Young Adult Books

Fabulous book! The detail of the dead man floating with maggots crawling under his skin.....I could actually see it. I really enjoyed every page of this great story. I loved the autopsy. I was proud of Cameryn for asking about the odor and the skin color after the Dr. tried to intimidate her to silence. Can't wait to start the second book.

This book reminded me a lot of Nancy Drew, but ten times better. The story takes place in the small town of Silverton, Colorado. Cameryn Mahoney is the daughter of the town's coroner, and wishes to follow in her father's footsteps. She finally convinces him to allow her on as his assistant and soon enough a dead body is found in the mountains.
Cameryn misses nothing, taking into account even the smallest details that in the bigger picture don't quite add up for her. Who is the malicious Christopher Killer? Could it be one of her friends? Cameryn's determined to find the killer and her fortitude leads to a suspenseful ending.
This book doesn't skim on the forensics; Alane Ferguson makes the science real. You can tell she's done her research. A must read for those who love mystery and suspense.

The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson is a well-written and logical science vs. pseudoscience mystery whose heroine is a female high school "nerd" who wants to be a forensic pathologist. The story has a lot of colorful western small town personalities, along with a serial killer to keep the plot moving. Much of the plot interaction is among high school students, which should make this book especially suitable for teen readers --- especially girls. No "saucy stuff", just a good mystery read!

Silverton Colorado is the scene of Alane Ferguson's new forensic mystery series for young adult readers. When a young woman is found murdered, Cameryn Mahoney joins her father, the local coroner, in the search for the killer. From autopsy to investigation, Cameryn comes closer to the case than she bargained for. Once again, Ferguson has written a well-researched thriller that seems more fact than fiction. Even the most reluctant reader will be caught up in the intrigue and suspense of Cameryn's involvement in her father's work. The Christopher Killer is the first in this series and is highly recommended for the young adult library collection.

In the quiet, small town of Silverton, Colorado, eighteen-year-old Cameryn Mahoney is planning to follow in her father's footsteps and pursue a career in forensic pathology. Her dad, the unassuming yet efficient Pat Mahoney, is the local county coroner, and Cameryn is determined to follow his lead--much to the chagrin and near-disgust of her Mammaw. Cameryn's grandmother is convinced that her "love" of death and dying, and her insistence on not becoming a "real" doctor, along with her inability to cook, will lead her down the wrong path.

But Cameryn is determined, and she's also thrilled when she finally talks her dad into letting her assist him. After all, sure, the county coroner does deal with death occasionally, but they haven't had an actual murder in decades, so her father figures there can't be any harm in letting his daughter tag along to scenes or assist with autopsies. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

There has been a murder in this sleepy Rocky Mountain town. And it's not just the murder of a stranger, but Cameryn's friend, Rachel Geller. Added to that is the fact that it's not a random murder, but seems to be part of a serial killer's spree. The murderer always leaves a St. Christopher medal on the victim's body, thus earning him the moniker The Christopher Killer. As Cameryn sets out to assist her father, she suddenly finds herself drawn into a murder investigation. As the police in this small town search for clues as to who may have murdered the lovely Rachel, Cameryn is determined to start putting her knowledge of forensics to good use.

This is a great book, similar to the style and stories of the television show CSI. If you're interested in forensics or just like watching the process on television, you're going to thoroughly enjoy the mystery that is THE CHRISTOPHER KILLER. Not to mention the fact that this is just the beginning of a new series, so there will be more books starring Cameryn down the road! The other great thing about the book, besides its excellent characters, dialogue, and storyline, is the fact that even though it's a mystery that deals with murder, it's a good fit even for middle-school readers. You won't go wrong picking up a copy of this first book in the FORENSIC MYSTERY series!

