Return to home
page Book Reviews, Book Lover Resources, Advice for Writers and Publishers
Home / Reviewer's Bookwatch

Reviewer's Bookwatch

Volume 3, Number 5 May 2003 Home | RBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Vicki's Bookshelf Sullivan's Bookshelf
Paul's Bookshelf Meredith's Bookshelf Marya's Bookshelf
Magdalena's Bookshelf Lori's Bookshelf Liana's Bookshelf
Kinni's Bookshelf Judine's Bookshelf Hodgins' Bookshelf
Harwood's Bookshelf Harold's Bookshelf Gorden's Bookshelf
Alyice's Bookshelf Fortenberry's Bookshelf Dana's Bookshelf
Cindy Lynn's Bookshelf Charisse's Bookshelf Taylor's Bookshelf
Rick's Bookshelf Roe's Bookshelf Susan's Bookshelf

Reviewer's Choice

The Last Warrior
Jim Hitt
Adventure Book Publishers
adventure@puzzlesbyshar.com, www.puzzlesbyshar.com/adventurebooks/
ISBN:1553131185, E-Book, $4.66 Online, 225 pages

Michael Bogert
Reviewer

The Last Warrior is a story based on an actual event that took place in 1903 in the Philippines. Luther Kelley (Known as Yellowstone) famous for his battles against the Sioux and Cheyenne, together with a group of African American soldiers help defend the territory against Muslim radicals and even escaped prisoners.

Mr. Hitt has done an excellent job in capturing the time period in his work. I enjoy books that can give the reader a feeling of what the characters experienced, and how their way of life dictated their actions. The pace that is set in the story doesn't slack at any point, which is a plus for historical novels. The author's style of writing allows the reader to understand the time period without taking away from the enjoyment of the book. It was a pleasure to read this story, and I would be happy to see it become available in print.

I would recommend The Last Warrior to readers, historical or not, who wish to add a fine story to their collection.

Gramma Knows the F Word
Ted Schredd
Discover Fun.
ISBN: 09731197-0-5, $19.95, www.discoverfun.com

David Leonhardt, Reviewer
http://www.TheHappyGuy.com

There's a fine line between happiness and fun, a line Ted Schredd leaps over, back and forth, with almost too much glee. Gramma Knows the F Word is about fun. (What did you think the "F" stands for?) Well, OK, some of the language Schredd uses is a bit coarse, so keep the book away from those with the most tender ears, but generally the book is about feeling positive and enjoying life.

If you are one of those people who reads only the beginning of a book, gets distracted, puts it down, forgets about it and never picks it up to read about it again, this book is about happiness - a topic I am very familiar with from my own book. In fact, many of the themes Schredd addresses in the first few chapters are themes from my book (I would like to think he had read my book and was so inspired by it that he went out and wrote his own, but that may just be the optimism of a happy person thinking.)

If you are the type of person who actually reads past the first third of the book, you will find that the book is not really about happiness, but about fun. Yes, the F word. Ted has chapters on laughing, silliness, sex, chilling out, fun at home and other fun themes.

The cover sets the tone, featuring a granny in cheerleader regalia. Ted's no-nonsense writing style definitely carries that mood through the book, which is further enhanced by his own illustrations - oops, I mean his own silly illustrations. Peppered throughout the book are famous and not-so-famous quotations, which tend to be much more serious than anything else in the book.

Whenever I review a book, I look for some lasting legacy the author might leave behind, in the event that the book becomes a top seller. Ted Schredd's legacy would be "mind poo", a term his grandmother coined. Mind poo is a generic term for all the negative thinking that keeps us from having fun.

There are many books that could be considered "fun", such as books about games, comic books and humor books, but few about fun as a topic. In fact, this is the first book specifically on fun that I have ever read, and it is unquestionably the best.

Pick up Gramma Knows the F Word and have some fun.

Talk Your Way Out Of Credit Card Debt
Scott Bilker
Press One Publishing
P.O. Box 563, Barnegat, NJ 08005-0563
ISBN 0-9648401-5-4, $19.95, 320 Pages, http://www.DebtSmart.com

Peter Hupalo
Reviewer

Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt: Phone Calls To Banks That Saved More Than $43,000 In Interest Charges and Fees! by consumer-advocate Scott Bilker shows people how to negotiate with credit card companies to reduce or eliminate fees, lower interest rates, and deal with credit card disputes and billing errors.

For himself, friends, and family, Bilker made hundreds of phone calls to credit card companies in an attempt to achieve a better deal and evaluate what works and what doesn't when calling credit card companies.

The full transcripts of fifty-two recorded phone calls are given and analyzed in Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt. The names of Bilker's friends were changed to protect their identities. Probably to prevent lawsuits, the names of the banks were changed to the names of dog breeds. And, the names of the account representatives and supervisors were changed to insect names. (Bilker suggests keeping notes and writing down the name of each person you talk with regarding your account. That way, if a representative claims he'll lower your interest rate, but doesn't, you can call back and say, "Mr. Tumble Bug said he was going to lower my rate to....")

The savings Bilker achieved were significant. In one phone call, Bilker got the bank to lower the interest rate from 13.72% to 8.75%, saving $4,320.00, based upon the existing credit card balance. (An appendix shows us how to calculate the savings we achieve by reducing credit card interest rates.)

In another case, Bilker absolutely couldn't get Mr. Mosquito or Ms. Glowworm at Shih Tzu bank to lower it's rate, but the bank offered a low rate for transfers from other accounts. So, Bilker promptly transferred the full balance out of Shih Tzu and then back again to get the lower transfer rate. Bilker speculates banks believe people are too lazy to transfer money around like this, even though the savings in interest paid by doing so are often in the thousands of dollars.

Bilker says it's crucial to keep your credit options open so you have bargaining power. He points out that banks with which you have established relationships are most likely to give you a good deal. So, Bilker argues, for people who carry credit card balances, there's little advantage in closing a no-fee, zero-balance account. With a phone call, they might lower their rate or might offer a great rate on transfers. Bilker writes: "Play all your credit card banks against each other. Make them fight for your business."

Bilker says credit card offers received in the mail (that most of us throw away) can also be used effectively when negotiating with your present bank. Be prepared to read the offers you have to your current bank to show that you have options.

Bilker writes: "It's easy for someone to say 'just call the bank and get the fees waived,' but actually calling is a different story. Without training you might risk not knowing exactly what to say in a highly pressured moment.... The key to success is knowing who to talk to and exactly what to say."

Bilker notes that Americans expect a rigid pricing structure and often don't know what to say or feel intimidated when speaking with bank account representatives, who often give customers the run-around. (There's something quite empowering about having your account representative named Mr. Mud Wasp or Ms. Deer Tick.)

Bilker says consumers should be prepared when they call, including having a "deal breaker" handy, which is the action the person will take if the credit card company fails to make a reasonable compromise.

Chapters in Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt discuss:

* Getting The Annual Fee Waived

* Reducing Or Eliminating Late Payment Fees, Overlimit Fees, and Cash Advance Fees

* Lowering Your Interest Rates

* Shopping Around To Get The Lowest Credit Card Rate

* Negotiating Settlements

* Dealing With Disputes, Chargebacks, And Errors

For consumers carrying credit card balances, the chapters about lowering interest rates and shopping around for the best interest rate are the most valuable. Bilker writes: "The key to repaying your debt efficiently, and I mean cheaply, is to keep your finance charges as low as possible."

In about 70% of the calls, Bilker got the bank to reduce its interest rate. Bilker tells us that at a high 19.8% APR, making minimum payments on $5,000 worth of credit card debt might take 46 years and cost $24,000 to pay off. Even a small reduction in the interest rate can save thousands of dollars.

Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt gives especially useful advice in dealing with run-around. Through reading the phone call transcripts, you'll gain experience in negotiating with a bank. Bilker points out that an account representative might tell you he/she can't change your rate. He/she might tell you that the supervisor can't change it either. It's their best offer. Bilker says you should ask to speak with the supervisor, anyway, who will often lower your rate as requested.

Bilker gives some great tips for dealing with awkward moments. For example, if a representative asks if you want to close the account (you don't want to) or leave the rate where it is, Bilker says you could respond that you don't want to close the account, but that you plan to transfer the balance to another card and not use their card unless the rate is later lowered. Under pressure, unless you're familiar with what might be said or requested, you might say things that only sound like whining, which won't get you what you want.

I highly recommend Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt to anyone who carries a balance on his or her credit cards or anyone who wants to gain skill in negotiating with a credit card bank to reduce interest rates or eliminate fees. Following Bilker's advice can save thousands of dollars in credit card interest and fees. Scott Bilker is also the author of the best-selling book Credit Card And Debt Management.

Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden
Vintage Books; Random House
ISBN: 0-09-977151-9n 434pp 1997 6.99UK ppbk
http://www.randomhouse.co.uk

0-679-78158-7 1999 448pp 14.95US ppbk
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/results.pperl?author_like=Arthur%20Golden

Pogo, Reviewer
pogomcl@authorsden.com

Have you ever wanted to look beneath the white mask or glimpse beneath the rich finery of a Geisha? Upon opening the cover of this book, you enter the heart of Nitta Sayuri, the renown geisha of Gion, who confesses the events of her life to Jakob Haarhuis, Professor of Japanese History of New York University. He writes,

"Though she was eager to have her biography recorded, Sayuri did insist upon several conditions. She wanted the manuscript published only after her death and the deaths of several men who had figured prominently in her life. As it turned out, the all predeceased her...Whenever possible I have left the names unchanged, though Sayuri did hide the identities of certain men even from me through the convention ... of referring to customers by means of an epithet." (p4)

Born with the eyes and temperament of her mother, Sayuri reflects upon the mystical influence of water on her nature,

"My mother always said that she married my father because she had too much water in her personality and he had too much wood in his. People who knew my father understood right away what she was talking about. Water flows from place to place quickly and always finds a crack to spill through. Wood, on the other hand holds fast to the earth." (p9)

More intriguing than a Dickens novel, Memoirs of a Geisha, follows the tangled fate of Chiyo, the daughter of an impoverished fisherman of Yoroida, from her earliest childhood memories where they lived in a tipsy house atop the sea cliffs, where the fierce winds and strong waves seemed to wash away life from the beach forever. How much can be changed by a single incident? How can the restless movement of water be blocked? What is the impact of a split lip? The world of Chiyo changes as she is sold to an okiya in Gion by Mr. Tanaka, the owner of a fish packing plant.

"But the truth is that the afternoon when I met Mr. Tanaka Ichiro really was the best and the worst of my life. He seemed so fascinating to me, even the fish smell on his hands was a kind of perfume. If I had never known him, I'm sure I would not have become a geisha." (p7)

Drawn in meticuous detail, the profiles of Hatsumomo, Mameha, Pumpkin and Chiyo are cut in sharp contrast like the silhouettes from the early twentieth century mounted against dark backgrounds.

"This Pumpkin girl," Mameha said, "how do she and Hatsumomo get along?"

"Well, ma'am," I said, "I suppose Hatsumomo pays her no more attention than she would a leaf that has fluttered into the courtyard."

"How poetic... a leaf that has fluttered into the courtyard. Is that the way Hatsumomo treats you as well?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but the truth is, I wasn't sure what to say. I knew very little about Mameha, and it would be improper to speak ill of Hatsumomo to someone outside the okiya. Mameha seemed to sense what I was thinking, for she said to me:

"You needn't answer. I know perfectly well how Hatsumomo treats you: about like a serpent treats its next meal, I should think." (p122)

Adroitly, the author exposes Hatsumomo's vicious disposition to destroy any rival that might challenge her domination of geisha in Gion. With the capriciousness of a reigning diva, she contrives to steal an elegant kimono from a rival to have Chiyo ruin it by splotting it with ink. Who wants a girl that brings the okiya in debt? Who fails to complete an apprenticeship? Who tries to run away? With such bad beginnings, Chiyo confronts a life of unmitigated misery of debt and indentured drudgery as a permament maid.

Only the high bidding for the mizuage, the sexual initiation of the apprentice when the woman's cave is explored by the man's eel, and the patronage of a danna can relieve Chiyo of debt and assure some security from the destructive forces of the world. With the formality of being an apprentice, the name is changed from Chiyo to Sayuri, and with the formal adoption of the okiya, the name is changed once more, Nitta Sayuri, to designate her ownership.As the layers of make-up are applied, the white mask donned, the thoughts of a geisha becomes hidden beneath the layers clothes, rituals and social expectations until gradually the superficial mask becomes part of daily reality. We follow the formation of a rough country girl through the harsh discipline of learning the art of entertaining whether the movement of her arm in pouring tea or the intricate steps of dancing. Sayuri explains the differences in dress between an apprentice and a full-fledged geisha; the way they wear their obi, collars and hair. And reminiscing, she astutely comments,

"Since moving to New York I've learned what the word "geisha" really means to most Westerners. From time to time at elegant parties, I've been introduced to some young woman or other in a splendid dress and jewelry. When she learns I was once a geisha in Kyoto, she forms her mouth into a sort of smile, although the corners don't turn up quite right as they should. She has no idea what to say! And then the burden of the conversation falls to the man or woman who has introduced us—because I've never learned much English, even all these years. Of course, there is little point even in trying, because this woman is thinking, "My goodness... I'm talking with a prostitute..." A moment later she is rescued by her escort, a wealthy man a good thirty or foty years older than she is." (291)

Tightly written, the novel moves quickly like a brook flowing over a stony bed, ever seeking its path forward. And with its many twists and tuns of a mountain spring, the writing is briskly refreshing. Difficult to set aside, the yarn entangles the reader into a web of intrigue and strategems of the leading players who move like chessmen against each other. With great skill, Arthur Golden easily takes his place amongst the master craftsmen, the great tale-spinners of Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo and Mark Twain in his ability to create a cinematic historical stage, realistic dialogue and internal subterfuge that keeps the pages turning unto the end.

Irrepressible Appetites
Tracey Broussard, editor
Rock Press, Inc.
4611 South University Drive, #450, Davie, FL 33328
ISBN 0-9676748-2-4, $19.95, April, 2003, 240 Pages

Rebekah Savage
Reviewer

Like the rule to never go shopping at the grocery store hungry, this anthology also carries the same warning. To wander through its pages is to spark your hunger and send you reaching for your favorite meal. Ms. Broussard has gathered together a wonderful array of writers. It is delightful walk through the minds and stomachs of a diverse group, each share recipes, poems and short stories that are a treat for both the mind and the taste buds. The reader is invited both into the hearts and to the dinner table of these writers. To experience this anthology is to share in the most natural exchange between two people: eating.

Over and over again, this anthology emphasizes how our appetites influence our cultural traditions beginning with our families and our most intimate relationships and extending out towards the greater society. We see that our family's stories often rotate around the axis of eating, as we see in "Dean-O," by Nina Romano, "Ecole de Cuisine," by Michele Dunn Baker and "The Inadvertent Muse," by Carol Koris.

Also, there is the forbidden aspect of eating and food as seen in "Kinetic Tableau," by Elisa Albo, "Produce," by Jesse Millner and "The Tomato Omlete," by Barbara Bottner. Just as an artist paints a scene rich with all the colors of daily life, stories like "Shopping at Publix, Late October," by Lydia Webster and poems like "Praise," by Norman Minnick, and "Everything," by Elisa Albo, demonstrate how food enriches our memories of special occasions.

Poignant, yet simple and uncomplicated; humorous and heartbreaking. Each reader will find something to savor and revisit repeatedly, like a comfort food or a warming cup of tea.

The Hunters
Claire Messud
Picador, Macmillan
ISBN: 0330488155, A$22.00, (paperback), 181 pages

Harvest Books
ISBN: 0156007312, $13.00, (paperback), 208 pages

Ann Skea, Reviewer
http://ann.skea.com

Maria Poniatowski is in her seventies. Sometimes she feels as if she is unseen - to the women she cleans for, and to her grown-up son and his family, for instance. No-one wants to know about her past, or much about her present. But she is tough and resilient. She has endured too much already to let present disappointments undo her. So, when she lets herself into ninety-two year-old Mrs Ellington's flat one Tuesday morning and sees a trail of blood streaked along the walls, she thinks the worst and accepts it philosophically.

Claire Messud is a masterly story-teller. She catches your interest, raises your curiosity, then keeps your attention as the tale unfolds. She is clever at painting in the colours so that "unseen" people, like Maria, come into focus, and she draws their lives so well that you begin to see that in many ways they are just like you.

Maria Poniatowski is a D.P. - a "Displaced Person", a post-war refugee from a small village in the Ukraine who, with her husband and son, began a new life in Canada after World War II. Maria has cleaned Mrs Ellington's home every week for forty-five years. She is happy with this routine; enjoys the company; knows Mrs Ellington's daily living needs in detail and is immune to her growing bad-temper, sympathetic about her near-blindness, and understanding of her need for independence.

Messud tells us all this. And tells us, almost in passing, about Maria's past - "the long woven filament of life that stretched back through the years and across continents" - and about the strange, strained, limited friendship between the two women, which is about to end. The story is as ordinary and yet as extraordinary as many peoples' lives and Messud tells it with subtly and insight. Rightly, she calls it A Simple Tale.

The second story in this book gives the book its title. I'm still not sure why this story is called 'The Hunters', unless it is meant to suggest that the story is about the lengths to which some people will go to give meaning to their lives. I felt less empathy with the narrator of this tale, which was probably due to Messud's subtle and deliberate manipulation of my feelings, and I was kept reading partly by my curiosity as to this narrator's gender.

Messud's narrator is as American who is doing academic research in London and is living in a rented flat in Kilburn, not, as planned, in Maida Vale. Concern for appearances - snobbishness, if you like, about the address - means that the narrator spends several paragraphs telling us of this mistake and complaining of the deviousness of the estate agent with whom he negotiated the deal. As the tale unfolds (and it is quite an ordinary tale) the teller's capacity for the imaginative re-creation of a world which clearly revolves around him or her becomes apparent. And the tale unfolds in prose which is exotic, full of reported speech, and richly descriptive, as befits an academic who is (as he/she makes sure we know) an expert on the French novelist Malreaux. But his/her view of situations borders on fantasy and obsession, and there is enough plausibility in the fantasy for it to be dangerous. Chief of his/her preoccupations is the woman who lives with her mother (or does she?) in the downstairs flat.

Various scenarios for this mother/daughter relationship start to occupy the narrator's mind and, eventually, much of his/her life. But in the end, despite the spying and the guessing, it is all a game. The sabbatical ends, the narrator returns to America, and new obsessions displace the old, until a return visit to Kilburn offers more food for thought and, briefly, some new fantasies. This is a subtle character study, shaped by Messud with admirable skill.

So, The Hunters contains two very different stories, both beautifully told. Messud shows her readers that the seemingly mundane can be very unusual if you look beneath the surface, and her stories prompt us to look again at the ordinary people around us and to never again believe that the way they appear to us tells all.

Two Bits
Clint Gaige
Quiet Storm Publishing
PO Box 1666, Martinsburg, WV 25402
0972881905, $22.95, hardcover, 204 pages, www.quietstormpublishing.com

Phillip Tomasso III
Reviewer

Clint Gaige, author of A Kerouac Christ, has written an unforgettable crime story in Two Bits. The tightly plotted con-artist novel is complete with taut chapters, crisp dialogue and page turning, roller coaster action packed into every scene. In Two Bits, Gaige left out all the fluff and filler, clearly concentrating on putting together a no-nonsense thriller.

Archie Greene, is like a young Paul Newman. Caught after pulling off a petty scam, Greene might have walked away from the deal with a slap on the wrist. His temper lands him behind bars after taking a swing at the arresting officer. Two Bits starts with Greene's parole. He has a telemarketing job lined up and an apartment ready and waiting.

Greene can't handle the day to day, hum-drum life that ordinary people lead. He itches to get back into the game. A con artist is a con artist. Conning is in his blood, literally. Greene learned the tricks of the trade from the best, his grandfather.

Greene's grandfather shows up on his doorstep a broken man. Pat Shannon, a hot-shot Mafia man inadvertently killed Greene's grandmother. And the grandfather wants to bleed the man dry of his wealth to teach him a lesson.

The easiest way to a self-absorbed person is to make the con all about that person. Greene poses as a film producer interested in shooting a movie about Shannon's life. Teaming up with a host of odd friends and dangerous new acquaintances, the plan to scam millions unfolds. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Murphy's law comes into play. Anything that can get screwed up, does. People you thought could be trusted are first in line to twist the knife in your back. Greene finds himself isolated and trapped in a quick-failing con, with nothing to do but keep up the con?The show must go on.

In the vein of Leonard's Get Shorty, and Tevis' The Hustler, Two Bits is a fine work of cleverly crafted fiction. Clint Gaige invokes anticipation in the reader with fingernail biting vigor. He knows how to move the story at breakneck speed utilizing his host of unusual and savory characters. Tension, it's in there. Action, it's in there. Satisfaction, it's in there.

The Twentieth-Century Lady: Donna Lou Seymour's Contribution to Save Our World
Donald Seymour
Talent Discovery Press
ISBN: 0964753235, $24.95, 304 pp., http://www.bookmasters.com/marktplc/00676.htm

Viveka Neveln
Reviewer

For someone who "disliked English, and seldom passed it in school," Donald Seymour borders on prolific. Already the author of The Key to Your Unknown Talent, this time Seymour gets personal with this tenderly written biography/memoir of his late wife, Donna. Seymour introduces the reader to a plain farm girl from Wisconsin and details how she became a fitting representative of the twentieth-century lady: beautiful, wise, and above all, compassionate. In addition, the book recounts how this woman helped Seymour to research and develop an intriguing idea they believed would provide a solution to a myriad of global challenges.

The author uses simple language and an earnest tone to effectively capture the special relationship he had with Donna. The story is divided into three sections. Each one is comprised of a series of vignettes which describe how the couple met, their married life, and how their unique ideas developed through discussions and research. The impetus for the research resulted from Seymour's frustrating attempts to support his family. After bouncing around from job to job until he finally found something he could succeed at, he wondered if there wasn't a better method for choosing one's career. Though he goes on to become an international businessman and successful C.E.O. of a company he helped to build, he continued to look for answers.

Seymour studied the work of great thinkers from Albert Einstein to Maria Montessori, and together with Donna, arrived at some surprising and original ideas. Not only would their ideas help people to discover their natural talents and therefore avoid slogging through unfulfilling careers, the Seymours proposed that their ideas could provide potential solutions to everything from environmental degradation to terrorism. Although Seymour sometimes comes across as a maverick visionary, complete with abstract and simplistic rhetoric, the book is mostly down-to-earth and logical.

So find out just how this ambitious but compassionate research team hoped to fill the tall order of saving the world. Through it all, their love and dedication drives their dream of making a meaningful contribution to humanity. Overall, an inspiring and thought-provoking read.


Vicki's Bookshelf

The Shoemaker Extraordinaire
Steve Light
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
100 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10011
ISBN 0-8109-4236-4, $14.95, 32 pages, www.abramsbooks.com

Hans Crispin is no ordinary shoemaker. He's a shoemaker extraordinaire! In Steve Light's ("Puss in Boots") first original picture book, there's something magical about the new shoemaker's wares that make people taller, more confident, or more energetic. Everyone is heads over heels over Hans's shoes…everyone except the town's local cobbler, that is, because now his ordinary shoes are sit on the shelves without any buyers. So he hatches a plan to get rid of the new competition, by sending Hans to a "new customer" who is in fact a hungry giant. Will Hans get stomped by the giant, or will he think on his toes and save his mortal sole? Light's story is lively and fun, with plenty of classic fairytale elements and a very fresh, very fluid collage style to knock readers' socks off.

The Case of the Monkeys That Fell From the Trees
Susan E. Quinlan
Boyds Mills Press
815 Church St., Honesdale, Penn. 18431
ISBN 1-56397-902-0, $15.95, 172 pages, www.boydsmillspress

In her sequel to "The Case of the Mummified Pigs and Other Mysteries of Nature," biologist Susan E. Quinlan is again on the case. This time she solves the case of the monkeys that suddenly fell from their perches in trees, and other mysteries in tropical nature, such as how tiny frogs make deadly poisons, and why certain plants harbor hordes of biting ants. Each of the eleven ecological mysteries follow scientists as they track down clues, set up curious experiments and ultimately discover some of the surprising and hidden connections that make tropical forests so fascinating and so fragile. Quinlan is equally adept at writing for ages 9 to 12, as she is completing her carefully-researched, black-and-white illustrations that help elementary school readers visualize tropical forests, diverse plants and animals and the details of each page-turning mystery. A recommended Junior Library Guild Selection.

George Washington, The Writer
Compiled & edited by Carolyn P. Yoder
Boyds Mills Press
815 Church St., Honesdale, Penn. 18431
ISBN 1-56397-772-9, $16.95, 144 pages, www.boydsmillspress

Besides being a great soldier, farmer, politician and president, George Washington liked to write. Washington kept journal and diaries, wrote letters, and prepared speeches and official documents throughout his life. His writings fill volumes and number in the thousands. "George Washington, The Writer" is a selection of Washington's writings that follow his life, from an entry in his journal written as a teenager to his last diary entry written the day before he died. Some of the writings are personal, expressing love and concern for his family, friends, and home. Each selection is accompanied by an introduction that provides historical background. By being introduced to Washington's words, readers will get to know a man who was not superhuman only dedicated to personal friends and family, and the country he helped shape. Like "Abraham Lincoln, The Writer," this companion book is a valuable reference for first-hand records of Washington's life and influence.

Mathmania
Highlights For Children Editorial Staff
Boyds Mills Press
815 Church St., Honesdale, Penn. 18431
ISBN 0-87534-935-8
ISBN 0-87534-936-6
ISBN 0-87534-937-4
ISBN 0-87534-938-2
$5.95 each, 52 pages, www.mathmania.com

"Highlights for Children" have been creating parent-approved children's activity books for ages, and they haven't lost the knack. Their "Mathmania" series of paperback activity books published by Boyds Mills Press, clearly pleases kids while painlessly teaching math skills and honing already-learned techniques. For this series, a staff of magazine editors, and freelance authors and illustrators have come up with an endless variety of puzzles, mazes, word and number problems to challenge young students age 8 to 12 and stir their imagination. The approach works so well, kids often turn to these books as fun time-fillers, rarely viewing them as something that's "good for them" the worst turn-off imaginable when it comes to educational materials. No wonder they're attracted to the series, as it's filled with attractive, four-color art, and a lively array of solitary activities from simple visual puzzles like connect-the-dots and scrambled pictures, to more challenging number searches, logic puzzles, secret codes and head-spinning brainteasers. An answer key in the back takes the guesswork out of the mix.

Wild Horses: Black Hills Sanctuary
Cris Peterson, illustrated by Alvis Upitis
Boyds Mills Press
815 Church St., Honesdale, Penn. 18431
ISBN 1-56397-745-1, $16.95, 32 pages, www.boydsmillspress

Exquisite color photos and evocative text are the thoroughbred hallmarks of this sophisticated non-fiction picture book for ages 8 and up. Young girls in the throes of horse-love will be particularly enthralled by this spirited tribute to the wild horses of the Black Hills of South Dakota. There lie eleven thousand acres of breathtaking rangeland and rim-rock, canyons and pastures home to more than three thousand wild mustangs. The Black Hills Sanctuary was the vision of one man, Dayton Hyde, who conceived of a place where wild horses could live and die in freedom and dignity. In the book, more than forty stunning photographs and a richly eloquent text tell the story of Dayton's love of horses and of the American West and how he made this wildlife sanctuary become a reality. Conservationists, wildlife advocates, and horse lovers of all ages will rejoice in this inspirational story by the author of "Century Farm," "Harvest Year" and "Horsepower."

Carlo Likes Colors
Jessica Spanyol
Candlewick Press
2067 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02140
ISBN 0-7636-2023-8, $14.99, 28 pages, www.candlewick.com

In a field overcrowded with Pre-K color-concept books, this charming picture book manages to stand out from the pack with its engaging simplicity, participatory elements, and the genuine sweetness of its central character, Carlo a young giraffe. Operating under the belief that even learning such basic concepts as color identification can be exciting for tots, British author/illustrator Jessica Spanyol approaches the subject in an enjoyably simple and charming manner. Like those in her previous books "Carlo Like Reading" and "Carlo Likes Counting," Spanyol's simple, one-dimensional line drawings employ primary colors and childlike depictions in much the same innocent style as the popular Maisy the mouse series. The minimal narrative text merely acts as a catalyst for young counters to search through the color-themed illustrations of everyday environments a yellow farm, a blue pool, a brown forest, a green field, a white wedding -- to identify labeled objects of the same color in each double-spread. Both Carlo and young tots will eagerly approach the task, finding tremendous fun and satisfaction in the process.

First To Fly
Peter Busby, illustrated by David Crag
Crown Books for Young Readers / Random House
1540 Broadway, NY, NY 10036
ISBN 0-375-81287-3, $19.95, 32 pages, www.randomhouse.com/kids/

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight, "First To Fly": How Wilbur & Orville Wright Invented the Airplane" tells the triumphant story of the brothers whose creation changed the world forever. "First To Fly" recreates the story of the Wright Brothers, from their earliest challenges to their final triumph. As boys, Wilbur and Orville Wright loved launching their toy helicopter into a make-believe flight. As adults, the brothers made their living taking apart things like printing presses, bicycles and planes, then putting them together again. The book shares their amazing story from their early days in Dayton, Ohio to their first flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright Brothers are proof that hard work and determination can lead to amazing accomplishments. And for Orville and Wilbur, opening the door to aviation was an achievement not only for themselves, but also for generations of people across the globe. Original paintings, period photographs and detailed diagrams accompany Busby's inspiring text, giving "First To Fly" crossover appeal to both children and adults. The oversized hardback format is large enough for sharing in the classroom where it will be heartily endorsed by teachers and elementary school students alike.

Family Fun Vacation Guide: California & Hawaii
Editors of Family Fun magazine
Disney Editions
114 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10011-5690
ISBN 0-78685-303-4, $17.95, 408 pages, www.disneyeditions.com

Each of the seven most recent Family Fun's "Vacation Guides" cover a lot of territory, including book by book -- New England, the Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, Southwest, Florida/the Southeast and California/Hawaii. The paperback guidebook boasts listings for top kid-friendly destinations, a four-star rating system for hotels and restaurants with price guide, deals and steals, age-by-age advice, planning tips, day-trip itineraries, kid-friendly restaurants, and children's museums. In all, the California and Hawaii guidebook presents 408 pages of family-tested ideas and adventures, including car games, souvenir shopping lists, and a variety of travel activities to enjoy en route. The piece de resistance, naturally enough, are the theme park how-tos from no less an authority than Disney, of course. And the book is surprisingly restrained when discussing Disney properties, even to the point of giving Disneyland's Blue Bayou restaurant a mere two-star rating.

The grouped areas of each "Family Fun Vacation Guide" seem to make the most sense for family road trips, but clearly are not for everyone as every family has a different itinerary that may often not be contained in one volume. In the case of the westernmost book, the initially incongruous pairing of California and Hawaii is, upon deeper analysis, actually quite practical, as a significant number of family vacationers travel to both Los Angeles/Disneyland and Hawaii in the same trip, and residents of both states often travel back and forth regularly. The book has already become indispensable in my Los Angeles home for entertaining the kids locally and for planning the itineraries of out-of-town guests.

Walking With Cavemen
John Lynch and Louise Barrett
DK
375 Hudson St., NY, NY, 10014
ISBN 0-7894-9775-1, $35.00, 224 pages, www.dk.com

Sure to be a crowd-pleaser, "Walking With Cavemen" is the companion book release to the BBC and Discovery Channel series, the third installment of the Emmy award-winning Walking with Dinosaurs" and "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts" programs. "Walking With Cavemen" takes readers back in time to the emergence of the first upright walking Australopithecus afarensis in Africa more than four million years ago, to the evolution of modern Homo sapiens. Hundreds of full-color live action and computer generated images from the program vividly tell the tale, and depict different species of hominids in scenarios of everyday life something that was before only discussed or illustrated. Readers can see Paranthropus boisei caring for infants, Homo ergasters tracking and hunting, Neanderthals surviving during the ice age, and Homo sapiens walking out of the arid plains of Africa. The images and text is so engrossing that readers are likely to forget that each of these scenes are based on a long-list of scientific assumptions, that are mostly staged by costumed actors -- although close-ups are often render them less believable than the creators may like. In all, it's a valiant effort to bring alive a long dead subject through active scientific examination and creative show-and-tell playacting. Most intriguing is the way "Walking With Cavemen" uncovers the development of unique human traits by using narrative descriptions of how hominids brought up their young, survived attack, interacted with other species, and met other challenges. Authors John Lynch (head of the BBC Science Unit) and anthropologist Louise Barrett also feature the science behind the television series, the latest findings about our earliest human ancestors, and important discoveries including Lucy, Boxgrove, DNA genetic evidence of evolution, and the mysterious "black skull" that caused such a stir among anthropologists in 1985. A must for any public or school library, "Walking With Cavemen" is the ultimate family history, bringing readers eye-to-eye with our ancestors.

The Ultimate Guide to the Justice League of America
DK
375 Hudson St., NY, NY, 10014
ISBN 0-7894-8893-0, $19.99, 96 pages, www.dk.com

Superman, Wonder Woman, Plastic Man, Green Lantern, Batman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter and The Flash join forces in DK's new hardback tribute to the all star cast of characters in the Justice League of America. At once a fan book and reference guide, this new addition to the "Ultimate" series goes a long way to fulfill the dreams of DC comic readers by assembling everything you ever wanted to know about the world's greatest superheroes. For the first time anywhere, this book reveals all the history, the lore, the heroes, the villains and the locations in one full-color reference guidebook. Die-hard fans will salivate over the beautiful images and reverential production as well as the must-have information. Included are in-depth profiles of all the major superheroes and villains; an historical timeline; and eye-catching illustrations. Many basics will seem mundane to true fanatics (such as the no-brainers like Flash's real name or Superman's occupation), but the bare facts are necessary, ma'am, and are expanded upon in fun to browse sidebars on each two-page spread. But the real delight here is in the original material specially-commissioned expressly for the "Ultimate Guide," including full-color illustrations and cross-sections of the League's Watchtower and Trophy Room, and Aquaman's undersea base, Atlantic. Readers new and old will pore over the details and annotation for hours, secure in the knowledge that this definitive chronicle was created with the full cooperation and guidance of DC Comics, shapers of the JLA legend. Kapow! It's a super effort.

Dog Days Starring Otis
Amanda Harvey
Doubleday / Random House
1540 Broadway, NY, NY 10036
ISBN 0-385-74621-0, $15.95, 32 pages, www.randomhouse.com/kids

Welcome back Otis. The lovable, floppy-eared dog from "Dog Eared" makes his encore appearance in "Dog Days, Starring Otis", a sweet new picture book story about a new trouble maker in the house: a darling little kitten that the family just won't stop fussing over. What's a dog to do when his family adopts a meowing fluff ball who steals all the attention? Otis finds himself forgotten. They miss his breakfast, neglect to shake out his bed, and forget to brush his hair. Not liking this lack of attention, Otis storms out of the house and sets off on his own. He roams the streets, doing things he's normally not allowed to do but without his family, it doesn't really mean much. When he has finally had enough of being by himself, he decides to do the unthinkable… he starts to look for a new family. Children will identify with the feeling of being neglected by busy parents or new siblings, and enjoy the fantasy of making a change. But would it really be a change for the better? The book's satisfying twist at the conclusion will put a smile on everyone's face. Even Otis's.

Little Monkey Says Good Night
Ann Whitford Paul, illustrated by David Walker
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
19 Union Square West, NY, NY 10003
ISBN 0-374-34609-7, $16.00, 32 pages, www.fsgbooks.com

Before he goes to bed, Little Monkey insists that he has to say good night to all the performers under the Big Top tent; Ringmaster, elephant, Strong Man, the Clowns, and, of course, Mama. Boing, swish, thump, bump wheee! Little Monkey has an awful lot of fun avoiding bed, and in the process, he becomes part of the performance himself until finally even Little Monkey can't delay bedtime any longer, and there is only one last extra-sweet good night to be said: "Good night, Me!" The phrase is a natural, sure to be echoed by little listeners when enjoying the story at their own bedtime. In his first picture book, David Walker's precious pictures are packed with whimsical antics and affection to capture the charm of Little Monkey.

Moses Goes to the Circus
Isaac Millman
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
19 Union Square West, NY, NY 10003
ISBN 0-374-35064-7, $16.00, 32 pages, www.fsgbooks.com

In his third unique picture book about a charming deaf boy named Moses, author and illustrator Isaac Millman takes readers on a wonderful outing in pictures and both written English and American Sign Language. As with "Moses Goes to a Concert" and "Moses Goes to School," the boy's newest adventure is detailed with diagrams of the ASL signs so that readers can learn how to sign. This time, Moses's hearing little sister, Renee, is learning how to sign as well, so she can better converse with her proud big brother. The story's delightful setting is just as innovative as the relationship and the book's story-telling techniques, because the action doesn't take place at just any circus, but rather, it's at the exciting "Big Apple's Circus of the Senses." Step right up and see, in a single ring, acts by trapeze artists, acrobats, elephants, horses and clowns all specially designed for the blind, deaf and hard-of-hearing. Moses' sister Renee isn't deaf but her senses are piqued in much the same way as the book'
s intrigued young readers age 4 to 8.

Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story
Lisa Westberg Peters, Illustrated by Lauren Stringer
Harcourt
525 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101
15 E. 26th St., NY, NY 10010
ISBN 0-15-201772-0, $17, 48 pages, www.HarcourtBooks.com

This gentle family album of life on earth introduces the fundamental scientific concept of the evolution of species to young children. Vetted by anthropologists and geologists, the book's science is accurate and expressed in simple, easy-to-understand language. An illustrated time line and glossary help expand the story for children and families. The book was released to coinside with the one-hundred-and-twenty-first anniversary of the death of British scientist Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary theory. His "On The Origin of the Species" detailed the theory of natural selection. Modern children can now grasp the basics of Darwin's once revolutionary theory through "Our Family Tree." More than ever, intriguing science books like this are of vital importance to introduce basic scientific principles and to help children increase their scientific knowledge. In addition, author Lisa Westberg Peters worked with credentialed elementary and secondary school educators to create specific lesson plans based on "Our Family Tree", to increase the book's value as a teaching tool. Lush illustrations by Lauren Stringer (who previously illustrated the award-winning "Castles, Caves and Honeycombs" by Linda Ashman) sparkle, making this a fascinating visual feast for eager young learners.

Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson
Amy Ehrlich, Illustrated by Wendell Minor
Silver Whistle / Harcourt
525 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101
15 E. 26th St., NY, NY 10010
ISBN 0-15-216227-5, $16, 32 pages, www.HarcourtBooks.com

Released to coincide with Earth Day, this picture book biography of pioneer environmentalist Rachel Carson is tremendously inspiring. Carson's beginnings as a writer and environmentalist are poetically detailed, with luminous paintings that capture the essence of Carson's life passion understanding the interconnection of all living things. As the author of "Silent Spring" a book widely recognized as the catalyst for the environmental movement that began in the 1960s she held her views in the face of enormous criticism. Published in 1962, the best-selling "Silent Spring" criticized the widespread use of pesticides and faced legal challenges from a number of chemical companies. Tragically, Carson dies of breast cancer in 1964, more than six years before the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency, which traces its roots to Ms. Carson's seminal work. Clearly, "Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson" is a labor of love for the author and illustrator. Admirably, they manage successfully to explain the complex subject matter and its ramifications without over-simplification.

Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus!
Mo Willems
Hyperion
114 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10011-5690
ISBN 0-78681-988-X, $12.99, 36 pages, www.hyperionchildrensbooks.com

At once nostalgic and thoroughly modern, "Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus" is a joyous, cartoonish picture book with a fabulous sense of humor appealing to the kid in all of us. It's no wonder: author Mo Willems is a four-time Emmy winning writer and animator for Sesame Street" and the creator of Cartoon Network's "Sheep in the Big City." Here he immediately puts the reader into the action on the title page by having a bus driver address readers directly, asking "Can you watch things for me until I get back?" There's just one weird warning, however: "Remember, don't let the pigeon drive the bus." The funny premise bear comedic fruit when, sure enough, a pigeon shows up and tries everything he can think off to talk us into letting him drive. Defeated, he gives up…or does he? It's a pure and simple joke told through cheerfully crude line drawings of the clever talking bird, set against a blank canvas of pastel hued pages. It's so simple, in fact, I was tempted to replay the story as a flip book. It's one of the most fun picture books in years for pre-readers and their sure-to-be-amused caregivers.

