D Books

This book should, in my opinion, be assigned reading for everyone in so-called first world countries. What the author manages to accomplish is nothing short of remarkable- chronicling one week of food consumption in a number of families around the world. The text is well-written and informative, but it's the photographs that speak the loudest. To compare the weekly food consumption of a US or German family with that of a Sudanese or Mongolian family is haunting and recalibrates what we take for granted. Highly recommended.

Excellent book... showing how, what, and why we eat what we do.. Interesting the vast differences between countries and peoples. Made me appreaciate what I have...

I love, love, love this book. The photos of real families standing in front of a week's worth of food make me feel as if I know these people. For all our differences, humans everywhere need food. This book is the next best thing to sitting down to a meal with people all over the world.

This book really opened my eyes as to what the world is eating (and not eating).

Well-written book, a sobering look at what the world eats, and a wake-up call for better nutrition for most of the "developed" world.

I have to agree with another review the cover of this book just hooked me. This came into the library where I work (5/6 grade) and I immediately snagged it. Read it in one night and have not seen the book on our shelves since!!! It has been out constantly since we put it in the collection. Our kids like it (mainly the boys and our teachers love it!!). There's action and creepiness. The scene in the cave was so vivid I could feel the cold damp and the spongy feel of the body as our hero, Tom, groped his way around in the pitch black. Excellent!!

There are an awful lot of dead bodies per capita in this book, and quite a bit of fairly mindless violence, but that said, it's a page-turner that is extremely well written. Unlike other reviewers I found nothing confusing about the elements of the plot, just found some of them unlikely in the extreme (both the ostensible pre-historic Chinese settlers of the Americas and the ostensible pre-historic Phoenician settlers just happen to have come upon and used the same underground and under-river storage caverns? Wouldn't proof of Phoenician settlers of North America alone have been enough??) This is clearly a read oriented more towards boys, but girls who like adventure stories will enjoy it too.

N.D. Wilson's LEEPIKE RIDGE tells of a preteen who has always lived next to Leepike Ridge - but who finds himself lost beneath it when he escapes the man set to marry his mother and finds his escape raft has left him underground. His discoveries under the ridge - of a body, a dog and more - will answer questions and challenge his survival skills in a riveting adventure kids will relish.

I read a review that made comparisons between this book and Louis Sachar's Holes. This kind of comparison always makes me skeptical. "We'll just see about that," I thought. I read it. I saw. And I get it now. This one is worthy of that comparison -- and then some. And this book will definitely appeal to fans of Holes.

Leepike Ridge is a book for every kid (and every grown kid) who played in refrigerator boxes, caught critters in the woods, and floated down creeks on homemade rafts. It's a fantastic story with a grand adventure, a heroic boy, bad guys that you love to hate, a loyal dog, and a hidden treasure. The fact that it's beautifully written with magical, transporting descriptions is gravy.

If you know and like a boy between the ages of, let's say 9 and 13, Leepike Ridge would make a fantastic gift!

Great fun and very hard to put down.

I have no clue how it would go over for younger readers, but if you're a not-so-young reader, it's a real treat.

Living By the Book: The Art and Science of Reading the Bible -- At Last! Someone who knows how to read the bible and is willing to reveal his secrets to us. Why don't church bible studies start with this book? This book should be the first book of the bible study curriculum. I praise God for finally leading me to Howard Hendricks book.

Howard Hendricks is outstanding at revealing how exciting reading the Bible can be, but even more important was how he explains how to accurately determine what the writers were saying to the original hears, but also to us now. His directions reveal tried and true methods to "rightly divide the Word of God" that many other books on how to read the Bible just never see. I have been reading the Bible for more than 30 years and have seen truths that I missed over and over, just like when Sherlock Holmes looks a crime scene and understands all kinds of details that the untrained just can't see.
Reading this will open up the Bible and God's revelation like never before.

As a required reading for my Bible Study Methods course in seminary, this book opened up a new world to me in the area of Bible observation, interpretation, and application. I did not know what I did not know. I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to learn how to read their Bible in a new, more in depth way, to receive all that God's Word wants to reveal to us.

We've just started using this study with our small group from church and I'm thrilled that it will teach everyone how to dig deeper and understand the word on their own. Howard Hendricks is a great bible teacher.

Dr. Hendricks is a gem! This book is for anyone who finds the Bible overwhelming or intimidating. This book will help you develop method for study that will make the Bible easy to understand.

I loved this book as a kid and I still love it now!! It was great to read it again and share in this girl's view of the world and the things that scare her and how she overcomes them!!

