Party The Books

Another fabulous adventure in one of my pre-teen favorite series' was "Hayride!" I loved it because of all the boy-girl stuff (I was just getting into boys) and it was just a really entertaining book! Reccommended to any young girl, Saddle Club reader or not!

When I used to read the Saddle Club books, this was one of my favs. I loved the way Stevie schemed Bob and Lisa's relationship and Veronica's failed scheme added to the hysterias! I love this one!

This book, I could read over and over. Friendship, in this book you see the speacial bond friends have and i admire the one between Stevie,Lisa and Carole. Carole wants a speacial party but something turns up that ruins it, READ THIS BOOK!!!!

Carole's birthday is coming up and she wants to do something speacial. Stevie and lisa think that it's a great idea. Carole deserves something special for her birthday. Not just special, something horsey. Then they come up with the perfect plan. A hayride! They invite girls and boys to a basic party and then they go for a hayride. It's perfect! But their plans shatter when Carole hurts her leg and won't be able to dance at the party. They decide to have the party anyway, so they invite everyone at Pine Hollow. But word gets out around the stables before snooty Veronica gets her invite. Now she's out to ruin the party for The saddle Club. She calls Cam and Phil (Carole and Stevie's boyfriends) and tells them something to make them not come. As for Lisa... Veronica gets the idea that Simon, the boy who's been crushing on Lisa, is Lisa's boyfriend. She snags him as a partner to go to the dance with, planning to go to the party she wasn't invited to with Lisa's boyfriend. But Lisa has help from Stevie to get her real crush as a date. Turns out Veronica was invited, though.

Read this book, it's great!

I have taken two classes now taught by John Michael and I picked up his book at the first class. I made several different recipes the first week (Shrimp with Garlic, Hitch and Go Turkey Joes, Spinach Pie) and my family loved them all! I love the way the chapters are organized with a central theme and then lists the menu appropriate for that event. It makes planning for a party quite simple.

The recipes I made were very easy to follow and were not complicated at all! John Michael has a new book coming out in November dedicated to pies and I can't wait.

YUMMY!

Not just the recipes but the stories. I felt as though I was sitting at his table, with his friends, having a delightful meal. John Michael is not just a CHEF, he is a Writer. His book makes you his friend, his tales of friends and entertaing from small intimate occasions to full fiesta's gives one confidence to make the most of all occasions. John Michael makes life in the kichen fun, fun, fun!!!!!!

This cookbook is remarkable not just for the recipes, but for the warmth and generosity; it is less a collection of recipes than a celebration of eating together. In high style.

John Michael's recipes range from heirloom baked goods to foods from his extensive travels to his own award-winning creations. The recipes are clearly (and lovingly) written, and he includes helpful insights on menu preparation, food presentation, home gardening, and even H.R. Pufnstuf.

I immediately made the Tuscan Tomato Sauce (it freezes well too!), and have a long list of recipes that I want to make soon. The chapter dealing with pies is so good that it's troubling.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves food, loves a good read, and loves to party! I hear he appears on TV periodically-- I hope to catch his show.

Garden County is a celebration of gathering. Gathering can be defined as "collect, harvest and accumulate," all action words. Though John Michael Lerma details many specific gatherings, there is no better word to describe the book itself.

John Michael started collecting traditions and the knowledge of how to cook while being raised on a farm in the Red River Valley of North Dakota. His collection grew with the recipes passed on to him by his grandmother, even though many of them were not written out with key details like measurements, oven temperatures and cooking times.

Garden County is filled with recipes for old-time favorites like glorified rice and Grandma's iron skillet fried chicken to those more contemporary, like grilled portobello mushroom burgers and herb shrimp pizza.

Now a resident of St. Paul, Minnesota, John Michael shares how pleasing it is to cook with the ingredients harvested from your own backyard. I particularly love that he allows for the fact not everyone has the capability to plant and tend a garden and suggests planting what you can in pots or enjoy an outing to the local farmer's market. He knows theres more than one way to reap the benefits of a fresh harvest.

Celebrating the accumulation of friends and family is the real heart of Garden County. Whenever people gather, new memories are made and old ones are remembered. Many suggestions are offered on how to enjoy the occasions while making your guests feel welcome and comfortable. One gathering example that is offered is for a "pie festival." Pick a date, invite your guests and ask everyone to bring a pie. Someone may bring a quiche, or a meat-filled pie while others will bring dessert pies. Expect that likely someone will bring a store-bought pie--and that's okay.

