Dr. Radway's Sarsaparilla Resolvent
Beth Kephart

Reviewedon the blog Savvy Verse & Wit on July 2. The review read, "Bush Hill comes to life in the hands of Kephart, who clearly loves her subject, even the dark alleys and the unsavory places like Cherry Hill Penitentiary.... Dr. Radway’s Sarsaparilla Resolvent by Beth Kephart, illustrated by William Sulit, is splendid and will leave readers wanting even more."

Don't Call Me Inspirational
A Disabled Feminist Talks Back
Harilyn Rousso

Reviewed in the June/July 2013 issue of Bust. The review read, "Rousso uses this collection of brief essays and a few poems to share her beliefs and render her journey from dependent daughter to independent activist.... [P]age by page, she makes the case for herself, to herself—and to other disabled women. 'There is no quick fix for a lifetime of selfhatred,' Rousso writes. 'Only slow healing.'"

Blow Up the Humanities
Toby Miller

Reviewed in Teachers College Record on June 21. The review read, "[Blow Up the Humanities] is a quick and exciting text that is far more compelling than the typical academic work. It is thick with revealing statistics regarding the state of the university, publishing, and many other topics. Miller also displays an expansive knowledge of the field, hopping from one erudite point to the next.... Miller’s diagnosis of the dire position of the humanities and his call for an engaged critical theory that concerns itself with the symbolic mediation of material life are truly needed and are presented with an energy that is lacking from most academic discussions. As a call to revolution, it is largely successful."

Flow
The Life and Times of Philadelphia's Schuylkill River
Beth Kephart

Reviewed on the St. Albans Lower School (Washington, DC) blog on June 27. The review read, "What a gem!... I could not have asked for a more beautifully written, poetic and personal story of the Schuylkill River.... You may want to read this during the summer, when you can relax and absorb its powerful tale."

Dr. Radway's Sarsaparilla Resolvent
Beth Kephart

Reviewed in Cleaver Magazine, Issue 2 (June 6, 2013). The review read, "One pleasure of Beth Kephart’s lively new historical Philadelphia novel is the strong fit of the writer’s project and the story she tells.... Dr. Radway’s Sarsaparilla Resolvent shines as a novel about grief itself, suggesting that in thinking about what we miss, we keep what’s missing alive."

Free Time
The Forgotten American Dream
Benjamin Kline Hunnicutt

Reviewed in the June 1, 2013 issue of Library Journal. The review read, "[Hunnicutt] offers a chronological description of the developments that have, over time, stymied our pursuit of the 'American Dream.' Hunnicutt's tenacious, years-long dedication to this topic is impressive."

Don't Call Me Inspirational
A Disabled Feminist Talks Back
Harilyn Rousso

Reviewed in Disability Loop News June 6, 2013. The review read, "[Don't Call Me Inspirational is] so powerfully written that it explodes from within itself, and beyond the issues uncovered in women's studies, disability advocacy and politics there exists a rare exuberance.... I will save you the gory details of my own self-revelations spurred on by [Rousso's] brave vulnerability and leave you with my absolute recommendation to go out and immediately get this book. I promise you, you will learn things about yourself that will make you laugh hysterically, cry openly, and ultimately ... give you permission to embrace yourself for all you are and aspire to be."

Hope Is Cut
Youth, Unemployment, and the Future in Urban Ethiopia
Daniel Mains

Reviewed in the June 2013 issue of The Journal of Modern African Studies. The review read, "[Mains'] ethnographic examination of the everyday life of the unemployed youth and, in particular, his analysis of gifts and exchanges are most valuable. With this book, Mains has surely become a reference in the debate on youth in the continent. Moreover, his account of the unemployed youth in Jimma constitutes an important contribution to refresh the ethnographic imagination of Ethiopian studies, bearing witness to the fact that cultural and social dynamics in urban areas cannot be fully understood under an exclusive lens of ethnicity and ethnic differences."

Selecting Women, Electing Women
Political Representation and Candidate Selection in Latin America
Magda Hinojosa

Reviewed in the June 2013 issue of Choice. The review read, "Hinojosa has analyzed the results of her magnificent, tightly organized research project that examined institutional and gatekeeper barriers to women who run for municipal (mayoral) offices in Latin America, with a focus on Mexico and Chile.... The genius of Hinojosa's research design is attention to the candidate selection process. Counterintuitively, she finds that selection procedures that are more exclusive (not inclusive) and centralized (not decentralized) benefit women.... Summing Up: Highly recommended."