This was my all time favorite book as a kid. I still will recall parts of it in relation to my life now (im 39) . My daughter is finally eight and I cant wait for her to read it. Love this book, I could not have made it through childhood without Judy Blume and this book.,

My fourth grade teacher read this book to my class over a course of several Friday afternoons. It was the second Judy Blume book she read to us, the first being, "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing". I was introduced to Sheila Tubman in "Tales", and then we got a chance to really get to know her.

Sheila sounds a lot like me at ten, trying to figure out where I fit in and trying to appear "perfect". Unlike Sheila however, I loved dogs, loved to swim, and I had to kill spiders for my sister, who was deathly afraid of them. I thought Blume dealt with Sheila's story with a lot of love and humor and sensitivity. By the end of the story, Sheila soon learns that when she really puts her mind to facing her fears, they're not as bad as it seems. This is an important lesson for us all and the younger you can get it, the better off you'll be.

Since the fourth grade, which was over twenty years ago, I have read many of Judy Blume's books and have enjoyed all of them immensely. I'd recommend this book for boys and girls alike. If anything, it'll make you grab your side and laugh. :)

I read this story named "Otherwise known as Sheila, the Great," by Judy Blume. In my opinion this story is really great because there is a whole family which is the parents and two girls, shiela and Libby. The main character is Sheila. She is 9 years old and she thinks that she deserves everything because she is the smallest one in her family. And her parents dont belive that. There si ehr sister which is Libby she is 13 years old and she thinks that she is the best dancer vere. The whole problem in this story is evry similar in real life because many brothers and sisters do not get along at all and they are always fighting about something.
There is another main character in this story her name is Marry but many peopel call her Mouse. It turns out that Sheila and Mouse get along very well and they bacame very best frineds. Sheila and Moiuse do everything to together. One day Mouse scared so bad sheila that she couldn't sleep at night. Mouse scarred her by saying that there was a headless horseman in Tarrytown is where they live. By mouse telling Sheila she ot so scared that she got to go to sleep to the parents bedroon because. And whenever she hear a sound she thought that it was the hedless horseman. Mouse had told sheila many things that would freak her out and she makes alto of dome things. So if you want to find out what does Mouse tells Sheila and what kind of things she does you should get this book and read.

One of the things Judy Blume does in her writing is that she makes characters kids can easily and fully relate to, and this brilliant feature of her writing isn't missing in this funny novel that is a must read for all young readers.

This book is a book that anyone who is considering a career in any type of child services needs to read. I myself am going into social services and this book made me realize what I will be seeing on a daily basis. Mary Ellen was such a brave little girl and I applaud her for surviving her early life!

The book Out Of The Darkness is an awesome book. It shows the hard time that a little girl named Mary Ellen had to go threw. She has such a hard life, but in the end everything work out. I recommend this book for everybody. This is an outstanding book, everybody should read it.

I'm Eric Shelman, co-author of Out of the Darkness. I just wanted to ask that if you buy this book, come on back and write a review of it when you're done. I've never had anything but positive feedback about it, but others can use YOUR personal experience with it to better judge it prior to purchasing. I thank all of you who have read and commented on our book.

The authors of this book have created a wonderful window of understanding how child abuse/neglect has evolved over the years. This book should be required reading for anyone interested in the human service field. Through the heart-felt story of Mary Ellen, we can see why there is such a strong need to protect children and continue to evolve for many more years. Thank you to Shelman & Lazoritz for telling such an important story.

Review of Out of the Darkness: The Story of Mary Ellen Wilson by Eric A. Shelman and Stephen Lazoritz, M.D. Dolphin Moon Publishing, 2003

I chose to review this book because it explains the job of a social worker in the early days of the profession. The book appealed to me as an author and advocate. Set in New York City immediately after the Civil War, this book offers a powerful story in a historical context. Using an original style that combines journalism with fiction, the writers completed a work of art that is based on a true story. The protagonist, Mary Ellen Wilson, was a real orphaned child who experienced devastating cruelty at the hands of the first woman to be tried and convicted of child abuse, Mary Connolly. The story climaxes when Etta Wheeler, a social worker; Henry Bergh, the founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; and Elbridge Gerry, ASPCA attorney, come together to rescue Mary Ellen. It's nearly inconceivable that animals were awarded victims' rights before children.

Thomas Wilson was an immigrant from Ireland who fled the potato famine to shuck oysters at a New York City hotel. In 1861 he married Frances Connor, an English immigrant who he'd met while she was a laundress at the hotel. While he was on the front lines during the Civil War, she gave birth to their daughter, named Mary Ellen. The year the child was born was the same year that Tom Wilson died in battle, 1864.

