Non-fiction Books

"...Christmas is such a special time that very special, almost magical things can happen. And the most magical thing of all is Santa Bear: I'd say he has the best job in the whole world, because the joy of giving is what Christmas is all about." -- From the book

This lovely book by Stan and Jan Berenstain follows the Bear family as they navigate through the trappings of Christmas: making lists, feeling the tug of store-front windows loaded with toys, kids worrying if they've been good enough to merit Santa Bear's visit, the spirit of giving and more.

I love that this book doesn't demonize wanting things (like The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies), and shows kids deciding to spend their own money to buy their parents special gifts from Christmas.

One adorable scene in this book is when the kids encounter a bell ringing Santa outside the mall, standing in front of a pot that says "Help the Needy". Paper Bear explains "His job is to collect money to help the needy--birds who need seed, squirrels who didn't put enough aside for the winter".

Especially good for Christmastime, The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear is a heartwarming story with an uplifting message that children will no doubt enjoy.

This is such a cute book! This one has the Bear family going to the mall two days after Thanksgiving and finding that it's all decorated for Christmas. Mama thinks it's too early, but Papa thinks that the kids will be fine and they will be able to handle it. Then the next page shows the cubs jumping up and down in front of the toy store way too excited for the season to begin. Sister has a ton of questions about Santa, like how does he get down our skinny chimney, how does he drive his sleigh when there's no snow, etc., etc. Just the same questions just about every child has at one time or another. It also goes through how hard it is to wait until Christmas Eve and all the things a kid goes through waiting for that wonderful event. Lastly, it shows the cubs buying thoughtful gifts for their parents and being very excited when they open them on Christmas. The book closes with Papa explaining all of Sister's questions on Christmas Eve while they are looking up into the sky, waiting for Santa Bear to come. Then, it starts to snow and blankets the entire town with Christmas snow.

This is such a great little book - it shows all the joys of Christmas through a child's eyes but also teaches about giving. When Sister says that Santa Bear has the hardest job in the world making all those presents and then delivering them, Papa counters with the fact that he thinks that Santa Bear has the best job because he gets to give all those gifts to so many cubs. That's the last sentence in the book too - when the cubs give their gifts to their parents, they realize that Papa was right - Santa Bear did have the best job in the whole world because it feels better to give than to receive.

We LOVE this book in our house and I just can't recommend it enough!

I got this book as a christmas present in 1990 and really enjoyed it. All the toys looked exciting to me and I really loved the illustrations.

I gave this book four stars because it is a great book for children dealing with questions about Santa Claus. Papa Bear answers all these questions with a simple answer, "Christmas is such a special time of year that very special, almost magical things can happen. And the most magical thing of all is Santa Bear."

This book is about how the cubs start wanting their presents for Christmas. Brother bear wants just a couple of things and makes a small Christmas list, while sister bear makes a really long one. Sister gets thiknking and she realizes she's being greedy.

I reccomend this book to any child who is havinbg a want problem. The point of this story is don't be greedy. This is for children 5-8 yrs. of age.

The literary voice of the ninteen-twenties' "Jazz Age," F. Scott Fitzgerald was out of step with the grimmer thirties. Facing his wife's insanity, increasing alcoholism, and his own obsolesence as a writer, the stories collected here show Fitzgerald facing his demons in bracingly honest prose. If "Crazy Sunday" and the other tales of the adventures of Pat Hobby, down-and-out screenwriter, feel a bit like autobiographical wallow, and "Family In The Wind," about a doctor in the midst of a country tornado, is an interesting if uncharacteristic journey into Steinbeck country, it's the title story of the collection that's worth the price of admission.
Charlie Wales is an ex-broker, returned to Paris after all the good times have gone, with only the goal of regaining custody of his daughter after the death of his wife. A thinly veiled take on Fitzgerald's own troubled relations with daughter Scottie after wife Zelda's madness, it's at once a suspenseful, moving, and lyrical story. All his powers are at work here, as if he knew this was his last shot at literary immortality, and he was just about right.

