Schools Books

What a great find! Definately acceptable for your pre-teen to teen daughters! I read the book before passing it on and read it in just a day and a half!

Kudos to Serena Robar on her first book

Colby Blanchard's life changes in a blink of an eye. On the way home from a high school football game, Colby is attacked becomes something that she never thought possible - a vampire. Or rather, a Half-Blood. But because she's not a pure blood vampire, the others in the Undead community are out for some blood - her blood! It's Colby's chance to kick butt and get the guy.

This novel is phenomenal and I devoured it in a matter of hours. Laugh out loud funny and deliciously addicting.

Colby Blanchard seems your normal American teen: a cheerleader, Daddy's girl: but she's also a vampire. When she has to defend her eternal life in front of a Vampire Council which doesn't care for half-vampires, trouble results - not to mention her romance for Thomas, a hottie Vampire Investigator. Humor and irony abound in a very different kind of vampire story teens will relish.

Colby Blanched is the typical sixteen year old, interested in boys, clothing and staying head cheerleader. Her normal life comes to a screeching halt when she is attacked by a man and left in a ravine. When she wakes up, she returns home to learn she has been missing for forty-eight hours. When she smells blood on her mother's hand, she starts drinking it until she is full. Tests by her aunt prove she is a vampire as she has no pulse or heartbeat.

The Vampire Tribunal comes over to serve her with a summons because she is not a vampire but a half-breed Undead because she is too many generations removed to be a full Vampire. Undead have different abilities then vampires and the tribunal looks at them as abominations that must be destroyed. She has to appear before them and make a case that she should not be destroyed but she doesn't have a clue how she is going to manage it.

Aimed at the young adult market BRACED 2 BITE will also be thoroughly enjoyed by adults who like chick lit serio-comic vampire novels. Since her incisors were removed when Colby wore braces her father makes her a mechanical contraption to take their place and some of the funniest bites in the book take place around them. The heroine is strong willed and willing to fight against the injustice of the Vampire Council in their deadly dealings with the undead. Readers will be happy to know that this is just the beginning of a charming, beguiling and totally entertaining new series.

Harriet Klausner

As soon as I began reading BRACED2BITE by new author Serena Robar, I was immediately reminded of another one of my favorite vampire series--the Undead series by MaryJanice Davidson. Both authors have a smart-mouthed heroine, an annoying yet total hottie vampire hero, and a set of circumstances that makes you throw everything you ever thought was true about vampires right out the window. And believe me when I say that this comparison is not a bad thing! Ms. Robar has managed to pen a fun, exciting vampire story that will have you reading long into the night--and the comparison to MJD is nothing but outright flattery.

Sixteen-year old Colby Blanchard is the typical blond-haired, blue-eyed cheerleader. She's also very intelligent, has plans to get hunky Aidan Reynolds to ask her to the Homecoming dance, and, while she's at it, will finalize plans for her upcoming seventeenth birthday party. What Colby didn't plan on, or enter into her BlackBerry, was getting knocked out by the Eastside Attacker on the way home from a football game. Where, she might add, Aidan the slimeball went off with Allison to an after-game party.

When Colby comes to and returns home, she's very surprised to learn she's been missing for nearly forty-eight hours. Even more surprising, though, is drinking her mother's blood and healing her wound when she cuts herself with a knife. Oddly enough, although frightened, it's not until her Great-Aunt Chloe points out the puncture wounds on her neck that Colby realizes something weirder than a nighttime attack has happened to her. Colby is now a vampire, with the pale, pasty skin, yellowish eyes, and thirst for blood to prove it.

Her family seems to take the change in their daughter relatively in stride--Aunt Chloe even had to stake a few vampires years ago during the War when she was a nurse. Her father rushes to help in the only way he knows how (he's an orthodontist) and makes her a hideous headgear apparatus so she can feed, since her canine teeth were removed years ago. So not only is she a freak vampire, she's a mutant freak vampire.

To add insult to injury, two vampires come a-calling, informing Colby that she's been summoned to make an appearance to the Tribunal for, and get this, being Undead without a license. The fact that Thomas, the cute, helpful vampire, wants to help her make her case before the Tribunal is one thing. The fact that he's asked to be her Executioner if the Tribunal rejects her plea for a license is quite another.

