R Books

This book is a wonderful teaching tool . I will be using this in my Earth based spirituality church teachings. I teach the children here in Utah at The Church of the Sacred Circle. It has many great stories that I know the children will be able to relate to. Thank you for a great resource.

I ordered this book for our library's collection (for education students, to help them understand all faiths their students might be), and I still have the habit of reading everything I order-and I'm very glad I read it.

The artwork is wonderful, but the real magic of this book is it's handling of many aspects of being raised Pagan. Young Rabbit has been raised Wiccan by her parents and each of the major rituals and Sabbats are examined from her point of view, as are their understandings of the dieties, how to deal with teasing, and stewardship of the Earth and other people. Stories of everyday life and ritual life are mixed in with explanations of Sabbats and there are great real-life examples of how to bring a child into Circle worship with parents. It makes me wish there was a larger family-centered Pagan community in my area to share with my son.
This is definatly a book written for an American child (it mentions the US more than once), but it would probably be appropriate for a UK Pagan, as well. Excellent resource for Pagan children up to about 3rd grade, for Pagan parents, and for educators or neighbors who have discovered there is a Witch in their community.

Beautiful art work. Execellent story and lesson for the pagan child or any child for that matter.

I've read this story to my daughter dozens of times, and while she is only 2 she loves this book. I've had to memorize it because she pulls it into her lap and pretends to read as she turns the pages. Okay, enough of the cute stuff. Lyon has captured essential pagan themes and practices in an absolutely terrific story about Rabbit and how she has learned pagan customs and festivals. If you have been searching for that book to help your child understand your beliefs, stop now, get this book. P.S. SHE ILLISTRATES IT TOO. This is one seriously talented author.

First of all I need to say that I personally know Lyon. But don't let that make you think I'm biased.

All of Lyon's books are fun and down to earth so they can be enjoyed by both children and adults alike.

Not only does she write children's books, but lives the spiritual lifestyle as well.

If you have young children in your life and follow the pagan lifestyle, I'm confident you will not be disappointed in this or any of Lyon's books.

Highly recommended!!

"Trust used to be all about a handshake - and nothing has changed..."

So begins Appendix F in Vacca's book. The entirety of the book defines that critical handshake, which has been made so much more complex by Internet
freedom and opportunities. Layers of certification and handshaking, both online and offline, hashing, third parties, CA's.

Vacca includes costings, comparatives, definitions, implementation instructions, and white papers written by others with expertise in the area.

This book is a 'must read' for those of us working in IT security.

As usual, John writes a very timely book on contemporary IT issues. Most people are still afraid to use their credit cards on the net and businesses have huge constraints in terms of what can and can't be done through the web. As the rules of the game toughen for the every-ready hacking minds, government are also cracking down on such culprits, however, for the average user of electronic commercial transactions, there needs to be a stronger feeling that their money is safe. John's PKI book helps to educate those with this understandable concern, that it may now be getting safer to do business on the net.

This book covers the entire spectrum of PKI technology with an emphasis on the pratical aspects of design,implementation and use. As an IT security professional, I have found this book to be extremely useful in my job as we must constantly be on guard and make use of the latest technology to stay one step ahead of the multitude of security threats we face on a day-to-day basis.

To successfully transact business on the worldwide web, a secure network is essential. John Vacca's book explores public key infrastructures (PKIs)as a technology to provide that security. This book would be a good resource for anyone responsible for maintaining network security in big business or small.

"Trust used to be all about a handshake - and nothing has changed..."

So begins Appendix F in Vacca's book. The entirety of the book defines that critical handshake, which has been made so much more complex by Internet freedom and opportunities. Layers of certification and handshaking, both online and offline, hashing, third parties, CA's.

Vacca includes costings, comparatives, definitions, implementation instructions, and white papers written by others with expertise in the area.

Previously a developer and implementor, and now a user, I wish that we had had this information then when we were implementing PGP, and I can only hope that my host sites now are compliant.

I have the hardcover edition. I collect Robert Crumb's works and this is a favorite of everyone looking at my collection. It you are an art student this along with his Gotta Have'Em Portraits of Women by R.Crumb is good resource material. I'd give The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book in (hardcover) ten stars if I could. I have not had the opportunity to look at the soft cover version but I would bet it is well done.

I just picked up the hardcover edition yesterday at the bargain section of my local bookstore. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. It's in chronological order of R. Crumb's work broken into chapters. Each chapter starts with a write up by him telling about what was going on in his life at that time, and how some of the drawings came to be. I find him to be a fascinating artist. He bares his soul in his work, not really caring how he appears or what people think.