Touch Stuff: Tough Truck Rescue
Kate Hayler and Red Giraffe
Hyperion
114 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10011-5690
ISBN 0-7868-1981-2, $8.99, 12 pages, www.hyperionchildrensbooks.com

Coming to the rescue of restless toddler boys everywhere is the interactive "Tough Stuff" line of board books filled with brightly illustrated scenarios of rescue vehicles in action, including police cars, fire engines, wailing sirens, helicopters, trucks and tractors. As the rubber tire-tracks on the covers suggest, each title is a rough and tumble ride with the heroes of Tough Town with various hands-on elements employed for the different books which themselves are different sizes, shapes and formats. Featuring a lift-the-flap control panel inside a cover fold out page, "Tough Truck Rescue" introduces the Tough Team rescuers: Dorothy, Tony, Charlie, Doug, Jose, Finn and Flora, and their dogs Tracker and Barley. Each spread also offers a different checklist for toddlers to play along with, as if they're in the driver's seat. "Helicopter Rescue" features the same format. The half-size "Tractor Power" and "Digger Power" ($5.99, 10 pages each) are two easy-to-hold, die-cut wheel shaped books, also featuring rubber tire-tracks on the cover and simple scenes of various trucks in action. The largest "Tough Stuff" books are in the "Sound the Alarm! Press The Siren" sub-series, which includes "Fire, Fire! Emergency" and "Police Chase! Emergency" ($12.99, 10 pages each), and thankfully comes with a quieter-than-most siren element. All books are also published in Spanish editions.

Look Around: Simply Science
Nora Gaydos, Illustrated by BB Sams
Innovative Kids
18 Ann Street, Norwalk, CT 06854-2258
ISBN 1-58476-167-9 (Look Around)
ISBN 1-58476-169-5 (Simply Science)
$14.99, 12 pages each book, 10 book packages

Innovative Kids "Now I'm Reading" series is one of the best and most-popular step-by-step emergent reader series on the market. It's a developmentally appropriate booklet series written by an elementary school teacher as a fun method of teaching pre-reading and reading skills, and encouraging children to become independent, self-motivated readers. Square paperback booklets are packaged in groups of 10, then housed inside plastic slipcases and bound in a hardback with a magnetic closure. Six reading levels are offered to encourage reading progress: pre-reader, level one, two, three, four and independent, with each providing progressively more difficult vowel songs, consonant sounds and blends, and more complicated words and sentences. A variety of book sets have been added to the series some are story based, while others are non-fiction, providing extra learning opportunities. Such is the case for the new "Simply Science" release containing 10 science books for independent readers about space, the earth, human bones, animals, plants, the life cycle of frogs and butterflies, weather, water and rocks. For pre-readers, "Look Around" features simple, silly stories told with humorous, full color illustrations, basic concepts and alliteration. As with previous titles, "Look Around" and "Simply Science" teach using a successful balance of phonics and literature-based reading, with plenty of developmentally appropriate concepts, language and subjects. The parent/teacher guide gives excellent guidance, and the sheet of 40 incentive stickers provides simple motivation and reward for kids. Bravo to Innovative Kids for a reliable beginning reader program that caregivers can count on, and children enjoy.

The Alphabet Keeper
Mary Murphy
Knopf / Random House
1540 Broadway, NY, NY 10036
ISBN 0-375-82347-6, $14.95, 32 pages, www.randomhouse.com/teens

The stern Alphabet Keeper. In her drab overcoat, heeled shoes and flowered hat, keeps all her letters caged in the dark. The 26 unruly letters of the alphabet have had quite enough. When she goes to clean the cage one day, all the letters escape through a window beginning the wild chase-scene that is Mary Murphy's hilarious alphabet adventure, "The Alphabet Keeper." In Murphy's lively word fantasy, the clever letters use their talents to elude the Alphabet Keeper by rearranging themselves at every turn. With a few quick moves, the Alphabet Keeper's hat becomes a cat (and covers her head so she can't see, leading, naturally, to funny antics). A bus turns into a bush, a crow turns into a cow, a moo turns into the moon, and so on. How will the frustrated Alphabet Keeper ever get her letters back? The picture book's irreverent wordplay, wacky artwork and soothing color palette of wild aqua, periwinkle and sage are sure to delight readers and alphabet lovers everywhere. Good word fun and games.

Thirsty Baby Catherine
Ann Cullen, Illustrated by David McPhail
Little, Brown and Company
1271 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10020
ISBN 0-316-16357-0 $14.95, 28 pages, www.twbookmark.com/children

"'I'm thirsty,' said the baby, 'and I need a drink.' So we gave him a bottle, and what do you think? He started with a sip, and he finished with a sup. And the pink plastic bottle, he drank it all up." In this picture book for toddlers, Catherine Ann Cullen ("The Magical, Mystical, Marvelous Coat") pays tribute to her extremely thirsty nephew in cute, sing-song rhyme,. The resulting poem is rhythmically pure, with consistent cadences that absolutely hit their mark, every time. Cullen's writing skill makes rhyming picture books look easy, which is certainly not the case. Veteran illustrator David McPhail also executes his task with confidence, but not with particularly attractive results. How unfortunate that the illustrator of more than 100 children's books such as the appealing "Drawing Lessons From a Bear" and "Edward in the Jungle" has here created such unattractive facial features and distorted human anatomy. What should have been cutsey-pie has ended up mildly creepy.

Seaman: The Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis & Clark
Gail Langer Karwoski
Peachtree Publishers
1700 Chattahoochee Ave., Atlanta, GA 30318-2112
ISBN 1-56145-190-8
$8.95, 198 pages, www.peachtree-online.com

In anticipation of the Lewis & Clark bicentennial (2002-2004), this popular historical fiction novel for middle readers 8-12, has been reissued as an anniversary hardcover edition with new cover art, and a new introduction by Jay Rasmussen, President of the Oregon Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. Originally published in 1999, the award-winning "Seaman" tells the tale of Meriwether Lewis's 150-pound Newfoundland dog who went along on Lewis & Clark's legendary exploration of the uncharted Louisiana Purchase territories. In fact, Seaman was an integral part the Corps of Discovery, serving a key role in the expedition's success: catching and retrieving game, and protecting the team from wild animals and hostile Indians. The exciting journey takes them from St. Louis, Missouri on the first American trek to the western sea. Along the way, readers will meet Sacagawea, the sole woman on the trip, who joins the expedition as a guide as they establish relationships with several Indian tribes on behalf of President Thomas Jefferson, and discover strange new flora and fauna. Dangerous encounters with grizzly bears and buffalos add excitement to the adventure. Extremely well researched and engagingly told, "Seaman" is a blue ribbon winner.

Aliens from Earth
Peachtree Publishers
1700 Chattahoochee Ave., Atlanta, GA 30318-2112
ISBN 1-56145-236-X
$15.95, 32 pages, www.peachtree-online.com

"When animals or plants invade a new habitat, they can upset the delicate balance of the ecosystem. "Aliens from Earth: When Animals and Plants Invade Other Ecosystems" introduces young readers to the new and ongoing environmental problems caused by invasive plant and animal species. Batten, a children's nature writer of award-winning books, describes various examples of these "aliens" to show how the intruders have arrived -- by land, air, or sea and how they have disrupted their new environments. Some aliens, like fire ants, were introduced to the U.S. accidentally when they stowed aboard a cargo ship from South America in the 1930s. Without any natural predators, the destructive ants spread quickly and have caused billions of dollars of damage. Some species, however, were purposefully introduced with good intentions, but bad consequences. In 1956, for example, scientists imported the African bee queen to Brazil to improve the breeding stock of honeybees for Brazilian beekeepers. The offspring, called Africanized honeybees or "killer bees," were more fierce than the original insect, and their sting has resulted in serious injury and even death to some farm animals and people. Pointing out that the problem of invasive species is escalating with increased travel, the author helps children better understand the subject by including ways they can keep new aliens from invading their own backyard. "Aliens from Earth" does an excellent job of encouraging renewed respect for biodiversity and the delicate balance of life in our ecosystem.

Kit's Railway Adventure
Pleasant Company
8400 Fairway Place, Middleton, Wisconsin 53562
ISBN 1-58485-575-4
$15.95, 56 pages, www.americangirl.com

Fans of the "American Girls Collection" character Kit Kittredge, can embark on a railway adventure with her via this inventive, interactive novelty book. Designed to mimic a personal travel journal complete with eight pull-out souvenirs the book is written in first-person, describing events and people met along the way from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Montana's Glacier National Park in 1934. "Kit's Railway Adventure" features an interactive format that encourages girls' imaginations and gives fans a new way to further explore the world of one of the most popular American Girls characters. The story begins after Kit wins an essay contest and an all-expense paid train trip for two to anywhere in the country. Kit and her Aunt Millie choose to head west to see Montana's beautiful new Glacier Park and Kit's brother Charlie, who's working for the Civilian Conservation Corps. Along the way, Kit and Aunt Millie stop at the "Century of Progress" World's Fair in Chicago to ride the Sky Ride and see the world' s largest fountain; stay overnight at a cattle ranch; and meet the President and First Lady, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. To bring Kit's adventure to life, the hardcover book includes historical photographs and removable vacation mementos, such as a map, a Worlds Fair bookmark, a train whistle, a Native American bracelet, and a secret decoder that readers can use to figure out clues hidden throughout the book. It's a delightful vacation voyage back in time for girls eight and up.

Rhino Records
10635 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A. CA 90025-4900
ISBN $TBA, VHS cassettes, www.rhino.com

Beep Beep
Kay Widdowson
Scholastic
557 Broadway, NY, NY 10012-3999
ISBN 0-439-45284-8
$5.99, 10 pages, www.scholastic.com

Move over, lightweight toddler books. Here comes the heavy-duty, super-sturdy board book "Beep Beep," and it's (almost literally) a ton of fun. With it, little ones can experience a fun car ride to a farm, driving along a winding road pass fields of friendly piglets, goats, chickens and other busy barnyard animals. While an adult reads the simple story, tots can play their part by pressing a soft round button that honks along with the "Beep Beep" of the story's red convertible. It's a nice lap-time option for sharing interactive reading, and an especially good value considering the not-inexpensive production materials and extras.

Big and Little
Samantha Berger and Pamela Chanko
Scholastic
557 Broadway, NY, NY 10012-3999
ISBN 0-439-44237-0, $4.99, 14 pages, www.scholastic.com

This simple learning book for toddlers is designed to simply illustrate the concept of size opposites. Samantha Berger and Pamela Chanko use crisp color photos to show "big" and "little" in side-by-side comparisons, including a polar bear mother and cub, Great Dane and Chihuahua, and the hands of a father and young son. The examples are charming and wisely varied to hold the interest of young minds, and the simple phrases are easy to grasp. The final spread is cute as well as educational, as it depicts a same-sized pair of twin boys accompanied by the surprise ending: "Both the same size!"

Desiderata: Words for Life
Max Ehrmann, photos by Marc Tauss
Scholastic Press
557 Broadway, NY, NY 10012-3999
ISBN 0-439-37293-3
$15.95, 44 pages, www.scholastic.com

The inspiring words of Max Ehrmann's prose poem "Desiderata" ring as true today as when they were first written 76 years ago. Millions of readers have since been moved by Ehrmann's sage words, which begin famously with "Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence." That serene mood permeates each taut phrase, which together create a spiritual To Do list for keeping grounded in our often helter-skelter daily lives. All are simple, profane truths. And a great many ring especially true in these combative ("As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons"), financially unstable ("Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time" and "Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals…"), tumultuous (With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.") and surprising ("…and everywhere life is full of heroism.") times that we live in. Readers will be tempted to read Ehrmann's proclamations as prophetic, but they are simply timeless words-to-the-wise that continue to instruct willing ears. Interestingly, the poem was first written as a Christmas greeting for friends and family, but not published until three years after Ehrmann's death. In a journal he once wrote "I should like, if I could, to leave a humble gift a bit of chaste prose that had caught up some noble moods…" Clearly, "Desiderata" continues to secure for Ehrmann a place among other visionary American poets who have bestowed a lasting gift of simple enduring truth. For this beautiful art book edition, photographer Marc Tauss ("Leaf by Leaf: Autumn Poems") accompanies each phrase or semi-phrase with a beautiful illustrative photo, lending subtle credence to each thought by depicting an example of ways people prove their worthiness in everyday life. Overall, the images manage to avoid the "greeting card" sentimentality one may expect, though the cumulative effect falls a tad short of artistic inspiration.

Land of the Buffalo Bones by Marion Dane Bauer
Love Thy Neighbor: The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson by Ann Turner
The Journal of Finn Reardon: A Newsie by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Scholastic
557 Broadway, NY, NY 10012-3999
ISBN 0-0-439-22027-0 (Land), $12.95, 222 pages
ISBN 0-439-22027-0 (Love), $12.95, 190 pages
ISBN 0439-18894-6 (Journal), $10.95, 158 pages, www.scholastic.com

Scholastic's popular "Dear America" series of historical fiction novels for ages 9 through 14 has more than 16 million books in print, and often charts on The New York Times bestseller lists. The latest books in the series keep to the theme of presenting fictional diaries written by characters from various periods of American history. "Land of the Buffalo Bones: The Diary of Mary Elizabeth Rodgers" is about a young English girl in New Yeovil, Minnesota, circa 1973. Told from her point of view, the book reveals her heartrending story of how her immigrant family struggles to succeed in the New World's wild landscape. When Polly's father, the Reverend Dr. George Rodgers, hears of the promise of religious freedom and easily obtainable land in the United States, he decides to take his congregation to the New World in the hopes of establishing a new community there. Minnesota has come greatly recommended by Northern Pacific Railroad brochures as a land "begemmed with innumerable lakes," and "supplied with forests." Soon, the Rodgers, along with other English families, set sail aboard the City of Bristol toward America. However, they find life in Minnesota to be rife with desolation, peril, disease and even hunger. The harsh landscape pits the settlers in a fierce battle against nature, and against the land's original settlers, for survival. Through Polly's moving entries, Marion Dane Bauer brings this episode of American history to life.

"Love They Neighbor: The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson," written by Ann Turner, is a powerful personal look at a dangerous and pivotal historic moment. Set in Green Marsh, Massachusetts, in 1774, "Love Thy Neighbor" introduces Prudence Emerson, a lively, smart and inquisitive daughter of a merchant. She spends most her time with her sisters and best friend Abigail, but when her aunt gives her a lovely accounts book that used to belong to her late uncle, Prudence starts to keep a journal of her daily adventures, and the turbulent times she is living in. Many colonials, calling themselves Patriots, are clamoring for independence from the king, and soon there are rumors of war. Prudence is torn between her family's sworn allegiance to the British crown, and her loneliness for the friends who have abandoned her for the Patriot cause. With poignant sensitivity, the novel succeeds in capturing the other side of American's fight for freedom.

"The Journal of Finn Reardon: A Newsie" is the newest addition to the "My Name is America" sub-series of fictional adventure journals written primarily for boys age 9 through 14. In this case, it's a riveting account of a David-and-Goliath-like struggle between newsies (i.e. newspaper boys) and newspaper publishers. When young Finn's father dies, the boy is forced to become the man of the family and support his mother and eight siblings. Soon, he joins the ranks of newsies peddling newspapers in the corners of New York City after school. But when the two major publishers in the city, Hearst and Pulitzer, decide to increase the money the newsies must pay to sell the newspapers, the boys band together and go on strike. The book remains faithful to the facts, while weaving a tale of true-to-life fictional characters that readers will deeply care about.

The Yawn Heard 'Round the World
Scott Thomas, illustrations by Tatjana Mai-Wyss
Tricycle Press
P.O. Box 7123, Berkeley, CA 94707
ISBN 1-58246-051-5, $14.95, 30 pages, www.tenspeed.com

Round and round and round it goes, where this yawn stops, nobody knows. What happens to a yawn after it escapes from your mouth? That's the "what if" posed by first-time author Scott Thomas in his funny tale of a silent phenomenon familiar to wide-awake sleepyheads all 'round the world. One yawn, we all know, leads to another and another and another due to their mysteriously contagious nature. And so it goes in the picture book "The Yawn Heard 'Round The World" when a young girl, Sara, yawns against her will while arguing about going to bed. It causes her mother to yawn, then her father, her aunt, and even a passing chickadee. The bird flies to France and soon pink Parisian poodles are yawning too. "Then al those yawns from far and wide began a long and breezy ride all the way to Sara's street and to her house on windy feet," continues Thomas's sweet rhyming verse as it follows the yawn as it returns home. At the end of the long journey, readers get to lift a flap to peek inside Sara's house for a sweet update on little Sara's activities. "The Yawn Heard 'Round the World" is just the ticket for bedtime reading to put young ones in the mood to snooze.

Treasure Planet Read-Along
Walt Disney Records
350 South Buena Vista Street Burbank, CA 90512-6230
ISBN 0-7634-2012-3, $14.98, www.disney.com/DisneyRecords

Disney isn't known for subtlety in marketing, but in the case of the "Treasure Planet Read-Along" interactive DVD book from Walt Disney Records, the product offers much, much more than its simple title suggests. This is the ninth title in the popular series of DVD Read-Alongs, and it's packed with special features that add up to at least 90 minutes of story, music and interactive fun. It features a narrated read-along story, vocabulary lessons, sing-along songs and a challenging game featuring characters from the "Treasure Planet" animated film. Worlds are highlighted onscreen to encourage children to read-along as the story is read aloud. The simple concept is supplemented with all sorts of bells and whistles, including special effects, and five different language tracks, enabling users to hear and read the story, songs and vocabulary in English, Spanish, French, Italian or German. There are less educational extras as well, including a music video for the hit single "I'm Still Here" by Goo Goo Doll's singer John Rezeznik, a cartoonish game using the DVD remote control, and, unfortunately, commercials for upcoming Disney releases. A single-disc DVD and paperback picture book are housed in a compact plastic case the size of an average paperback novel, this is a convenient entertainment and pseudo learning tool that's playable on multiple platforms, including television, personal computers, Playstation 2 and X-Box. The film was a disappointment, but maybe, just maybe this DVD version will inspire at least one kid to seek out the original edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic.

Slaves Who Dared: The Stories of Ten African-American Heroes
Mary Garrison
Whilte Mane Kids
P.O. Box 708, 63 West Burd Street, Shippensburg, PA 17257
ISBN 1-57249-272-4, $19.95, pages 142 pages

It is difficult to imagine a time in our country's history when people owned people. Yet nearly 4 million enslaved people lived in the United States at the end of the Civil War. These African-Americans overcame enormous obstacles to make significant contributions to our country. Fortunately, many escaped slaves recorded their life experiences in books known as slave narratives. Journalist Mary Garrison bases her academic reference book on these 100 year-old narratives, bringing to life the historic adventures of ten slaves: Josiah Henson, Harriet Jacobs, Henry Bibb, Sojourner Truth and six others. Their courage and determination in the face of horrible injustice is tremendously inspiring a fact that won't be missed on the young readers for which this was written. As such, it teaches much more than the facts of early American life, African-American history and the stories of ten African-American heroes and heroines who lived through it; it teaches tolerance, humility, moral fortitude, a deep respect for those who endured such hardships, and a deeper appreciation for the freedoms and rights we enjoy today. The powerful stories of "Slaves Who Dared" are an excellent classroom supplement or library source for elementary school book reports and research projects.

Reviewed by Vicki Arkoff
varkoff@yahoo.com


Sullivan's Bookshelf

Where We Stand: 30 Reasons for Loving Our Country
Roger Rosenblatt
Harcourt, Inc.
ISBN # 0151007225, $l6.95, 200l, l94 pages,

Rosenblatt, essayist for the LEHRER TV NEWSHOUR on PBS, tells the reader in an informal, almost stream-of-consciousness way, what's so great about living in the United States of America and why being a citizen of this country is so grand. Obviously a written response to the devastation wrought on 9/11, his comments, which do buck up feelings of despair, are right out of the popular culture from Mark Twain to Joe DiMaggio. This author's writing is humorous, thoughtful, enlightning, and, well, patriotic without being saccharin.

This easy read is recommended. It's great for bathroom perusing. The book consists of 30 essays, some as short as half a page, none longer than eight pages.

The author says in opening his preface, "This book is about love of country--not unnalloyed love, or unwary, unquestioning love, or infatuated, one-night, wink-in-the-bar love. But love, pure, steady, and complicated. [...]"

Rosenblatt and his wife have homes on Long Island, NY and in Manhattan. He teaches college level writing and has authored other volumes, including RULES FOR AGING.

Confessions of a Street Addict
James J. Cramer
Simon & Schuster
ISBN # 0743224876, $26.00, 2002, 339 pages/indexed

Wall Street's the avenue this author is addicted to. If you've ever seen him on TV's KUDLOW & CRAMER, a Wall Street, economics and political review and interview show on Cable, you'll know of Cramer's addiction and his manic, hyper, frantic, and sometimes all three type of personality. To say that he speaks his mind and is unpredictable is, at best, an understatement.

Cramer is a self-made multimillionaire. Along the way, he's made many others rich, too. He's done this mostly through his Wall Street Hedge Fund, CramerBerkoowitz, and his co-founding of the online pubication TheStreet.com, a website containing the latest news about money and investments.

Rarely is a nonfiction volume, particularly one concerning the ups and downs of the stock market and the dot.com bubble, a page turner, but this book is just that and hard to put down. The mainly financial story he tells is gripping. And he spares no one, not even himself, in relaying the facts, negative and positive, to the reader. Moreover, he tells his tales well. That shouldn't be surprising because he's as good a writer as he is a stock picker.

Not above expressing how his legendary temper and shooting off his mouth have landed him in trouble, he doesn't spare himself criticism about being a frequently absent husband and father, either. Too often, he's chosen to follow the stock market ticker instead.

Highly educated, he holds an undergraduate and law degree from Harvard. But he finds law work boring, so he doesn't practice nor has he any desire to. Originally, he trained and worked as a journalist. And he became quite good at that, though it paid poorly. He, therefore, drifted to the stock market because of a lifelong interest in it.

A longtime friend, Marty Peretz, publisher of THE NEW REPUBLIC magazine, gave Cramer a huge pile of money to invest and reinvest Cramer did that riding the market making a lot of money for his friend, for himself, and for many others. Soon, the hedge fund was highly reputed for big gains, year after year.

But then problems arose. The fund began to lose big in l998. Peretz and others pulled their considerable money out. Now Cramer's hedge fund morphed into small potatoes. But he diid't give up.

He read the book ENDURANCE, about Shackleton's escape from Anntactica wihout losing any of his men. Cramer inspired his staff at the hedge fund with this story. Karen, Cramer's wife, whom he dubbed "the Trading Goddess," and who had taught Cramer initially how to make money through stock market trades whether the market was going up or down, came back to work at the office briefly to help buck up Cramer and to get the firm out of the financial doldrums. Her short return helped immensely. And, soon, they were out of hot water.

In more recent years, before his and Kudlow's TV program, originally called AMERICA NOW, was on the air, Cramer was on numerous other TV shows touting, in his high pitched, nervous, often irritating sounding voice, stocks and his webside TheStreet.com. He also did, and still does, radio talk shows.

Long after he came to his millions, he finally came to his senses, too. He turned over the hedge fund to his junior partner, Jeff Berkowitz, who, unasked, kept Cramer's name in the firm's title. In any case, Cramer retired from that business. TheStreet.com, though Cramer owns a large chunk of its valuable stock, is operationally out of his control for legal reasons. So, he was now able to spend more time at home with his spouse and kids. He seems happier now than he's ever been.

"The manic misery of nonstop performance," the author writes in his book, "day in and day out, can't be sustained without believing in the fiction that poverty still lurks just around the corner, that I'm back in the Ford Fairmont sleeping off of Interstate 5 an instant after a couple of bad Brocade [a favored stock] trades. But trying to stay hungry when you are making $l0 million a year is difficult stuff."

Cramer, his wife and two children, reside in Summit, New Jersey.

Already 2002 is becoming a dim memory, but this book is the best this reviewer has read during that year, maybe in several years.

Highly recommended!

Jim Sullivan
Reviewer


Paul's Bookshelf

With Sleep Disturbed
Michael Ford Xlibris Corp.
436 Walnut Street, 11th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106-3703
2000, ISBN 0-7388-2498-4, 319 pages, $16.00, http://www.xlibris.com

This novel takes place in 1890s Boston. Brice Stockton travels from Texas to pick up the body of Peter, his older brother, who has died in a suicide pact with Diane Cabel, of the wealthy Suffolk Cabels. It seems like a straightforward, but gruesome, task. When he gets there, not only is he denied entrance to the estate, but Brice is told that Peter has already been buried, contrary to the wishes of the Stockton family. He is also told of the Cabel curse. A curse can be something other than perpetual bad luck.

Once Brice practically forces himself onto the estate, he finds an eccentric family who have seen better days. Moorefield is the family patriarch, Wolf is his son and heir (along with being an arrogant you-know-what) and Maida is his daughter. Ainsley, another son, is a congenital imbecile. There are also a number of servants.

The police are not very helpful, because of the Cabel's influence, but the coffins are dug up, only to find that they're both empty. Brice begins to get the idea that Diane and Peter didn't kill themselves. Suspicion falls on one of the servants, who is killed by Wolf just before he was going to confess. During a hunting trip, Wolf and several of his men attempt to kill Brice and make it look like an accident. He barely escapes by jumping into a nearby lake, where he finds the bodies of Peter and Diane. Suspicion then falls on Maida, who is being treated by a local doctor, who also happens to be a hypnotist. Not only is she being sexually assaulted while under hypnosis, but just enough of a post-hypnotic suggestion is planted in her mind to make Maida think that maybe she is actually guilty of murder. For a time, suspicion also falls on Ainsley. Brice also learns that Maida is holding a major secret over Wolf's head concerning Ainsley. If Moorefield got even an inkling of this secret, Wolf would be disinherited so fast it would make his head spin. Just to make things more interesting, on more than one occasion, Brice sees Peter and Diane actually walking through the house. They aren't some ghostly see-through apparition, but solid enough to reach out and touch. Through it all, Brice is drawn deeper and deeper into the depths of his own soul.

This book has it all. It's got a mansion with secret passages and wings that have been closed for years, it's got dark family secrets, several dead bodies, a bit of sex, strange goings-on and a really well done story. This fine piece of Victorian horror writing is very much worth reading.

The Empty Cafe
Michael Hoffman
1st Books Library
2595 Vernal Pike, Bloomington, IN 47404
ISBN 0-75961-986-7, 260 pages, $10.95, http://www.1stbooks.com

This group of stories take place somewhere between fantasy and reality.

A man goes away to school and eventually becomes a history professor, losing touch with his younger brother. One day, he opens the newspaper and sees a picture of little brother, fronting a popular rock music band. Overnight, the older brother's life is turned upside down, as he goes from being an average college professor to brother of a famous rock star. A westerner living in Japan, accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl, watches as his innocence slowly disappears.
A woman and her fiance are eating in an expensive restaurant. Suddenly, she notices an older gentleman a few tables away and screams. The fiance takes her home immediately, and after a good night's sleep, it's as if the incident in the restaurant never happened. A couple of times, the woman says "I won't hurt you," for seemingly no reason at all. The object of her emotional reaction, an actor, appeared in a film a few years previously. It's about a man who befriends a little girl, takes her shopping for a doll, then drugs her, undresses her and photographs her, but otherwise doesn't harm her.
A police officer in present-day Bangkok, Thailand, after reuniting a lost boy with his frantic parents, tells of how his own son, a schizophrenic, committed suicide. Perhaps those who hear voices in their heads are the sane ones, and the rest of us, who can't hear them, are insane.

These stories are really good. Hoffman has done a fine job throughout. They are easy to read, with real people as characters and are highly recommended.

The Freelance Success Book
David Taylor
Peak Writing Press
37 W. Fairmont Avenue, Suite 202, P.O. Box 14196, Savannah, GA 31416
ISBN 0-9717330-4-X, 368 pages, $19.95, http://www.peakwriting.com

Periodical editors are engaged in a never-ending search for writing that people want to read, which means that there is a large demand for freelance writers. This book, written by a former magazine editor, tells how to get your name and phone number into an editor's Rolodex.

The first thing a budding freelance writer should do is get hold of a copy of a book like the yearly Writer's Market and read the submission guidelines for the intended target publication (novels, short stories, magazine non-fiction, etc). If your target is a specific magazine, read, and analyze, several issues of that magazine. Know it better than its editors, and find a niche that no one has filled.

To call yourself a writer, it's necessary to actually do some writing. The act of putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) is covered, along with what to do when the words just won't come out.

After your masterpiece comes into existence on paper, then comes dealing with the editor. How do you write a query letter (or should you)? Make sure you deal with the right editor, not just any editor. Some editors do business by phone, others by fax or email; adjust your approach accordingly. Don't gush about how much you love the magazine; editors don't want fan clubs. Get right to the point. The biggest mistake a freelance writer makes in dealing with an editor is laziness; not knowing the magazine inside and out.

Writing for the internet is totally different than writing for print. Your average web surfer is not going to sit and read the equivalent of a magazine article on a screen. It's best to break up the text as much as possible, with bullets, numbers, colored backgrounds, etc. Also provide lots of hyperlinks, so the web surfer can do more research on their own. The book also covers the legal end of things, including contracts, libel and ethics in general.

I learned a lot from this book. A copy belongs right next to the dictionary on the bookshelf of every freelance writer, and every would-be freelance writer. It is packed full of useful information, and is money very well spent. I hope this also works for book reviewers...

The Spiritual Guide for the Really Busy Person
Sherri Carden-McDonald
PageFree Publishing
733 Howard Street, Otsego, MI 49078
ISBN 1-930252-90-0, $15.95, 116 pages, http://www.pagefreepublishing.com

In this fast-paced, 24/7 type world, many things can get left behind; spirituality is usually among them. This book aims to change that.

The first step for any person is to decide just what they want out of life. What is their heart's desire? Is it better to be happy, or to have a closer relationship with the Creator? The come a series of things that anyone can do during the day to incorporate spirituality into their lives.

When you get up in the morning, take several deep breaths and some stretching exercises to get yourself ready for the day. Try singing, or yoga or color visualization. During the day, think before you speak. Pay attention to where you put your energy. At noontime, take a moment of silence or say noontime prayers. It sounds like a cliche, but, on the way home from work, stop and smell the roses. Bless and appreciate your evening meal. Express your gratitude for the day just finished. At bedtime, send healing prayers to anyone who may need them. Write down things from the day for which you are grateful.

Included is a list of things that can be done at any time during the day. Take time to visualize your future. Replace meat products with natural alternatives. Stay Clean. Try not to take on too much. Take the time to unclutter and reorganize. Remember where people are coming from emotionally. Stop worrying. In short, make the most of everyday.

Perhaps one of the reasons for all the strife and discord today is the decreasing importance of spirituality in people's lives. This book doesn't push any particular religion or conception of "God." The suggestions included can be done by people of any religion. For anyone who wants to keep a spiritual connection in today's world, or anyone wanting to fix a "broken" connection, this book is an excellent place to start. It's a very quick read, and it says a lot.

Joe Sails: A Story in Progress
Dick Olenych
Lone Tree Publishing Inc
5572 War Admiral Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23462-4044
ISBN 0-9724117-0-4, $18.95, 148 pages

Joe Sails is a salesman at the Acme Office Products Company. He has been with the company for a number of years, and, in the past, was the top salesman. Not any more. Joe has become increasingly dissatisfied, but without being able to put his finger on the reason. He is getting less diligent in his duties. If a customer calls with a problem, he either sends the call to another department or leaves the fixing of the problem until the end of the day. At the office, Joe is supposed to log all his client visits and sales phone calls along with the status of the customer, another area in which he has been less than conscientious. His numbers have also started to drop; he has missed his monthly sales quota more ofetn than he has reached it.

Bobbi, Joe's immediate boss, has also noticed. Without making Joe resentful, she wonders how to bring him back to his core competency, treating the customer as most important. They go over Joe's activity log every day. She pairs Joe with Bill, another salesman. It's not intended to treat Joe as a child (but that's how he initially interprets it), but to show what putting the customer first is all about. Between sales calls, Bill's ear is glued to his cell phone, checking his voicemail or calling potential clients. Depending on the customer, it may take a couple of visits before the subject of what product (in this case, office products like copiers) the client should buy is mentioned. Selling any old box is easy, selling the right kind of box that will expand with the business is hard. Joe slowly begins to get the idea. His diligence returns, and his productivity starts to go up. He's not back to where he was, but he's getting there.

For most people, this book can be skipped. Those who are in business, any business, could really use this book. Improvement in business, however it's measured, is a never-ending quest. Putting it in novel form can be more helpful than in the form of some book full of business buzzwords. It's worth reading.

Life After Terrorism: What You Need to Know To Survive In Today's World
Bruce D. Clayton
Paladin Press
Gunbarrel Tech Center, 7077 Winchester Circle, Boulder, CO 80301
ISBN 1-58160-326-6, 176 pages, $24.95, http://www.paladin-press.com

After terrorism came to America in 2001, there has been much talk about future attacks. What kind of person or group would do such a thing? What is a likely target? What form will it take? How can I protect myself? This book, written by a county assistant Emergency Services Director (the person who is supposed to know about such things) attempts to answer some of these questions.

The culprit could be nearly anyone. It could be a person with a grudge against a federal agency. It could be a fundamentalist religious group (of any religion). It could be a home-grown politically radical group (on either side of the political spectrum). For some, the object is to hit a target of symbolic value (like the World rade Center), while, for others, the goal is to inflict the maximum number of casualties.

The author also looks at the various substances that might be used in an attack. Nerve agents like VX and sarin make it impossible for nerve cells to transmit nerve impulses. Vesicants like mustard gas burn the eyes and skin and produce horrible blisters. Corrosive gases like chlorine inflame the lungs and airways. Also considered are possible bioweapons like anthrax, plague, smallpox and ebola.

There is no such thing as 100% total protection in case of an attack. Gas masks do not provide their own air supply, they only filter outside air. Even the best air filters will not remove all toxic spores from the air; for some toxins, all it takes is one spore. Don't forget the toxins absorbed through the skin.

There are many things to do to reduce the possible risk during an attack. If you work in a big-city skyscraper, consider looking for a job in the suburbs, preferably west of the city (winds generally blow west to east). If you live near a potential target, and moving is not an option, plan and rehearse what to do when the evacuation order comes. At minimum, have a bag of things (canned food, battery powered radio, prescription medicine, etc.) packed and ready to go at a moment's notice. At maximum, have a second house, fully stocked and livable, out in the country. Use secondary roads for your escape route; count on highway gridlock.

Those who want even a chance to survive a future attack of any kind would be very well advised to read this book. The writing is sober, clear-headed and free from hysterics.

It's Only Money! A Primer for Women
Allison Acken
Womentalkmoney.com
P.O. Box 49327, Los Angeles, CA 90049
ISBN 0-9711715-1-3, $18.95, 158 pages, http://www.womentalkmoney.com

For one reason or another, there are many women today who know little, or nothing, about how to handle money. Perhaps their parents never taught them the value of it, or their husband wanted to shield them from the financial world by saying that women shouldn't get their hands dirty with money. This book aims to change that.

It's natural to feel anxious and ashamed about your lack of money knowledge when everyone around you is financially on top of the world. Start with something simple like balancing the checkbook. Remember that hubby won't be around forever, either through death or divorce, so becoming familiar with the family finances is a very good idea.

Tell a neighbor or best friend, someone you can confide in, your fears and fantasies about money. She may be in the same position as you, but afriad to admit it. Don't be afriad to ask the "dumb" questions about money; perhaps together, you can find the answer. Listen to stories from other women about money; not how much they saved, but how they saved, through investing, budgeting, etc.

The author leaves the more specific money-saving tips until the end, but her biggest recommendation is to get rid of your credit card debt. With interest rates at anywhere up to 20 percent and with the average credit card debt at several thousand dollars per person, paying off that debt as fast as possible is the single best thing anyone can do to save money.
Acken knows something about women's fears concerning money. Growing up in a Baltimore record store, she could make change from an early age, but never learned what money was all about. years later, a divorced mother of two, she found herself with a PhD in psychology and a $50,000 student debt. She learned about money real fast.

For those who get nervous and panicky in the personal finance section of the local chain bookstore, this book is for you. It's written in a very down-to-earth style and is very easy to read. It's recommended for women of any socio-economic status. This isn't rocket science; like the title says It's Only Money!

Boomers Really Can Put Old On Hold
Barbara Morris
Image F/X Publications
P.O. Box 937, Escondido, CA 92033-0937
ISBN 0966784219, $16.95, 160 pages, http://www.putoldonhold.com

Many books have been written on health and exercise and slowing the effects of aging. The problem is, they are all written by doctors or forty-something fitness gurus. This is written by a "real" person, a pharmacist in her seventies.

Her biggest recommendation is to take control of your own health and well-being. No matter how wonderful your doctor or pharmacist is, they won't do it for you. Educate yourself about, for instance, supplements and alternative medicine. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Is drug B really necessary, or is it simply counteracting side effects from drug A? Drink lots of water, and, if applicable, change your status from smoker to ex-smoker.

A big reason for America's health problems is the American diet. It's full of all sorts of artificial, pre-processed, fat and chemical-filled stuff that bears little resemblance to real food. Reduce the amount of such things that you put in your mouth. Eliminating it entirely would be even better.

Part of the secret is attitude, which starts with the word "retirement." If you're physically and mentally able to keep working, don't retire just because you have reached "retirement age." If you're retiring to do something you have always wanted to do, go for it. On the other hand, if you're retiring to move into some retirement community and wait for the Grim Reaper, you need more help than this book can provide.

Morris also recommends living in an environment that includes young people; they can be a pain in the neck, but their energy can be contagious. Avoid people and organizations that say "the end is near." Develop a positive sense of humor and outlook on life. Stand apart from the masses. Don't abandon long-term plans just because you think you have X years left.

To those who aren't ready to leave the workforce, or leave this Earth, just because their body has reached a certain chronological age, this book is for you. It's very easy to read, it's from a regular person intended for regular people, and anyone can learn a lot from it. This is very highly recommended.

Bonneville Stories
Mark Doyon
Pocol Press
6023 Pocol Drive, Clifton, VA 20124
ISBN 1929763093, $12.95, 142 pages, http://www.markdoyon.com

This is a connected group of stories about the fictional town of Bonneville, somewhere in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.

The Mayor, broke and running from creditors, secretly returns to town. He is not the most popular person in town. A few years previously, he helped bring a secret fireworks factory to Bonneville. Everyone in town worked there. Customers came from miles around. The money was rolling in like an Indian casino, until the authorities started asking questions. The factory closed, the newfound riches disappeared, and the Mayor was run out of town. So the Mayor has returned to open a speakeasy, under an unused barn about half a mile from the nearest road.

Roy Sullivan is in the Guinness Book of World Records, having been struck by lightning seven times in his life. Being struck once makes a person a celebrity, but being struck seven times leads to rumors that God is punishing him for something.

The local Laundromat has a slot machine. While she is playing it over and over, Sarah Ann Muskie thinks about karma. For every Vanna White who rockets to stardom, a ravishing beauty is hit by a bus. She remembers the day her father died, in front of her on the playground, in a freak accident. She buys a Powerball ticket and watches, incredulous, as the winning numbers equal the numbers on her ticket--minus one. She returns to the Laundromat and introduces the slot machine to her pistol, one bullet at a time.

Randy works for a local gardening company. Just out of high school, he makes pretty good money spreading mulch and running a lawn mower. He is told to go back to a customer's house to replace some suddenly-dead azaleas. The only problem is that the customer, Mrs. Anders, is a very attractive woman and lets Randy know, in no uncertain terms, that she is interested in romance.