Armchair Interviews says: John Michael's greatest message is "it's not the food you prepare or the drinks or the decor of your home--it's the gathering of the people that you'll remember tomorrow--the laughter and conversation."

I didn't think my (young) 3-year-old would sit through this book. The text looked long, the art very detailed. But I was WRONG! This has been our nightly story for weeks and I confess: I'm not bored. It's the perfect touch--not very frightening and a reassuring story of self-confidence. Even my 2-year-old pops in for the occasional ghost or pig (no, he's not quite ready for the whole story although Curious George has kept him seated).

Jan Waldron needs to write more! And I'm buying more of David McPhail's books!

This is our family's favorite Halloween book, hands down! The story is great. The rhyme and meter actually work and sound great read aloud, and the pictures are amazing. We got it a few years ago, and my kids, now 6 and 11 BOTH still love it. And for us as parents, this one is one of the rare picture books we never get tired of reading over and over. I'm buying more for friends.

I bought this book for my daughter to celebrate Halloween. It is her favorite holiday so we read this book year round. The story is about a pig named John who is too scared to go trick or treating on Halloween with his friends. John stays back at the house as his friends go on without him. After they leave a real witch comes calling for some treats. When she sees that John only has candy to hand out she decides to teach hime how to make some real Halloween treats. They whip up such heavenly connoctions as pies, tarts, mousse, sundaes, and cookies. All of the witch's monster friends show up for a real Halloween party. Finally the witch tells John that they have to leave while it is still night out. When John's pig friends come back cold and tired they are amazed to find all of the treats that John has prepared. When John goes to bed he realizes he is no longer afraid of Halloween and he dreams of all of the new friends he has made. The illustrations in this book are great and the story is really sweet. My daughter loves this book and I really enjoy reading it to her. This book will really put you into a Halloween mood.

I fell in love with this book from the start. I loved how John Pig portrayed his feelings about Halloween. There was so many adorables pictures that you begin to see new things in the pictures that you didn't see before. The witch is great - My kids loved that idea that she was a fun witch. The food she made sounded heavenly... What a great book for kids.... My children adore this book as do I.

This book is one of the greatest! (Along with the second one in the series) If you've ever seen the PBSkids show, (I watch it every day!), you'll love these books! They help you understand the shows a lot better.
In this book, it contains the first three episodes of the series.
Ok, heres the summary part. Its kinda weird, because on the site they say James is 14 and Sarah is 15, on here they say they are BOTH 15. Oh well, I prefer them both being 15.Ok, here it goes:
15 year old Sarah Phillips is a green-eyed redheaded tall pretty daughter of a Major for the King. Meaning she is loyal to the crown. But her father left England to scout new lands in the Ohio Territorys. (...).

Intolerable Acts-In this episode, the four are staying at Phillis Wheatleys home, hiding from the British redcoats. But the Quartering Act is passed, and soldiers are staying at Ms. Wheatleys home! Sarah is confused at how Phillis is somebodys property, its an outrage! James and Henri find a way to get the word out that the Intolerable Acts were passed, but not without putting them all in grave danger. A danger that only SARAH could free them from, but she has to choose. Lie to a commanding officer in the King's Navy and save her friends, or rat them out and have them all sent to jail? (...)

The third episode thingy, I forgot the title-Sarah and Henri head for Boston to deliver supplies and meet up with Abigail Adams. James stays in Philadelphia to report on the continental congress thingy. But to him, theres an EVEN BIGGER story going on! After the three witnessed a merchant sailor get tarred and feathered after doing nothing wrong, James thinks of it as a patriotic and humorous act, one that he wants to report on. Will he learn his lesson? And will Sarah and Henri get the supplies to their destination safely?

Wow! A book that is fun for kids to read and educational. My 10 year old son really liked this book. It has sparked his interest in the history of our country. I will definately be buying more in this series.

It was a really good book. I could read it 10000000 times and still not predict the next page. It was so much fun to read, and it shows that human nature hasn't changed at all since then. I'm a big fan of the show and I loved reading and watching it!

This is a great read-aloud chapter book for those kids ready to hear more than they can read. The text flows smooothly so reading it aloud is easy. No he said, she said text commonly found in easier chapter books.

