J Books

I loved this book. I read it a year ago and I still rememberparts of it, especially the day and night sides of Ryloth. It was neathow the friends kept saving each other.

Usually, in most series by the time they reach book 10 it is beggining to get cheesy and unsatifying, but this is an exception. In fact, I think that this book is even better than the other three books in the second series of Young Jedi Knights, though I generaly liked the first series better. For one thing, even though there is one more book after this one, it seemed to tie in just about all the subplots of the series into a flawless intertwining story, that is much better than most people give it credit for, just because they are kids books. Anyway, in this story, The Young Jedi Knights (Jacen, Jaina, Tenel Ka, and Raynar) finally decide that they have waited long enough for Lowie (their other friend) to return from visiting the Diversity Aliance and they must assume that he has either joined them, or is being held against his will. (both bad things) So they take off to go to rescue him, but are captured by the Diversity Aliance (who is fanacicly anti-human) and thrown into the spice mines to slave out their remaining years in agony. Will they save Lowie and escape? And if they manage to will they survive in the nearly inhospitably cold exterier to Ryloth? You'll just have to read the book to find out. One thing that bothers me, is that when they ask Lusa to stay behind and cover for them saying that they went on a mission or something, well wouldn't the adults imediatly be suspicios? I mean they are just a bunch of fifteen year old kids, wouldn't the adults feel responsible if something happened to them? Yet everyone seems to simply take it in stride as a normal accurance untill Zekk and Lusa come forward and tell the truth for them. Also, these budding relationships between all the kids, while extremly innocent, are starting to get annoying. Actually, the relationship between Jacen and Tenel Ka is fine, it being fun and interesting to watch. But do we really need more than that? Now new characters have actually been created just so other characters aren't left out of this, or so it seems. Zekk in particular was never one of my favorite characters, though despite myself I am begining to like him more. I am still completly against him forming a relationship with Jaina though, despite the fact they like each other. While I suppose Jaina does like him for the right reasons, they are better as friends. Their so called relationship is not only boring, but also completly unneccacary. A poor attemp to relate to teenage girls who would be reading this book. I'm a girl, and I'm fifteen, but this still seems silly and unneccecary, as is Lusa and Raynar, and Lowie and Raaba. Well now that I'm through complaining, I'll sign off by saying once again that this is a great book that I reccomend to any Star Wars fan, especially those interested in seeing how Han and Leia's kids turned out.

I have recenlty found to my suprise that many YA novels are very interesting. The "Young Jedi Knights" series have a lot of these novels and this particular book is easily representative of the breed. It helped that I have read some of the previous books of the series, however, otherwise I would have been completely lost in the character interrelationships.

This is a great book. one of the beast. A good part is when Jacen & Tenel Ka get lost in the ice land. "The first thing Jacen noticed was the cold. He shivered and looked at Tenel Ka,her lizard hide boots rose to midcalf, but her scaled armor only covered a minuscule portion of her uper thigh and left her arms bare. You must be c-c-cold,he said. This is a fact,said Tenel Ka. Chill wind went into the cave like knives of ice. Jacen, unable to thik of any other comfort, put his arms around Tenel Ka and pulled her to him in hopes of sharing some of his body warmth. Tenel Ka's arm slid around Jacen's waist and hugged him". so they are frezzing to death. It gets a bit more buddy buddy for Jacen & Tenel Ka. Now Jaina &Ranar are in the hot lands. " Raynar did his best to keep up with Jaina as they trudged between cracks, lept over open spaces like ovens, and hid from the heat in any shadows they could find. Now I know what a nerf sausage-- on a hot plate feels like,said Raynar. Jaina couldn't anser. Her skin was red and raw from the heat, her hands and feet had good number of blisters already. Jaina climbed up a rockface, along a cleft in the tones that heid some shade. She slipped briefly and reaching out to steady herself, touched an outcropping of rock exposed to the direct sunlight. She hissed in pain and snached her fingers away. Red burn-welts sprouted on her skin. Working it the mines is starting to sound like a vacationto me,she admitted. we don't have any waterout here, no food or protection...said Jaina". So they have to deal with the heat. This is a great book, to see what happens you got to get it.

