Took me a little longer to read because of the intricacy of the language, but totally worth it. I did end up taking a few notes to keep the various alTook me a little longer to read because of the intricacy of the language, but totally worth it. I did end up taking a few notes to keep the various alien races straight, but for the most part this is a great book to just soak in. It's like floating on the ocean-- let the waves come and go and enjoy the ride!
To paraphrase my favorite review: I have no words left to review Space Opera because Valente used all of them. And it was great fun....more
Shorter on concrete ideas than I might have liked (or, to be honest, I was hoping for), and unfortunately seemed to lack a strong thesis statement-- eShorter on concrete ideas than I might have liked (or, to be honest, I was hoping for), and unfortunately seemed to lack a strong thesis statement-- even in the last pages, the author admits that while he knows that it's important to do just the right amount of talking about money with kids, he's not totally sure what that amount actually is. The through line I saw was not actually one of money savvy or strategy, so much as simple awareness. Being a mindful parent-- not just mindful of your kids' needs and experiences, but mindful of your own (much of the advice involves making sure you know what's in your own bank statements).
So if you want specific advice-- numbers or recommended ages or amounts-- this is not the book for you. That's not a bad thing, as there's probably not any rules that would work for every possible kid. There's also not much in the way of developmental information, and even less that's backed up by actual studies. There are some anecdotes that might make you think, and there are some that are likely to annoy you, and those sets are probably not the same for every reader. The discussion of economic class is important but a little thin for the gravity of the issue. Basically, there's much in here to think about, but it's not a recipe-- it's up to the reader to process it and figure out which bits apply to me and my family.
There was a somewhat unpleasant undercurrent of sexism that emerged a few times (the two examples of lauded character-building "getting away from it all" camps were all-male, while many of the items on the "ban kids from buying" list were female-coded such as Barbies and push-up bras. As if a) bras are not necessary clothing items and b) non-underwire bras have even been available in the last ten years.) I'm sure it wasn't intended, and it doesn't affect the message, but it did annoy me....more