I bought this volume of stories simply to get a copy of Fitzgerald's "May Day" which I'd read in one of my college texts and then could not find for years. I have always felt that "May Day" would make a superb film--and the screenwriter could lift most of the dialogue right out of the story. It is that good and simple and dramatic. Actually every one of the stories in this collection is first rate. Here is Fitzgerald, only in his 20's, writing of American aspirations before, during and after World War I. And no one wrote about this subject better than he did. The characters are rich and complex, all of them dissatisfied with the bones that life has thrown them, all of them desiring what others have. The reader sees their foibles and loves them anyway. These are not perfect people. They are real people in a time of trouble--fighting, most of them, simply to stay afloat in a world changing faster than anyone would have thought possible. I cannot recommend these brilliant stories highly enough. There is also a brief life and appreciation of Fitzgerald in this lovely Scribner edition.

The Book of Revelations in the New Testament is the most likely source from which F. Scott Fitzgerald draws his "Babylon Revisited". In Revelations, Babylon the Great (also an ancient Near Eastern city of materialism and sexual excess) is the `mother of whores' and the source of all evil in the Roman Empire. She is said to have been defeated by God and judged for her excessive sin. Upon her destruction, the saints rejoice while the merchants and hedonistic pleasure seekers morn. Symbolism abounds in this revision of the timeless tale and the choice of Fitzgerald's title could not be more appropriate.

Charlie himself is the regeneration of Babylon. During the economic boom of the 20's, Charlie and his wife lived life to its fullest and most shallow degree. They partied until sunup. They squandered wealth. We even get the impression that there was a significant amount of infidelity existing on both sides. As with Babylon, Charlie is punished: The stock market crash in 1929 liberates him of a fortune, "his child [is] taken from his control, [and] his wife escaped to a grave in Vermont."

As with Babylon, Charlie's fall had its rejoicers and mourners. Marion, his wife's bereaved sister, saw Charlie's fall as an opportunity to gain control of his child, and with sincere intentions rid her family of the sinner. Though she doesn't expressly rejoice in her brother-in-laws demise, she does blame him for her sister's death and understands why his life has turned out askew. Duncan and Lorraine, on the other hand, mourned the loss of their sinister partner in indulgence.

This story is complete with all of the historic reference and symbolism that has come to define F. Scott Fitzgerald. What a fantastic, unbelievably creative writer. It's amazing how timeless his writings are, and "Babylon Revisited" is the perfect example of that fact. It really makes you think about your own life.

The king of the 1920's Lit World wrote short stories for big money in Scribner's Magazine, Collier's, Esquire, and Saturday Evening Post. His first novel made him famous, This Side of Paradise, but his subsequent novels including The Great Gatsby sold meagerly. Zelda and Scott went through dough like drunken sailors, so Scott wrote short stories for a quick buck. This group of stories is among his best and though some or all were written commercially, Scott's talent was so huge that they rival his chief competitor's: Hemingway, Parker, Anderson, and Larder in charm and precision.

Above all, Fitzgerald is charming. The drunken rich boys of May Day are close to the authors experience and poignantly revealing. Scott was the son of a failed businessman. His mother's family was well to do and Scott associated with rich beauties that seemed always just beyond a snow covered golf course as in Winter Dreams. His experience with his future wife, Zelda Sear, an Alabama debutante is cloaked in fantasy in Ice Palace. Surely newlyweds are surprised to find they have married strangers. In that there is no secret, but Fitzgerald gives his bride a hysterical nightmare in a St Paul carnival ice maze. The reader loves Sally Carrol and is genuinely caught up in her dilemma of Minnesota in-laws and a suddenly stern husband.

Fitzgerald was a dreamer and The Diamond As Big As the Ritz is a parable about a family so rich, and so self-centered in their luxuries, they murder their guests less the secret of the their wealth be known. In an era where a million dollars could buy a country, Fitzgerald's fascination with success and the rich permeates his work.

F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of our greatest writers. He is best known today for his many wonderful novels, especially The Great Gatsby. As time has passed, his marvelous magazine stories have faded from sight . . . even though those were more widely read than his novels when they were written.

In Babylon Revisited: And Other Stories you will deepen your understanding of the novels . . . and of their author in these often semi-autobiographical tales. The best stories have as much impact as any of the novels in a spare exposition that adds to their power.

Each story deals with the same general theme: We live on hope which is based on illusions about reality. When faced with reality, we happily escape into new hopes based on different illusions. We are sort of like Peter Pan: We don't want to grow up.

The theme comes across with startling persuasiveness as Fitzgerald unpeels the many forms of hopeful illusions that will seem familiar to every reader.

The stories build chronologically across the backdrop of the United States after World War I in the 20's and 30's. That shift in authorship times also inadvertently adds the drama of seeing how the psychology of the young and educated changed as American went from mindless boom to seemingly unending bust.