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

I am a high school ESL teacher for new immigrants to the U.S. Our school buys the Merriam-Webster English-Spanish in bulk so each student has one that is easy to carry around, and because they are cheaper. But after experimenting with various dictionaries, I find that I much prefer to keep The New World dictionary right beside me at my desk, when I'm standing at the overhead projector, when I am circulating around the room to help students. I find The New World easier to read and easier to use. For example, when looking at multiple meaning words such as plot or setting, it is easier to pick out the language arts/literary definition in The New World dictionary. It also offers more in the way of support for people learning English or Spanish -- for example the section that helps Spanish speakers understand English prefix/root/suffix is very useful to ESL students and teachers in a high school setting. This year we are going to buy several for each classroom that has ESL students in it.

I have been teaching English as a Second Language for many years and I have become fluent in Spanish. This dictionary for Americans (North and South) is the best for the money. It has many words that are American Spanish and American English whereas many other more expensive dictionaries use European words and sometimes spellings. It is not a good dictionary for travel but then I don't think most are. I don't use a dictionary when on the road. The paper editions wear out rapidly with moderate use but they are cheap enough. Do not waste time and money on smaller dictionaries such as the Chicago. This one not only has American language, it has many idioms, and a reasonable grammar section. I hope this little gem never goes out of print.

Very descriptive, lots of examples in grammar. This should be the only dictionary that a student will ever need. Everything is there. I have learned so much from this dictionary.

PERFECT! Product in great quality. For my daughter's high school Spanish class. Just what we needed! Thanks!

I bought the New World Spanish/English dictionary for college, and hated it. It seems to be missing a lot of words. Looking words up feels more frustrating, because they are often missing, and because this dictionary follows the practice of putting "ch-" after "co-" and the other C words. It's hard to explain. I just don't love the New World the way I love my Chicago.

The Chicago English-Spanish / Español-Inglés was recommended by my highschool Spanish teacher -- I don't regret buying it. Classmates who bought other ditionaries (such as the Oxford, I think it was) often needed to borrow mine. It simply has more of the words we needed to look up and is fun to use and browse through. For example, the New World has the verb reference section in the middle of the dictionary, but the Chicago has it in front, where it's quicker to locate.

I got the boxed set of four when I was around 8 or 9. At the time, my mom thought I thought I should read them when I'm a little older. So when i was 11 I read the first two. I liked them a lot. Well, my birthday was a few days ago. It's been awhile sinc ei've read the Elsie books cause I just lost intrest. For my birthday I recieved the Oringinal Elsie Book 1. I personally think I'll the oringinals a lot better, especially since now i'm a lot older. But if you're still a little young, but want to read the Elsie books, tehse one's are better for you. Their dialouge's a lot easier to understand, bigger print, bigger book, etc. But if you're older, read the oringinals.

Elsie's Endless Wait is an inspiring book about an 8-year-old girl who has a stronger faith in God than most adults. She withstands harsh criticisms from her family. "What is the meaning of this, you little good-for-nothing?" She waits faithfully for her father, who has been away for years, to come home, never losing hope. "How I wish he would come home." Elsie's Endless Wait inspired me to be a stronger Christian, because of a little girl who has faith enough to move a mountain. I absolutely could not put this book down. I recommend it to every girl.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. I was reading it to my girls and after I finished their chapter for the night I took it into my room and read the whole thing. I did not want to put it down. Of course I finished it for my girls and they just love it too. They always ask for me to read more! I highly recommend this book. I'm going to be purchasing the whole set as soon as I can! I want this book to be a part of our collection!

This book is about an eight year old girl named Elsie Dinsmore. Her mom passed away right after she was born. Her dad couldn't handle the pain so he moved away. Horace (Elsie's father) left Elsie to be taken care of at his parent's home. There Elsie is faced with many problems. Elsie turns her problems to God and he helps her through them. All Elsie wants is for her dad to come home. She wonders, will he come home, will he love her? I love how in this book Elsie looks to god amongst all her problems, and how He always helps her through. This is the best book that I have ever read. There is not one single thing in this book that I didn't like. This book is the first of eight books in the Elsie Dinsmore Series, A Life of Faith. I plan to read the next seven of these books. This book reminds me a lot of the Bible. It is all about God and it tells true things about what God does for you. This is a great book for girls thirteen and older. But I bet boys could enjoy this book as well. This is the best book that I have ever read and I hope you get a chance to read it.