Frances found it difficult to work and care for her child, so she sought the services of a woman named Martha Score. Childcare for the working poor in the tenements of New York City provided meager nutrition and crowded conditions with no sanitation. However, Miss Score took good care of the baby while Frances worked long hours at the hotel. Travel through the tenements was treacherous at night, so Frances could not visit her child as often as she wished. After her husband died during battle, Fanny turned to alcohol for solace, leading to the loss of her job. Eventually, Fanny died in an "inebriate's asylum." When the war ended, working women returned to housekeeping as their husbands went to work. This left Miss Score with no income, thereby having to abandon the then two-year old Mary Ellen to Blackwell Island almshouse. Mary Ellen was illegally adopted to the evil Mrs. Connolly, where she suffered for seven years.

Etta Wheeler worked for St. Luke's Mission; she cared for the "outdoor poor" and frail elderly in the slums of the city. When neighbors spoke about the cries of a child called Mary Ellen, Miss Wheeler used all available resources to rescue Mary Ellen. However, she was often told by pastors, police, and lawyers to not interfere in the family's business. Undaunted by the advice, Etta persisted in her rescue efforts, eventually aided by Henry Bergh of the ASPCA. In 1874, with police assist, Mary Ellen was carried out of the abusive home, covered with a horse blanket provided by the ASPCA. The court proceedings set a precedent: "There had never been a recognized way to remove a child from an unfit home." The jury trial resulted in felony assault charges against Mrs. Connolly.

Etta Wheeler's sister, who lived on a farm in upstate New York, legally adopted Mary Ellen. Etta continued her social work in the tenements of New York City, where she was needed most. Mary Ellen eventually married, and her daughters spoke of their mother's burns and cuts that never fully healed. However, Mary Ellen lived until the age of ninety-two, surviving her husband by thirty-one years. Meanwhile, Mr. Bergh founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Mr. Gerry was responsible for forming the initial laws pertaining to the rights of children.

This story will cause the reader to wince at the cruelty and rejoice at the rescue. Perhaps the most poignant message in the book comes with the ending: "Perhaps we should see Mary Ellen not as the victim of abuse, but as the survivor, and as a persistent reminder that the efforts of a few people on behalf of one child can make a real difference." As a social worker, that is my hope.

This eighth book in the series, Elm Creek Quilts has an ad out for new teachers to gain fresh blood and new outlooks in quilting techniques. There is Maggie, who is about to lose her longtime job in the nursing home she has worked in for years. Then Karen, an overworked housewife with three kids who feels underappreciated by her husband. Anna comes in chapter three who is a chef and a quilter. Her boyfriend Gordon doesn't treat her right, and she is feeling letdown all the time. Russell is another character in the story who learned to love quilting from his wife Elaine. When Elaine passes away from a serious illness, he is lost and deeply depressed. He goes on with quilting though eventually, but is ashamed to be the only one in a community of all women quilters. The last character in this book is Gretchen, who has a disabled husband and has been a housekeeper for a wealthy woman for many years. After her employer Heidi treats her very unfairly many times over, Gretchen knows she must move on. She also applies for the job.

After all interviews are conducted, the Elm Creek quilters have an important decision to make and choosing the right candidates is not any easy task. In the end three of five are the chosen ones.

Have read all of her books, enjoyed each one very much. They don't need to be read in sequence, but I did. Am looking forward to her next release hopefully before the end of the year. Also have recommended to all of my 'Quilting' friends. Jennifer Chieverini's web site is also very informational and funny. Maybe she will have a book signing in East Texas where so many of us enjoy quilting and would enjoy meeting her.

I don't normally read these types of books, but Ms. Chiaverini is an excellent story-teller. What I don't like is that her chapters are LONG - and that once I start reading one, I can't put the book down until the end!

When my mother suggested that I read these books, I resisted, thinking "why would I want to read a book about a bunch of quilters?" But I was not far into the very first book in the series (The Quilter's Apprentice) before I realized it is not a story about quilting at all. True, quilting forms the framework for the novels, but they are stories of friendship, life, and loyalty. I have sped through all the series that has been published so far, and cannot wait for the next one!

This book, Circle of Quilters, is a collection of several stories, sewn together to create a satisfying tale. The book is divided into character portraits of five people, all job applicants for a teaching position at the prestigious Elm Creek Quilter's camp in rural Pennsylvania. Some of their paths cross on interview day, but there is lengthy back-story and development for each, which elicits sympathy from the reader. I found myself rooting for each to do well during the interview for this highly desirable position. Each back-story leads to the interview experience, and not one candidate believes the interview went well.

