Beyond the Bake Sale- The Ultimate School Fund-raising Book by Jean C. Joachim

Jean Joachim has lived and breathed fund-raising on behalf of P.S. 87 in New York City. She gives very believable stories about how this school community pulls together every year to raise thousands of dollars for the school. The events and strategies they use have been collected by the time of year so that Fall fundraisers are in one section and Spring ones in another. Not only are the ideas easily transferable to other schools, Joachim has given great tips about what works and what doesn't. The energy, enthusiasm and commitment that this school embodies should motivate anyone who is involved with a struggling school. Every PTA, every principal, and every classroom teacher should have and read a copy of this book. My role as a professional grant-writer and a classroom teacher's Grant Mapper touches on fund-raising every day. This book is a tremendous resource. I highly recommend it.

Beyond the Bake Sale: The Ultimate School Fund-raising book by Jean C. Joachim (c) 2003, St. Martin's Press

How to Get Money for your Classroom & School by Frances A. Karnes and Kristen R. Stephens

Everything about this book is technically correct but lacks a sense of hands-on intimate familiarity with the subject. It's more of a rule book for grant writing, fund raising and money making to benefit classrooms and schools. If you want to know how these processes work this is a good introduction and also has a great list of websites and information about vendors.

How to Get Money for Your Classroom & School by Frances A. Karnes, Ph.D., & Kristen R. Stephens, Ph.D, (c) 2005, Prufrock Press, Inc.

Crime School: Money Laundering by Chris Mathers

This book is a Canadian Mounty's discussion of how and why criminals launder money. Mathers peppers the text with witty quotations about ethics and crime which give the reader pause and amusement like this one. "If all mankind were suddenly to practice honesty, many thousands of people would be sure to starve" according to G. C. Lichtensberg who lived from 1742-99. The book is a real heads-up about how criminals and terrorists have insinuated themselves throughout the culture. What an eye-opener! This book is a quick read told well and filled with stories of a law enforcement officer whose job was to penetrate the world and minds of money launders by posing as one under cover.




Crime School: Money Laudering by Chris Mathers (c) 2004 Firefly Books

Salem Witch Judge by Eve Laplante

Samuel Sewall's descendant, Eve Laplante, is the author of this biography. She relies on the many pages of journals and published text that Samuel Sewall produced during his life as well as on family oral history. She attempts to interpret the worldview of this Puritan graduate of Harvard and judge whose thought life hinged on a daily interaction with Biblical text, prayer, and the association of regular events with prophetic import. This approach leads the reader to understand how Sewall first participated as a judge during the Salem witch trials and later repented for his role. Laplante assumes that Sewall's internal compass and way of understanding the world through a Biblical lens was a historic phase of American culture. However, those of us who are privy to conservative evangelical contemporary Americans may recognize ourselves or our friends in Sewall's agonizing reflections and fearful awareness of the watchful eyes of God. What has changed about how American conservative evangelicals may be that we are not touched by death as constantly nor do we live daily with the prospect of our own mortality in center focus. Of Sewall's 14 children, only 11 outlived him. This book is an often uncomfortable description of the thinking that informed the foundations of our American realpolitik and culture.

Salem Witch Judge: The Life and Repentance of Samuel Sewall, by Eve Laplante, (c) 2007, Harper Collins Publishers, New York