Fitzgerald has a rich imagination to makes his world open up for readers so that you can feel both the physical sensations and the emotions of the characters . . . and become the characters while you are reading.

The stories themselves have that delightful quality of exaggeration that makes his points indelible.

The Ice Palace explores a Southern beauty's pursuit of an advantageous marriage in the frozen tundra of Minnesota in winter. May Day recounts the pursuit of pleasure and accomplishment by those of various social classes and beliefs. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz is a wild tale of a mythical place and the consequences of unlimited wealth. Winter Dreams deals with the painful consequences of acting on the illusions of romantic love. Absolution is an amazing story about how we can carelessly end up being untrue to God and ourselves. The Rich Boy considers how being rich and powerful can get in the way of being close to others. The Freshest Boy looks at being an awkward teenage boy and how he came to make peace with the world. Babylon Revisited shows how our mistakes can come home to roost after we believe we are invulnerable. Crazy Sunday is an astonishing look at the psychology of how we connect to one another through others. The Long Way Out is about a woman who suffers from a mental collapse and is now ready to return to her husband . . . when fate steps in.

My favorite stories in the book are May Day, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, The Freshest Boy, Babylon Revisited and Crazy Sunday.

If you haven't read these stories before, you have a great treat ahead of you. If you can find a copy of George Guidall's narration for Recorded Books, your pleasure will be even greater.

When I began reading this book,I anticipated a telling of the nazi shadow engulfing the Jews of Austria in the style of-say- Primo Levi, or even Zweigs recollections in his 'World of Yesterday' autobiography. But Appelfelds style is unique. Yes, the nazi shadow is coming to engulf.As readers we know what their fate will be. But Appelfeld tells the story from the universal human perspective where we evade reality and interpret everything the way we want it to be, not as it actually is.

Jews are gathered in Badenheim for their annual vacation. The 'sanitation' department has ordered all Jews to register. The residents know they will be going to Poland.Dr Pappenheim talks of the new opportunities; how it is essential people return to their own country of origin. (The atmosphere of evading reality is heightened as nobody asks 'Why?') Langmann is angry. He is Austrian. Why should he be uprooted over a mistake? Peter the pastry shop owner blames it all on Pappenheim for bringing decadence to the town with his art festivals.(Again, no one asks what has this got to do with their situation-even though Peters accusation is a common myth espoused by the nazis.) Fussholdt carries on writing his major critiques on jewish philosophers and culture whom he dispises despite his own judaism.

Throughout, there are no Cassandra characters. Only quickly appeased comments (They took my house is somehow turned into an understandable action by the residents.)Even at the end, Pappenheim is convinced they cannot have far to travel when 40 filthy cattle trucks arrive at the station to take them to Poland; its all ok.



This book is a mere 148 pages and must be read in one sitting to gain the full effect. It transcends the era and the crime it portrays, it tells you of mans fatal flaw in disbelieving the evil that can occur. Trusting to decency and reason to quell brutality. You know that these people know, but even as a reader, you would feel uneasy in trying to break the truth to them.



Appelfeld has a unique way of writing and a message for both his own people and all of mankind. This was an honour to read.

Badenheim is a quiet, idyllic holiday town in Eastern Europe. The 'leader' of the town, Dr Pappenheim, is busy preparing for the annual festival, writing letters and sending telegrams to beg and plead for musicians and artists from Vienna.

While the preparations are under way, the Sanitation Department begins quietly undertaking a rigorous inspection of each and every house and shop in Badenheim. Among the many questions asked is how many and who of the residents are Jewish. The vacationers and locals alike think nothing of the questions, nonchalantly confirming or denying their religion, and returning to their food, their wine, their entertainment. Here and there, a few people discuss the increasing powers of the Sanitation Department - they have just recently closed the Post Office - but nobody seems to mind. Badenheim is quiet and peaceful, and that is how they like it.

Time passes. The impresario, Dr Pappenheim, is still writing letters, but he senses that they are going off into the void, never to return. A few - very few - letters are still allowed into Badenheim, but for the most part, the Sanitation Department has closed off the city. Guards are posted to deny entry or exit to any man, woman or child of Jewish descent. It happens so slowly that nobody really notices, but at one stage, almost all of the non-Jewish people have gone, and of the tiny trickle of visitors allowed into Badenheim, every person is a Jew.