My son loves the series on TV but we don't always get to see it and a lot of the story line is missed so this is helping to fill in the gaps. And while I agree, it is 21st century characters, it still does bring history to life especially for the younger grades. I think the grade level of 5-8 is high. I think that age group would be bored with this. Although the writing is at that level which is making it enjoyable for me to read.

I highly recommend it as a read aloud with grades K-3. It is a great introduction to the American Revolution filled with enough action and suspense to keep my 5yr asking for one more chapter please???

karen is into cooking, going to charm school, dressing up and having tea parties. Very interesting read for the 90's.

I enjoyed reading about karen's cooking and the charm school they attended with all their fancy clothes. And how karen threw a tea party for the girls because she was upset the boys didn't like the charm school, but they show up anyways and then it turns into a good party.

this is one of the best little sister books! tea parties sound like so much fun! And the charm school they attended seemed so glamourous. And there were boys against girls situations in this book, it' a good read!

boys can be silly around girls but when they aren't invited to a party or some thing liken that they are not going to be silly.when karen has the party the boys turn up and they are not being silly and when they are at that school the boys say may i please have these pantys, but they are spot to say may i please have this dance and the girls say you may.karen is up set that her pretend husband/boyfrien (they got married at school)is saying those things at the school.the end turns out a pretty got and it is a graet storey.

Klassic Koalas: Vegetarian Delights Too Cute to Eat is a visual feast filled with inventive recipes centered around a Koala inspiration. Inventive, adorable, and completely heart warming; the themed recipes have fun projects for the child chef in ones' house as well as the adult who enjoys the fun aspects of food. I enjoyed the book so much that I picked up another one, as well as the aboriginal stories by the same publishing house, and gave them as gifts to my friends' children who are fascinated by Koala's and their world. This book is definitely a keeper.

Delightful, colorful, and tasteful these recipes not only adhere to the vegetarian population but also with children and best of all, those who share the love of Koalas. What a creative way to entertain and impress the guests!

This original collection of imaginative, fanciful and whimsical recipes should be a must for all mothers, teacher and leaders of children's group - especially preschools. Each inventive recipe uses the koala as its theme. Colorful photographs of each completed creation will pique the interest of children, whatever the age. Easy to follow step-by-step instructions will enable even a unskilled cook to prepare delightful edibles for guests, friends and family. These recipes are just too much fun to overlook!

Vegetarian Delights Too Cute to Eat is literally unbearable! Indeed it is hard to resist this superbly illustrated book of recipes. Enjoy cooking while expressing your love for these creatures.

I completely LOVED reading this trilogy. Getting to the last few pages of the third book I had to stop myself from reading ahead. My friends and I read this series together and had our own theories of who the killer might be and when it was finally revealed we were shocked. Reading these books is a complete thrill ride. Now knowing the outcome I am so going to read it again. I say everyone should add this trilogy to their collection.

Who's The Real Killer!?
The Party Room "Last Call" is the third book in the party room series. This book is about a girl named Kirsten, who than recently had a friend die at the party room. There has been many murders at the party room, but she still drops in for a visit every now and than, when she's not in school. This is a good book because it always has you on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next and when you think it all is over, the killer strikes again. If you don't like long books, that take quite a bit of patience, than I would suggest not reading this book. If you are a person who likes very mysterious books, The Party Room is the book for you. This is a book you should add to you library or collection.

My sista borrowed the first book and then i read it.
it was really good when u read u really want to read the other 2 books.I have finished the second book and am waiting till christmas to get the third.
The book is really interesting i like how they make u think that it is Paul Stone that killed sam and then they turn it around completely and it is not the person u thought it was. Then a whole new character comes into the book.
I can't wait to sink my teeth into the nxt one. thanks so much this is the best book i have eva read in my whole life n i aint kiddin either.
I strongly advise u 2 read dis book
cya all!!!

OMG I LUVVVV THIS SERIS>> AWSOME BOOKS. My friend recomneded it to me and i read them all and loved them. In the 3rd installment Kristin is trying to recover and move on, since the prep school killer is dead. But was he rly the killer? or was it someone eles? Kristin leaves home to NYU universtity, but still slips back to her favortite place, the party room, with Julie. Kristin feels that she is getting better, until the killer strikes again, and again. She is slowly getting closer to finding out who the killer is, which is putting her in more danger than she could imagine. Can she mangage to find the killer and make sure he is in jail, before he gets her??
read it and ull find out!!