BRACED2BITE is a fun, hilarious read. All of the characters are well-rounded, and the fast-paced dialogue makes the book a delight to read. If you like vampire stories with a dash of romance and a whole bunch of humor, this is definitely the book for you. And thankfully, the next book in the series, Fangs 4 Freaks, is already scheduled for release in November 2006.

"Cactus Hotel" is one of those rare books that is highly educational without seeming so. At the bookstore I first tried to just thumb through it but I found myself reading the entire thing and being wowed by every page. Now the book has no humor, it has no people, it is a gentle journey through the desert life of a sole cactus and the magic of nature and fantastic purpose of all living things. The cactus is the star and I'm star struck! This is a must for any inquisitive little minds library age 3+.

I carried this book in our bookstore and it became one of our best sellers. It describes the long life of the saguaro cactus, from seed to full growth to when it collapses. Along the way, creatures use the cactus for their homes or food. This books shows children how a plant is so important to animals. Beautiful illustrations.

I picked this up at an Arizona Airport for my kids, and we've all been enchanted by it. The illustrations are gorgeous, the text simple and accessible. Cactus hotel is the story of a single saguarno cactus throughout its 200 year life-span, as it grows from a seed into a towering cactus that is home to dozens of animals, and then topples and dies, still providing shelter to small desert animals before it returns to dust. My children and I will never look at a cactus the same way again!

This is a perfect book to read during a study of deserts. In fact, I think the author and illustrator should team up and make a whole series of books about various ecosystems, just like this one, that focus on the life cycle of a marvelous plant that is specific to that ecosystem. What an educational bonanza that would be!

A++++. As a gift idea, a child might enjoy receiving a small cactus with this book.

If you like to read about different kinds of homes and what lives in them, you would like this book. It is about a cactus that lives for 150 years! In that time about 38 animals make holes and move in. After 150 years it falls over and 10 to 20 more animals move in. This is a great book.

Beautifully written. Beautifully illustrated. This is a wonderful story and the kids (ages 7 and 3) were enthralled. It is a science book that reads like the best kind of picture book. We learned so many things from this and had fun doing it. Very highly recommended.

We have been planning our trip to Greece and Crete for several months and I thought it would be good to expose our boys 7 and 10 to the stories in Greek Mythology. After reading reviews on Amazon.com, I decided to buy this book. My boys absolutely love the stories in this book. We read about 20 minutes per night (it's nice that each story has an estimated reading time) and they beg for more after each story. Then we review the "A Few Words More" sections - which they also really enjoy and which give great insight such as the source of the phrase "between a rock and a hard place" which traces back to the Odyssey! For anyone planmning to expose their kids to Greek Mythology, I highly recommend this book and D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths. I'd read the latter first for "introduction" and then follow with the Russell book. There may be some repeated stories -but trust me, the kids will love every minute.

This book is amazing!!! My 5yr old found a book at the library about greek myths and loved them so much that I ordered this book. We have now finished it and she is still asking for more.
The nice thing about this book is it is broken up by ages so you can do what your child is ready for, our 5yr old just loved all the stories soooo much we finished the entire thing.

I bought this book when my daughter's class was teaching Greek Mythology. She was happy to see this book and finished it very soon, now she can relate most of them to me. And the best part is it has explanation and spelling hint. It makes our reading aloud very easily. I am going to buy the other two read aloud series. I think this opens the door for my kids to the classic literature.

Purchased as a gift for Christmas. We did not read this book ourselves, so can't review the quality of the composition. However, the book was well made and arrived on time from Amazon.

I purchased this book for two reasons: 1. So I could provide myself with an easy, quick, review of the Classical Myths long forgotten since grade school and 2. to read to my grandchildren so they will have a better foundation of Classical Myths, which will help them to understand and enjoy the arts. I am very pleased with this text, especially the sytax as it does not 'dumb down' the stories for comprehension, but actually increases vocabulary and proper grammatical structure. This was an excellent purchase.

Loved the book. It's a very sweet story about a basset hound and his friend and sends a great message of sharing no matter what age you are.
I received the book in perfect condition and it was sent promptly by the vendor.

Our copy of Claude was torn and so well worn.
We were happy to have a new version! Even though my kids are 10 and 13, we still love this short story every year!

The message is fantastic, especially for a Christmas book. Claude the Dog shares his gifts with a less fortunate dog. But the writing is a bit short and the pictures aren't as colourful as they could be. All in all I'm glad I bought it but I would probably choose a different book to give away as a gift.

