Charis wanders alone through a world of horrors and wonders, mystery and assurance. 

The world was fallen, broken to shards like a clay pitcher. No, it was not the throne of an unchangeable will but the cross that hung in my mind with a glimmering, drowned light--the arms-out image of wide embrace that declared we were not alone in our sufferings. (p. 176)

I read it quickly, eager to know Charis's experiences and fate, and under the influence of illness, so I hope to read it again more slowly in the future.

To be quite honest, my recovery from Covid is not complete, and my ability to put my feelings about this novel into adequate words is entirely lacking. I loved every page of it, but here are some more reliable reviews if you want to know more before investing a few days of your time to read it yourself:

• The Catholic World Report: 2020’s Best-kept Literary Secret
• DarwinCatholic: Charis in the World of Wonders, by Marly Youmans: A Review
• The Wine-Dark Sea: Charis in the World of Wonders (This one has some spoilers, so you may want to wait until after you read the book yourself.)

There are allusions to mature romantic themes, but I intend to put this on First Daughter's list of optional supplemental reading for early American history (which I think she'll start in tenth grade; her plan will be a little different than First Son's was).

God fashioned the waters and their salt, changeable secrets out of joy and pleasure, and likewise he formed me, and all he longer for me in my life was that I be alive, all the way alive and whole like the sea, doing what I was intended to do, being all of what I was meant to be--a woman rejoicing in creation and sensing another, better world next to our own, a mother and wife, a wielder of the needle, an apprentice to a goldsmith and a candle on fire. (pp. 313-314)

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop are affiliate links. I received this book as a gift.

The Last Acceptable Prejudice: The Tyranny of Merit

The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good?

by Michael J. Sandel

In this book, Dr. Sandel argues that meritocracy (the idea that we can "go as far as our talents and hard work will take us") has failed. More importantly, he argues persuasively that such an ideal is flawed even if it could be implemented perfectly.

In fact, there is less economic mobility in the United States than in many other countries. Economic advantages and disadvantages carry over from one generation to the next more frequently than in Germany, Spain, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway, and Denmark. (pp. 75-76)

Later, he writes, "By these measures, the American dream is alive and well and living in Copenhagen."

If our talents are gifts for which we are indebted--whether to the genetic lottery or to God--then it is a mistake and a conceit to assume we deserve the benefits that flow from them. (p. 123) 

I find myself overwhelmed at the thought of addressing everything in this book. You can read an excellent summary and review of it in The Guardian (better than the one in the New York Times). Briefly, a meritocracy leads to two main devastating effects: 1) those who fail to earn a decent living are forced to believe it is their own fault (though it's usually not), and 2) those who succeed erroneously believe success is based entirely on their own efforts and therefore denigrate (subconsciously or consciously), those who are not as successful.

Moreover, the elites are unembarrassed by their prejudice. They may denounce racism and sexism but are unapologetic about their negative attitudes toward the less-educated. (pp. 95-96)

The book criticizes both sides of the political debates in the United States (also the UK and Europe), but its focus is on liberals, not because Sandel agrees with conservatives, but because he blames the liberal elite for the series of attitudes and policies that led to the development of a populist uprising that has (so far) elected Trump in 2016 (and fought for him after the election in 2020) and voted in favor of Brexit. 

Sandel describes a professional and wealthy class that responds to arguments with a subtle but substantial bias against anyone who is less academically educated. I have seen that bias myself, essentially throughout the mainstream media, but also directly from friends on social media, but I think it extends just as much to those who profess a religious belief, even if they hold graduate degrees. Although Sandel briefly mentions faith occasionally (and even approvingly cites Church documents and Papal speeches or letters), he rarely links religious beliefs with this prejudice.

If you read mainstream news articles about abortion, the pro-life position is always presented as if those who hold it are ill-educated. This is a dangerous discrimination. Eventually people stop believing anything they read from those sources. The reasons are two-fold: 1) If they're so wrong about abortion, why should I believe them about anything?, but more pertinent to the book,  2)Why should I listen to anyone who obviously thinks I'm an idiot? I think this leads directly to the difficulty in open discussions of medical practices and the best ways to safeguard our own health and that of those around us. I see this repeatedly in discussions around vaccines and everything Covid related. It doesn't matter who is right if no one will believe a single word anyone else says.