I really enjoyed these stories. They are the sort of tales that could take place in any town in America, with just a touch of "different." The author's writing has been compared to Roald Dahl and Ray Bradbury. May I humbly add the name of Garrison Keillor to that list. These stories are very much worth the reader's time.

Paul Lappen
Reviewer


Meredith's Bookshelf

Modoc Sundance
Sean Belanger
USA Books
ISBN 159209001X, $13.00, words: 201, www.amazon.com

Second in series about the Indian struggles in 1873 Northern California, Belanger has once again penned a riveting tale. The review from Time iRead says it "...Captures the Sam Peckinpah school..." Sure enough! In fact, this rendition of the Lava Beds War, loaded with gore, outdoes Peckipah! At times, the writing becomes the poetry of horror, and Belanger weaves the words of era songs in and out of his prose. Too bad this book didn't come with a sound tract.
A senseless cavalry charge into a sleeping Modoc camp filled with squaws and children, touches off a revenge fight from Hell. Modoc Indian, Hooker Jim rampages against the pioneers-- disemboweling, bashing out brains, severing heads and ears-- leaving mutilated bodies to ever-circling crows. Sharp pictures of the $13.00 a month trooper, mostly German and Irish immigrants, present expectations regarding duty, honor and country in the United States First cavalry. Other depicted characters come alive heightening readers historical interest: ambitious Shaman Sho Oks, and the scheming rancher, Krueger, troubled, General Edward Canby, veteran of the Mexican and Civil Wars, President Ulysses Grant, and Chief of Staff, General William Sherman. Impeccably researched, for fans of genre Westerns this one is a must read.

Candle in the Darkness
Lynn Austin
Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55438
ISBN: 1556614365, $12.99, 1-800-328-6109, www.amazon.com

What's a girl to do when she desperately loves a man fighting for the wrong cause? Why, keep on loving him, but follow her conscience, of course. Such is the story of timid, devout Caroline Fletcher, wealthy belle in Civil War Richmond.

Written in first person, the novel opens, 1853, with twelve-year-old Caroline witnessing slave traders dragging away her childhood playmate to sell him at Richmond's infamous slave market. This act sets the tone and reason for the story, for Caroline develops an intense hostility to slavery. This attitude intensifies as she and Cousin Jonathan stroll the grounds of the family's plantation near Richmond and she experiences the deaths of slave babies because of disease and filth. When she is 16 her mother dies, and Caroline's father sends her to Philadelphia to live with an aunt. Philadelphia is an abolition hotbed that feeds Caroline's anti-slavery predilections. Home two years later, she brings back abolitionist tracts in a fruitless attempt to change southern hearts and minds. She meets and becomes engaged to Charles St. John, psychologically chained to the slave economy. Regardless of political differences, the couple passionately loves one another. This relationship tests to the utmost her commitment to end slavery. By novel's end June 1865, Caroline has sacrificed all, bowing to God's will. Although all ends are not completely unraveled, the conclusion leaves one with a lump in the throat and a smile on the face.

Although the novel is of Christian genre, Austin doesn't overly evangelize. The Christian voice comes from slave preacher Eli, the family's hostler and Caroline's mentor. Gilbert, her father's valet, mammy Tessie--about whom surrounds a mystery not unraveled until the end--cook Esther, Josiah, son of Eli and Esther, and servants Luella and Ruby round out the slave cast. Austin brings the reader into their lives and feelings as they loyally confront the war's hardships and dangers with "Missy Caroline" while rejoicing at their coming freedom.

Accurate down to the buttonhole, the era and Richmond itself come alive.

Meredith Campbell
Reviewer


Marya's Bookshelf

Hazel Green
Odo Hirsch
Bloomsbury USA
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
1-58234-820-0, 212-982-2837, www.bloomsbury.com/usa

In a very ordinary town, once a year, they have a very ordinary sort of celebration complete with lots of food and a big parade. All is well with this years preparations for the parade until Hazel Green discovers something. Hazel realizes that she has never seen a child participate in the parade. Most people are happy with this state of affairs. Not Hazel. This plucky girl decides to take on the challenge of persuading the powers-that-be and her fellow children that they should be a part of the parade. Odo Hirsch has managed to turn a very simple plot into a delightful tale about people in a small neighborhood, their rivalries and petty jealousies. He also shows us, through Hazel, how wrong our first impressions can be. Not thinking Hazel gave a quiet retiring boy called Yakov the nickname "the Yak." Her unkind act comes back to haunt her and she has to put things right. Throughout this book the reader will find wonderful sections of description which help us see, hear, smell and even taste, Hazel's little world. We can almost bite into the custard pies, smell the flowers in the flower shop, and hear the quiet in the street in the early morning. A gentle tale with soft moods and rhythms, we can only hope that we will get to share other events in Hazel's life in the not too distant future.

Elisabeth: The Princess Bride
Barry Denenberg
Scholastic Inc.
557 Broadway, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10012-3999
0-439-26644-0, 1-800-246-2986, www.scholastic.com

For Elisabeth life was something to be enjoyed. She loved to ride, to take care of her pets, to read and to write poetry. Becoming an empress or queen was not something she ever expected to have to do. That was her sister's future role; Nene was going to marry the Emperor of Austria, she was the one who was going to have to learn all about etiquette and court customs. Then the fateful day arrived. Nene, Elisabeth and their mother went to the Emperor's court to be 'viewed'. Much to everyone's surprise, Elisabeth was the one the Emperor chose to be his future Empress and not Nene. Suddenly Elisabeth found herself at the center of everyone's attention. An enormous number of clothes had to be made for her and she had to memorize list after list of rules of etiquette and conduct; Elisabeth also had to meet countless dignitaries and accept the fact that her time was no longer her own. In fact her life was no longer her own. Elisabeth's existence was going to change drastically, and as she faced the prospect of her upcoming marriage, she wondered if she had made the right choice in accepting the Emperor's proposal. Would she be able to adjust to her new life? We learn in the epilogue of this book that Elisabeth did not, in fact, adjust well at all. The restraints on her life frustrated her and made her quite miserable at times. The Emperor wanted an obedient and pliant wife, not one who had her own opinions and wants. Sadly the marriage was not a success. In addition to the epilogue there is a very interesting and informative section about the history of the times and a wonderful selection of black and white photographs of Elisabeth, her family and the places she visited or lived in. With an excellent portrayal of a lesser-known European royal, this book shows us how the life of a noble-born woman was not her own, that she was very much the 'property' of her family or her husband's family. This is one of several books in "The Royal Diaries" series.

Land of the Buffalo Bones
Marion Dane Bauer
Scholastic Inc.
557 Broadway, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10012-3999
0-439-22027, 1-800-246-2986, www.scholastic.com

For Mary Ann this trip to America, to Minnesota, is a wonderful, exciting thing. At least it begins that way. Her father, the Revered Dr. George Rodgers, is their leader. He went to Minnesota and set everything up with the Northern Pacific Railroad. The company promised to build the immigrants a town, complete with streets, shops, school and church. They are also paying passage for Mary Ann and her family to their new life. It is not long before Mary Ann discovers that this adventure is not going to be an easy one. Many of the travelers get terribly sick on the journey across the Atlantic. Mary Ann's best friend Jane losses her dear brother and Mary Ann wrestles with the misery of Timmy's burial at sea. Jane's mother is grief stricken and seems to lose her grip on life. Jane straightens her back and takes on the job of caring for her father and her mother.

In the middle of a violent spring storm, the weary travelers arrive at their destination. They discover that there is no town, just an open prairie. The immigrants turn on Dr. Rodgers demanding an explanation. He is unable to give one but talks about how easy it will be to build their town themselves. The question is, what are they to build their town with? There are no trees. Why didn't Dr. Rodgers tell them that there were no trees. The scholarly, overly optimistic man of cloth forgot to mention many things. It never occurred to the highly impractical man to think of these matters when he visited Minnesota the first time.

So, painfully, with much suffering, and much grumbling the English settlers begin the monumental task of creating a life for themselves in this foreign land. They are stricken with drought, fire, locusts and winter storms. It truly seems that they are cursed. Mary Ann wonders why her father took them from their comfortable life in England to suffer so much in this strange and inhospitable country. She begins to see him as he really is, a good by unwise man, a man who speaks big words but has no real idea of how life is to be lead. It is she and her stepmother who hold the family together. In fact, the two become closer as they share the burden of caring for the family.

Mary Ann's relationship with her dear and much loved Jane also changes. Jane's mother gives up on life, committing suicide. Her father turns to drink and becomes a violent and angry man, blaming the reverend for all his woes. He takes his anger out on his daughter and she retreats from Mary Ann, seeking solace in the most unexpected place of all. Mary Ann can no longer turn to Jane for comfort and companionship. She must move on alone, helping her mother with the children and doing her best to support her father.

This remarkable story is haunting. The author shares her discoveries about her great-grandfather and his family with great understanding and sympathy. She offers no excuses for the often thoughtless things the Revered Rodgers says and does. That is the kind of man he is, learned and impractical. Despite the suffering his family is put through, they endure and make a life for themselves in America. We are reminded of how harsh pioneer life often was, even in the late 1870's. Dr. Rodgers' community was ill-prepared. The people were unused to the farming life and to living at the mercy of wind, sun, rain and snow. This special edition "Dear America" book is truly unique and offers an extraordinary personal insight into a story very few people have heard.

Hairy Maclary's Bone
Lynley Dodd
Tricycle Press
P.O. Box 7123, Berkeley, CA 94707
1-58246-060-4, 1800-841-BOOK, www.tenspeed.com

Hairy Maclary is a rather odd looking dog. He is also a very lucky dog because he has a friend at the local butcher's shop. Mr. Samuel Stone gives our hero a bone, a delicious bone. In no time Hairy Maclary has a collection of dogs following him down the street. They all want that bone, that wonderful smelling bone, that delicious looking bone. Hairy Maclary may be funny looking but he is also very smart. As he heads home to the dairy where he lives, Hairy Maclary takes a very circuitous path. The end result is that before long, his train of hungry dogs has been left behind. One is stuck in a fence, another is trapped in a hedge and so on. With amusing names, delightful illustrations and a simple story, Lynley Dodd has created a charming book for youngsters. A perfect read-aloud book, "Hairy Maclary's Bone"is one of several books about this intelligent and comical dog.

Sparrow Jack
Mordicai Gerstein
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
19 Union Square West, New York, NY 10003
0-374-37139-3, 888-330-8477, www.fsgbooks.com

John Bardsley went out one night to gather some sparrows. It was 1838, and believe it or not, people in England used to eat roasted sparrows in those days. It was considered a delicacy in fact. John found a baby sparrow that night and ended up raising it instead of eating it. After that John became very fond of the sparrows in his village and they became fond of him. When he was grown up John decided to go to America to seek his fortune. He ended up in Philadelphia and became a house painter. He soon discovered that Philadelphia had a problem. It was overrun with inchworms. The local birds wouldn't touch the pests and John came up with a brilliant plan. John decided he would bring sparrows over from England to eat the inchworms. All you have to do is look outside to see what happened next. The author has told this true story with humor and sensitivity and his illustrations with their charming borders are full of activity and life.

What the Sea Left Behind
Mimi Gregoire Carpenter
Down East Books
P.O.Box 679, Camden, ME 04843
0-89272-123-5, 800-766-1670, www.downeastbooks.com

When the weather is fine Tessa and her artist mother go down to the beach to explore and collect treasures. As Tessa tells us, at first you may not realize that there are treasures to be found. You have to stop looking at the big picture and start looking at the small things, the shells and stones, the little crabs and seaweeds. Tessa take us with her as she explores the boundaries of the land and ocean. There are the shells of razor clams and sea urchins. Tessa tells us little details about the small animals that get washed up on the shore, how they got there and how they connect with the larger world of the ocean and the beach. One of the joys of finding these small treasures is being able to draw and paint them on the days when she doesn't go exploring. With musical prose and beautiful illustrations, the author has created an extraordinary book. For a parent or a teacher this book is a wonderful tool to show children how there are big worlds and little ones; how the smaller creatures and plants have their own sort of beauty, and how you often need to change the way you look at things to appreciate them fully.

Mel's Diner
Marissa Moss
Troll Books
4600 Pleasant Hill Road, Memphis, TN 38118
0-8167-3461-5, 1800-929-TROLL, www.troll.com

Mabel has a special place in her life. Every morning she goes and works in the diner that her family owns. Mabel helps her mother and father get everything ready and soon the first customers arrive. In ones and twos they come in and sit down, and we get to meet Mabel's friends. There is Mrs. Krupnik who always has coffee and a sticky bun and who has wonderful stories to tell about her life. Jorge and Lila read the paper as they drink cup after cup of coffee. Cole and Craig like to tell jokes and make Mabel laugh. After school Mabel and her best friend Rhonda come to the diner to have a snack and do their homework. They also have fun, playing music on the jukebox that they dance to. With each page turned the reader gets to share this wonderful place with Mabel and her family. We see people of all shapes, colors and sizes come into the diner, we smell the food and hear the voices. At the end of the day we leave the diner with Mabel and her mother and see "the light in our front window, welcoming us home." The author has created a very unique book with lovely soft illustrations and simple prose.

Marya Jansen-Gruber, Reviewer
mjansengruber@mindspring.com


Magdalena's Bookshelf

Youth
JM Coetzee
Vintage Books
c/o Random House
1745 Broadway, 17th floor, New York, NY 10019
ISBN 0099433621, $22.95, 169 pages, 1-800-726-0600, www.amazon.com

Youth is a short and tortuous novel which follows John, a young man with lofty literary aspirations through a mathematics degree, a move from a politically unstable South Africa to London where he works towards a Masters degree in literature and begins work as a computer programmer. Many critics have argued that this sparse Beckettian novel is really a memoir, to be read as a prelude to Coetzee's own great writing career. Whatever parallels there may be to Coetzee's young life, this book is clearly a novel, and it deserves to be judged as a complete work. The story is tortuous because it reminds its readers of something that seems to go hand and hand with youth - the desire for glory, for greatness, for artistic achievement and admiration without the tedious work of application. John is a hard character to stomach because we have been there.

While waiting fruitlessly for the muse to strike, John becomes involved in a number of unsatisfactory relationships, attends arty films, writes a few bad poems and takes on two programming jobs. Throughout the novel, John is generally lonely, unkind, bored, frightened and unappealing. While this may not be an original theme as such, the novel is written in the third person, present tense which gives it a kind of Kafkaesque starkness. It reads as a cold confessional, as the narrator stumbles along in the dark trying to discover what has gone wrong in his life and why both Love and Art, two things he associates with one another, have forsaken him:

What will cure him, if it were to arrive, will be love. He may not believe in God but he does believe in love and the powers of love. The beloved, the destined one, will see at once through the odd and even dull exterior he presents to the fire that burns within him. Meanwhile, being dull and odd-looking are part of a purgatory he must pass through in order to emerge, one day, into the light: the light of love, the light of art. for he will be an artist, that has long been settled. If for the time being he must be obscure and ridiculous, that is because it is the lot of the artist to suffer obscurity and ridicule until the day when he is revealed in his true powers and the scoffers and mockers fall silent. (3)

In the background the world is in turmoil. There is the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, protest marches, the Cold War, and the prelude to the Vietnam war. At one point, John even writes to the Chinese Embassy in London offering to teach English in China in an attempt to engage himself in something - the do something positive. John has to deal with his complicated feelings towards South Africa, "a wound which bleeds within him," his feelings about the west with its money oriented industry represented by IBM, and with his feelings of guilt for his lack of purpose. He is a 1960s character and although the background is subtle and the story mainly focuses on John's ennui, we also get a fairly clear picture of the life of an immigrant during this period.

The other characters in the story, John's friend Paul, his lover Jacqueline, his IBM colleagues and bosses, his Indian neighbours, his later lovers Sarah, Caroline, Marianne, Astrid or his friend and colleague at International Computers Ganapathy, are sketched only lightly. We know that he senses what the "right" thing to do is, and also that he senses that "the right thing" is the antithesis to "Art." We also know that often John does the "wrong" thing. He is cold and disconnected with his "friends" and associates. He is awkward with his neighbours and unable to reciprocate their dinner invitation. He is cruel and detached with Sarah and Marianne. He also makes juvenile and appalling judgements in his mind about Art, artists and women:

..artists have to live with their fever, whatever its nature, good or bad. The fever is what makes them artists; the fever mustbe kept alive. That is why artists can never be wholly present to the world: one eye has always to be turned inward. As for women who flock after artists, they cannot wholly be trusted. For just as the spirit of the artist is both flame and fever, so the woman who yearns to be licked by tongues of flame will at the same time do her best to quench the fever and bring down the artist to common ground. therefore women have to be resisted even when they are loved.(31)

These mental illuminations are so full of cliched and trite sentiments - so adolescent in fact that one suspects that they are meant to be taken as tongue in cheek. This is confirmed by other elements of humour throughout the book. At one point, John is reading Ford Madox Ford on Provence and decides to buy fish fingers instead of sausages "in deference to Ford," frying them in olive oil and sprinkling them with garlic salt. Another point in the novel John reveals that his highest aspirations were for a French girlfriend: "If he had a passionate affair with a French girl he would be touched and improved, he is sure, by the grace of the French language, the subtlety of French thought. " (74)

Despite his ridiculous generalisations and revelations of immaturity, John is not without sensitivity. At one point he stands before Robert Motherwell's Elegy for the Spanish Republic and is "transfixed. Menacing and mysterious, the black shape takes him over. A sound like the stroke of a gong goes out from it, leaving him shaken and week-kneed." (92) He is moved by beautiful lines of poetry such as Brodsky's "As dark as the inside of a needle," and at another point, lying on his jacket in a Hamstead Heath park, he suddenly feels a moment of joy listening to the cries of children, birdsong and insects. He also recognises the empty nature of his work at IBM - the dullness and repetition of his work and the lack of camaraderie, and even though he doesn't express it well, one senses he has touched upon something important there. His pleasure at working at International Computers later - his sense of accomplishment and of wanting to work for the right side is one which elicits sympathy in the reader.

John may be unpleasant. He is also immature and even boring, but what makes Youth an interesting book, taking it beyond merely a failed bildungsroman into the realm of a serious novel, is that John is a character which readers will be able to recognise. We may not want to identify with him. After all, he never makes it. He admits that his one talent is for misery, and he ends up unhappy, lonely, feeling a failure and ready to give up his delusions of grandeur for what he perceives will be a dull life:

The upshot is that he is sitting alone on a Sunday afternoon in an upstairs room in a house in the depths of the Berkshire countryside, with crows cawing in the fields and a grey mist hanging overhead, playing chess with himself, growing old, waiting for evening to fall so that he can with a good conscience fry his sausages and bread for supper. At eighteen he might have been a poet. Now he is not a poet, not a writer, not an artist." (168}

John's constant rhetorical questions are tedious, and the first person present tense narration is unsettling, but the story moves quickly, and perhaps there is a moment of revelation in the end. John sees himself "locked into an attenuating endgame" but at twenty four, he is still a youth after all.

Linda Radke's Promote Like A Pro: Small Budget, Big Show
Linda F Radke and contributors
Five Star Publications, Inc
PO Box 6698, Chandler, AZ, 85246-6698 USA
ISBN 1877749362, $19.95, www.fivestarpublications.com

You've written a book. Terrific. You aren't alone. According to Linda Radke, (xv) "Statistics show that every year more than 50,000 books are published and more than 7,000 new presses come into existence. WIth this kind of competition, you just can't expect your book to make it by word of mouth." If you think that the hard work is done once the book has been accepted for publication, you're wrong. Regardless of whether you've been published by a large house, small press, or are self-publishing, the key to achieving good sales is promotion.

With a heavily saturated market, and publicity space which is becoming more limited by the day, authors have to understand how to promote themselves and their work if they want their books to sell. There are quite a few books on the market which cover promotional skills, and how to handle the media, but Linda Radke's "Promote Like a Pro" was specifically written for authors. It is a complete guide to obtaining serious and very low cost publicity for your book, including distribution, advance publicity, media attention, signings, reviews, using the media, the Internet and more. Even if you do decide to hire a publicist or have one assigned to you from a large publishing house, this book is a useful guide to the necessary work involved at each step. However good the publicist, it is the author who has to sell his or her books in any case.

Radke is more of an editor than an author, although she does contribute the first section of the book. The rest of the book consists of a series of chapters and essays written by experts in their respective fields. Super publicist Suzi Prokell tells you how to pull together an effective publicity campaign.

Marketing guru Kerry LePage provides a sample marketing plan and advertising guidelines, and media hound Joan Stewart tells you how to schmooze your way to free publicity. There are chapters on getting into the newspapers, getting book reviews, pulling together a press kit, getting on television, doing talkback radio, and how to use the Internet for publicity. Each topic is written by a different expert which makes for a nice blend of different voices, styles, and perspectives.

There are a few sections which are too general, such as LePage's marketing plan - it would have been better if each essay were specifically geared towards the promotion of books, since this is what differentials "Promote Like a Pro". This is made up for though in other sections that really stand out, such as Jess Todtfeld's entertaining "How to Get Free Publicity on Television." Joe Sabah's "How to Promote Yourself on Radio Talk Shows" is also useful with its sample scripts and humorous summaries, as is Joan Stewart's "The Top Three Ways to Snag Valuable Free Publicity: Write, Speak, and Schmooze with the Media." Radke's own essay "Promote Like a Pro" which forms Part I of the book, is valuable too, particularly around the area of finding a suitable angle for your book's promotion and publicity tie-ins.

Since all of the contributors to this small but informative book are experienced in their areas, the essays are full of real life examples, personal insights and an insiders perspective. If you need to promote a book or other small project and don't have a lot of money to hire experts, Promote Like A Pro
Magdalena Ball, Reviewer
http://www.compulsivereader.com/html


Lori's Bookshelf

Wall of Silence
Gabrielle Goldsby
Quest Books
2003, $20.95, 404 pgs, ISBN: 1932300015, www.regalcrest.biz

This debut novel, part action, part police procedural, and part romance, is a real corker. Goldsby takes an oft-used character type—a burned out police detective—and builds a clever and engrossing plot around her. Lesbian LAPD cop Foster Everett hasn't even hit age 30 yet, and she's already seen one too many murders and far too many instances of abuse, neglect, and generally despicable behavior by the lawless element in her city. On the trail of snuff film porn purveyors, she and her partner, Smitty, go on what seems to be a routine bust at a video store. They find a small child chained up and capture the kidnapper. Foster loses her cool completely and beats him up. She goes outside to cool off and wait for backup, only to be told that the pedophile has suddenly died in their custody. Foster can't believe it; Smitty sends her away, saying he'll cover it up.

Foster has a conscience, and she can't quite bear the burden of guilt. In true messed-up-cop fashion, she starts drinking heavily. Then Smitty dies mysteriously, supposedly a suicide, and leaves her in a world of hurt. Still drinking heavily, she is spiraling downhill when she is befriended by Riley Medeiros, the bouncer at the lesbian bar. Before Foster has unearthed many clues about Smitty's death, much less her own problems, her life is in danger and she's forced to run.

Riley becomes her rescuing angel.

What makes this story especially good is the effective integration of the growing affection between Riley and Foster as the stakes from running away get higher and higher. The relationship between the two women seems natural and doesn't interrupt the flow of the enigmatic mystery. But even with Riley's help and support, Foster's attempts to investigate from a distance and via friends in the department are met with deadly consequences. It becomes clear that if she is found, she's dead—and Riley and any friends, too. Can Foster uncover the truth in order to find out who is masterminding the murders and cover-ups before they get her?

The first person narration of the story is fresh and often sarcastically funny. "She even slept like an innocent…like she hadn't a care in the world. I slept like a criminal, balled up into a fetal position with one hand under my pillow where my weapon was usually hidden" (p. 130). The novel is perfectly plotted and has a very real voice and consistently accurate tone, which is not always the case with lesbian mysteries.

Foster's gradual awakening to her own pain and to the resolution of the mess she is in makes for an exciting and satisfying read complete with several unexpected twists. In addition, Goldsby has done a fine job navigating the cross-genre nature of this book. For readers of lesbian action, adventure, and romance, Wall of Silence is not to be missed. I give it my highest recommendation.

Something To Be Thankful For
Carrie Carr
Yellow Rose Books
2003, $17.95, 337 pgs, ISBN: 193230004X, www.regalcrest.biz

Veterinarian Randi Meyers of Fort Worth, Texas, is single and lonely. She loves animals and works hard at her job, but she wants someone with whom to share her life. She has given up finding anyone, though, especially in the wake of the last bad relationship she had. So when she travels to her hometown for a funeral, she isn't expecting to find an unconscious woman in the woods near the cemetery nor does she expect to form an attachment to the injured woman . . . but she does.

Kay Newcombe comes from a terrible hardscrabble background, but she is trying to pull herself out of the abuse and poverty of the past. Neither woman has much hope for anything more than an acquaintance. They come from different worlds and with mountains of baggage. Do they have a hope of finding something together? And what about the echoes from their pasts which threaten their newfound friendship?

Fans of Carr's Lex/Amanda series will be thrilled to see that the author has written this stand-alone book about two new characters. The writing is crisp and fresh with both humor and pathos sprinkled throughout. It's an excellent story about two women who've gone through the School of Hard Knocks. You can't help but root for Kay and Randi as they try to make sense of their lives. This is Carrie Carr's best novel yet, and I highly recommend it.

Reap The Whirlwind
Josh Aterovis
Regal Crest Enterprises
2003, $15.95, 245 pgs, ISBN: 1932300058, www.regalcrest.biz

This rollercoaster ride of a book branches out from author Aterovis's 2002 debut novel, Bleeding Hearts. Like the main character in the earlier book, Reap The Whirlwind's Will Keegan is a teenager whose life is turned upside down when he discovers he is gay. He is in no way prepared for the upheaval in store for him. He comes to understand that the person he's been in love with is hatefully homophobic. His father turns from him. Someone dear to him dies in a mysterious drunken accident. Will nearly dies, too. If that's not enough stress for one person, he meets someone special and is hardly able to discern that the young man is perfect for him.

Once Will gets his life into a precarious balance, he is able to see that the death of his friend is no accident even though the police have ruled it so. He and several friends (including Killian Kendall from the earlier novel) launch an amateur investigation which has dreadful results. There's another murder, then another, and no way of determining why. Who will be next?

Aterovis does an admirable job of showing the wild confusion and frequently uncontrollable emotions of young people as they attempt to understand their lives and make their way into adulthood. This book, essentially a very serious story, has occasional flashes of humor. My favorite line: "Oh my God, Martha Stewart died and left us all her shit." The interplay between the young men and women, both straight and gay, feels accurate and alive. Above all, the message is clear that love and acceptance of self and others is critical, especially for young adults. Highly recommended for readers of from high school on up.

Goldfish Dreams
Jim Hines
Regal Crest Enterprises
2003, $15.95, 232 pgs, ISBN: 1932300031, www.regalcrest.biz

Eileen Greenwood is free, 18, and off to college. Well, that's how it looks on the surface. It is true that she's a freshman in college now, but she's not free. She is haunted by memories and nightmares of sexual abuse suffered at the hands of her brother, Brad. No one would believe her, and her own father and sister could not understand her seemingly irrational antipathy toward Brad. She is relieved to escape her childhood home, but she doesn't find solace easily. Her roommate, Alisa, and her kind-hearted boyfriend, Patrick, don't seem to be able to help her either. Eileen is obsessed with finding out more about her brother and his life and motivations, and it's not until she embarks on a serious search that she can get to the truth of what compelled her brother to repeatedly rape her.

For some time there has been a growing movement in the realm of abuse and sexual assault prevention: men have joined forces with women and organized to battle against rape and sexual abuse. As a dedicated sexual assault counselor, author Jim Hines brings a sensitive and compassionate viewpoint to this unforgettable story about one young woman determined to face and defeat the demons that haunt her.

This book is well-written and evocative. Not many male authors have created such a true portrait of a woman in pain and trouble. Hines has done it with effortless grace and with empathy and accuracy as well. This novel is for anyone trying to reconcile the terrors of the past with the hopes of the future. I highly recommend it.

Otherwhens, Otherwheres: Favorite Tales by John Dalmas
John Dalmas
Silver Dragon Books
2003, $14.95, 174 pgs, ISBN: 1932300007, www.regalcrest.biz

After a lifetime of writing a couple dozen sci-fi/fantasy novels and also publishing occasional stories for fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi mags, John Dalmas has collected some of his best short work into this volume of eight stories. Six otherworldly tales and two stories that one could classify into the mystery realm grace this excellent book. All are prefaced by a short description of how they came into being and how they were published.

Dalmas has a style reminiscent of Ray Bradbury. His stories flow effortlessly with occasional unexpected humor. It's easy to fall into his narratives. The Stoor's Map, for instance, which was originally published in the anthology Halflings, Hobbits, Warrows, and Wee Folk, contains gripping scenes of a battle with a huge spider. The characters, both male and female, are wonderfully rendered. In Out Of the North a Giant, the voice of the narrator is distinctive: "There come out of the north a giant. Teeth he had like knives, claws like more of em, and the breath from his mouth was like carrion in the sun" (p. 45). Whether the story characters are chasing—or being chased by—tigers or giants, or searching for killers as in Ides of September, every story is crafted by a master. If you love well-written short fiction that shades over into adventure, mystery, thrills, and chills, this one's for you.

Lori L. Lake
Reviewer


Liana's Bookshelf

Eva's Kitchen Confidence
Eva M. Kende
DiskUs Publishing
PO Box 43 Albany, IN 47320, http://www.diskuspublishing.com
Ebook, ISBN 1-58495-240-7, 2000, 266 pp, Very Highly Recommended.

Eva Kende has created a unique in its kind e book: She has included useful information on how a new cook can get started and the tools they can use in the kitchen, along with tasty recipes and jokes. Packed with invaluable tips and advice this e book will satisfy both the new and the old cooks of our times.

EVA'S KITCHEN CONFIDENCE is a basic guide to cooking and is divided into two big parts.

Part One deals with all the basics a cook should know in order to get started. There is an Introduction , where Eva Says: 'When I was a child I often overheard adults exchange recipes in the following way: " I make it just like such-and-such except...." or " just start it like you would a regular this-or-that, substituting marjoram for the paprika and add a little more black pepper....." Nothing was written down; there was no need. The new recipe was a variation on the old traditional, tried and true. The basic methods remained the same, but the ingredients varied.'

It is very interesting to read her introduction. Here is some more of it: 'I learned to cook at the age of 13, and I am still learning 42 years later. I started with a small repertoire and added to it as the opportunity arose. I am a retired biochemist, who for years challenged herself to get a well cooked, inexpensive and nutritionally balanced meal on the table. In the meantime, I was working full time at a job and had a child who had all the typical needs of being listened to, taken to sports training, home work etc. All the while, my husband's job required him to stay late, entertain bosses and clients in our home, and could offer only limited help in the kitchen.'

There are tips that follow and her humorous way will entertain all readers and make them start cooking. There are graphics that enhance the whole project as well.

The Getting Started section is about how a new cook can start cooking easily and confidently. 'What is a recipe?'

A recipe is a series of instructions on how to combine ingredients and specific methods to prepare a certain food.

A recipe is only a ground rule for building. If you examine recipes closely you'll realize that traditional spicing is what gives ethnic food that special flavor. Methods of preparation vary little from country to country. If you want to become a creative cook, choose a simple recipe that mentions several variations and practice by cooking several of the suggestions.

Then start creating your own variations,' Eva writes. The author gives plain , sensible instructions that will absolutely help cooks become creative . This is a very important element of this e book. Also, Eva deals with questions such as : How to decide what to cook? Why are methods important? How do I plan a meal? Here you will find the answers to all these questions and many more .

The next section, TOOLS, deals with all the utensils a kitchen should have.

You don't need a model kitchen straight off the pages of a glossy magazine to cook well. Many good cooks will tell you that some of their most indispensable tools are ancient beat up utensils or pots that cannot be replaced by a new shiny replica.

You do need some comfortable tools, but buying every gismo will clutter your kitchen. Being able to lay your hand on a tool quickly, is more important than having every gadget,' Eva advises.

Here the readers will get all the information they need about the gadgets they should have at hand and how to use them. This part is really invaluable as in other cookbooks this information is missing.

INGREDIENTS comes next, where the author displays all the facts about the products, from eggs and milk products to vegetables, nuts and seasonings. If you get educated you know what you are doing and you can create superb dishes at no time at all.

'Milk contains a large number of nutrients and is a good source of high quality protein. Milk and its products are fundamental to keeping a vegetarian diet balanced. It supplies the essential amino acids that are lacking in vegetable proteins. Milk and milk products are our main source of calcium and vitamin D.' Eva says. In between the advice and information the readers can read jokes and have fun while getting educated as well. Next comes the BASIC METHODS where the author tells readers all about Dry Cooking, Frying and Moist cooking. A very interesting section no one should miss reading! Next are the Salads, Sauces and Garnish sections packed with useful tips and instructions. Cooking for Special Diets is an additional section that will be of great interest to most readers.

Least but not last comes the Hygiene section, a very important part no cook should overlook.

No cookbook would be complete without a chapter to warn you of the dangers of improperly handled food. We all know that improperly handled food can cause anything from mild indigestion to severe food poisoning. Food poisoning is the result of poor technique in food handling at some point. Food can be contaminated by bacteria that are already present on the food in small quantities, but if allowed to multiply, will cause spoilage and possibly food poisoning. Parasites are usually found in pork or fish and are killed by heat. Airborne contaminants are most often yeasts and molds. While generally less dangerous, they can cause premature spoiling and waste. Chemicals used to protect foods from insects, spoilage and to prolong shelf-life can cause a variety of problems, especially in sensitive individuals.' Eva advises.

The second part of the book contains recipes: Here is The Recipes Collection . 'Naturally, my own Hungarian background is imprinted on the choices and variations.' Eva says.

' The variations given in each recipe are designed to make you think of the many ways you can alter the recipes to suit your taste, the occasion, available ingredients and the dietary needs or preferences of your family and guests. The recipes are arranged in alphabetical order. Each recipe may belong to several categories.'

'Vegetarian Suggestions is a list of the recipes that contain information on how to alter or use that recipe in creating a meat-free dish.' Eva says.

Here the readers will be able to read and practise themselves a variety of recipes for every taste and budget. Feta Cheese Spread is an appetizing starter that no reader should miss.

Categories: Appetizers and Party Food, Cheese and Eggs

Then , there are Lentil Soup, Polenta made easy, and a lot of other less known dishes that are worth trying.

Finally there is a Recipe Index at the back of the book , for easy reference.

EVA'S KITCHEN CONFIDENCE is not a common cookbook. It is an e book that provides the readers with all the necessary information, tips and advice other cookbooks do not , so it is a must for every cook, new and old. Although it is designed to meet the specific needs of the new cook, it also caters to everybody else who needs to learn more about food and methods. It is certainly a good read for those who read cookbooks to get educated and have some tasty fun as well! Moreover, it is suitable for those who are meat eaters and those who are vegetarians as well.

Do you need a special cookbook that will entertain you as well as offer you tasty recipes? Eva's Kitchen Confidence is a unique combination of techniques and recipes, offering the readers not only cooking tips but also a good read to add fun to their daily cooking tasks!

Related Titles:

The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook By Murdoch Books
Now we're Cooking 43 authors in the kitchen e book

Forget Me Knots-from the front Porch
Helen Kay Polaski, compiler
Obadiah Press
607 N.Cleveland Street, Merrill, Wisconsin
ISBN 0-9713266-8-1, 288pp,US$ 15.95, www.obadiahpress.com

Helen Kay Polaski, the 7th child in a family of 16 children, never tires of telling the tales of her childhood. She resides in the beautiful state of Michigan and she has just fulfilled her fondest wish that her writing will one day touch the heart of others in a positive way.

' Several of the stories within the book are from my own childhood and stomping grounds, and the child on the cover is standing on our family's front porch,' the writer says.

' I have five additional anthologies in progress . They will all be Forget Me Knots books, but with different themes,' she adds.

FORGET ME KNOTS …from the front porch, is an anthology of heartfelt stories from around the world-stories that will touch the readers' hearts and make them start recalling their own childhood.

The book is divided into 6 parts.

The anthology starts with a gripping story about a the assassination of John Kennedy . ' This afternoon President John Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas ,Texas….' The readers will also find there memories of a troubled kid who lived in a trailer, a village boy's problems and many other moving stories that are worth reading and thinking about them: 'It was then that I vowed to always find something beautiful to chase away the "hates"'. The rest of the parts are packed with stories related to games-it is interesting to learn how some kids had fun in those remote days when technology was still a dream- , to grandparents, where the readers will probably recall their own family , special memories, such as the stories 'I feel so free', and 'a faithful friend', and many other: ' In those days , there were toys on the porch- a wagon, a tricycle , and a very important rocking horse with squeaky springs.'

There is a section dedicated to Growing up and Family ties, while at the end of the book there is a part with the contributors' bios .

FORGET ME KNOTS …FROM THE FRONT PORCH , is an excellent anthology that will take readers back in time and offer them a good read full of nostalgia of their childhood memories.

It caters to everyone who loves reading life stories from other people ,and is eager to feel the magic in every story in this collection. There are stories for all moods and every taste that will entertain and give hope to readers.

An anthology full of memories that can inspire, make us laugh or cry. This book will take you back to your childhood years and to the front porch of your home , your grandparents' home, or that of a friend. This is a good read for everybody who need to slide back in time.

Related Titles:

Nudges from God, an anthology of Inspiration
When a Woman Prays

Liana Metal
Reviewer


Kinni's Bookshelf

Wheels for the World
Douglas Brinkley
Viking Books
c/o Penguin Putnam Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
858 pp, $34.95, ISBN 067003181X, 1-800-847-5515

The book of the month,Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, And A Century Of Progress is the definitive recounting of the Ford Motor Company's first hundred years, is business history at its best. Historian Douglas Brinkley covers the key leaders (including a comprehensive biography of Henry Ford), the cars, the competition, and the development of the company in a single volume that spans the entire 20th century.

Good Business
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Viking Books
c/o Penguin Putnam Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
244 pp, $25.95, ISBN 0670031968, 1-800-847-5515

A business can be both successful and humane, according to Good Business: Leadership, Flow, And The Making Of Meaning, a guide to the values, goals and operating strategies of "good" leaders. Good Business revisits Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of flow - the subjective experience of being fully involved in one's life - and explains how to build companies that enhance, rather than reduce, it.

What's the Big Idea
Thomas Davenport, Laurence Prusak, and H. James Wilson
Harvard Business School Press
60 Harvard Way , Boston, MA 02163
240 pp, $27.50, ISBN 0578519314, 1-800-668-6780

What's the Big Idea: Creating And Capitalizing On The Best Management Thinking is a unique book which studies how ideas percolate within organizations. It identifies "idea practitioners" (managers who introduce new thinking to their companies), studies the role of management gurus, and describes how to evaluate new ideas for fit. Included are case studies of reengineering and knowledge management, as well as lists of business ideas and leading management thinkers.

Open Innovation
Henry Chesbrough
Harvard Business School Press
60 Harvard Way , Boston, MA 02163
227, $35.00, ISBN 1578518377, 1-800-668-6780

When companies tap external sources as well as more traditional internal sources for new ideas, they create an open system of innovation, says HBS professor Henry Chesbrough. Using high-profile examples from Xerox, IBM, Lucent, and Intel, Open Innovation: The New Imperative For Creating And Profiting From Technology describes how open innovation process works and how to use it to create an efficient mix of internal and external innovation sources.

Why CRM Doesn't Work
Frederick Newell
Bloomberg Press
100 Business Park Dive, Princeton, NJ 08542-0888
263 pp, $29.95, ISBN 1576601323, 1-888-388-2749

Customers don't want to be managed, says marketing consultant Newell in Why CRM Doesn't Work: How To Win By Letting Customers Manage The Relationship , a contrarian take on the current state of CRM. Instead, Frederick Newell says customers must define their relationships with you and shows how to refocus CRM efforts and programs, such as e-mail, permission marketing, and loyalty cards, to allow customers to specify and communicate their wants and needs.