This book is the ultimate Crumb. You won't be disappointed if you love his work.

Just about every huge page (this book is big!) is filled with inspired color drawings from the legendary underground artist. Crumb gets very personal in this book, it's incredibly honest and, at times, deep. He takes the reader on a nostalgic journey through his childhood, life, and career. It's about growing up, finding the artist within, and adjusting to the insanity of the world. Or, you can simply read it for the edgy, often sexual comics. Either way, this is a big heavy book that is hard to pick up, but harder to put down.

A generation ago, American poets such as Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, John Berryman, and Anne Sexton gave birth to a genre that's come to be known as "confessional poetry." Their verse revealed intimate facts about their lives that simply weren't spoken of in polite company: fears, phobias, sexual hang-ups, pettiness, depression, suicidal tendencies. Some of their work wound up being rather pathetic, more confessional than poetic. But when it was good, it invited readers to face their own demons.

Robert Crumb, whom the art critic Robert Hughes has called the "Breughel of the 20th century," is a confessional artist whose chosen genre is comics. For 50-odd years (with the emphasis on "odd"!), R. Crumb has explored his many identities and personae in thousands of sketches, drawings, and paintings. The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book is actually an autobiography put together from a handful of the work Crumb has produced over the years. It's interspersed with essays by Crumb on his childhood, school days, the hippie scene in San Francisco, his marriages, his "personal obsession with big women," his spiritual yearnings, and his love of old music. Taken together, it's a fascinating portrait of a man who's dared to explore some of his deepest and darkest places, and to do so (at least sometimes) publicly.

Crumb believes that the pivotal moment in his personal and artistic life was the period in the mid-60s to the early 70s when he dropped acid on a regular basis. Although he sometimes worries that he might've fried his brain, he also thinks that the LSD trips liberated his psyche and helped him break through to new and deeper levels of creativity. The LSD was, he tells us, his "road to Damascus."

Perhaps. It's true that Crumb's work has changed over the years--it's become more brutally honest, more introspective, darker and at the same time funnier. Perhaps the LSD had something to do with it (although, personally, I quite dislike some of the work that comes from that period, finding it rather flat and silly). But I suspect that the single greatest influence on Crumb was his childhood and his family, especially his brother Charlie, who seems to have been just as much a genius as Robert. Crumb the man really is the child of Crumb the boy. The LSD may've helped Crumb get in touch with the raw energy generated from those days.

Crumb has become notorious for the sexuality of some of his comics, and has taken his share of political correct knocks. But The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book makes clear that the bottom line of much of his art is his existential need to explore and expose the shallowness and absurdity of much of modern life. Above all, as he tells us (p. 247), he wants to tell the truth, not only about himself but about us as well. Whether it's in the pages of "Zap" or "Weirdo" comics, or in panels featuring Shuman the Human or Mr. Natural, Crumb continuously questions racial, sexual, cultural, and artistic conventions, pushing the envelope as far as it can go and frequently causing readers discomfort. There's also a longing on Crumb's part for deep meaning in a universe that appears crazy. This most often reveals itself as nostalgia for bygone days (his love of "old" music, for example), but also more explicitly as a yearning for a god that he can no longer fully believe in and frequently mocks.

Reading R. Crumb is an intense experience. Like all good art, his stuff can make one laugh with joy or send shivers down the spine. The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book is a good place to start if you're just discovering Crumb, and an equally good collection to help long-time admirers get some idea of the big picture of Crumb's work and to better appreciate its depth. It's also a good catalyst for getting in touch with one's own multiple identities.

Very interesting book with many information regarding old musicians. The CD inside is very pleasure with good quality sound.

Knowing the prices that Robert Crumb's work commands (try getting hold of a copy of his illustrated CD "That's What I Call Sweet Music" and you'll see what I mean), when I first saw this advertised I thought that the price must have been entered incorrectly, but no! Just imagine, a 240 page hardback book, illustrated in colour on high quality paper, with an accompanying 21-track CD, for less than you'd expect to pay for either on its own. The book (and CD), falls into three distinct parts, and three different techniques have been used to produce the illustrations.