What a lovely way to teach children `tis better to give than receive.' With few words and no rhymes - except for the author/illustrator's name, of course, and delightful black/white/aqua pictures of Claude the Basset and his homeless friend Bummer, all ages can delight in the spirit of kindness and compassion at Christmastime. But am I the only one bummed because Bummer didn't get a home for Christmas?

/TundraVision, Amazon reviewer.

this was book really good. i liked that claude was really nice to bummer. he have him all of those gifts. what a nice dog. the author did a good job saying that it is better give than get. he used a good example also by useing dogs. overall this is one of the best children books there are. so if you want to read a good book read this one.

Claude The Dog by dick gackenbach

My two daughters have loved this story ever since they were old enough to tell me so. Preschool and Kindergarten love when I read this story to their class. It is simple, sweet and teaches the days of the week.

We've read this so many times together that my 2 year old daughter 'reads' herself to sleep every night with this book. The illustrations are lovely and Cookie is totally adorable.

Cookie's Week is an all time favorite! Every year, every kid loves Cookie's Week. The kids love to ego read with me . . . "it went everywhere". It's a great gift for kids!

This tale about a kitten's misadventures delightfully brings one through the days of the week with simple text that preschool age children will quickly identify with. dePaoloa's pictures are an excellent match to the text. Those of us raised in a culture where the Genesis creation story is prevalent will quickly recognize the humor of Cookie's lack of a rest day.
The only thing that disappointed me was the size of the book, believe it or not. It measures approximately 7 x 7 inches which makes it slightly smaller than I would wish for when reading to a large group of preschoolers. For snugglier situations such as a bedtime story this would not be an issue.

Sorry to be the naysayer here, but this book -- while chock full of cute kitty watercolors (which is the sole strength of the book), has an extremely threadbare story. So, it teaches the days of the week? Whoop-de-do! Stop the presses, because an author came up with the novel idea of teaching the days of the week via a children's story!

While Cookie the Kitty is mischievous, and honors the shabbos, he is not very creative in how he wrecks the house. One gets the idea that the author never owned a cat before. No shredding toilet paper, no kitty litter and turds all over the laundry room floor, no hairballs under the dining room table, no clawed up la-z-boy upholstery.

What a POLITE kitty!

I used to read this book as a child at my Grandparents home during the holidays. I know others in the family have "dibs" on this book...so I've bought my own! It will become part of our family tradition to read this through the holiday season as well.

This is a great book to own and read every year. I love the moral of the book...don't judge a book by its cover! We also made a cranberry recipe (although not the one in the book)... it was fun and memorable!

This book has been a favorite in my family since my three children were little; we always read it at Thanksgiving time and made the special Cranberry bread, which is really delicious! Now that my children are grown up with children of their own, they are continuing the tradition. A very special book!

This book is very charming indeed! Maggie is a delightful young girl that knows looks aren't everything and befriends a man not based on his looks but based on his need for a friend. And when things start to fall apart at the Thanksgiving dinner she holds everyone together. I read this book to my children and we all loved it and are grateful to know there are others like it.

It is a great book that brings about the true spirit of thanksgiving with a little lesson thrown in, and the basis of the book...the secret Cranberry Bread recipe...is a delightful way to tie-in these fun and whimsical characters. And, to my delight, the recipe is included at the back of the book!

Great for parents to read and great for children to read!

This was one of my favorite books when I was a child. I loved the story tremendously, and the illustrations were mesmorizing. It always would put me in the mood for Thanksgiving, any time of year! I still read it today, and the pictures bring me back to a wonderful time. All of Harry Devlin's books are fantastic...and the Cranberry series is a must for children of all ages.

Centuries after an asteroid destroys Earth, the Mayflower lands and the last members of the human race awaken from hibernation in a strange new place.

If you were a fan of ABC's LOST during its first season, you can expect a similar vibe from this book. A group of strangers are stranded in a bizarre environment in the wake of a terrible tragedy. They don't know where they are, and they have no home to return to. The mysterious world they've awoken in is filled with danger and secrets, and characters die unpredictably. The group of twenty or so Remnants need to figure out how to work together to survive, but politics get in the way. The Remnants compete for leadership, make friends and enemies out of each other, and divide into separate groups as their numbers begin to shrink.

It's all the tension, suspense, mystery, and action LOST possessed early in its run before the show went downhill. This series only spans fourteen books, so the action, revelations, and plot twists are provided non-stop--there's little frustrating stalling and dropped storylines here. If you loved the premise of LOST but were disappointed with the show, if you're still a fan and are interested in a similar story, or even if you just like great suspenseful stuff, you should definitely check out Remnants. It's a thrilling series, and I highly recommend it.