In many ways, this book brings together many of the ideas and thoughts that have been coalescing in my mind for years, not all of which are shared in this blog: the struggles of the working class, the search for a consistent life ethic, frustration at the failure of the higher education system to live up to my ideal of education, the denigration of the dignity of work, and the fractures I feel keenly between many of my family and friends. The clash in 2020 of the pandemic and an intense presidential election forced these misgivings into my daily life--and not just on social media. It suddenly felt like no one could even agree on the most basic truths, and no source of information was universally trusted.

I think I'm going to assign this book to my children when they are seniors in high school, as part of a government credit.

I often felt unsettled while reading this book. Even though I had read and thought much about these topics, this book in particular made me question my own prejudices. I encourage everyone to read this book, and then tell me what you think about it! I found myself constantly asking myself, What would [friend/family] think about this? The chapter on Success Ethics is a bit dense, but the rest is remarkably readable.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop are affiliate links. I checked this book out from our public library.

Beauty and Hope in Tragedy: The Mountains Sing

The Mountains Sing

by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

audiobook

The audiobook was a deal of the day from Audible. I bought it because I thought it might be a good one for our high school geography course, one that would trace much of recent Vietnamese history in the voice of a Vietnamese poet. Our library had the book, but the audiobook would pronounce the names and sayings properly.

Beauty and tragedy come alive in this far-reaching story following an extended family of a young girl as she grows into a woman, Guava by nickname, in Vietnam. The perspective from a non-American source is illuminating. Much of the language is as poetic and lyrical as you would hope from a celebrated poet like the author. I feel like I glimpsed something magnificent and true about Vietnam as I listened. The audiobook was a particularly powerful way to immerse myself in the story; she was an excellent performer.

Sometimes the language seemed a little forced to me. It's hard to know if that might be a problem with the translation or because modern America is not as welcoming to poetry in general as Vietnam may be, rather than any defect in the novel. I did sometimes think the narrator's voice was indistinguishable from her uncles. They tell significant portions of the story, but in language and details as she would.

The most difficult part of this book is simply the horror and tragedy Vietnam's people experienced in the past three or four generations. Guava's family suffers in every generation - from the Japanese, the Land Reform, and the Vietnam War and its aftermath. After a while, I had to take breaks from the story to listen to something less depressing and violent. For that reason, I've decided not to include it in our geography course. In some ways, it seems wrong to protect our teenagers from violence perpetrated towards families without the luxuries we have to do so, but just because such things happen doesn't mean we need to subject our children to them. There will be plenty of time for my kids to read or listen to this book in college or as adults. 

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon above are affiliate links. I purchased the audiobook.

The Admissions Game: Who Gets in and Why

Who Gets in and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions

by Jeffrey Selingo

We have a junior, so college admissions are on our minds. I've been interested in education for decades, even before I was homeschooling, and Kansas Dad is a college professor, so we may be a bit more knowledgeable about higher education than the average person, but not necessarily from the prospective of parents of an applicant. 

Mr. Selingo persuasively argues the entire college application process is designed to benefit the colleges at every step of the way, rather than the students. The goal, then, is not to help a student find a school where he or she will be challenged, fulfilled, and well-educated, but to create a class with specific characteristics. 

"I saw how many awesome students didn't make the cut," she tells me one morning as we sit at Starbucks on the ground floor of the Emory admissions building. "It completely changed my mind about the advice I give to students. Now I tell them do the best you can, pursue your genuine interests, and let the chips fall where they may."

There was little in the book that was new to me, but much that would be useful for parents of students beginning a college search, including those who are just starting high school. Some tips are specific, like taking the ACT or SAT more than once, and some are more general, like looking for a combination of characteristics of a college's past classes to determine if they might be able and willing to offer steeper discounts to a prospective student. On the topic of application essays, for example, he says, among other bits of advice:

The essays that stick out do s not because of what the applicants write but how they write it--with an authentic voice that gives readers a sense of what the student see, feels, and thinks.

Some of these strategies have to be modified to be effective for homeschooling students.

To write the book, Mr. Selingo observed and interviewed admissions employees reading applications and making admissions decisions over the course of a year. He also followed a few specific students, interviewing them through the year as they moved through the admissions process. He shares these experiences and processes in the book.

