M Books

What a wonderful story this was. I love to watch skating and have not missed watching an Olympics since I was a kid. I am familiar with a lot of the skaters mentioned in this book. I thought this story was so touching and full of emotion. Katia considers her life with Sergei almost too perfect. They were so in love and their life together was indeed a fairy tale. I commend Katia for being able to pick herself and go on with her life no matter how difficult after Sergei's unexpected death in 1995. I thought the comparison between Russian and American customs was very interesting. This was an enjoyable and heartwarming read.

I remember watching this pair when they were competing. I wasn't an ice dancing fan, but they were so incredible to watch, I started watching any competition they were in. When Sergei died, I was devastated for Ekaterina. When her book came out, I read it, and cried all the way through. But really, it isn't a sad ending. I find it to be very inspirational to see how Ekaterina faced the worst that could happen, and came out on the other side with a wonderful attitude and will to go on. It is now 12 years later, and this book STILL makes me cry, and still inspires me.

I read this book lastyear in the Hardcover edition and I cried. It is such a moving, loving, tragic, and heartwarming story full of love that a young widow had for her husband and skating partner and the child Daria that they had together. It told of their skating years, marriage, how they met, and came to america along with the tragic death of her young husband Sergei. I couldn't put this book down. A great story that you will love. Well written.

First of all, this is a great book. The story is written beautifully, and pictures were added in all the right places. I don't tear up easily, so the book didn't make me cry, but it was touching nonetheless. However, I was surprised to find that this book was also useful in that it gave me some great insights into Russian culture, specifically how it differs from life here in America. This is a great book for a plethora of reasons; I'd definitely recommend it!

I'm really glad I found this book at a library book sale last year. Though this story is no longer current news, I hadn't forgotten about the tragic death of Sergey Grinkov or watching him perform with his wife Katya in the 1994 Winter Olympics. And even though the world has long since moved onto other headlines and stories of interest in the figure skating world, the love story told in this book is truly timeless. As a Russophile and a historian whose field of expertise is Russian history, it was a double joy to read because of all of the descriptions of Russian culture, the differences between Russian and American customs, and what life was like in the late Soviet period and the early post-Soviet period. (Although I have to say that the transliteration style wasn't completely pleasing to me; for example, I don't think I've ever read any other book where a double O is used in place of the letter U, as in Ligooshina or Katoosha, and I'm still trying to figure out how the nicknames Serioque and Katuuh are supposed to be written in Russian characters.)

Though the book begins and ends sadly, in between there's a lot of happiness and love, making this into a beautiful heartfelt love letter to a wonderful person, skating partner, friend, lover, husband, and father. The love between Katya and Seryozha is so pure and genuine, nothing like the type of superficial and problem-plagued celebrity relationships we're used to hearing about. It even made me a little jealous of their storybook love story! All throughout, Katya is very honest and open, about their relationship, the world of young skaters in the Soviet Union, what goes on behind the scenes at the Olympics, the hectic life on the road of skaters, and how difficult it was to constantly have to leave their daughter Darya behind while they skated. While I'm sure there are some things she chose not to write about, overall a very detailed and honest life and love story emerges. She was so lucky to have this wonderful man, who was so much more than just an athletic partner, for (what was then) half of her life.

Because the love story is so beautiful and like a dream come true, the reader can really feel her deep grief and sorrow expressed at the beginning and end of the book. It's a terrible thing to lose the love of your life, the father of your child, the only person you've ever skated with for the past 13 years, when you're only 24 years old. This beautiful love story isn't diminished for me by knowing that Katya has since moved on with her life and found love again. She had a child with Ilya Kulik six years after Sergey died, and married him a year later; it's not like she jumped into his bed soon after this book was published! (And since Kulik is six years younger, he would have been a bit too young for her then anyway.) When you're widowed at such a young age, you should hardly be expected to be in mourning forever, and it may help the more current reader to not feel quite so sad at the end, knowing that this intense pain and sorrow isn't such an overpowering force in Katya's life anymore. And new husband or not, there's no denying that her first husband, her first love, was indeed the greatest love of her life.

This is an excellent book, but some may be put off by the cover. The story is great and it is not a "romance" novel as the cover may imply. Very good selection for a book club or just to enjoy on your own.

