#8 The Coddling of the American Mind by by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff
Thanks for the recommendation, scifiJoan. This is indeed an excellent book. The premise is clearly stated, the research is varied and well cited, and their arguments are buttressed with both objective facts and honest analysis. Good for what might ail your local school.
#9 How I Got This Way by Patrick F. McManus
If you haven't read any of McManus' outdoor humor, you should, even if your idea of "being in the outdoors" is watching National Geographic channel. According to him, he's the world's worst outdoorsman, but also the most enthusiastic. In this, one of his later volumes, he tells his friend Davey that he fell out of a streetcar at age five and landed on his head. When he questions Davey about his excessively mirthful response, Davey answers, "It's not funny, but it explain so much!" This Depression-era survivor will leave you in stitches, and one can never laugh too much.
#10 Tunnel In the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
Seventeen-year-old Rod Walker goes to an alien planet for a college-level survival elective course with nearly a hundred others of his age. They're all stranded and must survive - or not - using their wits and intelligence. One of Heinlein's juvenile novels from his early years, it's full of his philosophy - ultimately we must rely not only on our own resources, but on those of like-minded others. No sex, no explicit violence, but realistic action, especially given the time frame when it was written and the target audience. This is another re-read, but Heinlein was a teacher at heart, and his lessons are worth considering even today. Thumbs up.
#11 Unsinkable by James Sullivan
This is the story of the USS Plunkett, DD-431, the US Navy's most embattled destroyer during World War II. She and the men on her saw combat in the Mediterranean from North Africa to Sicily to Italy to southern France, and she suffered the most prolonged and devastating air attack any American warship who survived the experience during the war. It's the story I'd hoped to read about the USS Murray (see above). This one makes up for it. Not only did I learn even more about destroyers and their use during combat, I learned a great deal about the men who served on her. Very good. Thumbs up here also.
