GOT, A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS

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Game of Talents: management lessons from top football coaches
Mike Forde and Simon Kuper

The way managers handle star players offers valuable lessons for business

At lunchtime on the day of the Champions League final in 2012, Chelsea’s manager Roberto Di Matteo had selected 10 of his 11 players. He just didn’t know who to play in left midfield. The player would have to combat Bayern Munich’s brilliant Arjen Robben and Philipp Lahm. Going into the last team meeting, Di Matteo had a private chat with his left-back, Ashley Cole. He outlined the situation, then asked Cole who he would play at left-midfield. Instead of naming a seasoned star, Cole said: “Ryan Bertrand.” The 22-year-old reserve Bertrand had never played in the Champions League, let alone in club football’s biggest game. “Why?” asked Di Matteo, surprised. “I trust him,” replied Cole. Bertrand played well, and Chelsea beat Bayern on penalties. In part, this was a victory for talent management. Di Matteo had put aside his ego, and let trust between two players drive the decision.
Talent management has been a business obsession at least since 1997, when the consultancy McKinsey identified a “war for talent”. The most visible battleground of this “war” is team sport. Football, in particular, is “the quintessential model for modern-day talent-dependent business”, writes Chris Brady, professor at Salford Business School. Big football clubs pay more than half their revenues to between 3 and 7 per cent of their workforce: the players. These young men are rich, multinational, mobile, often equipped with large egos and therefore hard to manage. Football managers are, above all, talent managers.
One of the writers of this article, Mike Forde, has watched football’s “war for talent” from up close. From 2007 to 2013, he was Chelsea’s director of football operations, dealing with all areas of performance and team operations. Now he consults sports teams, including the San Antonio Spurs, the American basketball champions. He has identified some sporting lessons for talent management.

1. Big talent usually comes with a big ego. Accept it

Carlos Queiroz, former coach of Real Madrid, says: “Top, top players have a profound awareness of their specialness, of their unique talent, that goes beyond arrogance — that just is.” Big talents know that their employers need them. This gives them scope to break rules of behaviour.
Conventional wisdom says egos damage an organisation. But good players succeed partly because of their egos: they are driven to be stars. In that same Champions League final of 2012, centre-forward Didier Drogba won the game by converting Chelsea’s crucial fifth penalty in the shoot-out. Four years previously, in the Champions League final in Moscow, Drogba had also been assigned the fifth penalty but hadn’t taken it because he was sent off just before the shoot-out.
In 2012 Forde asked him in the changing-room afterwards whether he had wanted to take the fifth kick. Drogba replied: “I only wanted to take the fifth penalty, after everything that happened in Moscow.” He saw himself at the centre of the drama, and wanted personal revenge. Contrary to cliché, there is an “I” in “team”.

If you only want to manage obedient soldiers, you will make your life simpler but you will have to forego difficult talents such as Drogba. That’s why Arsenal’s manager Arsène Wenger says: “If you want an easy week [in training with the players], then expect a hard weekend [in the game]. If you want an easy weekend, then prepare for a hard week.”
Former Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink believes managing difficult people is the best test of a manager. “No player is bigger than the club,” goes the sporting cliché, but a club should be big enough to accommodate any good player. When Hiddink managed PSV Eindhoven 25 years ago, his star was Romario. The Brazilian striker often stayed too long in Rio for carnival, lazed about in training, and skipped team meals. Hiddink exempted him from team discipline. That entailed defending him against the complaints of hardworking players. Romario understood the flip side of the deal: in matches, he had to perform. Romario was trouble but a good football team doesn’t need to be a harmonious place.
Perhaps Alex Ferguson’s greatest achievement in his 27 years managing Manchester United was keeping the supremely difficult Eric Cantona on board and performing from 1992 to 1997. The Frenchman joined United aged 26, having left most of his previous seven clubs in bad odour. Ferguson understood that the key to Cantona’s fairly simple personality was always to take his side, no matter how wrong he was — even when he infamously karate-kicked a spectator. Cantona repaid his protection.

2. Look for big egos that have ‘got over themselves’

That’s what San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says. Some players underperform early in their careers because they are immature. They lack discipline, commitment or listening skills. However, most athletes grow up. Often the prompt is reaching a certain age, starting a family, or experiencing failure. That’s the point when, in Popovich’s terms, they “get over themselves”. Then they accept their limits, and become coachable, open to hearing a message such as: “There might be a better way to look after your body.”

3. Single out and praise those who make sacrifices for the organisation

Boudewijn Zenden, a Dutch player whose clubs included Barcelona and Chelsea, says: “Football is the most individual team sport. At least, you can experience it that way. In the end it’s each man for himself.”
This means that the talent wants glory for himself, not just for the organisation. Every player hopes to star in his own preferred role. Zenden recalls that at Euro 2000, both he and Marc Overmars wanted to play left wing for Holland. Overmars practically refused to play right wing.
In the opening match against Denmark, Holland’s coach Frank Rijkaard let Overmars start on the left wing. Zenden reluctantly agreed to play on the right, for the team’s sake. In the first half, he recalls: “I played the worst 45 minutes of all time.” With a substitute ready to come on, Zenden was sure he would be taken off. Instead, to his delight, Rijkaard took off Overmars and moved Zenden to the left wing. Zenden recalls: “I had one assist and one goal and we won 3-0. The rest of the Euros, I played on the left.” By rewarding Zenden’s sacrifice, Rijkaard was encouraging others to make a sacrifice too.

4. The manager shouldn’t aspire to dominate the talent

Talent wins matches. The best talent now sits side by side with the owner, and sometimes takes the wheel from the manager. Successful managers accept this. They don’t try to emphasise their leadership by dominating the talent.
Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich, for instance, avoids intruding in the changing room, which he considers the players’ territory. He “only ever goes into the dressing room during the half-time break”, writes Martí Perarnau in Pep Confidential, his intimate account of Guardiola’s first season at the club.
Football managers are traditionally compared with generals but today they are more like film directors — cajoling rather than commanding. Even Ferguson, who sought control, accepted when he couldn’t have it. In 2010 his best player, Wayne Rooney, publicly threatened to leave United for higher pay at neighbours Manchester City. Ferguson was miffed but he needed Rooney, so he raised his salary and let him back into the fold. The manager’s job is to win matches, not ego clashes. The key concept here is servant leadership.