I bought this for my son...and it was impossible to find at a local retailer. My son enjoyed it, but said that it was a bit depressing.
Part of an excellent series, apparently.

In the first book, we left off where the Eighty humans chosen to survive an asteroid (nicknamed The Rock)when it made impact started to hibernate, and we pick up 500 years later, and they are on this strange new "planet". Most of the Eighty are dead, and there are not many essential supplies on board the ship, then on top of that, these aliens are after the Eighty.(which is more like The Twenty) Will the human race become a thing of the past?

When the world ended, "The Mayflower Project" gave eighty people the chance for survival. Shot blindly into space the eighty Remnants of the human race have now landed 500 years after the end of the world. Jobs, 2Face, Mo'Steel, Yago, and some others have survived, but many weren't so lucky. Tamara, the pregnant marine sergant, has given birth to a baby mutant. Billy, the kid who stayed awake for all 500 years of their journey is in a coma and insane. Emotions are on high and the remaning people still have no clue where they've landed on. All they know is that the conflicting landscapes can't be true. Can they survive on this strange, new world all alone? This was my favorite Remnants book out of the seven I have read so far. Kept you guessing what was gonna happen next all the time. Some parts were kinda gross but that was just how the author imagined the planet to be. Can't wait to read further installments of Remnants!

The Remnants wake up from their hibernation, and find out they've taken a 500 year "nap". More than half the Remnants are dead. They are on a bizzare planet, where nothing is realistic. There are strange aliens, nicknamed "Riders", who seem to want nothing but to ...[destroy] the Remnants. And pretty soon they find out they are not on a planet, but a ship...

Professor Richard L. Rubenstein introduced me to this book.

Documented meticulously.

Substantiated understanding of the process of mass murder.

Definitely one of those must read books.

I was reading a work by Christopher Browning recently and he stated how just as many historians were starting to realize the functionalist understanding of the Shoah, Hilberg refined it to a even more nuanced level. Always dilligent, deeper and a step ahead. I had read many books on the subject prior to this one, and frankly had put of buying it because of the price, yet don't regret the purchase one bit. Too many historians use the prhase "magnum opus" when refering to this work and frankly I agree 100%

Hilberg's brilliant and dispassionate treatment of attempts throughout history to destroy the Jews sets a new standard for scholarship and for the historical analysis of emotionally charge subjects. Through his own efficient analytic framework of precedents, antecedents, and scope of organization, Hilberg gives us a lucid formula for both understanding and explaining the subtext, context, and pretext of the 1500-year old continuously running saga of anti-Semitism. The effect is to place the reader in the cockpit of the planners of one of the worst disasters known to man, the holocaust of World War-II. But more importantly, he also provides us with all the necessary facts that go with, and that load his framework.

The context of the holocaust is 1500 years of progressive improvements in ways of addressing the so-called "Jewish problem (or threat)," and corresponding Jewish cultural adaptations to these improved attempts to annihilate them. The improvements have ranged from failed attempts by Catholics to convert Jews into Christians, to expelling them from Europe, to Hitler's creation of a bureaucracy of industrialized death to implement his "final solution." (The author summarizes this progression as conversion, expulsion, and annihilation.)

The subtext of anti-Semitism ostensibly has always been about the "predatory Jewish character" but in fact has been about fears, fears of cultural, religious and ethnic differences and about independence from ordinary orthodoxy. It is precisely these fears that are the most easily serviceable, and most easily ignited into action during times of stress. They are best facilitated through hatred -- especially when guided by a catalyst of evil, ignorance, demagoguery, or demented and corrupt leaders. Inexorably they pass through a process of condoned and sanctioned violence to collective murder. (Fear of Jewish independence and failure to accept the Christian Jesus as their religious messiah and savior have throughout history served as one of the key subtexts of anti-Semitism).

Just as the pattern that serves as the subtext for anti-Semitism is generalizable to other forms of chauvinism, racism and hatred, so too is the pretext: The target is first demonized, dehumanized and vilified; and then disenfranchised, hounded and spatially as well socially segregated. This process of dehumanization then leads logically to, and serves as justification and collective psychological cover for, committing criminal acts against the targeted groups -- including mass industrialized murder. (Jewish religious idolatry, and ethnic character flaws, i.e. their predatory business acumen and slipperiness, their fear of honest work, etc. has throughout history served as the pretext for justifying criminal acts against Jews).