Jacen, Jaina and group held off to get Lowie back from the Diversity Alliance but it doesn't go well at all instead they end up slaves in a spice mines leaving Lusa to come after them. Another interesting installment of the Young Jedi Knights asside from a few little details like them traveling around the Galaxy at fifteen or them telling Lusa to cover for them (like no one's going to notice they have left the planet?) I like each book better then the last. They're fun adventures and each charactor is well written. I like the little tiny crushes between Jacen and Tenel Ka and Jaina and Zekk their cute but not overly annoying nor are they the main focus of the stories and that works for me.

Great suspense thriller you can actually see where the authors knowledge and experience of the NYPD come into play

Unprettified, brutal look at good vs evil. Strong characterizations, wild scenes, lots of surprises. Conveys the inside world of cops vividly.

By: Peter G. Engelman, Author of "Running From Justice:"
The Whalens have captured the essence of the instinctive reactions peculiar to the business of fighting crime in the big city. I couldn't put the book down and I congratulate the authors for writing such a powerful novel.
Peter G. Engelman, Author
Running From Justice

If you love NYPD stories loaded with suspense, you'll really enjoy Justifiable Homicide. The NYC descriptions are authentic and the action is fast paced. The story moves so fast, I finished this book over a busy weekend. Nice job by the Whalen's, can't wait for the second!

Justifiable Homicide is just the most incredible mystery/suspense book I have read in a while. It had so much happening. The settings for the book were really great. Being 46 years old and from upstate New york and also from Auburn I can relate to all the landmarks mentioned. A great book !! When can we expect another from the writing team of the Whanlens ?

From the opening of this new work, I was really intrigued about why something as common as mayonnaise would figure so prominently, and by the time that I got a few pages further into the novel, reading about the chicken magnate, I was hooked. Vailes has created a situation, though seemingly mundane, that would potentially have enormous impact upon our lives. The premise is quite unusual; the characters are well-developed in a few pages, and I can't wait to read the rest of this book. I'll never take mayonnaise for granted again.

The characters in this novel were so enthralling and so well developed that I am hungering to learn more about their lives! This is the kind of novel that hooks you in very early on so that you will not want to put the book down until you're at the end. The story is zany and fun. Looking at how changes in our world impact the lives of certain characters makes you think more deeply about what's going on around us. I highly recommend this novel!

What a find. J.D. Vailes is an original voice, comic with substance. I'll never think of mayonnaise the same way again. Or chickens! Can't wait to read the rest of the novel and more of what this author has to offer.

I got the same kind of dizzying feeling from reading this introductory chunk as I did when I started to read Michael Chabon's, "The Yiddish Policeman's Union": This author has a powerful affection for the power of the language. My kind of writer.

Is this the next Kaye Gibbons with a modernist bent? I believe the author must be a woman to have so clearly captured the two single women here, but he/she could just as easily be a city slicker turned chicken farmer or a businessman writing a confessional, fictional memoir. Very, very convincing voice.

Sentences dazzle and pull me quickly along the grand strand of humor of a world suddenly without mayonnaise and chickens. By the end of this excerpt I was believing big time and some amount worried for our world.

Now that I'm into the story, I have the uneasy feeling I ought to stock up on mayonnaise for my bomb shelter. Maybe keep one jar back so I can learn to like the stuff. Does anybody know if you have to refrigerate mayonnaise?

And chickens. Wouldn't it make sense for everybody to start keeping chickens, at least a rooster or two and a few hens, enough to keep them from becoming extinct? Chickens as a threatened species -- what an imagination.

What a delightful discovery: this author. Can't wait to find out why he/she has decided to call the book "Moon".

