Bob Katz

Summary: Elaine views Circle Time as key to building a learning community with her students. When one of them is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Elaine and her circle of students, including the one dying find ways to make that fourth grade a most extraordinary year.

There was more to Elaine Moore than met the eye. She spoke with a soft voice, hardly the take-charge-in-the-classroom voice. She spent Circle Time every day at the beginning of classes, just talking, and listening to children talk about their lives in small town Alaska. Yet her fourth graders listened, and learned more than just the subjects she taught. They learned about each other and to care for each other as well as how to enlarge the circle by caring for others. Kids were encouraged to find ways to turn each day into a celebration.

This is the story of one year in the life of this gifted, caring teacher, and one class of fourth graders, including one of them, Seamus Farrell, with terminal cancer of the brain. Not the best student, he always worked hard, Quiet but spirited, and always caring about his classmates. It was Seamus, who on a field trip, faced with a fork in the trail at which it wasn’t clear which way to go said, “That way, Mrs. Moore!” He’d been absent a lot as Christmas approached with what was thought the flu going around, with headaches and vomiting–and a funny limp that didn’t quite fit the picture. When his mother, training to be a nurse, saw his response to a neurological test, she knew there was trouble. Surgery revealed an inoperable tumor deep inside his brain. Radiation could knock it back and steroids could control the swelling. They gave him six weeks.

Elaine had faced death before, when faced with breast cancer, and had talked with her students honestly at that time. Now she gathered them again and told them the truth, sensitively but honestly, that Seamus was facing a very serious illness and might not return to class. They talked about the possibility of death, which Elaine deferred to discussions with parents. But the Circle cared and wanted to see Seamus. Working with the principal and parents, arrangements were made for three to four students to visit during lunch several times a week, to go over homework assignments, and to do the one thing Seamus needed most, just to be with him and assure him he was still a part of the class. Later, the class makes a quilt with a square representing each child to present to Seamus. One of the most remarkable instances of Elaine’s bond with Seamus comes in the circumstances in which she presents the quilt to Seamus, an interaction which was literally life-giving.

This is not merely the story of a caring teacher who walks her class through one of the toughest situations they could face. It is the story of Seamus, his courage in the face of death, his honest conversations with a thoughtful pastor, his love for his class, and determination to finish fourth grade and enter fifth grade. It’s the story of a family and community who do their best by one another, faced with such a devastating diagnosis. No platitudes or stupid remarks. No denial of death. No one using the situation for personal advantage. Simply people doing the best they can while their hearts are breaking. Including children, who when treated with honesty and respect, show themselves incredibly creative and caring and responsible.

I reviewed another Bob Katz book, Third and Long, earlier this year. That was a fictional account of an Ohio town facing a factory closure when a drifter comes through, raising hopes for the high school football team and even for the factory. This was a true story. Both gesture toward what communities can be at their best, a message much needed in our divisive times. This also celebrates the significant role of teachers, who, at their best, teach far more than a state-approved curriculum. Here is a story of students, teachers, administrators, and parents, not at odds with each other, but together to care for one courageous child facing death.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author.… (mais)

Summary: When a drifter, once a Notre Dame football star, shows up in Longview, Ohio, he quickly becomes the town’s hope to save its major factory, lead its football team to victory, and maybe save the town.

He’d drifted from town to town after a brief football career, dropping out of Notre Dame. With experience in clothing manufacturing, he got off the train in Longview, Ohio in 1997 to apply for a job as factory manager of the Made Right Clothing Company, the major business in this Ohio River county seat. He almost didn’t make the cut until Marie, the administrative assistant who had taken a shine to him let slip he had a football injury. His abbreviated career at Notre Dame, under the name of Nick Nocero was enough to change the owner’s mind.

It became clear he faced a challenge. There had already been layoffs. Foreign competition was making it more difficult to get contracts. Yet the change was noticeable. Nocero cared, and would help out wherever needed. Working with the union steward, they met some rush contracts and business was up. But that just appeared to make them more attractive to some visiting Korean businessmen discussing a “strategic partnership.”

Longview High School, playing at Made Right Stadium, had fielded a string of mediocre football teams, the Bobcats, under Coach Pruitt, who has just suffered a stroke. The assistant, Sherman, was a math teacher who could do stats but knew little of the game. The Made Right owners put the pressure on for Nick to help. He assists and then takes over, which Sherman was only too glad for him to do. And the team starts winning. Marie’s son Brian plays for them, and he not only plays better, but starts becoming a better student.