How to Be South Asian in America
Narratives of Ambivalence and Belonging
anupama jain

Reviewed in the Vol. 52, No. 3 issue of American Studies. The review read, "Jain provides an impressive accounting of scholarly literature on diasporic identity and assimilation, attentive readings of South Asian American novels and films, and a model for new directions in the interdisciplinary field of 'Asian American postcolonial feminist cultural studies'.... She proves herself a skillful and attentive reader, able to bring theoretical insights to bear on the texts, but also able to bring forth the texts’ own ambivalent, fraught, mundane, and at times joyous conclusions about the necessity of Americanization. This ethic of reading and her groundbreaking work on recently arrived and working-class Indian immigrants from Guyana are Jain’s most significant interventions."

Reading Up
Middle-Class Readers and the Culture of Success in the Early Twentieth-Century United States
Amy L. Blair

Reviewed in the Vol. 52, No. 3 issue of American Studies. The review read, "In her thoroughly researched and impressively readable Reading Up Amy Blair takes [Hamilton Wright] Mabie’s long-forgotten career as an occasion to explore and define a style of reading so foundational as to be virtually invisible....Blair convincingly posits Mabie as a proto-Oprah Winfrey, pointing out how Winfrey herself is able to assert the value of reading without ever actually having to defend that assertion chiefly because of the cultural heavy lifting her predecessor Mabie did roughly a century ago."

Pushing Back the Gates
Neighborhood Perspectives on University-Driven Revitalization in West Philadelphia
Harley F. Etienne

Reviewed in the Journal of Urban Affairs (online review) . The review read, "Harley Etienne, in this compact but informative volume, outlines the reasoning behind university-driven development and neighborhood revitalization as university campuses expand.... The result is a meaningful contribution to the literature from which urban planners, policymakers, neighborhood organizers and city officials could profit."

Rave Culture
The Alteration and Decline of a Philadelphia Music Scene
Tammy L. Anderson

Reviewed in Symbolic Interaction (online review). The review read, "Rave Culture brings subcultural theory back to speed. Anderson's book, rooted in protracted ethnography, charts the alteration and decline of Philadelphia's rave scene from its high point during the mid- to late-1990s to its 'diminished and fragmented state today.'... [It is] timely and of interest to students of subculture, lending insight into the utility of post-subculture studies at a time when neoliberalism has come full circle. [It is] also of interest to scholars of deviance, symbolic interactionism, and youth culture more generally.... By providing a fuller, richer account of scene alteration and decline, Anderson makes a significant contribution to subcultural theory."

Black Regions of the Imagination
African American Writers between the Nation and the World
Eve Dunbar

Reviewed in the online edition of the literary magazine, MAKE on June 10. The review read, "The depth of her analysis, the adherence to the archive, the continued urgency and importance of the texts Dunbar chooses to analyze — all combine to make Black Regions of the Imagination a compelling, if haunted, and haunting, examination of black literature in this unnamed literary period, and of blackness, itself."

Suspect Citizens
Women, Virtue, and Vice in Backlash Politics
Jocelyn M. Boryczka

Reviewed in the June 2012 issue of Mobilization. The review read, ""Boryczka skillfully examines those intersections where women, who made an attempt at full citizenry, were chastised by the broader public and literally blamed for national upheavals and crises.... This book uses the concepts of virtue and vice to frame women’s relationship to political power offering a fresh perspective on the political landscape available to women who dare to enter the public eye.... While engaging the broad and continuing debates in philosophy, religious studies, political science, and history, this book also provides deep insight into specific turning points in the women’s movement and women’s political involvement in struggle for equality and freedom."

Vigilantes and Lynch Mobs
Narratives of Community and Nation
Lisa Arellano

Reviewed in the June 2013 issue of the Journal of American History . The review read, "Lisa Arellano’s Vigilantes and Lynch Mobs contributes to the recent trend of writing histories of the various species of American mob violence that consider long periods and wide contexts... Her discussion of how Hubert Howe Bancroft wrote his accounts of the San Francisco vigilance committees is a model of careful textual scholarship and should interest anyone concerned with how the craft of history was developing at that time."

Men's College Athletics and the Politics of Racial Equality
Five Pioneer Stories of Black Manliness, White Citizenship, and American Democracy
Gregory J. Kaliss

Reviewed in the June 2013 issue of the Journal of American History. It read, "In his ambitious Men’s College Athletics and the Politics of Racial Equality, Gregory J. Kaliss examines the intersection of race, politics, and manliness in American intercollegiate athletics in the twentieth century. Kaliss’s book stands apart from other works that have tackled those complex issues because of his case study approach, his particular scholarly focus, and the lengthy coverage he gives to his subject matter.... Kaliss offers detailed analyses.... The different strands of Kaliss’s analysis come together best in his case study on Robeson.... In two other strong case studies Kaliss focuses on the 1939 University of California, Los Angeles, football team, which featured Jackie Robinson, and on Wilt Chamberlain’s basketball career at the University of Kansas.... Overall, Kaliss makes a valuable addition to the scholarship on American sports. His work underscores the value of using newspapers, in particular black newspapers, in the pursuit of scholarly analysis."

