A Is for Atticus: Baby Names from Great Books [Paperback]

Lorilee Craker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 2008

Pick up a celebrity magazine and you'll see that the art of naming babies has reached new heights of self-expression, with recent choices like Shiloh, Sailor, Apple, and notably, Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q. Hewson. Baby namers today want monikers that reflect something personal. Where better to draw inspiration than the books you cherish and the characters you love? A IS FOR ATTICUS mines the classics for the best names and brings them all into one volume. Unlike massive baby name books, which offer endless, dry lists with cursory dictionary definitions, each of the carefully selected names (including Beckett after the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett and Esme from J.D. Salinger's For Esme with Love and Squalor) is fully profiled in a fun, savvy, info-packed listing that includes a name's meaning, uniqueness, modern appeal, and cultural significance. Helpful sidebars guide you to the perfect name for your perfect baby.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lorilee Craker is the entertainment writer for The Grand Rapids Press and has interviewed Jessica Simpson, Donald Trump, Ray Romano, Randy Jackson and Jeff Probst. She lives in West Michigan with her husband and three children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Center Street (August 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599950200
• ISBN-13: 978-1599950204
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #419,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lorilee Craker is a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Coldest City in the World (with the warmest heart). She now lives in balmy Grand Rapids, MI, where she rocks out in her minivan as she shuttles her three children to hockey, gymnastics, soccer, lacrosse, and everywhere in between. She is the author of 11 books, including "Money Secrets of the Amish" and the New York Times bestseller "Through the Storm" with Lynne Spears. She is also a longtime contributor to the entertainment pages of "The Grand Rapids Press" and has been published in magazines ranging from "Sports Spectrum" to "Parents."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars great idea badly executed, November 23, 2008

By 

ehf - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Is for Atticus: Baby Names from Great Books (Paperback)

This book is a great idea--as an English teacher, I was very excited when I saw it. I agree with the other reviewer who said that the commentary blurbs are helpful and a nice break from the endless lists of names in other books.

That being said, I wish the author had paid more attention to "great books" and a lot less attention to TV. She mentions Grey's Anatomy regularly, which couldn't be further from a great book. At one point she mentions an exchange student she knew in high school--again, not at all the context I care about at all. Because she's spending time talking about her husband's great-aunt (who cares?) and contemporary TV, she basically just mentions the book that each name comes from. There's no explanation of the character's role or connotation.
She also misses a lot of great names (Ada from Bleak House, for instance).

I don't know if Lorilee Craker needs to read more or what, but I wish someone with a broader, deeper knowledge of literature had taken on this book. There might be more names with a more thorough and interesting discussion of the characters.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, December 1, 2011

By 

beukespew - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Is for Atticus: Baby Names from Great Books (Kindle Edition)

I was quite excited to read this book given all the hype, but it left me wanting. Though some of the descriptions are good, especially the "if you like y, consider x instead" comments, the overall list of names is too short and quite honestly, too far out in left field. I would say skip it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The baby name book for me!, September 11, 2010

By 

Kristen (TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Is for Atticus: Baby Names from Great Books (Paperback)

My sister-in-law brought this book to my attention, and I'm thrilled that she did. It was a perfect book for me, and the one that helped solidify our choice for a baby girl's name (Evangeline). First of all I loved that it is unique; it's not just a dry list of hundreds and hundreds of names with a cursory description of meanings. Ms. Craker is selective in the names she has chosen to list, and not only does she tell you the names' meanings, but she also gives meaningful commentary on each. I loved hearing her personal opinions on baby names, many of which made me laugh out loud. The result was that I read the entire book, each name, rather than just scanning each page for a name here and there which might catch my eye. Most baby name books are like that, and are therefore overwhelming and easily forgettable.

No, Ms. Craker does not list EVERY important literary work; that would be absurd. The names listed in her book are names she thinks are ripe and ready for the current age in which we live, and therefore only those literary works from which the names hail are included. Some reviewers have been annoyed by the fact that the author also mentions names from currently popular TV shows and movies. I, for one, didn't find this annoying at all. No, these media are not great literary works, but they are a form of entertainment, and I don't feel it's a huge stretch to at least mention a few names from them. The mere mention of a TV show might date the book, but usually the names mentioned from these shows have timeless qualities about them, which make them appropriate for inclusion in the book A is for Atticus.

The bottom line is, if you are looking for something different, maybe slightly quirky, but not overly trendy - and especially if you are a book lover - this is the baby name book for you too.