I'm familiar with the jazz figures, and my comments therefore concentrate on that aspect. The first is that some of these choices are extremely idiosyncratic. Many (Beiderbecke, Armstrong, Morton) are almost obligatory, but scattered amongst them are some quite obscure figures, such as Junie C. Cobb, Roy Palmer, and Ikey Robinson. Fair enough, these are after all Mr. Crumb's heroes, but the accompanying commentary is far too brief and could with advantage have been expanded to fill the space available. Finally, whilst many of the portraits (all of which are based on photographs) are instantly recognisable a few have the look of caricature about them. All of which is to look a gift horse in the mouth, and I would disregard all of those reservations and buy it anyway if I hadn't done so already.

You really can't go wrong here...$13 or $14 for a book with wonderful artwork and brief history lessons and a companion CD with some truly timeless music.

Not a general fan of the genre, but I actually found the country music included on the CD to be the most interesting. But really every song is special.

A must have for any Crumb or roots music fan.

In 20/20 hindsight (or hindsound?) I bought the book intending to learn about music. Taken purely as an introduction to three genres of early American music, the book is a success. The pictures (and introduction to R. Crumb the artist) were a huge bonus. Wow! The CD with it completes the trifecta.

This is a fantastic introduction to multiple artistic elements - perhaps a few that will catch the reader/viewer/listener off guard. Enjoy!

Richard Nevins of Rounder Records first came up with the idea for Robert Crumb to illustrate a series of early Blues, Jazz, and Old Time Music and Bluegrass greats along the lines of the baseball cards of his childhood. Crumb went for the idea and produced what became three boxes of cards with illustrations taken from old photos on the front and write-ups about the players on the back (many of them by Nevins).

Now the famous fine arts publisher Abrams Books has designed and published a superb volume that includes the Crumb artwork as never before -- in brilliant color and on a larger scale than the cards -- along with expanded bios and a bonus CD that samples some of this great American roots music. Anyone interested in high-level cartoon art and this powerful expressive music will want to own this book.

In his observation of the organizing principle of the Tanakh, whereby Westerman concludes (Elements of an Old Testament Theology, 1982) that the general theme of Torah being the deeds of God, and Nevi'im (The Prophets) being the words of God, he rightly describes Ketuvim (The Writings) under which Psalms fall, as the people's responses, or I should say, God-inspired people responses; covering the entire range of expressions of human emotions; fear, desperation, faith, hope, compassion, love, submission, indignation, repentance, sorrow, joy, and praise; the reality of life in a fallen world. Spurgeon laboriously and masterfully unearths these jewels from the rich treasure chests of David that the readers may enjoy, adore, cherish, worship, and love God in the display of his grace, power and glory through these expressions with solid theology, Christology and soteriology in mind because in some of the Psalms; Psalms 2, 8, 22, 45, 102, and 110, for examples, they undoubtedly speak of vision about the Lord Jesus Christ. If the readers are familiar with the format JC Ryle used in "Expository Thoughts on the Gospel," Spurgeon implements a similar one. He begins with introducing the theme of each Psalms, then continues with verse-by-verse exposition that attempts to bring the readers as close as possible to the affections, the state of mind and the vision of the Psalmist when he wrote that particular verse. In the next section called "Explanatory notes and quaint sayings", he includes commentary for each verse, though may not be exhaustive but definitely extensive, from other theologians; mostly the Reformers and the Puritans. The last part called "Hints to Preachers" consists of outlines to aid ministers for preaching purposes. Here are some samples to show the style of exposition the readers would be benefited from, intended to wet their appetite and to support my recommendation:

"Proud hearts breed proud looks and stiff knees. It is an admirable arrangement that the heart is often written on the countenance...A brazen face and a broken heart never go together... there is much more to be learned from the motions of the muscles of the face than from the words of the lips. Honesty shines in the face, but villainy peeps out at the eyes. See the effect of pride; it kept the man from seeking God. It is hard to pray with a stiff neck and an unbending knee. `God is not in all his thoughts' he thought much but he had no thoughts for God. Amid heaps of chaff there was not a grain of wheat. The only place where God is not is in the thoughts of the wicked. This is a damning accusation; for where the God of heaven is not, the Lord of hell is reigning and raging; and if God be not in our thoughts, our thoughts will bring us to perdition" (on Ps 10:4).

"This prayer evinces a humble sense of personal ignorance, great teachableness of spirit, and cheerful obedience of heart... A path is here desired which shall be open, honest, straightforward, in opposition to the way of the cunning which is intricate, tortuous, dangerous. Good men seldom succeed in fine speculations and doubtful courses; plain simplicity is the best spirit for an heir of heaven: let us leave shifty tricks and political expediences to the citizens of the world, the New Jerusalem owns plain men for its citizens" (on Ps 27:11).