U WONT BE DISAPOINTED>> U WILL BE ESTATIC!! AWSOME BOOOOKK>> READ IT!!! LOVED ITTT

If you want to understand the world of today you have to work at understanding how it got to be the way it is. This is one of those books that is critical to doing that, I don't say that lightly. This book is what is known as a primary source. It is the record of one, actually several, of the crucial political battles of the last century, told by some of the leading participants in their own words. It is not a history written decades later by someone to explain what went wrong, but a record of a battle as it progressed.

Reading this book you get a better understanding of the following: How it was that the domestic and foreign policy of the new Soviet Union began to deteriorate from a revolutionary one to one that put the narrow needs of day to day diplomacy and deal making first. How the Chinese Communist Party was formed and how it developed. What type of revolution was it's leadership trying to make? Why were the U.S., England, Japan and France so hostile to it? How and why did the Stalinists and Maoists gain leadership and themselves come into being? And much else.

This book is made up of an impressive number of documants, speeches and reports principally by Trotsky, one of the central leaders of the Russian revolution who would not sell out and died fighting Stalin and the destruction of the revolution. The introduction adds much to the book in bringing things up to date. I think this book is useful for historians, anyone wanting to know more about China and the revolution there, and any revolutionaries of today who want to learn from one of the best. It can be particularly useful to political minded workers and young people from Asia

What impresses me about this book is Trotsky's impassioned duty and determination to build a world revolution of the oppressed and to clear the way for the working people of China from the waste, confusion, and defeats that Stalinism of the Stalin and Mao varieties have imposed on them.

Thirty years ago many people would have thought reading a book about the liberation of a country from semicolonialism would no longer be necessary as we enter the 21st Century. However, it seems that lead by the USA, the imperialist powers of Western Europe and Japan are in a growing drive to deepen their control over countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Sadly, the lessons in this book drawn from the struggle of peasants and workers in China in the first 40 years of this century, are becoming more and more applicable around the world.

The Chinese Revolution was one of the great developments of the 20th century, and the challenges and lessons it provides remain of great importance today. Imperialism and imperialist war, colonialism, revolutionary Marxism vs. Stalinism and Maoism, concepts of armed struggle, mass struggle, of constructing a revolutionary party, the character of a workers and peasants government, of a workers-peasant alliance-- all were tested in the turbulent, living experience of social crisis, repression, war and massive worker and peasant uprisings.

This lengthy collection brings together the writings of Leon Trotsky on China from 1925 to his death in 1940. Trotsky was, along with V. I. Lenin, a central leader of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the early years of the Communist International. After the death of Lenin in 1924, Trotsky led the fight against the degeneration of that revolution and the rise of a conservative, privileged bureaucracy headed by Josef Stalin. Revolutionary policies in China at the time were at the heart of the differences between revolutionaries and Stalinists. Trotsky gives detailed and extensive analysis very useful today, both for the issues covered and as an example of how to use the Marxist method to orient revolutionary fighters in the living world.

The collection includes a substantial introduction by long-time Chinese revolutionary Peng Shu-tse, covering the history of China during these years, which I found useful for putting Trotsky's writings in context.

Also recommended: The Chinese Communist Party in Power, by Peng Shu-tse; The History of the Russian Revolution, by Leon Trotsky; and Capitalism's World Disorder, by Jack Barnes.

rotsky's Discussion of China is one of the most masterful discussions of the dynamics of revolution in a country underdeveloped and exploited by imperialism that has ever been made. It centers on the Chinese revolutionary events of the mid and late 1920s, though it continues into the 1930s when the Stalin Bukharin leadership in the Communist International forced the Chinese revolutionists to subordinate their struggle to a block with bourgeois militarist Chiang Kai-shek It is not surprising that when it was made, the founding central leaders of the Chinese communist movement were won to Trotsky's Left Opportunism. In letters and articles and political documents for the Russian Communist Party and the Comintern, Trotsky explains how the only road forward for Chinese workers and peasants was asserting their own power and independence and how only the struggle against capitalism could solve the problems facing China.

As such, it provides an adequate background to the middle class and Stalinist nature of the Chinese Communist party that headed the revolution in 1949. As such

It can be read now, as a new generation of fighting workers, peasants, and youth in China looks for real communist alternatives to both capitalism and the pseudo-Communism of China's Stalinist Communist party.


