Doug WilhelmCritiques

Catalysts for Change: How Nonprofits and a Foundation Are Helping Shape Vermont’s Future / Doug Wilhelm

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a former Librarian, I would often scour the community for hidden talents that I could use in Library programs. So when I saw this book, the concept of a community-oriented foundation, I wanted to read it to see what ideas that I could gather. It was very interesting and hard to fit into one category. Although it stands as written documentation of what the Lintilhac Foundation was able to do fo,r and with, their community – it also serves as a biography of people that were affected by the Foundation’s passion and generosity. The book is full of projects taken on by the Lintilhac family – which includes detailed research, taking on political challenges, delving into scientific facts, encouraging new laws, and providing continual support and guidance for the projects they start. Even though the focus is Vermont, the book serves as a guide for any long-term philanthropic projects. The book is 275 pages written in very easy to understand language that pulls the reader into the story. Also includes many black and white photographs which make the book more personal in nature. Might be a good recommendation for non-fiction readers interested in local event/local history.

My trifecta of disclosures: (1.) I won this copy through the LibraryThing Early Readers Giveaway program, (2) I periodically visit my relatives by marriage living in Vermont, (3.) I am late in reading and reviewing, because I had two surgeries this year.
More importantly, I am now retired 30 years from work as an employee in a nonprofit; 24 years, as a volunteer. From the perspectives of a former manager, and grant seeker, I have been impressed by how the general public was engaged to support efforts to improve Vermont’s world.
Nonprofit organization leaders and workers should find this book informative and inspiring.
Operinus 7/31/2022

Wilhelm provides a comprehensive history of the creation of the Linthilac Foundation and broad review of its many charitable activities on behalf of the family’s beloved state of Vermont. Created by Claire Linthilac who found her passion in maternity nursing, the foundation changed VT childbirth by bringing Certified Nurse-Midwives to hospitals. Under the direction of Claire’s son, Philip, and his wife, Crae, the foundation moved into supporting local journalism, keeping the lakes of VT clean, and many other charitable activities.

The memories of Claire really help the reader touch with her experiences. The added images really help add an extra touch which only helps the reader to connect with the story. A great read that really helps teach and see a little part of such a huge world.

The branch that I followed had less action than usual, and more critical thinking. It was still a fun read.

Luis, Hayley B & Speedup are 3 children who live in Sandy Feet, Florida. The waitress at the local diner tells them about the legend of Jean Lafitte. He was a pirate in the 19th century who pirated the waters of The Gulf of Mexico. He is supposed to have buried tons of gold along the Gulf of Mexico. Enough to build a bridge across the Mississippi. The children decide that their beach is as good a place as any to have buried treasure and they decide to go and start digging. Meanwhile two stranges, Yuke and Bug Luck, have just come in on the train. Trouble follows them no matter what they do or where they go and it seems that Luis, Hayley B & Speedup are right in the middle of it too. Will they find treasure or will they destroy the town looking for it. A fun early chapter book. I like the ending where the characters talk about researching the real pirates. Adds a little something to the book for children who want to find out more about the facts behind the legend.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I came across the choose your own adventure series shelf a t the library, and chose a few for nostalgia's sake. I loved these as a kid, and would try to read every variation of the story.

My adventure in this one was short lived- I followed two story paths, and died in both. But it was still fun to choose the story's path!

The story is about three seventh-graders Russell, Elliot, and Catalina attending Parkland, nicknamed Darkland by the student who attend there. Russell who seem to always be tongue tied. Elliot is obsessed with dinosaurs and Catalina is half-Filipina. The three are tired of being bullied. A rumor is going round the school about Catalina. They find out how to send school wide messages to the student body. The three post a letter to squelch rumors the popular girls are spreading. The post is known as "The Darkland Revealer." Many of the student can relate to being bullied or bulling. Other students start to send in their stories. It rises the awareness of bulling.

Recommended Ages: Gr. 5-8

Plot Summary: Russell somehow lost all of his friends in the transition from elementary school to middle school. he survived seventh grade, but as an eighth grader, he has no one but his mom. On the way home from school he manages to say the wrong thing to the worst bully in the school. Now scared of his new enemy, who threatens to be watching him and in a moment has control of Russell's emotions and actions, Russell is even more lost. Desperate, he contacts the school's biggest victim, Elliot to find out how to get Richie to stop. Elliot doesn't have any answers, but their discussion leads to an idea. They will change their behaviors and see if that gets different results from the bullies. In the library after school, they see the message the mean girls dropped in Catalina's lap. She joins their group and takes Russell's advice to write down her story. Together, the three new friends send the email to the entire school through their KidNet and with the help of a teacher. The students react: kids are nicer to Catalina and some even reply with their own stories of bullying. The teachers got the email too, but aren't sure what to do about it. Russell, Elliot, and Catalina decide to share the new stories but this time send them to the students only. They keep posting the replies, until one post gets them in trouble and threatens to shut down KidNet. Will they escape the wrath of the bullies? Will KidNet survive? Will the school ever be bully-free?