This book puts to rest the popular "magic bullet theory" of the holocaust: that explaining Hitler explains everything anyone would ever need to know about the holocaust. It does not. The anti-Semitic pressures along fault lines leading up to the holocaust had been building up for more than 1500 years. It was these pressures and not Hitler that bear the primary responsibility for the holocaust. Hitler just happened to be the demented catalyst that sparked an anti-Semitic eruption at a time when a demoralized German people needed a tonic for restoring their national pride.

Five Stars.

One of the best books I have ever read about the holocaust. A serious research and it is indeed a great contribution for the studies on this horrible moment of the history of mankind!

The text I read (three volume hard cover) is the definitive work on the Holocaust. It profiles all aspects of a demonic criminal conspiracy, as well as the practical planning and ultimate consequences.

I urge all to read Hilberg. It is the standard work.

my mom read it to me and i liked it alot.
it mad me laugh.
i like charlie becuz that is my name.

I get great pleasure reading good children's books. "Don't Bug Me" is a sweet, humorous, thoughtful book, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Parents will enjoy this as much as their kids. Although it is about Bugs, that proverbially school project, (and we all had one like it), I found there is allot more to it. As I read about Megan and her brother, Alexander, and their sibling rivalry, it reminded me of my own childhood. I especially enjoyed the friendship that grew between Megan and Charlie. I was impressed by the author's ability to demonstrate a healthy way to solve a disagreement between Megan and her parents. It is very subtle lesson, kids might miss it, but it is very constructive.
And the bug storyline is so clever, honest, thoughtful and funny, who knew there was so much to know about bugs! The entire family can enjoy the story together.

This book is about Megan trying to collect bugs for her project. She is being "bugged" by that and a boy at school named Charlie who is causing trouble for her. Oh yeah and her brother Alexander who buries her bugs really "bugs" her too. In this novel Belinda, Megan's friend believes that Charlie likes Megan, but is that true? You'll have to fid out in this high-speed funny book. The book really got me glued to the pages, I hope it also will do the same thing for anyone else who reads this great book.

I really liked this book. I didn't like I would like it, because I think bugs are ikky. But Megan and Charlie and Alexander were such cool chraratrers that I kept reading even tho when Takmika caught the roach it made me shudder. I liked how Charlie told Alexander why we should study bugs. I liked how Alexander told Charlie that bugs were ok and why he liked them. We can learn from bugs and we can learn from each other. I liked Charlie's present to Megan at the end. I wonder if Megan and Chalrile will be freinds when they get older? Oh yeah, I liked it when everybgdy was trhowing soup around at lucnh trying to get the bug out of Rita's soup.

I think that every one should read don't bug me even sixth graders. I read it in 2 days that is how much i liked it. so make sure you read Don't Bug Me!! By Pam Zollman My favorite part is here is the part....

Belinda laughed."You named it?"
"I name all my bugs," Tamika said
"So how are you going to kill it?" i asked.
"in the freezer,"she said "Ijust can't do it any other way."
Please help my friend out and buy this book. believe me you will laugh..

This is a beautiful story and the illustrations are top-notch. Ella is a sweet little elephant who engages young readers. I recommend the whole series, particularly this one and Ella Sets the Stage. My six year old son returns to these books over and over again.

I really love the "Ella" series... The books are nice and sweet, and presents a marvelously imagined, self-contained world that will strongly appeal to little kids. It has a similar feel to the "Curious George" and "Babar" books, except without all the weird, disturbing undertones that make those classics a bit troublesome. A great choice for some fun books that you don't have to worry about. (ReadThatAgain)

This is a very cute story and I look forward to reading it to my daughter.

I have a five and a seven year old and they love everything ELLA. The best part is, so do I. This story, as well as ELLA TAKES THE CAKE is a gem. The message really resonates with both my children and me...I get teary at the end. So many children's books are just silly or entertaining. This one is both but also very literary. I love the allusion to the golden rule and the lesson about staying true to yourself. The illustrations are gorgeous, too! I highly reccommend this book.

Originally, my daughter borrowed this book from the library. She likes elephants and thought Ella was cute. We fell in love with Ella and her story, so we purchased our own copy...well Santa Claus did. My girls are 4 & 6, they both love the story.