Fairy tale is the best description for this novel. The drab, old-maidish heroine with the horrible family who blossoms in a new setting and finds the man of her dreams is the most trite of plots. But LM Montgomery has pulled it off by not taking herself or the story too seriously. It's the kind of novel a young girl can adore, and an older, more sophisticated reader can still enjoy. I loved it years ago, and still do!

If you already love The Blue Castle then this is a great addition to your L.M Montgomery collection. However, the introduction contains a couple of errors about the storyline and, most problematically, gives away the ending. Think of it as an academic, analytical essay and read it only after you've read the book.

This book has no chapter which is less delightful than another. Just good reading from start to finish!

I read this book first when I was 14 and loved it. I ordered it recently on Amazon and was amazed at how at age 28 I easily entered the world of Valancy and fell in love with the characters all over again. Excellent writing, excellent imagery, excellent story line. Loved it. I'm so glad I own it now.

This book does a wonderful job of taking the scientific information available regarding nutrition and puts it a format the lay public can easily understand. Very professional.

Glad to find a book that breaks down what I'm eating and what it does or doesn't do for me. Tired of wasting my time eating junk. I want more energy and food, sleep, and exercise are key!

Willett and Skerrett have put it all together in one reader-friendly book. Based on all the solid science out there, their recommendations are what I live by. The thing I really like about this book is that you can see where the big fad diets got their ideas, but you can also see all the other research they neglected in their rush to cash in on the diet book craze.

Finally! A book with some real information I can use to make my diet healthier and remain easy to follow. I only take off a star because a lot of the information was repeated over and over and over. The book could have easily been slimmed down 100 pages without losing any content. I also appreciate the sample menus and recipes in the back. Overall, I think everyone should be forced to read this book- our collective health would be much better!

An evidence based, comprehensive nutrition plan for anyone looking to optimize their diet. It serves as a heart healthy, cancer preventing, wt controlling, all purpose guide to better lifestyle. I recommend it to family, friends and patients. - Thomas G. Smith MD

I love Camryn Mannheim and her book. I'd give this a 4.5 if I could, because since she wrote the book, she's lost quite a bit of weight and puts the reasoning for it on being a mother.

I hated it when Carnie Wilson went from being a NAAFA member and spokesperson for loving yourself at any size to being obsessed with being thin. She's admitted to lying about why she had WLS and has made a snootful of money pimping it to others. She has been a major factor in the deaths of hundreds of (mostly) women who didn't make it after the surgery and her recommendation of it.

And I am very saddened by Mannheim's abandonment of her principals of fat-acceptance and the people who have supported her and her book.

Isn't there anyone out there who will stay committed to the cause and not cave in when someone runs some cash under their noses or threatens their career if they don't lose weight?

Ack. Love the book. Disappointed in Mannheim today.

I just happened into a copy of the book when I had a little time to kill, then I could hardly put it down. I enjoyed the book and the many reviews that have been written here. I normally write reviews on obscure books where there are only a few, if any, reviews so this is different for me and I doubt if i have too much to add. Beyond the self acceptance theme that has been much reviewed (I have fat issues and support Camryn's views (mostly)), I liked the book on many other levels. Of course I liked the humor and human interest of growing up in America. The struggle for success story is good too. I especially liked the unconventional approach to the book itself. Frnakly, I did not much the Cammy--fat dialogs, but I liked many of the other, unusual things like asides and notes to herself and others throughout. There were other quirky approaches that I really liked too. I really like the book and recommend it highly.

After reading the past reviews, I wonder if I'm the only man who read this book. The first thing that caught my eyes, I'll be honest, was the cover picture. Camryn is a gorgeous woman with very nice legs. She is also a person of deep character, who has persevered and triumphed despite the prejudices of our shallow society. She relates her struggles in a moving way, but avoids the whining, "why is the world so unfair?" tone that unfortunately characterizes some similiar works. If you want a glimpse into the mind of a powerful, beautiful and intoxicatingly magnificent woman, then you will enjoy this book.

Camryn Manheim is an sassy, award-winning actress and laugh-out-loud funny. This book is a personal account of her experiences of fat-ism and her journey to self-acceptance.