5. Ask the talent for advice — but only for advice

Roberto Di Matteo put aside his ego and was rewarded with victory in Europe
That’s what Di Matteo did with Cole in 2012. Similarly, in 2010, Chelsea’s then manager Carlo Ancelotti picked his team for the FA Cup final against Portsmouth but then let the players devise the match strategy.
As he had expected, they opted for more or less the strategy he had used all season. But, still, why give the players such responsibility for a crucial game? Ancelotti says: “I was sure the players followed the strategy, because they made the strategy. Sometimes I make the strategy but you don’t know if the players really understand the strategy. Sometimes I joke with the players, ‘Did you understand the strategy?’ ‘Yes, yes!’ ‘Repeat, please!’” Chelsea beat Portsmouth 1-0 to complete the club’s first ever “double” of league and cup.
Ancelotti had empowered the talent. David Brailsford, general manager of cycling’s Team Sky, says: “We all perform better if we have a degree of ownership of what we do. Generally, we don’t like to be told what to do.”
However, the final decision on strategy should be the manager’s. After all, he ought to be the person who has thought about it hardest. Before Bayern hosted Real Madrid in last season’s Champions League semi-final, Bayern’s players persuaded Guardiola to play a 4-2-4 formation. Bayern lost 0-4. “I spent the whole season refusing to use a 4-2-4,” Guardiola lamented to Perarnau afterwards. “And I decide to do it tonight, the most important night of the year. A complete f***-up.”

6. The manager’s job isn’t to motivate

Good talent motivates itself. The comedian Peter Cook used to play a football manager who, in a mournful northern English accent, revealed the secrets of his trade: “Motivation, motivation, motivation! The three Ms.” Motivation remains an obsession of the sports media. The notion is that the player is an inert child, into whom the manager infuses motivation, ideally through a Churchillian prematch speech.
However, that’s not how top-level sport works. Over espresso at Chelsea’s training ground one afternoon, Ancelotti asked Forde what he had learnt after joining Chelsea from smaller Bolton in 2007. Forde said that at Bolton, every four or five games, the staff had to sit the players down and remind them of the basics: winning, good behaviour, professionalism. But, in Forde’s first six months at Chelsea, no coach had had that conversation with the players. Ancelotti smiled and said: “Mike, our job is not to motivate the players. Our job is not to demotivate them by not providing the challenges and goals that their talents need.” A big talent is usually self-motivated. He wants to succeed for himself and his career. However, if he senses that the management is second rate, he may decide to go and succeed in another organisation.

Brailsford agrees: “Motivation has not really got much of a place in sport.” You win the Tour de France, he explains, by going out to train on rainy mornings when you aren’t the slightest bit motivated. Rather than motivation, Brailsford emphasises long-term commitment: sustained motivation over time.
Before a big match, players don’t need motivating. More likely, they need to be relaxed. That’s why Nottingham Forest’s great manager Brian Clough sometimes distributed beers on the bus to games (something no longer considered best nutritional practice). Often Clough’s last words to the players in the changing room were: “Go out there and enjoy yourselves.”
Guardiola, reflecting on his departure from Barcelona, says: “What happened at Barça is not that I failed to motivate them. No, I failed to seduce them!” A manager motivating players is a top-down relationship, whereas seduction implies a relationship of equals.

7. The talent needs to trust each other more than it needs to trust the manager

In a crucial game or business pitch, the key relationship of trust is between the people who have to work together. They don’t have to like each other. At Manchester United in the 1990s, strikers Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole loathed one another. But each trusted the other’s talent.

8. Improve the talent

Often in an organisation, a manager spends most of his energy managing incompetent people, because they cause the most problems. The manager might be up all night rewriting a bad report. Meanwhile, talent that is performing well tends to get left alone.
That’s a missed opportunity, because talented people usually have a gift for learning and a desire to improve. That desire often drives their career choices. The talent probably joined your organisation because he or she thinks they can improve there. If the manager shows he cares about the talent’s career by helping the talent improve, the talent will develop trust in the manager. (In football, trust is rarely given up front but has to be earned over time.)

Good managers create a learning culture in which players can improve. Wenger, for one, often brings out qualities in players that they hadn’t known they possessed. He turned the inconsistent winger Thierry Henry into a brilliant striker, the midfielder Lilian Thuram into a defender, and the defender Emmanuel Petit into a midfielder. A student of autobiographies, Wenger believes that greatness ensues only when a talent meets someone “who taps him on the shoulder and says, ‘I believe in you!’”
Chelsea’s manager José Mourinho is Wenger’s nemesis but shares his urge to develop talent. One day after a training session soon after Mourinho first joined Chelsea in 2004, Frank Lampard emerged naked from the showers. Suddenly, Mourinho popped up and looked him meaningfully in the eye.
“All right, boss?” asked Lampard.
“You are the best player in the world,” replied Mourinho.
The naked footballer didn’t know what to say.
“You,” continued Mourinho, “are the best player in the world. But now you need to prove it and win trophies. You understand?”
He was signalling to Lampard that they were starting a programme of individual improvement — in business jargon, a project to go from good to great. Today Mourinho seems to be engaged in a similar project with Eden Hazard, who was recently named the Premier League’s player of the season by his peers.

Guardiola, too, devotes lots of energy to transforming players who are already performing. One evening in 2009, watching video of Barcelona’s rivals Real Madrid, he noticed a large space between their central defenders and midfielders. He rang his winger Lionel Messi: “Leo, it’s Pep. I’ve just seen something important. Really important. Why don’t you come over?” Messi arrived 30 minutes later. Guardiola played the video and showed him the space. That was where he wanted Messi to play. That evening began Messi’s transformation from winger to withdrawn centre-forward, or “false nine”. In that role, Messi became the world’s dominant footballer.
However, transforming a talent only works if the talent wants to change. Perarnau writes: “When a player says enough is enough, when his determination to improve falters, when he stops believing in his own ability to progress or abandons the idea altogether, then [Guardiola] throws in the towel too. It’s over.”
9. 99 per cent of recruitment is about who you don’t sign

Be fearful of recruiting new talent, because an organisation is a fragile thing. Guardiola compares a team to a glass bottle hanging from a thread. Introducing a weak or undisciplined player can damage the team’s standards and culture. Then the best talent will leave.
In January 2008 Chelsea had a chance to sign the Brazilian forward Adriano from Inter Milan. Brilliant and strong, he seemed the perfect signing. But, as Chelsea researched his lifestyle, the club came to doubt his discipline. He could damage Chelsea. The club didn’t sign him. Indeed, his career soon went off the rails.
Often, an organisation doesn’t need to recruit because the talent is on its books already, adjusted to the organisation and steeped in its culture. At Barcelona in 2008 Guardiola gave the unrated homegrown teenager Pedro a chance. Two years later, Pedro won the World Cup with Spain.

10. Accept that the talent will eventually leave

When Nicolas Anelka joined Bolton in 2006, it was the smallest club on his CV. His career path wasn’t matching his talent. Bolton offered him a four-year contract. However, during contract talks, the club’s manager Sam Allardyce and Mike Forde told Anelka they only expected him to stay two years. The confused player leafed through his contract, looking for a break clause that he might have missed. The Bolton men reassured him: there was no break clause. But if he fulfilled his potential by scoring 40 goals in two seasons, a bigger club would snap him up. Instantly, Anelka had a target at Bolton: a pathway to a better club. He shone for Bolton and, in January 2008, moved up to Chelsea.