Transfeminist Perspectives in and beyond Transgender and Gender Studies
edited by Anne Enke

Reviewed in the May/June 2013 issue of the Women's Review of Books. The review read, "The twelve essays in this volume...address a diversity of academic topics and styles ranging from controversial theory to more pedestrian policy advice. All focus on the radical potential of transgender analysis, rather than seeking to recuperate 'transgender' as an individual identity...[T]his book will be a valuable resource in the university library."

Just Queer Folks
Gender and Sexuality in Rural America
Colin R. Johnson

Reviewed in the May 27 issue of Publishers Weekly. The review read, "Johnson posits that hetero-normalization was an early-20th-century phenomenon rooted in the discredited eugenics movement of its time and was a middle-class morality handed down from urban elites.... [He] doggedly decodes contrasting versions of 'Big Rock Candy Mountain' that hint at gay sex, and pores over pages of the journal of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s and 1940s to breathlessly report that gay people did, in fact, exist in rural areas."

No More Invisible Man
Race and Gender in Men's Work
Adia Harvey Wingfield

Reviewed in Diverse, May 9, 2013. The review read, "For those who delve into Wingfield's book, the one thing they are guaranteed to come away with is a greater appreciation for the fact that for Black men who work professional jobs, the work involves so much more than just the work itself.... [No More Invisible Man] shows how entrenched and lingering racial stereotypes about the intelligence and aims of Black men often make the professional jobs they work much more complicated than they would otherwise be."

Dr. Radway's Sarsaparilla Resolvent
Beth Kephart

Reviewed in the May 2 issue of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The review read, "[A] bright, burning novel— intended for a young adult audience but powerful enough to engage any adult is set in the Philadelphia of 1870. Using surprising period details and a gorgeous turn of phrase, Kephart has called forth an interesting time in our city's history and made it live again for just a moment.... While many historical novels, especially those for younger readers, can come across as corny or costumey, this one rings true, its language seeming to have been composed during the era it describes.... These people feel real, and we have no trouble imagining them living out their dramas just as painfully and joyously as we do ours, 100 or more years before we were born."

America's First Adventure in China
Trade, Treaties, Opium, and Salvation
John R. Haddad

Reviewed in the May 1 issue of Library Journal. The review read, "Haddad has again struck the right note with this well-researched work on the first hundred years or so of the U.S. relationship with China. He conveys his narrative with humor...[and] reveals the fascinating story of men such as Anson Burlingame. There are many such informative topics that Haddad shares with readers. His notes and bibliography are rich, while illustrations are few but first-rate. VERDICT Excellent for scholars of Chinese history and ideal for those who desire more than a cursory view of the subject."

America's First Adventure in China also received an online review in Publishers Weekly which read, "Haddad looks at the development of the relationship between China and the United States beginning in 1784. An intensely detailed story.... it provides some interesting descriptions about the beginnings of American trade with China in the late 18th century, when George Washington's aide-de-camp set off for Canton (modern-day Guangzhou).... Informative."

Chang and Eng Reconnected
The Original Siamese Twins in American Culture
Cynthia Wu

Reviewed in the Summer 2013 issue of MELUS. The review read, "Chang and Eng Reconnected is carefully researched and theoretically rich, an essential volume for scholars interested in the construction of US national identity, the history and culture of Asian America, and the social construction and multivalent meanings of bodily difference. Wu is an admirably restrained writer, offering detailed interpretations of the cultural objects she examines without making grand claims for their significance as theoretical interventions.... Wu’s prose is lucid, elegant, and concise, so that despite the complexity of the material, the book will be suitable for undergraduate classes in disability studies, Asian American studies, and American studies, even as it proves an invaluable source for specialists in all three fields."

Black Regions of the Imagination
African American Writers between the Nation and the World
Eve Dunbar

Reviewed in the Summer 2013 issue of MELUS. The review read, "Eve Dunbar’s Black Regions of the Imagination renegotiates the relationship between regionalism in African American literature and ethnography as a practice and form of knowledge production around race in the United States.... Dunbar scrutinizes this intellectual and cultural tension in the critically undertheorized period between major African American literary movements of the twentieth century: the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement.... Dunbar’s necessary reevaluation of regionalism produces nuanced, against-the-grain readings of the canonical authors studied in each chapter.'"