One of the other main themes in the book is that colleges are either "buyers" or "sellers," in terms Mr. Selingo uses. The sellers are the most elite colleges and universities. They receive far more applicants than they accept. They do not offer scholarships and grants to the best students, because they have plenty of applicants who will pay the price tag. (They do often devote a great amount of finances toward aid for families in the lowest income brackets, if those students can get admitted.) On the other side, are college and universities who provide an excellent education but don't attract the same number of students. These "buyers" are willing to provide scholarships and discounts to talented students willing to attend a non-top-tier institution, even to families who might otherwise be able to afford the tuition. He encourages high school students to consider colleges with an open mind, without being blinded to all but the most selective.

In addition to the admissions process itself, Mr. Selingo shares his own assessments of admissions which in my mind fell into two different categories. First, as I mentioned above, he gives tips and outlines strategies for students who are applying to college. These strategies include how to assess what a student wants out of college, how to expand the college search beyond the most selective colleges, and how to maximize a student's presentation on an application. 

The second category of assessments relate to the authenticity and appropriateness of the process of college applications and admissions today. Mr. Selingo argues for changes in the process that would decrease the stress and anxiety for applicants. He presents ideas that would shift the focus of admissions back to the good of the student. I was intrigued by his arguments, though there seems to be little incentive for anyone in power to institute any of the changes he recommends. I also found the book a little distracted in its goals: Is it a book for parents who are navigating the admissions process or is it a call for change in the industry? I think he wrote it as if it were both, but sometimes the bouncing between the two goals made the book disjointed.

Overall, if you haven't paid much attention to the admissions process at selective colleges and universities, this is a fascinating summary of the process and its difficulties.

I have received nothing for this review. I checked this book out of our local library. Links to Bookshop or Amazon are affiliate links.

North American Earth Studies: The Great Quake

The Great Quake:

How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet

by Henry Fountain

I stumbled across this book in our library catalog when looking for something on plate tectonics for high school geography earth science reading. This isn't exactly what I had in mind (I was looking for a readily available history of science book), but it is definitely high on my list. It's fascinating reading that indeed covers the theory of plate tectonics underlying a modern understanding of earthquakes.

The geologist George Plafker provides a focus point for the book. His professional work in a variety of environments before and after the earthquake placed him in a unique position to synthesize information from different sources and points of view.

He was finding that his scientific education never really ended--there were always new things to see and discover.

Just the story of his scientific career provides an informative look at how science really works and the value in thinking about big ideas in a field rather than focusing on a tiny piece of a puzzle.

The descriptions of the people of Alaska, the places they lived and worked, and the ravages of the earthquake are riveting. Along the way, Mr. Fountain explains the development of the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics, and how those ideas were furthered in the course of the study of the measurable effects of the 1964 Alaskan earthquake.

I haven't decided exactly what geography will look like for First Son next year (in twelfth grade) or what it will look like for my later children (probably slightly different), but this book is a possibility for an earth sciences book in a North American course. I do have some hesitation, mainly because many of the descriptions of the earthquake's effects are disturbing. People died, some of the violently, but most of them are written of as individual people, with names and families, stories of what they were doing and why when the earthquake or their own personal tragedy struck. While these stories give a strength to the narrative, they are also sometimes difficult to read. Including this book in a course might depend on the student.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop or Amazon are affiliate links.

All the Best Lines: Doctor Faustus

Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

with The English Faust Book

Edited and with an Introduction and Notes by David Wootton

One of the other moderators in the Mater Amabilis™ group recommended Doctor Faustus to me when I was looking for additional reading for First Daughter before her eighth grade year. I had never read it, but knew Kansas Dad had scheduled it for one of his fall classes so I thought they'd have fun discussing it together.

I found this copy at PaperBackSwap.com and it turned out to be an excellent one (better than the one Kansas Dad used in his class). The Introduction is thorough, though not one I intend to assign to First Daughter. In it, David Wootton famously quips it's "a drama in which orthodox Christian teaching triumphed, but in which Faustus has all the best lines." (right there on p. xxiv)

I struggled a little with understanding how Faustus could see and interact with Mephistopheles yet disbelieve in God or a heavenly eternal life. Late in the play, however, when he is grappling with eternal damnation and wavering between a hope in salvation and despair, struck me as a powerful reminder of the human tendency to consider ourselves beyond salvation because of our sins rather than depending on the mercy of God.

