merry Christmas everyone. We had a very nice relaxed Christmas this year, staying home and lazing around the house. So had lots of time to read a good book. Two submissions. A Challenge for Brittany Lisa Peck When a new kid comes to Brittany's school she tries to make friends, but Parker has Autism and is a little different, and Brittany doesn't know what to do. The Year of the Intern By Robin Cook (finally got this one done and off the BN and many many more to follow it) From the Book Jacket: The nurse is desperate. "Dr. Peters, the patient has stopped breathing and he doesn't have any pulse." "I'm on my way." Dr. Peters, in his fifteenth day of internship, is running again. True, he has been trained to run, through high school, the Ivy League, and a prestigious eastern medical school. Now he has run all the way to Hawaii for his year as an intern. He has run away from the pressure and competition of the mainland medical system. He is tired-tired and scared. And with good reason. After two weeks on call, his exhausted nervous system is in rebellion. Worse yet, three years of the best medical training this country has to offer have taught him too little of practical value. He knows less than a nurse about medication; his surgical knots won't hold; all his knowledge about Schwartzman reaction and other esotérica is useless in the practical hurly-burly of daily hospital life. As for the man who has stopped breathing- "What time did he die?" Peters asks the nurse. "He died when you pronounced him dead, Doctor." Some parts of Hawaii do not disappoint. The climate and the girls are joyful. But in his attempt to grow as a doctor, Peters on his own. As posstesor of a medical degree he is called "Doctor" he is a stage prop, a human mechanism holding retractors through endless operations, staring at the back of the surgeon, unable to see, to learn. On the ward, senior doctors see to it that Peters does the work-ups-fills out charts, draws blood, the "scut" work-and handles night calls. Thus Peters alternates between frustrating days and panic-filled nights. In the emergency room it is much the same. Amid the banality of common colds, backaches, and surfing lacerations, Peters delivers a baby, handles the multiple wreckage of an automobile accident, and deals as best he can with patients who need years of psychiatric care rather than a few hurried minutes with an intern. We are with Peters every step of the way-as he struggles to guide brave little Roso through months of racking hiccups and multiple operations; with Mrs. Takura, a routine case that proves anything but routine; and with the woman who has her baby in a Volkswagen. Trying, sometimes failing, and always trying again, Peters totters through his year of trial on a fine line between growth in medical knowledge and the threat of mental and physical disintegration. This book is true. The story of Dr. Peters is the story of all-or most-intelligent, idealistic, and unprepared interns who become doctors in spite of the system, almost in spite of themselves. Shelley L. Rhodes B.S. Ed, CTVI and Judson, guiding golden juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx Guide Dogs For the Blind Inc. Graduate Alumni Association Board www.guidedogs.com Dog ownership is like a rainbow. Puppies are the joy at one end. Old dogs are the treasure at the other. Carolyn Alexander To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank Email to bookshare-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the Subject line. To get a list of available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.