Seven Books

Melodie Bowsher's first novel reaches right into the world of young women walking the line between adolescence and womanhood -- from their vocabularies to their daily preoccupations. Like many high school seniors, Ashley sees her mother as an irritant -- the person who magically pays for Ashley's lifestyle but who otherwise just doesn't 'get it' and should just stay out of the way. Ashley has no idea how her single mother struggles to provide Ashley access to the priviliged social sphere at which the popular teen is the center. The embezzling mom is an intriguing character herself. Her early disappearance in the book shapes Ashley's challenging metamorphasis from preoccupied prom queen to ingenious survivor. How does a sheltered teen who has never paid a bill even begin to get by when her home and credit cards no longer exist -- when her irritating mother (her only family) is nowhere to be found? Ashley's journey is a crash course in survival. How long do we have to wait for Melodie Bowsher's next novel?

Melodie Bowsher's MY LOST AND FOUND LIFE tells of Ashley, who leads the perfect life until her mother is accused of embezzling a fortune - and vanishes. Suddenly Ashley's forced into a move to an old camper, takes a job in a quirky San Francisco coffee shop, and explores a side of life she never knew existed in this warm coming of age story.

Loved this book! Read it in two days. Although I liked Ashley from the beginning of the book, I grew to love her by the end. Her personal transformation was genuine and heartwarming. Funny, touching, a bit of a mystery and a real page turner. A great read.

I just finished reading this book and I loved it. And I found myself wiping tears from my eyes at several points. It's a hit! I wish there was a Part Two.

It's five days before graduation and Ashley's perfect life is crumbling. Her mother is being accused of embezzling a million dollars, and has disappeared. Ashley can't believe her mother would do something like that, much less disappear and leave her with the fall-out. Although it's starting to look like it all might be true. One by one the things Ashley counted on and took for granted are falling away. There's no way she can afford the senior trip to Hawaii. Her perfect boyfriend won't even acknowledge her. Gone are her plans to go to college in Boston with her best friend. Not to mention the bills, but those can wait for her mom to come back. Except it's getting pretty obvious that she's not coming back.

Suddenly Ashley, who's always just gotten what she asked for, has to fend for herself. It's a hard crash course in reality. There's no way she can afford to keep the house, even after she has a yard sale to sell off its contents. She needs a job, but it's hard to find a job with no work experience. It's impossible to find a place to live without income. The only people who can help are her mother's ex-boyfriend, who doesn't like her, her mother's best friend, who thinks she's a spoiled brat, and the cop who's investigating her mom. Everyone seems to be waiting for her to fail.

Ashley finds herself living in a camper behind a gas station., without heat or running water. She falls into a job at Mad Malcom's, an off-beat coffee shop where the clientele is as nutty as the owner. In her wildest dreams she could never imagine her life getting this off track. The question is, can she pull herself out of where she`s ended up? And, what really happened to her mother?

On the way through she learns a few things about real friends, dangerous people, and personal strength.

MY LOST AND FOUND LIFE is so well-written that Ashley seems like a real person. It's written like an autobiography, and I almost forgot that it wasn't a true story. Especially since it could be--things like this actually happen to people. It is a good reminder that you don't always know what people have been through. As well as a reminder that you might be surprised at what you can do when you run out of options.

Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman

I thought the book was such a insperation. this child was such a light in so many people lives, it seem:s to me c.b might not have lived long but what he did in the 13 years he touched so many people s lives and he took what years he had and lived it to it fullest. i am so glad that this small child didnt fill sorry for his self and he didnt want you to eather, the book was very moveing and so so touching,, i wish that ever body buy;s this book and even better they make a a movie of cb's life wouldnt that be great to show ever one what a gifted and loveing child he was.. lets here it for c.b. and thank god for a wonderfull child the book was a 100 in stars,,,, if i could have rated it my self . a fan of c.b.'s in kentucky

I LOVED THIS BOOK,,, IT WAS GREAT AND I WOULD TELL ANY ONE TO READ THIS BOOK,,,cb was a great kid.. he thought of ever body but his self and you dont find that much hear any more on this earth... ever body bye this book in his memory and keep cb dream alive for him and his familey.. this is all he wanted.. .. iwould give this book 10 stars,,,, he was agreat child,, this book is sad,, but it is real life ,, what this kid went threw. .. cb is truley an angel..... ever body get this book,,, and see for your self what a god sent he really was,,,

HI ,i am cb aunt kathy and i just wanted to thank every one. who has bought his little book.. and still buying his book.
thank you for letting cb last words be heard.
to day is october the 28.2001 9pm
today at this very time cb was home with his familey takeing his last breath cb died in his mothers arm's:( 3 years ago tonight).
and i wanted the world to remember him and his familey tonight in their prayers.
CB was a wonderful child and so very missed
not a day don't go buy we dont think about him or a tear has not fell.
i know it has been 3 years and his book just came out a year after his death .....but cb would have been tickled to know his book is still going strong!!!!!after all this time. i know he is smileing down on us all tonight. and it couldnt have done that with out you wonderfull people.
may god bless you all as he did us with our angel cb.