I received nothing in exchange for this post. I requested our copy of this book from another member at PaperBackSwap.com (not an affiliate link). Links to Amazon or Bookshop are affiliate links.

Deep in the Jungles of South America: River of Doubt

River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

by Candice Millard

This is a fascinating book about the mapping and exploration of an unknown river in Brazil in 1914. A thrilling tale of danger, it's also a balanced presentation of the historical context of Theodore Roosevelt after his failed presidential race, the expansion of governmental control (or the lack thereof) in the Brazilian rainforest, and the environment surrounding the river. 

While on land, the members of the expedition could not sit, step, lean, or stand without entangling themselves in the predatory ambitions of some creature or, more often, hundreds of creatures of the Amazon.

It is thoroughly researched by the author, including numerous interviews with family and tribal members, including some who recount an oral history of the first contact with those from outside the rainforest on this expedition. 

In the dark, liana-draped trees that towered on all sides around the tiny wooden shack in which the men fell off to sleep, the warriors of the Cinta Larga--with painted bodies, hard bark belts, and poison-tipped arrows--slipped away as silently and invisibly as they had come. Obeying the timeless calculus of survival in the rain forest, they disappeared on swift bare feet into endless dark halls of leaf and vine. For their own reasons, and on their own terms, they would let these enemies live. 

Roosevelt and the other expedition members never glimpsed the people of the forest. Only in these later interviews was it revealed how greatly those in the forest debated what do to with the intruders and how easily they might have been killed. 

In addition to chapters bursting with historical and scientific details, the book shares stories of the real people on the journey. Theodore Roosevelt, of course, is the main focus. He didn't have the same skill set as many others, but was always willing to do his part and more. George Cherrie, a naturalist in the party, wrote:

"There was no camp duty that the Colonel shirked...It is the only time I have ever had my clothes washed by an ex-President of the United States!"

There are plenty of mature themes in the book, as well as descriptions of violence, destructive and immoral behavior, and unpleasant and sometimes disgusting physical maladies. It is definitely best reserved for older students or adults. I intend to offer it as an option for our high school geography course on South America; I think it provides a great link between the United States and Brazil. I thoroughly enjoyed it myself and recommend it.

I have received nothing for this post. I received a copy of this book from a member of PaperBackSwap.com (not an affiliate link). Links to Bookshop and Amazon are affiliate links.

An Irish Story: The Hedge School

The Hedge School

by Gloria Whelan

I bought this book in paperback many years ago to read aloud to the children, but never got around to it. Recently, I found a copy in my Audible account and decided we'd listen to it in the van when the older one or two were not with us. (All together, at the moment, we are listening to Peter Duck.)

In this book set in the 1730s, Irish youth gather in the hedges for school while their country is under harsh English rule. It's a good historical novel showing some of the long-standing antagonism between England and Ireland. All the Irish in the novel are Catholic. One young man is even traveling to France to become a priest and return in secret to Ireland.

I enjoy sharing stories with my children that emphasize the value of education. Not only do the teacher and children sit outside in the cold and rain to do their lessons, they and their families are breaking the English law. They must keep even their ability to read and write a secret. And yet they study not just Irish and English, but Latin. The main character loves reading and reciting the Latin he learns.

My children enjoyed listening to the sometimes foolish risks of Padraic as he secretly plotted against the local English lords, but my daughter often worried about him when we had to stop while he was not yet in the clear. Because it was an audiobook, she would have to wait until our next time in the van to hear how he escaped the danger. 

I'm sure this is a lovely book on its own, but I particularly enjoyed listening to the narrator. He provided a wonderful voice for Padraic.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. I purchased the paperback version of the book from the publisher, Bethlehem Books, and the audiobook from Audible, an Amazon company. Links to Amazon are affiliate links.

Stories from Psychology: The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat

The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and other Clinical Tales

by Oliver Sacks

I picked up this book for First Son to read this year (eleventh grade) because he wanted a book about psychology. This book has more neurology than counseling in it, though, so I've told First Son he can read a bit and then decide whether he wants to continue.

