Contests Books

I have all Suzanne's book and I was so excited to order this one and I was a little disappointed as far as how much I spent. It is average in quality oh well I still love all her other ones. Maybe if you find this one for less money than it is worth it.

Cookie Contest is a cute story about recipes and friendship. Since recipes use mathematical concepts, a teacher could use it in the classroom to review mathematical concepts (e.g., 1/2 cup of this, 1/4 ounces of that).

This book is ok for to get through school level along with another book like "1001 Questions.". To get to the next level, and win the state and the national bee, you really need to get "Geography Bee Demystified" and the "Handy Geography." Geography Bee Demystified is a new book and has stuff from 2007 and does not cost a lot more than this book.

I think this book is okay, there are books I would rather read.

This study guide is a great choice for students who are trying to prepare for the bee. Not only does it have sample questions and maps actually used in the geography bee, it gives tips about how to look at the clues in the questions to help you find the right answer. It also has advice from students who have done well in previous bees and goes through all the rules and formats of the different levels of the competition. I highly recommend this book!

If you would like to buy a book that will help you with the Geography Bee--don't buy this! So far, I have learned nothing from it.

My title is Tricked because of the fact that the book doesn't even have that many questions to study. The questions it does have, are easy things that I knew in 3rd grade. It's price is outrageous! Ten dollars for this! I enjoy paperbacks that are five dollars more than this book.

I am in 7th grade and am hoping to get far in the National Geography Bee, but this book isn't going to help me at all. I would recommend the 1,001 Questions and Answers Geo Bee Prep that you probably saw when you searched for this book.

The only reason I gave it a 2-star rating was because it had questions (even though they were far from helpful) and also because it had tips given by actual contestants that were somewhat helpful.

A lot of people might think that this book is probably just questions and answers and some stuff on how to be prepared. But what it really is is just what it says: A study guide. A study guide, meaning tips on how to prepare, links to different geography resources, how the geography bee works, things like that, interviews with past school, state, and national champs, with one chapter featuring sample questions.

This one chapter has about 70 questions from a typical school preliminary round, I think like 10 from a typical school final round, something like 5 analogy and 5 map questions from the state qualification exam, around 25 questions from the state prelim round, about 10 from the state final round, 10 from the national preliminary, and some more from the national final round. As it explained at the beginning of that chapter, the questions were only given to show the reader what kinds of questions you'd encounter at the school, state, and national levels.

I'd recommend this book if you are truly a novice to the geography bee, or if you've never been pass the school level and want to see what further levels are like, or if you just want the satisfaction of having the OFFICIAL study guide from National Geographic.

If you are already a little more experienced, you might want to try "The Handy Geography Answer Book" or "The Geography Bee Complete Preparation Handbook: 1001 Questions & Answers to help you WIn Again and Again", both by the same author. Be careful with the latter, though, there are 3 questions that have the wrong answer.

I finished Destroyed #138, No Contest and as a longtime fan, I'm crushed.

There are simple rules of respect that a ghost writer should bring to a series. Batman does not tell jokes. Darth Vader does not dance. Remo Williams does not study legaleze. To say that Remo not only studied the extensive contract, but rewrote it in a way more clever than Chiun and in a manner to outsmart Harold W. Smith is not a stretch of imagination, it is breaking any semblance.

And the current ghost, Tim Somheil, wrote this book to say through Remo, that the fans had better recognize that things are going to change and to deal with it or leave.

Well, I hope he's happy. Readers have left. I have been at a crossroads myself for the past three books. As webmaster for the official fansite, I have to keep reading them. It's part of my job to keep up with it. But as a fan, I am personally devastated at the change in characters.

Tim Somheil is a good writer, but he lacks any respect for the characters and the writers who have come before him. He has come to change things; to fix that which is not broken.

Change, while it CAN be good, is not good in and of itself. Change involves risk and without careful study of such risks, can be dangerous.

I could hang on to the #108-#110 ride because I knew it wasn't going to last forever. And for those few short books, I could even take humor in the odd changes in character, but this isn't temporary. Tim Somheil is the official ghost for the series.

From this book forward, until a writer who RESPECTS the series and the characters comes onboard, I am officially stopping buying the books as a fan. The Destroyer as it is currently written, is now just another chore for the webmaster of the official series.