The characters are as diverse as the blocks of a sampler quilt. Maggie is humble, hardworking, smart and capable. Karen is an overwhelmed mother of two small children, whose lack of childcare (at the last minute) makes you ache with sympathy. Anna, an underappreciated chef, tolerates her boyfriend's mistreatment and has an annoying lack of self-confidence--but anyone would want to taste her homemade cookies (!) Russ, a rare male participant in the quilting world, takes up the hobby after his wife's death and perseveres to become a renowned author and teacher of the art. And finally, there's Gretchen, who spends her entire life dealing with an evil neighbor and so-called friend named Heidi. I kept hoping Gretchen would at last go off on her with a sharp seam-ripper! But Gretchen had far too much class for that.

All of the candidates face the Elm Creek Quilters staff for an extensive and, due to a blonde named Diane, grueling interview. Each is also tested by a white-haired lady acting has a baffled camper in need of help with her appliqué piece. The way Jennifer Chiaverini pieces together the characters is clever and enjoyable, particularly if you have an appreciation for quilts and quilting. It was fun trying to guess which characters would receive offers for the two positions available.

A very fast read and I truly enjoyed it.

From the author of A Line Between Friends, McKenna Publishing Group.

On the morning of July 2, 1881, Garfield was preparing for a trip to New England. While waiting for his train in Washington's Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station, the president was felled and gravely wounded by the shots of an assassin. Garfield was carried to the presidential mansion, the White House. For weeks he was nursed there. Later he was moved to Elberon, New Jersey, to be with his family. Garfield never left his sickbed, and on September 19, 11 weeks after the shooting, he died.

Garfield's assassin was Charles J. Guiteau, a religious fanatic and a Stalwart, who was apparently angered because he had been refused a government job. He stated that he shot Garfield in order "to unite the Republican Party and save the Republic." Guiteau readily gave himself up after the shooting, certain that the people would understand the high-mindedness of his purpose. He was found guilty of murder, however, and was executed in 1882.

Vice President Chester A. Arthur succeeded Garfield as president. A member of the Stalwart faction, he had sided with Conkling in the dispute over Garfield's appointments. He gradually replaced all of Garfield's Cabinet with Stalwarts, but picked them for ability rather than loyalty to Conkling. The shocking nature of Garfield's death fueled a movement in Congress for civil service reform, which had been started but stalled under the Hayes administration. As a result Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which President Arthur signed into law in 1883. It established the Civil Service Commission to ensure that federal jobs would be awarded according to qualifications rather than connections

Several hundred pages of text on Garfield and the politics of his day may seem a stretch, given the gray, hyper-partisan, issueless politics of the Gilded Age. But in Ackerman's hands, the story of Garfield's presidency and murder comes brilliantly alive. Ackerman (an attorney who has worked on Capitol Hill and in the White House and written about Gilded Age scandals) relates with gusto and fizz the story of Garfield's unanticipated nomination as Republican presidential candidate in 1880, his election by a whisker, the travails of his few months in office, and his assassination. It's a story mostly of the struggle for spoils and patronage between two wings of the post-Civil War party of Lincoln. In fact, the lonely, unstable assassin, Charles Guiteau, was a resentful partisan of the wing that Garfield didn't fully reward. Soon after the president's death, and largely as a result, Congress enacted civil service reform. Ackerman brings to life all this and the colorful political figures, mostly senators, who strode the nation's public stage. The trouble is that, like so many works of history these days, it's long on narrative and short, very short, on analysis. You wouldn't know that the political deadlocks of the 1880s deeply, and disastrously, affected the lives of freed slaves, nor do readers learn of agricultural and labor crises, industrial growth or financial shenanigans-the very matters that factional fighting and political murder kept under the rug. It's a pity that Ackerman doesn't apply his skills to such central matters of context and significance.

Can't praise Ackerman enough for a detailed study of late 19th century political machinations - if you've ever wondered how local politicos could control the nation's power base, this superb effort makes it perfectly clear and understandable. How few people truly understand the power of a relatively unknown figure such as Roscoe Conkling (even if you already knew of Boss Tweed's legacy.....and yet Ackerman's magnificent research and analysis opens this character for the reader's astonishment. Outstanding reportage of the dealings involved in the 1880 Republican convention power-brokering, the desperate struggle between the Stalwarts of Conkling and Arthur versus the Half-Breeds of James Blaine and Garfield, the defining battle for the NY Customs House appointment. Garfield's early bio and in fact his assassination history are not the focus of this book, but who cares? The incisive political intrigue of a mere 8 or 9 months of our presidential history makes for both a terrific read and a wonderful expose of a truly watershed milestone in the evolution of the American governmental system. My highest recommendation for anyone who thinks he knows the Gilded Age, but wants an eye-opener with the readability of an indulgent summer novel.