Oliver Sacks is the author of the wonderful Uncle Tungsten and his lovely writing is as apparent here as there. He writes beautifully about his patients and their struggles, seeking always to see who they are and who they can be. He is open to the mysterious and the divine in his patients, even though he does not profess a traditional faith. One patient was unable to retain memories, but the nuns who ministered to the patients knew better. They invited Dr. Sacks to chapel.

I watched him kneel and take the Sacrament on his tongue, and could not doubt the fullness and totality of Communion, the perfect alignment of his spirit with the spirit of the Mass. Fully, intensely, quietly, in the quietude of absolute concentration and attention, he entered and partook of the Holy Communion. He was wholly held, absorbed, by a feeling.

The chapter on the visions of St. Hildegard is similarly open to the mystical possibilities, even while exploring her experiences from the perspective of a clinical psychologist.

Some diseases have symptoms or consequences best left for more mature readers, like "Cupid's Disease" in chapter 11. Another patient murdered his girlfriend while under the influence of PCP. These kinds of stories might be difficult to read.

It is likely many of the conditions described by Dr. Sacks are now treated differently, perhaps even have something more like cures, than they did in 1970 when this book was first published, or in 1985 when it was last updated, but the stories of these people and their struggles remain meaningful. Certainly some of the language is now out of date, but it is clear Dr. Sacks does not intend any disrespect.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop are affiliate links.

Evaluating Science: The Monkey's Voyage

The Monkey's Voyage: How Improbable Journeys Shaped the History of Life

by Alan de Queiroz

Alan de Queiroz gives an extensive history of biogeography, the study of why plants and animals live where they do and not in other places. He also provides interesting perspectives on the kinds of assumptions scientists make about their fields and how those assumptions may be challenged over time. When the theory of continental drift became more accepted, biogeographical studies became constrained by the idea that all geographical differences were caused by the separation of land masses through continental drift. de Queiroz provides extensive evidence for the surprising idea that a few random long distance journeys by living things dramatically shaped the biogeographical landscape we have today.

Obviously, the continents had moved--nobody was claiming that the theory of plate tectonics was wrong--and obviously, they had carried species with them, but somehow, these facts did not explain nearly as much about the modern living world as we had thought.

One aspect I liked was how he showed the way scientists (really, anyone) tend to tackle any problem with the tools they know, the tools they have, or the tools that are new. Molecular modeling and dating (using changes in nucleotide sequences over time to determine how long ago a new species appears) and PCR were two tools that changes biogeographical studies. Whether those tools were used in the best manner or make the most comprehensive arguments is an interesting discussion to address before assuming results based on those tools are trustworthy. Those kinds of questions are important to ask. For some people, it's important just to realize and acknowledge that those questions exist. It is very easy to skip that step. (The alternate is also important: being able to read some eccentric website calling into question a standard scientific practice and recognize it for the fringe attack it is, rather than a valid argument.)

Building on those ideas, the author also discussed the value of scientific studies based on their methodology. Even within studies using the same models, some studies can be universally acknowledged superior or inferior, but there's a lot of room for gray area. de Quiroz explores many studies, identifying how the same method or tool can be used well or poorly, depending on the initial assumptions of the researchers. I found de Queiroz's detailed analyses informative, for anyone interested in science. The kinds of questions he asks can be translated to any other scientific discipline.

Throughout the book, the author interviews and introduces a large number of different scientists. They are real people with quirks, biases, and families. He even includes pictures of them. There are also lots of instances where scientists with very particular areas of interest talk with each other and make connections each alone would be unable to discern; that's real science in action. 

This book contains a fairly heavy dose of scientific analysis, but it is fascinating if you can wade through it all. Following the trail of studies and their value was one of my favorite biology major projects. It was fun to spend a little time thinking deeply about how research is done and whether it was valid.

This would be a fantastic geography and earth studies book for an interested and ambitious late high school student. While the study descriptions are sometimes dense, they are generally understandable for anyone willing to concentrate. You could also glean a lot from the book even if you can't follow every argument. That being said, I'm not sure most high school students would be willing to put in the effort.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop are affiliate links.