Just reading the reviews makes me cry, I can Look at the book without reading it and just cry. C.B.'s book brings faith into everyone's life, If u didn't know C.B. u just get the faith in his words, just imagine Being a close relative to him. C.B. was a gift from God he lightened everyone's day with His bright Beautiful smile. Caring for loved ones friends and strangers before himself That was C. I reccommend this book for everyone, You won't appreciate life till U read the Book and Take a trip down his road, the long struggle. Reading the book makes u feel like ur insides are tieing in knots, it makes u wanna cry most it does make cry. Even though he's gone I know the baby will watch over me and the rest of Family. And he probably will never know How Much I Love Him. And to everyone reading this, please don't take life for granite, love everyone and treat people equal. Well if nothing give respect. In Closing, C.B. I Love U.

Hello we are c.b.s parents ballard and faye wolford. we want to thank ever one that has bought cbs, book, and wrote a review. we are so proud to say cb was our son. he didnt live that long on earth, but what little he did he touched so many lives. the book was cbs, dream . he wanted ever one to no we arent promised ever day.. and we should live it to the fullest. and the book is not that big but he didnt live to finish it., so we did it for him., we know he would have been so very proud of it and how it sold, we dint think it would go as far as it did. we are just so thank full.. that ever one around the world thought so much of our baby... and it bring pieace to us all in our familey to know if his book our his faith helped some one else.out there, that was worth it all to us... and it made the book do its job. all cb ever wanted was to help some one else he never did think of his self and i no he is in heaven with our lord and god gave him his wings. i know we cant tell you face to face thank you for all that ever one did and for buying the book.. and i hope god bless ever one of you around the world..... thank you so much you will never no what it meant to us and the rest of his familey.. may god bless you all and thank you so much cbs parents ballard and faye wolford and his brother eddie ,,,,and if you wondering eddie is doing alot better ...

Rec'd book on time; cheaper than area bookstores. This is not the first time I purchased items from Amazon and I plan to continue. Great job! Thanks!

This is a book that you'll love. There's a lot of things to learn in it and some terms you probably can't listen anymore. A perfect book for a really baseball fan !

This is a book that you'll love. There's a lot of things to learn in it and some terms you probably can't listen anymore. A perfect book for a really baseball fan !

This baseball dictionary is clear, concise and helpful, particularly for people like me. I love baseball, but when I was growing up, girls weren't raised on sports, so I became a fan with sketchy knowledge of the rules and nuances of the game. Since I bought this book, I've learned a lot about pitching maneuvers, stats, history of the sport, slang terms and dozens of other things that make baseball more and more interesting to watch. I'm very glad I own it.

In baseball, what is a crackerjack? A cradle? A drawing Card? Feel the apple means what? What happens when you go to the pump? Who made up Murderers' Row? Open the New Dickson Baseball Dictionary and you'll find out.

This A to Z complete listing of baseball term is about the best book on the subject there is. Paul Dickson has put together over 570 pages of facts, terms, definitions and trivia that are sure to please every baseball fan.

Filled with over 100 photos and illustrations you are sure to find just about every baseball word you can think of. Also included are a thesaurus, a section of abbreviations and a fully annotated bibliography.

The baseball purest is sure to love this book as a gift, and it is priced to meet most budgets. Overall this book is great reading and makes the perfect handy reference book!

Christopher Browning has left us with THE book written on the topic.
Highly detailed, meticulously and flawlessly researched this book presents the result of many years of careful studies.
The gradual shift in Nazi-Policies to wholescale extermination of an important part of the European population is well described and intelligently subdivided in chapters by which the author helps the reader along carefully page for page sharing his wealth of knowledge and understanding of "the inexplicable".

