Contests Books

Cass has left the brownstone building which holds the finalists after her struggle with bulimia, and the other seven finalists are working harder than ever. Daria is, as usual, looking for oppourtunities to kick other girls out of the running. Hannah is concerned that her friends will find out that she isn't the rich girl they all think she is. And Serena, usually the perfect angel, has hired an extra trainer to get better at the dance classes. However, this comes with consequences...will there be only six left by the end of this book? Read it to find out.

If you like books in which wierd things happen - you'll love this book. This is the first Zach files book that I read and I loved it so much I immediately went out and got 2 more. I can't wait to read all the books in the Zach files series.

This book can be used for practice for NYSML or ARML, or as a source of intriguing math questions. The sample answers help to reinforce mathematical concepts and to show rarely seen math tricks.

Even though the I.Q. contest that this book was written for is long over (the prize was awarded on July 31, 1986) it is still an interesting and informatve book.The text covers the distinction between I.Q. and intelligence, and the history of measurement. There is also a list of the estimated I.Q.'s of great historical figures (I "tied" with Newton, Rousseau, and Spinoza.) Plus, there is a introductory description of most of the high I.Q. societies in the world such as Mensa, Intertel, Triple Nine, The International Society for Philosophic Enquiry, The Prometheus Society, and the Mega Society. The contact addresses are also given should you decide to try for membership (I belong to two of them.) Lastly, the I.Q. quizes in the back are totally nondated and a good way to practice for the real thing.

Perhaps one of the reasons that this book holds up so well is that it was written by Marilyn Mach vos Savant (the most measurably intelligent person on earth.)

My son is 3 & LOVES Oswald. This is a great sticker book (reusable stickers, like colorforms). It is a hardcover book with colorful pictures & a cute story. The story doesn't follow the cartoon "The Sand Castle Contest" episode like we thought, but its just as cute. I am bringing it to an upcoming family wedding for something to occupy my son, he loves colorforms so this should work nicely. Great buy!!!!

This is an excellent book detailing and explaining the nature of Pennsylvania politics. It tells of the importance of strong Republican Party control of much of politics in our state's history from the Civil War until the 1950s. Even as late as 1948, Pennsylvania was considered by some political scientists as about the state the third most likely to consistently elect Republicans. Republicans scandals in the 1950s coupled with the arrival of successful reform Democratic movements in some areas began the emergence of what today some might label Pennsylvania as a "purple" state, one where both blue Democrats and red Republicans can achieve statewide victories. Democrat George Leader's election as Governor in 1954 is credited with introducing the statewide shift that broke the previously strong Republican electoral machine.

The book studies Pennsylvania elections and provides interesting analysis for the period 1950 through 2004. During these 28 election cycles, Democrats have collected more votes than Republicans in 22 of these elections yet Republicans have won 64% of what the author describes as the "top tier" elections of Presidential electors, U.S. Senator, and Governor.

The author explores geographic shifts in voter patterns, especially noting how demographic shifts of urban voters to Republican dominated suburbs changed regional voter patterns as well as issue priorities within regions. The author also notes that Republican urban voters were leaving urban areas at higher rates than Democratic urban voters. This is shifting the state's political balance, as noted that the four Philadelphia suburban counties in total surpassed Philadelphia in the number of its registered voters in 1982. In southwest Pennsylvania, a similar pattern is seen as Democrats fell from 71% of registered voters in 1986 to 65% in 2004.

This is a well researched book with excellent academic analysis. It is highly recommended to those wishing to learn more about contemporary Pennsylvania politics.

I am an elementary school teacher, and when I read this book I could immediately see the wonderful factual information included. I created an extension activity for my unit on insects using Pest Fest as the basis. This book would also be a terrific springboard for a discussion of verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and taglines. Julia has such a great handle of children's lit. I would also recommend Dream Hop and Cha-Cha Chimps!

I decided to read my way through the entire list of St. Martin's Malice Domestic winners and PIANO MAN was the first.
I was not disappointed -- it's a fine contemporary example of the traditional (or cozy) mystery.

When Paul Whitman is hired to restore three pianos on a small island in Puget Sound, he arrives eager and ready to begin. The situation begins to deteriorate immediately when it is obvious that he's expected to live and work in a dilapidated, run down chicken coop of a structure. His inquiries about his predecessor are met with evasion and soon it's obvious that he is being watched very carefully. The pianos he has been hired to restore are not only is disrepair, it is obvious that they have been severely battered - victims of violence, as it were.

This was Noreen Gilpatrick's break into print. In it she proves a master of suspense. The book is a compelling read and one I highly recommend to mystery lovers.

This is a great book, lots of great recipes and ideas and things you can make in a hurry with store-bought products like Crescent rolls. Liked it so much, I bought several more to give out to my friends.

Ever since I became interested in Greece I have been reading books that I would not otherwise have bothered with and some of them have widened my horizons and deepened my understanding (of things in general) to an extent I would not have expected. This book by Herzfeld is one such work. Its rather peculiar title contains a number of words whose meaning has to be worked out early on. Poetics has nothing to do with poetry. It refers to the way people work out value and meaning in their everyday lives. Contest, etymologically, has a connection to male reproductive organs and therefore to the ways males relate to each other, which is usually by fighting -- at least in traditional or primitive societies. Yeah, heroism, bravery, cunning, violence, ruthlessness and all those qualities held in such high esteem by the writer of the Homeric poems.
The name Glendi (the village in Crete where the author carried out the field work on which the book is based) is a fictional invention of the author himself but the rest is real-life data and careful scientific analysis.
Most of the data is concerned with animal thievery and the rhetoric that accompanies it after the fact. The rhetoric shows how the Glendiot men structure meaning. Meaning is the way people constellate mental images relative to each other in the collective consciousness, and value is the relative measure of psychic energy it takes to keep an image constellated. A poetics shows how people map their values onto their everyday activities. In the present case this involves the activities, verbal and non-verbal, one carries out in the process of identifying himself as a man. (I hope I am not over-simplifying.)
This is not any easy book by any means. The reader has to do a little work. But the rewards are enormous. A first-rate study.