A good book is many things, interesting characters, a plot that draws you in, text that builds a sense of the scene the characters live within, the circumstances faced by these characters and most importantly, how the characters solve the situation they are faced with. "
…more Loosing My Cool" took me to a world I know little about and for all intents, a world I did not understand or even wished to visit. I must admit, I was in awe of the author by the end of this book. A young man coming of age filled each and every page. It occurred to me that I was watching and listening to him as though he were my own son. A magnitude of words have been written about peer pressure, it is not a new idea that children fall prey to influences beyond the realm of home and their parents perceptions. But this book spoke with such a new, clear, honest and brave voice, I was compelled to listen. What young people are faced with in the fast, free, drug laced easy virtue of today's world is beyond what a parent can imagine. What this book does is allow a teenager to see the reality of that world. I think is should be required reading for every high school student. The seeds planted by caring parents need fertile ground to grow upon. Today's teenager can either give in and live in fear of the pressures of their peers and flounder, or they can grasp the vast and varied philosophies of the world and find their place to succeed, They can not think like us, they are living a different experience, but more importantly, we don't need them to think like us. What this book tells us is that they need their culture as a new starting point. Understanding that thinking and evaluating what life offers, is the real freedom. I love the simple wonder of this book! Even at the tender age of 64, Thomas Chatterton Williams gave me a new view of a world I was in opposition to, and made me rethink my viewpoint. Well done! (less)