It is after all one very well crafted piece of research dealing with one truly important topic in human history and clearly shows, as the Nazi administration struggled along to find a "viable solution", that early naivety of both victims and on-lookers was terribly out of place. True, the Nazis took great pains to hide the truth from the population, but it is only through this book that I came to understand how they actually succeeded. The monstrosity of the crimes becomes even more perplexing by understanding the gradual shift in time and place from mass-deporting and sorrounding the victims to mass-murder. What could have been expected from a sick brain like Himmler's, who had been a large scale chicken breeder in Bavaria before?
This book is an outstanding achievement. !Principiis obsta!

This is a most commendable work from Browning, an internationally repescted Holocaust researcher who conclusively demonstrated that Hitler, while desiring of the cleansing, ie, forcible expulsion, of the Jews from German dominated Europe, in one way of another, had never decreed that the Final Solution , as coined by Himmler and his deputy, Heydrich, should end in the death camps and gas chambers.

The radicalization and escalation of measures against the Jews mostly originated from his underlings who competed for brute power in a polycratic, darwinist bureaucracy, and who sometimes paid little attention to Hitler's expressed wishes, unless they were set down as written directives.

On wonders all those counter factual arguments puit forth by the Intentionalists that Hitler, mindful of the adverse consequences (!) of a written directive putting Jews to death, was careful not to lay down a paper trail leading to him as the main culprit, when Hitler himself signed a directive for the forced euthanasia of crippled , mentally handicapped, and deformed GERMAN babies and old people (what would cause a greater outcry amongst the Germans, should a directive be found, one for disposing of thier own kin and the other of the despised Jews?).

As from 1939, Hitler, as evidenced by all the OKW/OKH/OKL/OKM dairies as well as his so called table talk,concerned himself exclusively with foreign diplomacy or his campaigns, and never gave much thought about domestic politics or internal administration, thus leaving a void for his cohorts to enagage in a free for all power grab, with to each his own interpretation of what Hitler mentioned as the end of Jewry in Europe, and each and everyone going for increasingly radical measures as justification for aggregating addtional power/authority to oneself.

All in all, this is a sad book to read of the fate and treatment of the Jews by their persecutors, tormentors and executioners, be they Germans, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Dutch, French, Italians, Russians, Slovaks, Czechs, Serbs, Croats, Albanians, Belgians, Greeks....

This is one of the best books on the market that explains the political development of the Holocaust inside the Nazi power circle. It provides a strong argument that the Nazis did not originally plan to exterminate the Jews in Europe, but rather export them from Germany. Browning's thesis is a challenge to the slippery slope fallacy, which suggests that just because a person steps a foot in one direction doesn't mean he'll step a mile. The Nazis clearly started out w/ a 'Final Solution' plan of sending the Jews to a place like Madagascar (which was on the table as late as the Battle of Britain), but after the invasion of Russia this 'Final Solution' snowballed into a landslide of killing Jews via gas chambers (not that the Anti-Semitic rhetoric of the early 30s were justified in any way, whether pro-genocide or pro-expulsion). The Nazis took a step in a bad direction, and then they walked a mile along that evil path. This would give logicians a nightmare.

Most people assume that Hitler ran on a genocide program in 33. This is a dangerous assumption, for two reasons: 1.) it tends to view the Nazis as a supernatural party of evil. Make no mistake, the Nazis WERE evil, but they believed themselves to be do-gooders who provided solutions to the problems the average German faces. Did the German people know what they were getting into in 1933? Sure, they were willing to view Jews as the scapegoats for the Depression, but did they hate Jews enough to kill them? This book challenges the "Hitler's Willing Executioners" theory, because although Hitler touted a Final Solution in Mein Kampf, that wasn't interpreted by him or his companions as outright genocide until 1941.

And 2.) Holocaust deniers use this fact, that the "Final Solution" in the 30s meant population dispersal rather than genocide, and then they play the "Well, if you were lied to in high school about the original intentions of the Nazis, what else were you lied to about? (hint hint, you were lied to about the Holocaust period!)" card to gain confidence w/ the unsuspecting listener, and then convert this person into a Holocaust denier. It is important that we know the facts about the Holocaust, so that the uninitiated in deep WWII history won't be hoodwinked w/ "gotcha" facts by Holocaust deniers.

The mystery of how the Final Solution became the Final Solution will never be truly solved, that is lost to history, lost within Hitler's mind. Christopher Browning explains some of the forces and events that sped the Final Solution along. Browning may be the most eminent Holocaust scholar in America today. He has been looking at the whys and hows and wheres, mainly of the executioners, where motivations are still not crystal clear. What I saw as a reader was that the road to the Final Solution was almost an organic event. Poland was the first step, ethnic German resettlement next,then the necessities of occupation and finally Russia. Not one decision, but as you will see, decisions and choices dictated by events as much as ideology. This story will carry you along with fascination, with horror, and with a chilling understanding, not justification mind you, but understanding.