False Prophets
James Hoopes
Perseus
c/o Perseus Books Group
Eleven Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142
320 pp, $27.50, ISBN 0738207985, 1-800-242-7737

People work for money and corporations are dictatorships, says Babson College's Hoopes in False Prophets: The Gurus Who Created Modern Management And Why Their Ideas Are Bad For Business Today. James Hoopes' history of management ideas surveys the major 20th century business gurus - Drucker, Deming, Mayo, Barnard, Taylor, etc. - and seeks to explain how their thinking has often obscured the realities of business and its ultimate goal, profits.

How To Grow When Markets Don't
Adrian Slywotsky and Richard Wise with Karl Weber
Warner Books, Inc.
1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
344pp, $22, ISBN 0446531774, 1-800-759-0190

"Demand innovation" - the creation of customer value by addressing the issues that surround existing products and services -- is a largely exploited area of growth, according to this team from Mercer Management Consulting. How To Grow When Markets Don't uses case studies to illustrate how to turn commoditized products and services into delivery systems capable of building market demand and locking in customers.

Nothing To Fear: Lessons In Leadership From FDR
Alan Axelrod
Portfolio
273 pp, $24.95, ISBN 1591840147, www.amazon.com

Alan Axelrod, who has already written similar books about Patton and Elizabeth I, now examines Franklin Delano Roosevelt's life with a leader's eye in Nothing To Fear: Lessons In Leadership From FDR. He finds over ninety lessons, which are described in one to three pages each and are arranged into fourteen themes, including effective communication, purpose and principle, credibility, motivation, confidence and courage, etc.

Big Change At Best Buy
Elizabeth Gibson and Andy Billings
Davies-Black Publishing
3803 East Bayshore Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303
308 pp, $26.95, ISBN 0891061762, 1-800-624-1765

Big Change At Best Buy: Working Through Hypergrowth To Sustained Excellence details the large-scale, multiyear change effort that was undertaken at Best Buy in 1997 and served as the platform for the company's turnaround and steady growth through 2001. The authors -- leaders of the consulting team that guided the program -- describe the process used to transform the retailer's increasingly inefficient entrepreneurial business model and culture into that of a mature organization capable of creating and maintaining profitable growth.

Why Pride Matters More than Money
Jon Katzenbach
Crown Business
c/o The Crown Publishing Group
299 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10171
211 pp, $18.95, ISBN 0609610651, 1-800-726-0600

Intrinsic pride, claims consultant Jon Katzenbach, "is the most important motivational element in a company." His latest book, Why Pride Matters More than Money: The Power Of The World's Greatest Motivational Force, describes how employee pride -- and their anticipation of attaining pride - can be nurtured through organizational strategies and managerial behavior.

Saving the Corporate Soul & (Who Knows?) Maybe Your Own
David Batstone
Jossey-Bass, Inc.
989 Market Street, 5th floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741
270 pp, $26.95, ISBN 0787964808, 1-800-225-5945

In Saving the Corporate Soul & (Who Knows?) Maybe Your Own: Eight Principles For Creating And Preserving Integrity And Profitability Without Selling Out, business journalist David Batstone says "…a corporation has the potential to act with soul when it puts its resources at the service of the people it employs and the public it serves." Toward that end, he proposes and describes a grab bag of corporate values: alignment of leadership and stakeholders, transparency, local and global citizenship, customer and employee care, environmental responsibility, and commitment to human equality and diversity.

The Leader as Communicator
Robert Mai and Alan Akerson
Amacom Books
1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
276 pp, $24.95, ISBN 0814407404, 1-800-250-5308

A CEO is the organization's chief communication officer, according to consultants Robert Mai and Alan Akerson. In The Leader as Communicator: Strategies And Tactics To Build Loyalty, Focus Effort, And Spark Creativity, they describe 10 communication roles that leaders commonly assume: meaning-maker, storyteller, trust builder, direction setter, transition pilot, linking agent, critic, provocateur, learning advocate, and innovation coach.

The Blind Men And The Elephant
David Schmaltz
Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.
235 Montgomery Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94104-2916
143 pp, $18.95, ISBN 1576752534, 1-800-929-2929

It is the strictures of project management and the command behavior of project managers that doom most projects to mediocrity, says consultant David Schmaltz. The Blind Men And The Elephant: Mastering Project Work is a collection of philosophic essays which seeks to expose the failure of control-based PM and open the reader's eyes to the possibilities for coherent, personally meaningful group action.

On Target: How The World's Hottest Retailer Hit A Bull's-Eye
Laura Rowley
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
605 Third Avenue, 4th floor, New York, NY 10158-0012
216 pp, $24.95, ISBN 04712500678, 1-800-225-5945

In On Target: How The World's Hottest Retailer Hit A Bull's-Eye, business journalist Laura Rowley tracks Target's "overnight" success from its founding in 1962 to its current fast-track growth as an upscale discounter. More than a history, In On Target explores how the company's values, positioning, advertising, management, service strategies, customer base and philanthropy have contributed to its success.

Theodore Kinni, Reviewer
http://home1.get.net/bizooks


Judine's Bookshelf

Learning Self-Therapy Through Writing: An Experience in Creative Journaling
Dr. Nathaniel Gadsden
Universal Publishers
ISBN: 1-58112-703-0; pp. 124; Price: $19.95; Paperback, www.upublish.com

Baby books or journals map the first few years of an infant's life. There's the imprint of the tiny foot, which will soon walk, and occasionally a miniature hand print, which will soon try to tear down the house. These books allow plenty of white space for parents to graph the child's progress with the first words, date of first baptism, and pictures of the first birthday party. As the years float by, this journal serves as a reminder of the child's youth. But, where do we travel next?
"Learning Self-Therapy Through Writing"is a journaling book to navigate a course towards self-empowerment. It plots a map for the reader on a journey from the Someday Isle to the shores of attaining goals. "As you plan your getaway from Someday I'll (or Isle), you will encounter four bridges. These are the Bridges of I AM - I CAN - I WANT TO - I'LL DO IT TODAY!" The exercises allow plenty of white space to paddle through the waters of insecurity, and self-defeating thinking with an open mind and a willingness to learn. Affirmations act as buoys, and flushing sessions act as lighthouses so you won't get grounded.

Dr. Nathaniel Gadsden organizes the material for smooth sailing. I liked the sheets for Weekly Goals, and Weekly Contracts with Myself, because these help you stay afloat even after you are far from the Someday Isle. He writes, not as a captain, but as a guide, who encourages you to create your own horizon. I recommend "Learning Self-Therapy Through Writing" for anyone who wants to chart the waters to self-empowerment.

I Almost Missed...My Life: How to Breakthrough to the Life You Really Want
Debra Russell
E Ticket Enterprises, Inc.
PO Box 23127, Santa Barbara, CA 93121
ISBN: 0-972044-0-X; pp 150; price $14.95; Paperback

When life give you lemons make lemonade. Now how many times have you heard that cliche when your way looks rough? But, even when you add plenty of sugar, it can still zing your taste buds, and make your lips pucker. Well, have you ever seen a purple sweet potato? They are from the same family as the orange shaded variety, except the flesh is a lavender hue. Sounds kinda exotic, doesn't it? And, this purple tuber is sweeter than the regular one. So now when your way looks rough, say to yourself - When life gives you an ordinary sweet potato, add a little food coloring and make purple sweet potato pie.

"I Almost Missed...My Life" begins with what I'm going to call an ordinary beginning. You see, the author experienced some trials in her life, which are really no different from what a lot of women in the 21st century have had to face. At the age of thirty-one, she had two children, who had different fathers, and she wanted to divorce her third husband. What did she do in this familiar scenario? She took the knowledge that she had (an orange sweet potato), and combined it with the teachings of Anthony Robbins, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, the Dalai Lama and more (the food coloring), to result in a life filled with fun, excitement, passion, love and success (the exotic purple sweet potato pie).

Debra Russell jots down her recipe with 52 ingredients, which can be added to your dish of life. After stirring, there's a "Give It A Go" assignment, to help bring out the flavor. She also encourages the reader to start journaling for increased success, and to start your own recipe. I recommend "I Almost Missed...My Life: How to Breakthrough to the Life You Really Want" to those who want to color the ordinariness of their lives into something new well maybe not exotic, but definitely in a different pigment.

Covering Home: Lessons on the Art of Fathering from the Game of Baseball
Jack Petrash
Robins Lane Press
PO Box 207, 10726 Tucker Street, Beltsville, MD 20704
ISBN: 1-58904-013-9; price: 8.95; pp: 116, paperback

There is this perception in American society that our males have to grow up to be tough and strong. If they show their feelings, others might consider them as weak, soft, or feminine. So, it's because of this perception that men don't always say how much they love you. It's because of this perception, that men sometimes don't want to admit they might have messed up. And, it's because of this perception, that some men have a hard time being a father.

"Covering Home" demystifies the tough and strong perception of being a Dad by comparing this job to the game of baseball. Fathers learn how to prepare for the season of a lifetime, how to establish and practice good habits, and how to develop well-rounded players. Yes, occasionally you might strike out, but you can build a better game on these mistakes. "The challenge is not how to avoid failure but rather how to respond to it."

Jack Petrash's father gave him the passion for baseball and for being a father. Jack passed this love onto his children, and probably his students during his 20+ years of teaching. Now, Jack shares his enthusiasm in a small package, which gives hits the ball out of the park. I have a better understanding of the nurturing patterns my father, my children's father and even my son. There's not a lot of talk about baseball; that's just the ticket to get you into the ballpark. "Any understanding that asks for our best requires heightened awareness." So my recommendation is two-fold. First, I recommend "Covering Home" to fathers who felt they might strike out or have gone back to the dugout when all bases at home were loaded. Secondly, I highly encourage anyone, whose Father is still living, to read "Covering Home" and get inspired to create some extra innings with their Dad.

Divinely Inspired: Spiritual Awakening of a Soul
Jerry J. Pollock, Ph. D.
White Tulip
PO Box 644, Nesconset, NY 11767-0644
pp: 224; ISBN: 0-9723866-0-2; Paperback

Description: A roller coaster ride

When was the last time you were on a really scary roller coaster? The cars slowly creep up a steep incline, and your heart starts to palpitate. As gravity draws the car down, your body slightly lifts out of the seat, and the real fear begins. If it wasn't for the harness, which you think might release at any moment, you feel like you might fall out, as the car rattles along the twists and turns. Now you've had your excitement, and you want to get off. The finale a huge unexpected dip, which causes you to scream, "I wanna get outta here!" Then the cars slowly ease back onto the platform, as if nothing happened.

"Divinely Inspired"rides the reader on the author's roller coaster of life. The first nine chapters are twists and turns of mostly bad memories, manic depression, and then a scientific collapse. Instead of traveling up and down the usual curves of life, he spirals into the depths of suicide, and the harness literally holds on by a thread. Even his second wife, a true angel, gets frustrated with him, but she never screams that she wants to get off the ride. Then, the last four chapters slowly ease us back onto a stable platform of life, as the author becomes "Divinely Inspired."

Jerry J. Pollock states, "...I am not afraid to admit my mistakes, even in front of a large audience. I don't worry about other people's approval, nor do I envy them, and I especially don't feel alone." That's the beauty of print-on-demand. Authors do not have to wait for someone else to approve of their story, in order to reach at least one person. I appreciate Jerry's openness, and I would recommend this book to anyone who thinks their life is the scariest roller coaster.

Judine Slaughter
Reviewer


Hodgins' Bookshelf

Whose Puck Is It, Anyway?: a Season with a Minor Novice [Ice] Hockey Team
Ed Arnold (with fore- & afterwords by Bob Gainey and Steve Larmer)
McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
481 University Avenue, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 2E9
ISBN 0771007809 258 pp. incl. appendicies, acknowledgements, etc.; Can.$34.99, US$24.95, 1-800-788-1074

"Ice" is inserted into the subtitle above for the information of non-Canadians who might otherwise understand "hockey" to mean what we call "field hockey". Even if you don't notice that the charming kids in the dust-jacket photo wear ice-hockey uniforms including skates, you'll know that the quintessentially Canadian sportswriter Roy MacGregor HAS to be talking about the ice game in the line above the photo, "This is hockey the way it was meant to be." The Canadian national games are lacrosse in summer, and (ice) hockey in winter.

By chance these activities bear a striking resemblance to one another, and they are probably good off-season training for each other; both develop endurance and leg strength, for example. Yet they are of entirely different origins. Lacrosse was the early French name for the pre-Columbian Iroquois game of baggataway; "la crosse" more literally means a bishop's symbolic crook or crosier/crozier, such as the game's webbed playing stick or "crosse" resembles. (The French equivalent of our "cross" is "la croix".) Thus lacrosse is a New World game. In contrast, something akin to field hockey is an Old World sport tracing back to ancient Persia. Then, according to my '57 Encyclopaedia Britannica, "About 1875 a game resembling modern [field] hockey began to be played in England."

It is said that something vaguely like ice hockey had been played elsewhere, including by early native North Americans - who, however, lacked the ice skates fundamental to the modern game. Quite soon after 1875, Canada developed essentially the same fast ice game as we know today, based on Old World (English) field hockey. Our hockey seems more widely played, or at least watched, than lacrosse.

Arnold's book suggests that a good many kids play lacrosse in certain areas, but clearly, still more play hockey. Contrary to possible rumour, Canadians aren't born on skates. I for one, although a 7th-generation Canadian, have played very amateurishly at hockey not over a half-dozen times. (I've tried no lacrosse at all. Likewise, I've watched a fair number of live and broadcast hockey games, but have never seen lacrosse "live", or followed a whole match even on TV, largely because the summer game seems to me too close to open warfare.) There are plenty of other sports to keep one happy and healthy, after all; some of my favourites have been water sports, racquet games, both downhill and cross-country skiing, and mountaineering.

"My" ice game for some years was curling, invented by the Scots. Ed Arnold's book is of great value in bringing a fresh, sane perspective to the celebrity-mad, money-crazed world of sports. Mind you, the book might noever have appeared had the people creating it not been celebrities themselves. Arnold is managing editor and a weekly columnist at "The Peterborough Examiner", an eminent regional newspaper. He also has won the Ontario Medal of Citizenship and other awards, and has written several other presumably published books.

Probably, if regrettably, the other contributors are even more important as Big Names in the hockey world; e.g., Bob Gainey - a former Captain of the Montreal Canadiens, probably the most famed team in the business - is enshrined in the top-pro National Hockey League's Hall of Fame. It says something about the publishing industry that even Ed Arnold's accomplishments may have been deemed inadequate to market his book without the aid of hockey pros. The book's hockey team was the 2000-2001 Minor Novice Peterborough Petes, one of a confusing (to me) welter of Peterborough Petes teams at various levels of play and ages of participants; without the words "Minor Novice", you mightn't know just which Petes these were. Nor does the progression from level to level seem at all clear; for instance, I gather that the "Atom" Petes are not younger and smaller, as would seem logical, but rather a step or two UP in size and age. Not that it makes a great deal of difference, though, when the principles espoused by Arnold & co. could be applied wherever kids play for enjoyment and companionship.

Arnold draws a sharp line between recreational hockey and the job or business of hockey. Profits may be the great aims of business hockey, but, given that the great majority of kids who play junior hockey will never turn pro, what the children need are self-development, friendship, and fun, while dirty tricks, unnecessary violence, browbeating and belittling, physical intimidation, in fact all unsportsmanlike behaviour have or has no legitimate place in recreational hockey, just as in other for-fun sports such as touch football and pingpong. Hockey for profit is something else. A job is a job, and needn't always be fun - but it is NOT the subject of Arnold's book. What he chiefly says about is, don't mistake the sport for the business; whatever you do, don't carry business attitudes/methods into kiddies' fun time. Tet as he also says, even the most innocent amateur games are played to win; witness the glee on many of the faces of AAA Peterborough Petes minor novice players (including a small, winsome girl, young and lightweight for her team, but a fine natural player and an asset on the ice) and coaches alike, each of them holding a single digit aloft to celebrate their group success. However, the aim is not to win AT ANY COST, such as at the cost of those more vital aims of self-development, friendship, and enjoyment as already noted.

Arnold makes his team's unusual philosophy, policies, and rules quite clear to us, as to everyone directly concerned, especially the kids' parents at appropriate times. The following belief (see page 18) was fundamental to all else: "Kids ... can develop a passion for hockey. But that passion does not come from winning or losing or even from acquiring particular skills. It comes from being part of the game, from sharing the exhilaration of the game with teammates, from the sheer joy of skating and shooting and making saves and plays. If we just let the passion take hold of our young players, everything else will fall into place." It followed that any behaviour of teammates, coaches, or parents especially (for some are far and away too demanding and temperamental, even boorish and, in extreme cases, homicidal) that threatened any player's passion was anathema. Nobody should yell at the referees, at the players, at the coaches, or, as to that, at other parents. Also on page 18 we learn, "The goal was to see improvement in the whole team from September to April ... We had decided to sign seventeen players because this number would give as many kids as possible a chance to play at this level. We'd win, lose, and improve together."

The specific reason for the number 17 is that there would be two goalkeepers or 'goalies', who were to share their duties equally; plus three shifts of five 'skating' players each, a shift comprising two defencemen and three forwards - a centre and both left and right wings. The skating players were all to play the five positions equally ... although I see no discussion of left- vs. right-handedness, and any effect that factor might have upon ability to play left and right wings with equal proficiency and ease. This issue has been magnified in recent decades by the adoption of curved blades for hockey sticks, giving an advantage only when used with the cupped surface forward, so that players' natural 'handedness' is likely hardened.

To help players perform well in opposite-handed positions, did the team require the use of straight (uncurved) sticks? I just don't know, and there's no alphabetical index. Goalies, too, skate, but in a cumbersome fashion. They are very differently equipped, with special blocker and trapper gloves, much broadened sticks, wide shinpads having the function of filling much of the goal mouth, special skates, and likely special protective headgear minimizing the risk of serious injury. (The photos show the kids posing bareheaded, unfortunately, preventing headgear study.) Goalies thus were exempted from the rotation of positions among all other Petes teammates.

Pursuant to the year's philosophy page 56 says, in part, "We told the kids what we expected of them. No yelling at referees or any other player, no swearing, and no misbehaving on the ice or bench." Let me philosophize a little, in my turn. Edginess has no proper place in any recreation, junior hockey being but the present example. I've seen (but mostly heard) a couple of racing sailors, supposedly friends and from a single squadron, nearly collide and then turn the air blue, cursing each other. The sailing rules are clear about rights-of-way, and there was no excuse whatever for the skipper responsible to stay clear, (a) not to have done so, and (b), having failed in that duty, not to apologize civilly and prepare to appear at a subsequent protest hearing, had the infringed skipper hoisted a red protest flag. Instead, unsportsmanlike actions occurred on both sides and should, by rights, have disqualified them both from continuing. Does anyone call that recreation? In contrast, I feel undying admiration for the skipper and crew of a boat I saw abandon a ten-minute lead and turn back to restart a light-weather race they'd easily have won, when a fleetmate at last found the breeze needed to reach the start line. Now THAT was sportsmanship!

Arnold's Chapter 2, "The Team", offers a written profile of each of the 17 child players, and generally of the parents without whose support nothing could be accomplished. Also presented is a group photo of players and coaches, the same as on the dust jacket but enlarged and identifying every face; a photo of three of the coaches; and individual shots of the kids on ice, each statically posed with a symbolic puck, in uniform but sans helmets, as noted. Sadly lacking is any action photo of a game, or even of practice. Hockey is, after all, a swift game of action! Reading 17 page-and-a-half profiles in series provides many insights, but it eventually becomes wearisome owing to sheer numbers, and to a degree of inevitable repetitiveness. Some of the team's players, all chosen against considerable competition, had begun skating as young as age two - before they were even "housebroken"! The formula for success almost certainly requires parents or guardians who have the resources and enough interest to buy new or GOOD used skates every year, as the kids' feet grow - as well as suitable winter clothing in the earliest years of pond or backyard skating; and, later, to add hockey sticks, pucks in winter and tennis balls in summer, even hockey nets, and access to safe ice surfaces; also, throughout, to do a good deal of teaching, encouraging, comforting, perhaps even ambulance duty.

Upon their young joining a team, the parents must also directly or indirectly bear the cost of uniform items, transport, ice time, etc. Thus not only the child's aptitude, but also parental dedication and readiness with funding are among the factors needed for the kid to get into and make a go of being in a top flight (for the age group) team such as most of the Peterborough Pete units seem to be. Luckily, though, as the 2000-2001 coaches pointed out, there are lots of other hockey places where rejects can apply; moreover, hockey isn't the only game in the world.

Thanks to this book, I at last see in perspective my failure to skate well until I had an adequately paying job and so the money to buy the skates I'd needed all along - by which time it was already too late; for I'd grown up within the straitjackets of, first, the Great Depression and then, starting Sept. 1939, World War II, when a kid of no professional ambition "made do" with the cheap, wobbly, weak-ankled skates then available. It never occurred to me, back then, that money could be made playing hockey; pro or even professionally taught amateur sports simply weren't in our family culture, and TV didn't exist. As to that, I didn't even realize that strongly built skates were possible at any price! Occupying so much of this book's limelight, what size is Peterborough, and where is it located? Its metropolitan population is about 126,000 - a smallish city; it wouldn't surprise me if the larger NHL arenas could pack its entire population into their seats. Peterborough's location is a bit harder to describe in words. Ontario, the province in which it lies, is of a crude figure-eight shape, being squeezed into two lobes - one huge but sparsely populated in the northwest, the other much smaller but densely populated in the southeast - between the Great Lakes and United States in the south, and Western Quebec in the north. If, as is often done, we ignore the great northwestern lobe, we can place Peterborough in "Central Ontario", about 1/3 the way from the provincial capital at Toronto (metro pop. 5 million) to the national capital at Ottawa-Gatineau (metro pop. 1.1 million).

Once the book has explained the important concepts and introduced the team personnel, there's not much for to do but record a series of anecdotes illustrating how the team's overall season went. For instance, during a pre-season tournament a problem was posed by one kid, perhaps more experienced and anyway more advanced than the norm, who had somehow developed a "physical" (that is, a rough and bruising) game, and who got a two-minute penalty in every game - often the only penalty on either side. Then, for their very first regular season game and the first such experience for many players, the Petes had to travel for two hours in a highway coach whose lavatory turned out to be locked - although the driver, fortunately, had a skeleton key - only to arrive at an arena which also had a locked washroom door! That first season game was quite brief for all those hours spent on the road - but it didn't need to be, for the arena ice lay vacant after the game. (Small kids do play a shortened game, you see, but even by their usual standard the Petes, and the players' parents, were effectively being shortchanged on ice time, despite all their trouble to attend.) That game clearly contrasted the Petes' newly developed philosophy with the broadly prevalent old one in which winning was, and likely still often is, the main and almost only concern. In search of a win, the opposing coach gave most ice time to a few favourites, leaving the others to "warm the bench".

In Ed Arnold's argot, the other coach "shortened the bench", evidently meaning that he seated his favourites close at hand on an "active" section of the bench, and relegated the disfavoured would-be players to a sort of "passive" wilderness at the bench's far end. The short time allowed for that game may have been designed, I infer, to suit the endurance of the effectively shrunken talent pool of the other coach's favourites. "Trying to win at all costs" says it all. People of that mentality may call that "smart hockey". I'd call it misdirected zeal, sacrificing the interests of others to one's own ego. I know from experience how the disfavoured group must have felt, for in highschool I had a gymnasium teacher who spent much of our gym period exercising his favoured few at basketball, while the rest could do pushups and situps. (I chose the option of swimming, which the teacher never came near. How lucky that our school had a pool!) Favouritism is always ugly to the shutout majority, whereas the Peterborough hockey kids who got treated with such fairness in the Petes' 2000-2001 season were really fortunate. There's much to be learned, then, from this book about kids' hockey and, as to that, about all sports for all ages - even about life generally.

"Whose Puck?" is recommended reading for a wide range of folk. As for the team's only girl player, Nicole Gifford, what can we conclude from the team statistics published in Appendix A, page 242? It's clear that she fitted right in, being squarely in the middle of the pack in terms of the performance aspects on which stats are kept. The season's most valuable player (as I would define him, i.e., in terms of both highest cumulative score and lowest total penalty minutes) was an obviously very talented boy, Kirk Bartley; he earned for his team 30 goals and 19 assists for a total of 49 points, while incurring a remarkable low total of only 2 penalty minutes. Meanwhile another boy, who shall remain nameless here, netted the team's lowest point score (5) and its highest penalty accumulation (58 minutes); to my mind his "physical" game, as already mentioned, may someday be treasured in a pro club's "goon" or "enforcer", but on a kids' recreational and purely amateur team I'd have to call him "least valuable player", even a net liability. Against that background, Nicole's 25 points (five time those of the tough low-scorer) and 12 minutes of penalties (six times their "Mr. Clean" MVP's) look creditable, but not truly outstanding. Another way to express how she stacked up is, of 15 "skating" players (goalie stats are kept separately), she ranked 7th-best in points scored, and she also tied for 7th-best in terms of fewest penalty minutes. Her happy-medium performance may in fact have been of great service to her sex at this stage of interpersonal relations, for she neither humiliated the boys nor made girls a laughing stock. Moreover, she had fun. Brava, then, Nicole!

The book's Appendix B discusses Finances; App. C restates The Coaches' Philosophy; and App. D lists 23 Recommendations. All in all, despite lacking action photos, an insight into the "handedness" issue (unless I somehow slept through such a passage), and an Index, "Whose Puck?" is a really valuable work with potential to improve the methods of many a sport coach and to gladden a life experience of many thousand kids.

The Art of Nautical Illustration: A visual tribute to the achievements of the classic marine illustrators
Michael E. Leek
Quantum Books, London
ISBN 1861605900 192 pages incl. Index, bibliography, etc.;
$TBA (Review copy was discounted to Can.$8.99 - clearly a huge bargian!)

Convincingly rendering seascapes was exceedingly difficult before the development of photography as a means to "freeze" motion. Particularly the complex motions of waves affecting the sea's surface, not to say water's limpidity too, created a most difficult challenge. It wasn't quite impossible, though; the Dutch, as in other sorts of painting, often focussed their masterfully artistic eyes on this subject matter, in part because of their close association with the sea. As early as the 16th century they got it more nearly right than probably anyone else ever had.

In fact, Leek devotes all of Chapter Two to "The Influence of the Dutch 1550-1700" for, as he says, "No study of the genre would be complete without reference to the outstanding aesthetic achievements of the Dutch." He goes on to provide an encapsulated history of the era during which The Netherlands were struggling to throw off the Spanish yoke - a history that I, although married to a Dutch woman and having visited her country as recently as last month, have never before satisfactorily understood. For me at least, the purchase of this book might have been worthwhile had it contained this chapter alone, one of its highlights being the stupidity of the 17th century wars between two nations having so much in common as the Netherlands and England - giving a reason and opportunities to paint great battle fleets and related scenes, however. Returning to the problem of depicting seascapes: even today, folk who have yet to make a study of ocean waves tend to imagine highly idealized series of unnaturally regular undulations, but an accurately analytical eye, especially since photographs became available, may see enormous complexities of differing sorts of motions - swelling, heaving, rolling, clashing, foaming, waving (of course!), rippling, and perhaps more besides - likely transmitted from many directions at once into the area under observation.

Today, photography may seem the ideal medium for the capture of seascapes, but it cannot displace the painter's ability and artistic freedom to recreate scenes never recorded on film, to improve observed seascapes by, for example, altering the sky from bland to threatening, and to introduce that elusive quality known as "style". These are reasons why seascapes are still painted today - and why this book's collection contains, I think, no photos at all, unless we refer to a step in the technical process of turning paintings into illustrations in a book. If, today, digital processes can fake practically anything, the traditional medium of paint on canvas has already secured its place, perhaps forever. Yet generally speaking the artist's sea is only a supporting medium for boats, ships, whales, et al.; and/or it is a foreground or background for the shoreside scenes that may be the central objects of interest in a marine painting. Michael Leek, author of the book under review, has in fact chosen the adjective "nautical" over "marine" in the primary title of his book (whereas "marine" does appear in the secondary title.)

By implication, he has chosen to specialize in artwork largely focussed on man's seagoing vessels - "ships" if they are large, "boats" if they are small enough to be hoisted aboard a ship's deck or under her davits - or perhaps on scenes aboard such vessels (on deck, the supremely realistic view on pp. 106-107 and the sketchier one on pp. 156-157, as well as action). Of the scenes painted aboard ship, the most noteworthy may well be those showing men working high aloft in sailing ships' rigging, evidently as seen from artists' perches equally high aloft in the cases of art on pages 167, 182, and 183, although not in the drawing or etching on page 156, which may have been done from the deck. Incidentally, on p. 156 the stuff attached to a stay that looks like overgrown pipecleaner is known as "baggywrinkle" and was used to prevent undue chafing of canvas in contact with the line. Seagoing vessels are not always shown at sea, for the term usually means CAPABLE of going to sea. Thus some of the nautical illustrations Leek has assembled show vessels in, say, a canal (p. 184) or harbour (pp. 92, 93), or hauled ashore (p. 98 at right, p. 100 at left, p. 114 lower, and p. 124). Marine (which means "of the sea") art would include nautical ("of sailors or navigation") art, but the former may depict sea scenes more generally; it can cover a wider variety of subjects having to do with the sea. For instance, a marine painting might show people sunbathing on a beach while others swim in the water beyond, with not a boat, ship, or sailor in sight; it might show palm trees bending in hurricane-force winds along a storm-battered shore; or it might show only the sky and the sea with whales or dolphins sporting.

Exceptions within this book, showing marine but non-nautical art, are extremely rare. The only pure instance I've noticed occurs on page 185, Claus Bergen's (1885-1964) brooding "Nazi Wreath in the North Sea in Memory of the Battle of Jutland". More typical is "Among the Shingles at Clovelly" by Charles Napier Hemy (1841-1917), a highly detailed work which, on close examination, distantly shows a few dark boats pulled high up the beach, to lie near the seaside village and share the shelter of a stone jetty - a breakwater or landing stage. This Hemy work is not even of a predominantly marine character; perhaps 90% of its area depicts either land or sky. Nor does it seem to me his best (further comments hereunder), for the shingle - I would have said bouldered - beach draws more than its due share of our attention, without being entirely convincing. The art displayed throughout this book is, almost without exception, remarkably finely wrought, although it doesn't often seem to receive the appreciation that's its due. There are however some slightly sketchy treatments, e.g. on pp. 32-33, 156-157, and 181, and even the odd bit of downright impressionism (p. 67) although that term may not yet have been invented was composed.

Then there is Chapter Six, "The Naive and Ship-Portrait Painters, 1800-1940", which to my eye is often simply bad art. On page 127 Leek writes in the caption to one work, "A good example of the hard, sharp approach ... The rendering of sea is particularly typical ... he used it on the vast majority of his paintings, regardless of the sails set ... and the implied wind conditions! ... While the rigging and the sails may be accurate technically, the latter are stiff and without movement almost to the point of appearing to be made of some totally inflexible material." For it's in the nature of cloth to wrinkle, but in this painting the sails are as smooth as enamelled sheet steel. Readers who have trouble keeping "careen" distinct from "career" should have a good look at the lower painting on page 114, "Careening at Low Tide", by G. R. Evans (c. 1900). With wonderful realism Evans shows a wooden sailing vessel, probably a fishing smack, lying among tide pools on a beach as her crew uses long-handled scrapers to clean her of barnacles and other marine growth. The boat may indeed career (sail wildly) some hours hence, especially if her skipper has stopped too long at a pub - but not until a flood tide can lift her clear, with a much cleaner bottom. The scope of this compilation includes illustrations dating from the time of Egypt's pharaohs (Chapter One's title is "Early Developments 2000 BC - AD 1600") to the recent historical era ending circa 1960. It's not as if today's painters no longer depict nautical scenes, but Leek apparently felt satisfied, for reasons of his own, to end his work 40+ years before the present day. He himself is described on the back flap as, "... a keen cruising yachtsman and a very occasional practitioner of marine painting."

In any case, we may aptly describe his book as presenting to our eyes vignettes of the ages of sail and of steam navigation, ending around the time when diesel claimed ascendancy among ships, and fibreglass construction among factory-built boats. The contents are roughly equally divided between text and illustrations, neither medium conferring complete information by itself. Here I can enthuse about, but not reproduce the pictorial works, but obviously the text is another matter. Let me quote the first lines of the Introduction on page 6: "Since man has been able to master the art and science of navigation, the sea and the means to travel on it have contributed substantially to the growth of civilizations, in terms of exploration, expansion and trade. As with other facets of life ... both ships and the many moods of the sea itself have been depicted in paintings and illustrations - two-dimensional images which not only have obvious aesthetic appeal, but also add to our historical knowledge ..." Perhaps the quoted words are not enormously inspiring (they may even seem stuffy), but sharing the same two-page spread is a most dramatic scene, Arthur John Trevor Briscoe's "Clewing up the Mainsail in Heavy Weather", showing what Leek coolly describes as "an everyday incident during the last days of commercial sail." Here we feel a strong sense of urgency imparted by a boarding sea, a huge wave washing aboard a sailing ship, while two barefoot men, no doubt already soaked to the skin and chafed raw, under the direction of a better clad officer struggle for their lives and that of the ship herself as they haul a line running up the mainmast and out of sight.

It's a fine example of the saying that one good picture is worth a thousand words, especially as those thousand words cannot possibly convey the concentrated, instantaneous impact of that wave as does the painting. Then we realize, moreover, that there must be many more such waves before the heavy weather runs its course ... Let me confess to being chiefly an inland sailor, but not entirely so. Some years ago I participated in a three-man yacht-delivery crew on Mexico's Pacific coast, standing the First Watch (8 p.m. - 12 midnight), and being normally on deck during the daylight hours. In my opinion, the sea shown on page 145 is not badly depicted as to form, but its colour - in fact the entire painting - looks badly washed out. It stands in stark contrast to the pair of paintings opposite, on page 144, both of them far more dramatically romantic. Their seas are realistically darker, saltier, wetter! As to that, the sea in the upper painting on page 144 may be yet finer. Certainly, it is of a deeper hue still; one can fairly feel the ship's roll and pitch of the deck under one's feet. Let's also look at the sea on pages 74-75; nobody can say there never was, is, or will be such an effect, but at least I can say that in nature I never have seen a surface with every wavelet so outlined in white, even though the breeze looks too light to form whitecaps and there is no glare of the sun upon the water.

My conclusion is, then, that however great the pains lavished upon such a painting, the results will be unconvincing unless there is better observation of nature than this. On another tack, so to speak, paintings such as those on pages 112 and 113 are stiff examples of straightforward, coloured-in marine draftsmanship/draughtsmanship; whereas that on pages 94-95 is magically alive - one can all but hear the calls of the envious seabirds, and smell the fish, as grunting, swearing, yelling, oilskin-clad fishermen heave upon a heavily burdened net chockfull of desperately flapping, squirming, slithering, quicksilver pilchards. As compiler Leek says, it is "marine painting at its best." The immediately following painting, on page 96, is another opus that fairly breathes with life, although on a far simpler scale; and behold, both are by that genius, Charles Napier Hemy, whom I also have mentioned with less approbation in an early paragraph, above. Alas that I can't show you precisely what I mean, by displaying here each painting I've mentioned!

Displayed they obviously have been, though, under Leek's initiative. As he says, ships and boats generally are the most aesthetically pleasing creations of human hands, hell-vessels though oldtime sailing ships may have proved to those who used to be obliged to work in them. If you feel anything for maritime aesthetics, this is a fine, recently reprinted volume which you may be lucky enough to find at good booksellers' - although I've seen many another somewhat similar work over the years, and perhaps still more will appear in future. It may be lucky there are alternatives, in case this volume is now in the process of going out of print. That's how I read its pricing.

Rising Tides
Nora Roberts, Judy Piatkus
Publishers Ltd.
5 Windmill St., London W1T 2JA
ISBN 074993350X, 1st pub. in U.S. by Putnam, 330 pp., UK 5.99 pounds sterling.

This unexciting (to me) sequel novel was unguardedly bought at London's Heathrow Airport to fill many empty hours of waiting between flights that I then faced, in travelling from Ottawa to and from the Far East and the Netherlands. Altogether my itinerary would put me into 13 different aircraft, with stopovers as long as ten hours. Nonetheless, a month later I'd only penetrated a third or so of the way through this volume I'd unsuccessfully selected for "diversion". Other titles in Roberts's "Chesapeake Bay Quartet", of which this work is a middle member, are "Sea Swept", "Inner Harbour", and "Chesapeake Blue", although the third-mentioned may have been spelled "Inner Harbor" in its original, American version. I have read none of those other three works, and am unable to describe or judge the quartet as a whole, but they seem based upon a family of Quinns living beside the Bay, and largely making their livelihoods from it - although the late father, as seen in "Rising Tides", had been a professor and one of the sons, Phillip, is primarily a lawyer.

It's the fate of many a sequel novel not to live up to the pitch of interest written into the first of its series, perhaps depending on the aims and attitudes with which the author approaches the new challenge. A sequel written to tidy up loose ends and to explain "what happened later" seems sure to turn out dully. A sequel written to be intensely interesting or even exciting in itself, though - one which views Volume One as a stage setting for the really good stuff now to follow - should make an absorbing story, possibly even a better one than the original. Just so, the magnificent Patrick O'Brian progressed from success to success throughout his series of 20 Aubrey-Maturin naval historical novels, by finding an intriguing, gripping scenario for each new volume in its turn. In "Rising Tides" one finds traces and outlines of assorted scandals, apparently hanging over from previous volumes in the series. They remind one vaguely of Grace Metalious's (sp.?) old chestnut, "Peyton Place", but the Quinn scandals are not nearly as salaciously narrated. There are three full brothers surnamed Quinn, and a young half-brother who is the late professor's little error, it would seem; the youngster is born with the surname DeLauter, but in this book he is in the process of being integrated into the Quinn household. His mother having led a none too respectable life of sex and drugs, the boy has run away rather than submit to the debauched lusts of her lovers. It emerges that Ethan, one of the three full brothers and this volume's male lead, has been through much the same ordeal, but in an earlier volume of the series so that he only recounts those experiences in outline here, doing so in quite veiled fashion. Details of this sort I don't enjoy, but Ms. Roberts has seen fit to hint at but not dramatize them.

Part of the reason for my selection of this book in London was a certain celebrity attaching to its author's name, according to a brief consultation I held with my wife. Over 20 titles are credited to Roberts in the front of this volume, but I've since concluded (as if further evidence were needed!) that author celebrity is one of the worst possible bases on which to select reading material. Even celebs may write stinkers. What finally persuaded me to try "Rising Tides" were its nautical sounding title, and the ketch at anchor in the cover illustration. That's a two-masted sailing yacht, the mainmast being stepped a few feet forward of amidships and taller than the mizzenmast, which is stepped about an equal distance abaft the midships point. In reality, though, the skipjack boat used in Ethan's commercial fishing activities is engine-driven, and moreover rather rarely figures in the tale. This is NOT a sailing story. I soon found the "y'all"s (not to be confused with "yawls", another class of two-masted yachts) a bit stereotypically Southern-U.S. for my taste, and the plot (if any) slowmoving. Subsequently, I had repeatedly to ask my wife, "Have you seen that pink book lying around?" - even though, objectively, purple predominates over pink on the cover. That is, I have all too readily laid the story aside and forgotten about it. I wonder, in that context, how it is that "USA Today" is quoted on the book's back cover as calling Roberts "A consistently entertaining writer." Could it be that her previous books were really entertaining? It's clear, then, that I have been almost unable to focus on "Rising Tides". Why do I write about it, when I have few praises to offer? I feel a moral obligation to state my findings honestly, including when I don't like a book, provided that I can get at least halfway through it.