I cannot wait to read the rest of this book! I was intrigued right from the first line. The writer's use of the word pendulum as a description of the earth made me think of time, because I immediately visualized an old grandfather clock with its pendulum barely hanging on as it swung back and forth, and thought how clever the writer was to use that imagery!

The characters are interesting and plausible and their descriptions were so visually vivid that it was uncanny how I automatically got a picture in my mind of the character in the television advertisements that I see for a famous chicken company while I was reading about the character Rufus!

I also liked the humorous style of starting off with the quest to find mayonnaise, because it had me thinking "Why?" and I therefore found myself drawn into each character and each storyline. I enjoyed how instead of starting with the chicken story, and then proceeding to the eggs and then the mayo, the writer chose to lead us backwards in a kind of CSI method. Each subplot introduces the reader to another subplot as the reader backtracks the origin of the crisis as new characters are introduced in each subplot. Each subplot has a clue to the next subplot, and a clue to the next character. It makes your imagination wonder how each new character and event will connect. It is shows a clever usage of connecting events, because the mayo crisis connects to the eggs crisis, which connects to the chicken crisis, which connects to the issue of genetical engineering. What a witty style of presenting and interweaving the story by the writer, which is a refreshing method of avoiding the usual drab plot layouts.

This is definitely one of my favorite Peanuts collections. I pretty much grew up reading this book. Over the years, it had been read so much that it had fallen apart. I was so happy to see this book in the stores again. If you're a Peanuts fan like I am, this book is a must have for your collection.

This is a great book for any Peanuts fan to add to their Peanuts memorabilia collection. I have been a huge fan of Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gangs since I was a child, but somehow Charles Schulz's Snoopy comics have a universal, timeless essence that appeals to people of all ages. Even in my 20's I still enjoying collecting Peanuts memorabilia, and I would recommend adding this book to top of your collection.

Until a few years ago, Peanuts Classics collections were very hard to find except in your local library. But Peanuts Treasury is much better than most of those-better than most of the `60s collections, anyway. Not to say that the Classics books aren't good, but several of the books repeat strips, print the pages backwards, or even repeat stories (or parts of stories). But this collection doesn't do that. Not only that, but this book has about three times as many more pages AND there are more strips per page (five instead of two). A few of the stories aren't finished in this book either, but nevertheless it's a great collection.

This is a highly worthwhile "Peanuts" collection, as it's an unusually [inexpensive] but vast collection of late 50s-early/mid-60s strips that you don't often find in new books, with a lot of wonderful strips in it, and an effort to group them into their original storylines (where applicable) - Sally is born, and Charlie Brown rejoices ("I'm a father!" - and Linus tells Lucy, "You didn't act like that when I was born,") . . . Lucy buries Linus' blanket to prompt him to kick the habit, and Linus is plagued with withdrawal symptoms ("That's the first time I ever dreamed of Hyannis Port!") . . . Linus freaks out when Lucy assigns him to sing "Jingle Bells" at the PTA Christmas pageant - then the new year's pageant ("I will not run around the stage holding a banner reading '1964'!") . . . and, perhaps best, the first time Sally joins Linus in the pumpkin patch - and it's much, much funnier than the TV version ("YOU OWE ME RESTITUTION!!") . . . among many, many others. But anyway, this may be nostalgic for you, too, and even if not, it's still a wonderful book. It's definitely worth it!

Apparently there has been a mix-up: The two "editions" of this book DON'T correspond to each other. I've bought the paperback one, and it does not contain some of the strips mentioned in the review section.

Having recently taken a job where I need to understand the complexities of commercial real estate deals, I purchased this book after seeing Mr. Peebles on CNBC's Squawk Box and am glad I did. More than just discussing the technical aspects of the deals, the stories of the downsides were particularly riveting -- a side of the journey that you'll rarely hear from most successsful business people. It's a great story of perseverence and growth, and an important read for aspiring entrepreneurs. I'd also recommend it to business students and anyone facing a career crisis.

The book had good case studies for and advice for both entrepreneurs and business people in general. His Principles and Ground Rules are good advice from the real world. I found a couple of typos here and there, but it was a good quick read.