This book is about a young girl named Elsie Dinsmore. If you like christian books, and books that go back in time; this book is for you. Elsie is a young girl, about 8 years old. She lives with her grandma, grandpa, aunts, and uncles. She lives with them because her mother dies when she was a little girl, and her father is away in Europe on business. Her grandparents think it was a mistake that she was even born, and neither of them trat her very well. Her aunts and uncles also arn't very nice to her. Read this book to find out how Elsie deal with all her troubles and how God has helped her through everything. This is the first book in the series. It was so good I can't wait to read the next.

What i liked about this book: I am really into all the christian books, and this one really shows you how God can help you through anything and everything. This is one of those books that you just don't want to put down. I also like how it goes back in time. It doesn't happen n present day.

There is nothing about this book that I didn't like. All round i though this was a really great book!

This book finds the quartet leaving Fairie land and walking straight into Ka Anor's territory. There they find the Greek god Dionysis and the very handsome and immortal Ganymeade as prisoners of the Hetwan. Both are on the menu for Ka Anor.They are able to help them escape and try to flee to Olympus where Dionysis claims he can make them all immortal. But to get to Olympus, it means travel right through Ka Anor's hive. In this book we finally get to meet this Ka Anor and Christopher goes through a very big life changing experience in this book. You'll have to read to find out what it is.
It is a great book and I enjoyed it as much as I did the others!

Christopher is my favortie character so of course I would would like this book but then they added some greek mythology and I was hooked. Another factor is they travel to Ka-Anor's city and see Ka-Anor eat someone and discover that Ka-Anor is fear himself. Since they first mentioned Ka-Anor in the first book I've been wanting to meet him. THis is also the first book I've been interested in the real world part of the book I won't talk about it or I might ruin it for someone. I loved this book and I reccomend it to anyone!

Christopher is my favortie character so of course I would would like this book but then they added some greek mythology and I was hooked. Another factor is they travel to Ka-Anor's city and see Ka-Anor eat someone and discover that Ka-Anor is fear himself. Since they first mentioned Ka-Anor in the first book I've been wanting to meet him. THis is also the first book I've been interested in the real world part of the book I won't talk about it or I might ruin it for someone. I loved this book and I reccomend it to anyone!

While this series is no great work of literature, it's definately worth reading. The characters are extremelly well defined and developed, and I find myself liking all of them, even Christopher, more and more. The author herself has an almost bizarre understanding of teenagers, and she writes it just like it is. Anyway, in book six, the point of view swings back to Christopher, and he tells the tale as the four kids travel across Hetwan country, at the center of which is the inevitable Ka Anor, God Eater. They are soon joined by Dionysis, Greek god of wine, and his unbearably handsome young cup-bearer, Ganymeade, who convince them to accompany them to Olympus. Christopher's real world dilemma was interesting as well, but that would be a spoiler and a rather ironic one at that, so I will leave you to read the book yourself to find out the rest. These books are pretty intense, so I can't say I'd recommend them to anyone younger than thirteen or fourteen or so.

This is a great book if you liked Animorphs. When Applegate decided to stop Animorphs I was bummed but then she made Everworld. This was the first book I've bought and I didn't think it would be that good but it is!! If Amazon had ten stars for this review I would give it an eleven!!!

Every once in a while someone is affected by cancer or a sickness. This book Guardian of Angels by Lurlene McDaniel shows how problems can affect a family. A young girl named Darcy fears that her mother won't get better because she hasn't been well since she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has been constantly in and out of the hospital. Darcy's mother has great hope that she will be better in no time. Darcy has to trust her mother and she has to try to keep her life moving along just like it was before her mother became sick.

The family is soon overwhelmed with Darcy's sister, Adel, getting married and her mother being sick. After the wedding Adel is planning on moving to Germany and this is when Darcy and their father need her the most.

Will Darcy's mother ever get better and will her family ever be the same again? Find out by reading Garden of Angels by Lurlene McDaniel.

