Good reads

New on Mothers with Attitude is Julie Donner Andersen's latest entry in her Therapeutic Laughing column, this one on the use of non-anatomically correct terminology to describe the differences between boys and girls, and other things a boy can learn from living in a house full of females. ... Meanwhile, I just started a book that appears to feature my wildest dream of a special ed teacher. Called A Smile as Big as the Moon, it follows the bureaucratic odyssey undertaken by a teacher who determines that his learning disabled and neurologically impaired students should darn well get to go to Space Camp just like all those gifted and talented kids do. The school principal, special education director, and various NASA suits think he's nuts, but he gets them there alright. I've been generally pleased with my son's teachers thus far, but I have to admit that they have been dedicated to giving their students the best they can wrangle from within the system; thinking in terms of really challenging the kids to go beyond what anybody's tried or dreamed or planned for -- thinking of what's best and making it happen, rather than making the best of what's happened already -- does not seem to be standard special-ed operating procedure. (Not to mention the fact that some of the children in special education, my own small son not excluded, can be as stubbornly unwilling to get with the program as any foot-dragging bureaucrat.) I'm thinking this book is about as much of a fantasy as the latest "Harry Potter," but maybe it will put me in the right spirit to joust with Child Study Team muggles next fall.