The book has a lot of motivation on how to utilize people that come in play with your life in a positive way. It shows you how to be creative in making real estate deals to your advantage.

Great book for those who want to become real estate investors.

The book is awesome. I first skimmed it at the bookstore but after getting home without it I decided to go back and purchase it because there were so many lessons in there that needed to be mulled over and studied again.

So many other books of a similar ilk don't go into the details that Mr Peebles does and his lessons could apply to many businesses, not just real estate.

This is a great book. The main lesson I learned from this book is that there are different degrees of thinking, and if you're going to think anyway, you mind as well think BIG. Thinking big feeds upon itself, creating more and more success. Thinking BIG also helps facilitate creativity. If one thinks small, set-backs will inevitably cause them to quite before the BIG rewards come. I agree with other's comments who say that the power in this book comes from "going along" with the author, and in essence being a part of his successes and failures.

The author's writing style gives credence to the lists of principles he produces at the end of each chapter. It's written well; not too long, not too short. One of the risks of the author's writing style is that the reader might get sidetracked into viewing the book as entertaining, and not take out the numerous gems to apply to their own entrepreneurial endeavors. I've read it once for enjoyment and now will read it again to extract the numerous gems.

I appreciated and enjoyed the author's "tell it like it is" candor. I believe that is one of the traits that has made him successful. However, I got a bit uncomfortable when he would name people he claimed as being dishonest or lacking in judgment. He did this as a matter of fact, which I feel is a bit unfair to the accused. Chances are high they were dishonest and lacked judgment, but to state it as a fact in a book, I thought was a bit unfair. But that is being picky (unless you're one of the accused); all-in-all this is a great book for aspiring entrepreneurs!

My objective was simple-fast, small amount of common ingredients, appealing meal ideas.

This book called for some strange ingredients, some of the recipes looked tedious, and I really just wasn't very attracted to any of the meal ideas in here. Not the type of food I am going to be able to get husband to eat either, so I wound up sending it back.

I have had great success so far with a few other books:
Diabetic Low-Fat & No Fat Meals in Minutes
The Busy People Series of cookbooks.

This is the most used cookbook in my house. It features simple to find and use ingredients and all recipes are quick and tasty, not to mention quite healthy. I have given this book out as gifts to two others already and they both have given it similar reviews.

A superbly organized and presented introduction to low-fat, carb conscious dining, Quick & Healthy Low-fat, Carb Conscious Cooking showcases more than two hundred new and/or updated, delicious, nutritious, "heart healthy", diabetes appropriate, weight control friendly recipes. Quick & Healthy Low-fat, Carb Conscious Cooking is enhanced with easy to follow low-fat menus, detailed nutritional analysis for each recipes, tips for trimming fat and sodium from a diet, a listing of foods and their fiber content, conventional and microwave directions, time saving ideas, weight loss and exercise tips, and "Products Worth Trying". From Hot Artichoke and Spinach Dip; Three Bean Soup; and Pear Salad with Raspberry Dressing"; to Low-Fat French Fries; Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole; and White Chocolate Mousse with Berries, this completely revised and updated second edition of Quick & Healthy Recipes and Ideas offers a highly recommended compendium of palate pleasing, appetitive satisfying, kitchen cook friendly recipes.

I have about 12 lowfat cookbooks in my collection. This cookbook and volume 1 in the series are my favorites because the recipies taste great and they are very easy to make. You will love this cookbook!

This is the cookbook I depend on. I am a Lifetime member of Weight Watchers, and I used this book (and the other Quick and Healthy) when I was losing weight, and still use it all the time now that I am maintaining. There is enough nutritional information to calculate points. The ingredients are all readily available in our small town. You don't spend all afternoon in the kitchen. Everybody likes the result! I can't say enough good things about these books.

Jack Polidoro has a writing style that will keep you turning the pages. This book is a fast read. The plot is exciting and moves. Jack has a way of making the tale come alive in your head. This book should be made into one of those disaster movies starring George Kennedy. It would be a knock-out! Jack included a generous helping of juicy sex too.

