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The Authors Guild called Amazon’s purchase of Goodreads ”a truly devastating act of vertical integration” in an online dispatch. Guild president Scott Turow had this statement:

Amazon’s acquisition of Goodreads is a textbook example of how modern Internet monopolies can be built … The key is to eliminate or absorb competitors before they pose a serious threat. With its 16 million subscribers, Goodreads could easily have become a competing on-line bookseller, or played a role in directing buyers to a site other than Amazon. Instead, Amazon has scuttled that potential and also squelched what was fast becoming the go-to venue for on-line reviews, attracting far more attention than Amazon for those seeking independent assessment and discussion of books. As those in advertising have long known, the key to driving sales is controlling information.

What do you think? The Guild cited Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson as an example. The book has 123 customer reviews at Amazon, but 469 reviews on Goodreads.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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Most biographies for kids of living subjects, have several things in common.  They are small in size and page number, they have flashy covers, the information they contain can be easily gleaned by combing the Internet, they feature the latest sports, music, TV, or movie stars, their "shelf-life" is limited.  Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World is not most biographies.

Montgomery, Sy. 2012. Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
(Advance Reader Copy supplied by publisher)

Dr. Temple Grandin is a scientist, a college professor, a motivational speaker, an engineer, an advocate for animal rights, and so much more - but as a child born in the 1940s with autism, her chances of becoming anything at all were slim.  In fact, her father fought to have her sent away to a mental institution, thinking her, not brilliant, but "retarded." With the help of a determined mother, Temple grew up to be a brilliant and respected woman who has changed our world for the better. 

With extensive access to Temple Grandin, her family and friends, and schools, author Sy Montgomery has crafted an inspiring, engaging, and informative biography about this singular woman.

Temple Grandin is thirteen chapters that tell the story of Temple's life and the autism that has shaped her destiny.  Not strictly chronological, Temple's participation in the writing of the book is an added bonus as her present-day thoughts are often used to punctuate difficult experiences from her past

"If I could snap my fingers and be non-autistic," Temple says today, "I wouldn't do it.  It's part of who I am."

Chapters relate her unique education, her friends, her scientific experiments and engineering projects, her autism and its attendant challenges.  Chapters are supplemented by short informational sections (which appear as pages torn from a spiral bound notebook) on such varied topics as "Thinking differently:Changing Views of Brain Differences" and "Factory Farming by the Numbers."  The final chapter, "Temple Today" is followed by Temple's advice, a selected bibliography and resources, and acknowledgements. Photographs, plans and drawings are plentiful throughout the book. Photo credits and an index will be included in the final copy.

It is clear that Ms. Grandin is pleased with Sy Montgomery's rendering of her life.  Temple Grandin, herself, is the author of the inspirational forward to Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World.

One thought that I could not shake after reading this book: What would have become of Temple Grandin had she not been born into a wealthy family with a mother who refused to lose hope?  How many young geniuses were/are never able to find their potential?  It is a credit to Temple Grandin that she is a willing and able spokesperson for those on the autism spectrum, hoping to promote an understanding of our collective neurodiversity.

• librarians
• teachers of children on the autism spectrum
• parents of children on the autism spectrum
• kids and teens on the autism spectrum
• kids and teens who know someone on the autism spectrum
• animal lovers
• readers interested in animal rights
• readers studying factory farming
• would-be engineers and scientist
  5 Comments on Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World - a review, last added: 3/20/2012
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  Jeff Barger said, on 3/19/2012 2:37:00 PM
  

  I've heard interviews with Ms. Grandin on NPR. She is a fascinating subject and this books sounds terrific. Thank you for sharing!

  shelf-employed said, on 3/19/2012 5:13:00 PM
  

  Thanks for visiting! I stopped by your site today, but couldn’t think of anything nice to say about spiders! ha! ha!

  Medea said, on 3/19/2012 7:18:00 PM
  

  This sounds like a fab book. The way autism is treated in Japan today is very similar to the way it was treated in North America in decades past, so it is great to have a biography of someone who was successful at overcoming barriers. Thanks for sharing!