I enjoyed this book so much, I sent this letter to the author:
"Dear Mr. Ackerman, I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed your fantastic book, Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. Garfield. I feel it is worthy of a Pulitzer Prize for History. I found your writing style to be engrossing as, even though I knew much of the history you recounted, I read each page of the book most eagerly. I had just finished Roy Morris' Fraud of the Century and, as much as I enjoyed it, I found your book to be a more compelling tale. Your character development is superb and I love how you tied the thread of the Conkling/Blaine feud of 1866 to events throughout the book. The final weaving together of the tale in Chapter 15 is a beautiful closure to a moving story that, as you accurately captured, impacted and captivated large numbers of Americans. Your research and documentation were extremely thorough and quite logically incorporated into the chronological flow of events. Your footnotes are pure joy for a politics and history buff (like me). I didn't really feel I had finished the book until I read the endnotes, as they added to my deeper understanding and appreciation of the events. Having lived through the Kennedy assassination, the comparisons with Garfield's demise are most intriguing and the distinctions also profound. Both were younger presidents who had won narrow victories to gain the White House. Both were succeeded by vice presidents who were clearly 'ticket balancers.' But Kennedy's assassination has forever been plagued with conspiracy theories, while Garfield's had no doubt as to the assassin. Alas, to pursue this line of thought would invite rambling on my part, but these ideas do cross my mind. I think your book would make a great movie, except for the sad reality that Hollywood would inevitably destroy a great story. Also, most likely, it isn't the kind of story that would capture much interest among our populace, at least in my judgment (keeping in mind the kinds of movies that seem to proliferate theater complexes these days). If only I were wrong about this! Your recapitulations of future developments of each of the prime players in the book (Chapter 15) are tailor made for the closing of a great film. I found particularly touching the telling of Mollie Garfield having married Joe Stanley Brown. Some minor observations, suggestions, and thoughts I have are as follows: - A table of the results of the 1880 Presidential Election and a national map of the results (as I have attached) might have been a good addition to the book. I did thoroughly enjoy your tables of the key convention ballots. (Obviously, my bias as a mathematician and cartographer is showing.) - I am working on a book (well, it is really more of a tutorial) of the History of Partisan Representation in the United States Congress. As you are well aware, the story of the evenly divided 47th Senate, in and of itself, is a fascinating one and your accounting of the battle for control of the Senate is most illuminating. Your description of the tie-breaking (precedent setting) votes of Chester Arthur is great drama. -- In this vein, while you point out that one of Arthur's first actions as President was to call the Senate into special session to choose a President Pro Tempore, you never related who they selected for this position. My research indicates that Thomas F. Bayard (D-DE) served from October 10 to 13, 1881, David Davis (Independent-IL) from October 13, 1881 to March 3, 1883, and George F. Edmunds (R-VT) from March 3 to December 2, 1883. Perhaps with the Senate evenly split, this particular tale was too complex and off the focus of your storyline to include. - Not to nit-pick, but in case your book is ever reprinted, some minor points: -- on page 205, last line of paragraph two, the spelling of 'ungentlemanly' missed the editors gaze, -- on page 234, end of line 15 should probably read 'In fact' instead of 'If fact.' -- the last endnote 'I am a poor hater' should be attributed to page 453. - If space had provided for it, including the White House family portrait on the cover of the book would have been wonderful. Just viewing this photo (in the context of the murder of Garfield and all you shared about his wife and children) truly conveys the personal tragedy that occurred, separate from the great loss to our country. - Indeed, as you note, we do need a solid, contemporary biography of James G. Blaine. Equally, I would welcome one of Chester A. Arthur. While a product of machine politics, as you described him, he showed character, spirit, decency, and integrity that made him attractive. I would enjoy reading more about him. Again, please accept my thanks for your superb work and for sharing this wonderful tale. Sincerely, R. Bruce Telfeyan"
--By the way, he did write me back a substantial note of thanks. As did other reviewers, I subsequently visited the Garfield NHS in Mentor, OH, and his burial site (really a beautiful shrine) in the eastern part or Cleveland, OH.

I read this book desiring a biography of James Garfield. This book failed at being a true biography. What I received instead was an excellent description of a year and a half of American history, starting with the 1880 Republican convention that eventually nominated Garfield to President Chester Arthur's taking office following Garfield's assisination.

This book reads like a novel. It also contains numorous historical nuggets. It is fair to each of the people dealt with. For example, Senator Roscoe Conklin is not very likeable, but it points out he was one of the few to welcome a black senator.