This is an excellent page-turner from Dr. Jack. Are there no bounds to this man's talent? Having left Boston some 2 years ago it brought back pleasant (and not so pleasant) memories and even provided me with interesting information about the Sumner and Callahan tunnels of which I never knew.

The topic, style and coverage of story are incredibly well researched and delivered. This is a true suspense drama with touching underlying stories. It is a "whodunnit" with a carefully carved disturbing tale that will surprise you.

With all the junk being published these days, this was a refreshing and dynamic read. As an incredibly busy person I greatly appreciated the short chapters, but be careful because the more you read the less you will put it down.

I guarantee you will enjoy this book.

When is the next one Dr. Jack??

Very simply, I was unable to put this book down. Not unlike some of the other reviewers I too was on my way to Boston on business whilst reading this "glued to my seat" book. For the first time, I can say that I was pleased for all the flight delays as I managed to finish reading this book on route. I am an avid reader and can say without reservation that Rapid Descent was easily as good as any of the books being written by some of the better known authors, such as Crichton, Grisham, Cook etc to name a few of my favorites. Well Done Dr. Jack when's the next one.....

The action comes at you a mile a minute as a commuter plane takes off from Boston for a short flight to New Hampshire that should, under normal circumstances, be quick and uneventful. This, however, is no normal flight. Something has happened and the plane is in deep trouble. Even so, the plane might make it if only. . . . Polidoro presents an exciting tale and does so with great panache as he weaves the story of multiple characters whose lives are coming together at a critical moment while demonstrating a keen knowledge of detail that includes flight control, harbor safety, guitars, tunnel construction and lots more. Just when you thought there was nothing to driving through a tunnel or taking a short commuter hop, Polidoro comes along to smack you up-side your head. This is a good read and a real page-turner!

Rapid Descent: Disaster in Boston Harbor is wonderfully crafted. J. P. Polidoro exhibits his scientific prowess through the detail and logic of this story of an ill-fated commuter flight and the havoc it produces. It is almost like reading a documentary. The musician shines through in the beauty and control Polidoro has with language. He is precise but elegant. Without giving away the surprise ending, Polidoro has woven in plenty of human drama as well. I couldn't put it down.

Monty is an insecure rat, insecure because he and his family live in a sewer and create works of art, which is frowned on by the higher class society of wharf rats. Additionally he shares his name with his Uncle Moony, a drunken creator of decorated rings, which shames him because of the derision of the other rats. An interest in the pretty Isabel and a crisis helps him to overcome his insecurity and his shame. I bought this book because I'd just acquired 2 pet rats, and ended up hooked on Tor Seidler. He truly cares about his characters, and while the stories are for children, they aren't childish. Adults with a little imagination will enjoy his animal stories as much as the kids do.

I read this when I was at a friend's house with nothing else to read (it took me an hour or two; I suspect it would take a child a bit more time). It is a cute, amusing book- definitely a nice present for children above the age of, say, 7 or 8. I had no problems suspending disbelief in the talking rats; however, I have to admit I did have trouble suspending disbelief in the rat/human interrelationships (e.g. humans being smart enough to realize the rats were bribing them when they saw large amounts of money intermingled with the remains of poisoned rats).

? Montague Mad-Rat is a young rodent with a strange family: his mother dyes bird feathers with berry juices and creates fanciful hats; his father is working on his hundred-and-seventh mud castle; and his aunt travels the world on cruise ships. His namesake uncle crafts tiny gold rings that he sells to humans. Montague has his own craft: painting exquisite miniatures on tiny shells his aunt brings him. His real adventures begin when he meets and falls in love with the rich and beautiful Isabel Moberly-Rat, whose friends and family are wharf rats who look down upon rats like Montague who make things with their paws. Montague gets involved with a campaign to save the wharf rats from extermination by a new property owner, and comes to appreciate his family and himself for who they are.