Also, to be fair, there are differing degrees of subjective (dis)interest, and no single reviewer can speak for all. Books might perhaps best be rated by a sort of grand jury, and on an averaged scale of 1 to 10, if for no other reason than to make it clear that shades of grey exist and not merely black or white. Anyway, I don't say this book will bore you; I only say it quite often bored me. At almost the precise midpoint of "Rising Tides", the previously frustrated female lead, Grace, who has a child from an earlier failed marriage, seduces the previously frustrated AND sexually pusillanimous male lead, Ethan. That's action of a sort, as anyone must surely agree. Even while minimizing "action", though, this work cannot be placed in the big-L Literature genre that's sometimes negatively defined as lacking action. In fact I had some difficulty identifying this work's genre - "improbable small-town doings and hangups," perhaps? - until I realized it most likely had been intended as a romance. Yet I've failed to find it romantic. Until the seduction scene I kept wondering how the loving couple - she is even his housekeeper, for extra exposure and opportunity - could possibly go on and on, incoherently stifling all appearance of the mutual passion we are asked to believe exists. Only curious hangups stand in their way, and ... oh, well.

Actually, the romance-genre formula seems to be what's to blame in this improbable scenario; it's de rigueur to build up a supposed sexual tension. Too bad plausibility isn't also required! Bragging is never pretty, but it's at its ugliest when based upon lies, and it's only slightly better when based on shoddy research. This is how I feel about a statement on page 8 of "Rising Tides", claiming that Chesapeake Bay is "the continent's largest estuary." That's geographic bull! Roberts claims the Bay's length is 200 miles and its width "only four miles across where it brushed by Annapolis and thirty at the mouth of the Potomac River." Compare the St. Lawrence estuary, which I measure on my map as about 480 miles long from Quebec City to Pointe de l'Est on Anticosti Island, if you stop there and disregard the great outer Gulf; and about 240 miles in width from Miscou Point in New Brunswick to Cape Whittle on Quebec's North Shore. Even west of Anticosti Island, between Petite-Vallee (Gaspe Peninsula) on the South Shore and Mingan on the North, the width is about 90 miles - and there you're about 350 miles downstream from Quebec City! A glance at a map will convince you. About Grace's post-seduction mood we are told, inter alia, "Everything she'd ever read about love was true, she discovered. The sun shined [should be 'shone'; 'shined' is what you did to the silverware] brighter, the air smelled fresher. Flowers were more colorful, the songs of birds more musical. Every cliche' became her reality." Yes, it's a tough job to put into brilliantly new words a thought that by now has been reiterated hundreds of millions of times at least. Is there no romance on overcast, stuffy days, though? Is everyone then out of love? Not that I've noticed. At least we may rejoice that love's labour isn't lost here. We can even cheer that a girl who has made major mistakes earlier can live and love again, thanks in part to the Pill (which Grace has been taking, as she hasn't scrupled to inform Ethan, however unromantically, on their Big Night.) Pages 333-339 of this 2002 English volume, if perhaps not of the 1999 American one, are occupied by a preview of the forthcoming "Inner Harbour" sequel. It starts with a bang, and may well be a better tale.

Brideshead Revisited - The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles
Ryder Evelyn Waugh (1903-66)
Readers Union with Chapman and Hall,
274 pp., 1949.
Versions now available from Penguin UK: e-books, both 5.44 pounds sterling
for Microsoft reader, ISBN 014188598
for Adobe reader, ISBN 0141885998
Paperback Penguins, both 336 pp., 6.99 pounds ISBN 0140274103
8.99 pounds, ISBN 01401182482

This fairly modern (set in the 1920s to early '40s), Literary classic of the English language has also been produced as a television series, probably obtainable on videotape and/or disk, but I leave any researching of that question to the interested reader. Waugh was credited in 1949 with seven "general works" - i.e., apparently non-fiction books - and nine additional works of fiction. The word "Brideshead" refers primarily to an imaginary, aristocratic English family home situated at the head of a stream named the Bride. Secondarily, it's the name of a noble, the Earl of Brideshead, informally "Bridey", whose heritage the Brideshead house and lands are.

The title's "Revisited" relates to the fact that, in two separate periods of time and under vastly differing circumstances, Oxford-educated Charles Ryder (in civilian life an architectural artist) stays at the Brideshead site. First Ryder becomes an intimate of the noble family between the two great wars; later, after a lengthy loss of contact, Ryder, now a World War II army captain, happens to be billeted there with his men during an evident prelude to D-day, while armies massed on English soil in preparation for their epic invasion of the Normandy coast (6 June 1944). D-day is not, however, mentioned in the book. This is not a story about a war; for the wartime setting occurs only in the Prologue and the Epilogue which, taken together, fill about 17 pages.

Given some other excuse for Ryder to revisit Brideshead (the site), the work could equally have been set entirely in peacetime. The tale is narrated by Ryder, who interacts closely with the family in question and less closely with a number of other acquaintances, often Oxford men. He pivotally meets fellow Oxonian Lord Sebastian Flyte when Sebastian, a serious boozer, sticks his head in through Charles's ground-floor student-residence window to vomit on the floor. Sebastian is second son of the Marquis of Marchmain. The first son (whom Charles will meet later) is Bridey, already mentioned. There also are two daughters. Charles, too, imbibes more than is good for him, but while the two young men become drinking companions and close friends generally, Charles maintains some semblance of self-control whereas, for complex and obscure psychological reasons, Sebastian does not. It is gradually revealed that the Flytes are a dysfunctional family and Sebastian, in particular, is a dysfunctional person. His father, the Marquis of Marchmain (usually known simply as Marchmain), nominally head of the family, has for years defiantly lived abroad with a mistress. His wife can't or won't divorce him on account of her Catholicism; for the Flytes are more or less devout (Marchmain excepted) Roman Catholics, although little good does their devotion seem to do them. In contrast, onlooker Charles is agnostic. If anybody is Protestant, he or she doesn't admit it despite living in largely Protestant England.

The story wends its way through the development and, sometimes, the disintegration of these and the secondary characters. A feeling of melancholy pervades the work, in my reading at least. In the end, I find myself wondering what the value of such a tale may be? Have we learned anything of substance from it? I'm not certain that we have. For instance, the medical consequences of acute alcoholism are not adequately explored, while those of smoking (addiction, emphysema, mouth/throat/lung cancer, etc.) were not publicly acknowledged in the WW II era, even if known to the tobacco industry and to medical science. Can it therefore be that, despite Literature's high pretensions, it too is mere entertainment? Egad, sir!

Pete Hodgins, Sr.
Reviewer


Harwood's Bookshelf

What the Koran Really Says
Ibn Warraq, editor
Prometheus Books
ISBN 1-57392-945-X, HC, 600 pp., $36.00

Ish kebbibel Qumran red sox querty notwithstanding shrdlu nukiehouse Thursday bonzer mate after Kamel yubba dubba doo.

That is as accurate a transcription of much of the Koran into comprehensible English as can be made. In the words of a professor of Oriental Studies quoted on the back cover, "If you look at it, you will notice that every fifth sentence or so simply does not make any sense…. The fact is that a fifth of the Koranic text is just incomprehensible."

Yet brainwashed Muslims (there's another kind?) are able to insist that every word of the Koran is literal truth, "even though many do learn parts of the Koran by heart without understanding a word." (p. 24) That probably explains why imams and mullahs are able to wield the same kind of absolute power over Muslims that the Catholic church exercised when it refused to allow its Latin bible to be translated into languages the mindless majority could actually read. Nothing can destroy belief in book religion faster than learning what the book really says. (Sounds like a good place to plug The Judaeo-Christian Bible Fully Translated.)

Other than card-carrying fruitcakes, the only persons who continue to mistake the J/C bible for nonfiction are the seventy percent of addicts who have not actually read it. In the case of the Koran, one hundred percent of Muslims either have not read it or could not understand it, for the logical reason that it is written in a dead language that nobody today understands, and even to persons with some comprehension of Classical Arabic, it is about as intelligible as glossalalia. So my only quibble with a book that tells, "what the Koran really says," is that it will not be read by the people who really need it.

Again excluding card-carrying fruitcakes, I have never encountered a Christian scholar (oxymoron?) who attempted that argue that the fourteen bible passages endorsing a flat earth were not really intended to mean that the earth is flat. The passages are comprehensible, and to any reader with his brain in ON, the meaning is inescapable. No such situation exists in connection with the Koran, because that ancient document contains hundreds of extinct words that have no modern-language derivative. As one scholar notes (p. 40), "several traditions-openly admit that the meaning of this word was unknown; more commonly the exegetes hide their ignorance behind a profusion of interpretations so contradictory that they can only be guesswork….. Given that the entire exegetical tradition is characterized by a proliferation of diverse interpretations, it is legitimate to wonder whether guesswork did not play as great a role in its creation as did recollection."

In the case of the Christian junior god, even if the conclusion of the Jesus Seminar is accurate, that as much as eighteen percent of the utterances attributed to Jesus were actually spoken by him, the chances are that even that eighteen percent was more guesswork than recollection. And Jesus was the figurehead of a new religion almost from the day he died. Muhammad may have been only peripheral to the Muslim religion for as much as a century after his death. His authorship of Koranic teachings may be far below eighteen percent.

No Jewish or Christian apologist, or at least none who is taken seriously, has ever argued that inconsistencies in the Bible stem from either Satan inserting lies into the sacred writings, or Yahweh dictating passages that he later came to recognize as mistakes, with the consequence that Yahweh inspired a later author to write a correction. But that is precisely Muslim apologists' explanation for Koranic inconsistencies. Consider (p. 550, quoting from the Koran), "Allah deleteth or confirmeth what He willeth; with him is the mother of the Book." "When we substitute one verse for another—Allah knoweth best what He sendeth down—they say: 'Thou art simply an Inventor.'" If a Muslim can believe that passages in the Koran contradict each other because Allah changed his mind after dictating the earlier teaching, then trying to get through his head that the Koran is FICTION is like trying to drown a swan by deepening the lake.

Much of Islamic and Koranic teaching existed before Muhammad's birth, and much was invented after his death. But Warraq demonstrated that far more effectively in The Origins of the Koran and The Quest for the Historical Muhammad. Almost this entire book deals with interpretations of ambiguous Arabic words, without making a single point that Islamic liberals would deem proven. What the Koran Really Says is an incomparable contribution to Islamic Studies—for professors, scholars and doctoral candidates. For even a specialist in a different field of history, it is almost as incomprehensible as the Koran itself.

Time Traveling with Science and the Saints
George A. Erickson
Prometheus
ISBN 1-59102-035-2, 180 pp., HC, $25.00

Time Traveling is an accurate, if trivial, account of two thousand years of atrocities committed by the Christian church in the name of its capricious, sadistic Sky Führer. In a continent in which forty percent of the population are so scientifically illiterate that they reject the proven fact of evolution for the sole reason that it contradicts a fantasy novel written two thousand years ago, it should be mandatory reading for every high school student and every university undergraduate. Even if the brainwashed can rationalize away Christianity's fifty million murders on the ground that, "That was then. This is now," they will surely find it more difficult to continue believing that a church that considered the teaching of round-earth geography a capital heresy until the time of Magellan, really has a hot line to Absolute Truth.

Probably the most noteworthy elements of Erickson's book are the quotations from earlier writers:

"Ethiopians imagine their gods as black and snub-nosed; Thracians blue-eyed and red-haired. But if horses or lions had hands, or could draw and fashion works as men do, horses would draw gods shaped like horses and lions like lions, making the gods resemble themselves." (Xenophanes)

"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the guts of the last priest." (Diderot)

"Many a sober Christian would rather admit that a wafer is God, than that God is a cruel and capricious tyrant." (Edward Gibbon)

"Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." (Voltaire)

"Roman Catholic priests in the United States are dying from AIDS-related illnesses at a rate four times higher than the general population and the cause is often concealed on their death certificates." (Kansas City Star)

"The United Nations' Children's Emergency Fund estimates that forty thousand children die each day even as religious organizations obstruct the distribution of birth control devices in poor countries." (Charles Sutherland)

But many of Erickson's own observations are equally memorable:

"... a long series of venal and murderous popes whose atrocities make modern serial killers seem like pacifists." (p. 98)

"... the church's glorious lie (during the Inquisition) that it abhorred the spilling of blood. However, endless and inventive tortures, drowning, strangulation, burial alive, roasting to death, and burning at the stake were quite acceptable." (p. 99)

"Every year hundreds of dependent children suffer needless pain, disfigurement, disability, and even death (seventy-eight deaths in Oregon alone in 1999) because Christian Scientists have obtained exemptions for all faith-healing sects from the duty of providing health care to minors." (p. 154)

"Billy Graham suggested that we bomb the dikes of North Vietnam, just as the Nazis did in Holland during the Second World War. For that act, the Nazis were indicted for war crimes against civilians, but Graham, who advised a similar course of action, received the Congressional Medal of Honor." (p. 155)

"Ronald Reagan, perhaps the least intelligent man ever to be elected president until George W. Bush..." (p. 156)

"History reveals that religion in general and Christianity in particular has retarded social and scientific progress and been the source of immeasurable woe." (p. 161)

"In contrast to these zealots, nonbelievers have never banded together in the name of atheism or humanism to torture or murder those who chose to support supernatural beliefs."

However, while Time Traveling is a valuable primer for history 101, it cannot be recommended for anyone with more than minimal knowledge of the incomparable evil perpetrated by a religion that made Hitler look like an amateur. It is scissors-and-paste history, based primarily on the scissors-and-paste synopses of such other well-meaning amateurs as Will Durant, Helen Ellerbe and Barbara Walker, competent synopsisists but hardly historians.

Nonetheless, the book is not misleading, and if the information it contains could be injected into the minds of the misinformed masses, the conspiracy of the Theofascist Right, whose puppets are the pea-brain in the White House and the cabbage-head in the Vatican, to turn North America into a mirror image of the Taliban's Afghanistan, might suffer a serious setback.

A World Full of Gods: The Strange Triumph of Christianity
Keith Hopkins
Penguin Putnam
375 Hudson St, NY
ISBN 0-452-28261-6, 402 pp, ppb, $14.00

Keith Hopkins states in his Introduction, "This is not a novel." That is not completely false. While chapter one is a novelette, and much of chapter two is written as a teleplay, many chapters are legitimate history, despite the disruptive inclusion of letters to and from colleagues commenting on Hopkins' methodology.

Conveying history to an apathetic readership by utilizing the kind of fictionalization permissible only in novels is neither rare nor illegitimate. In Uncle Yeshu, Messiah, Jesus travels to Jerusalem as an adolescent looking for his first sexual experience, for the sole purpose of enabling the narrator to describe to modern readers what he saw there. And in the concluding novella in There Be No Sun But Yahweh, and Jesus Be Him's Planet, a graduate student's doctoral program involves witnessing past history on a kind of time-television viewer, for the purpose of showing how modern belief systems began and evolved into what they later became.

Hopkins similarly uses the gimmick of time travel to enable his fictitious characters to report on events relevant to the origin and evolution of Christianity, as well as describing the social conditions from which the modern world's largest mythology emerged. And he does it effectively. One reviewer quoted on the blurb pages compares A World Full of Gods to The Life of Brian (which the scriptwriters originally titled "Brian of Nazareth," until the distributor forced them to rename it in order not to offend the terminally ignorant), and that comparison is not unjustified. Monty Python utilized thinly disguised satire to show the intrinsic absurdity of fairy tales that continue to be regarded as nonfiction by believers who have never outgrown their childhood addiction to an ancient Jewish Wizard of Oz, and so does Hopkins. Whether the two narrators' Roman slave was named Aesop to accentuate that the god-man was as much a fable as the fox and the grapes, one can only guess.

Despite Hopkins' status as a Cambridge historian, his historical chapters read more like what one would expect to find in Readers Digest than in a scholarly treatise. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Many of America's most prestigious and influential newspapers have favorably reviewed his book, and if that puts factual information about the fictitious nature of religious beliefs into the hands of curable believers, one cannot argue with success. Hopkins may be disappointed that none of the reviewers whose raves are quoted in the paperback is another historian, but he should not be surprised. A World of Gods is what is commonly termed popular history/science, and an Asimov, Sagan or Gould Hopkins is not.

Basically, Hopkins' book is readable, informative, and generally accurate. It will offend only hardcore biblical literalists, and entertain most others. For persons looking for comprehensive information on how the leader of a sect of fanatic communists became the figurehead of a money-grubbing oligarchy Jesus would certainly have repudiated, better books are available (Mythology's Last Gods comes to mind). But as a pleasant contrast to the disinformation being peddled by the Vast Wasteland and the self-serving pushers of "Because God says so" mythology, it can definitely be recommended.

Transcend: There are rights, there are wrongs-and then, there are truths
Richard Joseph
Stoic Press
244 Fifth Avenue, Suite 253, New York, NY 10001-7604
ISBN 0-97-07301-0-1, ppb, 324 pp, $13.50

There was a time when no publisher would accept a book, regardless of its other virtues, if it was observably written by someone to whom correct English is a foreign language. A reader who finds himself shuddering at substandard vulgarities that abound in virtually every paragraph is unlikely to continue reading just to find out whether the author eventually has something worthwhile to say. Richard Joseph claims to have graduated from a post-World-War Two American college, and precisely because this is post-World-War-Two North America, where teaching has long been illegal and schools are babysitting institutions for unteachables, I believe him. He has a Bachelor's degree. What he does not have is even fifth-grade competence in the correct use of the English language.

Instead of correcting any of Joseph's specific illiteracies, I urge him to take an immediate course in remedial English, assuming that there is a legitimate teaching institution within commuting distance of his domicile. Failing that, he should obtain a copy of The Magicians: Moses to Merlin, (available from Amazon.com) and read the 45 pages on English grammar. Among the things he needs to learn before he writes another word:

The pronoun "I" can only be used in the nominative case. Using it in a prepositional phrase or as the object of a verb is the height of pretentious ignorance.

"Losing" means failing to retain. "Loosing" means to set free. They are not interchangeable.

"Raise" is a transitive verb. "Rise" is an intransitive verb. They are not interchangeable.

"Verse" and "versus" have very different meanings. They are not interchangeable.

A comma, not a semicolon, should separate clauses in a complex sentence.

Every sentence must contain a principal clause. Subordinate clauses cannot stand alone.

"Parent's" refers to one parent. For two parents, the correct form is "parents'."

New York contains a Times Square. It does not contain a Time Square.

In rare circumstances, a split infinitive may be the best solution to a construction problem. It should not be used indiscriminately—or ever, by someone of Joseph's lack of skill.

"Whereas" is one word.

"Dillusions"? Oh come now.

The past participle of "derive" is "derived," not "deriven."

"From" at the beginning or end can be used to add an adjectival clause to a sentence. Using it at both the beginning and the end, for the same purpose, is really incompetent.

Concerning commas: While this advice is not for everybody, Joseph should cling unswervingly to the rule, "When in doubt, leave it out."

"You" is a personal pronoun. Using it as an indefinite pronoun is substandard.

Contractions in writing may only be used in quoted speech, not in the author's narrative.

And that was just the introductory sections.

Then comes Part One, a 180-page autobiographical travelogue, not unlike Jack Kerouac's On the Road. The differences are that Kerouac was more literate, but lacked any awareness that the conscienceless trashing of other people's property is not nice. Joseph's morality is vastly superior. His writing skills are not.

Part Two is psycho-ethical doubletalk, generalities that might sound profound on the Oprah Winfrey show, but have about as much value as a beauty pageant contestant's expressed wish for "world peace." Consider:

"But one can't raise a mighty oak in the desert, nor within any other such hostile environment. Not unless it is potted in rich soil and watered generously. This book is for those persons." (p. 316)

Joseph's ultimate purpose is what he describes as a Transcendental Roadhouse: "Not some church or synagogue; temple, cult compound, or whatever the hell other deviance one can conjure up. Not any of that."(p. 317)

This is not a book I can recommend for any purpose or any person whatsoever.

William Harwood
Reviewer


Harold's Bookshelf

Cooking for Blondes: Gourmet Recipes for the Culinarily Challenged
Rhonda Levitch
Champion Press, Ltd.
8689 N. Port Washington Rd. #329 Milwaukee, WI 53217
ISBN: 1891400800, $27.95, Pages: 206

With tongue-in-cheek fun each of the recipes in "Cooking for Blondes" are ranked as Platinum Blonde, Golden Blonde, or Natural Blonde. The recipes ranked as Platinum Blonde are very easy so that even a Platinum Blonde can prepare them. Those ranked as Golden Blonde require a slightly higher level of ability. And those labeled as Natural Blonde are a little more difficult, but all are easy enough that even a blonde, of any type, can prepare them. So, with that as the theme, all the recipes are simple, using common ingredients and the preparation instructions are generally not longer than the ingredients list. Of course it has the usual divisions of appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, and desserts. In addition it has example menus and a section on conversions, charts, substitutions, and even a listing of the recipes that are appropriate for vegetarians. The variety is extensive and includes a sour cream pecan coffeecake that is excellent as well as a grilled snapper with mango pineapple salsa that is also excellent with tilapia. This is a highly recommended purchase for the person who wants a book with simple recipes and ingredients that even young teenagers can prepare with great results.

Effortless Entertaining (The Rush Hour Cook Series)
Brook Noel
Champion Press, Ltd.
8689 N. Port Washington Rd., #329 Milwaukee, WI 53217
ISBN: 189140086X Pages: 65

The Rush Hour Cook series is a collection of small books that are designed to easily fit into a purse or briefcase without taking up much room. In the "Effortless Entertaining" book you can expect the usual categories of appetizers, main meals, and desserts. One of the requirements for a recipe to make it into the Rush Hour Cook series is that the ingredients must be easy to find in just about any grocery store. So if you plan on preparing something from the book you can drop it into your purse or carry it along and pick up the ingredients on the spot. Various tips are also scattered throughout the book. At the end there are five days of suggested meals as an example of meal planning and the shopping list that would be needed to prepare all of these meals. These are practical, easy to prepare, and quick recipes that are sure to please at any entertainment function. Not just for entertaining adult friends with things like Chicken with Mushroom-Sherry Sauce but also for entertaining a group of children with recipes like Kids-love-it Casserole. This is a great gift for the novice cook or the person who just wants to make a quick meal and get on to other things.

Family Favorites (The Rush Hour Cook Series)
Brook Noel
Champion Press, Ltd.
8689 N. Port Washington Rd., #329 Milwaukee, WI 53217
ISBN: 1891400835 Pages: 69

The Rush Hour Cook series is a collection of small books that are designed to easily fit into a purse or briefcase without taking up much room. In the "Family Favorite" book you can expect the usual categories of soups, sides and starters, main meals, and desserts. One of the requirements for a recipe to make it into the Rush Hour Cook series is that the ingredients must be easy to find in just about any grocery store. So if you plan on preparing something from the book you can drop it into your purse or carry it along and pick up the ingredients on the spot. Various tips are also scattered throughout the book. At the end there are five days of suggested meals as an example of meal planning and the shopping list that would be needed to prepare all of these meals. These are practical, easy to prepare, and quick recipes that include several I remember as a child. Some of the favorite recipes include popovers, chili, Dijon chicken, chicken and rice, chicken cordon bleu, pizza pockets, stuffed shells, apple crisp, and cinnamon streusel coffee cake. This is a great gift for the novice cook or the person who just wants to make a quick meal and get on to other things.

Presto Pasta (The Rush Hour Cook Series)
Brook Noel
Champion Press, Ltd.
8689 N. Port Washington Rd., #329 Milwaukee, WI 53217
ISBN: 1891400851 $5.95, Pages: 60

The Rush Hour Cook series is a collection of small books that are designed to easily fit into a purse or briefcase without taking up much room. In the "Presto Pasta" book you can expect the usual categories of soups, sides and starters, main meals, and desserts. The soups, sides, and starters are specifically picked to be ones that are appropriate for a pasta meal. One of the requirements for a recipe to make it into the Rush Hour Cook series is that the ingredients must be easy to find in just about any grocery store. So if you plan on preparing something from the book you can drop it into your purse or carry it along and pick up the ingredients on the spot. Various tips are also scattered throughout the book. At the end there are five days of suggested meals as an example of meal planning and the shopping list that would be needed to prepare all of these meals. These are practical, easy to prepare, and quick recipes. This is a great gift for the novice cook or the person who just wants to make a quick meal and get on to other things.

The Miracle of Death
Betty J. Kovacs, PhD
The Kamlak Center
112 Harvard Avenue #23 Claremont, CA 91711-4716
ISBN: 0972100539, $23.95, Pages: 170 plus Endnotes, Appendices

Betty Kovacs starts "The Miracle of Death" with a short quote that sums up the book nicely - "For life is eternal and love is immortal and death is only a horizon, and an horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight". Death is not an ending of life but a part of the cycle of life. Just as the horizon is not the end of the earth, neither is death the end of life. Through a series of precognitive dreams and visions her husband, son, and herself learned about this cycle of life. When her son Pisti died she came to understand that birth and death are just events in time and space. Betty Kovacs shares her pathway to that understanding as well as the knowledge itself in a gentle and understanding manner like a wise elder relating truth to a seeker of knowledge. Throughout the book she compassionately relates her grief and her pathway to a deeper understanding of life and death. This is a highly recommended read for anyone seeking answers to the questions of loss of a loved one.

Haley's Hints
Graham and Rosemary Haley
3H Productions Inc.
PO Box 71062 Burlington, ON, Canada L7T 4J8
ISBN: 0969287313, $24.95, Pages: 397

Just a few generations back it was common for children to be handed down the combined knowledge of years of experience by their parents and grandparents. This knowledge generally included hundreds of tips on how to do everything from making wilted lettuce crisp again to removing odors to making stiff jeans pliable and many, many others. These days that knowledge does not seem to be passed along. If you missed out on all the hints that make life easier "Haley's Hints" comes to the rescue. "Haley's Hints" is a collection of hints gathered from multiple sources and compiled into a single volume. The coverage is truly amazing as you read through tip after tip and learn how to resolve problem after problem. The only way to indicate the breadth of the coverage is to give you a taste of the table of contents. The contents include:

Tips to make life in the kitchen a breeze Organizing and cleaning everything around the house Hints to delight even the most experienced launderer Sewing, mending and knitting hints Ideas for infants, toddlers, school kids and especially moms Tips to make life easier for those in their golden years Tips and information to help you do-it-yourself Tips your pets will love you for Getting rid of what's bugging you All you want to know about cars but were afraid to ask Wonderful ways to improve a garden Tips when camping, picnicking, or entertaining in the backyard Taking care of your sporting equipment Hints for the third of your life you spend at the office Tips to pamper you, relax you, and keep you looking and feeling great Hints for every occasion Charts on measurements, metric and substitutes This is a very highly recommended book that should be in every home. It makes a great gift for any occasion and is one of the most useful books I have in my personal collection.

The American Diner Cookbook
Elizabeth McKeon and Linda Everett
Cumberland House Publishing, Inc.
431 Harding Industrial Drive Nashville, TN 37211
ISBN: 1581823452, $16.95, Pages: 248

If you are looking for recipes that contain wheat sprouts and tofu you won't find them here. On the other hand, if you are looking for those wonderful, delectable foods served by diners all over America in the forties or fifties you will find them. "The American Diner" has everything from diner classics like the Monte Cristo Sandwich (two recipes) to French Onion Soup and everything in between. Other common diner recipes include omelets, Delmonico potatoes, chili, baked beans, barbecue beans, Reuben sandwich, chili-burgers, maple barbeque spareribs, Santa Fe chicken, beef stew, Hungarian goulash, sauerbraten, shepherd's pie, and chicken and dumplings. Of course it also has popular desserts like apple spice cake, Black Forest cake, apple crisp, cheesecake. While there are not a lot of cookbooks that specialize in recipes from American diners, there are a few. That brings us to the question of what makes this book different from the others and why should you prefer it? The answer to that is easy. Not only does it have more recipes than most but it also includes a section on the traditional diner fountain. This is one of the things that I remember most about diners when I grew up and the recipes are here. Fountain specialties include favorites like the Black Cow, Black Jack, and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Milk Shake. Included are the recipes to make the syrups for the fountain specialties. Try one of my favorites, make the orange syrup and then make a wonderful Orange Cream Milk Shake. This is a highly recommended read for anyone wanting to bring home the taste of the American diner.

Write to Publish: Essentials for the Modern Fiction and Memoir Market
Christopher Klim
Hopewell Publications, LLC
PO Box 11 Titusville, NJ 08560-0011
ISBN: 0972690697, $17.95, Pages: 153

"Write to Publish" covers all the typical areas you would expect in a basic book on writing fiction. The author discusses such things as openings, developing believable characters, point of view, setting the story landscape and working with plot development. This basic information is followed by two sections that separate this book from other basic writing books. First is a chapter on professional revision that actually goes through the items that should be examined in the review process. It includes such items as reexamining structure, plot, character traits, simplifying sentence structure, and varying sentence structure, paragraph length, word choice. The rest of the book predominantly contains information on how to get your book published. This includes tips for writing query letters, dealing with agents, submission etiquette, and even dealing with rejection. The greatest value of this book is that it covers all the relevant areas of getting your fiction book written and published. These areas are covered at a somewhat basic level and you can find other books that deal in greater detail with each of the sections but then again, they tend to not be as thorough in covering all of the aspects of writing and publishing.

Timing the Real Estate Market
Robert M. Campbell
The Campbell Method
3525 Del Mar Heights Road, #634 San Diego, CA 92130
ISBN: 0972441808, $24.95, Pages: 177

Robert Campbell has produced a unique work in the area of real estate books. While there are a lot of books that concentrate on purchasing in the right location and at the right price, this is the first one that points out the right location is of no help if the real estate market is in a downturn. "Timing the Real Estate Market" looks at the real estate market in a perspective similar to stocks, bonds and other investment vehicles. From this perspective there are cycles where prices rise and fall. The author examines not only the cycles of the past but the indicators that preceded each event. Using these "vital signs" he walks you through case studies on how to determine when to buy and when to sell. Finally, Robert Campbell discusses the ten cardinal rules of the system so that you can't go wrong. If you are planning to invest in real estate you owe it to yourself to purchase this book so you understand the trends and how they affect real estate ups and downs. After you have read this book and understand when the market is in an upswing, get one of the other books that discuss location and other important factors so you can get added return by buying the right piece of property.

Start Early
Natalie Vela
Aurora Production
AG Neugasse 3 CH 6300 Zug, Switzerland
ISBN: 390533223X, $9.95, Pages: 40

"Start Early" contains 40 cardstock posters with bright, lively cartoon style illustrations. Each poster has a Biblical truth related to the illustration printed at the top. Examples include, "The Lord is my shepherd", "All things were made by God", and "God is love". I had to laugh at the last one in the package and was tempted to post it on the wall in my office. It states "We have a happy God" and has an illustration of God laughing while an angel reads to Him from a list titled "The funny things people do". The posters are beautifully done and a positive addition in any situation where you are trying to teach positive Christian values to young children.

Principled Profit: Marketing that Puts People First
Shel Horowitz
AWM Books
PO Box 1164 Northhampton, MA 01061
ISBN: 0961466669, $TBA, Pages: 153

We've all been exposed to the adversarial salesperson; the one who only cares about making the sale at any expense. There is an alternative method of marketing, one that does not depend on an adversarial approach. This is the point of "Principled Profit" - marketing can be done in a manner that creates a win-win relationship with the customer. By marketing with Quality, Integrity and Honesty you can create a long-term relationship with your customers that results in even more sales. In "Principled Profit" the author details multiple examples of cooperative marketing, community focused marketing, and how to turn suppliers and customers into evangelists for your products or services. The back of the book contains an extensive list of resources including copywriters, websites, and magazines. Basically, this is about applying the Golden Rule to marketing. While it is not a particularly large or copious book on marketing, it does cover what most marketing courses leave out - commitment to the customer in a long-term sustainable relationship via ethical and honest treatment.

Put Your House In Order: Organizational Strategies Straight from the Word
Debbie Williams
Let's Get It Together Publishing
P.O. Box 590860 Houston, TX 77259
ISBN: 0972698302, $9.95, Pages: 103

In "Put Your House In Order" author Debbie Williams shares a Christian perspective on keeping an organized and functional house. This includes not only how to organize your clutter but also guidance on things like avoiding interruptions and learning to say "No". She picks very appropriate passages from the Bible and uses them as encouragement. It is a small book but contains appropriate advice that is direct and to the point. There are larger and more thorough books on cleaning up your clutter and organizing your house but they generally do not include much in the way of words of encouragement. That is what makes this book different from similar ones. Because she does discuss organizing time and tasks as well as clutter, I would have to say that there is one point she does not make that I have found very useful. She discusses using a to-do list and prioritizing that list, which is good. However, I have found that people often give up on such lists after a short while. One of the reasons people give up is because as they start to do their number one priority items people tend to do the ones they prefer to do first and the ones they really don't want to do are held off until last. So, as a reward for completing a task that you don't mind doing you get to do something that you like less. Often it is much more effective to do the things you don't really want to do first so that as you get one of them done you are rewarded with doing tasks that you like better. Other than adding that point, the book was thorough and enjoyable and is especially recommended for someone who wants to organize their life but need that extra encouragement that this book provides.

Mangia Bene! The Italian American Family Cookbook
Kate Devivo Capital Books, Inc.
PO Box 605 Herndon, VA 20172-0605
ISBN: 1892123851, $17.95, Pages: 230 plus index

"Mangia Bene" is a collection of recipes garnered over the years from the Devivo family. The recipe sources include the author's grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, cousins, and in-laws. The book covers everything from traditional Italian dishes such as bruschetta, pinzimonio, wedding soup, and minestrone, to a wonderful section on pizzas and pastas, to recipes like hot wings that are hardly Italian but still excellent. One of the many excellent dishes that I enjoyed was the pasta Alberto. I left out the anchovies but it still tasted wonderful. The Rosemary Chicken and the Sour Cream Chicken are also excellent choices. All of the recipes have easy to follow instructions and delicious results. Throughout the book are various tips, background information on the recipes, and family stories that make you feel at home with Kate Devivo and her family. "Manga Bene!" is a highly recommended book of traditional Italian recipes along with some popular more American ones thrown in.

One Pot Wonders (The Rush Hour Cook Series)
Brook Noel
Champion Press, Ltd.
8689 N. Port Washington Rd., #329 Milwaukee, WI 53217
ISBN: 1891400878, $5.95, Pages: 58

The Rush Hour Cook series is a collection of small books that are designed to easily fit into a purse or briefcase without taking up much room. In the "One Pot Wonders" book you can expect the usual categories of appetizers, main meals, and desserts. One of the requirements for a recipe to make it into the Rush Hour Cook series is that the ingredients must be easy to find in just about any grocery store. So if you plan on preparing something from the book you can drop it into your purse or carry it along and pick up the ingredients on the spot. Various tips are also scattered throughout the book. At the end there are five days of suggested meals as an example of meal planning and the shopping list that would be needed to prepare all of these meals. These are practical, easy to prepare, and quick recipes that are prepared in one pot. Ergo, cleanup is not a major task. This is a great gift for the novice cook, the person who just wants to make a quick meal and get on to other things, or a nutritious meal for college students with minimal cleanup.

Great Figures of the New Testament
Amy-Jill Levine
The Teaching Company
4151 Lafayette Center Drive, Suite 100 Chantilly, VA 20151-1232
Format: CD, Audio Tape, Video, Number of Lectures: 24

In "Great Figures of the New Testament" Professor Amy-Jill Levine of the Vanderbilt University Divinity School does an excellent job of bringing several individuals to life. Not only does she discuss well-known individuals such as Pontius Pilate, James, and Philip but also important groups and individuals who are not specified by name such as the Centurions, the woman at the well, the shepherds, and others. Professor Levine deftly discusses details of the person from the perspectives of the Biblical stories, culture, literary criticism, how the church has viewed the person through history, and how artists and worshipers have viewed them. Probably one of the most fascinating aspects of the course is how she brings their personalities to life based on how they spoke, acted, or reacted within the confines of their culture.

Professor Levin includes some analysis of literary types such as noting the parallel between Jesus' father Joseph going to Egypt and Joseph, Jacob's son going to Egypt. This opens up even more interesting aspects in the lives of the figures. Some of the many figures discussed include Elizabeth and Zechariah, John the Baptist, Joseph, Mary and Martha, Lazarus, the Samaritan woman, Pharisees, and Sadducees, Thomas, James, John, Judas Iscariot, Stephen, Philip, Paul, and Jesus. This is a great piece of work and sure to enlighten anyone wishing to gain a more thorough understanding of these great figures. As usual with The Teaching Company products, this is a very highly recommended purchase.

Lost Christianities: Christian Scriptures and the Battles over Authentication
Bart D. Ehrman
The Teaching Company
4151 Lafayette Center Drive, Suite 100 Chantilly, VA 20151-1232
Format: DVD Number of Lectures: 24

Professor Bart D. Ehrman is the chair of the Religious Studies Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to the church codifying the canon of books to be included in the Bible there were literally hundreds of books and letters circulating in the Christian community. In "Lost Christianities" he examines the various beliefs of the early Christian communities before there was an established doctrinal creed. Because these various letters and books often had contradictory information, were written by unknown authors and attributed to apostles or other well-known authorities, and sometimes even contained complete fabrications there were many different beliefs held by the early Christian communities. This course covers many of these early writings as well as the primary beliefs of the Ebionites, Marcionites, and Gnostics. Mr. Ehrman also covers how the various books were often changed by copists over the years whether by accident or with the purpose of supporting their particular belief. Finally, he looks at how the church determined which books were to be included in the canon of the New Testament and which ones were not. Some of the lectures include: Early Christian Gnosticism The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas Infancy Gospels The Gospel of Peter The Secret Gospel of Mark The Acts of John The Acts of Thomas The Acts of Paul and Thecla The Epistle of Barnabas The Apocalypse of Peter The Rise of Early Christian Orthodoxy Beginnings of the Canon Formation of the New Testament Canon Interpretation of Scripture Orthodox Corruption of Scripture Early Christian Creeds This is a highly educational trip into the confusion that often existed in the early church and how the church moved from there to the point of a consistent basic creed. The lectures are interesting and the professor well versed. I found that the last six or so lectures related to the formation of the canon, interpretation of scripture, corruption of scripture and early creeds were particularly interesting. It is a recommended purchase for people interested in the real situation of the early church instead of the highly organized church with a strong common belief system that is often portrayed in modern churches.

How to Be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook
Stuart M. Matlins and Arthur J. Magida, editors
Skylight Paths Publishing
Sunset Farm Offices Rte. 4, PO Box 237 Woodstock, VT 05091
ISBN: 1893361675, $19.95, Pages: 399

"How to Be a Perfect Stranger" is the ultimate reference on how to act and what to expect when attending a religious service at any of the most common religions in America. Would you know what to do if a Hindu invited you to their infant's naming ceremony? What if a Christian Scientist family had a death in the family and you were invited to the funeral? Or what if you were invited to a Latter Day Saint, African American Methodist Episcopal, Lutheran, or Mennonite service, would you know the appropriate dress and order of service? All these questions and more are answered in this book. The section on each faith has a short history of the faith, appropriate dress for service, ritual objects used in the service, parts of the sanctuary, appropriate conduct during the service, what to expect after the service, a section on dogma and ideology, celebrated holy days and festivals, various ceremonies related to the life cycle (births, marriage, initiation, funerals, mourning) and what to expect at those ceremonies. If you are seeking understanding of others of a different faith then this is an important place to start. Faiths examined include African American Methodist Churches, Assemblies of God, Baha'i, Baptist, Buddhist, Christian Church, Christian Science, Churches of Christ, Episcopalian and Anglican, Hindu, Islam, Jehovah's Witness, Jewish, Lutheran, Mennonite/Amish, Methodist, Mormon (Latter Day Saints), Native American/First Nations, Orthodox Churches, Pentecostal Church of God, Presbyterian, Quaker (Religious Society of Friends), Reformed Church in America/Canada, Roman Catholic, Seventh-day Adventist, Sikh, Unitarian Universalist, United Church of Canada, and United Church of Christ. Filled with clear information that will allow anyone to feel perfectly comfortable visiting any one of these faiths whether for curiosity, courtesy, or whatever reason, it is a very highly recommended read that should be on the shelf of anyone sensitive to the faiths of others.