There is a quiet horror to Badenheim 1939. Throughout this very short book, it seems as though with each page, the oppression and terror of World War II is approaching the Jewish people of Badenheim, but they never see it. With every freedom slowly being denied - the shops are closed, the gates are sealed, outside communication is forbidden - the reader is left to wonder if this time, if this time when the Sanitation Department closes the pastry shop, say, will they understand? But they never do. Everything happens over such a long period of time, and so quietly, that nobody really seems to realise when they are suddenly trapped, except for a few minor characters who are slowly going mad, the cracks in the calm facade they have wrapped themselves in widening with every minute.

This book is most effective because we know what happened to the Jews post-1939. We know where they are going, and what will likely happen to them. The Sanitation Department assures them that they will be transplanted to Poland, and everything will be fine. They believe because they have to believe. Towards the end of the novel, the razor wire, the guns, the dogs all make an appearance. To ignore what is happening is suicidal, and yet they do. After all, how could a race of people imagine that they would be persecuted in such a terrifying manner? Surely, their minds would shied away from such horrible information, from the mere idea that a man - a country - wanted to eradicate six million of them? And yet, that is what happened, and that is how the novel ends, a perfect, bleak, dark ending that is all the more horrifying for how completely reasonable every single tiny little step leading up to their incarceration inside a derelict train, headed, presumably, for Auschwitz.

Badenheim 1939 is a powerful book because it shows how easy it is to accept something unacceptable, if it is presented in small, reasonable, easily palatable pieces. None of these characters are overly bad, or good - they are absolutely normal. They squabble, they argue, they love, they laugh, they sing, they cry. In fact, throughout the entire novel, nothing untoward happens to any of them - except for the encroaching holocaust.

Badenheim is a an Austrian resort town whose denizens are almost all Jewish. This short novel describes the reactions of the residents of the town as preparations are made to deport them ' to the East'. It describes the gradual series of changes in which the town is slowly closed down, and its residents denied their privileges and enjoyments. A number of characters stories are highlighted including the Impressario Pappenheim who has for years organized the Music and Dramatic Festivals in the town.The story of a half - Jewish waitress who identifies with the Jews and who injures herself in desperation is also told. Also an assimilated writer who mocks Herzl and Buber and worships the satiricial Karl Kraus is despicted. Most of these characters are living in the delusion that they are about to be deported from Austria to go to a better life in the East, in Poland. Appelfeld is a master of depicting these small games people play with themselves, these small self- deceptions which keep them from facing a horrible truth.
In the end the town closes down and the residents and vacationers of Badehnheim are taken away. When four old dirty trains hook up with them they still refuse to see the reality. And the concluding thought of escape is that they must be going 'on a short journey since the cars are so dirty'.
Assimilated Jews, often self- hating but even more often painfully human in clinging to delusions of their own normalcy and safety are the subject of this work. It is all prelude to the Disaster and Destruction the Shoah which is to destroy them all.

Aharon Appelfeld, one of Israel's greatest writers, has had only a handful of his 40 books translated into English. It's too bad. Then again, it's too bad Appelfeld didn't write "Badenheim 1939" under the pen name "Albert Camus" --- if he had, this 148-page novel would be taught alongside "The Stranger" and regarded, rightly, as a modern classic.

Appelfeld is a very unlikely writer. But then, it's remarkable that he's alive. Born in Romania in 1932, he was a quiet boy, an only child. He was just 8 when the Nazis shot his mother and deported him and his father to a concentration camp in the Ukraine, at which point they were separated for twenty years. Aharon escaped to Russia, where he was a shepherd. In 1944, at 12, he joined the Russian Army. When the war ended, he made his way to Italy and, finally, to Palestine. He spoke so many languages he couldn't express himself in any. And he had only a year or two of schooling. But he managed to enroll in college in Jerusalem and, soon after, to begin writing stories in Hebrew.

Appelfeld has one great subject: understanding what happened to his people. "I'm dealing with a civilization that has been killed," he has said. "How to represent it in the most honorable way --- not to equalize it, not to exaggerate, but to find the right proportion to represent it, in human terms." What kept him from depression, bitterness, suicide? "I've never been an angry person. This is what saved me."

"Badenheim 1939" --- the first of Appelfeld's books to be translated from Hebrew to English --- is a modest, precise, even-handed tale. As it should be; this is a simple story, of a single season in a resort town favored by Jews. As the novel begins, Spring has arrived. So have the musicians. And the first tourists.