I AM an long time fan of this series, and I greatly enjoy the direction that the new writer is taking this series. This new writer DOES know the history of the characters and is incorporating their past into the growth of the characters. A lot of old fans are disappointed that their favorite characters are changing, but it is boring to read book after book of the same non-changing characters. Remo HAS changed and so has his relationships with the other characters. All the characters are growing and changing. There are many different plot threads that span many books and this new writer is using them to advance the characters. I am more interested in the series now than I was in the past.

This latest book was a quick fun read. New readers will enjoy the fast pace and interesting characters and their relationships with each other. Long time fans should enjoy the continuity of the plot threads.

First, I have read every book in this series. Second, I have no affiliation to anyone involved in this series. I am just a fan.

Now, what I like about this series is the evolution of the characters. Is Remo the same as he was in the first 10 books in this series?? Is the interaction between Chuin and Remo the same?? The answer is no.

This is not a static series. It progresses through time. The characters change and age. Chuin does not watch soap operas anymore. He is into blogging. Remo is now the reigning master of Sinanju. YES, that means contract negotiation by the reigning master and his Emperor. I thought it was great that he took that document and put into terms that he could understand, just a further example of Remo's development as reigning master.

And while Tim Somheil did miss an opportunity to weave in Sinanju's "27 steps to sexual bliss" in a recent book (if the number 27 is not correct, I am sure I will be corrected!), and sometimes the discourse between Remo and Chuin is not quite right (it is getting better), he is doing a great job keeping the series moving by introducing new challenges and villains for Cure.

By the way Jerry, I went to your website. Although it is pretty good, you missed one important detail. "Freakishly thick wrists" is a description that is used in almost every single book that was written. You should know this as you claimed to have read them all. The "Remo" that you have on your website has wrists like a 10 year old girl!

I would be interested to hear the reviews for this book from any true fan of this series. Definition of a true fan: Must have read AT LEAST 100 books in this series, including every book from 100 to Industrial Evolution.

I am officially done with the series. If Murphy or Mullaney pen another book, I will read that. Tin Pigeon, thanks for nothing.

It's not what I expected.I have this book and trust me,after the first time it's read it gets realy boring.Not realy long lasting.

They made a BRATZ book about....friendship? Gosh this is hilarious. Bratz act like the kind of people who pick on people who don't wear "what's in"

Now I know that Bratz aren't all about fashion; they care about friendship, and they go to school! In your face, parents!

Nice enough for the third grade girl going through a "horses are cool" phase, but not exactly realistic. First of all, the illustrations are really screwed up. The horse looks like a stuffed animal. And also, since when do people ride full show regalia hours before the show? Wouldn't their breeches and jackets get dirty? I share the sentiments of another reviewer, too: dressage is not at all unatural; quite the contrary, actually. it is one of the most natural forms of riding. And the author says western saddles have things to "hold onto". Does she mean the horn? Because that really isn't a handle. And eventing isn't just called eventing at Olympic level! I could go on and on about this parody of dressage and overall horsemanship, but I have better things to do with my time. Go ahead, buy it if you don't care about petty mistakes, but be warned: this book has some issues with truth.

The "Learn More About It" section in this book should caution any horse rider who knows dressage from buying this book for a child. It says "Dressage taught [horses] to perform unnatural moves, such as leaping about...". Dressage is definitely NOT unnatural. Horses at play from very young ages do most dressage movements naturally, it is just a matter of a rider associating the movements to cues.

Additionally, some of the horse facts were incorrect in this book such as the main character wearing "pinks" or a red hunt coat used by a hunt master in a fox hunt (or a grand-prix show jumper, normally over the age of twenty-five). As the character wearing the jacket was about eight years old it was a wrong thing to write.

I'd recommend buying a "Pony Tails" book by Bonnie Bryant instead of this one for a child, Bryant is better with facts.

I've read this book six times and I'm still not tired of it!