Setting: Parkland Middle School, some suburb

Characters:
Russell - 8th grader, dad died when he was young, says the wrong thing and weirds people out
Richie Tucker - worst bully, dad is mean to him
Elliot Gekewicz - perpetual victim of bullying, loves dinosaurs, decided to stand up to his three bullies and swing a sock of marbles but the Jock Rots respond by holding him upside down over a bridge then dropping him, Big Chris is the only one who seemed remorseful for his actions
Catalina Aarons - from Manila in the Philippines, tall and pretty
Brittany DeMere - leader of the mean girls
Jock Rots: Burke Brown, Jon Blanchette, Big Chris

Recurring Themes: bullying, internet, family, friendship, victim, standing up for yourself, experiment, speaking up

Controversial Issues:
pg 43 "What the hell do you mean?"
pg 44 "you don't figure out crap, all right?"
pg 44 "how would you feel if somebody wanted to make your life hell and you didn't know why?"
pg 58 "you're all ganging-up- suckhead coward asses"
pg 65 'making our life hell"
pg 96 "after all the crap you've done to him?"
pg 124 "You're an ass!"
pg 141 "What the hell is that?...What the hell is it for?"
pg 142 "what the hell kind of question is that?...Like you're the dad from hell or something...You can kiss my ass."
pg 178 "I'm gonna push you right in that damn Dumpster....You're just a damn bully"

Personal Thoughts: This is definitely the most cliche book I've read about bullying. Every character fit into a nice neat package. Catalina made the leader of the mean girls jealous. Richie is beaten by his dad and takes it out on others. The writing, especially the dialogue, is not authentic.

Genre: realistic fiction, drama

Pacing: medium-slow
Characters: not too many, mostly well developed but very cliche
Frame: the KidNet concept is a little confusing from a teacher's perspective but it didn't make too much of a difference as long as you believe everything in the story is possible (which it is, I just don't know of a school that uses it)
Storyline:

Activity:

I was dithering in front of the YA section the other day when an intense young man of about 15 rushed up to me, grabbed this book off the shelf and pressed it into my hands, saying that it was a great read, and I should try it. Who could resist that? Certainly not me, and he was right. This is a realistic and gripping story of drugs, a brother, a bystander, and a family.

Three kids who get picked on a lot team up and fight back against bullies, and discover that the pen is truly mightier than the sword. It verges on preachy, and the initial reaction to the first letter (which was a lengthy "I'm a person too!"; reaction was everyone being nicer to her and nobody making fun of it) was pretty unrealistic.

This is a Book About Bullying, and not a story in its own right. It's sure to appear on countless summer reading lists, but the truth is that it's just not that good a book--it's all caught up in its Message, at the expense of character development and decent writing. Fine to use in schools with class discussion, but not something middle-schoolers would actively seek out to read.

Russell finds himself on the receiving end of bullying and begins to notice how often it happens to others in school. Finding friends in Elliott and Cataline, the trio conduct a science experiment on the bullying at school. Although things go awry, these three ultimately prevail in helping people see their true colors. The teachers at school don’t quite get it, parents are in the periphery and the bullies are worse than ever and yet Russell and company find a way to beat them in the end. Those who understand what it is like to feel alone surrounded by people and those who have witnessed/experienced bullying first-hand will all find something resonant in this story. Use it in your classrooms as an authentic text component or as a base for opening up the bully discussion in your school.

The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm. Library section: Youth (grades 6-8), Fiction. What do you do when you are a middle schooler who gets bullied constantly? Three bullying victims join forces to discover and show the extent of bullying in their school. The school has a computer network where the entire school family – both kids and adults – can communicate. Kids can e-mail teachers about homework questions. Teachers can remind students about a test coming up.
These three youths send their stories to the entire student body on the school network, about being bullied and how it makes them feel. Soon other kids come forward, writing to these three kids, about their own, similar experiences being bullied. Even the bullies themselves write confessions, telling how bullying others makes them feel. Often they feel shame, guilt and fear of their own lack of self-control.
The three kids create a web newspaper called The Revealer, which reveals the extent of bullying in their school. As you can imagine, the principal, who has previously ignored the plight of the victims and failed to find and punish the school’s bullies, is shocked at the revelations and shuts down the site. But The Revealers find a way to spotlight the bullying incidents which raises awareness of students, staff and school board members, alleviates the worst bullying, as well as saving the face of the principal.
This book gives kids who are bullied a feeling that they are not alone, and that things can be done to raise awareness and alleviate bullying. Indeed, the ELCA synod assembly will discuss bullying and harassment this summer, and I hope the synod can help to raise awareness of this problem. If you were bullied as a child or teen, or watched your children get bullied, called names or suffered exclusion, or if you struggled with a child who was a bully, then you know how important this issue is, and the kind of sharp misery it creates.
In a short comment after the story ends, the author says that in the past four years since the book was written, it has been used in school classes to study the issue, and that the book was instrumental in helping an anti-bullying law get passed in Vermont, one of the first such measures in states across the country. This book has given principals, school boards, and teachers the support they need to take new, creative action to raise awareness of bullying and alleviate it in their schools. Hallelujah!