Few highly talented people are looking for a job for life. The average graduate changes jobs 11 times in his/her career. The average elite footballer changes club 3.8 times. Big talents won’t “die for the shirt”. Your organisation is just a vehicle for their talents. They join it to work with each other, not for you. If they can go somewhere better, you probably won’t manage to block them. To quote business scholars Deepak Somaya and Ian Williamson: “The ‘war for talent’ is over . . . talent has won!”
The manager’s response should be to seek productivity, not loyalty. A good manager keeps the talent on board as long as possible, meanwhile preparing for the talent’s exit. Ferguson at Manchester United pursued a policy of early replacement: “An internal voice would always ask, ‘When’s he going to leave, how long will he last?’ Experience taught me to stockpile young players in important positions.”

11. Gauge the moment when a talent reaches his peak

On average, footballers peak at about age 28. That’s when they have an old head on legs that are still young. However, each player’s trajectory is unique. When Frank Arnesen was Chelsea’s technical director, he used to ask: “When is a player 28?” In other words, when will he peak? In Chelsea’s view, the peak typically comes after about 300 matches, seven seasons, three clubs, one big success and one failure.
Once a player has peaked, he is a melting ice block. The wear is mental as well as physical. Few people can sustain the concentration necessary for top-level sport beyond a few years. Guardiola’s friend Garry Kasparov, the chess player, told him over dinner in New York: “The minute I won my second world championship in 1986, I knew who would beat me in the end.” “Who?” asked Guardiola. “Time,” replied Kasparov.
Kevin Roberts, executive chairman of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, suggests that today Chelsea’s question should be: “When is a player 26?” Roberts thinks that talent is emerging younger and burning out faster, because of demanding travel schedules and the “24/7 attention economy”. The trick is to replace the talent before he is just a puddle of water on the floor.

@ainasegunaina
Authors;
Simon Kuper is an FT Weekend Magazine columnist.
Mike Forde is a talent management consultant

MAPOLY Leadership Academy Time Out Session

The Mind of a Strategist - Special Birthday Profile Write Up

THE MIND OF A STRATEGIST - A NEW PHASE!!!

SPECIAL BIRTHDAY PROFILE

Celebrating the birthday of Aina Segun Aina, 2017 National Vice President in charge of North East District 1.
Born 30th June, 1984 in Ayinke house (Ikeja General Hospital), Lagos State. He had his early life and education in Lagos from High Gate Nursery and Primary School, Oshodi to Ajao Estate Grammar School then Holy Saviors College, Isolo. Briefly attended Obafemi Awolowo University for an Ordinary Diploma in Computer Science and Engineering before proceeding to University of Ilorin where he received his Bachelors of Science Degree in Computer Science then Ladoke Akintola University of Technology for a Post Graduate Diploma in Management Technology.
With an ICT background and interest in professional development, he obtained various professional affiliations and certifications in diverse fields CISCO Certified Network Associate, Project Management Professional, CISCO Academy Certified Instructor Program, as well as Management Proficiency Certification.


With a passion for entrepreneurship, Aina has been involved in starting up as well as development of a few businesses within the last few years, with core competence and expertise in the fields of Information, Communications and Technology; Solar and other forms of Renewable Energy, and other fields. He runs a book Company, Qriocity Systems Global Limited which has been in existence since 2012 - The company specializes in Bulk Book purchases and supply of professional titles as well as setting up libraries and information resource centers for institutions and corporate organizations.

Member of a couple of organizations including the prestigious Project Management Institute, Nigeria Institute of Management, The Brains Chess Club, Abuja Lawn Tennis Club, Nigeria Computer Society etc
Aina got his knowledge of JCI through a road mapping project of OAU Jaycees donated to the OAU staff quarters in Ile-ife and proceeded to join the organization in University of Ilorin in 2004 and was appointed Director, Special Duties the same year. He held several positions and served in committees viz; Committee on Motherless babies and school for handicap project in 2005, constitution review committee in 2005, Secretary 2005, Executive Vice President 2006, General Legal Council 2007 and then Local Organization President in 2008.

At the 2008 Collegiate Conference held in Bauchi State, he was elected the Collegiate Vice Chairman in charge of South West of Nigeria for 2009.
Proceeded to join the city chapter, JCI ASO in 2011, appointed secretary in 2012, Director of Training in 2013, elected Executive Vice President in 2014 and Local Organization President in 2015 (Host President of the National Convention for that year). in 2016 he served on the National Board under President Olatunji Oyeyemi as Director, Civil Societies, Government and Corporate Relations and currently serves as National Vice President.

A consistent JCI career for over a decade, he has developed a training career that empowers him to train at various level in and out of the organization and has served as Assistant Head Coach as well as Head Coach at Academies across the country.

Aina is married to his long time companion whom he introduced to JCI back in school and was inducted and served as Director of Business and then Director of Convention of JCI Nigeria University of Ilorin between 2007 and 2008. They are blessed with two lovely kids.

In celebration of a rich, outstanding and passionate JCI career; we say hearty cheers to a quintessential active citizen.

Take #YourBestShot: A guide to optimum performance for sustainable development

Running a Successful JCI Enterprise

Hi mates, trust you are all having a great time in the new year, it’s quite a hazy weather here in the FCT. I hope you wake up to this and many more motivation for speed, action, creativity, drive, disruptive mindset and a reawakened passion in your many endeavors.

When running a JCI organization, what readily defines our course of action is the term “Voluntary” and “non-profit”, this tend to demystify performance, quest for perfection, excellence and that extra effort at taking #YouBbestShot in most JCI tasks. Now, let’s transform our mind to that man on the spot in a multinational corporation doing the same responsibility you are given in your JCI enterprise.

 

CASE STUDY; let’s trade places with an employee responsible for organizing the annual general meeting for SPDC, Shell Petroleum Development Company. Now, take a deep dive into what you, in your present state and level would put into this endeavor to achieve the expected outcome, from conception, planning, executing, reporting and closing the project.

Now, let’s come back here, how would you handle a similar job in JCI, remember this is a multinational enterprise in as many countries, perhaps bigger than SPDC in terms of global spread and local reach.

I’m sure one factor that would come in the way of our thoughts in trading places with the SPDC guy would be “do you know how much resources he has to execute the same task and how much bucks he gets paid at SPDC?”

Okay, that notwithstanding, let’s remain here still. Do you know if you take #YourBestShot within limited resources and perform excellently well, you would have outperformed the man who did averagely in the midst of excesses? Do we get paid for what we do? Yes! Shocked? Yes we get paid… perhaps we’re paid in a different coin. Yes because, the SPDC man might be motivated by the money he gets paid, but what actually makes him is the amount of human capital investment on him. Now, a typical organization such as this never gives you a chance to come in and prove your worth, you must prove it before you get in there, you know what that means in today’s highly competitive world? Then, while in there, weary of empowering you lest you start looking for greater challenges elsewhere and go away with all their investment in you, they give you just enough to make you deliver what they expect from you. What truly stands you out, promote you and keep you moving on is that which you invest in yourself.