Manheim is a natural storyteller and, being overweight myself, there was a lot here to relate to, but although I enjoyed the book, there were no groundbreaking revelations for me here ... though it does make a pretty strong case against society's obsession with being thin, this book is in no way a "self-help" book (to be fair, it doesn't claim to be) and it didn't help me to "make peace" with my fat. It did however make me laugh a lot and that's reason enough to encourage others to read it!

Thank you Camryn, for speaking out for big women everywhere.

Camryn Manheim is a fat activist. Her experiences in a world where people are literally dying to be thin include getting in to the NYU Masters of Fine Arts program, gracing the cover of "fat" magazines such as Radiance and winning an Emmy for her performance on The Practice. She is a likeable, mature and attractive woman who has fought passionately for what she believes in. But does that make one a good author? In Manheim's case, it damn well does.

"Wake up, I'm fat," is a hilarious, bittersweet page-turner. This socially critical memoir mainly deals with one individual's struggles on growing up in our superficial world. Anyone who has ever felt like an outsider, be it because of their race, religion or looks, will immediately be able to relate to the amiable narrator.

Manheim manages to be honest about the ugly underbelly of today's beauty image and her struggles without sounding whiny. She uses dark humor and clever prose to describe how she got to where she is today.

Subjects such as erotic weight gain or personal ads are also dealt with in this book. They may make the reader feel slightly squeamish at first, but ultimately they just make this book a more interesting read. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about "the underdog being on top" or who simply likes a good story told well.

I am still fininshing this book because I skipped the chapter that was about each individual illness that animals can get. I am going to go back through and read them later minus the cat illnesses as I don't have cats.

This book was well written although it gets a bit technical at times and I had to read some stuff 2x but it gave me a lot of insight on the damage that pet food does to dogs and for that matter what is really in pet food!

I would recommend it to anyone interested in improving thier pets life but wouldn't use it as my only resource I have bought several books to see what is in each of them and learn as much as I can mainly so my dogs can have a healthier lives and so I can be informed when talking to my vets who are very conventional.

The book is written by a veterinarian first trained in standard medical education. He took his education and added holistic training with experiences added by his brother who is also a veterinarian. I don't buy all the concepts presented, but it certainly gives hope to all of us who want our pets, and ourselves, to live long and high quality of life, lives.

This book is fantastic! I've gotten so many tips that have benefited my 13 year old dog. I wish I had this many years ago so I could have prevented some of the problems she is experiencing. I've already noticed a huge improvement in her health and I've only had the book for about a month.
Dr. Goldstein's approach to the health and well being of animals just makes perfect sense. I will never again feed my dog commercial dog food and I feel like an idiot for believing it was healthy for her in the first place.

If you want your dog (or cat) to live a long, healthy life, get this book!

In July of 2006 my beloved Bogey was diagnosed with TCC of the bladder. The vets that I took him to said that he probably had less than 6 months to live. I did not accept their opinions as final so I started researching alternative treatments when my mom gave me this book. After reading it I contacted Dr. Marty at his office in New york and he began treating Bogey with supplements and we changed Bogey's diet to a raw diet. Unfortunately, we lost our battle with cancer on July 7, 2007 but Bogey lived 6 months longer than any of the other vets expected him too under Dr. Marty's care. I don't believe that every treatment works for every animal but I truly believe that Dr. Marty gave me 6 extra months with my baby when other vets wrote him off. This book gives you a different perspective on pet care and it works. Bogey was living proof.

This book is more than just a "take this vitamin for this problem." He really gets you to think about wellness and nutrition as a whole and he backs up much of the information with footnotes and actual facts. This book was the final motivator for me to switch my dogs to a homecooked diet AND it finally got me & my husband on the right track with our own diets. If you want your dogs to live a good, long life without being bogged down by drugs and foods made from "rendered animals" (road kill, euthanized pets, etc) - READ THIS BOOK.

It just came to my attention that a new revised and corrected edition with a little additional material will be released in a couple of months! I have the orignal Random House edition and this is a great collection of instructive games with analysis of every move. I have enjoyed it with the "More Unbeatable" book as well.