Suddenly he is in demand. To speak to the Chamber of Commerce. To swap stories at the American Legion. To get a celebrity to the town’s Christmas tree lighting event. Both for the town and for him, it’s “third and long” and everyone is hoping for a miracle. The company, the school, the town have been just hanging on. Marie, a single mom sees a man who is worthy of her.

It’s hopeful. The team’s winning, the company is making respectable gains, and romance is budding. But there is a secret in Nick’s past that could trip him, and the whole shebang, up, downing them all for a loss.

Bob Katz has captured life in an Ohio town. The cover even looks familiar, like I’ve been in this town. Nearly all the small county seats are just hanging on, if that. If that one big employer pulls out, it changes everything. It has for a number of them. He also captures how a winning team can lift a whole town. Nick both intrigues, with the sense of mystery surrounding his life, about which he say little, and his ability to lead and inspire. Katz understands what a famous pastor once observed, that people love to be led well. The people of the town did, the kids did, and I found myself rooting for Nick, as he tries to make the most of this “third and long” shot to show what he can do, who he can be. This is a finely written story speaking to the hopes we cling to for ourselves, and for the places we call home.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author.… (mais)

Third and Long - read every word or you'll miss something brilliant

Nick Remke is a good man with bad luck. Or maybe bad timing. Or both. He’s worked hard as a plant manager for textile manufacturers and done a good job, but luck, timing, or fate seem to have always been against him, denying him a permanent position and the opportunity to put down roots.

Now time’s running out for Nick. He’s no longer a young man and his spotty track record is a liability. To say he’s desperate when he arrives in Longview, Ohio, a sleepy town of twelve thousand, to apply for a position at the Made Right, the town’s major employer, would not be an exaggeration.

On the way into the interview, Marie, the foxy administrative assistant to the owners, notices Nick’s limp and suggests it would be to his advantage to say it’s an old football injury. The owners are huge football fans, especially concerning Notre Dame. Jeremy Ziglar Jr. quickly decides that Nick’s not the man for the job until he notices he went to Notre Dame and has a limp attributed to his favorite game. Did Nick play for Notre Dame? Yes. How come he’s never heard of him? Nick changed his name. “It used to be…” Nick provides the name of a Notre Dame football icon. Being a football legend, even if from bygone seasons, is enough to get Nick the job. His football prowess is further enhanced when he’s coerced into coaching the local high school squad.

As the months go by, Nick continues to win the hearts (especially Marie’s) and minds of the Longview with solid performances at work and on the gridiron. His reluctance to talk about his Notre Dame glory days is considered humility, a character trait that is in itself inspiring. He’s a local celebrity. However, being newsworthy turns out not to be an asset for Nick, being more of a ruinous liability.

Third and Long by Bob Katz is one of those books you want to read every word of for fear you’ll miss one of the many brilliant passages. Whether it’s characterization, descriptive setting, or narrative insights, they all shine with originality and effectiveness, for example:
“Like angry callers to talk radio, ill-informed but hotly passionate, we had hunches.”

Katz’s use of a challenging and relatively rare point of view, the first-person omniscient, in which the narrator is a character in the story but also knows the thoughts and feelings of all the other characters, enables the reader to become immersed in the culture and character of this small town. You know these people, how they feel, how they think, what their dreams and disappointments are, because you’ve become one of them.

Third and Long is literary fiction at its best.… (mais)

EZ, otherwise known as Ethan Zanay, would love to be a great basketball player, but he isn't. He's on the team to make his dad, a basketball legend in their town, happy, but EZ stinks when it comes to any moves on the court. His life gets even tougher when his father is charged with fraud and ends up in prison. Deciding that it's time to make his dream come true, he intensively works on those small but oh-so important things which influence a team's play, the intangibles. But those are also the things barely anyone notices.

Basketball comes to life in these pages, keeping a realistic atmosphere that any young basketball fan will immediately recognize. EZ's worries, concerns, actions and decisions are very understandable for his age group. While EZ's main focus is on basketball and finding a way to make himself a valuable team player (or just be decent enough to be on a team), the other family problems add depth without overpowering the sports aspect. It creates a nice balance, where EZ battles two very different yet interacting problems. He tries to meet his father's expectations, while figuring out what is realistic and what is right.

The story flows at a smooth pace, making it easy to get stuck in the story. At 150 pages, it has the perfect length to create an interesting adventure while still remaining attractive to even reluctant readers. There's never a boring moment as EZ tackles various issues on and off court. The ending is unexpected and rounds off the entire tale nicely, while still leaving some food for thought.

This is a nice read for boy basketball fans, which has an important message—one which empowers while showing that not everyone's path or goal should be the same.

I received a complimentary copy and loved the vivid basketball scenes as well as the woven in, realistic message. So, I'm leaving my honest thoughts.… (mais)