Dr. Pappenheim is the local impresario; he's all bustle. Expect to see him at the Post Office, sending telegrams and opening letters. But this season is unlike all others. For one thing, the Sanitation Department has increased powers --- it's now authorized to undertake "independent investigations." For reasons not made clear, these investigations include the construction of fences and rolls of barbed wire. Appliances appear, "suggestive of preparations for a public celebration." The visitors to the resort expect "fun and games."

And, indeed, the office of the Sanitation Department is starting to look like a travel agency, thanks to the new signs: "The air in Poland is fresher" and "Get to know the Slavic Culture" and "Labor is our Life." There's plenty of time to think about those signs; walks are now forbidden, guests must stay on the grounds of the hotel. It's a nice break in a dull day when the Sanitation Department puts maps on Poland on sale.

The Post Office closes. Just as well. No mail is arriving --- and who knows if letters are getting out? But more people suddenly show up, all of them Jews. Here for the Music Festival? Apparently not.

And now it's Fall. The cakes of summer are no more. Ditto cigarettes. Lunch is barley soup and dry bread. Concern? Bad dreams? Of course. But no one can really believe that what is happening is more than an inconvenience. At worst, a mistake.

At last a train appears at the station. An engine with four filthy freight cars. The last paragraph shows how the worst thing you can imagine can be sold to you as something else. How easily you and yours can be lost. And, in one of the greatest sentences ever to end a book, how you can go to your doom still believing it's all going to be okay.

A beautifully crafted, chilling novel that casts its shadow forward to 21st century America. One is reminded of Hannah Arendt, "the banality of evil." A must read, which I would like to see included in high school history programs.

Wish this book would be reprinted! I can't believe it's no longer available. Anything with illustrations by Maurice Sendak is great. It is suspenseful, with sly humor. I read it to many classrooms and kids loved it. Bring it back.

I had this as a child and I have looked for years to find a copy to give my niece and nephews. I know they are big readers and I wanted them to have the same experience I had with this book. It is one of the fondest memories of my childhood and I will not give up the hope of finding a copy.

I loved this book and have never forgotten it. I remember it as a book that you would read while sitting in a secret place on a rainy day. It was very much like having a secret friend. I wish it was back in print - a big, green hardcover book.

I too had this when I was a kid, and re-read it so many times that it fell apart. There was something about the wit and charm of both story and illustrations that was just adult enough to make me feel sophisticated that I could get it, but childish enough to be endlessly appealing. BRING IT BACK, please!

This is truly a wonderful book. I notice it is being reprinted in Spanish, but not in English. Publishers take note and bring this charming book back!

A group of my students chose this book for a literature circle because the boys wanted a mystery and the girls wanted a "horse story." I talked them into this one, and it was a great hit with all!!! Taking the reader to exotic lands and throwing in the proverbial "red herring" kept my students absorbed the entire time. Great read!

The Black Stallion Mystery is one of my favorite black stallion book. It was suspensful and exciting.it made you wonder what was going to happen next!!! I loved this Book.

this book is great!!!
i got handed down one of the origional copies by my aunt and i thought, oh just another book.
after reading it, i found that it was really good all the way through apart from the ending could have been a bit better because it really lead you up to something but the tension, i felt, could have been held better!
i would still reccomend this book to people at the age of 13+

This is the most thrilling book in the world!

Alec,The Black, and Henry are out on an adventure... once again!!

Alec is baffled by three colts that arrive for sale from Spain. They look so much like his horse, that Alec is sure they have the same sire.But that wonderful stallion died years ago in Arabia. Or did he?In search of the answer Alec and the Black begin a dangerous journey.
In spain they meet the colts' eccentric owner, Angel Gonzalez, who takes them to a remote mountian stronghold of anb Arab sheik. The sheik insists he's seen the Black's sire running free, in the mountains. And he wants Alec and the Black to catch him.Yet Alec is suspicious. He thinks the whole story is nothing more than an elaborite plot to lure him and his horse to this desolate place-but why??
You have to have read the first book in the series to know who Tabari is and if you don't then, you wouldn't get the whole book (expeacially the end!).

When Henry and Alec check out some yearlings they are shocked to see a very strong resemblance to the Black. So they question if the Blacks Sire could still be a live, but they were told by Abu (Blacks Original owner) that his father had died years ago in Arabia. The temptation that the Blacks father is still a live is too much for them. So they decided to head abroad to the man who sold the Yearlings and see if it is true. The Storyline has interesting twists and turns and Alec meets people who he hasn't seen in years. The book is quite fast paced and is probably one of the best Black Stallion books.