Garden of Angels is a wonderful book about a girl named Darcy who's mother gets a rude a-waking by cancer. As her family and friends help Darcy's mother with her illness, Darcy meets a boy named Jason, who helps Darcy face reilty. But can Darcy's mother live and fight this cancer or will medial science fail her. The most needed question to be answer is: Are the Angels watching over Darcy and her family?

Lurlene McDaniel is one of my most favorite authors, and this book is by far one of the most inspiring books you could ever read. It's about a girl whose beloved mother gets struck with breast cancer, and her world is never the same again.

McDaniel writes with such flair that you can hardly bring yourself to put the book down. The ending is very sad, but also leaves you with a feeling of hope. This book teaches us that while we may not get to choose what happens to us, we do get to choose how we respond. This book reveals that people don't always get what they deserve, whether they be good or bad.

If you haven't read this book yet, then I highly recommend you read it. You won't be disappointed.

Some parts of this book were excellent. I loved the whole story, until I got to the epolouge. Why did Jason have to die? And why is Darcey living in the mountains? Although the epolouge isn't the best, and the story is rather predictable (mom dies, Jason liked Darcey all along, Connors would develop) it was an all in all good book. I would recomend it to anyone who wants to know Lurlene a little bit more.

After Darcy Quinlin finds out her mother has breast cancer, she is deeply saddened and in disbelief. She is also loosing her sister, Adel, to Barry Sorensen, a soldier in Vietnam. Above all that, there is J.T. who pushes her around especially when she falls hard for Pastor Jim's brother-in-law, Jason, who just moved to Connors. Darcy needs comfort and someone to talk to about boys, feelings, and school problems and her mother can't be that person. Neither can Adel because she is moving far away with Barry. Her mother did leave a beautiful garden that Darcy takes care of and it helps her through her many situations now and to come.
I liked this book because it was different from other Lurlene McDaniel books. In this book the girl doesn't have cancer, like in many other books, it's her mother. Also, this book is set in the 1970's during the Vietnam War.
I would recommend this book to teenage girls who like sad, loving stories or like other Lurlene McDaniel books.

My older children read this book to themselves and were not impressed, BUT when I read it outloud with a british accent they were mesmerized. It's now one of our favorites. The pictures are delightful. Now my five year old is a Redwall fan too!

If you like Brian Jacques' Redwall series of stories, then you will like The Great Redwall Feast. As a picture book, it provides colorful, concrete images of characters that you have seen in your imagination. You'll see the mice, moles, hedgehogs, hares, and other animals prepare a surprise feast for their Abbot of Redwall. Without the violence that is characteristic of the Redwall stories, it is well suited for young children. But it is a fun book for older children too, and even adults (like me).

This book shows the talent of Chris Denise. Being the cover illustrator of the American Redwall books, he shows his work again in this very neat picture book. All the animals are so cute in this book, like hamsters, and it shows you how they prepare, what to prepare, and what to do in the abbey feasts. I recommend this book for all ages.

Fabulous illustrations occupy most of the page in this 64-page poem of 101 six-lined stanzas with an AACBBC rhyming scheme. The story incorporates many of the series' favorite characters, including Matthias and Cornflower, and depicts not only the preparations of a wonderful Redwall feast by hares and mice and otters, but includes a riddle as well.

This book is really beautiful and should be read aloud.

I bought this book because my oldest son (5 years old) saw a part of the Redwall series on PBS. He loved it but the book series is too old for him yet. This book is a great introduction! The pictures are gorgeous and the language and imagery are exquisite. I highly recommend this book and I hope there will be more like it!

scott fried came to my school this week and talked about his experience and had half of the auditurium in tears it was a truly amazing story and definately made me want to buy the book. although some found it sad, i thought it was more of an inspirational story about life and who you truly are.