This is a revised edition of the book originally published in 2003. The main difference between this edition and the earlier one are:
1) The format has been changed to double column on the pages. This allows the explanations of the moves to be closer to the diagrams which accompany the explanations.
2} Some of the analysis has been updated and expanded to further help the student.
3) A result of the new format and slightly smaller print has been a saving of space (less white space per page}. Therefore, the new edition has the same number of games and explanation, but in under 200 pages. At less than 1/2 the thickness of the previous edition, it is much easier to carry.
4} A new edition gave the author a chance to correct many typographical errors and rephrase explanations to make for further clarity.

Like its predecessor, this book is for anyone (not just juniors) who want to understand why certain moves are played. Those who have read Irving Chernev's "Logical Chess: Move by Move" will be even more delighted with Mr. Snyder's book. Instead of the lengthy explanations that are repeated over and over again in Chernev's book, the book by Mr. Snyder gives the important information once at length and then relies of the reader to review if the explanation is needed again. When a move is a simple recapture he keeps the explanation to a short senctence. In the case of the opening moves being repeated in a later game, Snyder does not give the explanation again, but relies on the reader to refer back if explanation is needed. Half of the games are those of the author and half by other masters. Some important features of the book for students are:
1) Games are arranged by opening and thus start the player on developing an opening repretoire to play against opponents.
2) Analysis (i.e. alternate moves) is kept to the minimum needed to help the student gain understanding of what is happening and of alternate possibilities.
3) There are numerous diagrams (generally after every 3 or 4 moves) to help the student make sure of the correct position. And for stronger players it allows for them to read the book without the need of a board.
4) Explanation of moves are clear and concise. Anyone from about age 11 or 12 and up should have no trouble understanding the material.
I recommend this book for anyone who seriously wants to improve their play.

After having learned the basics from the same author's CHESS FOR JUNIORS book I decided to get this book for myself, my children and grandchildren.

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I just finished reviewing CHESS FOR JUNIORS, which I consider to be an 8th wonder of the world, and now I discovered the 9th!
CHESS FOR JUNIORS leaves off at the end with with nicely analyzed games (move by move commentary) and UNBEATABLE CHESS LESSONS FOR JUNIORS adds 24 more games. You will learn just what the author knows you need to learn once completeting CHESS FOR JUNIORS (well, if you know the basics well, then you can skip CHESS FOR JUNIORS and jump right into this book).

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I might also suggest that you get WINNING CHESS TOURNAMENTS FOR JUNIORS in this series, which provides an explanded opening system, intermediate level tactics and endgames and lots of information on how to improve and prepare for tournaments.

ENJOY!!!

The idea of explaining the idea behind every move is a good. I wish that more books would do this for the Beginning and Intermediate level chessplayer.
There are several problems with this book; 1) The book is overly focused on the opening - it should spend more time going into the middlegame and endgame, and 2) It often would not answer the questions I had about a move or what was going on it the game, and 3) half the games are of the author, who is only a measly master. However, overall I can still recommend this book.
This book does not compare in quality to my favorite book, "Logical Chess, Move by Move, which just recently was updated."

I really enjoyed reading Unbeatable Chess Lessons For Juniors. I felt that I gained a lot of knowledge especially in the following areas,
a) Learning how to build an attack. The placement of your pieces and planning aheady.
b) Learning how to use sacrifices and to recognize when they work and do not work.
c) Positional play - manuvering your pieces and planning the use of Pawn structures.
d) Many tactical ideas were covered.
e) Learning the openings. The openings in the complete games are well covered with important opening lines being show. The games are organized by the type of openings being used. This makes it easy to study openings. The lines being shown are up to date and very accurate.
f) There are not a lot of endgames but the ones covered are very instructive. What I like is to see how plans were made to get to the winning endgame right from the opening! This book then gives a step by step explaination of how to win the endgame.
Some special features I liked about Unbeatable Chess Lessons For Juniors,
a) You are asked to find the best move. This forces you to think and makes for fun problems to solve out of games. This is much different than most books.
b) All the moves are analyzed.
c) General rules are pointed out. But, what makes it really nice is when the exceptions to the general rules happen, they are pointed out.
I like the nice easy flowing style of the author. For a person who already knows the very basic stuff about chess this book is just right. This is because there is both a review of important ideas and a depth of analysis making this book interesting for a more advanced player as well. The author uses a lot of his own game where he has used them in chess lessons with his own students. This makes the explaination very clear and things that only an experienced chess teacher knows need to be covered are right there. I have read some of the other reviews which have been helpful to me in being able to point out some of things that I agree with.
If you really love chess and like to study to improve this book is good for any age. But it is written so a 6th grader can understand it.
I understand that this book is going through a new printing correcting any typos and may be hard to get for a while. It would be worth waiting for if you cannot get it now or even getting a used copy for now.

this book is a must for all nsync fans! I was a little disapointed because they didn't have a lot of "411" on them as I like (mostly pics) but the pics are great~but It's an awesome book!