When I was a child, I loved this book so much I had my cousin steal it for me from my second grade teacher's collection! I love the storyline, but best of all, I love the illustrations: the soft colors and the great detail on every single page! This book is definately a must-have...

The absolute best children's book in the world. Since I lost my childhood copy, I just had to order one for my 2year old and she loves it just as much as I did. I think it's a good book to teach about behavior when parents are away.
The kitchen scene is hilarious, the bubble scene is adorable, if you don't have a copy for your kid, then get it!!!

This book was my favorite as a child. The illustrations, and the words just make you feel like your really in the story. The tales of fun and games were endless, amd I absoloutely loved the illustrations. I think out of the many books I've read I can definitely say this is the best!

This is a good book for all ages. It's a fun little book that you could read over and over again and again! This book is about two little monkeys that love their babysitter because she just talks on the phone all night. They get in to all mischief and mess the whole house in the process. They slip and slide out of the banana-covered kitchen in to the bathroom now covered in bubbles then outside to the muddy ground below the jungle gym. I think they are dirty now so they need a bath. They go take a bath and then notice the mess in the house they have to hurry to clean it before mama and papa monkey get home and then jump in to bed just in time!

The story begins with the mommy and daddy monkey getting ready for an evening out and their two little monkeys are delighted because they know that the babysitter will let them do basically anything that they like because it is her opinion that they are "the best little monkeys in the world" The little monkeys do get into mischief while their parents are away, but it all works out in the end. This story delighted my children...ages 4 and 7 and even made their big brother (12) smile when he over-heard part of it. I recomend this book for children 3 - 7.

I met Victoria live one night while surfing the internet. I am a single parent father. I have had great difficulty in my life and have battled many problems over the years.

She sent me a note without even knowing me or what I was going through and called all my emotions right on line.

Over the past year she has supported me through wonderful notes of inspiration, motivation and prayer. She has given me the boost that I needed on those very dark days to pull myself out of the barrel...lol.

It took me a couple of times to get through her story because it's so powerfully emotional. The tape came into my life at just the right time. It gave me a different perspective on my life and my problems.

Victoria is a wonderful lady who is full of compassion, understanding and unconditional love. She is like sitting down with a dear friend.

PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO GET THIS AWESOME LIFE CHANGING TAPE.

My love and thanks to Victoria, Alan

The power of this audio drama with all the sound effects is something I have never experienced before. WOW! What a display and what a story.

It took me about 4 times to get through the story as I was so overcome. I have since played it over and over again. I have found that when I feel a little down I can pop it into my tape player and I'm back on track hummming a song and being grateful for the life I had as a child and now as an adult.

My prayers are with you Victoria and thank you for stepping out and sharing this awesome story with the world.

I am a member of Charles Stanleys Church in Atlanta Georgia and I have shared it with some people who totally agree that it is truly an anointed testimony of someone who was touched by God and His messengers. I say messengers because I believe all through-out your life God has sent heavenly messengers and earthly encounters to bring you to where you must be today.

Love and blessings, Sue

I am speechless! What a story! An amazing story that is one of the most incredible and believable Angel Stories I have ever heard.

Over the years I have read many angel authors books, but I have never read one such as this one. I was overcome with joy, sadness and a real sense of being with Victoria as the story was told. SHE IS AN AWESOME AUTHOR! The way she tells the story , the words she uses makes you feel the ice hitting you in the face, smell the wildflowers and feel the gut wrenching suffering.

I cried, I laughed and I longed to be where she was as Angels sent by God touched her life.

I sure would love to meet this wonderfully, inspiring lady. I wish you Victoria all the blessings heaven has to offer for I know God will truly pour them down upon you. Your suffering has been for others and you have honestly shown through your story that you understand that.

THIS BOOK IS AN AWESOME TESTIMONY for anyone going through trials, or to give as a gift to uplift, and motivate others. I HIGHLY SUGGEST IT.

DON'T PASS THIS ONE UP.