This past weekend I attended a Jewish Social Action weekend with 100 others hoping to have a good time and try to change the world around me and bring smiles to peoples faces. I had no idea that in the course of this weekend I would get to hear a man named Scott Fried speak. Scott Fried is one of the most amazing people I have met in my life. This book doesn't just tell the story of Scott Fried, a Jewish Homosexual from New York, it tells the story of what we all feel inside. It explains the values of self-respect and knowing that you are sacred. It pushes you to look deep within your self, and find the person you are not the person you want others to see. I would highly recommend that all of you get a chance to hear Scott in person because it truly is a life changing experience. I borrowed this book from a family member, and though it was painful, I read every one of Scott's words. The bravery and courage it took to record so much pain should be looked upon as heroism. This book is a must read for anyone who feels as though they are hiding something (and that is all of us).

This book discussed the facts of life that the great majority of us would like to ignore. It is not only personal, but extremely factual as well. I had the extreme pleasure of watching Scott speak, and it was a life changing experience. Intrigued, I purchased the book not knowing what to expect. What I got was a soul searching book that not only educated me on a myriad of different subjects, but most importantly educated me about the will to survive. It taught me about how one man had overcome so much, and how willing he was to share his feelings for the benefits of others. This is written with excellent grace and bravery. It is recommended for anyone who is not afraid to look within themselves after read how one man did.

Scot is loving and caring. His book is very well written. Also his CD is great.

Scott Fried is one of the worlds truly amazing people. I was fortunate enough to be able to buy this book from him personally which you unfortunately cannot. It is the experiences of an amazing man put into words so eloquently and delicately that after reading it you will feel as though you have lived that life and been a part of everything he speaks of. If you have an interest in life, AIDS, friendship, or love... this book will speak to you. I hope you enjoy it as much as i did...

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.

Ce livre est un chef-d'oeuvre que l'on déguste du début à la fin et que l'on apprécie de plus en plus à chaque relecture. J'adore Boris Vian et l'aurait marié sans même y penser après avoir lu ce qui coule de sa plume. Les mondes qu'il crée sont fascinants, et celui-ci est le plus beau de tous.

Ce livre est un chef-d'oeuvre que l'on déguste du début à la fin et que l'on apprécie de plus en plus à chaque relecture. J'adore Boris Vian et l'aurait marié sans même y penser après avoir lu ce qui coule de sa plume. Les mondes qu'il crée sont fascinants, et celui-ci est le plus beau de tous.

L'Ecume des Jours (or, John Sturrock's translation, Foam of the days) tells us a story of Colin and Chloé and their love.
Of love that - however pure, serene and (perhaps) unbelievable it may appear to our everyday eye - is very much innocent. Like the one that, at least some of us, have always wished to experience.
The whole story has, unfortunatelly, a tragical end. But then, it wouldn't be one of the nicest books I have ever read. Only to express myself better through similarity, it is Jamiroquai's "Falling" that makes me think of Collin's falling in love with Chloé - except that Collin's love is 'returned' - they both love each other dearly and very much.
The whole story is divided in two parts - two worlds where love stays the same (even grows!) only the encompassing world undergo (terrible) changes. It's the careless world of Colin's and Chloe's love before they get married, full of warmness that only two suns may produce, and of the world after their wedding. The moment they say final yes at their wedding, Chloe gets ill and the whole preceding atmosphere suddenly changes from "happy" to "gloomy." As I said, the love stays, even gets greater, but the whole story then leads to an inevitable tragical end...
In Vian's own words it's a history that is "...entirely true as I made it up from the beginning to the very end." ["...entierement vraie, puisque je l'ai imaginée d'un bout a l'autre"] I would not quite say it is wholly made up although it's only my opinion. Yes, the story is a bit unreal, perhaps exaggerated, but I think it needs to be in order to let us feel and (hopefully) realize, that as 'panta rei' (as Time flows by) we should pauper our friendships and, when being loved and loving ourselves, then we should love sincerely and happily.

This brilliant work of fiction, akin to a fairy-tale, combines science-fiction, surrealism, absurdism, lyricism...
One of the highlights of post-war French litterature, it has become somewhat of a cult favourite for teenagers, as it relates the lives of yound adults who refuse to accept the responsabilities of adulthood, preferring to live according to principles eerily similar to those held by hippies, refusing to temper idealism with the demands of reality.