The focus of this book is the division in the Republican party at this time, which was a factor of Garfield's assisination. While there is no effort made on the part of Ackerman to give a warning to us today, one can learn from the intense hatred that existed in this time, and try to avoid the same in our present day.

This is a fascinating look at a little known president in American history. It covers the convention that nominated Garfield where he was not even a contender. Garfield was a representative for General Sherman who was against General Grant and James Blaine. This convention was one of the most interesting in our history and shows how the freedom of delegates can result in a compromise that gives a candidate acceptable to many. While none would wholeheartedly jump behind Garfield he was able to take a nomination. The New York crowd who backed Grant was particularly bitter. Roscoe Conkling who is made out to be the great villain in this story provides an interesting foil. Chester Arthur is shown to be a man even more unlikely than Garfield for the presidency and it is telling that after his term is up he is hardly even considered for another. The election process also proves to be interesting showing a time before TV and radio when stump speeches reigned supreme. Garfield's assassin turns out to be one of his campaigners who want a political appointment. He feels that by killing Garfield he will be rewarded with a patronage position. Garfield's election seems to bring about a divide in the country that is already distrustful after the election of Rutherford B. Hays. Ironically it is the death of Garfield and the unlikely ascension of Arthur that will heal the nation. This dark horse unified the country in his death and paved the way for civil service reform. For those who have an interest in the Gilded Age this is a must read. For those who are fascinated by political history they will find this a riveting tale that cannot be put down.

First of all this is a teen book and I'm 28. That being said, I loved the book. For advanced readers it's a fast read, but thouroughly enjoyable. I could picture the places the author was describing and picture Æthelflæd easily. With so few historical fiction novels being directed toward great women, this was a welcome read, and the author stayed true to the history of the time.

"Surprise, stealth, unbalancing her enemy, these were the ways her guardian had taught her to save herself, and to win," are the words that are featured on the back of the book, The Edge on the Sword, because the things her guardian taught her is a crucial point. Making history come alive, Rebecca Tingle mixed magnificent facts and fiction together to make an unforgettable story, where any girl can escape. In 2001, it was published by Penguin Putnam Books. Beautifully, remarkably, and magnificently done, the front cover illustration of The Edge on the Sword was drawn by Karen Savary, a memorable artist.

At the end of the ninth century, Flæd was now on her fifteenth year of living. Living in the burgh, staying with family, and learning her languages were all she knew, since she had done that for all her life. Her father was King Alfred of Wessex. He had a passive kingdom. As Flæd grew up, her main companion was her brother, Edward. They enjoyed their ambitious adventures among the forests around the burgh. Eventually, these trips got slim because Flæd began her education in writing, Latin, and Greek under her instructor, (w) Bishop Asser. Little did she know that soon her life would dramatically alter.

As instructed, Flæd headed toward her father's private chamber. Inside the small room she entered, sat King Alfred, who had been waiting. He gestured for her to sit. Alfred looked at her for a second then said gently, "Æthelflæd, as women grow they obtain more responsibilities. Now, that you are almost sixteen, it is time for you to be married. At the end of the summer you will travel to Lundon, Mercia, to be married to my friend and partner, Æthelred." Being the daughter of a very powerful man, Flæd had known this was coming, but it still shocked her. Soon, she would leave everything. She would lose her family. Permanently, she would leave home. Immediately the next morning, a warrior and envoy from Lundon came to be her guardian and warder. His name was Red. Flæd had always had a strong, enduring friendship with her brother, but as that last summer came and went, that friendship was almost lost, but that friendship lasted. No longer could they go on their private adventures in the woods, because of Red, Flæd guardian, who followed her everywhere.

At the end of the summer, Flæd equipped herself, packed up, and prepared her gifts for Æthelred in preparation for her departure to Mercia, because it would be several days before they would arrive in Lundon. As her protection, she had been trained in the arts of the sword and had a minute band of warriors with her. Leading them, Red rode at the front, followed by two wagons and a small amount men on horse back. They followed the river. Surprisingly, they were attacked and many of the men fell in battle, leaving Flæd with a few desperate men and little hope. Could they arrive safely after this tragedy?

This book has a fantastic twist of history and adventure, as if the excitement is literally bounding off the pages. As a great source of entertainment and much more, every pre-teen and early teen girl should read this book. Over all, The Edge on the Sword is an astounding masterpiece, because of the unforgettable story and amazing use of words, which is a charismatic combination.

A teenager named Aethelflaed, is the daughter of the king. That means he picks the husband for her! Her dad picks a man that's about his age (which is about in his fourties!), which she's never met. She sadly can't refuse her dad on this, and is now tortured by the thought of what he looks likeand who he is.