Pushing for Midwives
Homebirth Mothers and the Reproductive Rights Movement
Christa Craven

Reviewed in the Women's Studies in Communication, Vol. 35, No. 2. The review read, "This book offers valuable insight for research activists and scholars by adding to literature that seeks to understand how even good intentions can ultimately harm advocacy movements in the long run. For the feminist scholar, this book indicates that the current framing of reproductive rights under a consumer model serves to disenfranchise specific groups of women, whether intentionally or not. For students, Craven’s book highlights a movement that is not strictly a religious or political issue. There are members who are pro-life, pro-choice, Republican, and Democrat and are able to work together toward a shared goal. Her writing is clear, her examples are thoroughly detailed, and her ideas would serve to stimulate students at a variety of academic levels.... Craven makes a compelling argument for reframing the reproductive rights movement specifically and details a troubling historical pattern of socioeconomic-based rhetorical tactics. More broadly, she offers a cautionary lens through which to analyze the vocabulary and tactics in activist rhetoric that potentially serve to silence those they claim to help."

Hope Is Cut
Youth, Unemployment, and the Future in Urban Ethiopia
Daniel Mains

Reviewed in the May 2013 issue of American Ethnologist. The review read, "Hope Is Cut is a moving ethnographic account of educated but unemployed urban youth in Ethiopia.... Mains provides a nuanced analysis of how unemployed young men construct hope.... [The book] makes an important contribution in terms of challenging existing conceptualizations of the social category 'youth.'... [T]he immense importance of this book [is] as a well-documented study of an urban African youth. Hope Is Cut would be excellent ethnographic material especially for undergraduate courses but also for some graduate classes. The book would be an important reading for both academic and applied anthropologists, Africanists of all social sciences backgrounds, development practitioners, government policymakers, and anybody interested in the everyday life of ordinary youth as they confront the realities of growing up in global times."

The End of White World Supremacy
Black Internationalism and the Problem of the Color Line
Roderick Bush

Reviewed in May 2013 issue of Interface: a journal for and about social movements. The review read, "Bush critically discusses the various social movements that sought to bring about racial equality in the United States. With detailed examples, Bush demonstrates how the 1960s social movements in the United States of America were part of a global social movement that challenged white supremacy the world over.... Although activists and scholars of colour in particular will find this book useful, the book offers critical insight for radical activists who are interested in building social movements that are based on anti-racist values. The most important lesson...is the importance of cultivating solidarity among social movements."

The Package Deal
Marriage, Work, and Fatherhood in Men's Lives
Nicholas W. Townsend

Reviewed in the May 2013 issue of Contemporary Sociology. The review read, "We have far more insight into women’s than men’s work and family lives, which is why one of my favorite books of the past decade is Nicholas Townsend’s The Package Deal. Townsend’s in-depth interviews provide unique insights into how men view their contribution to the family and how they view parenting."

Church and State in the City
Catholics and Politics in Twentieth-Century San Francisco
William Issel

Reviewed in in America on May 27. The review read, "Issel's book represents a fairly new and intriguing thrust among historians to chart religion and politics at local municipal levels."

Refounding Environmental Ethics
Pragmatism, Principle, and Practice
Ben A. Minteer

Reviewed in Environmental Values, Volume 22, 2013. The review read,"This is an important book for anyone wanting to actually apply environmental ethics to public policy and environmental management."

Ecomusicology
Rock, Folk, and the Environment
Mark Pedelty

Reviewed in Environmental Values, Volume 22, 2013. The review read, "Ecomusicology is among the first large-scale works to merge the discourse of environmental justice and ecocriticism with an analysis of the social experience of music... [It] is a welcome addition to the literature that illustrates a plethora of potential approaches to musical ecocriticism. Pedelty’s book opens up new interpretive possibilities for the ongoing study of the relationship between music and the environment."

Church and State in the City
Catholics and Politics in Twentieth-Century San Francisco
William Issel

Reviewed in the May 2013 issue of Choice. The review read,"Issel is concerned with highlighting the importance of Catholic Christianity in the political culture of 20th-century San Francisco. He accomplishes this through a critical, contextualized narrative of various issues in the city's history (1890s-1970s) in which Catholic faith-based politics contributed to defining the city's 'common good.'... Even though Issel's coverage of San Francisco's political history is not comprehensive, his narrative is densely detailed..... this solid book is worth adding to California, religious, and urban collections. Summing Up: Recommended."