While this book is sometimes not directly available from Amazon, it is always available from BooksfromPathfinder, which you can reach by clicking on New and Used further up this page.

Eugene V. Debs the socialist revolutionist was fond of saving, "it is better to vote for what you want and not get it, than to vote for what you don't want and get it." Malcolm X was fond of simply pointing out that at every key point in the history of Black people, the Democratic party "has sold us out." This book explains why real revolutionists are trying to chart a course of indepedence for workers, farmers, and the oppressed from the twin parties of capitalism, the Demnocrats and the Republicans.

Can the Republicans and the Democrats help us. Or do we need some new kind of party like the Green party, whichis a more liberal or more progressive party but still built on the model of the Democrats and the Republicans.
The responses that leaders of the Socialist Workers Party give here to people who believe that working people can work in the Democratic party or build other capitalist political parties answer these questions. They point out that the fundamental problem in this society is not liberal ideas or non liberal ideas, but the existence of a capitalist class, the big corporate leaders, and a capitalist system. They explain that politics is a question of taking power out the hands of those people and that system.

What strategy is needed to advance the cause of the working class and progressive people? Since Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s, many labor, Black, and other progressive movements have supported the "lesser evil" -- usually the Democratic party candidate. Debated here is whether working people should dump this course and seek instead to replace the system which is alternatively administered by "lesser evil" Democrats and "greater evil" Republicans. Read the book and consider the consequences of "coalitionism" vs. independent working class political action.

A lively and thought-provoking book. Lively because of the format -- the actual transcripts of live debates -- and because of the importance of the questions posed: should activist and militant workers fighting to change U.S. society work for or within the two-party system, specifically for the Democratic Party (the so-called Lesser Evil)? In each case, leaders of the Socialist Workers Party championing independent political action take on prominent social democrats arguing for working within the Democratic Party.

These debates took place in the midst of political struggles in 1959, 1965 and 1976. They are shaped by the tremendous labor upsurge of the 1930s and 1940s that forged the industrial unions of the CIO, the massive civil rights movement and the movement against the U.S. war in Vietnam-- times when millions of working people and youth took to the streets and challenged the policies and rulers of this country. I find the historical examples cited and the lessons drawn very relevant for today.

Read these debates, weigh the arguments, and decide for yourselves! I'd also recommend some further useful reading including: Labor's Giant Step: 20 years of the CIO, by Art Preis; Out Now! A participant's account of the movement in the United States against the Vietnam war, by Fred Halstead; and the collection of speeches by Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary.

This book chronicles a series of debates between supporters of the Democratic and Republican parties and leaders of the Socialist Workers party who believe that working class people, Blacks, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, women, and all who fight for change need to break from the Republican and Democratic parties and the wanna be capitalist parties like the Greens to form a working class political party, a labor party, a party that can fight for power to be placed in the hands of workers and farmers in this country and the world. Its simple, a system is something that seeks to preserve itself. The SWPers demonstrate that Democratic party and other capitalist parties are part of the capitalism system and are not vehicles for liberation, but traps

"Understand Mississippi, and you understand the world." William Faulkner ... And he was so right. What's so good about Todd Moye's book is that he provides the needed clarity to understand this microcosm in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. Moye's research is excellent; this is particularly note worthy since it is not easy to find such information in the Delta. Mississippi's libraries - public and educational - are notorious for their dearth of newer Mississippi books. (Forget the archives.) So thanks to Moye for providing this unique piece of history that needs and deserves attention and preservation.

Todd Moye has written an excellent book about the civil rights movement in the Mississippi Delta. The power of the book lies in its simple prose and nuanced analysis, a rare combination in historical nonfiction today. The storytelling will pull readers into the book and the analysis will change the way many readers think about the civil rights movement, not just in Mississippi but across the South.

_Let the People Decide_ is the best historical perspective on Mississippi I've read since _Rising Tide_. And I'm not just saying that because J. Todd Moye is my brother.

The book is focused on the freedom movements in a specific time and place, but I think it gives insight into how similar movements evolve elsewhere. It is definately a scholarly work, and the author footnotes many of his own oral history interviews as source material. Yet the author's prose is not stuffy, and you don't feel like you are doing homework while reading this engaging book. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in our nation's history, especially in the evolution of civil rights movements in the south.