pop cultured

One of my favorite reads even today, this book by Newberry winner Mary Stolz is still a childhood favorite.

Martin Hastings is frustrated. He’s overweight, has no friends and resorts to bullying the pesky kids in his neighborhood. But you feel for him, because he often gets teased and provoked .  Oh, Martin also back-talks his teachers, something I can’t defend him on.

Still, the only joy in Martin’s life is his dog, Rufus. Rufus is his only real friend.  Martin is a loner who  enjoys playing the saxophone, something he’s been practicing at. But when Martin gets into trouble, something has to give—or go.

His nemesis is next door neighbor Edward Frost, the skinny boy who has everything. But after he and Edward go at it, Martin begins to understand that it’s hard to live down his bad reputation, and he make some important changes in his life.

The Bully of Barkham Street was first published in 1963, but its message is timeless.

I’ve always been a fair-weather Madonna fan. When things are going good, I like her. When things are going bad (like with her dreaded “Sex” book, which I thought was just plain tacky) I don’t like her much.

I picked up the tell-all book written by her brother, Christopher, on a whim. I was looking for some light and fluffy reading. Who knew I how engrossed I would get in this deeply fascinating book? It’s interesting, because as I made my way through the book I couldn’t tell for sure if Christopher Ciccone is currently estranged from Madonna or not (apparently he is right now). The book had a balanced mix of “good” Madonna stories and “bad” Madonna stories. Okay, maybe there were slightly more “bad” stories, but Ciccone is careful to toss in an ample number of nice anecdotes about his sister, and constantly assures readers that he loves her and is proud of her.

But.

Madge can be a mean one! There are many tales about her controlling and irrational behavior. Since Christopher worked with Madonna for several decades, mainly as her dresser on her tours (a job he hated) and interior designer for many of her homes, he was with her through all of her ups and downs.

This book takes you from Madonna’s childhood up to the present (with the exception of her divorce from Guy Richie, which happened right after the book was published) with the insight that only a bitter sibling could bring us.

The bottom line: a fascinating read, even if you’re only a fair-weather Madonna fan.