"The unusual strength which overleaps the bound of threescore and ten only lands the aged man in a region where life is a weariness and a woe. The strength of old age, its very prime and pride, are but labor and sorrow; what must its weakness be? What panting for breath! What toiling to move! What a failing of the senses! What a crushing sense of weakness!... Such as is old age. Yet mellowed by hallowed experience, and solaced by immortal hopes, the latter days of aged Christians are not so much to be pitied as envied. The sun is setting and the heat of the day is over, but sweet is the calm and cool of the eventide; and the fair day melts away, not into a dark and dreary night, but into a glorious, unclouded eternal day. The mortal fades to make room for the immortal; the old man falls asleep to wake up in the region of perennial youth" (on Ps 90:10).

"It is impossible that any ill should happen to the man who is beloved of the Lord; the most crushing calamities can only shorten his journey and hasten him to his reward. Ill to him is no ill, but only good in a mysterious form. Losses enrich him, sickness is his medicine, reproach is his honor, death is his gain. No evil in the strict sense of the word can happen to him, for everything is overruled for good" (on Ps 91:10).

"A survey of the solar system has a tendency has a tendency to moderate the pride of man and to promote humility. Pride is one of the distinguishing characteristics of puny man and has been one of the chief causes of all the contentions, wars, devastations, systems of slavery, and ambitious projects which have desolated and demoralized our sinful world. Yet there is no disposition more incongruous to the character and circumstance of man. Perhaps there are no rational beings throughout the universe among whom pride would appear more unseemly or incompatible than in man, considering the situation in which he is placed. He is exposed to numerous degradations and calamities, to the rage of storms and tempests, the devastations of earthquakes and volcanoes, the fury of whirlwinds, and the tempestuous billows of the ocean, to the ravages of the sword, famine, pestilence, and numerous diseases; and at length he must sink into the grave and his body must become the companion of worms! The most dignified and haughty of the sons of men are liable to these and similar degradations as well as the meanest of the human family. Yet, in such circumstances, man, that puny worm of the dust, whose knowledge is so limited, and whose follies as so numerous and glaring, has the effrontery to strut in all the haughtiness of pride, and to glory in his shame.

When other arguments and motives produce little effect on certain minds, no considerations seem likely to have a more powerful tendency to counteract this deplorable propensity in human beings, than those which are borrowed from the objects connected with astronomy. They show us what an insignificant being, what a mere atom, indeed, man appears amidst the immensity of creation!

Though he is an object of the paternal care and mercy of the Most High, yet he is but as a grain of sand to the whole earth, when compared to the countless myriads of beings [in the universe]" (on Ps 8:3-4, quoting Dr. Dick).

"Communion with God in secret is a heaven upon earth. What food can compare with the hidden manna? Some persons have excellent banquet in their closets. That bread which the saints eat in secret, how pleasant is it! Ah! What stranger can imagine the joy, the melody, which even the secret tears of the saints cause! Believers find rich mines of silver and gold in solitary places; they fetch up precious jewels out of secret holes, out of the bottom of the ocean, where are no inhabitants... Saints have often sweet joy and refreshment in secret; they have meat to eat, which the world knows not of... They that know what it is to enjoy God in secret, would not leave it or lose it, to be kings or commanders over the whole world" (on Ps 63:6, quoting George Swinnock).

Can't go wrong with Spurgeon. I bought these volumes for a deeper study of the Psalms, and so far they have been amazing. There's more for each psalm that I can really get in to, but that which I do has been all that I could hope for: reinforcing lower view of self next to high view of God; the only kind of perspective that brings any real sense of hope and encouragement.

Spurgeon is still the best. This 3 volume set is essential for a deep and meaningful study of the Psalms. Great for teaching and preaching research. I'm happy to have purchased it and I recommend it highly.

While Spurgeon's magnum opus is neither technical nor devotional it can meet either of those needs. It is inconceivable that anyone would have an interest in the Psalms and not have these volumes on the shelves.

This is a great commentary series on the Psalms and has the same feel as Spurgeon's sermons. Great resource for any teacher and pastor to prepare in study for the Psalms. Very detailed, which I can't say the same for other commentaries done during this same time period.

The price once again shows how many people have lost interest in both commentaries and our past church saints.

If you are going to be going through the Psalms in your own study or teaching you should definitely have this at your disposal.