Now, JCI method is such that it pays the next organization that you find yourself in rather than JCI itself. Without prior experience or expectations, JCI gives you the opportunity to do just what that SPDC man did at no cost or remuneration, with higher risk of failure, if you passionately take your best shots here at whatever level you are in the organization, make all the mistakes you can make, use all the tools you can get as well as take opportunity to partner and access resources by yourself, take #YourBestShot, adopt best practices (popularly referred to as “ASO Standard” in my local organization), raise your stakes, keep your head up, shoulders high and look at your duties here from the broader perspectives, it is amazing what you would achieve now and in the sometime of tomorrow as well as out there.

One more thing, JCI does not allow you repeat same office twice, so you are not expected to come and do it better for the organization all over again, but take the knowledge and experience out there to be different from the average man, to “be better”.

Another thing, haven’t completed a task, you take on a new one and keep developing your competences across various departments in diverse fields from all walks of life. This is another unique opportunity you find only in the Junior Chamber movement while responsibilities at workplaces are limited to your field, and you hardly find opportunity to work in different departments as often as you would in JCI. This is a unique opportunity at being globally integrated, disruptive in nature, innovative beyond imagination, genuine, generous and versatile beyond your actual level of experience or qualification.

JCI is a global franchise handed to everyone upon attaining membership, change your perspectives from the JCI you see locally around you, take a look at the big picture of a giant organization of the young and the great, giving you an opportunity to be a world citizen with a global mindset, create your own JCI inside of you devoid from expectations from other members or formations, undertake giant strides that far exceed your actual performance level, “think local, act global” tanking #YourBestShot every time.

If you make best use of your time in the organization and run every task and responsibility effectively in the JCI enterprise with #YourBestShot; it’s amazing what you would accomplish out there. So think again… ain’t you actually getting paid?

Now, I believe you have a better definition of what JCI is, let’s live the values and creed over again… It’s a turning point for every single one of us!

Permit me to introduce you to this special bug which will is trending in the wake of the new year…

 Futch is about to turn a bullet in his head into a shot in your arm, all the ammunition you need to make significant changes in your life and career - you’ll come out with a load of ideas that will aim you toward the top every time you take your best shot.

He says, "so I’m uniquely qualified. I’ve had a bunch of them." More than once he’s watched his best-laid plans backfire, leaving him bleeding, bruised, or beaten up — but wiser for the experience.

Key Lessons                                                     

w  Which battlefield lessons can save your career;

w  How to set your sights on "the crucial shot;"

w  When to "pull the trigger" to maximize a situation;

w  Why complaining about bad times might misfire;

w  How to focus on your feedback thermostat;

w  How to ricochet a minor opportunity into a major success.

This training is conveyed by Aina Segun Aina and designed by a consortium of special trainers from different walks of life; based on the book, Take Your Best Shot: Turning Situations Into Opportunities by Ken Futch

In the New Year, everyone is in need of a tool such as this as a guide to optimum performance in their organizations, institutions, enterprise, and other endeavors. This tool teaches us to Be prepared, Be alert, Be In-depth, Be Practical, Be Smart, Be Creative, Be Innovative, Be Strategic, and Be Systematic; gives us a good taste for Research, enable us Share Ideas, Go the Extra Mile, Apply Finesse, Be Professional and Minimize Conflicts by Choosing your Battles Wisely.

Now, let’s encourage one another to #YourBestShot

©Aina Segun Aina

@ainasegunaina

www.ainasegunaina@blogspot.com

Book Review: Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places by Paul Collier

Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places

Author: Collier, Paul

Paperback: 255 pages
Publisher: Vintage Books USA (February 1, 2010)
Language: English

ISBN-13: 978-0099523512
BISAC Categories:
- Political Science | Comparative Politics
- Political Science | Political Ideologies | Democracy
- Social Science | Developing & Emerging Countries
- Social Science | Anthropology | Cultural


Publisher Marketing:
Award-winning author Paul Collier investigates the violence and poverty in the countries at the bottom of the world economy. He argues that, although there are many problems, these can be rectified, and he outlines what must be done to bring about long-term peace and stability.


Contributor Bio:  Collier, Paul
Paul Collier is a professor of economics at Oxford University. He is the author of The Bottom Billion, which won the Lionel Gelber Prize and the Arthur Ross Book Award of the Council on Foreign Relations. He lives in Oxford, England.

In this accessible and very sensible analysis, Collier (The Bottom Billion) argues that the spread of democracy after the end of the Cold War has not actually made the world a safer place, as the West has promoted the wrong features of democracy: the façade rather than the essential infrastructure. The author hypothesizes that an insistence on elections without a system of checks and balances has led to widespread corruption, nations mired in ethnic politics and economic underperformance. Collier examines the effect of civil wars, coups and rebellions on burgeoning democracies, founding all arguments on methodology and data sets that provide a hard, quantitative view of political violence. While many of his observations are insightful and occasionally prescient, his analysis weakens when it strays from the data and enters more theoretical territory. However, the author maintains an approachable style and reaches beyond jargon to provide a highly readable account of the complex realities facing the developing world. Collier's suggestions are pragmatic, and although they may incense ideologues, most readers will connect with this common sense approach matched with obvious expertise. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"Very important ideas based on extremely thorough empirical research...put him in the same camp as real heavyweights such as the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz" -- Misha Glenny Guardian "Collier comes up with very concrete proposals and some ingenious solutions" The Times "Collier knows Africa intimately... It is hard to be unmoved by his anger about the world's blindness to realities, and his passion to do things better" -- Max Hastings Sunday Times "With its verve, wit and lateral thinking, this is a book that changes its readers' horizons" Observer "It is always a pleasure to discover Paul Collier's latest thoughts...always illuminating and grounded in rigorous social science...it's gripping stuff" -- Allister Heath Literary Review

I believe Nigeria Would have something to learn from this!


Aina Segun Aina
Books and Library Services
Qriocity Systems Global Ltd
www.qriocitysystems.com
07089024098

BOOK REVIEW: MODERN MONETARY MACROECONOMICS: A NEW PARADIGM FOR ECONOMIC POLICY

Title:             MODERN MONETARY MACROECONOMICS: A NEW PARADIGM FOR ECONOMIC POLICY (NEW DIRECTIONS IN MODERN ECONOMICS)

Authors:               Claude Gnos and Sergio Rossi

ISBN:                    847200354   EAN: 9781847200358

Publisher:            Edward Elgar Publishing

Price:                    N36, 500.00

Binding:               Hardcover

Pub Date:             January 30, 2013

Copyright Date:   2012

Subject Area:       Business & Economics | Economics | Macroeconomics

Physical Info:       328 pages

Store:                    To obtain a copy, CLICK HERE, call 07089024098 or mail qriocity@live.com

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

This timely book uses cutting-edge research to analyse the fundamental causes of economic and financial crises, and illustrates the macroeconomic foundations required for future economic policymaking in order to avoid these crises.