This is a book all about the popular band *nsync. they include how they got started, what's an everyday routine for them, bio's and several pages of their life story. they used a lot of qoites from when they where performing in Disney land (which if you have seen as much as I have...nothing new) personally I enjoyed the baby pictures of the guys. they have family pictures and a picture of when Justin was at the tender age of 14 (I laughed because they have changed so much) Several up-to-date pic's as well. you will probably enjoy this book!

I an an obsessed *Nsync fan and bought this book a few years ago.I still read and have read it numerous times.It has baby pictures of the cuties and shows pictures of *Nsync when they just started singing.It has lots of info and is actually written partually by *Nsync,unlike most of the other books.

I expected an official book to be a lenghty chapter book- but this had more information than it looked! plus cool colorful pics on each page. Of course this book covers their lives up to their debut album in '98, so of course its not exactly up-to-date anymore, but its cool to have. It has a section about each member that has some interesting info and old baby pics! Theres a section about their most embarrasing moments, which is always cool, and funny to hear about! Plus much more!

Hello, I think this book is awsome. It is grate. My mommy lic's it tooo. se reeds it to me win i go tu bed at nite. I dont eet meet! I am a vegitran. Well that is wat my mommy says anyway.

I remember this book from my childhood. I think I kept it checked out of my school library almost the whole year! I am so glad to find it again, since it obviously left quite an impression. It's such a wonderful, well-written book, and certainly not your run-of-the-mill fairy tale princess.

I first read this book when I was in elementary school. I remember reading it and not wanting to put it down. When my mother finally made me put it down and help with the dishes I explained everything I had read so far to her in detail and after I was finished helping my mother, I went back to reading and finished the entire book the same day I started it. Years later I tried to find this book but because i had read it when I was so young, I couldn't remember the title. I was thrilled when I found it and once again read the book the same day i got it. The book was still amazing(I had my worries because things that seem great when your young sometimes turn out to be pretty bad as a adult). I found the story of Amy heartwarming with a creative twist to the other princess stories we all know. I find the idea that Amy wasn't the image of a beautiful princess because she had freckles and straight hair charming. It makes you realize there is more to beauty than perfect complexions and blond hair. I think every little girl should read this story and plan to purchase it for my niece when she is older. Even as an adult I enjoy reading this fairy tale and highly recommend it for all young girls.

This book emphasises that there are other virtues and qualities aside from aesthetics. It is difficult to describe. The book teaches that beings ones true self is what matters most and goes beyond valueing superficial signs of worth.

I wish I had this book when I was a child instead of filling my head with the traditional fairytales. I think we try to hard to live up to the impossible standards that these fairytales represent and when real life hits, we feel like a failure for not being able to fulfill them. Truly a great book to read to your child and one that has a little something for us as well.

One may know the story of the servant girl who gets to go to the ball, the story of the beautiful girl that falls in love with the beast, the princess that is finally awakened by a kiss from a dashing prince. But, it is quite possible that one may go half of her life before ever hearing the story of another girl, a princess in fact, who was born once upon a time in a land called Phantasmorania. She was christened Her Serene and Royal Highness Princess Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne--a name fit for the most beautiful and exraordinary princess in all the land. Special gifts were bestowed upon the baby at this christening celebration by the magical fairies of the land. All seems to be heading straight for happily ever after until the last fairy bestows her idea of a gift on the princess: "You shall be ordinary!" The kingdom is turned upside down. An ordinary princess?