This book is absolutely charming. The setting-Central Park, Columbus Circle, and the New York docks-is just right. Seidler has managed to make his rat story romantic, funny, suspenseful, and insightful in its observations of class snobbery.

One element that serves to make this book so successful is Seidler's playful use of language to maintain the fantasy element and to help draw character. The world of the novel is always seen from the rats' point of view. For instance, when the lovely Isabel Moberly-Rat is caught in a rainstorm, she mutters "Oh, people" under her breath, rather than "Oh, rats." The rats don't go for a walk; they go for a "creep." They attend a gathering called the "Great Rat Chat," which is the "backbone of a democratsy," attended by cabinet ministers who are great helpers of "ratkind." When the haughty young Randal Reese-Rat gets a spot of poison on his tail, his parents call in a "general ratitioner." These are just a few of the numerous examples throughout the text. They serve to maintain the illusion that the rat world has its own society, yet one that is eerily reminiscent of our human world. Mrs. Moberly-Rat is a terrible snob, as are most of her fellow wharf rats living in fancy high-rise crates. She is struggling with her weight, and does "petal arrangements" to keep her mind off cheese. However, every time we see her she is eating or serving a different variety, from blue to Swiss to Gruyere. She looks down upon the Mad-Rats because they make things with their paws, marry their cousins, do business with people, and worst of all, live in "S-E-W-E-R-S." Her husband, Hugh Moberly-Rat, has a fancy office with a gilt-edged dictionary for a desk and silver foil gum wrapper wallpaper. Seidler does a clever thing with the speeches that Hugh makes: he repeats every thought in different words, making him even more long-winded than most human politicians. Thus, "How so, you ask," is followed immediately by, "Why, you want to know?" Sometimes he does it in single sentences: " For more deaths, I fear, lurk in the near future-await us in the coming days." It's really quite a comical effect, and is typical of the artificial language that many politicians use in public-and is not the way Hugh speaks in private, either.

All in all, A Rat's Tale is a lovely book that works on several levels, from the story of an unlikely hero to commentary on class prejudice. The black-and-white illustrations are a charming complement to the text. One can't help agreeing with Newsday's comment: "A Rat's Tale may well do for rats what Charlotte's Web has done for spiders."

A Rat's Tale is about a young rat named Montague Mad-Rat, or Monty. He lives a boring, solitary existence in the sewers of New York City. His family is almost considered a bunch of criminals, as they've broken almost every major rule of society, like making things with their own paws. Rats should scavenge for things they need, not make them. But nevertheless, his mother makes hats out of feathers, and his father makes sand castles. Neither of them have much time for him. He is very lonely and bored. The only things he has to do is gather feathers and berries for his mother's hats, and paint the seashells his aunt brings him. Then, one day, he meets the girl of his dreams! Her name is Isabella. She is the daughter of the governor of the rats, and she lives in old abandoned Wharf 62, where only the rats of the highest-class live. He can't stop thinking about her! Then he realizes that a rich, sophisticated girl like her could never love a sewer rat like him.
Meanwhile, the humans want to poison the wharves. The rats had stopped them every year by finding loose change and anonomysly offering it to the owner of the wharves. Every year they had collected $10,000. And every year, it had been enough. but this year it wasn't. So their leader (Isabella's Father) decides that they need to double the Rat-Rent (as they call it). But there's no way they can gather $20,000 worth of pennies, dimes and nickels! Then, Monty figures out a way to impress Isabella. He thought the shells his aunt had brought him might be of some value. After all, everyone said they were great. So he brings the shells to Isabella's father. He says they are great, but they need money, not shells. Dismayed, Monty tells Isabella's father to keep the shells. Isabella gets a90=hold of them, and at first she just hangs the shells on her bedroom wall. But then she has a great idea. her mother told her that Montague Mad-Rat (Monty's uncle whom he was named after) was infamous for doing the unthinkable--dealing with humans (it's like making things with your own paws). He, like Monty is also an artist. He decorates rings and sells them to an art dealer. Isabella decides to team up with him to sell the shells. She knows that dealing with humans is a huge disgrace, but she'll do anything to save her beloved wharves. Together, they are able to get $20,000!
Monty is hailed a hero! His little shells saved the wharves! Monty finally got everything he wanted. He saved the wharves, he's a hero, and Isabella finally likes him. Then the worst happens. What is that? You'll just have to read the book for yourself.
Monty significantly changes. He becomes much braver and he learns to do his best and try his hardest, even when things look hopeless.
This is a great book, and I recommend it to anyone age 9 and up.