A little bug sneezes and each consequence leads to a bigger one creating in the end total chaos in town, and all because a little bug went ka-choo!
This book is a fun way of introducing the idea that even our smallest actions can have important consequences. The story is funny, and the rhymes are catchy.
The book is by Dr. Seuss under another pseudonym, what else could we expect from the good doctor but a hilarious story that children will love???

I love this book and so does my toddler. We have read it many, many times and immensely enjoy both the story and the illustrations. I don't mind reading it over and over because I feel like I see some new detail in the illustration that I didn't see the first 50 times we read it together. It's a delight for anyone reading it.

The consequences were far reaching and wide ranging when one little bug sneezed - just what happens, it ripples out and are quite fun. The illustrations are rich and warm, soft curves and good colours with lots going on in each to maintain interest in repeated readings of it.

This has beautiful rhythm to it and is easy for children to get predictive about, learning to anticipate and the value of language, and rhythm.

As an adult I get a bit bored with it - it is quite fun but not for repeated readings, but it is high on the reading request list at home so it gets read repeatedly at the moment.

My [...] loves this book. You can have so much fun with it as the book builds from a little bug sneezing to a out of control circus parade. The rhymes are well-done. Good for all ages.

This is one of Dr. Suess's books written under his pseudonym Rosetta Stone. This book shows once again what an amazingly clever man he was. Each of my children love this book. And I just finished reading it to my youngest son's preschool class. They enjoyed it so much they asked me to read it a second time! It is a fun and extremely enjoyable book for everyone!!!

Wow! I started reading this book prepared for an account of a domestic violence survivor, but found myself on an exciting journey to Key West and into the lush jungles of Belize. The challenging landscape mirrors the struggles of a woman in a controlling relationship, as she and her young family learn to brave the storms and floods of the land, and she simultaneously learns to predict and weather the dark storms of her marriage. One of the major components of domestic violence is isolation, and Koerner's Belize serves as the ultimate locale, isolating its inhabitants physically due to difficult to impossible traveling conditions, but also from basic rights due to the corruption amongst the local officials. In the 80's, America had yet to make strides in protecting our women from abusive spouses, but Koerner's revelation that in Belize the man's right to discipline his wife protects him adds to the hopelessness of Alexis' situation. As I read I felt the conflict so many friends and family members of victims feel today: I wanted to gather a group of friends and rush down to the jungle to rescue this young woman and her children, but I felt the fear of her husband's far-reaching connections and ability to manipulate any situation. And ultimately, I knew she had to rescue herself in her own way.
Captivating, thought-provoking, wonderful read.

I have just finished your book and felt like I lived with you every step of this very difficult, heart wrenching story of survival. Your descriptions amaze me, they are so real in my mind. When one becomes subjected to the abuse cycle, the outside world just thinks you can walk away, but, it's a downward cycle where the person you are becomes lost. Battering, removal from communication with others, shame, concern for your children, all bring you down to a level few could understand.

" I bought the book as a gift not really intending to read it. I was having trouble sleeping one night and went into the closet where I was keeping it until the birthday of my mother-in-law. Please understand, I had not picked up a book in years due to my trance like workaholic lifestyle. I quickly read the first few pages and found myself transformed in an era before my time walking along the beaches of Key West. It was 1:15 in the morning and three hours had passed and I was no where close to closing my eyes. My heart was beating faster and my mind full of possibilities as I began to dream like Alexis (the main character in the book). I had to force myself to fall asleep, dreaming about adventures. I woke up wide eyed the following morning with a new found inspiration to take risks and believe in myself. As I turned the last page of the book, I felt as though I had become the woman behind the story but above all else I felt sadness that my nightly hide-away was over. PLEASE WRITE A SEQUEL!!!! Run, do not walk to buy this book. This aside from the bible in my opinion is the best book ever written. Get your book signed. This lady is going to be famous!" - CJ Cordisco

This book is a real page-turner - an exciting and at times, terrible, account of the experiences of a very brave woman. The author juxtaposes the beauty of Belize with the horrors of her marriage, but we never fear that Alexis won't overcome her adversity. Koerner's writing is "right up there" as you can visualize everything she describes. The end of the story is an impressive look at how anything can be overcome, with enough determination and courage. I loved it.

Ms. Koerner paints a vivid picture of the horror of spousal abuse and parental alienation in "Belize Survivor," and carries the reader on a journey of hope, heartache and the will to survive.

Young and idealistic, Alexis follows the man that she loves, a kind and handsome man, into the jungles of Belize, searching for the perfect life. She reluctantly follows him, sharing and supporting his dreams and believing him to be her soul mate, but she soon learns that images are tragically deceiving.