Her dad hire's a protecter for her, since there is a big deal of raiding in the area. Aethelfaed is annoyed by the man who watches her because he follows her everywhere(she is very independant!) She eventually befriends the man, and he teaches her to defend herself, and she teaches him a few tricks as well.

There is a lot of stuff that occurs that I don't want to give away, so you'll have to read it! I'll warn you that there is a sad part, but a happy one fills it in! This book has a slow begining, but gets you hooked!

This was a awesome book, and if you read it you'll enjoy it as much as I did, and I enjoyed it a lot!

I absolutly loved this book. I think Aethelflaed is an amazing heroine. It was sad in some parts, happy in others, with a great plot. Aethelflaed seems so real, and sort of like me. I hope other people can relate to this book as well as I can.

This is definetly one of my favorite books! I've read it countless times and I also love the sequel 'Far Traveler'. The characters are all lovable and the plot is excellent. Another great thing about this book is it is partially a historical fiction novel. The author Rebecca Tingle wrote this book wrote this looking at historical notes. AEthelflaed was a real person and did many great things. Enough great things to be known as Lady of the Mercians.

Flaed is a girl that's only lived fifteen winters but her father King Alfred is making her marry a man named Ethelred of Mercia...a man that she's never met... He's also many years older than her. But Flaed must agree and her father tells her that she cannot be left alone any longer. She must have a bodyguard...a man named Red.

While Flaed and Red are together Red teachers her many things on how to defend herself. She learns how to ride faster and better (which will let her show off to her future husband soon), she uses the sword and many other things. But little does Flaed know that when she leaves for her new home trouble will follow.

Series book. The large, readable print makes this good for children to read.

Summary
Frog and Toad are friends who share life together. I love the "To Do List," which includes "Wake up." Lobel wrote and illustrated more than 70 books. This book received a Newberry Honor Award.

Illustrations
I love the fresh and pleasant green and brown pictures, as did my children.

When Frog and Toad saw a snake, the snake said, "Hi,lunch!" Frog and Toad ran away.
Toad made cookies and Frog said, "They got will power." Toad made a list then when he got to Frog's house, Toad said, "We have to take a walk." They went on a walk. Suddenly, Toad's list blew away.

My daughter's nursery is decked out in Frogs, so the discovery of these books made them books we had to consider. They are fun and the illustrations are grest. At eleven months she is too young to read them herself, but we read them to her - and she enjoys them. The stories are simple with a central theme - do good for others, treat your friends with respect, help your firends when they need help, laugh, and aporach life with adventure. These are great virtues to instill in young minds. If the books were made in cardboard stock, Teah would be even more happy with them - as it is she frequently grabs one of them when it's time for her bedtime story - and great bedtime stories they are. By the time she starts to read she will know the stories by heart, but that's ok - fond memeories of bedtime stories like these should help her build a lifelong interest in reading on her own.

The Frog and Toad books were favorites of my daughters when they were young. I often give them to young friends, and was very happy to share them most recently with my two year old grandson

Learn the value of friendship with one of the most delightful duos in all of children's storytelling! Perfect bedtime stories or beginner's reading books, kids love the animorphed amphibians and funny adventures. Buy one and you'll have to get them all!

J. Lyon Layden
The Other Side of Yore

The Never War is the third book in the Pendragon series. I thought this book was amazing this book I think was the best of all of the pendragons. This book brings back the characters Mark, Courtney, Spader, and Bobby and a new traveler Gunny. This book brings you back into 1937 on first earth. At the start of world war two and ends with a big ending that may shock you.
I would totally recommend this book because it envolve your own world and it makes you brush up on your history. This book is definitely the greatest sci-fi I have read. The Never War is a book that you never want to stop reading it keeps you on the edge of your seat through out the whole story and this book always has you thinking of what could happen next.

This is a really interesting book for probably one reason: the historical fiction.
This book takes you to First Earth, where life is eternally 40 yeaers behind our Second Earth. The plot of this story is where Saint Dane is trying to alter things that have already happened to cause chaos throughout Halla. This is about the Hindenburg. Saint Dane offers Bobby a chance to save the Hindenburg from crashing but what will happen if he doesn't?
This is book is chalk full of good historical fiction. I liked it, A LOT!

For this book review I read Pendragon: The Never War. The author of this fantasy book is D.J Machale.

