"The Terrorist," written by Caroline B. Cooney

Dear Mr. Corman;

I am writing this letter urging the recall of the book "The Terrorist". I am not of Islamic faith but know many who are and find the stereotypes presented in this work to be inappropriate for middle-school children, whom I understand this book is marketed to. Children of this age have often have no experience with any faith outside their own. It would be a terrible shame for any child to have his or her first impression of Islam be such a negative one. This book gives the overall impression that all Muslim people are evil and that Islam is a corrupt and invalid religious institution. The following quote: "Islam. You thought that religion was a pact between youand God, but it wasn't...Men who hated women. Men who wanted women literally locked in their clothes and their homes." particularly disturbs me as my personal experience (having been in an inter-faith relationship with a Muslim) has led me to believe no such thing. I think that this book perpetrates the false belief that many cultural abuses of women in third world countries can be attributed to Islam. I suggest that you peruse the religious tolerance web-site ( http://www.religioustolerance.org/islam.htm ) and compare the book you have published with the facts about Islam and you can see for yourself the gross misconceptions the author and you, as the publishing company, are thrusting upon a captive audience of young and impressionable pre-teens.

Thank you in advance for your kind consideration.

More Kid-Speak

Last night I told Tyler that after his bath we would have a special treat... cheesecake (got started on calorie free thursday wednesday night...) so he got in the tub and wanted out less than five minutes later... by which time I was on the phone re: a new job opp... he's yelling for me to come wash his hair... I told him to hang on a few minutes and I'd be there. Apparently I wasn't fast enough... he got out of the tub and I heard him muttering... fine then, my hair will just have to stay dirty!

And Miss Halle has been chanting ba-ba for a few days and last night made the transition to da da!

Tyler-Speak

Last night I cooking corn tortillas for dinner... Tyler asked me "are we having tacos" and I said yes, and he said, "you're such a good feeder, mommie"...

I'm not sure if he thinks I'm a good cook or if he is just grateful that his sleep-deprived, absent-minded mommie remembered to actually plan something for dinner!

Also, last night he told me that I was going to die (what do they put on PBS these days?)... but that if I don't die, I won't... and that if I ever need anybody to save me, let him know...

jobs falling out of the sky

OOOH! I am feeling much love lately! Brian and I worked for Shell Vacations/Orange Tree - I left a little over a year ago, as did he. There was a huge stink with my boss (commonly referred to as the wicked bitch of the west). She basically made some very slanderous statements insinuating that he sexually harassed the female employees and cited several other admins/managers in the office and indicated I could expect to be next on his list and that she was going to take the issue to HR. Well he hadn't done anything to me but of course I was concerned - I asked one of the admins she mentioned (who was renowned around our office to be a straightforward say it like it is person) about it, and she said she didn't know what the hell my boss was talking about. Without going into much detail, I gave Brian a general idea what had been said to me. Donna wrote me up, and Brian took the issue to the Division VP, that Donna had no right to reprimand me for discussing a work related issue with him, because he was also a manager and I had the right to discuss any concerns I might have with him. Anyway, my reprimand was retracted and my boss was demoted as office manager! Y'all are probably wondering why the hell I'm telling you this, but that was all background info... I lost touch with Brian around April of last year and he got in touch with me over the weekend and asked if I'd be interested in joining his company as the Administrative manager for his department... and basically said that unless I'm making a million dollars a year he'll pay my asking price! woohoo!!! Anyway, I sent him an email with some questions... I’ll keep you posted.