The mountains of Belize provide the backdrop to the story, and whose majestic beauty stands in stark contrast to the pain suffered there by one young woman. Isolated from her family by distance and in a country whose legal system was corrupt and one-sided, Alexis suffers indescribably at the hands of her husband, the father of her children, but knows that the day is coming when she must make the impossible decision...

I have rarely read a book that so clearly illustrates the thoughts, beliefs and desires of an entire generation coming of age in the turbulent and tumultuous early 1970's. I was enthralled with the story of Alexis and her dogged determination not to give up, even in the face of unthinkable despair, and found myself sharing the same dreams, fears, hopes and pain.

Ms. Koerner deserves kudos for having the courage to share her story so that others may not suffer the same. I eagerly anticipate Ms. Koerner's next novel!

My 13yr old son was like "what is this" when he found this book I had purchased for him. Hours later he was still absorbed. He said it was a great read and very interesting.

Historical fiction either works really well, or it doesn't work at all. Those YA historical fiction novels that deftly capture the distinct essence of a time period and place so different from our own that you can hear the unique cadences in speech patterns and visualize details not even mentioned in the text, those novels are to be treasured and savored more than once because they offer not only a well-told tale, by delicious tastes of bygone eras. Recent novels like AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS and OCTAVIAN NOTHING accomplish these goals heroically; you feel as if you are living in the times and that is part of the emotional journey that we love. YA historical fiction that fails is highly awkward, illogical, anachronistic, and MADDENING. We argue with ourselves about why the author couldn't get it right! The guilty (or at least the current crop) shall remain nameless...

Which leads us to Janet Taylor Lisle's latest. BLACK DUCK is (to maintain the metaphor) an odd bird; it captures that time of the late 1920s nicely, but focuses on perhaps the most unusual of young adult subjects: rumrunning. Told primarily in flashback, BLACK DUCK follows Ruben Hart, a fourteen-year-old from Rhode Island who finds himself (as does most of the rest of the town) involved either directly or peripherally with breaking the law (it is Prohibition, after all). This era is brought to life expertly by Lisle's correct decision to have the story told through a first-person point-of-view. That choice allows her to capture the language, mannerisms and trends of the time quite accurately. Building slowly, she offers plenty of historic detail without the weight of seeming to force the historical information on us (like QUAKE!: DISASTER IN SAN FRANCISCO, 1906 does).

I was also taken with Lisle's characterizations, particularly those of the several characters who made unexpected, yet by-all-means organic choices -- always a joy for an English teacher to read -- that took the plot into unexpected, yet organic places.

Though the historical nature of the book is, as far as I can tell, relatively accurate, it is an incredibly bold move on Lisle's part to make practically all of the characters law-breakers (yes, even many of the kids)! On top of that, the reader and a majority of the characters don't want [SPOILER NOTICE] the legal authority -- in this case, the Coast Guard -- to capture the rumrunners aboard the Black Duck. WOW! And it works... beautifully. To take a questionable subject for young adults and approach it in a highly questionable way, and succeed (!!!) deserves real kudos from YA fans.

As an English teacher, this is a great piece for discussion and analysis -- in part for the above-mentioned reasons, but also for the dramatic structure in which the flashbacks are interrupted by the present and newspaper stories of dates in-between.

So, in the categorization of YA historical fiction that soars and those that sink, this rumrunning ship, heavy with cargo, is definitely buoyant.

Black Duck is a great piece of historical fiction. It tells the story of the rumrunners off the coast of Rhode Island. Because of the mystery running through it, this book will keep you reading for more to find a surprise at the end. There is a couple of "bad" words in the book, however, I recommend it for 6th through 12th graders, boys and girls.

I bought "Black Duck" based on the book's description and also based on all the great reviews it has received thus far. I loved the book the entire way through. "Black Duck" is geared for kids ages 9-12 according to the description with the main characters being teenage boys.

I enjoyed how the author intermixes the past with the present in "Black Duck" by making some chapters in the present day and other chapters in the past. Janet Taylor Lisle is able to bring to life what rum-running during the prohibition may have been like on the New England coast in 1929 by using a cast of fictional characters and how prohibition may have effected a community. The story is told through the eyes of Ruben Hart, who was a teenager during 1929.