Haley's Cleaning Hints
Graham and Rosemary Haley
3H Productions Inc.
PO Box 71062 Burlington, ON, Canada L7T 4J8
ISBN: 0969287348, $24.95, Pages: 243

"Haley's Cleaning Hints" is a follow-up to the original "Haley's Hints" which sold over 400,000 copies. The most popular section of the original book was the one on cleaning. As a result the Haleys compiled "Haley's Cleaning Hints". This book contains thorough instructions for cleaning just about anything you might encounter. From specific stains like fruit juice and ink to specific products like chewing gum, to specific items like garden tools or barbeque grills, it covers just about any cleaning problem. Best of all, most of the procedures involve using ordinary household items like baking soda, ammonia, and vinegar. "Haley's Cleaning Hints" is a highly recommended purchase for anyone seeking a reference book on cleaning anything quickly and easily with common household products.

Hard Sleeper: A Novel of Old and New China
Jennifer Scheel Bushman and Jean Artley Szymanski
Lost Coast Press
155 Cypress Street Fort Bragg, CA 95437
ISBN: 1882897730, $24.95, Pages: 251

China in the 1930s was a dangerous place. War was escalating against Japan, while internally the Kuomintang was fighting communist forces. A missionary couple and their family work here during this tumultuous time and eventually both pay the ultimate price and are killed. The children are sent to live with family friends and Jane, the daughter, learns the family secrets as well as the political environment as she grows up with this extended family. Eventually Jane is expelled from China. Now sixty years later she has returned to find the daughter she left behind when she was expelled. After finding her daughter they start on a long train ride to Beijing during which they meet a documentary producer. The producer seeks out the story of the reunion of the mother and daughter and finds that there is a much greater story here as Jane reveals the story of her parents' death. As she tries to establish a relationship with her now adult daughter Jane tells her story and the mystery and intrigue of old China takes on a life of its own.

The story is a mystery, a suspense novel, and a historical/cultural piece all rolled up into one fascinating story. Well written, it draws the reader into the intrigue of the story and you find yourself unable to put it down until you find the answers. Each chapter transitions the story between the China of the 1930s and the China of today. Suspenseful and exciting it is highly recommended.

Self-Promotion Online
Ilise Benum
F&W Publications, Inc.
North Light Books imprint
4700 East Galbraith Road Cincinnati, OH 45236
ISBN: 158180069X, $29.99, Pages: 128

"Self-Promotion Online" delivers exactly what the title promises; a full marketing plan for self-promotion via the Internet. The first section starts with a chapter on creating an effective website although you might want to get her other book "Designing Websites" for much more thorough coverage of this area. The rest of the first section covers using the web as an online portfolio and using the website as a showcase for your business. She does a very commendable job of covering the bane of every Internet user - using e-mail to market without engaging in spam. She also covers items like using strategic linking and doing marketing research online and finishes the book with three different strategies and to-do lists. Almost every page has full color illustrations and examples to clearly illustrate the concepts presented in the text. The book covers all the most important points of using the Internet to promote your business/self and is a recommended purchase.

Designing Websites for Every Audience
Ilise Benum
F&W Publications, Inc.
4700 East Galbraith Road Cincinnati, OH 45236
ISBN: 158180301X, $34.99, Pages: 143

There are a lot of books on the market today that teach website design. Very few teach the importance of creating a web site that is friendly and usable so the visitor has a positive experience and wants to come back. "Designing Websites for Every Audience" falls into that second category. It does not teach HTML or CSS or anything like that but what it does teach is much more important - how to create a website that people can use and want to return to time after time. The beginning of the book covers pretty typical usability information, but starting with Chapter 2 the book separates itself from the crowd. At this point Ilise Benum starts several chapters that not only discuss web site design but also tailors that discussion to specific types of users. A website designed for learners should be different from one designed for shoppers, or one designed for transactors, or one designed for business browsers. Ilise Benum goes through these and other user types as she discusses how websites should be designed just for them. Using specific examples from existing websites, she discusses usability factors before and after changing them. Complete with multiple detailed illustrations and analysis it is a highly recommended book.

Dare to Inquire: Sanity and Survival for the 21st Century and Beyond
Bruce I. Kodish, Ph.D.
Extensional Publishing
PO Box 50490 Pasadena, CA 91115-0490
ISBN: 0970066473, $23.00, Pages: 360

Life can be pretty confusing these days. With newspapers being used to spout forth political agendas instead of unbiased news, international and national terrorism rampant, and governmental officials showing us the path to unethical behavior it only increases the confusion. The solution, at least on a personal level, is through inquiry. "Dare to Inquire" examines scientific and ethical inquiry as a pathway to truth. The focus in the book is on a field of study known as general semantics. Using the principles of general semantics you can remove illusions that appear to be reality. In fact a major focus of general semantics is that what we perceive to be fact and reality is only a portion or one aspect of true reality. By opening your understanding to more fully grasp all of reality it opens the doors to deeper understanding, happiness and better communication in all areas of life. Bruce Kodish is very blunt about the fact that this is Humanistic philosophy. Those who have a dogmatic opposition to humanism will not like the book, others will find it interesting, informative and a recommended read.

Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning, 15th Edition
John Bear, Ph.D.
Ten Speed Press
PO Box 7123 Berkeley, CA 94707
ISBN: 1580084311, $29.95, Pages: 423

When it comes to distance learning, whether completely off-campus or with short residency requirements, "Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning" is considered by many to be the authoritative text on the subject. There is good reason for this distinction and it is well deserved. In this 15th edition, Dr. John Bear has once again produced a voluminous text that includes every known program for distance learning. This includes not only programs in the United States but also Canada, the United Kingdom, and other countries. It includes programs from strong, established and accredited schools, but also unaccredited schools. The text is very well organized so the reader can quickly and easily find the schools and programs that he or she is interested in. The coverage for each school is thorough and includes the complete school name, address, fields of study available by distance learning, contact information, a detailed description of the program, whether it is accredited by a recognized agency or a non-recognized agency, if it is equivalent to a degree mill, if it accepts other types of credits (such as CLEP exams or credit for life experience) and any other relevant information. Besides the information on the schools it also includes detailed discussions on accreditation, options, use of titles, honorary degrees and just about any question that you might have. Obviously Dr. Bear has taken note of questions that people have asked him over the years and included that information in the text so that it is much more than just a listing of schools and programs. Dr. John Bear has come through again with the most thorough and authoritative text available on the various distance learning programs available. This most current edition, like the others before it, is a highly recommended read for anyone wanting to pursue their education by distance learning and is the best text I have ever read on the subject.

The Ultimate Competitive Advantage
Donald Mitchell and Carol Coles
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
235 Montgomery St., Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94104-2916
ISBN: 1576751678, $36.95, Pages: 292

Fantasic, provocative, inspired, this is one of the best business books I have read this year. 'The Ultimate Competitive Advantage' points out that one of the problems with corporate planning is that companies build their business model as if it is static. What worked before will work now. What works now will always work. The problem is that by the time they figure out that something has changed it is often too late or many opportunities are lost. Business models need to be dynamic.

Throughout the book the authors give examples of ways companies have kept their business model flexible and were able to take advantage of opportunities to stay ahead of their competitors. If you want to get a handle on innovation and creating a dynamic business model that is sustainable over time, then this is the book you are looking for. 'The Ultimate Competitive Advantage' is a very highly recommended book for anyone seeking that missing piece in their business education that will allow their business to soar above the crowd.

I Almost Missed My Life: Don't Miss Yours
Debra Russell
E Ticket Enterprises, Inc.
PO Box 23127, Santa Barbara, CA 93121
ISBN: 097204440X, $14.95, Pages: 149

'I Almost Missed My Life' contains 52 short (2 page) chapters that can best be described as instructional, self-help guidance on things you can do to change your life into the E Ticket life you would like to have. The E Ticket reference is used in the book and accurately represents the author's purpose with the book. Several years ago if you went to Disney World you would purchase a packet of tickets that contained A, B, C, D, and E tickets. The most popular, most exciting rides were E Ticket rides. My memories as a child include a trip to Disney World where we purchased one of these books of tickets. One thing I recall is that the A and B ticket rides were ones that I was not interested in and only rode them because I had a ticket that was no good for anything else. Many people seem to live their lives that way - life has dealt them a book of A and B tickets and so that is the limit of what they can ride. The purpose of the book is to change your life from an A or B Ticket ride to an E Ticket journey.

Each week you can take one of the chapters and focus on it for that week. Chapters include encouragement and direction on such things as 'Practice Outcome Thinking', 'Trust and Follow your Knowing', 'Treasure and Nurture Your Friends', 'Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously', 'Listen', 'Let Go of Regrets', 'Be the Change You Want To See', and 'Be Grateful'. This is an excellent and recommended book for people seeking an organized plan for changing their life.

Calming Upset Customers
Rebecca Morgan
Crisp Publications, Inc.
1200 Hamilton Court, Menlo Park, CA 94025
ISBN: 1560526696, $13.95, Pages: 80

'Calming Upset Customers' is basically a workbook for dealing with difficult customers. It is not a deep text that delves into the psyche of customers and would be used in a college level business course. What it is is a basic workbook that explains the basics of why customer satisfaction is so important and the various things that can be done to convert an upset customer into a happy customer. This is front line stuff at the employee level. It is about solving basic problems at the employee level before they become major problems.

While manager level professionals should receive more advanced training in working with upset or difficult customers, this book is an excellent resource for anyone who has to deal directly with customers. The workbook format with various excercises throughout make this book an excellent training tool. It is a recommended read, but probably its best use would be to purchase a stack of them and hand it out to all new employees when they are hired. This is the minimum that every person involved in customer contact should know.

Pure Profits: Pinpoint Winning Properties, Think Like an Investor, & Succeed in Commercial Real Estate
Al Auger
Cameo Publications
PO Box 8006, Hilton Head Island, SC 29938
ISBN: 097157393X, $17.95, Pages: 143

'Pure Profits' is a complete course in commercial real estate investing. The book is filled with tips and information garnered from the author's many years of experience as a real estate investor. Just as important, he describes various pitfalls that are easy to fall into if you don't know about them. The various areas discussed include creating a relationship with a broker (or becoming a broker yourself), obtaining relevant information, locating the right property, making your investment plan, negotiating, important contract clauses, and creating a proposal that appeals to investors. There is not a lot of fluff in this book. It is concise, to the point, and contains multiple illustrations and examples to help you learn the finer points of investing in commercial real estate. If you want to get started in commercial real estate investing or want to make your efforts more efficient and consistently profitable then this is a book you will not want to miss. It is a recommended purchase for anyone wishing to become involved in or wishing to better their success rate in commercial real estate investing.

Life's a Smelling Success: Using Scent to Empower Your Memory and Learning
Alan Hirsch, M.D.
Authors of Unity Publishing
211 N. Mt. Shasta Blvd., #200, Mt. Shasta, CA 96067
ISBN: 0972525017, $16.95, Pages: 247

There are a many excellent memory books on the market today. The majority cover various mneumonic techniques, the better ones including a section on biological factors - how nutrition, medication, aging, diseases, etc. affect memory. 'Life's a smelling success is the first one I have seen that discusses scent and how it can be directly related to memory.

Dr. Alan Hirsch includes considerable information on experiments done with odors and how they affected learning and memory. Some of the odors discussed are common ones like lavender, others include butterscotch, green apple, and peppermint. We all know the pleasant experience of walking into a house or our favorite restaurant and smelling the wonderful odor of baking bread and how that immediately affects our mood. Dr. Hirsch explains that our 'odor memory' transports us back to a pleasant state when we smalled the odor before. The premise of the book is that there are scents that do the same thing for learning. What if there are scents that cause us to be relaxed, but still alert? This is the perfect state for learning. What about odors that remove test anxiety? Throughout this text Dr. Hirsch mentions specific odors and the effect they typically have. He gives you the tools and techniques to build what he calls an 'odor library'. 'Life's a Smelling Success' gets very specific in the research quoted. He looks at the relationship between such things as math and oranges. Or, how do mangos and limes affect males and females differently?

'Life's a Smelling Success' is a highly recommended read that shines light on an area not covered in other memory and learning books. Given that odors are used in everything from increasing sales in stores to calming aggressive people it seems strange that there is not more research on using them for personal growth. Dr. Hirsch starts filling that gap with this book. Bravo, Dr. Hirsch.

SAMS Teach Yourself XML in 10 Minutes
Andrew H. Watt
SAMS Publishing
201 West 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290
ISBN: 0672324717, $14.99, Pages: 262

'SAMS Teach Yourself XML in 10 Minutes' is an introductory text for people who want to learn XML. While the author covers XML in sufficient detail for the complete novice to understand, he also gives illustrations of how it resembles and differes from HTML. I have done some basic HTML and Java programming before and found that the transition to learning XML was easy with the assistance of this book. It contains enough basic stuff that nothing important is missed but moves along quick enough to keep it from becoming repetitive and boring. By the end I not only could write simple XML documents, but was working with Cascading Style Sheets and the Document Object Model. This is a great introductory course that equips the reader with all the basics of XML. There is a lot more to XML than what is in this book, but 'SAMS Teach Yourself XML in 10 Minutes' is a thorough course in the basics of XML. This is a recommended purchase for anyone wanting to get a basic level understanding of XML.

Divinely Inspired: Spiritual Awakening of a Soul
Jerry J. Pollock, PhD
White Tulip Press
PO Box 644, Nesconset, NY 11767
ISBN: 0972386602, $18.95, Pages: 211

'Divinely Inspired' takes the reader on a walk through the life of author Jerry Pollock. He grew up in a family environment that can best be described as unloving and apathetic. However, he keeps his feelings about this repressed and continues on to eventually receive a PhD in Biophysics, a professorship at Stony Brook University and a respected researcher. Finally, things catch up with him and he starts regular visits with psychiatrists that medicate him more than help him. He perseveres through manic-depression, electric shock therapy, clinical depression, and more prescription medication. Eventually, he loses his research grants and the rest of his life finally collapses. With a severe case of clinical depression he is placed on suicide watch at the local mental hospital. The depression medicated and feeling better he is released and has an experience with a cult. Finally he has a spiritual awakening and through a slow steady series of several small miracles he comes to have a relationship with God. This relationship is the basis on which he finally resolves his past hurts and begins growing as a spiritual being.

This is an interesting chronicle of one man's experiences and growth. However, the writing was so descriptive of his mental state that I came away from it unsure if the 'miracles' were miracles indeed or just part of a mental condition. Then again people who believe in miracles tend to see them, people who do not don't. Either way, they were at least real to him and the source of his growth and spiritual relationship with God.

Real Estate Appraising from A to Z
Guy Cozi
Nemmar Educational Training
15 East Putnam Avenue, Suite 151, Greenwich, CT 06830
ISBN: 1887450925, $34.95, Pages: 197

'Real Estate Appraising from A to Z' delivers up exactly what it promises - a thorough, understandable course on appraising. The author discusses appraisals as a business and how to get into the appraisal business, but it is much more that just that. If you are looking at purchasing property for investing. If you are looking at purchasing a new home, wanting to know the value of vacant property, etc. this is an excellent book. It covers all the bases when valuing a property. Some of the subjects discussed include community factors, market influences, potential hidden problems and how to find them, building inspection, the cost approach to valuation, the income approach to valuation, and writing a proposal. Given the thorough coverage and easy to understand writing style, this book is a highly recommended purchase for anyone who might be interested in appraisals (either doing them or understanding someone else's), or investing in real estate.

The Home Inspection Business from A to Z
Guy Cozi
Nemmar Educational Training
15 East Putnam Avenue, Suite 151, Greenwich, CT 06830
ISBN: 1887450041, $34.95, Pages: 224

This is a truly eye-opening book that I would not be without the next time I consider purchasing a new home. 'The Home Inspection Business from A to Z' provides detailed information on what to look for and just how serious various problems might be. Filled with copious illustrations and photographs it is easy to see exactly the problems the author is discussing.

The coverage is extensive enough to start you in the business of home inspections and Mr. Cozi goes through the details of what is necessary to begin such a venture. Areas discussed include heating systems, air conditioning systems, water heaters, foundations, plumbing, septic, electrical systems, roofs, walls, decks, flooring, and just about anything else you can think of. Before reading the book I had no idea the number of potentially serious problems that can be easily discovered with a minimal inspection and some basic knowledge. This is a highly recommended book for anyone looking to purchase a new home, considering purchasing a home for investment purposes, or looking to start a new business.

The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics
Julian Barbour
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
ISBN: 0195145925, $17.95, Pages: 360

Does time really exist? What if time were actually an illusion? If time did not really exist them quantum physics and classical physics could be united into a unified theory. On the other hand, if time does not exist then what are we to make of theories such as a space-time continuum? In this text Julian Barbour clearly analyses the concept of time and puts forth the current evidence for its non-existence. The arguments are compelling, the logic strong, and the results convincing - or at least it is convincing enough to consider it as a real possibility. Julian Barbour is a theoretical physicist who takes this complex and counter-intuitive concept and puts it forth in layman's terms. This is a highly recommended book for anyone interested in theoretical physics and how it is changing our view of our world. 'The End of Time' is sure to become an authoritive reference for any discussion on the existence of time.

Life and Times of Ellemar Why
Vladimir Chernozemsky
Triumvirate Publications
497 West Avenue 44, Los Angeles, CA 90065-3917
ISBN: 0970997558, $TBA, Pages: 303

'Life and Times of Ellemar Why' is one of the better novels to come out this year. It is full of plot twists and turns that leave the reader wondering what will come next. Ellemar Why is an actor who has a close encounter with death when a live bullet barely misses his head during a play. Suddenly he is playing a role of a ship's officer, Alyo. Although it is a role he knows well, he is unsure of how his resemblance to Alyo seems to have others confused and believing that he is Alyo. It seems that Alyo too had a similar experience with being nearly killed by a bullet. From there he realizes that something supernatural has happened between himself and Alyo and it is drawing him into the world of espionage, betrayal, and political intrigue. All of his acting skills are required just to survive as he encounters situation after situation of unusual circumstances. Well written in a style that draws the reader into the life of Ellemar Why and then holds them with an iron grip through to the end, it is a highly recommended read for adventure fiction enthusiasts.

The Losers' Club
Ricahrd Perez
Ludlow Press
PO Box 2612, New York, NY 10009-9998
ISBN: 0971341591, $12.95, Pages: 196

'The Losers' Club' is a look at the New York East Village area and a man looking to find the woman of his dreams. Working through the personal ads he encouters a variety of, well, rather interesting people. Martin is a man that many of us can relate to in one way or another. Stuck in a boring, dead-end job, looking for excitement, looking for someone special, he changes his life by getting involved in personal ads. As the calls come in, some quite humorous, he starts going out with different people, going different places and establishes almost a split personality lifestyle - one Martin at work, and a completely different Martin in the evening.

Instead of boring the reader with paragraph after paragraph describing Martin's personality, the reader learns about him through his experiences with the various women that come into his life. While it does not have the plot twists and turns that I would expect in a typical novel, it makes up for the somewhat straightforward plot by exposing the reader to a wide variety of unusual and unexpected dating situations. You never know what Martin will be getting into each time he gets his messages from someone else answering his ad. It is a fun read that is both humorous and sad.

The Brand Called You
Peter Montoya and Tim Vandehey
Personal Branding Press
1540 South Lyon Street, Santa Ana, CA 92705
ISBN: 0967450659, $24.95, Pages: 280

'The Brand Called You' has one of the longest subtitles that I have ever seen on a book, but it is an accurate synopsis - 'The Ultimate Brand-Building and Business Development Handbook to Transform Anyone into an Indispensable Personal Brand'. If you ever wanted to know about personal branding this book will give you a thorough understanding of what it is and what it is not. 'Branding' is pretty much a buzz word in the marketing arena but rarely have I encountered anyone who truly understands it as well as Peter Montoya. In this book he examines a specific type of branding - personal branding. The coverage is absolutely the most exhaustive that I have seen anywhere. He starts with the basics of defining personal branding and continues through building an appropriate brand, strategies for personalized branding, power tools for developing a personal brand, and a plan for establishing your personal brand in twelve months. If you want your business to be the next Eddie Bauer, Charles Schwab, or Ben and Jerry's this book is an indispensable guide to get you there. It is a highly recommended purchase for anyone seeking to establish name recognition as a personal brand and the best guide I've seen on the market today.

Covering Home
Jack Petrash
Gryphon House Inc.
Robins Lane Press
PO Box 207, Beltsville, MD 20704
ISBN: 1589040139, $8.95, Pages: 114

Jack Petrash has taken a medium that almost all American men understand and used it to illustrate good parenting skills. Using baseball and various aspects of that game, he illustrates the similarities between the various stages of the game and the various stages of child rearing, how to make the highlights reel and avoid the bloopers reel, strategies if you have a shallow bench (single parenting), and many more. 'Covering Home' is an entertaining and yet practical read that clearly illustrates the key points of good parenting through the medium of baseball. It is a recommended read that is sure to delight and entertain the reader.

Harold McFarland
Reviewer


Gorden's Bookshelf

The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu
Sax Rohmer, Jean Marie Stine, editor
Renaissance E Books
P.O. Box 1432 Northampton, MA 01060
ISBN : 1-58873-176-6, price: $4.00, electronic download, 223 pages, www.renebooks.com

Sax Rohmer was a contemporary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. They both created super villains that have stayed with us. Moriarty was overshadowed by Sherlock Holmes but Dr. Fu-Manchu never took second place in the story. Rohmer's style is similar to many of the storytellers at the turn of the twentieth century, a wordy fast-paced narration by a secondary figure. In this case, a Dr. Petrie takes the role of Watson changing it to a strong ally to Nayland Smith, the lead investigator trying to stop Fu-Manchu.

'The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu' is written as a series of ten linked mysteries. Dr. Fu-Manchu is an evil genius who is working for the re-building of China into the only world power. Assassinations, kidnapping, drugs, biological weapons, poison gas, and hypnotism is just a short list of methods Fu-Manchu uses to attain his goals. Smith and Petrie fight to block Fu-Manchu who always seems to have one more move, one more plan, and one more escape.

If you like any of the great popular storytellers of one hundred years ago, you will love the politically incorrect action/mystery story, 'The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu.' It has the mystery of a Sherlock Holmes story mixed with the exotic Orient. It is classic storytelling.

Absolute Zero
Chuck Logan
HarperTorch An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street New York, NY 10022
ISBN : 0-06-103156-9 price: $7.99 US 436 pages

Logan is a writer who takes his time telling the story. Over half of the novel is used as a setup for the high tension action ending. The story is measured with the location playing a major role, possibly a leading role. If you like a cozy thriller, which will bite you at the end, Logan is an author for you.

Phil Broker is leading a moose hunting trip by canoe into the Boundary Waters. He is guiding a lawyer, a surgeon, and a writer, Hank Sommer. A November storm comes up nearly swamping Broker and Sommer's canoe. Sommer saves them but severely injures himself. In a freak mishap in the hospital, Sommer goes into a coma. Broker, a retired cop, suspects foul play. Sommer's ex-stripper wife, her old boyfriend, and his current friends all see the millions of dollars in Sommer's estate and want part or all of it. Murder is a small price to pay with millions up for grabs. Broker knew poking around could get him into trouble but he never expected the hornet's nest he turned up.

'Absolute Zero' is an enjoyable thriller with a unique cast of characters and location. 'Absolute Zero' is an easy recommendation but it is a well-paced story and a little slower than many current action/thrillers.

S.A. Gorden, Reviewer
www.paulbunyan.net/users/gsirvio/content.html


Alyice's Bookshelf

The Online Copywriter's Handbook
Robert Bly
McGraw-Hill Book Company
Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121
ISBN: 0658021141, $29.95, 1-800-722-4726, www.amazon.com

The Online Copywriter's Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Write Online Copy That Sells, second edition, is an invaluable source of information for anyone looking to make a more profitable living as a writer. With so many companies looking to increase profits by expanding to the online arena, it's important to understand how a freelance copywriter can improve a website's appearance, marketing strategy, and sales with perfect content. In Bly's book, the beginning copywriter learns how to write persuasive copy, how to take existing print copy to the web, how to produce a winning website, and finally, how to promote one's business on the web!

The Surrendered Wife
Laura Doyle
Fireside
c/o Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
0743204441, $13.00, 1-800-223-2336, www.amazon.com

The Surrendered Wife: A Practical Guide to Finding Intimacy, Passion, and Peace with Your Man is an eye-opening book that puts the stereo-typical views of a surrendered wife being subservient and at the beckon call of the husband to rest! What I admired most about this book was her candidness in sharing so many personal and often humbling experiences. She shares stories that helps us, as women, relate to the ways we manipulate the relationships in our own lives, while helping us release control, which in turn, allows our husbands to share our lives in the roles they were meant to share. Yes, I saw myself in many pages of this book?both good and bad. But what I walked away with was far more than I ever anticipated!

Alyice Edrich, Reviewer
http://thedabblingmum.com


Fortenberry's Bookshelf

Voyages of the Pyramid Builders
Robert M. Schoch, with Robert Aquinas McNally
Tarcher/Putnam
ISBN: 1585422037, $24.95, 338 pp.

Dr. Robert Schoch is well known these days not merely as a geologist, but as the geologist who is challenging the origin date of the Sphinx. He claims it dates from far before its accepted date and has put forward some very compelling and not easily refuted hard scientific evidence to push it back to at least 10,000 years ago. The subtitle of Voyages of the Pyramid Builders: The True Origins of the Pyramids From Lost Egypt to Ancient America, instantly alerts us that this text is a furtherance and broadening of his theory. We find here an expansive study of the world's ancient cultures and the established timelines and standard theories of their places in history. The book is written well, very accessible, and presented in an intriguing yet natural manner, so that it doesn't come off as a stifling academic tome.

Schoch focuses on little known, newly discovered, or revealed-here-for-the-first-time interconnections between all cultures to point back toward an unknown age in prehistory of lost civilizations that were the forerunners of today's earliest known ancient civilizations. Not to be misunderstood, this is not the run-of-the-mill pop cultural ancient astronauts origin of mankind, a la Sitchen and Von Daniken, replete with UFOs and bizarre experimental breeding programs with primitive man. This is almost the exact opposite: scientific speculation rather than science fiction. It is a serious investigation proposing that the origins of civilization lie further back than previous thought. His main concern lies in the period following the last ice age, when sea levels were drastically lower than today and therefore these wide coastal lands were drowned by the rising oceans. Because these lands are now submerged, much of the evidence of cities, structures, farmlands, etc., we would expect from this age is now lost or yet to be discovered. The peoples and cultures displaced by the rising waters are the origin of the earliest known civilizations, those of the Sumerians, Egyptians, Harrapans, and the like.

The book is somewhat broken into two parts: the first focuses solely on the pyramids and the spread of pyramid technology worldwide. It chronicles numerous instances of shared information or contacts being disparate civilizations, such as the Egyptians and Incans, or Chinese and Mayans. The second part of the book widens the scope beyond pyramids to speculate on the trading and contacts between all continents, and also the possible locations of original cradles of civilization, such as the now sunken massive subcontinent of Sundaland (which stretched between SE Asia and Australia). I do believe that these two parts, though they are related via trade and contact (pyramid construction being one technology cultures could trade), could have been separated, expanded, and turned into two distinct books. I would like to see in-depth studies of both of these subjects, which may in fact occur since this is all new theory and still being developed. As he noted in the book, since his first papers on the subject of the sphinx's age several other scientists have independently verified or agreed with his proposal. Perhaps more works in these areas will be forthcoming as new evidence is uncovered, data accumulates, and a consensus builds. I certainly hope so and look forward to more exploration in these areas of prehistory.

Hyperspace: Our Final Frontier
John Gribbin
DK Publishing, Inc.
95 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
ISBN: 0789478382, $29.95, 240 pages, hardcover, www.dk.com

Hyperspace is the print companion to the BBC television series Space, subsequently broadcast on The Learning Channel (TLC). In it we have something quite special, and welcome. This is a very well written, up to date, gorgeously illuminated book on the state of modern astronomy. In it we explore the cosmos, as many books have, from earliest beginnings to today, though this book prospers by being one of the few of like astronomy books I have read that is truly up-to-the-minute. Most leave off with such startling discoveries as quasars and the possibility that one day black holes and the big bang might not just be theories. This one goes through the very recently discovered black holes and planetary systems, advanced computer programs and digital astronomy systems, superstrings, as well as the very distant echo of the big bang itself, in the various modes of study aimed currently at the background radiation we've known about for some time but just now gotten around to measuring and studying with any sophistication. We go beyond the average into the realm of wormholes, the negativity of gravity, baby universes abounding like popcorn, and the whole reality of multiverses galore. Michael Moorcock aside, this is truly exciting and astounding stuff. The amount of new scientific data and imaging collected here is amazing.

It is a breath of fresh air for public libraries, which abound in thick dusty volumes of astronomy replete with fuzzy, black and white photography. The universe is humbling, and never more so than when presented in full-color glorious modern imagery from the Hubble telescope. When we read of the Lagoon Nebula and then can see that awesome vat of stars stirred up or those gigantic columns of molecular and dust clouds in the Grab Nebula, just as real and jutting as the Rockies, it stops us in our tracks. This will be a great boon to libraries, due to the density and beauty of the production, and the fact that it covers everything from Newton to Einstein to Stephen Hawking, and from Star Trek and Von Daniken to the reality of Seti@Home online, which allows real, average people to turn their home computers into processors for the Seti project analyzing signals from the distant stars for possible communications. Millions now actively participate in such programs, and this books shares the knowledge. Students and armchair astronomers alike will thrill to the advanced knowledge and possibilities available. This is the type of book that will turn young children into tomorrow's astronomy superstars.

With every page full of multiple images and short, clear, yet incredibly deep texts presenting the glory of the universe, there is everything to enjoy and nothing to want. The only think you feel at the end is, Wow! followed by, Well couldn't they make this thing one thousand pages long? When you stare at these eye-popping, false-color photographs of star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, and beyond, and then realize that even with all this we are only beginning to scratch the surface of possibilities, that our technology is even still in its infancy, the immensity and glory of the universe becomes breathtaking. We have so much to learn and discover in this new and perhaps not final frontier, that it provides an incentive to want to investigate more, build more devices, invent new technologies, fund more research, and explore more fully this vast cosmos. We've known for a while that the chemicals of life are created in the crucible of stars and released through the awesome power of supernovas. We've already discovered numerous new planets outside our solar systems, seen that the stars are indeed populated with worlds. As a populated universe takes shape, the very real possibility of finding life beyond the Earth increases exponentially. It makes one anxious to leave and begin the exploration of the galaxy. And then to think our entire galaxy of a hundred billion plus stars is only one of billions of galaxies... it is staggering and begs the question, What are we waiting for? The universe, quite literally, awaits.

Inventing Japan. 1853-1964.
Ian Buruma
Modern Library
ISBN: 0679640851, $19.95, 194 pp., Chronicles series, vol. 11.

Inventing Japan is further proof why the Modern Library's Chronicles series has become a favorite of armchair historians everywhere. These brief, elegantly produced histories are a delight to read, simple to comprehend, yet amazingly packed with facts to provide informative, balanced views of the subjects they cover. This time out we have Ian Buruma providing a delightful overview of modern Japanese history. He displays a true gift in presenting not only factual events of each decade or major transition, but by also imparting the mood and mindset of the times. He does this by carefully weaving personal commentaries throughout the history -- little anecdotes, speeches, writings, and quirky happenings which capture perfectly the flavor of each specific event.

The tone of this history is wonderful. Buruma presents a personalized yet perfectly detached history that remains quietly neutral on some amazing events, including the infamous Rape of Nanking and the attack on Pearl Harbor. But this lets the events themselves to do the talking without heavyhanded ethical blankets from the author smothering the text. This allows the history to breathe and come alive, without preaching and being told what it all means. Nonetheless, those little details alluded to earlier that he throws in were at times heartbreaking, shocking, thrilling, or even laugh-out-loud surprizing. They really spiced up the raw facts with personalized or human moments. This is especially crucial when studying another culture or past era, such as the Meiji Restoration, because it allows the outsider a window inside the soul of the time period or foreign civilization.

As with all the Chronicles series, I highly recommend this book to all lovers of nonfiction, especially my arm-chair historian brethren. These are wonderful historical overviews of commendable depth, yet which retain the charm and pleasure of brevity.

Values of the Wise: Profound and Witty Words of Wisdom From the Greatest Minds
Jason Merchey
Infinity Publishing
519 Lancaster Ave., Haverford, PA 19041-1413
ISBN: 074141399-X, $24.95, 467 pp., www.buybooksontheweb.com. 1.877.BUY.BOOK]

Values of the Wise is a sheer joy to read. The back cover claims it ... is a sparkling collection of words and wisdom, witticisms, and reflections, both humorous and profound. It is. Arranged into fifteen subjects, including Discipline, Creativity, Integrity, Courage, Humor, Justice, and Passion, this massive volume of quotes presents the distillation of human knowledge and knavery, compassion and extravagance. I have always been a sucker for aphorisms (including my own collection of original Quotes and Maxims I started years ago back in grade school) and wasn't disappointed here. It was another book I could not put down. Of course, one hopes that it isn't idle curiosity drawing one on to see what the next pithy statement is, but rather the belief that I am learning something new, bettering myself and sharpening my mind. Or to pose it in the words of the Buddha: Carpenters fashion wood; fletchers fashion arrows; the wise fashion themselves. (208)

This collection isn't just the profundities of the philosophers, though. Values of the Wise has a broad range, contrasting ancient and modern thought, differing takes on the same point, or outright rivals such as Churchill and Hitler, and also includes some hilarious quotes from wags throughout history, including favorites like Will Rogers, Mae West, and Mel Brooks (If presidents don't do it to their wives, they do it to their country. [435]) Furthermore, Jason Merchey includes his own insights, takes, and poetry on subjects throughout. In one sarcastic hell of a note he points out the importance of living each moment with integrity, so that it may be carved on your tombstone if it is your last. His example: it could either be you died helping an old woman cross the street, or you died during autoerotic asphyxiation. That's food for thought. In this way his collection seems designed on the model of Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time, by Dr. Laurence J. Peter, most famous for elucidating The Peter Principle. Peter's was the first collection I remember reading that included the authors own quotes and quips on topics. At any rate, Values of the Wise is a nice, substantial collection of literate gems.

If there must be a complaint, I would have liked for the collection to contain both an index (for ease in looking up a single author's quotes) and, though this would make it terribly unwieldy and transform the book into a research directory, a listing of sources. Lack of sourcing is ever the problem with this kind of collection, which lists the author of the quote but not the original material. Thus if you enjoy a line from Milton, you will have to read the body of his works to discover the source. But I realize adding such a comprehensive bibliography of source materials would create a gigantic volume that defeats the purpose of having a handy collection of witticisms. Besides, after an author like Merchey just sweated over all those numerous tomes in the bowels of a library to compose this wonderful distillation of human wisdom, why should he then save you the time? Or, to phrase it as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own. (217)

Thomas Fortenberry
Reviewer


Dana's Bookshelf

Quilt Artistry; Inspired Designs from the East
Yoshiko Jinzenji
Kodansha America, Inc.
575 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022
ISBN 4-7700-2756-7, 128 pages, 150 color plates, $35.00, http://www.thejapanpage.com

A piece of fabric is the pulse of life is written across our eyes by drape, shape, texture, and hue. Art forms, and perhaps art itself, have their own genetic codes‹forms of doubling and redoubling that, as DNA does with the cell, determine a look, a feel, a character, an emotion. Lucky, then, are the pieces of fabric doubled and redoubled by the eyes and hands of Yoshiko Jinzenji (www.YoshikoQuilt.com and www.thejapanpage.com). A few snips of color and weave become a mix of art and the irrepressible urge to adorn that make you want to dive off this world and into what you see.

She best articulates the origins of all this in her book's Introduction:

"I have a very clear memory of my first encounter with quilts. It was in Toronto in the winter of 1970, in the furniture section of Eaton's department store downtown. There, surrounded by standardized fluffy bedspreads, were two handmade quilts draped over wooden racks. I went over to them as if drawn by a magnet and took them in my hand, wondering what on earth these handmade quilts were doing in the middle of a display of manufactured goods. The oddity of the combination was stunning. The quilts were made by joining together many small pieces of cloth and then covering the whole with fine hand stitching. Each had a price tag, and I was stunned again to see that they were not much more expensive than the manufactured spreads. Who could have made these, I asked myself, and what had inspired their beautiful handwork?"

Her book Quilt Artistry is the unending result of an apprenticeship that started at Kyoto Women's University, learning from the Canadian Mennonites (whence the inspired moment above) and Amish in the USA from 1968 till 1980, then back to Japan to form the Yoshiko Jinzenji Quilt Group. She sponsored a quilt exhibition in Jakarta, exhibited for a near-decade at the Needlework Japan Exhibition, and in 1991 founded Studio Jinzenji Grass House in Bali. Not content merely to create, she has published a variety of works, including Quilt Quest: A Profound Journey Thread by Thread, and now this book.

If any artist's work is validated by its results, surely it is Yoshiko's. Visit the website http://artmuseum.heartquilt.com/english/data/ga_h.html and you will find some of the most provocative and lovely contemporary Japanese art, presented on one of the most interesting showcases for specialty art on the Net. Yoshiko Jinzenji is there, as are a number of other practitioners such as Emiko Toda Leob. Art these works unequivocally are; they just happen to be made by an assemblage method called quilting.

This is a very personalized book; Yoshiko's fingerprints are on every page. On page 66, for example, is a lovely montage of images taken at her Grass House Studio on Bali. Fruit and stone textures are there, flowers, two chickens strutting out a door, Yoshiko herself‹and a quiltwork hammock fit surely for a snooze in paradise. Only the two of the images do anything to advance the text. Not many publishers would allow an author to so tangentially personalize the subject.

Yoshiko's work is a textile manifestation of the preoccupation with ante-antique and avant-garde that characterizes so much of Japanese culture today. On page 40 she recounts the symbiosis of ancient textiles in the tea ceremony; a scant 7 pages further on were are suddenly confronted with a work made of some of the most interesting cloth ideations of Jun'ichi Arai. Jun'ichi is arguably the most innovative and certainly the most influential textile creative artist working today, the textile equivalent of Issey Miyake's fabrications in his heyday of two decades ago. Jun'ichi has taken the marriage of technology and history further down the road to progeny than any other designer. He also is an astonishingly good and sensitive writer, and his Foreword to Yoshiko's book is so good that it is reproduced below.

Yoshiko, like Jun'ichi, is nothing if not a creative technician who happens to make art. Her text and caption content sums to an amazingly low overall word count given the amount of detail and philosophy it conveys. One reason is the lush plates‹many so good they could be enlarged and hung in a gallery devoted to contemporary fine-art photography. Then there are the dozens of step-by-step how-to diagrams that guide the home quilter through the process of emulating Yoshiko's pieces. The readers need not be especially accomplished sewers, either, for despite their complex look, Yoshiko's pieces are really composed of fairly straightforward elements lines and patterns; there's just a lot of them. Any who would re-create one of her works at home needs patience more than proficiency.

Yoshiko is generous enough to pass along step-by-step instructions for a dyeing method she found via experiment in order to accomplish what must be the ultimate coals-to-Newcastle notion in textile history: dyeing white material white. That might seem an exercise in conceit, but the reason goes far back into the wellsprings of Japanese aesthetics. As she tells it,

"I had been making quilts for years from fabrics that I dyed myself with natural dyes when I had a kind of awakening. It was during an exhibition where my work was being shown together with that of a lacquerware artist. When I looked at his pieces, with their simple and beautiful form and their quiet sheen achieved by applying lacquer in careful layers, I thought, what kind of fabric could I make that would have the same sense of power? Finally it came to me, I wanted to find a natural dye that would dye cloth white. . . . In the field of natural dyes white was the one color no one knew how to obtain.* For me white was suggestive of the fusuma and shoji sliding doors used to separate Japanese-style rooms, as well as the traditions of sumi ink drawings and calligraphy and even the white sand of Zen gardens."