It is a pity that Boris Vian has no name recognition in the anglo-saxon world. Much to blame is probably the uniqueness of his language and unconventional writing approach. This refreshing tale encompasses youth, love and the fleeting aspect of all that is precious in life.

I read a lot of books in my life but no jokes, this the funniest book i ever read. wow. this petit nicola is awesome. I recomend that u have a little french background so u can easily understand it. I love it. Every body that speaks french should get one

book arrived 5 days earlier than expected. book is very cute and simple. good for children who speak french or french students.

This is one of a series that I have found helpful in bettering my spelling, sentence structure, and overall confidence in the French language. Reading French goes a very long way to establishing and maintaining grammatic skills, and reinforces the many diverse ways that a new language differs from one's native tongue. I have no real teacher, and am grateful for resources like this that are keeping me moving forward.

It would be hard to overstate the charm of these wonderful stories. Like many others, I picked up this book to help with my project of trying to teach myself French. Not only does it serve that purpose, but it is so engaging that it has held me on course when the inherent difficulty of the language and some cross-cultural exasperation has tempted me to chuck the whole project. No way could I ever write this little dude and his copains out of my life.

Although hilarious, the Nicolas stories also touch you in a much deeper place. He is a little boy full of life and good humor, but he and his friends are also filled with every possible anxiety about growing up and finding their manly places in the world. They are charmingly obsessed with their status and their dignity.

One of my favorite stories is "Louisette," which recounts the visit of a young girl who comes with her mother for tea. Nicolas is pouty from the beginning as his mother dresses him up, in his view, like a clown. And maman assures him that if he doesn't show that he is well raised, he will have an affair with her!

Although Nicolas is always filled with explanations that burst forth in run-on sentences, this traumatic visit brings him close to tears more than once. In Nicolas's world, not crying is one of the main imperatives. Another is assuming a male's naturally dominant [irony] and superior role over young girls, who, after all, cry all the time.

Louisette starts off telling Nicolas that he looks like a monkey and things go downhill from there. She is so much more quick-witted, not to mention athletic, that she repeatedly leaps ahead and distracts him just when he is deciding whether to give her a punch in the nose or to pull her hair. And it is Louisette who is landing all the successful coups on Nicolas. Meanwhile, Louisette is always batting her eyelashes at the mamans and impressing them with what an adorable innocent she is!

As with the "Louisette" story of a young boy having to deal with a very formidable young girl who does not fit into his template defining his superior place in the world, all these stories are filled with such very real anxieties of male childhood. Let me say again, though, they are very, very funny! You love this kid.

How easy/difficult is this book for a student of French. My feeling is that previous reviews have made it seem a little easier than it is. There are definitely difficult bits such as when Nicolas is playing cowboys and describes all the various cowboy accoutrements that he and his friends have hung on themselves. Often, too, sentences are very run-on, mimicking Nicolas's overflowing emotions and self-justifications. And the mannerisms of his speech are realistic and more difficult than the dry dialogue of textbooks. But this is worth a little difficulty - I just want to caution against expecting a child's book to be extremely easy. It is manageable, but not in the first few weeks of studying French.

I also have a two-CD set of these stories read in French which I ordered from Amazon.fr. The CD set is a dramatic reading and it is an absolute delight. But it is considerably more difficult than the book. Those run-on sentences are read in rapid bursts, as intended. The reading wonderfully captures the charm of the book but definitely does not make it any easier.

My only exasperation with the Nicolas books is that I can not share them with my English-only friends. They touched me so much and made me laugh so hard. I hope I have inspired someone here.

I use Le petit Nicolas in my French classes. The book is divided into short chapters that students enjoy. The syntax can be challenging, but it also prepares them for more authentic literature in French 4. I highly recommend this book (and others in the Nicolas collection) to students, teachers, and French-lovers looking for a funny read.