Currently Ruben Hart is an elderly man. He is approached by a young boy named, David Peterson, whom wants to be a journalist when he grows up. Young David has his sights on writing a story about the the rum-running days and this is where he crosses paths with Ruben Hart. David is set on interviewing Mr. Hart about the rum-running days as he has heard that Mr. Hart knows something about those days. The interview happens over the summer vacation and David learns/hears quite a story from Mr. Hart & quite a tale it is. The two become friends by the end of the novel.

"Black Duck" is a good story with well developed characters!! The story is intriguing and keeps you wanting to know more about what will happen next!!

A year ago three of my sixth graders wanted to read Black Duck, a new book in our school library, for Literature Circles. That was my first experience with the book. I started reading on my way home to Illinois and couldn't stop. Likewise, my sixth graders had a lot of praise for the mystery set in the Prohibition Era. If you parents or teachers are looking for a book that will motivate even the most unwilling reader, this is it. One of the boys confided that although he is a jock, he had to confess he couldn't stop reading it. At first some of the girls were resistant, but soon they, too, had to admit they were hooked. Telling the story in an interview is a unique format. This book also lends itself to a variety of research topics the students enjoyed: Prohibition, the Great Depression, the Roaring 20s, Women's Suffrage, politics, gangs, gansters, Rhode Island, the East Coast, and of course bootlegging and smuggling. What a great way to learn some history! I highly recommend it.

I was a bit disappointed in this book, I have to admit. I was hoping to learn more about Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, who they were, what circumstances led them to life of crime, and so forth... I was expecting maybe some new never-before-seen photographs in this book, but I guess that's a lot to ask for people who lived 80 years ago. I am very interested in the Bonnie and Clyde story, and I have to rate this book good, but not great.

This book has a lot of interesting information and tons of pictures. If you want to know anything about Bonnie and Clyde, it's all in this book.

This is a nice condenced overview of Bonnie and Clyde. If you want a crash course or are just interested in the true story- start here.

I first became aware of Bonnie and Clyde after a frigid night's motorcycle ride to see Arthur Penn's 1967 movie. Except for buying a DVD thirty years later, I seldom thought of them. Then, last November, my wife and I visited Dexter and Stuart, Iowa. In April of 1934, a month before their deaths, Bonnie and Clyde, along with Henry Methvin, robbed the bank in Stuart. Ten months before, the Barrows had shot it out with a posse at Dexfield Park, north of Dexter. The site of an abandoned amusement park, Dexfield offered Bonnie and Clyde, along with the severely wounded Buck Barrow and his wife Blanche, temporary sanctuary following a shootout in Platte City, Missouri. Penn's movie placed the shootout in Platte City, Iowa, which doesn't exist, ignoring the long ride from the Kansas City area to western Iowa. It also ignored the fact that Buck lived several days after his head wound and actually died of pneumonia. Penn's characterization of Blanche as a screaming ninny isn't accurate, either, and it got him sued.

Penn wasn't after history, but sensationalism. James R. Knight is after history. He is one of those wonderful people who recognize that everything is coming together and seizes the moment. Penn's movie was only the latest in a thirty-year sequence of stylized and mostly inaccurate portrayals of the lovers and their companions. It perhaps began with Jan Fortune's Fugitives, published a scant few months after the fatal ambush in Louisiana. It continued through books by several members of the posse who killed Bonnie and Clyde, and by former criminal companions. As many of the principals, including members of the Barrow and Parker families, aged, other writers began to interview them before it was too late. Given the opportunity to pull together their work with original research, James Knight acted.

This book is the result.

Perhaps only a person who doesn't depend on writing for his income could have done it. Knight, after all, is a pilot for Federal Express who just happens to be an excellent historian. His book shows meticulous patience, coupled with a desire to be what Fox news isn't, fair and balanced. For instance, he gives Fortune's oft-maligned piece credit for what it got right. Though he depends heavily (for the first few chapters) on the recollections of Marie Barrow Scoma, a teenager at the time of her brother's death, Knight sometimes argues, appropriately, with her recollections. After all, she could not have known all that her adult brother was up to. Knight understands that the Barrow and Parker families were far more complex, and far more involved in supporting their wayward kin, than has heretofore been obvious. The evidence has always been there, but Knight uses it broadly and well.