Elements of Discipline
Nine Principles for Teachers and Parents
Stephen Greenspan
With a Foreword by Arnold Sameroff

Reviewed in the May 2013 issue of Choice. The review read, "Greenspan offers a guided discussion on an affective-aware approach to disciplinary practices for both school and home. Throughout the book, Greenspan diligently explains key principles critical to understanding the rationale for incorporating a positivistic approach to discipline and the inherent benefits to children, adolescents, and adults. A thorough discussion is meticulously crafted to offer an explanation of concepts, application, and theoretical connections to existing emotional/behavioral perspectives.... A well-rounded index of theories, terminology, and common behavioral practices to assist readers in developing a more comprehensive understanding to successful discipline completes the book. Summing Up: Recommended."

Suspect Citizens
Women, Virtue, and Vice in Backlash Politics
Jocelyn M. Boryczka

Reviewed in the May 2013 issue of Choice. The review read, "Boryczka addresses categories of virtue and vice that operate to render women 'suspect citizens' in the American political script.... The book contains many interesting and provocative juxtapositions. Summing Up: Highly recommended."

Chang and Eng Reconnected
The Original Siamese Twins in American Culture
Cynthia Wu

Reviewedin Disability Studies Quarterly Vol. 33, No. 2. The review read, "Given the amount of time and archival material the book covers, it is a credit to Wu's ability as a writer that she leads readers seamlessly from beginning to end.... Wu's nuanced reading of embodiment provides a way of conceptualizing and analyzing disability diaspora."

The Dance of Politics
Gender, Performance, and Democratization in Malawi
Lisa Gilman

Reviewed in the Journal of American Folklore 126 (2013). The review read, "The Dance of Politics is a valuable contribution to the scholarly literature on gender, performance, and socio-political transformation in Africa.... This book provides a deep exploration of music and dance in the context of a specific African nation during a key moment in its history....The Dance of Politics offers insightful theoretical discussions and concrete examples/experiences that are of great interest for scholars from various disciplines focused on performance, gender, and politics in Africa."

Blue Juice
Euthanasia in Veterinary Medicine
Patricia Morris

Reviewed in the May 2013 issue of Animal Welfare. The review read, "This book may be found useful by clinical veterinarians and by their clients as well. Veterinarians may find some comfort in knowing that their concerns are shared by many other members of their profession and may learn of different alternative options to deal with these issues. Pet owners will similarly benefit by gaining a better appreciation of the complexity of these issues and of the perspective of the veterinarians. In the end, one can hope that this improved understanding of the issues related to companion animal euthanasia by all parties involved will result in a benefit to the animals, and that will be everybody's gain."

Troubling Gender
Youth and Cumbia in Argentina's Music Scene
Pablo Vila and Pablo Semán

Reviewed in the May 2013 issue of Contemporary Sociology. The review read, "Anybody interested in gender, sexuality, and especially how music becomes part of the fabric of everyday life, should read Troubling Gender. The subtlety of its analysis makes the book a must for scholars of what is now called 'music sociology.'"

An Immigrant Neighborhood
Interethnic and Interracial Encounters in New York before 1930
Shirley J. Yee

Reviewed in the May 2013 issue of Contemporary Sociology. The review read, "An Immigrant Neighborhood is an excellent addition to historical studies in community and urban racial and ethnic relations. It provides us with rich stories of individual daily lives in pre-1930 New York’s Lower Manhattan and with various analyses of class, ethnicity, race, and gender. It would be particularly useful for an advanced undergraduate course in American studies, ethnic studies, history, or sociology, and it would also be appropriate for a graduate course."

Transnationalizing Viet Nam
Community, Culture, and Politics in the Diaspora
Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde

Reviewed in Amerasia, Volume 39, No. 1. The review read, "The book offers the first 'insider' perspective that grapples candidly with Vietnamese American community formations, particularly its anticommunist politics. It serves as an invaluable resource for students and researchers interested in understanding the Vietnamese American community, but also offers a model that adeptly bridges Area Studies research with Asian American Studies through the framework of transnationalism.... [A]n important foundation for the study of Vietnamese diaspora."

The Public and Its Possibilities
Triumphs and Tragedies in the American City
John D. Fairfield

Reviewed in American Studies, Vol. 52, No. 2. The review read, "An ambitious work of scholarly synthesis, The Public and its Possibilities braids together descriptions of socioeconomic trends, cultural conflicts and political philosophy from the late colonial era to the present... Resting on vast historical scholarship, The Public and its Possibilities would provide a useful interpretive spine for an undergraduate history course, comparable in some ways to Eric Foner’s The Story of American Freedom."