*Cloth can of course be made white by bleach, but that process of brutally strips all color, and the fabric's life along with it. Yoshiko's process is of gently adding the color-within-no-color called white. The difference is the same as that between ejecting a thought from your mind and meditating it into non-thought. She puts it this way:

"Finally I hit on the idea of trying that strange combination of tree and grass, bamboo. Two or three hours later the cloth had been transformed. It was if the silk was a prism sparkling with colors like pink, yellow, and green. It was a white with depths."

In thinking of her discovery as multicolor within noncolor, it's nice to recall that meditation, too, is a state of all-mind within no-mind.

It is interesting to compare Yoshiko's work with another dye and fabrication artist whose work likewise explores the ineffable. The Taipei designer Sophie Hong works with exactly the opposite color‹near-black‹yet achieves a similar resplendency of minute gradations. Sophie works with tea dyeing, the oldest known dyestuff produced by boiling and one of the most time-consuming to do. Each piece of cloth is dyed a minimum of 30 times in a fresh batch of tea before the requisite darkness is reached, but the result shimmers with deep mauves, browns, blackberry, burgundy-purples so saturated it seems as if the tiniest bit of extra tint would wipe out the color altogether. This is exactly the opposite effect of Yoshiko, and interestingly, is turned into a very different use: high-fashion garments.

Yoshiko's book is a combination of high art and ladle-in-the-dyebath practicality. The many full-plate and even more part-page pictures amply illustrate the first. The drawings and text take care of the latter. With so many active quilters and societies all around the world these days, few would argue that quilting isn't an art form. With Yoshiko's book in hand, anyone interested in quilting, textiles, home design, or fashion design will be inspired to make art of their own. Her 90 specific projects, clear design patterns and detailed instructions can guide just about anyone with enthusiasm and patience to make quilts, pillows, clutch purses, mandalas, spreads, wall hangings, and even a hammock to end all hammocks. Yoshiko's work is a rarity even in the world of art-to-wear and its nonwearable textile art relatives: utterly unique. No one else does what she does.

For those who wish to know more, here are a few useful websites:

http://www.yoshikoquilt.com/ (Yoshiko's house and worshop)
http://www.thejapanpage.com/ (Kodansha's website page)
http://www.quilt-books.com/japanese.shtml (Other books about Japanese quilts) http://quiltshome.com/books/japanese.html (More Japanese quilt books)
http://www.hlla.com/reference/artquilt.html (History of the art quilt, text only) http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_quilting_other/article/0,1789,HGTV_3305_1389856,00.html (Quilting with Japanese fabrics but not designs)
http://www.quiltweb.com/quilthistory.htm (Books about quilt history)

At this point it is worthwhile to break somewhat with book-review tradition and include two long extracts directly from the book. Jun'ichi Arai's Foreword and Yoshiko's Introduction shed so much light on her ideas and work that this review fades by compare.

FOREWORD: Jun'ichi Arai, Textile Designer

Yoshiko Jinzenji's life is marked by discipline. Her freedom is a freedom of the will, and her creations are reflections of the way she lives. The high artistry of her quilts derives from freedom employed within the bounds of a rigorous discipline.

Her quilts are simple and to the point. They contain no foolish chattering. They are magnetic, with an appeal that is strongly sensuous. Open your heart to them and they will induce a delicious intoxication.

The quilts she makes are never uneven. The slightest variation in technique becomes a mirror image, inverting and about-facing again and again as it continues to chant the endless rhythms of life. The quilts beckon us to a world of wide-open spaces that are bounded by a fierce passion held in check. There we wander idly, finding not only joy and elation but also whispers of grief and lamentation, perhaps even low cries of despair.

I associate Yoshiko's work with the world of the primitive. We (I take the liberty of speaking for others as well as myself) revere primitive work. Things created by nameless artists let out their voices, singing vigorously of life and revealing to us a world of calm and ease. Such works are universally beloved. The spirit of their makers takes them over and dwells in them, living on and on.

Works of concentrated strength and seeming artlessness have a spirit of impromptu prayer that draws on the energy of nature. Impromptu creations can come about only through such prayer. There is no greater power on earth than that of prayer invested with the whole heart and mind and strength. Such prayer is life itself.

The best primitive works are brimming with life, radiant with youth. They have an unassuming strength, peace and freshness. They are ever new, as if brought into being only yesterday, yet lacking the sense of peril in things of today. Yoshiko's work has undergone many stages of evolution, while always remaining fresh and original. Her work shows the power of her tenacious will. Like primitive peoples, she embraces materials that lie near at hand, along with the tools to match them. Out of those natural juxtapositions are born new discoveries that go on fostering new creations.

Fashion authorities were unanimous in calling Yoshiko's discovery of bamboo-dyed white a tremendously difficult technical and creative feat. The application of bamboo dye to almost any fabric gives it a beautiful, completely new complexion. When I was shown that even fibers of type 66 nylon film could take on a gorgeous flesh tone, I felt I had been made witness to a kind of twentieth-century magic.

In this way, Yoshiko's secret processes have opened up new realms of the unknown and unseen. Her world is like the paradoxical world of the primitive -- springing from the bowels of the earth and connecting our lives with the people who lived before us and those who will come after.

In choosing to use innovative contemporary synthetics at times and at other times to weave and even dye her own cloth herself, Yoshiko has set a new aesthetic standard as a quiltmaker and a maker of cloth.

What is it, I wonder, that anchors and sustains Yoshiko, free-floating spirit that she is? At a temple in the ancient capital of Nara I witnessed the uninhibited freedom and stillness -- the serenity -- of her flower arrangements. Viewing them was like sipping fragrant tea before a piece of calligraphy by a master, or reveling in the simple goodness and sheer delight of a home-cooked meal.

I am convinced that Yoshiko Jinzenji's achievements in establishing a new genre in quilting will never be forgotten.

INTRODUCTION: Yoshiko Jinzenji

For me, quilting and natural dyeing are complementary elements in the same act of transforming cloth.

The quilts that initially inspired me to begin quilting, and that continue to fascinate me, are antique Amish and Mennonite works. After I began quilting about thirty years ago, I traveled many times to Indonesia, eventually establishing my studio there, and at one point I encountered the Indonesian selendang, a striking traditional shawl that very much resembled the Amish quilts that I already loved.

I wondered what it was that these two forms had in common, since the selendang is not quilted or pieced, and then I realized that they both were dyed with natural dye. This drove home to me the power of dyeing cloth with natural materials.

Quilting, dyeing, and the combinations of textures in the cloth itself -- all are elements that alter the surface of cloth, adding shadows and shapes that reflect light in different ways, and creating a pleasing rhythm of alternating tension and relaxation.

In addition to natural dyeing, I have often made quilts from the extremely innovative synthetic materials made by Jun'ichi Arai, one of Japan's best-known textile designers. In any case, no matter what the material, what I am striving for is to bring out and add to the essential textures of the cloth, to create shadows and light, and to find a balance between minimalism and a sense of richness.

My work has always been a natural progression from one interest to the next -- one adventure or experiment after another -- and this book is basically a record of that adventure.

I have received so much inspiration from traditions that arose outside Japan -- primarily from the quilting of North America and also from Asian dyeing and weaving traditions. I hope that by publishing this introduction to my work in English I can give back to the quilting world a little bit of what I have received.

Stoneware of Japan: Shino and Oribe
Ryoji Kuroda and Takeshi Murayama
Robert N. Huey and Lynne E. Riggs
Kodansha America, Inc.
575 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022
ISBN 4-7700-2897-0 112 pages, 150 color plates, $35.00, http://www.thejapanpage.com

The term wabisabi has been popping up a lot lately in writings devoted to traditional Japanese art forms. You come across it in recent books about Japanese gardens, Japanese craft-arts, magazine features, and academic journal articles. "Wabi" is that which is young, new, and fresh; "sabi" is older, wiser, more experienced. Each is incomplete without the other. Taken together, wabisabi is the beauty of things imperfect, the beauty of things modest and humble. The word is the Japanese equivalent of the Greek ideals of beauty and perfection (and is as shunned by Japanese artists today just as Greek ideals are rare to be found in the galleries of the West). Western literature has a similar word, "clinamen", the act of deliberately breaking a stylistic rule to enhance the beauty of an otherwise perfect whole.

Wabisabi is drawn from Zen Buddhism. The first Japanese devoted to wabisabi as a artstyle-cum-lifestyle were tea masters, priests, and monks who practiced Zen. Zen emphasizes direct, intuitive insight into transcendental truth beyond all intellectual conception. (The Buddha Gotama of roughly a millennium before may well have been appalled by such a divergence from his simple message of salvation through the Eightfold Noble Path of mental and moral behavior, but that's another story.) Wabisabi focuses on the importance of transcending one's ways of looking and thinking about things and even one's existence. The spiritual message of wabisabi is that all things are impermanent, imperfect, and incomplete. Its material expression holds high the values of natural process, irregularity, intimacy, absence of pretension, earthiness, and simplicity. In the tea ceremony, wabisabi is not the ceremony or its implements, wabisabi is the empty black raku cup still present after everyone departs, the speck of dust left hovering in the air after the charcoal's heat has stopped rising.

Today, say "stoneware" to anyone fond of traditional Japanese culture and most will respond "raku." Indeed, those loosely-shapen dark wonders of the low-fire kiln are the supercondensed span of an entire culture in an object you can hold. Yet in an almost artless preoccupation with doing just the opposite, two traditions expressing the same qualities of wabisabi using entirely materials and effect came into existence and rapidly became popular: Shino and Oribe ware. Both originated during Japan's artistic renaissance of the late sixteenth century (which interestingly was coterminus with the Europeam Renaissance beyond Italy, and just as tumultuous).

The tea ceremony's origins came in a gentler time, the Muromachi. It was as if wabisabi hung in the air after a peaceful zephyr, in the same way that war is in the air when come the winds of change. Though several theories claim to be the actual inspiration, the era is more definite. A 1932 chronicle relates, "In the first month of 1574, Kagemitsu, third son of Kageharu of the thirteenth generation after the first Seto potter Kato Kagemasa, moved to Akatsu. By virtue of a tea jar that he presented to Lord Oda Nobunaga, the latter formally recognized him as a retainer. Kakemitsu subsequently left Seto and moved to Kujiri, in Mino, in 1583. There . . . he continued working as a potter."

To diehard raku buffs, Shino ware must have seemed a bit overadorned, fussy perhaps. There are geometrics, abstracts, and representations of familiar fare such as birds, grasses, plus the occasional poem such as:

The inner essence Of the fence of deutzia flowers In a mountain village: The feeling of treading a road Covered with freshly fallen snow. The authors convey all this with a mix of the poet and the historian. Here is an extended passage that carries the aroma of the whole text:

"To me [Shino ware's] charm lies in the feel of its surface and the mellow luster that accords so well with that surface. And there is the straightforward beauty of the pictures decorating Shino ware. The overall effect is intoxicating. "Shino pictures are drawn with lively lines depicting the everyday scenery surrounding the potters‹the bridges over the streams at Kuguri, a cypress fence and dew-covered path leading to its brushwood gate, a grove of trees in flower, the trees and grasses just outside the window, even the mountain road they traveled day after day. "Such was the aesthetic of the Momoyama period in general. But the single tree, the few blades of grass these artists sketched are somehow pleasing because the designs pulse with life, the brushwork is clean and bold. "The white of Shino can be compared to the first snow of the season, or to the last traces of the winter snow, which the warm spring winds are erasing as the bush warbler's first song rings out. Shino's white surface is soft like a mother's breast; it brings back memories of childhood. "Shino white is tidiness itself. And on that white the potters painted designs with an iron glaze made of oni-ita, a red clay rich in iron and manganese and abundant in the Seto region. The effect of flame in the kiln added distinctive fire marks. Shino is an elusive ware, capable of infinite transformations. "The Shino potters thickly applied their glaze, which they made by carefully grinding feldspar and refining it in water. To this they added their own secret proportion of ash. Then, after offering sake and prayers to the gods of the kiln, and ritually scattering salt to purify the area, they entrusted their pieces to the fire. "Shino ware is the spirit of tea, the essence of pottery. It is the result of the flames of the kiln:

In the depths of the heart From which pottery springs Flows a crystal clear stream Reflecting nearby mountains. -- Rosanjin Kitaoji The above is but the glaze. To get the pot you must get the book. Be sure to look at pictures 2 and 3 on page 54: This seemingly unassuming Shino teabowl is considered the finest teabowl in existence.

Alas, or perhaps huzzah, styles last not long. The next innovation in Japanese teaware can be directly traced to a single man, Furuta Oribe, and as changes in teacups go, his was a doozy.

Japan in Oribe's time was a chessboard of warlords incessantly raiding each other for fun and profit. (It's an interesting speculation why so little of this spirit found its was into the competitive-mindedness of Japanese enterprises today vis-a-vis the wabisabi-challenged American ones.) Oribe, among other things, also was a distinguished general. His tastes ran to the "robust, generous, vigorous, and distorted in shape." He introduce these qualities to the entire tea ceremony‹most notably by making it part of a dinner event with a large number of others, all lubricated as much by sake as by tea. Hence Oribe commissioned not only tea ware but serving and dining dishes, sake ware, unusual geometrics, and heavy, dripping glazes the tea ceremony's predecessors would have deemed ghastly. This was not very Zen. On the other hand, Oribe's shaking up the establishment led directly to a great flowering of ceramics. Eventually more subtle tastes tamed down the founder's style‹a process that can be seen vividly in the many illustrations of Oribe ware‹and Oribe's great-great-great grandchildren's great grandchildren still being made today.

Alas, this review is all too brief. To sum the book in PR blurb terms, Classic Stoneware of Japan: Shino and Oribe is a comprehensive visual survey and text explication of the two traditions' glazes, processes, shapes, and decoration. You come away with a clear idea of the essence of these wares and with half an eye you can come to expertly recognize either. The detail is exhaustive given its scant 42 pages of text. Potters will celebrate it. Everyone else will learn from it. No one is likely to forget it.

We Are Eternal: What the Spirits Tell Me About Death
Robert Brown (with foreword by Peter Close)
Warner Books, Inc.
1271 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020
ISBN 0-446-52845-5 $TBA, http://www.twbookmark.com

Let's cut to the chase on this. What is a psychic? Dictionaries define "psychic" as, "Inexplicable with reference to present knowledge or scientific theory."

True enough, but it doesn't go very deeply into the reality of the thing. Another definition is, "Sensitive or responsive to phenomenon independent of normal sensory stimuli; also a person who has this ability."

Much hangs on the phrase "sensory stimuli," but let's clear up some definitions first. People with psychic abilities receive their information in several ways. A clairvoyant ("clear vision") sees things not perceived by normal vision; some believe this happens via the so-called "third eye". A clairaudient ("clear hearing") hears words or phrases in their heads that do not come from a physical source (this is to be distinguished from the hallucinations of certain mental illnesses wherein one "hears God" or some other figure). A clairsentient ("clear feeling") receives sensations such as a pain in their foot that is actually being felt by another person; sometimes this is described as, "tuning in and feeling the sensations in someone else's body." Finally, and most important in the context of Robert Brown's book, a "medium" is a person who connects directly with the spirits of people no longer on the earth. When a medium receives a message from someone "in spirit" and conveys it to the individual to whom the message is directed, the medium is a go-between, not an interpreter.

At heart is the principle that the message, not the messenger, is what counts. Even hardened skeptics come to doubt their skepticism if they go to enough demonstrations by enough mediums. The facts and relationships communicated are simply too numerous and too accurate to idly dismiss. There are, to be sure, varying abilities among mediums—it is, after all, a largely learned ability—and there are some who use "cold readings", or using the power of suggestion to zero in on what the sitter really wants to hear. Aggrandizing one's abilities happens with just about any profession, so it's unwise to blacken the profession of mediumship too hastily with the doubting brush.

Those who remain skeptic to the last should visit the website of a University of Arizona professor named Gary Schwartz (http://www.openmindsciences.com/ and http://www.openmindsciences.com/whitecrow-exp.htm ). Mr. Schwartz has conducted numerous, stringent, double-blind scientific studies in which the medium can't possibly know or ferret out the sitter's expectations. Despite all the barriers, the messages from beyond this life still come, and are accurate.

The cumulative effect of all this research and practical experience is that mediumship and psychic receptivity are just as valid as other forms of evidence. Psychics and mediums know, for example, that there are other senses beyond touch, sight, smell, and so on. What might these be?

Well, sense of balance, sense of awareness, sense of direction, sense of self, sense of intuition—these are a few. In a room with other people in it, what draws your eyes to the one person there who is looking directly at you? If these elude the explicable and yet are still facts of experience, why are psychic phenomenon so far-fetched?

Robert Brown's book is about the development of his mediumship abilities and the things he has learned practicing it. He has a several important messages to convey. The book's title, "We Are Eternal," sums his message in three words. In anecdote after anecdote, combined with his well-thought-through philosophical explanations, he demonstrates that our personal identity as it exists on earth lives on after us. In the state of being called "in spirit," our identity keeps its sense of self and of one's family. There is, in other words, no "death" except in a cellular sense. Death is the closing of this life's biophysical door to enter a different kind of room, the domain of the spirit self. The person who passes through it is unchanged; only the room has changed.

This spiritual claim is denounced by every major religion. Most religions insist, without a shred of experiential evidence to say why, that upon death the spirit or soul becomes an abstract, transcendent entity void of any identity except for its relationship to the Creator. Why exactly this attitude exists is hard to say, but most religions flat-out deny that emotions, personality, and memories can pass into the spirit state and exist there just as they do in this world. Our emotions, personality, and memory are irretrievably glued to our spirit, not our life. A person in spirit is an actual person, the same person who was alive on earth.

Institutional religions are not the only naysayers. Psychic phenomenon are likewise rejected by the two dominant intellectualisms of the Western Grain, scientific method and the rationalist view of truth founded on the principle of methodical doubt.

Let's take the first. Certainly psychic phenomenon are "unscientific," based on the term's self-definition. But in the unsolved mystery department the sciences have plenty of skeletons in their own closet. Cosmologists haven't a clue what makes up the 75 percent of the universe called "dark energy," and are still pretty clueless about an additional 20 percent called "dark matter" (though they are confident they will one day quantify it). Yes, those numbers are correct: All the ordinary matter—electrons, neutrons, protons, and so on—that comprise our bodies, the earth, the stars, and the entire universe totals to less is five percent of all that is there. Anthropologists tell us all about the survival of the fittest, but go silent on the issue of why it exists and for what reason it was put here. Physics? What keeps electrons in atoms flying around at specific distances from the nuclei of atoms? It isn't gravity because their infinitesimal mass would fly off in all directions at the velocities at which they orbit. The answer is: light. The constant exchange of light between the electron and its nucleus keeps the electron bound in its orbit. Give it enough extra energy from outside, e.g. heat, and it bounces up to a higher orbit and ejects a ray of light that is so characteristic in its properties that we have the word "spectrum" to define its energy state. Our eyes interpret this as red hot versus white hot.

Going this one further, cosmologists have learned a lot about the properties of the universe but still can't say why it was made in such a way as to proceed from its original state of infinite density to a state of utter nothingness. Physicists have very clear ideas about the various laws that govern the behavior of matter, but haven't a clue why these laws came into being or for what reason. Hence it is arbitrary to single out psychics and mediums and say they're nothing but speculative dreamers or overly gullible.

Let's examine the message, not the vehicle, at the core of Robert Brown's book. "We Are Eternal" says the front cover of his book, so then, "Does the gentleman really prove it?"

You must decide for yourself, but my conclusion is Yes. But first, full disclosure time: I have been read by Robert and three other professional mediums. All of them pulled information literally out of the air they could not possibly have known. Robert once accurately described the close friendship between my deceased wife and my deceased aunt, accurately giving their names without any knowledge of my family background. A psychic named Peter Serraino once looked at me, seated in the midst of a dozen others in a room, and said, "You have a pain in your left foot." I did, a callus that had split.

Mediumship can be better thought of not as hearing voices but as parting of a veil. There is an excellent metaphor that, to me, captures the truth behind the veil of Robert's message. It goes like this:

A guru and his doubt-ridden disciple were waiting for someone to bring them some food. "Why are you any different from me?" the disciple grumbled. "We're both sitting here waiting for our dinner." "That's true," the guru said. "We see the same room," the disciple went on. "We live in the same world. There's no difference at all." The guru shook his head. "You say we live in the same world, but we don't. Your world is private; no one else can enter it. It is made of personal memories, desires, feelings, and dreams. My world is not private, it is open to all. It is eternal and unbounded. Nothing exists in it that I claim as my own. Wherever I look I see love, trust, truth, and eternity." The disciple rebutted. "If your world is so much better than mine, why are you here?" "Because your world is only a dream," the guru said quietly. "And it gives me pleasure when someone wakes up."

If you substitute the word "medium" for "guru", you can better understand the psychic's and the medium's role. Everyone has personal memories, desires, feelings, and dreams. The psychic or medium is no different from anyone else. But by proclivity and training, mediums have learned to slip beyond their own sensory limits for a time, to enter the state of claiming nothing as their own, enabling themselves to see love, trust, truth, and eternity without the colored lenses of a point of view. Think of this state as a spiritual steam bath, in which all the pores of awareness are open and clean. The medium perceives with the eyes of the spirit, not the senses, just the same as the guru.

That's not to say mediums are saints one and all. Even the spiritually in touch have their bad days. On page 179 Robert points out, "One of the reasons that mediums cannot function all the time in 'receptive' mode is that at some point they have to be their physical selves."

The full reality of "the spirit" as understood by Robert is set forth simply and cheerily in 210 pages. In plan, the book proceeds from the particular to the general. This parallels his personal development as a medium. The first several chapters are an engaging biography of a somewhat wide-eyed young boy, at once curious and dubious of everything he's told. His first psychic apparition was clairvoyant and occurred at age five: he saw a man out a window laughing in at him in the dark night. This is easily dismissable as boy-sees-bogeyman stuff, except for the fact that three years later he came across a photo of the same man in a family album and showed it to his mother. She blanched and had to sit down to regain her composure. When she recovered she explained it was her brother, who had died some years before.

In time Robert became acquainted with a circle of folks who realized they had psychic abilities and met regularly to hone them. As he engagingly tells it, in some of his early efforts that he self-evaluated as spectacular, the best he could wring out by way of encouragement from more experienced hands was a "Not bad," and invitations to return.

The rest of his biography is something of a spiritual rags-to-riches tale. Robert is among the handful of truly top-ranking mediums in the world. Yet he remains modest about it. He is not one for name-dropping, but a number of celebrity names do appear. TV and bestseller personalities like John Edward and James Van Praagh consulted him by phone without revealing who they were—and then rang up for more. A lesser person might crow this to the skies, but Robert expends little ink on hobnobbing with the celebs and much more on his relationship with Peter Close, who among today's generation of mediums is the equivalent of the writer's writer.

Robert's book really takes off in a chapter named, "So What Have the Spirits Told Me?" There he deals with the vexatious issues of suicide ("taking oneself over"); the passing of a child; what biological and psychological disease reveal about our psychic state; the afterlife of pets (there is one, though the cats don't shed so badly as before); and a critique of traditional religions from a medium's insights of the afterlife.

All these are canapes, so to speak, leading to the salad, his discussion of reincarnation and the laws of karma. These two notions are not necessarily linked, nor are they native to most regions in the world. They have often been appropriated by people who believe that anything from India is better than anything else. That does not make them ipso facto true. He suggests, ". . . the evidence for man's survival after physical death as an intelligent, conscious individual has been well demonstrated and documented over many centuries. . . . Through all the thousands of spirit contacts I have had I found no evidence to prove that man reincarnates. . . . My problem with [karma] is that we are, according to those who believe in reincarnation, a sum total of all that we have been." In keeping with his primary thesis—who we are in the physical world is who we are in the spiritual world—Robert ascribes "reincarnation" phenomenon to deja-vu instead. Deja vu is a sense, by memory or feeling, that you have been somewhere or perceived something before. And too, humans are famously wont to wish upon those they dislike some form of agonizing punishment in the fires of hell. (Those who believe in a retributive system of just desserts never seem to consider that others may be wishing the same upon them.)

Robert's thesis is clearly Western in its linearity. His could be the tale of time, if time had a spirit self, for time, too, leaps over the illusory barriers of the material and immaterial. He leaves aside the prickly and indeed pointless questions of how spirit originates and what it does after the earth ends billions of years from now. His more important point is that our spirit comes into this earthly form with full knowledge of what it needs to experience, and proceeds along the path of learning till "death," whereupon it passes into the spirit realm as a realized being. However—and equally Western—he posits a free will. It is this free will that can opt to return, perhaps to more fully realize its own being, perhaps to become a Bodhisattva figure, postponing personal full realization in order to guide others to theirs.

Alas, all the foregoing is lamentably "Robert Lite," a mere taste of the thoughtfulness of his book. His is a lucid read, solidly presented, and shorn of sensationalism and self-aggrandizement. A hint of his character can be divined by the fact that he shuns TV as the vehicle of his message and instead sticks to public gatherings and private sessions. Sitting there on a dais, except for the messages he pulls out of the spirit realm and conveys to attendees, you'd think he was a shoe salesman who blundered through the wrong door.

It is time to step back from his book and look at his message in that second tradition of the Western Grain, rational doubt. He is, to be sure, "Western," but only to a point. His message is that the great truths from our souls are not hidden behind the appearance of things, they are hidden in plain sight. They are uttered to us by voices we can hear, if we are willing to listen beyond our cloud of unknowing.

To the cloud of unknowing our egos have two responses: doubt till proven true, or believe till proven false. Much of the Western approach to knowledge is founded on the first. It has rewarded us rather well. We doubted myth and we got to hope. We doubted theology and got to humanism. We doubted authority and got to democracy. The French philosopher Descartes founded his entire world-view on doubt, inspiring much of Western thinking that followed. He doubted and doubted till he could doubt no more, and what was left was the mind doing the doubting. This is codified as "I think, therefore I am." Somewhat later Immanuel Kant came along and threw cold water on all that, asserting that one can never know the true nature of things; we can rely only on appearances, and of appearances, thought is but one.

Robert offers us something entirely different, that we should feel neither loss nor despair at our unknowing, but rather bewonder the beautiful flowering that unfolds from impenetrable mystery. Robert has generous company. Nearly every artist tries to capture this same flowering, but in the realm of feelings instead of the spirit.

Robert's method is to ask what happens if we instead systematically accept. Accept and accept till we can accept no more. What do we get? We get that all knowledge is valid, and if all knowledge is valid, all knowers are, too. We get "I am of you as you are of me." Keep up this chain of acceptance and we arrive at a destination almost every belief system posits somewhere in its core: We are one with all beings who have ever lived, and ever will. The great unity of being slides in and out of this world that we call life. This unexpected juxtaposition moves the astute reader of Robert's book past conceptual oppositions towards that certain point in the development of the mind from which life and death, the real and the imaginary, past and future, the communicable and the incommunicable, the high and the low, cease to be seen as contradictory. I am not a me, I am a we. All of us are all of each other.

The medium's relationship with the spiritual makes possible moral guidelines by which one can manage one's life in society—guidelines that do not depend on heroic archetypes, myths, poorly understood natural phenomenon that later are found to be purely natural, or an architecture of humanity devoted to explaining it all and tidying up the loose ends. Robert's is akin to the Buddha's ethos: you alone are responsible for what happens to you. The only way to attain a sense of balance in the face of so many conflicting beliefs, and perhaps the best way to come into touch with one's own spirit, is to do exactly the opposite of Descartes, accept, accept, accept, and discover where we are taken. The medium, truly, is the message.

Dana De Zoysa
Reviewer


Cindy Lynn's Bookshelf

Without a Trace
Tim Miller
Flying Dolphin Press
1620 S. Friendswood Dr. No. 195 Friendswood, TX 77546
1-59304-003-2, May 2003, $9.95

It is a crime of such horror, it chills one to just think about it. A man kidnaps a young woman, cuts her clothes off, then buries her, just to her chin. As they cry and beg, he watches, and eventually he tires of them, and finishes the job, burying them alive.

Drew Kane is a jail officer in Freeman county, until a simple accident threatens both his job there and his dream of becoming a police officer. Fortunately his friend, Detective Rex Thomas, who he's been helping after work, has involved him in a case that seems simple on the outside -- at least, that's how the powers that be want to keep it. Rex Thomas is sure that the girls are being kidnapped, but the higher-ups are determined that these are isolated cases of girls running away from home, despite the evidence to the contrary. When the killer ups the anti by setting fire to one of the victim's cars, right in front of her parent's house, it proves Thomas's point and earns Kane a badge.

Drew Kane, seizing the opportunity to prove himself, cleverly begins to follow the clues. He and Thomas are assisted by the lovely Angela Woods, whose strength and resilience in the face of danger is truly admirable. The attraction that Drew and Angela have for each other gives a sweet balance to the bitter fear that laces the novel. The action and the pacing are pretty relentless, and so it's nice to take a quick break with them, giving us all a chance to catch out breaths...or to release them. It is one of the few mercies Miller gives us, as his shrewd understanding of the criminal mind and his incredible way of drawing out suspense makes this book hard to put down. We see things from the perspectives of the victims as well as the killer himself, and these short scenes add to the creepiness that underlies every paragraph, and the end, when it comes, is definitely a surprise.

It's little wonder that Miller seems to know what he's doing. Having dedicated himself to law enforcement in the real world, he's seen every aspect of this book close up. Originally published by Page Free, he has managed to make the rare jump over to a small publisher...having also read his excellent Out of Nowhere, I am confident that his future projects will take him even further. Without a Trace will make it impossible for you to comfortably go down into anyone's basement...including your own...without peering in the shadows and looking around for a shovel, and holding your breath until you're back up on the first floor, the door safely locked behind you.

The Plot
Kathleen Lamarche
Echelon Press
P.O. Box 1084 Crowley, TX 76036
www.echelonpress.com 256 pages ISBN: 1-59080-203-9

Cassandra Hart is driving to the airport to meet her father when she sees an accident just inside the airport grounds. Worry turns to horror when she realizes that the victim is her father, Madison Hart. On the surface, it's a hit and run...but Cassie isn't so sure. She shares her father's journalistic instincts, and can't help but wondering if his death has something to do with the big story he was working on. A break-in at his house the day of the funeral makes it even more likely, especially since it's only his office that was attacked. When she receives a phone call from Selena, a long time friend and assistant to her father, who gives her some hints to follow, she soon discovers that not only was she right, that her father was murdered, but the danger is far from over.

The Plot is about the ultimate conspiracy..."Trust no one" advises Madison in a letter, meant to be read post mortem, to his daughter. And Cassie has a hard time trusting anyone, for all the people around her seem to have secrets...Selena is being looked for by the FBI, her godfather, Hamilton Bates, seems to be overly concerned about her actions and has connections to an organization whose main idea seems to undermine everything the Bill of Rights stands for. The only person who feels like he's on her side is Inspector Max Henshaw.

Lamarche has created a frightening conspiracy idea and woven together it with real things that we see happening in our government today, all to create a tense, page turning read. The fact that it seems so sensible, even when you're thinking about how impossible it would be to get all these nations to agree to such heinous plans, makes it all the more immediate. The idea that the Bill of Rights is being slowly eroded away is a very worrisome one...even though we all say it could never happen, the rules around us seem to become more strict, making us secretly wonder if it's not already been done. Also scary is how easily men like Hamilton Bates use their power to get the most horrible of things done.

The pacing is excellent...and the characters are wonderful. Cassie is very sensible...when she realizes that actions must be taken, she doesn't dwadle, or mope...she moves forward. She's tenacious, and smart. Selena is another wonderful character whose resourcefulness and warmth makes her a pleasure to be with. Max Henshaw is a great character because his intelligence and dedication to the truth...and to Cassie...makes his point of view a pleasure to read. A suspenseful, patriotic read.

How to Self Publish Your Own Comic Book
Tony C. Caputo
Watson Guptill
770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
ISBN 0-8230-2455-5, $19.95, www.watsonguptill.com

So, you have the script. You have an artist...perhaps yourself, perhaps someone else. You even have a comic put together...and since you're not alone, there are millions of others out there trying to get the big guys to notice them, you figure your chance at actually getting published is slim to none. Now, would the protagonist of your book give up? Of course not. She'd take matters into her own hands...and so should you. Tony C. Caputo has gone this path, and he knows all the ins and outs of it. His credits include Speed Racer, The Real Ghost Busters and The Green Hornet. He starts with the basics, from office space to software. He then goes into sound advice on company structure, before discussing trademarks, copyrights and licenses. He includes an example copy of a freelance work for hire agreement. Comic book production was one of my favorite chapters, as it isolates each element, from penciling to example scripts, and explains what each does to the comic as a whole. Here he gives some more good advice, including rate tables and suggesting that artists draw test samples to insure that the girl with the cool portfolio actually knows what she's doing. I also liked the sample contracts that he includes in the contracts section...he makes understanding some of the legal ease a little easier, and it gives a real feel for the type of things you may see...or need to make. I learned a lot of good tips in the distribution and sales chapter, and I also learned about color striping...I'd see the stripes, but never knew why there were on there. He has some really fantastic ideas in the promotional section...from signings to photo ops to making a booth that people are sure to stop at. He continues to deliver practical advice through the book keeping, capital and investors and secondary rights sections. No matter what aspect of the field Caputo tackles, you can be assured of strong, useful information delivered with a heap of experience. In a lot of ways, it's like having a wiser friend explaining all the aspects, someone who wants you to learn from his mistakes. A lot of things he says, such as when he suggests that when a retailer calls you and says something like, "I love your stuff, but my distributor won't sell it to me." that you call the distributor, where chances are, you'll find out that the retailer's three month behind paying them. If that's not the voice of experience, then the I don't know what is. A well written, heavily exampled and illustrated book that even includes a long list of resources in the back, this is a must have reference for anyone who wants to sell their own comic, or who wants to have a good idea of the industry.

The Great Western Railway
Patrick Whitehouse and David St. John Thomas
David and Charles c/o FW Publications
1507 Dana Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45207
ISBN 0-7153-8763-4, $19.99 1-800-289-0962

Considered one of England's greatest railways, the GWR served travelers in so many ways. It was, in some aspects, its own kingdom, when you stepped up into the cairrage it enclosed you away from the rest of the world, providing everything you would need, from packed lunches to lap rugs. You could buy jig saw puzzles, you could read the magazine Railway Ribaldry, all entertainments put out by GWR. Everything was clean, the journey was fast, and it is not surprising that it earned the appeliation "God's Wonderful Railway."

This lavishly illustrated book gives the reader a comprehensive view of this railroad, and of a world we will never again see. Taking us from the very beginning, it discusses all the details...from locomotive construction to an in-depth look at three of its most famous stations. It tells us how the passengers traveled, how the freight was shipped, and the magic of summer Saturdays...easily their busiest time. We also find out about publicity, broad and narrow gauges, and famous lines.

The illustrations aren't just of trains. There are schedules, cartoons and maps. You can study out the track layouts of Paddington, Bristol, and Birmingham Stations. These also happen to be the three stations they feature, though details about lesser known ones are given as well.

Of course, there are pictures of engines. Some are diesel, but steam is queen in this book. Most of the pictures are in black and white, but some are in color, showing the deep beautiful green of the paint. There are some very captivating shots, most from the archives of GWR itself, and truly show the railway at its best.

The text is well written, the narrative interesting and filled with facts. Sidebars along the page edges highlight interesting points and lend room to longer, descriptive captions. The writers heavily quote from contemporary sources, and aren't afraid to provide chunks of tables and figures that both illuminate the text and give a true understanding of what things were like. One of my favorite sidebars is an actual menu...for three shillings a delight full lunch basket of hot or cold roast or pressed beef, bread, butter, cheese and salad could be yours.

From the 1840's to the 1960's, the GWR was king...it symbolized adventure and romance to even the poorest of travelers. If you're looking for a book that encapsulates all that the GWR stood for, that gives you a true feel for what railway transportation was like in those times, then this is certainly a must have book.

The Creative Writer's Style Guide
Christopher Leland
Story Press
ISBN: 1-884910-55-6, 248 pages, including index, $22.99, www.writersdigest.com

I've had this book for a month, and already I've put some wear on it. Yes, a month may seem a long time to take to get to reviewing something, but I wanted to test it, to see if I would actually use it. This concept for the review started as an accident...I'd had the book for an hour, and I needed to be reminded about punctuating around parenthesis. Any creative writer knows that sometimes the Little, Brown Handbook doesn't have everything...especially for a creative writer. In the past, I've relied on wading through well loved fiction books to help me figure out how to do things...and we all know how good of an idea that is. I craved a resource that I could turn to, where the rules were easy to find, where I didn't have to say silly things like, "Well, Barbara Hambly does her dialogue quotes this way, let's see what John Sandford does."

I hear some murmurings in the crowd. "What about Strunk and White's Elements of Style?" you say, "What about The MLA Handbook?" And there are some other sources being named, useful in degrees...but there's something about this book that's special. Now, maybe it's because I have a slightly old Strunk and White (1960), but they don't really discuss the same things. And Strunk and White's not very conducive to quick and dirty research. I think part of the specailness of this book is that it's just for creative writer people. Those who couldn't write serious journalism if it was dictated to us, those of us who have realized that nonfiction rules don't always apply to fiction.

The book is set up in two sections. The first part is the basics...grammar, usage and stylistic conventions. Here he clearly explains things from nouns and verbs to dialogue. You may roll your eyes over the thought of someone going over nouns again with you, but he reminded me of things I'd forgotten, all the while phrasing it so that I didn't feel looked down upon. This is important, especially if you find yourself feeling embarrassed when you realize you forget the difference between a mass noun and a count noun. ( A mass noun is when you say "The corn is ready" rather than "The corns is ready.", corn being the mass noun in that instance, and a count noun is one you can place a numeric value in front of, and it sounds correct...a million oranges. See, I told you I knew this! Did I know this yesterday? Well...er...I'm sure it was somewhere in my head.) This section also includes a lengthy section on punctuation, which I refer to often, since so many of the rules have become elastic.

The second part, "Ten Issues of Language and Style." is much shorter, but filled with things of interest. One of the best sections is on character names, where he discusses the problems that some choices can cause (such as picking names for minor characters that are too close together) as well as tips on using the name properly. He also describes borrow words, slang, jargon, offensive words and dialect...all the while making valid and thought worthy points about their usage, and how they affect our work.

I'm very excited about this book because it provides, not only a one stop check place (I've become extremely familiar with the index -- quick how do I really use a colon here?) but as a place to refresh oneself on a lot of concepts, and to gain new insight on even the most ordinary of style tools.

Cindy Lynn Speer
Reviewer


Charisse's Bookshelf

The Author's Toolkit: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing and Publishing Your Book
Mary Embree
Allworth Press
10 East 23 Str., Suite 510, New York, NY 10010
http://www.allworth.com ISBN 1-58115-260-4, Softcover $16.95, 192 pages

"For most of us who possess the soul of a writer, there are book ideas that call us begging us to write them and bring them out of obscurity. I think it would be sad to reach the end of our days and realize with regret that we never did get around to writing that book--the one that tugged at our heart for so many years." Mary Embree

Mary Embree, author, editor, and literary consultant, comes to the writer's rescue with The Author's Toolkit. Within the covers of this easy-to-follow, informational book are the essential steps for the evolution of virtually any type of manuscript, fiction or nonfiction. Whether the initial idea is vague and difficult to pin down to a tight focus or whether it's carved in native stone, Embree moves the writer through a distinct set of guidelines that are certain to cover all the bases in the publication process.

In this well-constructed text, Embree defines the road to publication in a methodical, start-to-finish layout. She begins with the fragile seed of an idea. "Don't worry if you can't figure out what that first page, first paragraph, first sentence should be," she writes. "You don't have to know that now." And she means it! Through a series of preparatory chapters, Embree instructs the writer in such issues as how to pinpoint the true beginning, how to gather the preliminary research, which sources to consult on style and usage, and how to outfit the writer's desk for optimal success.

Once the text advances the manuscript beyond the edit and rewrite stages, The Author's Toolkit details two crucial steps necessary to any manuscript's success: the Book Proposal and the Query Letter. Examples are structured for both, as well as the basics on copyright concerns, collaborations, and publishing agreements. A variety of relevant subjects are touched upon in each chapter, with many of the more critical points receiving closer scrutiny. The result is a well-rounded knowledge base for anyone new to the publishing arena. Several pages of beneficial resources—book titles, periodicals, and writer's organizations—are also included, along with a supportive glossary and index.