God Bless you Victoria...your new follower...Catherine

I know Victoria personally and have first hand heard of her experience. When I think of the trials she faced during what should have been the most enjoyable years of her life, it is so painful to know that she endured such horrible tests, instead of the joy and love that should have surrounded her! Yet,God had a hand on her life and a purpose! He had His Heavenly Angels walking with her through each and every trial! Her name Victoria was anointed the day her mother named her as she truly was Victorious through these trials! I doubt few have survived such trials as she has. It is such a blessing to know that God will use us if we are willing. And He surely did use her. Your hearts will be lifted when you read of her struggles and pain as it will surely make your own burdens appear much lighter. Thank you Victoria for sharing your life with us! Many lives will be changed when they hear your testimony presented in this awesome audiobook. I remember the day we listened to it. We cried and laughed as you can honestly feel the Holy Spirit touch your heart as you wait on the edge of your seat to hear what happens next! I love you and I pray that God will use this tool to save many who are depressed and alone walking those same streets today! God Bless you dear sister, Connie Jones

I cannot remember when I have ever been so moved by a story. The way Victoria writes is nothing short of annointed. The power of the Spirit of God pours through this story. I cried, laughed and was so overcome I felt I could not even move.

I cannot wait for her upcoming childrens series for I know parents and children are going to be taken on a "heavenly excursion."

I just hope that if I were going through what she went through I would have the courage to keep going with the faith, hope and joy that she continues to live with today.

May you always find an angel of God at your side.

Best Wishes for a great writing future.

Cindy Sullivan Charleston, South Carolina

Rona holds your interest in the lives of four girls and the men in their lives over three decades after meeting at college in the 50's. You'll find yourself in one or all of these girls, whether it was yesterday or today, which makes it such a wonderful read. Rona doesn't drag their lives out and you see spans of years, showing changes in all four girls' lives, from students to mothers with happiness, heartache, trials and tribulations,and I'm anxious to read the sequel It's a book that when you finish, you still want more.

This is one of Ms. Jaffe's first novels but has been reissued as a collector's item at twice the price the library paid for this book when new. Romance and personal secrets never get old. This one is about those who grew up in the '50s as I did, only these four "girls" were college students while I was still in high school. They were privileged pre-yuppies at Radcliffe, each having her own Harvard man. Since the author is a Radcliffe grad, I am supposing her characters are based on real people. Most beginning novels are.

Daphne and Richard were the Golden Pair of the group, as were Jim Darling and his Carolyn, a cheerleader at Central High. They both were in sororities and social clubs in one guise or another, while at the same time I was only in the National Honor Society, not much of a social organization, but as parliamentarian of the D-E group, I had a bit of prestige. We never had meetings so I was never called upon to decipher Robert's Rules of Order.

Christine, Daphne, Emily and Annabel played by the old rules to find men to support them as they were accustomed by prominent parents. Emily became the perfect doctor's wife. As they went their own ways, they managed to keep their friendship intact and kept in touch thereby preserving their secrets. Twenty years later, They enjoy fulfilling and promising lives of status and prestige.

The reunion offers the opportunity of the four friends to return to their past in memories and in fact of schoolgirl pleasures. At Cronin's, in 1957, everyone drank beer and made fools of themselves. As they reminesce about the good old days when all was bright and problems few, they see the changes. In Fountain City, we didn't have a Cronin's (now there is Litton's), only an ice cream shop and playground in which I'd watch Jim and Carolyn act like kids on the swings. This year, the alumni association has planned a "100 year celebration" in place of a class reunion. Since my graduating class bypassed reunions through the years, I'd thought about going to this free event to see Jim as an old man. And yet, I think I'd prefer to remember his cute smile and strawberry-blonde hair as the double for Michael Pare in 'The Philadelphia Experiment.'

It is a homecoming of sorts for these four friends to "catch up" and see how much things have changed on campus and in the town where they had glided through life on a cloud. At last, they are grounded and see themselves as they really are -- middle aged has-beens. Life was good; now was the stage of living it through the children and learning how to settle into a more sedate existence.

Now, twenty years since this edition hit the book stores, she's still writing about The Best of Everything.

Since discovering Ms. Jaffe, I've been devouring her books as quickly as I can, though I'm also trying to savour them knowing that once I've read them all, there will be no more. While my favorite is still 'The Road Taken'...'Class Reunion' is my now second favorite.

Emily, Annabel, Chris, and Daphne are young women of the fifties when we meet them; starting their freshmen year at Radcliffe, and looking for potential husbands at the neighboring Harvard. These women are so different, and take such diverse paths in their lives, you can't hardly put the book down without wondering what's gonna happen next! There wasn't a character I didn't like in this book...and the ending was very satisfying.