These three middle school students fight back against bullying by using the messaging system on their school intranet to post student experiences with bullies in an attempt to change their school atmosphere.

Bullying is a major problem at Parkland Middle School, but none of the adults seem to notice or care. When three students start "The Darkland Revealer," an underground newspaper on the school's LAN where students can share their experiences with bullying, though, they attract the attention of the school's administration and must find a way to prove that allowing students to tell their stories makes a difference. This book is blatent with its message, drawing parallels between bullying at Parkland and "The Diary of Anne Frank." The characters are stereotypical, but act like real middle-schoolers, including making bad choices and suffering the consequences for them. One of the major premises of the book, that seventh-grade students have unmoderated access to the all-school distribution list, is slightly unrealistic but works well within the story. Recommended for middle school students, this book is sure to spark discussion.½

This book makes me want to go back into a classroom again to read it aloud and have great class discussions. The messages about bullying, power of words, friendship and school rules would ignite meaningful and deep conversations in a community of students. The stereotypical characters and their real-life situations were believable and made the book that much easier to understand and relate to.

Russell, Catalina, and Elliot are the targets of bullying, gossip, and teasing at their middle school. Feeling like they have nowhere to turn, they take matters into their own hands with some surprising results.

The importance of friends and personal responsibility are emphasized. Mistakes are made, but the kids learn and feel empowered by their actions. A bit heavy handed at times, the overall readability and usefulness of the book allow the high rating.½

This is one of the worst books I have ever read!

Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

Matt has a huge secret that causes all kinds of problems in his life.

Once the star basketball player in a small city that lives for sports, he now refuses to go out for the team. Instead, he keeps to himself and creates a barrier between himself and the rest of the world. He avoids going home after school so he won't have to deal with his older brother and his "friends."

Neal used to be the basketball star, but now he spends his days locked in his room doing drugs. Matt aimlessly walks around town after school until his clueless parents come home.

No one asks Matt to explain, until he meets a girl online. Katie goes to his school and has a passion for asking questions. Katie's hit upon something in Matt.

Soon the two of them are hanging out after school. Katie's friends balk at the idea of them as a couple. No one knows the reason behind Matt's changes, so they all assume that he's in trouble. Now Katie's asking questions, and it's only a matter of time until the truth tumbles out.

FALLING asks the question of how far would you go to protect someone you love? There also comes a time when everyone must make the decision at least once in their life: yes or no to drugs? Katie and Matt wrestle realistically with this issue throughout the book.

Falling is my all-time favorite book. Though I may seem like I can relate more since I live in Vermont like Katie and Matt, the two main characters, everyone can fall in loe with this book. You'll fall in love with Katie and Matt immediately, you'll be on the edge of your seat when Matt finds out it's Katie in the chatroom, you'll be angry with Matt's brother's friend when he gets home, you'll want to yell "NO!" to Katie when she is with Matt's brother at the end, and if you're liek me, you'll cry whenever Katie and Matt get into a fight and it wil be difficult to see through your tears when MAtt finally "saves" Katie. Falling is just one of those books that it is absolutely impossible to not love. I HIGHLY recommend it to anybody who like a love story with a realistic spin. Falling not only tells a great story, but points out some recurring issues in Vermont.

Whilhelm puts an new face on an old book/topic. Bullies at school are put in their place by nerdy nobodies (with a little help from the biggest bully) and everyone lives happily ever after. With that said, the author puts together believable characters and plot situations which give the old theme new wings. With his use of computers and technology this reader was kept interested through the last page.

Excellent character development and setting. Started very promising but devolved into melodrama at the end. Still, would have great teen appeal.½

Matt was expected to continue his domination as the best round ball player entering the ninth grade in his small Vermont town, but Matt doesn't play anymore. Matt walks...everyday, listening to his personal soundtrack on his iPod. He meets fellow classmate, Katie, in a spiritually chatroom and his world starts to come alive and maybe Matt will share the secrets cause him to endessly walk away from the things that are important to him.

15 year old Matt is avoiding his home and just about everyone. There's a problem, his brother is a drug addict, and he can't tell anyone. 15 year old Katie befriends him and becomes his girl friend. She tries to get him to open up. He ultimately does, but only when near tragedy happens. A good read - lets you know what pressures teenagers are under. The parents are almost too clueless for words, seems a little far-fetched that they wouldn't notice that one of their suns looks like a street person.

This book would be good to use when talking about bullying. I think students will relate to this book because of how the students feel.