The Author's Toolkit, a well-organized, streamlined approach to the writer's craft, is not another inspirational read for novice writers stalled in wishful thinking. Embree's book is designed for the serious writer who is committed to transforming an unpolished manuscript into a publishable product, and equips the newcomer with an indispensable set of tools specific to the publishing industry.

The Inside Story on Teen Girls
Alice Rubenstein, EdD/Karen Zager, PhD
American Psychological Association/APA LifeTools
750 First Str., NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242
http://www.apa.org ISBN 1-55798-892-7, Softcover $12.95, 454 pages

"If you had the chance to have a private and confidential conversation with an expert with a great deal of knowledge and understanding about the concerns of adolescent girls today, what would you ask them?" When a cross section of adolescent girls from the United States responded to this very question, along with a host of teachers, parents, and other professionals, more than 6,000 questions were brought before a qualified panel of psychological expertise.

As leading experts in the field of adolescence, parenting, and relationship issues, Rubenstein and Zager draw upon their past participation in the American Psychological Association Task Force on Adolescent Girls and their private practices for the foundation of this remarkable compilation. Their combined interest in searching for answers to the questions most asked by parents and teens results in a treasure chest of practical advice. There are several possible answers to any given question. The appropriate solution is solely in the hands of the reader as specific criteria are taken into consideration. The authors themselves note "there is more than one perspective and therefore more than one answer for almost every question" because of existing diversity.

The flip-styled layout moves the reader into action, thus seamlessly bridging the gap between the two generations. In the first half, parents and teachers receive replies to their questions in the framework of understanding adolescent behavior. The adult learns to depersonalize the conflict and examine the issues from a teen's perspective. Cautionary advice follows each pivotal section. For instance, when a mother asks what factors initially lead a girl to premarital sex, the experts outline known factors, one of which is peer pressure. The parent knows she cannot rear her child in a clinical bubble free of these pressure points. However, her awareness of these factors as a reality in her daughter's complex world will ultimately assist her in shoring up her daughter's strength and confidence. When the book is flipped over, the same flawless attention is given to the agonizing angst and problematic struggles of the adolescent teen.

The Inside Story on Teen Girls destroys the barriers between generations and opens the path for healthy communication. Rubenstein and Zager have given parents and teens, as well as educators, a strategic tool. In a time of increasing pressures and societal shortcomings, this book paves the way to stronger relationships and better understanding.

Babu's Song
Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen & Aaron Boyd, illustrator
Lee & Low Books Inc.
95 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016
http://www.leeandlow.com ISBN 1-58430-058-2, Hardcover $16.95, 2003, 32 pages

"There among the bright bolts of cloth and shiny pots was a new soccer ball. It was just what he had always wanted. Bernardi pressed his face against the window and looked at the price. It was more than it cost to go to school!"

As Bernardi, a young Tanzanian boy, plays soccer with the schoolyard boys, he believes he will never have the opportunity to attend school, wear a school uniform, or even afford a regulation soccer ball. He lives with his beloved grandfather, Babu, whose voice was hushed years ago by an illness. If there is anything Bernardi longs for even more, it is to once again hear his grandfather sing their favorite song.

Babu earns a meager living as a toy maker, fashioning his toys from bits of string, wood, and scrap materials. It's up to Bernardi to sell his creations in the village market and to salvage remnants from the vendors. One day, the salt lady offers him a plastic gunnysack for Babu's crafts, an item he presumes his grandfather will surely discard. After a meal of beans and rice, Babu gives his grandson a special gift—a music box made from an empty tin of lard. Bernardi quickly recognizes the tune as Babu's song and holds this new treasure close to his heart. Conflict arises the following market day when a woman eyes his precious music box and refuses to accept no for an answer.

Stuve-Bodeen, a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1980s, is the award-winning author of Elizabeti's Doll and its sequels, Mama Elizabeti and Elizabeti's School. Babu's Song, written for ages 4-8, is an honest look into the heart of the soul and the ties that bind us to those we love. Babu knows the deepest desires of his grandson's heart, and Bernardi knows the value of his grandfather's love. The actions each take to test and honor their relationship with one another, and the mistakes they make in the process, drive Stuve-Bodeen's story in a direction that will spark reader empathy for their struggle and the unexpected resolution. As Bernardi's remorse is greeted with Babu's forgiveness and acceptance, a stronger bond forms between them, giving way to a flood of loving expressions that will both satisfy and surprise in the end.

Boyd, an illustrator with a fine arts degree, is the illustrator of Lee & Low's Bebop Books imprint. Free of hard lines and outlines, his easy-flowing watercolors give Babu's Song, his first picture book, an emotional intensity. His artistic style captures the sense of scene in this foreign land, generating a fluid energy and movement scene after scene.

Butterflies for Kiri
Cathryn Falwell
Lee & Low Books Inc.
95 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016-7801
ISBN 1-58430-100-7, Hardcover $16.95, 2003, 32 pages, http://www.leeandlow.com

"Kiri gently slid the beautiful papers from the package. She spread them out like a rainbow—purples, pinks, blues, greens, yellows, oranges, and reds. Kiri ran her finger softly over the papers. They were as thin as butterfly wings."

When Kiri's Auntie Lu sends her a birthday package adorned with a purple paper butterfly, Kiri learns a valuable lesson in patience and perserverance. Once inside, she finds a special book, Origami: The Art of Paper Folding, and a glorious stack of delicate colored papers.

After studying the diagram for the origami butterfly, Kiri carefully folds her paper square as the book instructs only to realize the corners do not match. When she gives it another try, she realizes the old creases show through, and the paper tears as she refolds. Reluctantly, Kiri surrenders and returns the beautiful papers to the origami box. Each day she begins anew, practicing the origami steps until she gets each one down to near perfection.

One day in the park, Kiri is mesmerized by the colors of nature—the brilliant blue sky, the emerald-green grass, the red and purple tulips, and a paper-thin, yellow butterfly. She assembles her paint supplies to recreate the amazing scene. Once again, Kiri makes mistakes with her watercolors and sees her artistic efforts as hopeless. When she eyes the box of colored papers, her determination takes over. Armed with scissors and glue, Kiri gently cuts tulip petals from the selection of origami papers and glues them to the watercolor canvas she thought she had ruined. It is when she spies a yellow paper in the origami box that she knows just what to do!

Falwell is the author/illustrator of several award-winning children's books, including Turtle Splash (Greenwillow), an ALA Notable Book. Butterflies for Kiri springs from her childhood memory of a delightful box of art supplies given to her by a beloved aunt. The fresh artwork for this book is rendered in cut and torn paper collage in bold colors.

Butterflies for Kiri, for ages 4-8, demonstrates one child's pathway through various obstacles to the achievement of her goal, a marvelous example of character building and a testament to the creative spirit. As a special bonus, the fifteen-step diagram for Kiri's butterfly is included in the back of the book.

Recycle Every Day!
Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Marshall Cavendish
99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591
ISBN 0-7614-5149-8, Hardcover $16.95, 32 pages, http://www.marshallcavendish.com

"Never doubt for one moment that a group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world," Margaret Mead once said. "Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

When a special opportunity arrives on Minna's doorstep, she must explore all her options. The Community Recycling Calendar has invited each student to create an original recycling poster. Since only a handful will be chosen for publication in the calendar, her idea must be a clever one.

Shortly after Minna shares her classroom project with her rabbit family, everyone gets involved. On Monday, each family member scours the drawers and closets for clothing items to donate to the Community Clothing Bank. On Tuesday, fallen leaves and cut grass are added to the compost for use in the spring garden plot. On Wednesday, used and discarded aluminum cans are delivered to the recycling center to someday return to the market as new cans. As the week moves along, Minna's family points out the poster possibilities in each of their recycling efforts; however, the final decision is all Minna's!

Wallace, author and illustrator of several picture books including Pumpkin Day!, Apples, Apples, Apples (Winslow Press), and Tell-A-Bunny (Winslow Press), creates her three-dimensional cut-outs for Recycle Every Day! from origami and recycled paper. She breathes life into Minna's rabbit family with clean, rounded lines and a strong, eye-catching color scheme. The strength in the story is the incredible power of choice she gives her star character. Although Minna takes in every suggestion her family members have to offer, the ultimate decision is hers alone. Couple that with the surprise ending, and the entertainment quality earns a high rating.

Recycle Every Day! is a picture book written for ages 4-8, but the added features make Wallace's book a viable selection for older readers in a classroom setting. The Author's Note shares her fundamental dedication to a successful recycling program—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle—and challenges her readers to search the pages for a host of recycled papers instrumental during the creative process. She also provides an educational recycling game and a relevant activity suitable for either a classroom or a family environment.

Abigail Muchmore: An Original Tale
Lois G. Grambling
Susan Havice, illustrator
Marshall Cavendish
99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591
ISBN 0-7614-5116-1, Hardcover $16.95, 32 pages, http://www.marshallcavendish.com

"Abigail Muchmore lived on a farm in a place where Mr. West Wind never stopped blowing. He blew all day. He blew all night. And mostly he blew in long, strong gusts."

Even-tempered Abigail Muchmore had no problem with Mr. West Wind. She let him blow day after day with nary a complaint. Each morning, she stood the trees upright, hammered the shingles back onto her roof, and pulled the frightened hog out from under the porch stoop. Still, she did not complain. These were daily tasks in her usual routine.

One day, Mr. West Wind's annoying antics go too far! He blows Abigail's new bloomers over the lofty, green hills and onto Sam Golightly's property. He blows the ripe pears from her pear tree over the lofty, green hills, past Sam Golightly's property, and lands them on the Pickerel place, where Mrs. Pickerel pickles the pears for the supper meal. Then he blows her sad-eyed mongrel, Tornado Pup, over the lofty, green hills, past Sam Golightly's property, beyond the Pickerel place, and all the way into the next county! This hysterical progression of events sets off the mild-mannered Abigail Muchmore, who concocts a clever scheme to lasso Mr. West Wind by the tip of his tail. Her plan leads to a successful resolution and a more amicable relationship for them both as a mutual respect evolves.

Grambling, a former teacher and school social worker, is the author of This Whole Tooth Fairy Thing's Nothing But a Big Rip-Off!, Big Dog, and Can I Have a Stegosaurus, Mom? Can I? Please? (Troll Assoc.), a Children's Choice book. Abigail Muchmore is a laugh-out-loud picture book, a star choice for a story hour. The plot is somewhat predictable, but the fun factor will keep the audience fully engaged from beginning to end.

Havice is the illustrator and designer of several books, including Ola's Wake (Henry Holt & Co.) and I'm Sorry, Almira Ann (Scholastic Paperbacks). Her whimsical illustrations for Abigail Muchmore are rendered in soft, fluid watercolors. Nothing is more comical than to see Abigail's "fancy, new, store-bought bloomers" sail across the blustery, blue sky!

Written for ages 4-8, Abigail Muchmore is an amusing tall tale that explores the possibility of tolerance and compromise without a preachy moral message.

Visiting Day
Jacqueline Woodson
James E. Ransome, illustrator
Scholastic Press
555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012
ISBN 0-590-40005-3, Hardcover $15.95, 32 pages, http://www.scholastic.com

Speaking about his own brother's incarceration, illustrator Ransome says, "I will never forget the contrast of the clear blue sky, and the pure green grass against the cold brick building with black windows that housed him, and the barbed wire fence that separated us for all those months."

It's daybreak and it's Visiting Day! A young girl awakens to the sound of her grandmother humming over a hot stovetop as she fries chicken for the day 's long journey. She thinks about her father behind the prison walls and wonders if he is grooming for his little girl's visit. Slipping her hand into Grandma's hand, they wait together at the bus stop. Upon their arrival, both are led into the visiting room along with other visitors and prisoners. Since a month has passed since their last visit, father and daughter have so much to say to each other. Hugs and laughter fill the room from corner to corner, and upon their departure, a marked sadness hangs in the air. Grandma tells her grandchild, "It's not forever going to be like this."

Woodson's award-winning books include Miracle's Boys, awarded a Coretta Scott King Award, and From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book, a Jane Addams Peace Award Honor Book, an International Reading Association Teacher's Choice, and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Her last picture book, The Other Side, won the Texas Bluebonnet Award. According to the informative Author's Notes, Woodson loosely bases Visiting Day on the story of her beloved Uncle Robert Leon Irby's imprisonment. Her quiet courage in approaching such a controversial topic with extreme sensitivity is remarkable.

Ransome's most notable selections include The Creation (James Weldon Johnson), Coretta Scott King Award winner, Uncle Jed's Barbershop (Margaree King Mitchell), Coretta Scott King Honor Book, and Let My People Go (Patricia/Fredrick McKissack), awarded the NAACP Image Award. The large-as-life acrylic paintings are rich and deeply expressive, indicative of Ransome's trademark style.

Visiting Day, written for ages 4-8, is a touching picture book that tackles the tough side of life for many young children. Those in similar situations will easily identify with Woodson's tender story. The unconditional love shines through both text and illustration.

Charisse Floyd
Reviewer


Taylor's Bookshelf

Leadership 101
John C. Maxwell
Thomas Nelson Publishers
Phenix & Phenix (publicity)
PO Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214
0785264191 $9.99 1-800-251-4000

Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs To Know by John Maxwell (a gifted public speaker and the founder of "INJOY", an organization helping people maximizing their personal and leadership potential) is a concise and profound guidebook to unlocking one's inner potential to influence, motivate, and unite others toward a common goal. Tips, tricks, techniques, insight, keys to self-confidence and more fill this practical and resourceful pocket resource. Leadership 101 is strongly recommended, highly rewarding reading for anyone with leadership responsibilities or aspirations.

The Pilgrim Book Of Bible Stories
Mark Water
The Pilgrim Press
700 Prospect Avenue, East
Cleveland, OH 44115-1100
0829814876 $22.50 1-800-654-5129

Compiled by Christian writer and storyteller Mark Waters, The Pilgrim Book Of Bible Stories is a collection of biblical tales based on the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Powerful color illustrations, depicting people ethnically appropriate for their times and settings, enhance classical these Bible tales, which are retold in straightforward, gender-inclusive language. Ideal for reading aloud to children, or encouraging children to read on their own, The Pilgrim Book Of Bible Stories is an invaluable and highly recommended resource for teaching young people about the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament.

Epiphany
Chuck Smith, Jr.
WaterBrook Press
Creative Resources Consulting & Media Services (publicity)
2375 Telstar Drive, Suite 160, Colorado Springs, CO 80920
1578565421 $12.99 www.waterbrookpress.com

In Epiphany: Discover The Delight Of God's Word, Pastor and Bible teacher Chuck Smith, Jr. offers new and insightful approaches to meditating on the scriptures. Thoughtful suggestions and interpretations to helping the non-specialist general reader to understand God's word more closely while expanding personal spiritual horizons fill the pages of this inspirational and highly commended work of Christian scholarship.

Cows, Pigs, & Chickens Made Me A Better Teacher
Ronnie Johnson
Pleasant Word
c/o WinePress Publishing
PO Box 428, Enumclaw, WA 98022
1579215939 $11.99

Cows, Pigs, & Chickens Made Me A Better Teacher: Basic Principles For Christian Teachers is a beautifully written guide for Christians who teach in Sunday School, lead Bible Study Programs, engage in homeschooling, or who work in Christian educational institutions at all levels. Using metaphors and real-life wisdom drawn from farm life, Cows, Pigs, & Chickens Made Me A Better Teacher offers encouragement, emphasizes the importance of a good attitude, and provides directly applicable general advice for improving personal communication and enhancing overall effectiveness with respect to the art of instruction.

John Taylor
Reviewer


Rick's Bookshelf

His Fathers Son: Dante's Rage
Diana Bennett
Publish America
www.PublishAmerica.com
ISBN # 1-59286-090-7 324 pgs $24.95 paperback

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." We have all heard the quote. However, what if the absolute power that is given is to a man that is pure evil, does the power add to the corruption, or does he embrace it, and the power itself become dark? That is the kind of tale that author Diana Bennett has created in her novel, "His Father's Son: Dante's Rage."

Set during the Middle Ages, this is the story of 4 men, Giovanni and his son Dante, and Juliano, and his son Jerome. The two fathers being friends, and unbeknownst to them, the sons follow suit. The unholy four have been given great powers due to the rings they wear, rings that are the remains of a once evil god that walked the earth. These rings grant each wearer great power, but caries with it a great curse. The wearers must devour the souls of innocents to survive. Giovanni and Juliano both relish in the power they possess, each becoming great tacticians in a battle over their sons. Jerome, basically innocent, wants no part of any of it, while Dante, once given the ring bathes in the power it provides, allowing him to become a great fighter, and eventually a lord.

However, Dante is filled with a rage that burns inside him that runs deep and hot. He hates his father for the lies he told him growing up, he hates his mother for the weakness she possessed, and he hates Jerome for the love he has found in Suzanne. He will go to any length to quench the fire, and get what should be his, even if it means killing everyone dear to him in the process.

Author Diana Bennett in her first novel has done what few are able to pull off well. She has created characters that are rich in their existence, deep in their convictions, and bound by honor and power, one to the other. Her characters are such multifaceted that I can guarantee there will be at least one that you will find yourself drawn to. Humor, pathos, action, mysticism, death, destruction and love all find their way through these pages, forming a rich vibrant world for her characters to inhabit.

While I am at it, let me tell you something else that she does that I really like. I have mentioned this in other reviews, but this bears repeating. So many authors feel they have to describe every little nuance of every little thing in their novels. That drives me crazy, serving to only pull me out of the story I am reading, as I have to wade through the velocity of a bullet, or the number of leaves in a tree. Ms. Bennett doesn't waste my time or hers in describing the castle-it's a castle. Good enough for her, good enough for me-I know what a castle looks like. Same goes for swords, horses, and armaments. Now then, before you think otherwise, yes, when description is needed, it is provided, but in a clear concise style that makes for enjoyable reading, never sacrificing either style or substance. Call it fantasy horror writing for the MTV generation if you wish, but it works and works well.

This is a book that I think deserves wide recognition. The characters will stay with you long after you close the cover, and I wouldn't be surprised if you don't find yourself returning to the world of Dante many times over, each time finding something you missed the first time around. That is the sign of a great book, and that is the sign of a great author, and in His Father's Son: Dante's Rage by Diana Bennett, you have both.

The Alley of Wishes
Laurel Johnston
1st Books Library
ISBN # 1-4033-7059-1 (e-book) # 1-4033-7060-5 (paperback) 313 pages $18.95

Sometimes a book comes along and just totally blindsides you. You think it is going to be one type of story and before you know it, it takes you to places you never been before and manages in the process to elicit emotions that are unexpected and real. The Alley of Wishes is one of those books.

This is not just a romance book; to pigeonhole it into that narrow of a definition is unfair to what a joyous work this is. The is a book about love, the kind that is pure and real. This is about people, how they really feel and what their hopes and aspirations are. This is about dreams, and wishes, with white knights that appear out of nowhere to carry you away from the nightmare that has become your life. Not long after the turn of the 20th Century in Paris, Cerise L'Oiseau lives that nightmare every day in the guise of an abusive boyfriend that mercilessly beats her, and then comes to her with apologies and false promises, only to repeat the cycle over and over.

This is also the story of Beck Sanow, a still wet behind the ears plowboy from Kansas that goes to fight during the days of World War 1, the first war that was supposed to end all wars. He lives his own nightmare in the trenches of battle, horrified by what he sees going on around him. One day, he simply has had enough and just gets up and leaves the war behind him. Beck walks in a daze until he reaches a small hotel in Paris where he is sheltered and nurtured back to health. Healed in the body but not the spirit, he is sure that he will never see beauty again until he walks into a small cafe and sees Cerise dancing. He is struck by her beauty, devastated by her elegance, and wishes only a dance with her, which she cautiously grants. Not only do their bodies meet as they dance, but their hearts do as well. Both unsure of how to deal with their newfound emotions, they stay at arms length, neither allowing the other to get close. Until the night that Cerise's boyfriend comes and beats her within an inch of her life. When Beck discovers her, he nurses her back from the brink, and their romance goes to an entirely new level, that of friend, lover and protector. He will see that no further harm befalls her-no matter the cost.

This barley touches the richness of the story that Ms. Johnston has weaved. Until now, I had thought that the most romantic thing I had ever read was The Bridges of Madison County, but in my opinion, this puts that 'thin in more ways than one' story to shame. Alley of Wishes is a much richer, fuller, more robust read with characters that are as real and true to life as any I have ever read in any other book-ever. My heart sang with the good times, and sank with the sad right along with Beck and Cerise's.

This is a story that Ms. Johnston should be proud of crafting. Her writing is clear, crisp, and filled with imagery that will make the story unfold with an exuberance that embraces life and love that will leave you wanting more. I know there is a massive audience for this type of work, and I sincerely hope that they find this book. If only they would put down those books with the half naked man holding a scantily clad woman on the cover and read a true love story expertly written, I don't think they would ever go back to those again.

One other thing I want to mention, and then I will wrap this up. Read the foreword. Too many times, we as readers think that forwards are there just to say "Hi-here is who I am and who I want to thank," only glorified acknowledgments. Not in this case-it will add a deeper richness to the story you have in your hands. You honor her memory with this story, Ms. Johnston, thank you for sharing it with the world.

Dream Demon
Keith Gouveia
iUniverse
2021 Pine Lake Road, Suite 100, Lincoln, NE 68512
ISBN # 0-595-27266-5 115 pgs $10.95

One of the signs of an author growing in his craft is when each subsequent book is better than the last. Keith Gouveia has done exactly that with the release of his second novel, and he should be proud of his work.

In Dream Demon, author Gouveia has written a fast paced tale that shows the horror of young lust in the mind of a boy that conjures up a succubus-a dream demon. What would you give to have a sexy redheaded female visit you in your dreams every night, pleasuring you in ways you could never imagine? Would you give your sanity, your soul? How about your life or the life of your friends? And what if she decided that the price you could afford was not high enough? Josh Mauer is about to find out when he and two of his friends decide to take revenge against a local high school bully, and his cohorts. What starts out as simple revenge turns into something far more deadly as the demon decides that it wants to live outside the constricting confines of the world of dreams and step into the light of our reality.

This was a hard book to stop reading. The style that Mr. Gouveia shows in his use of images and his placement of settings and situations draw you in and leave you wanting more long after the story is finished. One thing that I think is unique is how he has created two opposite and opposing characters that you find yourself cheering for-Josh, the innocent naive young boy that has stepped into a world way over his head, and Catrina, the succubus. No, don't get me wrong; she is evil in the purest form, but has a wish to be free of her bonds, and who can blame her for that?

I also have to mention the cover. This is one of the most eye-catching covers that I have seen come along in quite awhile, mainstream publisher or otherwise. Whoever designed that masterpiece is deserving of some serious praise.

Another thing I should tell you that if you are hoping for the days of Leave it to Beaver with the dialogue, then you need to turn off TV Land and see how kids today really speak. Mr. Gouveia has managed to create a world where the kids act and sound like real kids do-no mean feat for any writer-and he pulls it off well.

I have said this before and I will say it again, Keith Gouveia is an author to keep your eye on. He brings to an overly stale genre of horror fiction a fresh new perspective that is long overdue with his crisp concise style of writing. He is a writer for the 21st century that is just now coming into his own. The best is, I am sure, yet to come.

"The Heavenly Body"
Robert E. Shanks
Infinity Publishing Company
519 West Lancaster Avenue, Haverford Pa. 19041
1.877.BUY.BOOK
ISBN #0-7414-1218-7 278 pgs $16.95

World War II, the last of the good wars, one where you knew clearly, who the enemy was, and what you had to do. Where the nation banded together, and neighbors joined neighbors in a mass outpouring of patriotism and public support. Men that were of age to fight joined up en masse to go fight the Germans and Japanese, to bring democracy and freedom to those crushed under the oppressive thumb of Nazism. Among the most staunch of those freedom fighters were the men of the United States Air Force, or as they were called back in those days, the Army Air Corps. Men that were between the ages of 18 and 26 with at least 2 years of college and a desire to take to the skies joined in droves, but relatively few ever made it to an illustrious position in that beloved corp.

And beloved is the right word when it comes to what author Robert Shanks has written here in his book, "The Heavenly Body". Mr. Shanks lived what he writes and it shows with each sentence, for only someone that has walked this walk can talk the talk as grippingly and compellingly as he does. You are with him as the men in the 42nd Bomb Group go through all the steps from training to first mission and beyond. But most of all, your with them as they get the plane that is going to take them to war and bring them back home, a B-25D that they christen The Heavenly Body. They emblazon her with "a lovely smiling blonde of medium build, well formed, graceful and trailing a gossamer white veil behind her as she floated over the name 'Heavenly Body'". Once named, she became just as much of the crew as any of the men, taking on almost a life of her own as she takes care of those assigned to her, with the crew striving to take care of their lady the best way they know how.

The men and the missions that he writes about come to life thanks to a style of writing that makes them not into caricatures or stodgy cliches, but friends and comrades in arms that he knew, respected, and served alongside. He takes what could almost be perceived as glossed over memories and makes it seem as if they are tales being told for the first time as you turn each page to see what happens to the squad.

War is never a pretty subject no matter how hard someone might try to gloss over it. But Mr. Shanks will have none of that, striving to show that those that flew and fought in The Heavenly Body were men that fought hard to keep America strong and free, willing and ready to lay down their lives to make sure that we stay that way. They were not unique, they were Americans, and that is what we do. When our country is threatened, we band together as one, even to this day, with the current political climate in our land, still we are as one. I think too often we of a younger generation take for granted what others before us have done, the sacrifices made on our behalf. Never let us, any of us, forget what was done so that we can enjoy the life we have today, and many take for granted. I don't know if anyone has ever personally thanked Mr. Shanks, but even if they have, let me add my thanks to theirs. If it were not for him and the men that served in the 'War that was to end all wars', I would not have all of the freedoms that I as an American enjoy. Thank you.

Rick Mohr, Reviewer
http://www.pcisys.net/~drmforge/rickmohr.htm


Roe's Bookshelf

Spiritual Enlightenment-The Damnedest Thing
Jed McKenna
Wisefool Press
$21.95 275 pg. ISBN: 0-9714352-3-5
Available: Pathway Books or orders@wisefoolpress.com

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This book is more about getting to that First Step than the rest of the journey. Once you've begun there's no stopping or turning back

Author Jed McKenna may be one of the few truly enlightened individuals on this planet.
In a simplistic, honest style, the author writes of caterpillars and butterflies, mysticism and ignorance and of the final awakening. We learn a little about his life, his loves and his discovery of truth. This delightful, potent and evocative book will take you from believing, to doubt and disillusionment, and back to belief again in a most unexpected way.

Jed McKenna takes a brilliant spotlight and exposes much of the spiritual enlightenment business for what is really is: illusion and window dressing. This book cuts to the chase of real truth. Mr. McKenna calls the antics of spiritual enlightenment "bull". After reading this book, this reviewer happens to agree with him one hundred percent. Truth can only be one thing-"true".

Truth, not the spiritual pursuit, not the theatrics and props and not spiritual leader imitation is the real destination for millions of seekers. If you have the courage to take an honest look at everything you have been told, everything you believe, everything you are and incinerate it in the flames of truth, you may be a candidate for real, honest spiritual enlightenment. This book will do just that; so you decide - stay with the illusion or face the only real truth; just remember--sometimes the truth hurts.

Unorthodox, unique and honest teachings of enlightenment, mysticism and recognizing ego fill this book. The approach is humorous, critical and straightforward. People deeply embroiled in the props, rituals and behaviors of enlightenment will find this book disturbing. Those whose eyes and minds are wide open will find this book to be the best thing they have read in years. The poetry of the author scattered throughout the book provide the reader with an excellent insight into the author's psyche.

Millions and millions of dollars have been made selling spiritual enlightenment. Do yourself a favor. Make your final purchase of enlightened material and buy this book. It may be the last money you will spend in your pursuit.

Bravo Jed McKenna, at last the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God! Spiritual Enlightenment-The Damnedest Thing is an excellent wake up call.

A Virtual Kill
Robert J. Tristani
Writers Club Press/ iUniverse
$17.95 322 pg. ISBN: 0-595-25065-3 (pbk) & 0-595-65018-X (cloth)

Each highly descriptive chapter transports you to mid 21st century North America in this futuristic mystery by Robert J. Tristani. Young, intense engineer, KC Walsh is contracted by Diane Fulton, beautiful, strong willed and intelligent. The two of them find themselves embroiled in intrigue, post-industrial virtual reality and physical murder. The author, Robert J. Tristani holds bachelor and masters degrees in engineering giving credence to the career realism of our hero, KC Walsh.

Tristani manages to captivate the reader with cyber intrigue, unusual character interaction and suspense. Our hero has a very unusual and unexpected advisor in Angelica and we find KC seeking her counsel many times throughout this story. Car buffs will be impressed because although this futuristic story takes place in the mid 21st century, our hero is enamored with a forty- year old Ford Mustang, which he drives on the now near- vacant expressways.

Why was the contract with Fulton International so easily acquired? Why would an assassin target Diane Fulton? Will their coworker be deported and arrested? And finally: who assassinated the assassin? These are some of the questions that KC and Diane attempt to answer as they travel to China under false pretenses and risk arrest by the Chinese Government. Is a romantic involvement likely or will the unidentified predator that stalks them be victorious?

A Virtual Kill would have to be classed as a cozy, soft boiled mystery. Hint of violence, without the blood and gore, no profanity or explicit sex but with an edge that keeps the reader involved. Robert Tristani deftly draws readers in with a winning blend of suspense, romance and brilliant description. The characters are believable and complex. A Virtual Kill is cleverly plotted, imaginative and entertaining.

February, 2003 Shirley Roe-Allbook Reviews
Shirley Roe can be contacted by visiting :www.allbooks.bravepages.com
Where books are appreciated and judged by their merits


Susan's Bookshelf

A Child Called "It"
Dave Pelzer
Health Communications Inc
3201 S.W. 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442-8190
175 pp. Softcover. $9.95 ISBN 1-55874-366-9

The Lost Boy
Dave Pelzer
Health Communications Inc
3201 S.W. 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442-8190
331 pp. Softcover. $10.95 ISBN 1-55874-515-7

A Man Named Dave
Dave Pelzer
A Plume Book
Penguin Putnam Inc.
375 Hudson St, New York, NY 10014. $11.00 ISBN 0-452-28190-3

Trilogy: From Hopelessness to Hope-Filled

In the year 2000, approximately 879,000 American children were determined to be victims of child abuse and neglect nationwide, according to NCANDS (National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System). Twelve hundred of those children died at that hands of a parent or other adult, someone they looked to and depended upon for food, clothing, shelter, and, ironically, protection from the dangers of this world. In 47% of the abuse and neglect cases nationwide, the child's mother was the primary source of abuse and neglect with father's contributing 29% of the pain, suffering, and indifference. Dave Pelzer understands the significance of those number more than anyone - he survived the abuse.

No one can say certainly that any one thing causes parents to overstep the line between loving discipline and abusive behavior. For some, otherwise normal frustrations and challenges of parenting are exacerbated by drug or alcohol abuse. For others, it is a combination of substance abuse and mental health issues. And yet, in many cases, it comes down to unrealistic expectations, poor parenting skills, and a fundamental lack of emotional maturity on the part of the abuser. In every case however, a child is at risk of becoming a national child abuse or fatality statistic, despite their parents' claims of love for their children. Such was the case of Dave Pelzer of California who, until March 5, 1973, shadowed the threshold of death on more than one occasion, a threshold his mother seemed bent on pushing him over.

In his first book, "A Child Called It" Dave Pelzer introduces readers to his family and tells of happier times when they were "the Brady Bunch of the 1960's." His loving description of father, brothers, and especially his mother makes comprehension of the atrocities and indifference he later suffered at the hands of those same people all that much more difficult. The fortitude of this little child to withstand repeated attempts on his life by a mother, who often referred to him as "it" rather than Dave, is amazing to say the least. In A Child Called "It" Dave Pelzer chronicles his life between ages 4 and 12 and the story he tells is one that will horrify and educate readers about the reality of abuse in America. At the time, Dave's case was considered the third worse case of child abuse in California history. If Dave's case was number three, what types of horrors might the worst case involved?

The Lost Boy, the second book in the trilogy, chronicles the life of Dave Pelzer from age 12, after his rescue on March 5, 1973, to his enlistment into the United States Air Force in August of 1979. Six years fly by in the chapters of this book that picks up the story of 12 year-old Dave Pelzer as he is introduced to the American foster care system, learning what it means to be called "foster child." Dave, after having experienced the instability of life with mother, is further subjected to the frequent instability of foster care placements, forced to move from one home to another (an effect now known as 'foster care drift'), all the while eagerly awaiting that one special family in which he would find love, acceptance, and stability. The Lost Boy shares the fears and emotional struggles of Dave Pelzer as he fights to gain some sense of the world around him and his place in it and shares the frightening experience of having his abusive mother make reappearances in his life, despite his being in 'protective custody.' The Lost Boy is an appropriate title for this book, as it best describes what children in foster care even today must feel - no longer a part of the family they knew since birth, and not really a part of another - lost, adrift in a world that simply expects them to conform to rules and behaviors they don't understand while coping with feelings of anger, abandonment, disappointment, and fear of what the future may or may not hold for them. For many of these children, just being able to call a foster parent "mom" or "dad" does not make it feel real inside.

Feeling real is important to all children, understanding who they are, feeling accepted and protected is necessary to their emotional development - it is the way in which they learn to see the reality of others, the way they mature in their own beliefs. Dave Pelzer shares, in the third and final book of the trilogy A Man Named Dave, what it means to feel real and what it means to forgive. In Dave's case, that was a pretty tall order to fill. So often doubts and fears threatened to destroy him, to keep his feet set on the wrong path in life. His need to belong blinded him momentarily to others who wanted only to use and abuse his friendship and trust. Dave learned many of life's lessons the hard way. Understandably he, more than anyone, has good reason to hate, to feel short-changed in life, but page after page the courage of the little boy called "It" is reborn into the glory of love over hate in A Man Named Dave. Courageously Dave Pelzer, at one point in his life, made contact with his biological family in order to put childhood relationships into their proper perspective. Readers may or may not be surprised by his family's response to his reappearance after several years in foster care.

In A Man Named Dave, Dave shares his feelings toward his father, mother, and siblings in a way that leaves readers understanding that Dave Pelzer is not a man of wrath, but a man born of understanding and forgiveness out of the ashes of abuse, neglect, and abject cruelty. Today, Dave Pelzer is meeting life on his own terms and helping others to realize that there is hope - that healing is possible. Dave Pelzer has moved beyond being the little boy called "it." He is no longer under the thumb of an abusive and controlling mother and an indifferent father. He has grasped firmly onto the good memories of life with his parents, and has steeled himself against the urge to simply give in and give up.

There are many lessons to be learned from A Child Called "IT," The Lost Boy, and A Man Named Dave. One all-important lesson is that forgiveness is not so much a gift we give to others, as it is a gift we can give to ourselves. The ability to let loose of the hurt and anger that so often drives human beings from one another and diminishes the ability to love and trust anew. A second lesson to be valued is that adults are not necessarily doomed to be products of their past. While as children they may have been swept along in the behaviors and attitudes of others, as adults, who they become is their choice. Dave Pelzer was determined not to carry over into his own relationships those attitudes and behaviors that had so profoundly harmed him as a child. Dave was determined to do it better, as a man, as a husband, as a father, but more importantly as a human being. The final lesson the trilogy teaches is that life is not an "all or nothing" prospect.

To live life to the fullest one has to learn to adjust and adapt, to weed out the bad influences from among the good and make a conscious choice to do good. So far as it has depended on him, Dave Pelzer seems to have found a way to do this and readers get a sense that to some degree Dave Pelzer has achieved a measure of peace in his life. The man named Dave Pelzer has found a home for the child called "it" and the lost boy.

What Happened to Johnnie Jordan?
Jennifer Toth
The Free Press
Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
291 pp. Hardcover. $25.00 ISBN 0-684-85558-5

At the age of 71, if he survives prison life that long, Johnnie Jordan will be eligible for parole back into society. The young man who, at the age of fourteen brutally set fire to his foster mother in a quiet Ohio community as she lay dying on the kitchen floor from multiple hatchet wounds to the head, face, and body, and who, seemingly as an afterthought, robbed Jeanette Johnson of the few dollars she had in her possession at the time, will be free to walk the streets. Will it be your neighborhood he begins life anew in?

Johnnie Jordan was a troubled young man even before he came to the attention of child protective services of Ohio. His family was seemingly as dysfunctional as families can get. Drug and alcohol abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, coupled with consistent emotional and educational neglect and lack of parental supervision and control all contributed to the creation of the young man who would become Jeanette Johnson's murderer.

Despite his disparaging upbringing, Johnnie Jordan's act of violence against Jeanette Johnson cannot be excused. Jennifer Toth's book, however, begs that the question be asked...Shouldn't Johnnie's parents be sharing his jail cell? Aren't Johnnie's parents equally culpable for the death of Jeannette Johnson and the suffering of her husband, friends, and family? Would their incarceration make a difference? And what of Child Protective Services? Do they not share in responsibility for the death of Jeanette Johnson? There were warning signs and pleas for help, but it seems no one was listening in this case.

Jennifer Toth explains that repeated attempts were made by the Johnsons and by others to get the attention of child protective services, but to no avail. How many foster parents today are making such pleas? Could it be that CPS had given up? Was their indifference to the calls for help their way of avoiding answering the question of what to do with Johnnie? If the Johnsons would not keep him, then with whom would Johnnie live his last few childhood years before the system would cut him loose? Who would prepare him for life as a mature responsible adult? Did CPS already sense that Johnnie's feet had been set on an irreversible path of destructiveness? Ironically, the State of Ohio in some regard is still in control of Johnnie's life. He graduated from the Ohio child welfare system to the adult penal system. The Ohio Department of Corrections answered the unanswered question, they will see Johnnie into and through adulthood, until he is past the age when most adults are contemplating the sweet freedom of retirement.

Jeanette Johnson's golden years were stolen as if by a thief. Charles Johnson, her husband of thirty years, lived but a year after her death, the memory of Jeanette's bloody and charred body on the kitchen floor of their Ohio home still keeping him company during sleepless hours, the longing of loss still piercing his heart and soul. If Charles Johnson had lived to see the results of the lawsuit filed against the Lucas County Child Services and juvenile justice system, would he have noticed any changes in the following years? It was change, after all, that he was after, not a cash windfall.

Jennifer Toth's recounting of the life of Johnnie Jordan, his parents, siblings, and his ultimate and tragic encounter with Charles and Jeanette Johnson is an awakening for those parents who do not even today grasp the irreversible harm that their abusive and self-destructive or neglectful behaviors can have upon the developing minds of their children. Johnnie Jordan was a product of his parents' abuse and neglect and not even the kindness of strangers could deter him from a life that would reflect the harm inflicted upon him by those that were supposed to primarily have his best interests at heart. Johnnie Jordan is waiting out his life in an Ohio penitentiary. Jeanette and Charles Johnsons' mortal lives have come to an end. Johnnie's siblings, at least some of them, may even now remain in the care of the Ohio State Department of Child Protective Services. Johnnie's parents may not yet have accepted or assimilated their responsibility in the whole matter. Regardless, What Happened to Johnnie Jordan should be required reading for every parent that passes the threshold of the juvenile court system. To fully understand their parenting responsibilities it may help them to see what happens when they fail at the most important part of life loving their children.

The time has passed for Jeanette Johnson and Charles Johnson to attend to the rearing of other people's children, but the time for parents to take responsibility for their own children is ever at hand. What instruments will they place in their children's hands? The tools of education and compassion, or the weapons of destruction?

Susan Cronk
Reviewer


James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129
phone: 1-608-835-7937
e-mail: mbr@execpc.com
e-mail: mwbookrevw@aol.com
http://www.midwestbookreview.com


Copyright ©2001

Site design by Williams Writing, Editing & Design