The expert contributors take a critical approach to monetary analysis, providing elements for a new paradigm of economic policymaking at both national and international levels. Major issues are explored, including: inflation, capital accumulation, and involuntary unemployment, sovereign debts and interest payment, and the euro-area crises.

Opening new lines of research in the economic and financial crises, this book will prove a fascinating read for academics, students, professionals and researchers in the field of economics. Monetary policymakers, central bank officials and international financial organizations will also find this book to be an invaluable resource.

Claude Gnos is a Senior Research Associate in the center for monetary and financial studies at the University of Burgundry, Dijon, France and in the International Economic Policy Institute at Laurentian University, Canada.

Sergio Rossi is a Full Professor of Economics at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

CONTENTS

Introduction - 1

Claude Gnos and Sergio Rossi

PART 1: A NEW ANALYTICAL APPROACH

11.     19 - Relative prices are undermined are undermined by a mathematical error

Bernard Schmitt

22.      39 - Towards a macroeconomic approach to macroeconomics - 

Alvaro Cencini

PART 2: DOMESTIC ISSUES AND ECONOMIC POLICIES

33.       71 - Money, effective demand, and profits

Bernard Schmitt

44.      100 - Labour, wages and non-wage incomes

Jean-Luc Bailly

55.     134 -  Inflation and the circuit of income

Xavier Bradley and Pierre Piegay

66.      166 - The unemployment issue 

Claude Gnos

77.     193 -  Is there a common sense to economic and financial crises? 

Alvaro Cencini

PART 3: INTERNATIONAL ISSUES AND ECONOMIC POLICES

88.      231 - The monetary-structural origin of TARGET2 imbalances across Euroland

Sergio Rossi

99.      239 - Sovereign debt and interest payments

Bernard Schmitt

110.   261 - World monetary disorders: the “mystery of the missing surplus”

and of the “missing capital outflow”    

Alvaro Cincini and Mauro Citraro

Show off next week as you would on 26th of July, 2020

Junior Chamber International

(Worldwide Federation of young active citizens)

Come as you would on 26th of July, 2020.

As Part of the individual development opportunities of the Junior Chamber International, we develop people to consciously take steps towards overcoming their limits, taking their best shots and achieving more every time and in every endeavor.

In achieving this, Junior Chamber International ASO invites all and sundry to her July monthly General Assembly which this time is thrown open to the public due to its unique feature in addressing the major aspect of individual development, GOAL SETTING, GOAL GETTING!!!

More often than not, we are always on the move and picking up tasks on a daily basis as we move on, we embark on daily routine or pick up activities as they come by. This event is offering everyone an opportunity to stop and check, to evaluate those activities to determine if they actually equal growth, or just motion with no actual progress. Then, encourage people to actually set goals and work towards their goals both on a short term and long term basis.

Ahead of this event, every participant is expected to STOP and CHECK the following;

·         Do I actually have a set of goals I am working towards?

·         What’s my roadmap and how do I benchmark?

·         Am I actually growing or just making money?

·         Am I actually racing towards any particular goal or just on the move?

·         5 Years from now, precisely 26th July, 2020. How would I introduce myself?

That last question is the main focus of the event on 26th July, 2015 at Sokoto Room, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

Come as you would on 26th of July, 2020.

Set those goals now and let them drive you on!!!

Next week Sunday, 26th July 2020, I’m your host at this event Aina Segun Aina, Chairman/CEO Qriocity Group a multinational project management consortium, recently elected member of House of Representatives. I’ll love to meet you…

Envision it, Achieve it!

CLICK HERE to register

The Bush Family Tree

Five generations of an American dynasty
By Daniel Nasaw


Jeb Bush will be a candidate for president during the 2016 election, but the Bushes and their relatives have been at the heart of American business and politics for more than a century. Through five wealthy and powerful generations, the families of George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Pierce have produced investment bankers, a magazine publishing executive, a state supreme court justice, a railroad industrialist, a senator, two governors, and, of course, two presidents. Now, Jeb Bush hopes to be the third. Take a look at the faces below to explore the Bush family tree with their profile below. 

Samuel Prescott Bush

• Born 1863
• Died 1948
• Married to Flora Sheldon

Samuel Bush was the first of the family’s modern era to achieve wealth. Born in New Jersey, he got an engineering degree from the Stevens Institute of Technology and began a long career in the railroad industry. His work brought him to Ohio, where he settled in Columbus and eventually rose to become president of Buckeye Steel Castings, an industrial manufacturer. A Democrat, Samuel Bush served as president of the National Association of Manufacturers, was a charter member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and founded an anti-tax group.

Flora Sheldon

• Born 1872
• Died 1920
• Married to Samuel Prescott Bush

Flora Sheldon, the daughter of a Columbus merchant and banker, married Samuel Bush in 1894. She was killed in a car accident in 1920.

George Herbert Walker

• Born 1874
• Died 1953
• Married to Loulie Wear

George Herbert Walker was an investment banker who founded the family vacation home in Kennebunkport, Me., where the first President Bush entertained world leaders. He was born in St. Louis to a successful Catholic family and educated in Britain. He founded a firm in St. Louis and later moved his family to New York to run W. A. Harriman & Co., a precursor to Brown Brothers Harriman. Mr. Walker enjoyed the New York high life -- he owned Rolls Royces, ate and drank lavishly and employed two butlers. As president of the U.S. Golf Association, he donated the trophy for the Walker Cup competition.

Loulie Wear

• Born 1874
• Died 1961
• Married to George Herbert Walker

Loulie Wear was born in St. Louis, Mo., and married George Herbert Walker in 1899. A biographer of the Bush family describes her as patient in the face of her husband's foul temper, criticism and domineering manner.

James Robinson

• Born 1868
• Died 1932
• Married to Lula Flickinger

Born to settlers of Union County, Ohio, James Robinson was a prominent lawyer who rose to become a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. After his death, he was eulogized by his colleagues on the bar as having a “high and comprehensive conception of the judicial function and a generous understanding of the fundamental principles on which our American institutions rest.”

Lula Flickinger

• Born 1875
• Married to James Robinson  

Prescott Sheldon Bush

Investment Banker, U.S. Senator

• Born 1895
• Died 1972
• Married to Dorothy Walker

Prescott Bush was born in Columbus and moved east to attend St. George’s boarding school in Newport, R.I. After graduating from Yale, Bush served as a captain in an artillery unit in World War I in France. Prescott Bush entered the investment banking business, in 1931 becoming a partner at the newly formed Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. After years in part-time local politics in Greenwich, Conn., Bush was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican in 1952 to serve out the term of a Democrat who died. He was re-elected in 1956, and after a single full term retired to resume his career in investment banking.

Dorothy Walker

• Born 1901
• Died 1992
• Married to Prescott Sheldon Bush

Born into privilege, Dorothy Walker was educated at Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut. She married Prescott Bush in 1921. She was a distinguished athlete and valued self-effacement and good manners, once chastising her son, then vice president, for reading the printed text as Ronald Reagan delivered a speech.

