Touch the Universe: A NASA Braille Book of Astronomy
By Noreen Grice
Joseph Henry Press, $35
For 12 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has orbited above Earth’s clouds, sending stunning images of planets, stars and galaxies to a control center in Baltimore. Although it’s easy enough to click on the Internet (hubblesite.org/newscenter/) and view those pictures, Hubble’s wonders weren’t accessible to the visually impaired until the release of “Touch the Universe.”
This 64-page book incorporates Braille and large type, along with 14 color photographs embossed with lines, bumps and other textures, to give those who can’t see a chance to experience everything from Jupiter and Saturn to nebulas and globular clusters.
Author Noreen Grice of the Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Boston Museum of Science created the book with DePaul University astronomer Bernhard Beck-Winchatz, who received a $10,000 Hubble Space Telescope grant for educational outreach.
Grice made prototypes of Hubble’s images by tracing them onto plastic sheets and creating raised details to represent outlines of stars, planets and galaxies, and colors. Wavy lines represent gas currents, for example, while straight lines represent the color blue. The final illustrations were traced onto metal plates. The embossed images, which are fun to experience whether you’re visually impaired or not, were critiqued by students at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind before the book was released.
Caring for Your Teenager
By Dr. Donald Greydanus (editor) and Philip Bashe
Bantam, $18.95
Wondering if you should let your teenager drink at home rather than do it outside the house? This issue was brought up anew in the wake of the May powder-puff hazing incident by Glenbrook North High School students. Two mothers were charged with supplying alcohol to minors; one apparently bought kegs for the forest preserve get-together, while another allegedly allowed junior girls to drink at her home before the hazing.
Drawing on advice and contributions from more than 100 pediatric specialists and a five-member editorial board, this 600-page paperback from the American Academy of Pediatrics touches on issues ranging from parenting skills to drinking, video games, teen sex and common medical conditions seen during the teen years.
Not surprisingly, the American Academy of Pediatrics says that hosting your teen’s drinking party isn’t a good idea; it opposes underage drinking under any circumstances.
“Some genuinely caring mothers and fathers not only allow their teenagers to drink, but encourage it–so long as it’s done at home. The rationale? `I’d rather have him drink here at home, where I know what’s going on, than to have him out drinking at a friend’s house or who knows where, and maybe get arrested or crash the car.'”
Although the authors sympathize with the quandary, parents who let their teen drink at home are sending a message that underage alcohol use is OK. As for hazing, the editor’s thoughts are clear. “Putting a Halt to Hazing” explains why a ritual that kills an average of four U.S. college students a year should be discouraged. They point out that hazing isn’t new, that alcohol is involved in about half of all hazing rituals (see above), and that the practice has filtered down to high schools (see Glenbrook North).
“If parents can’t dissuade their sons and daughters from joining a fraternity or sorority, they should explain how dangerous hazing can be and forbid their participation in any hazing activity that crosses the line, either as perpetrator, victim or onlooker. . . . If they are at an induction ceremony and things get out of hand, they are to leave.”
The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries About the Teenage Brain Tell Us About Our Kids
By Barbara Strauch
Doubleday, $24.95
Author and New York Times science and heath editor Barbara Strauch takes an in-depth look at the teenage brain by interviewing neuroscientists, adolescents and parents, and discovers that whether it belongs to a human, a monkey or a rat, the adolescent brain is truly different from the adult brain. Although this book won’t tell you how to deal with your teen’s drug use, drinking or impulsiveness, it will provide some explanations for a lot of really frustrating teenage behavior.
Take risk-taking. For some teens, it means giving a speech in public or trying out for a team. For others, it entails driving a car as fast as possible on a twisting road. According to psychologists, Strauch says, “a fair amount of risky behavior is not only normal but necessary” for teens to figure out who they are and where they fit in. It’s a natural part of teen development. But there’s an organic reason as well: Neuroscientists are discovering that the prefrontal cortex, which stops us from doing particularly dumb things, isn’t fully developed in adolescence.
And what about teenage sleep habits? Teenagers secrete the sleep chemical melatonin as long as two hours later than when they were younger, writes the author, so they naturally stay up later and sleep later as they hit adolescence. And teens simply need more sleep than adults, according to research. But if you have a teen, you don’t need a sleep lab and a PhD to know that.
The Ultimate Diabetes Cookbook: 250 Seriously Delicious Recipes for Diabetics and Diabetics With Complications
By Carol Gelles
Broadway Books, $27.50
An estimated 17 million Americans have diabetes, and the number of new cases among adults and children is growing at alarming rates worldwide. Although some people don’t even know they have diabetes–experts say there may be nearly 8 million undiagnosed–it’s a serious disease that doesn’t just affect blood-sugar levels.
Diabetics are more likely to develop heart disease than non-diabetics, and it’s one of the leading causes of blindness and kidney disease. Because it can affect so many organs, diabetics often get complicated diet instructions from their doctors. The cardiologist wants the diabetic to eat low-fat, while the renal (kidney) physician wants patients to watch protein, sodium and potassium levels. And the endocrinologist wants the patient to keep down the carbs.
Award-winning cookbook author Carol Gelles is one of those newly diagnosed diabetics with a complication–heart disease–who was frustrated when she went looking for cookbooks. Author of six other cookbooks, including “1,000 Vegetarian Recipes,” (winner of a James Beard Award), Gelles has put together easy-to-prepare recipes ranging from appetizers and breakfast to dinner and desserts for diabetics with a variety of diet concerns.
Each recipe is labeled low in fiber, saturated fat, cholesterol, calcium or protein, for example, and high in those categories when applicable. Gelles also provides options for reducing protein, fat or sodium. A detailed nutritional analysis of each recipe is included at the end of the book.
Book notes
If you believe that eating affects your mood, then “The Kitchen Shrink: Foods and Recipes for a Healthy Mind” (Thorsons, $19.95) should be a welcome addition to your cookbook collection. British author Natalie Savona’s beautifully photographed book includes recipes for sleepless nights, depression, PMS, a “Feel Good Diet” and chapters on eating to stabilize blood sugar and improving your body’s response to stress.
“Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid They’d Ask),” by Drs. Justin Richardson and Mark Schuster (Crown, $25) is a wonderful guide for parents navigating the sexual development of their children, from toddlerhood through adolescence.
Writing with a sense of humor, the authors promise that “by the time you finish this book, you will have figured out how to respond should you discover that your daughter is producing a strip show in her puppet booth, or should your 4-year-old ask to touch your woo-woo in a locker room full of women.”
