X Books

With "FIRENDS", Ralph Moore lends years of insight as a father, pastor and mentor to the way to reach the heart of Gen Xers. His advice is timely and admonition is based on a proven track record of seeing Gen Xers come to faith and Christ and be rapidly mentored and released into fruitful leadership.
More than a "how to" book, Ralph explores the "whys" behind what is happening on the spiritual landscape of this generation.
This is a must read if you are beginning to delve into the world of Gen X and post modernism as it relates to matters of faith.
Especially take note of the chapters which relate to mentoring. There are very few people who have been as successful with raising up and releasing leaders so consistently from this generation.

This book offers a path into the riches of Augustine's ethics and politics. Burt situates Augustine's views in the larger context of Augustine's vision of the Triune God's work in history of creating a society of friends. A very helpful and enjoyable work.

This is a well-documented, carefully researched, thoughtfully crafted, fearlessly truthful insight into, most importantly, Malcolm X's life after his split from the Nation of Islam.

This was time that while he continued to build principled international relationships between himself as the legitimate representative of the colonized Africans inside current U.S. and African heads of state and other key persons; and began to develop a strategy for the liberation of ALL peoples, based on principled relationships among them.

This book exposes the misinformation and suppression of information perpetrated by the dominant culture, including the "left" still clinging to its position of a "loyal opposition" to U.S. colonialism and imperialism.

Check it out!

I am currently a student in the College of Education at the University of Arizona. This semester I have been taking a children's literature course. Francisco Alarcon's poems coupled with Maya Christina Gonzalez's illustrations clearly are a wonderful celebration of cultural diversity. Dual language texts are fantastic because they recognize that language is the springboard to literacy and that literacy is connected to reader self-identity. Moreover, this is the best type of dual language text because English is not placed before Spanish in the book. Instead, both languages share equal billing. The book also has both a "mirror" and "window" impact. This means that it allows some readers to see themselves and offers other readers a glimpse into another culture. Here in Tucson, many of the Hispanic students spend summer vacations with their extended families in Mexico. Moreover, the book is an authentic depiction of Mexican culture and traditions. On a personal note, I really connected with the poetry aspect of the book and the jewel toned illustrations. I just loved the the poem on the bilingual dog. I will be sharing this book with my literature class at the U of A as an outstanding children's book.

"From the Bellybutton of the Moon and Other Summer Poems" is an excellent collaboration between two artists: poet Francisco X. Alarcon and illustrator Maya Christina Gonzalez. Although marketed as a children's book, this bilingual collection should appeal to readers of all ages.

Each of Alarcon's poems is presented both in English and Spanish versions, making this book an added bonus for English speakers who are learning Spanish (or the other way around). The poetry in this book is a populist literature in the tradition of Walt Whitman and Pablo Neruda, and some of Alarcon's whimsical reflections on the natural world also reminded me of Emily Dickinson. And while being part of a great tradition, Alarcon has his own strong poetic voice which stands apart.

Alarcon is a United States poet, and, as he explains in the afterword (which also appears in both English and Spanish), these poems were inspired by childhood trips to visit his rural relatives in Mexico. This book is thus a multicultural celebration of family, of ethnic roots, of childhood memories, and of the beauty of nature. Alarcon writes of being taught the alphabet by his grandfather, of walking barefoot on the grass, of befriending a cow name Mariposa ("butterfly" in Spanish), and of other delightful things.

Gonzalez' illustrations, which grace every page, perfectly complement Alarcon's celebratory verses. Bursting with color and energy, Gonzalez' work is a stunning blend of realistic and fantastic images. Her best illustrations are rich in details that invite the eye to linger in pleasure.

In the poem "We Are Trees," Alarcon compares human beings to trees, and notes that while "our roots / connect," our branches also "reach out / to other branches." And this philosophy seems to be at the heart of Alarcon's work. While celebrating a particular family and culture, "From the Bellybutton of the Moon" also explores universal ideas which are relevant to all families and all cultures. And thus should this book be enjoyed by children--and adults--of all cultures.

Hakim a. Jamal (1937-1973) was a cousin of Malcolm X. He joined the Nation of Islam when Malcolm was with it. He followed Malcolm out into The Organization of Afro-American Unity. Jamal shares many of his childhood experience of growing up in Boston with Malcolm. His experiences with Malcolm in the Nation and his brief encounter afterwords. I recommend this anyone who wants to learn more about Macolm X.

I totally feel engaged by Alarcon's poems. I thank him for including poems about social issues and for including some many poems in nahuatl, a language I love although I do not speak it. All the poems are bilingual and were translated into English by the author.

This is a beautiful book portraying the lives of people, places, and situations. The poems written by Francisco Alarcon are exquisite, evocative and full of passion. I loved the poems in nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. My favorite poem is called: "Mexican is not a noun" which is a poem dedicated to "students and faculty professors who were arrested for showing solidarity with two thousand cannery workers who were mostly women ". "Mexican is not a noun or an adjective, Mexican is a life long low-paying job, a check mark on a welfare police form, more than a word a nail in the soul but it hurts, it points, it dreams, it offends, it cries, it moves, it strikes, it burns, just like a verb".


This is a phenomenal book for class discussion, for working in small groups and as a piece of literature that should be present in very house.

Sparks the imagination, teaches the magic of the alphabet, inspires young readers to follow their dreams. Wholesome entertainment for the whole family. The Illistrations are wonderful!!

The book actually has two authors: Frank E.X. Dance and Carl E. Larson. Both are among the most knoledgeable and most respected researchers in the field of speech communication. These scholars helped to lay a foundation and define the 'rules of the game' in this discipline. I always thought that a pound of theory is worth an ounce of practice; this book convinced me that there are exceptions to this rule. In their introductory chapter, Dance and Larson justly claim that 'theorizing is a basic form of human activity'. The discussion that follows is very clearly and coherently laid; and it shows that theorizing can be a fascinating subject. Dance and Larson isolate three functions of human communication, and dedicate two chapters to each: one to lay down the theory (written by Dance) nd the other to discuss its practical applications (written by Larson). There is also the final chapter which excellently summarizes the key points of the book. Last but not least, Dance and Larson provide 126 proposed definitions of the term 'communication' and a taxonomy of speech communication. Overall, it is a great classic text. It must be on the reading list of all students and scholars seriously studying communication.

I have never really been much of a sci-fi book reader. Though I must admit when I recived the book, I couldn't put the book down when I started to read it!! A real page turner,I read it in two days. The author had me capitivated and intrigued. I can't wait to read the continuation episode 3 to come out.