The king and queen may consider this gift a curse indeed, but it is what makes the story so endearing to readers. Traditional views of what makes someone noble and special are tried, especially what makes a woman beautiful and of worth. In a classically fairy-tale setting, a mythical land ruled by Oberon, king of the fairies, new-age ideas are considered and ultimately proven plausible. M.M. Kaye's story, The Ordinary Princess, is a refreshing new take on classical fairy-tale stories that enamors readers with its relatable characters all the while enchanting them with a somewhat fantastic plot and imagery. Because Princess Amy is so believable, readers are better able to walk along side-by-side with a princess and vicariously experience all her adventures instead of gazing longingly from afar.

Kaye's story brings ordinary and fantasy into beautiful harmony: it is what makes this story the most enchanting fairy-tale you might've never heard of. It's never too late for this kind of magic.

A princess is supposed to be fair, with hair golden, skin like wild rose petals and cream, and eyes as blue as larkspurs (3). A princess is supposed to be graceful, well-tempered, always behaving with the utmost dignity and poise. Kaye characterizes all six of Amethyst's sisters by nothing more than this description of what a royal princess should be. But, because of the gift bestowed on the little princess to be ordinary, Amy, as she was thereafter called (for "what could be more ordinary than that?"), is hardly those things at all (21). Amy was much more like us: she was imperfect. She had a stubbed-nose, freckles. She was gawky and had the "distressing habit of standing with her feet apart and her hands behind her back" (22). Already, an ordinary audience has come to relate to this ordinary princess. The audience can relate to physical imperfections, but the audience is inspired by the way Amy reacted to her imperfections and lived her life. It wasn't that Amy never was discouraged. Indeed, no. This facet of character makes her all the more relatable, realistic. But, she was optimistic about looking at things though and she enjoyed life, trying to look at the bad in a positive light. Amy was such an ordinary sort of girl that she would sneak out of her window to play in the Forest of Faraway. It is easy for the audience to like Amy for themselves and it is natural for them to empathize with her, but the people in the kingdom don't seem to like Amy and her manners very much at all. The reader finds acceptance and an embracing of his imperfections through the character of Peregrine, the "man-of-all-work" she meets a neighboring kingdom. He grows to love her for her ordinary self and her ordinary habits. She is not timid and delicate like a princess is expected to be and he loves her and all of her "imperfections," without even knowing that she is a princess. It is human, it is ordinary, to want to be loved for what we really are and Amy and Peregrine's story gives the reader hope that it can happen.

Their relationship manifests the harmony of the ordinary and the fantastic that Kaye uses to enthrall readers. Amy meets him in a very casual setting and they decide that they would like to be friends. They talk as friends. They are informal and playful in their dialogue. One day, when they are lounging in the forest as they often liked to do, he talks of having seen the princess that had come to visit the king of this far away kingdom where Amy had runaway and where she met Peregrine. She asked him, "What's she like?"

He answered her, "Like a princess." She didn't like this answer saying that it was silly, so she threw a blackberry at his nose. That's not the sort of thing Cinderella would do but it seems an ordinary thing for a modern girl today to do. Their conversations are full of silly, friendly dialogue and they almost always end their rendezvous walking hand in hand and laughing together. But, the fantastic part about it is that they truly love each other. This ordinary relationship turns into something real and something that can last. Even when the plot takes an unexpected turn, they still live happily ever after together. The coming together of the ordinary and the extraordinary in their relationship uplifts the ordinary reader, giving him or her evidence that fantastic is in the realm of possibility.

In addition to character development and plot in bringing a refreshing harmony to the work, M.M. Kaye cleverly and naturally manipulates simple, every-day words and assembles them in an enchanting way that creates the sweet, lovely undertone of the entire work. Instead of using extraordinary, sophisticated words to describe the beauty of a baby, she says simply, "she was as pink and white and gold as apple blossoms and the spring sunshine." In these simple words, the reader receives almost an entire idea of what this baby is like because the reader is able to imagine the softness of the babies skin like the petals of the blossom, the babies sweet smell like the scent of the blossom, and the warmth of the babies skin like clean spring sunshine. Kaye takes advantage of the readers' minds ability to make relationships to words and bring up images without the image being explicitly laid-out by the author through unnecessary wordiness. The images that Kaye creates using such simple words are so brilliant that it would seem that she were a fairy herself. Because she uses this simple diction to color her piece, all, young or old, are able to read her story as if it were meant for them, gleening from it what their mind imagines all on its own.