This book is mostly about Bobby Pendragon who is a traveler and Gunny and Vo Spader, another two travelers who go through the flume that killed Uncle Press. Vo Spader and Bobby Pendragon come out and see two gangsters who have machine guns pointing right at them. The gangsters take them but they both escape and that's where they meet Gunny. Gunny takes them back to his hotel because he is a hotel bellboy. He lets them stay on the sixth floor. They meet a gangster named Max Rose but Max Rose makes them go see Winn Farrow. Winn Farrow catches them and ties them up and he burns the place down, but they escape. A big blimp called the Hindenburg comes in with Max Rose's money in it, but Winn Farrow fires a rocket at it and blows it up and Max runs into the blimp and he dies. They all go back to Second Earth and see their friends.

I think this book is a really good book because it didn't get boring or anything. It was a really exciting book. This book would be best for people who like good adventure books and exciting books.

The book that I read for my report was called The Never War by D.J. MacHale. The Never War is a fantasy book. It was very, very good.

My book is about a boy named Bobby Pendragon who is called a Traveler. Travelers can go to distant universes to fight off a very evil Traveler named Saint Dane. So, Bobby warps to New York 1937, where he is chased down by gangsters and has to deal with, of course, Saint Dane. As he explores this new, or old (to him), New York, he comes along the First Earth Traveler, Gunny.

Bobby also comes along a man named Max Rose, who was a rich gangster and was working with the Nazis in Germany. He finds out Rose has an enemy, Winn Farrow, a very dangerous gangster. But one thing that really makes Bobby mad is that Winn is planning on destroying a blimp called the Hindenburg. But, this blimp is from Germany and is sending Rose his payments for working with them. Should Bobby stop Winn from blowing it up? Or should he let him destroy it so history can play out the way it was supposed to?

You should really read this book. It is filled with excitement and adventure. I would recommend this book to people who like adventure and action. This was a very, very good book. It was probably one of my favorite books because the book flows and never leaves you hanging. The book is also suitable for people who like history. It is going on in 1937 and that's when World War II started.

D. J. MacHale wrote for television for years before turning his attention to novels. He created ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, a long-running series on Nickelodeon in the United States, but it also showed in Canada on YTV and Cinar.

For the last few years, he's been writing the adventures of Bobby Pendragon, a boy who's destined - hopefully - to save the world. Several worlds, actually. Bobby is a Traveler, one of those who have the power to "flume" from world to world. He's brought into the adventure by his Uncle Press. As Bobby was growing up, Uncle Press also took Bobby scuba diving, mountain climbing, to martial arts, driving, and several other things that gave him skills he needs to survive against enemies he encounters. All during that time, Uncle Press was training Bobby to be a Traveler.

Bobby's greatest foe is a villain called Saint Dane. Saint Dane has the ability to change his appearance at will and constantly hides in different worlds while working his nefarious plans.

THE NEVER WAR is the third book in this exciting series. In it, Bobby travels to First Earth, which takes place in the year 1937. The gangster era isn't new by any means, and I was slightly let down when I discovered I wasn't being taken to a new world. I especially loved Cloral, the world Bobby went to in the second book, THE LOST CITY OF FAAR, and I look forward to returning there hopefully in one of the later books.

Still, I'm older than the average Pendragon reader. The 1930s and the Hindenburg are familiar to me through several other books I've read as well as history I've researched.

For all the familiarity with the time period, though, MacHale tells a fascinating and fast-paced tale. Bobby and his new best friend Spader land in the 1930s while pursuing Saint Dane. They're immediately met by machine-gun toting thugs that try to kill them. Bobby figures out how to escape and gets Spader out as well. Spader is way out of his depth because he's never seen anything as "technologically advanced" as the 1930s.

One of the best things about the Pendragon books is that Bobby usually gets to save the day in a down-to-earth manner. He doesn't have any really special skills or powers that help him. At this point, he's fourteen years old and can do what most kids that age can. This makes the series more believable in some ways, and I think it draws the Pendragon audience in a little closer.

MacHale's sense of timing and pacing is excellent. The story moves quickly, and I got a real sense of urgency throughout the book as Bobby tries to figure out what Saint Dane is really doing. Many of the chapters end up on cliffhangers that will draw you rapidly into the next chapter. The dialogue is fantastic and sounds real.

One of the other facets of the series that I really enjoy is Bobby's friendship with Mark Dimond and Courtney Chetwynde. The closeness they share, even through Bobby's journals, feels real.

MacHale also mixes in adult heroes with his young champion. Vincent "Gunny" Van Dyke was an excellent grown Traveler in this novel. He was kind and gentle, and guided Bobby and Spader throughout the adventure.

I did miss the world-building in this novel, but I know MacHale gets back to it in later volumes of the series. But for kids who haven't researched the 1930s much, this should be a fun book and on equal footing with fans of Artemis Fowl and Alex Rider.