I just adore this book. I am a massive rat lover and have 8 rats...and this book is a pleasant and innocent page turner...

You will love it!

I'm really surprised at all the positive reviews this got. She did give some guidelines which are nice, but I found it very hard to drum up much sympathy for the author, who seemed very full of herself and self-focussed. Her life was, in general, not a struggle; she seemed to get everything she wanted easily and more than most people can dream of getting. She had a few bumps and now she's back on track and that's why she wrote the book. I would not recommend it.

After reading the article about Ms. Whaley in the April 2006 issue of Black Enterprise Magazine, I immediately bought and read her book. I could not put the book down. Whaley tells a story that most of us can identify with. I was so inspired by her book. She difinitely sparked me to re-evaluate my own choices and start living my life for me and not everyone else. I recommend this book to everyone.

I read about Lisa in the September issue of Essence Magazine and immediately bought the book. I was so moved by her story. This is a book that is a must read for everyone.

I read this week over a weekend. It was funny, moving and inspirational. So much to learn from... thank you!

Lots of things you will think about as you read this book. Most women will probably see themselves in parts of this story. This woman took her life back and it took a lot of courage. A terrific read. Enjoyed it very much.

I own this book, and even purchased a copy for the use by my Alma mater University for their children's collection of books.
This book is the FINAL published book of poems by 13 year old Mattie Stepanek, who died on 22 June 2004 from a rare form of muscular dystrophy: Dysautonomic Mitochondrial Myopathy. He was a genius by intellect, but as sweet as a boy could have been. I recommend this book because of Mattie's keen insight into major human issues such as LOVE, PAIN, SUFFERING, FRIENDSHIP, SICKNESS, LONLINESS, FULFILMENT, DEPRESSION, AND IMPENDING DEATH. By late Autumn of 2003, I believe Mattie surmised that not only was death possible but was probably imminent.

By Dec 2001, Mattie and former US President Jimmy Carter became close friends, and this undoubtedly had an impact on Mattie's later poems. You actually SENSE Mattie becoming a Peacemaker like his childhood idol, Jimmy Carter. This book is more than simply GOOD poetry, but the plethora of photos from his mother's collections give the reader a visual biography of a boy who ROSE ABOVE his fatal sickness and who proved to be an angel in disguise for millions upon millions of people, when the day was Done! A MUST BUY Book.

Mattie's writings have touched my spirit like no other. His wisdom beyond his years and how his books make us look at life, especially our own, in a different light, has to be from God, therefore, making Mattie an "Angel Among Us" in my book.

This book is a must-read for all adults, and older children. The amount of suffering this child endured, and yet could find a reason to grasp life to the fullest, is a lesson for all of us. Mattie had a special gift that only comes from God, with messages that are profound. And yet, the messages are delivered in utter simplicity. It will absolutely change your life.

I got this book last year from my grandmother and really enjoyed it. The poetry was nice, even if most of it didn't rhyme, and the color photos were excellent. This book was an awesome collection of Mattie's poetry from when he was really young, to his last words before he died in 2004. The only thing I wish was in the book was more information on Mattie's brothers and sister, so everyone could know about them as well as Mattie.

If anyone wants to learn about courage I would suggest this book. What a remarkable person Mattie Stepanic was, his poems will pull at your heart strings as they did mine. It will be a book to treasure all my life, and reread.
Betty Blake
Book lover in Vermont