Even the illustrations that enliven the pages of Kaye's fairy-tale are enchanting. The simple and sometimes amusing black and white line drawings add a childlike intrigue to the book. The images look simple enough but they are beautiful and oftimes delightful caricatures of the people or the situations Kaye is describing, adding to the humorous, casual, friendly aspect of The Ordinary Princess.

This story is attractive to modern audiences because of the idea that what is traditionally valued by society is not always the most valuable thing to have. What Amy lacked in beauty and elegance, she certainly made up for in warm, gentle kindness and friendliness. Amy, like other fair-tale princesses, was so gentle that she had animal friends that kept her company, a crow and a squirrel. She was able to look past herself and think of others because she was not caught up in her appearance. She was straight-forward and sometimes rambunctious about the way she did things, something contrary to the traditional idea that a woman should be demure, and in this way attracts the modern reader whose idea of woman may be different. This story has the fantastic, enchanting aspect of a fairy tale but because Kaye chose to combine that with the ordinary aspect of humanity, it can attract and resonate with a wider audience.

The title of the book itself, The Ordinary Princess, brings too dissimilar things, ordinary which connotes mundane or down-to-earth, homely and the idea of a princess which is basically everything extraordinary, beautiful and noble and sophisticated. The title intrigues readers because of the juxtaposition of these two seemingly paradoxical ideas; the reader may question or dare to hope that these two characteristics aren't so contradictory after all. As the reader turns the pages of Kaye's tale, absorbing the character of Amy, the fun and childlike humor of the dialogue and the characters, and the mesmerizing illustrations one comes across every so often, they are increasingly enchanted with the idea that fantastic is in the realm of possibility. Amy is loved for her ordinary self. Being true to one self is more important than living by society's norms and that is when happily ever after can really happen.

This is a very touching book and it brings up many feelings that I needed to get in touch with. I would highly recommend it.

Eventhough this book was written almost sixty years ago, it speaks to women today. Anne Morrow Lindburgh writes as though she is visiting with the reader. It is so easy to hear the sea, see the sea shell she is describing and feel as though you truly know this author. This is a book I will read again and again, as well as give as a gift.

This is a must read for anyone & especially for women (of all ages). I
re-read it every few years just to be rejuvinated again. I've been giving
it ,for yrs., as gifts to special friends. The last time I gave it to my
friend ( a Presby. lay pastor)who took it with her from the WV mts. to
her family home in Fla....she read it while on the beach & upon returning used it as the basis for her sermon for Women's Sunday.Each time I find
something "new/eye-opening & worthy" in the examination of the shells to
our individual lives.

Everyone should read "A Gift From the Sea". This is a book filled with wisdom. Unfortunately I read it later in my life. I wish I would have had this book in my twenties. Anne Morrow Lindbergh was a woman who understood life.

There are a gazillion books out there on how to find yourself, follow your bliss, and cope with midlife crisis, but none more succinct or more profound than this slim and elegant volume. Each chapter is lovingly structured according to a particular species of shell, and the result is a beautifully observed prose poem about the evolution of the female psyche. With its compact size and attractive cover art, it makes a particularly charming gift.

My son took the class with Ms. Manning and also used this book to prepare for the SAT. Both are excellent and we are thrilled with the results... he went up 180 points from his PSAT! The material is presented in a very usable manner and keeps the student interested. I highly recommend this book!

this book was very beneficial for helping me with my SAT score. It goes over everything you will encounter in your SAT.

This book was a key factor in helping our daughter increase her SAT scores by 160 points! I strongly suggest any high school junior making the investment of time and money!

Anyone preparing for the PSAT or SATs should read "Boot Camp". My daughter studied the book and her SAT jumped "300" points to a near perfect score. After studying the book and taking Marcy's course, my son's PSAT score went up 350 points. The book is concise, easy to read, and fun. It tells you what you need to know. You won't regret buying this book.

My daughter bought this book in early fall. She also attended Ms. Manning's classes. The book teaches students how to prepare for the SAT and make improvments on their scores. A strategy is given. My daughter's scores for PSAT given later in the fall went up significantly! She now has confidence that she can handle the SAT this spring. Recommend this for anyone wantint to increase their SAT scores.