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Twice a month, Book Bag features works of area writers and books of regional interest. Most of these titles are available at local bookstores or through online retailers.

"Getting Away With Torture: Secret Government, War Crimes, and the Rule of Law"
Christopher H. Pyle
Potomac Books Inc.

When the first, sickening photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib surfaced in 2004, President George W. Bush said they showed the reprehensible behavior of a few soldiers. Similarly, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called them an isolated case.

"The idea," writes Christopher Pyle, who teaches constitutional law and civil liberties at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, "that American soldiers would torture, humiliate, and degrade prisoners shocked viewers everywhere, but they shouldn't have been surprised." Whether Americans want to hear it or not, Pyle argues that the highest officials of the Bush-Cheney administration planned, authorized, encouraged and concealed war crimes that went far beyond what happened at that one Iraqi prison. The legislative and judicial branches of government for the most part went along for the ride, resisting efforts to hold anyone in a high position of power accountable.

Pyle's book is a study of the steps taken by the Bush Administration after 9/11 to wage its war on terrorism. The result of those steps, he writes, was that the U.S. became a country that is "no longer a constitutional government under law."

This is an unsettling book - not to mention the disturbing photos of prisoner abuse and the self-satisfied visages of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al that are contained within. Nor does he take the easy out of concluding that, with the election of Barack Obama, we have turned the page. "Unfortunately," he writes, "the new president and Congress have yet to demonstrate that they will defend the Constitution, bring the criminals to justice, curb secret government, and restore the rule of law ..."

In addition to the post-9/11 research he brings to his subject, Pyle's previous experience included researching the military's surveillance of civilian politics in the 1970 and work for Sen. Sam Ervin's Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights and Sen. Frank Church's Select Committee on Intelligence. He is the author of four books, most recently "Extradition, Politics, and Human Rights."

"Solving Thorny Behavior Problems: How Teachers and Students Can Work Together"
Caltha Crowe
Responsive Classroom

Caltha Crowe, who recently attended an event at Jackson Street School in Northampton has taught elementary school-age children for 40 years, in addition to leading workshops and coaching educators.

In "Solving Thorny Behavior Problems" Crowe tackles such common classroom challenges as arguing, excluding classmates, forming cliques, "forgetting" to do homework and refusing to share - and offers practical advice and strategies for dealing with them.

"Sports Competitions for Adults Over 40: A Participant's Guide to 27 Sports"
Thomas A. Jones
McFarland & Company Inc.

This guidebook is put together by Thomas A. Jones of Easthampton for those who want to compete in sports, including soccer, softball, basketball, skiing, tennis and swimming.

Chapters on each sport give the national sponsoring organization and regional affiliates, describe the competitions available, and give a breakdown of competitors by age and gender. In a section titled "How to Get Started," Jones describes the skills needed for each sport, required equipment, opportunities for coaching, and suggested books and videos for beginners.

"Clear Thoughts: Pragmatic Gems of Better Business Thinking"
Ann Latham
Red Oak Hill Press

A book with a title like this one - "Clear Thoughts" - had better be short, and this one is. Refreshingly so. It checks in at 79 pages and is easily read at one sitting.

The book is divided into three sections: Strategic Thoughts; People Thoughts; and Process Thoughts. Each section is sub-divided into up to a dozen topics, each one of which could be a book in itself. Latham, though, drills down to a few core points.

Such as:

In "Too Much to Do?" she talks about how the work will get handled after a layoff. "1. Figure out how to accomplish more," she writes, and "2. Decide what won't be done."

No.1 involves assessing talent, skills, method, and work environment; while No. 2 means that to do less you must abandon; postpone; outsource; or cut corners. On that second point, she says, "Intentional decisions are important here. If there is too much to do, something won't be done or will be done less carefully. Don't leave this to chance."

And this:

In her chapter titled "Multi-tasking Can Kill Productivity, Quality, and People," Latham deftly swats down the notion that mult-tasking - "the rage, the norm, the only way to manage in our crazy fast-paced world" - is always a good thing.

Sure you can clean out your inbox while you're on hold, she writes, or clean up your desk while waiting for a return call. But too many people, she says, take multi-tasking way too far, trying to do two things at once that require thinking. The result? Quality suffers. "Writing an email while talking on the phone is a definite quality killer." And, she says, repeatedly switching among activities reduces productivity. "You waste time and energy reviewing, regrouping, and restarting. Where can you regain that time? Nowhere ... "

Latham is president of Uncommon Clarity Inc., a consulting firm based in Easthampton that works with clients to improve individual and organizational performance.

"The Journey Through Grief and Loss: Helping Yourself and Your Child When Grief Is Shared"
Robert Zucker
St. Martin's Griffin

Robert Zucker's book is written for parents who, while dealing with their own loss, must also try to comfort their children who are also, in their own way, grieving the loss of a sibling, parent, or grandparent.

He has written it, he writes, for the parent who may have grown up in a family where death was never discussed; and for the parent who might have been told that young children don't really grieve; and for the parent struggling with his or her child's pain; and for the parent who is trying to block out his or her own loss in an effort to help a child. Zucker covers such topics as: understanding how adults and children grieve differently; learning how to explain death to children; getting back to work and school; how to help your child manage big feelings; deciding when they and/or their child need counseling; and helping family members stay connected with loved ones even after death.

The strength of Zucker's approach is its practicality. He offers suggestions, for example, about how to explain the cause of death to children, depending on their age, and how to answer such questions as how or why the death occurred.

Zucker is a licensed certified social worker with a private practice in Northampton. He has run many bereavement support groups and speaks frequently around the country on the subjects of grief and loss.

"Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms: 101 Stories Celebrating the Power of Choice for Stay-at-Home and Work-from-Home Moms"
Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Wendy Walker
Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing

Among the essay offerings in this volume are two from Northampton writers. In "Me, In a Handbasket," Jo Glading-DiLorenzo writes about her journey from lesbian feminist to stay-at-home mom. Sally Rubenstone's "Not All at Once," is her reflection on unexpectedly becoming a mother for the first time at 45 after years of being certain that she did not want to have children.

To submit materials for Book Bag, contact Suzanne Wilson at swilson@gazettenet.com.