I have been a long-time of this wonderfully crack-tastic series. Be warned as the other reviewer stated some of the changes they made are somewhat bizarre. A burger joint is changed to a Mexican restaurant, a character's clothing style and band name are changed...that however is nothing compared to the insidious fate handed down to slutty rich boy Bruce Patman. His beloved Porsche has been traded in for a CADDY(!?)
The name brands are a bit ridiculous, I feel and saying all this I will tell you that I cannot wait for the other books come out, so I can compare/contrast with my "old skool" collection.
Here's the plot of the book: Jessica wants to be prom queen. She finds out her twin sister's BFF has a druggie past and spills the beans to Enid's jealous boytoy, Ronnie.
There's also something about Jessica's BFF tormenting a French teacher because the teacher is dating her father.
W#hile Sweet Valley High books are not at all deep, they are quite fun.
I would highly recommend getting the originals before starting the reissues

Jessica wants to be homecoming queen. She's dying to dance in the spotlight with the shoo-in for king, Bruce Patman.

While Jessica has the popular vote locked up, she learns that other people are rooting for Enid, her sister's best friend.

But Enid has a dark secret that she shares with Liz.

Jessica will do anything to win, but will she take down her sister's best friend and make life miserable for her sister in the process?

The second book in the SWEET VALLEY HIGH series takes drama to a new level that readers will eat up.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

I was at the bookstore earlier today, and I picked this book up and flipped to a random page, but as soon as I read a sentence that consisted of one of the characters wearing a juicy courture outfit, I immediately put it down. And to make matters worse, I've heard that the pants size that Jessica and Elizabeth wear has gone from a perfect size 6, to a perfect size 4. Are you serious? Nice way to add to the growing issue of teenage body issues.

I have been a fan of The Sweet Valley series ever since I was a little girl, and have since then collected a majority of books from the several series that the world of Sweet Valley consists of. So ill say, I was excited when I heard that they'd be reprinting the books with new covers because I saw it as an opportunity for a new generation of sweet valley fans to discover these wonderful books. But I didn't realize that they'd also be changing some of the things in the book. I mean I can understand why they'd want to update some of the things such as the fashions and the use of cell phones, because I know things like that will appeal to todays audience. But still.

The next time I feel like re-entering the world of Sweet Valley, ill just stick to the old fashioned version and pick up one of the books off of my bookshelf.

The Jumping Frog is an interesting tale, but this book is more about the difficulties of translations than about the Jumping Frog itself. You can probably find the Jumping Frog in other collection of Twain's books, so don't bother to buy this book if you are only interested in the tale. It is only a three-page tale.

To make a long story short, the Jumping Frog was translated into French with the objective of demoralizing Twain's humor. Obviously, the humor in this tale was more in between the lines and in the form it was written than about the story itself (which was silly and not funny.)

As Twain says, however, the translator "has not translated it at all; he has simply mixed it all up; it is no more like the Jumping Frog when he gets through with it than I am like a meridian of longitude." To prove his point, Twain proceeded to translate the French translation "back into a civilized language" [i.e. English] to show that the French translation did not do justice to his work.

This book has the original tale in the first pages, then the French translation, and then the English version of the French translation.

It is more a personal vendetta from Twain than a work of literature. But it is an important work for those interested in translation.

This is a little silly story about a man who has a rather humorous betting habit and focuses on the account of some bets he placed with a highly talented jumping-frog that he owned.

The story is not half bad and I understand that it became quite popular and was one of the first writings to bring Twain into the limelight. Even so, I do not feel that story - short as it is - stands the test of time as do other writings of Mark Twain. Don't be fooled though, the story is a nice quick and light read, especially if you want to divert your attention from the lull of boredom or any other times of inactivity.

The book is a compilation of 7 quilt designers flower quilts. These quilts were pieced with some having applique added. The designs are all unique but there are better books on quilting designs and applique. I would not recommend this book.

This book is a compilation of 7 quilt designers work. Each designer created a quilt using piecing techniques to create the look of flowers. There maybe additional appliqued flowers with the pieced design but not always. I feel there are better books on quilt pieced designs and applique designs than this one although all these designs were unique. I would not recommend this book.

This book was boring. Amy was too much of a goody-goody in this book, too. And she LET someone else cheat!!!!!!!!!!!! UGH! THIS BOOK WAS STUPID! AMY'S STORY in the PORTRAITS OF LITTLE WOMEN, fairly boring itself, was better than this!