As soon as I finished this book, I picked up the sequel 'After The Reunion', and I'm lovin' it. I have nothing but praise for Ms. Jaffe's and her books, and am looking forward to all the books of hers that I have yet to read. If your a fan of women's fiction...DEFINITELY give Rona Jaffe a try...you won't be disappointed!!

This is a wonderful novel that tells the story of 4 college girls coming of age in the 1950s: Emily-The Idiot, Chris-The Intellectual, Susan-the Golden Girl, and Annabelle-the Harvard Wh*&#.

Each has her own personality, issues, and baggage they bring with them and deal with throughout the novel.

There is a strong sense of movement and travel from one point and time to the next as this novel spans the 1950's, 60s, and into the 1970s, and it is fun travelling along with these girls's adventures as they navigate through life.

This is easily one of Rona Jaffe's best.

A must-read, at least every 5 years before your own class reunion. You'll identify w/each character...the odds are, one will be reminiscent of yourself, another of your best friend! So much so, you'll be wondering if Rona Jaffe stole your diary!! The trials & tribulations of 4 friends, each w/a distinct personality, culture & lifestyle. Linked by memories which are endearing, poignant, humorous, sexual, sometimes shocking. It's typifies life's roller coaster ride. Only the real world could be so unbelievable & unpredictable. A literary hot fudge sundae!

. . . in or out of AD&D. I say that because, although I don't DM anymore, I still use this book. The title is a bit deceiving-- although it's useful for creating villains, it can be used equally well for creating any sort of NPC, and almost as well for creating characters in any other role-playing system or none at all! This book takes characters off the paper and into flesh with a helpful system and ideas for creating backgrounds, motives, resources available, organizations, and abilities. One of the most useful guides for a DM.

Have a good story plot but want to throw some extra spice and give an older villan new spice or need one right a way this book is good for all dms who want to go beyond the Monster Manuals

This book is useful for a GM in ANY system. Like the "Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide," it provides methods useful in any campaign, in any RPG. It focuses on designing villains who are memorable, engaging, and realistic. And it does a *very* good job of teaching you how to do so.

If you want a campaign with villains that just suck your players right in and get them seriously wanting to take on the villain for his own evil rather than the rewards they can get, you should buy this book.

I would have to agree with the posts listed before mine. It is a great book because it makes creating memorable villains that much easier, they can be whipped out spurr of the moment if thats what it takes. There has been many a time that I have underestimated how resourcfull my players would be and I would have to throw another enemy or two just to even things out a bit. But anyways, this book has helped me out quite a bit and every DM should own one( if you can get you hands on it that is.)

I found myself using this book over and over again in order to gain interesting hints on how to flesh out believable villains and other bogies. It gives clear, readily usable, and concise tactics of creation of everything starting with the antagonists and finishing with their dinner habits. Can be used in any system.

I read this book years ago, and still think of it fondly as one of my lifetime favorites. I am going to try to find out if there's an audio version, or audios of Payne's other books. I almost envy those who haven't read it yet. And for those who haven't - you're in for a delicious treat!

I was fascinated with this book in many regards. First, it is a truly a masterpiece which one can't stop reading until it's over. Second, most importantly, the author was able to grasp in depth and reveal in a very accessible way two seemingly opposite life philosophies and eras as represented by Eastern Tao and Western Dow.

I, too, read this book several years ago and remember it vividly. For a long time it was almost like a bible for me. I carried it everywhere, would read parts of it to friends. I found that it engaged every emotion. I particularly enjoyed the first part, where the"orphan' boy sets out on his journey from the great canyons of China to find his father in the great canyons of Wall Street. Every scene is vivid and gripping, especially the one in which he comes upon the great panda bear - a terrifying and thrilling omen (no cuddly stereotyping here!) This is a book that is very funny and mysterious at the same time, a combination of gloppy egg foo yung and stirring oriental mysticism. (With a little deli thrown in for variety). How did he manage to do it? This writer is a magician and "Confessions" is a literary classic - your loss if you miss it.

He rings the bell often for any who have ever delved into and admired philosophical Taoism, but not without a price as paid to Christianity, contemporary Judaism and Acquisitionism... Payne has obviously paid his dues in all quarters and more importantly, to erudition. A masterful work complete with episodic prose-poetry.

I love his work. It is compelling and beautiful and this is his most incredible story. It is about adventure, family, love and the search for self. It is a life changing book and I wish he would hurry up with that sequel to Ruin Creek!