Marvin Pierce

Magazine Publisher

• Born 1893
• Died 1969
• Married to Pauline Robinson

Marvin Pierce, a distant relation of 14th president Franklin Pierce, was a senior executive at the McCall Corp., a publisher of women’s magazines. Like just about every other figure on the Bush family tree, he was an accomplished athlete, winning renown for his achievements at Miami University in Ohio. He settled in Rye, N.Y., a tony suburb of New York. But his success was marred by terrible tragedy – in September 1949, he ran his car off the road to the train station. He was injured and his wife Pauline Robinson, Barbara Pierce's mother, was killed. In June 1952, he married journalist Willa Gray Martin.

Pauline Robinson

• Born 1896
• Died 1949
• Married to Marvin Pierce

Born in Ohio, Pauline Robinson met Marvin Pierce while the latter was a student at Miami University and she was studying to become a teacher. Pauline was described by a biographer of Barbara Bush as a bit of a spendthrift who doted on Barbara’s elder sister while treating her more coldly. In September 1949, Pauline was riding to the train station with her husband so that she could drive the car home after dropping him off, when a bone china coffee cup she had placed on the seat between them began to tip. When Marvin Pierce reached for the cup to steady it, the car ran off the side of the road and crashed into a tree and a stone wall. He was injured and she was killed.

George Herbert Walker Bush

• Born June 12, 1924
• Married to Barbara Pierce

George Herbert Walker Bush grew up in Greenwich, Conn., where his family had a driver and handyman, a cook, and maids. At Phillips Academy prep school, he was a middling student but a star athlete. He joined the Navy on his 18th birthday, trained as a pilot and deployed to the Pacific, where his plane was shot down by Japanese anti-aircraft fire. After Yale, he moved to Texas to enter the oil business. In 1966 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Later he was chairman of the Republican National Committee, ambassador to the U.N., chief diplomat in China and director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In 1980, he was elected vice president under Ronald Reagan, and in 1988, president.

Barbara Pierce

• Born June 8, 1925
• Married to George Herbert Walker Bush

The first Bush first lady was born in New York and raised in Rye, a Westchester County suburb. In 1941, she met George H. W. Bush at a dance in Greenwich, Conn. They married in January 1945. Barbara moved with George Bush as his career in the oil business and later politics took him around the country and beyond. In the White House, she devoted herself to promoting adult literacy. As recently as 2013, Mrs. Bush seemed reluctant to throw herself behind her son Jeb’s presidential ambitions, but in March 2015 her name was attached to a Jeb Bush fundraising letter.

George Walker Bush

U.S. President, Texas Governor

• Born July 6, 1946
• Married to Laura Welch

George W. Bush was born in New Haven, Conn. Raised in Texas, he followed his father and grandfather to Yale and served in the Texas Air National Guard. After earning a business degree from Harvard, he married Laura Welch, worked in the oil business and was an owner of the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball team. Bush was elected governor of Texas in 1994. In 2000, he was elected president despite losing the popular vote to Vice President Al Gore. In 2004, he was decisively re-elected.

Laura Welch

Former First Lady

• Born Nov. 4, 1946
• Married to George Walker Bush

The second Bush first lady hails from Midland, Texas, where her husband also grew up. She worked as a school teacher and librarian before marrying George W. Bush. The couple have two daughters, twins Barbara and Jenna.

Robin Bush

• Born Dec. 20, 1949
• Died Oct. 11, 1953

Pauline Robinson “Robin” Bush died of leukemia at age three, seven months after waking one morning pale and lethargic with bruises on her legs. Her death devastated the family, and in its aftermath, her mother Barbara Bush’s hair began to turn gray though she was just 28 year old.

John Ellis "Jeb" Bush

• Born Feb. 11, 1953
• Married to Columba Garnica

Jeb Bush followed his father to Phillips Academy in Andover. While on a study-abroad program in Mexico, he met Columba Garnica Gallo. The couple married three years later. Bush attended the University of Texas. Later, the family moved to Venezuela, where he worked for a bank. He settled in Florida, where he worked for his father's 1980 and 1988 presidential campaigns, in real estate and banking, and served as Florida secretary of commerce under Gov. Bob Martinez. He was elected governor on his second try, in 1998, and won re-election in 2002. After leaving office in 2007, Bush returned to the business world, serving on corporate boards and holding ownership stakes in a consulting and investment firms.

Columba Garnica

• Born Aug. 17, 1953
• Married to John Ellis "Jeb" Bush

Columba Garnica de Gallo Bush hails from Leon, Mexico, and met Jeb Bush while he was a student there. The daughter of a farmer, she became a U.S. citizen in the 1980s. She shies from the spotlight and takes on few of the public duties customary to a political wife. As first lady of Florida, she became an advocate for domestic abuse victims.

Neil Mallon Bush

Businessman

• Born Jan. 22, 1955

Named for Neil Mallon, his father’s mentor in the oil business, Neil Bush settled in Colorado after working on his father’s 1980 presidential campaign. He soon became embroiled in the savings and loan scandal. The Silverado Banking, Savings and Loan Association, of which he was an outside director, collapsed in 1988, costing the government about $1 billion to bail out depositors. Neil Bush and his partners ultimately agreed to pay $49.5 million to settle an FDIC civil suit alleging negligence and insider dealings. Today Neil Bush sits on corporate boards and is chairman of the Points of Light Foundation, a non-profit founded by his father that promotes volunteerism.

Marvin Pierce Bush

Businessman

• Born Oct. 22, 1956

The youngest of the Bush sons, Marvin has also kept the lowest profile. He went to the University of Virginia and has worked as a businessman, investment manager and corporate board member. As his brother’s tenure in the White House ended, Marvin Bush helped establish the George W Bush presidential library.

Doro Bush

• Born Aug. 18, 1959

The youngest child of President George H.W. Bush, known as Doro, spent part of her adolescence in New York City while her father was ambassador to the U.N. Bashful about her family’s station, she was driven to school by a chauffeur but asked to be dropped off down the street, according to a biography. She has a sociology degree from Boston College. She lived for a time in Maine, where she worked for the Maine tourism office, and later moved to Washington, where she worked at a hospital.

Barbara Pierce Bush

• Born Nov. 25, 1981

Barbara Pierce Bush was seven when her grandfather was sworn in as president, and 19 when her parents moved into the Executive Mansion. At that point, she was a student at Yale, the alma mater of her father, grandfather and great-grandfather. In 2008 she co-founded the non-profit Global Health Corps. On Inauguration Day in January 2009, she and her twin sister, Jenna, penned an article in The Wall Street Journal offering warm advice to the Obama girls (“Have fun and enjoy your childhood in such a magical place to live and play”).