  Myra Garces-Bacsal from GatheringBooks said, on 3/20/2012 3:01:00 AM
  

  Hi! My academic group (department) here in Singapore is Early Childhood and Special Needs Education - and this sounds like a book that would be a great resource for some of our special-needs teacher-students who deal with autistic children. Will pin this in my Pinterest Board. :)

  shelf-employed said, on 3/20/2012 3:50:00 AM
  

  Medea and Myra, It's always so interesting to hear views from other countries. Thank you. (and I have got to put Pinterest on my "to do" list!)

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Ada Lovelace Day

“Women’s contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognized. We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines, whatever they do.” -- Ada Lovelace Day website

Augusta Ada King, the Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852) wrote the first computer programs, which were used by the Analytical Engine invented by Charles Babbage.

Ada Lovelace Day celebrates the legacy of a lone woman scientist in a field of men. -- and does so, in part, through across-the-board blogging about women in the sciences.

The first Ada Lovelace Day, March 24, 2009, generated hundreds of blogs worldwide, as well as attention on Facebook and in the media.

I decided to sign up on behalf of I.N.K. to blog about women scientists on this day and soon found out that 1,110 other bloggers signed up, as well.

It’s Monday morning, and I’m putting the finishing touches on my Ada Lovelace blog when I find this article in the New York Times: “Bias Called Persistent Hurdle for Women in Sciences”. Tamar Lewin describes the American Association of University Women’s report, "Why So Few?" on the gains that women have made in the sciences, and the issues that still get in their way. Thirty years ago, among high schoolers scoring 700 or more on their math SATs, boys outnumbered girls 13 to 1. The ratio has dropped to 3 to 1, but that’s still proof of chopped sides.

Despite increasing numbers of women receiving doctorates in science, math, and computer science, women don’t represent a parallel percentage of workers or tenured faculty in those fields. The AAUW report focused more on factors that can make a difference in the accomplishments of women and girls -- such as learning that ability can grow with effort -- than on differences in innate ability between the sexes. Researchers found that cultural bias -- an underlying impression that women can’t cut the mustard -- had considerable impact. This bias takes root in any who feel themselves to be on shaky ground, as evidenced by a dramatic difference in performance between groups told that men and women have equal abilities in math and science and those told that men are stronger in these areas.

Many I.N.K. writers have devoted their

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In a world without Harry Potter, can the web bring young readers back into bookland? 

According to Portfolio.com's Mixed Media blog, publisher Nan Talese wants to build a better book review site--a bit of literary intelligence picked up at a cocktail party, even. Check it out:

"At the Lapham's Quarterly party last night, Talese, a senior vice president at Doubleday and the publisher/editorial director of her own imprint there, told me she is in the early stages of starting a criticism website, The Review, aimed at youthful readers."

In other news, my journalism students at New York University just got in the news with a survey that finds out how much it costs to buy a vote from a member of the Harry Potter generation. Politico has the scoop.

As you've seen on this site, the National Book Awards have concluded. I especially enjoyed the Library Journal's coverage of the blogged festivities. Stop by and read Wilda Williams thoughts about new media at the event:

"[There was an] increased number of literary bloggers covering the event... Confessions of an Indiosyncratic Mind's Sarah Weinman offers a terrific overview of the activity upstairs: "I was amazed at the content generated up in the press box, from print journalists scrambling to meet near-impossible deadlines to bloggers mixing mini-podcasts and videos on the fly....Content wins out, no matter what."

 

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Please, please, please vote for me! I redid this image with gouache paints on 8x10 bristol paper so I could show it. At least, I hope I can show it! Go to Illustration Friday and vote for me! Follow the directions there and scroll down until you see "mike r baker" and click the star next to my name. The gallery showing is right here in my neighborhood and I'd like to make some local connections. Pleeeeeease!

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