The author is so careful to remain balanced, and to avoid the hysterical tone of previous books, that his prose sometimes seems bloodless. Nowhere is this more evident than in chapters 36 and 37. There, he recounts events around the May, 1934, ambush that killed Bonnie and Clyde. He is meticulous in describing the location and sequence of the wounds each received, the damage to their stolen Ford, and the behavior of members of the posse. It's important, though, because the ambush has so often been misinterpreted. I hope that in a future work Knight will greatly expand these chapters, taking a closer look at everything and everyone who contributed to the ambush and at the questions that still remain. Still, Knight corrects several misconceptions and downright errors fostered by the movie and by previous books. You won't know it, though, unless you read the extensive footnotes.

Which brings me to the subject of how most to benefit from reading this 2003 work. I read it twice. The first time, I had a bookmark in the footnotes and flipped back and forth frequently. The second time, the bookmark was located in the first appendix. This allowed me to review a full history of each character as s/he surfaced in the text. As a result, I have a far better idea of "the story of Bonnie and Clyde" (to borrow the popular title of Bonnie's second poem) than I received on that winter night in 1967.

For all of that, Knight neither whitewashes nor condemns Bonnie and Clyde. Rather, he recognizes the essential tragedy of their story. They lived on their own terms, but everyone paid a price. That they paid with their lives does not obscure the suffering inflicted on their families and on families left fatherless. At the same time, Clyde might have remained a relatively small-time crook (or made changes in his life similar to those accomplished by Ralph Fults) were it not for the brutality he experienced in the Texas prison system. The story of Bonnie and Clyde, then, is in some sense the story of human beings interacting with our surroundings--for good and for ill. I am writing this review two days after a confused and angry teenager murdered people in an Omaha mall. He did it with an assault rifle, at a time when gross inequalities again exist between Americans. Clyde used a 1930's version of that rifle, at a similar time. When will the American people demand gun control? And when will we insist on an end to national policies that lead to the creation of millions of poor people?

"Here they come down that dusty road, and muddy bend; Man and woman welded in crime, together they lived and together...they died. Who else could it be?; But good ol' Bonnie and Clyde!"

The book entitled, "Bonnie and Clyde A Twenty-First-Century Update" by James R.Knight (with Jonahtan Davis )is... "A killer of a book!"

This is a superbly written and researched book. James R. Knight is too young to have ridden along with them, at least in this life. However, his knowledge and interest in this gun toting couple makes me wonder, where he may have been in his last life time?

His writing is informative, easy to read and follow, and...extremely descriptive. In addition, the book is a photographic library in itself!

Sometimes, I could almost hear the heavy "barking" of Clyde's "BAR" and watch the black exhaust clouds rise from the tail pipe of his get-away, 1934 Ford sedan.

Frank Hamer does not appear to be as powerful a figure as he was portrayed in the 1967 movie with Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. Although, a central figure in orchestrating the couple's final demise, the initial credit seems to flow toward a little known figure of the ambush group listed as, Officer Prentis Oakley.

Author, James Knight also gives the reader what Paul Harvey used to say on his radio program: "and now you know ... the rest of the story."
Knight follows through with information on the fate of each actor who ever played any part on the stage of "Bonnie and Clyde."

A great job Mr. Knight(and Mr. Davis)! When can we expect another publication???

While hiking and taking nature photos for a school project, Lisa
stumbles across a badly abused horse in a paddock. She, Carole and Stevie call the local animal rescue league who impounds the mare. As the mare dislikes men, Lisa assumes most of the care for her. This is a very poignant tale, and I won't give away the ending.

This is the most beautiful Saddle Club book yet. It shows how important love is naturally, as ALOT of books do, but it also shows how important it is to be willing and brave to let yourself love totaly. Lisa risked alot of saddness if Eve would have died, but it wasn't until she named Eve and let herself be vulnerable to the saddness of losing her that Eve started to realize Lisa cared and look forward to life.
The part with the brush was my favorite, like one reader said before. It was the first time Eve showed any sign of wanting to live.
I know Lisa loves Prancer, but Eve and her seem like such a perfect match.

This was an excellent book!The story was very heart felt but not as much realistic and correct like most of Bonnie Bryant's Saddle Club books. But overall this was a great story to sit down and read.In my opinion,the problems that Stevie,Lisa,and Carole have are very rare but can put you in a good mood somehow. BUY THIS BOOK! IT'S WORTH IT!

Hi!!! We're the Stirrup Stars. We love this book because it shows that if you just believe and do your best, you can reach your goal. Lisa took wonderful care of Eve. Also, it was full of suspense that made you want to keep on reading and never stop! Please, read this book!!! It's a great example of a horse/rider bond.

I thought this book was really heart warming. It really showed determination and love for a horse. I think Broken Horse is one of the best books in series.