Jenna Welch Bush

• Born Nov. 25, 1981

Jenna Bush Hager was seven when her grandfather was sworn in as president and 19, and a freshman at the University of Texas when her parents moved into the White House. She was married in 2008 to Henry Chase Hager, the son of a former Virginia lieutenant governor, and in 2009 was hired as a special correspondent on NBC’s “Today” show.

George Prescott Bush

Texas Land Commissioner

• Born April 24, 1976

George Prescott Bush was born in Texas, attended Rice University in Houston, and later law school at the University of Texas. He taught school in Miami, served as an officer in the U.S. Navy reserve, worked in private equity and at an investment firm, according to a campaign biography, before following his forbears into politics. In November, he was elected Texas land commissioner.

Noelle Bush

• Born July 26, 1977

John Ellis Bush Jr

• Born Dec. 13, 1983

Photos: Getty Images, George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, Ohio Supreme Court, Ancestry.com/U.S. State Department, Stevens Institute of Technology


Source: http://graphics.wsj.com/jeb-bush-family-tree/?mod=e2tw

FIFTY GREAT BOOKS FOR KIDS TO READ THIS SUMMER

FIFTY GREAT BOOKS FOR KIDS TO READ THIS SUMMER

By Valerie Strauss May 30

Here, from Scholastic Instructor, is a list of 50 great books for kids to read over the summer. The list, which was assembled with the help of teachers and others, offers books that will appeal to students from pre-K through eighth grade. Categories of books are humor, fantasy and adventure, nonfiction, realistic fiction, magic and mystery, picture books.

HUMOR

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer

By Kelly Jones, illustrated by Katie Kath. Grades 4–6.

In letters to her dearly departed abuelita and others, Sophie worries about missing L.A., her dad’s unemployment, and poultry thieves. Her voice rings true in this tale of family, adventure, and raising chickens.

Return to Augie Hobble

By Lane Smith. Grades 4–7.

“This has a little bit of everything: twisted fairy tales, werewolves, bullies, and humor.”

—Karen Arendt, librarian, T. J. Connor Elementary, Scottsville, NY

The Terrible Two

By Jory John and Mac Barnett, illustrated by Kevin Cornell. Grades 4–6.

Far be it from us to condone pranking, but if we were to, we’d recommend this very funny manual on the art. Plus, there are cows, goofy drawings, shouting principals, and other stuff preteens will find hilarious.

Petlandia

By Peter Hannan. Grades 2–5.

A fiendish alpha cat, her dim-witted canine nemesis, and a lovesick hamster declare independence from humans and form the nation of Petlandia. Power struggles ensue as rats, snakes, and even fleas demand a voice. Sublimely immature.

Frank Einstein and the ¬Electro-Finger

By Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Brian Biggs. Grades 3–6.

“It has action and adventure, it’s graphic-intensive, and it has a superhero vibe. I just won’t mention the science part too loudly.” —Kendra Patterson, librarian, Andrews (TX) Middle School

Cassidy’s Guide to Everyday Etiquette (and Obfuscation)

By Sue Stauffacher. Grades 3–7.

Worst Summer Ever? That’s what it looks like to tomboy Cassidy, who is dreading the five weeks she must spend in etiquette classes. Not to mention her mother’s tendency to use words like obfuscation.

Dragons at Crumbling Castle

By Terry Pratchett. Grades 4–7.

From the fertile imagination of the late best-selling author comes a ridiculously droll collection of stories that are one part Roald Dahl, one part Monty Python, and the rest pure Pratchett.

Rude Cakes

By Rowboat Watkins. Grades K–2.

This pretty pink cake is a nasty piece of work—pushy and rude—until it’s taught a lesson about manners by a goofy troupe of colorful Cyclopses.

FANTASY AND ADVENTURE

Circus Mirandus

By Cassie Beasley. Grades 4–8.

“Some books take readers to different places or let us experience fantastical lands, but Circus Mirandus brings the magic to our world.” —Jen Vincent, coordinator of instructional technology, School District U-46, Elgin, IL

Last of the Sandwalkers

By Jay Hosler. Grades 4–7.

In this funny, adventure-filled graphic novel deeply rooted in science, a society of beetles, led by young scientist Lucy, explores the precarious desert world outside its palm tree.

Ratscalibur

By Josh Lieb. Grades 3–7.

With his super-heightened sense of smell (chicken bones—yum!) and a magical spork dubbed Ratscalibur in hand, kid-turned-rat Joey fights to save a kingdom of fellow rats.

The Princess in Black

By Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham. Grades K–3.

Princesses in black are bored by teatime, gallop breakneck on jet-black ponies (not pink-maned unicorns), and rescue boys from monsters. Finally, the perfect role-model princess!

Nightbird

By Alice Hoffman. Grades 5–8.

In a place where monsters might be real, 12-year-old Twig stores up her hurts “as if they were a tower made of fallen stars”—until she finds a friend to help her break a curse and release her family’s secrets.

Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures

By Jackson Pearce and Maggie Stiefvater. Grades 3–6.

High-strung unicorns and lilac-horned Pomeranians are a few of Pip’s allies as she battles villains like government functionary Mrs. Dreadbatch in this fantastical field guide to magical creatures.

The Lost Track of Time

By Paige Britt, illustrated by Lee White. Grades 4–7.

“For fans of The Phantom Tollbooth, Alice in Wonderland, puns, space-time continuums, philosophy, and, most of all, those who know the value of a good idea, this book is a must-read.” —Brian Wyzlic, teacher, Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School, Marine City, MI

Interstellar Cinderella

By Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Meg Hunt. Grades K–3.

Antimatter hammers and sonic socket wrenches are the tools a space-age Cinderella uses to win the heart of the prince—and the happy ending involves her agreeing to be his chief mechanic, not his royal bride.

NONFICTION

Welcome to the Neighborwood

By Shawn Sheehy. Grades K–2.

This intricate pop-up book explores the dwellings of seven animals that share the same forest home.

Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah

By Laurie Ann Thompson, illustrated by Sean Qualls. Grades K–3.

Emmanuel was born with only one functioning leg, but that didn’t stop him from achieving great things. As a child, he hopped to school two miles each way; as an adult, he bicycled 400 miles across Ghana for disability awareness.

Gingerbread for Liberty!: How a German Baker Helped Win the American Revolution

By Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch.  Grades 1–4.

Young history buffs will love this story about a Philadelphia baker who helped change the course of the Revolutionary War with gingerbread—and kindness.

Growing up Pedro

By Matt Tavares. Grades 2–5.

This picture-book bio captures the struggles, and the deep brotherly bond, of MLB legends Pedro and Ramón Martinez—from their impoverished upbringing in the Dominican Republic to their glory days in the big leagues.

A Nest Is Noisy

By Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long. Grades K–3.

Whether it’s the foamy home of a frog or the sandy one of a sea turtle, this book reminds readers that all nests bustle with activity.

Why’d They Wear That?: Fashion As the Mirror of History

By Sarah Albee. Grades 5–8.

Ever wonder why ruff collars became all the rage during the Renaissance or how sneakers came to be? Learn from this detailed account of fashion through the ages.

The Founding Fathers!: The Horse-Ridin’, Fiddle-Playin’, Book-Readin’, Gun-Totin’ ¬Gentlemen Who Started America

By Jonah Winter, illustrated by Barry Blitt. Grades 3–5.

“Kids will love learning about the early leaders of our country, and the good, the bad, and the ugly character traits of each one.” —Holly Mueller, fifth- and sixth-grade ELA gifted intervention specialist, Kings Local School District (OH)

I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives

By Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda, with Liz Welch. Grades 6–8.

Caitlin and Martin lived a world apart—she in the U.S., he in Zimbabwe—but they were brought together by a pen pal exchange that lasted six years. This uplifting memoir will have students reaching for their pens.

REALISTIC FICTION

A Handful of Stars

By Cynthia Lord. Grades 3–7.

“Lord weaves themes of acceptance, friendship, and bravery into a novel that also celebrates the beauty of nature and the richness that animal companions bring to our lives.” —Jennifer Brittin, K–5 media teacher, Warren E. Sooy Jr. Elementary School, Hammonton, NJ

The Penderwicks in Spring

By Jeanne Birdsall. Grades 3–7.

The fourth installment of this series finds the Penderwicks with a new sibling named Lydia. It’s an endearing story about friendship and family.

Listen, Slowly

By Thanhhà Lai. Grades 5–8.

On a trip to Vietnam, California-born protagonist Mai struggles to find a balance between the culture she was raised in and her family’s roots. Unlike Lai’s award-winningInside Out and Back Again, this story is told in prose instead of poetry, but it’s equally as powerful.

Gone Crazy in Alabama

By Rita Williams-Garcia. Grades 4–6.

The award-winning author rounds out a trilogy about three sisters as they travel from Brooklyn to Alabama to visit their grandmother.

Dear Hank Williams

By Kimberly Willis Holt. Grades 4–7.

Eleven-year-old Tate P. Ellerbee writes a series of letters to country music star Hank Williams as part of a class assignment in a relatable story of family, tragedy, and love.

Ice Cream Summer

By Peter Sís. Grades K–3.

Sís cleverly slips lessons on history, vocabulary, and math into this tale of summer fun as Joe narrates everything he’s learned in a letter to his grandfather.

The Way Home Looks Now

By Wendy Wan-Long Shang. Grades 4–7.

Amid family loss, a boy turns to baseball in hopes of bringing some normalcy back to his homelife. This touching story is more than a sports book—it’s a testament to the healing power of family.

Fish in a Tree

By Linda Mullaly Hunt. Grades 4–7.

Ally struggles with dyslexia, which she covers up with troublemaking antics. Mr. Daniels—who reminds his students of the maxim that no one should “judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree”—is a wonderful role model.

Lost in the Sun

By Lisa Graff. Grades 5–8.

Perfect for students preparing for middle school, Graff’s latest is all about making a fresh start. Trent struggles with a tragic accident in his past while trying to start anew.

MAGIC & MYSTERY

The Island of Dr. Libris

By Chris Grabenstein. Grades 3–7.

Stuck at an old cabin with a broken iPhone, 12-year-old Billy braces himself for a boring summer—until he opens a book.

Echo

By Pam Muñoz Ryan. Grades 5–9.

Set before and during WWII, this magical tale follows an enchanted harmonica and the lives it touches as it travels through space and time.

Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective: The Sweetest Heist in History

By Octavia Spencer. Grades 4–7.

“The diverse cast of characters solves an intriguing mystery that is more interesting than ones in many clue-oriented books.” —Karen Yingling, teacher-librarian, Blendon Middle School, Westerville, OH

Pieces and Players

By Blue Balliett. Grades 3–7.

Thirteen masterpieces go missing from a museum, and finding the perpetrator might be tough—but it’s nothing compared with becoming a teenager.

Smashie McPerter and the Mystery of Room 11

By N. Griffin, illustrated by Kate Hindley. Grades 2–5.

When Room 11’s hamster goes missing, Smashie and best friend Dontel are on the case. Great for developing logical reasoning skills.

Wiilliam & the Missing ¬Masterpiece

By Helen Hancocks. Grades K–2.

Crisis in Paris: The Mona Cheesa is missing! William, cat detective, agrees to put his vacation on hold and use his observational skills to save the day.

Honey

By Sarah Weeks. Grades 3–7.

When Melody overhears her widowed father calling someone “honey,” she sets out to track down the mystery woman—and discovers a connection to her mother.

Bayou Magic

By Jewell Parker Rhodes. Grades 3–7.

New Orleans native Maddy is nervous about spending a summer with her grandmother, but she soon discovers the magic of the bayou—and her own ancestors.

Book Scavenger

By Jennifer Chambliss Bertman. Grades 4–9.

Emily’s family is always moving. One constant: Book Scavenger, a game where players solve puzzles to find books. When the game’s creator is attacked, Emily embarks on the ultimate scavenger hunt.

PICTURE BOOKS

Last Stop on Market Street

By Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson. Grades 2–5.

CJ’s nana helps him see beyond poverty to the beauty around them. De la Peña tackles questions of class and privilege in a way that will resonate.

Sea Rex

By Molly Idle. Grades K–1.

Cordelia enjoys a day of fun with her little brother, a basket of beach supplies, and a few dinosaurs. Kids will absorb summer safety tips while laughing out loud at Idle’s subtle humor.

An Ambush of Tigers: A Wild Gathering of Collective Nouns

By Betsy R. Rosenthal, illustrated by Jago. Grades K–3.

“Who could resist the shiver of sharks with their scarves and hats? I highly recommend this for any language arts class.” —Suzanne Costner, library media specialist, Fairview Elementary School, Maryville, TN

Duncan the Story Dragon

By Amanda Driscoll. Grades K–2.

Duncan has a problem: He loves to read, but when he gets excited, his fire-breath burns the story up!

Marilyn’s Monster

By Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Matt Phelan. Grades K–3.

In a world where every kid has his or her own monster, Marilyn hasn’t found hers yet. Rather than wait as told, she sets off to find her monster—and prove that it doesn’t always pay to play by the rules.

999 frogs and a Little Brother

By Ken Kimura, illustrated by Yasunari Murakami. Grades K–2.

When the smallest tadpole in the family meets a baby crayfish, he is thrilled to be mistaken for the crayfish’s big brother. What begins as a funny misunderstanding becomes a sweet friendship.

How to Read a Story

By Kate Messner, illustrated by Mark Siegel. Grades K–3.

Messner takes young readers from the library shelf to “the end” with time-tested tips such as “Find a cozy reading spot…just be careful not to get stuck.” What better way to get kids excited about reading?

Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music

By Margarita Engle, illustrated by Rafael López. Grades K–3.

Based on a true story, this vibrant book stars a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who dreamed of playing the drums at a time when female drummers were taboo. The poetic verse has a beat of its own.