While no serious Holocaust scholar would argue against the idea that the Third Reich meant in some fashion to dispose of its so-called "Jewish Problem" through some dispicable action or another, whether it by via forced emigration, deportation, resettlement in either Madagascar or the western reaches of the Ukraine, or through other means, there has been a long-ranging debate within the academic community regarding the intent of the Nazis from the beginning regarding the actual attempted extermination of the Jewish people as it later occurred, primarily in Poland and the occupied territories, during the later course of World War Two. One school of thought argues that from the very beginning Hitler intended to rid himself and Europe of the Jews through such nefarious means as starvation, forced labor, and later, in the death camps. Others, such as Professor Christopher Browning, posit that the policy of extermination evolved as a result of existential factors such as food and shelter as the Wehrmacht marched east into Poland and beyond to the Soviet escarpment.

Thus, this brilliant work by Browning intends to offer proof of the more circumstantial theory, one in which various attempts were made to offer some relief to over-extended troops and resources to deal with the indigenous Jewish population within Poland and the other territories as they were conquered based both on logistics and the state of chaos that ensued in the war zone. This is not to suggest that the Nazis intended to spare the Jews; on the contrary, the issue was how to dispose of them, whether it be through forced emigration, slave labor, simple starvation, or finally, through implementation of an intentional murder machine by way of the death camps. From the beginning Hitler intended to use them to best advantage.

As Browning argues, however, the course of events must be taken into consideration when viewing the evidence, for while Hitler's main aim in warring first with Poland and later with Russia was for what he referred to as "Liebenstraum", or living room, it was also his intent to brutally subjugate the native populations within the conquered areas and literally work them to death, so their labors could profit the Third Reich and prepare the areas for German immigrants. But given the chaotic and undisciplined nature of the Nazi hierarchy and its bureaucracy, several overlapping policies worked against each other and created a wilderland of competing efforts, many of which left the local authorities puzzled as to what policy to follow and how to reach the unrealistic goals given to it by higher headquarters. In the midst of the chaos, according to Browning, evil machinations gradually emerged and as they succeeded in reaching goals, became the modus operandi.

Browning brilliantly focuses on the specific time frame in which the policies of the Third Reich solidified into what became the Final Solution. This is easily the best and most completely documented work on the subject I have yet read, and while I find it an impressive work of historical research (Browning's use of new archives and secondary materials is particularly impressive in this regard), I remain unconvinced that Professor Browning has successfully ended the debate (not that he claims to have done so), nor do I think he has explained some very deliberate and troubling evidentiary materials that seem to provide grist for the other camp regarding the instructions given to both the Wehrmacht and to special troops under the command of the Gestapo regarding the conduct of troops in the eastern zone.

In this regard, German troops were encouraged from the very beginning of the so-called eastern campaigns against both the Poles and the Russians to consider all indigenous Jews as communists, and thus subject to summary execution whenever and wherever they might be discovered, whether in urban areas working as academics or as rural farmers tending to their humble fields, and to support and aid the special troop formations trained and organized to systematically round up and murder indigenous Jewish populations from village to village, from the very outset of military operations in September 1939. So, while I personally subscribe to Browning's interpretation of the gradual move toward more and more intentionally systematic and increasingly more murderous assaults against the Jewish population, I do not believe he has proven once and for all that it was not part of the original plan from the time the Nazis took power in 1933. Nonetheless, this is indeed a superb book, and one I can heartily recommend. Enjoy!

It gets really hard to write reviews about these books since I feel like I'm saying the same thing over and over again... but I really think these books are getting better. Gaia is sort of branching out away from her little self-centered and invisible life-style, and is finally starting to make different friends and try different things. It's kind of refreshing actually.

Gaia and Mary are heading out to some high school parties, where they find out that teenage girls from school are being raped by some of their high school's most eligible bachelors. What's even worse, is that many of the girls have no idea what's happened when it's over. It's up to Gaia to get rid of this evil, and protect teenage girls all over New York City, before it's too late, and one of them ends up worse then raped.

Out of all of the FEARLESS books that I've read, this was my absolute favorite. Pascal has touched on a topic that face teenage girls around the world every day, but instead of making them victims, she has created a character, who fights back, and rids the world of these rapists. A must-read book for all.

Erika Sorocco

when a guy at school asks gaia to a party she reluctantly goes. is her social life looking up? she has friends, goes to parties
and the end crowd just can't stand it. but when gaia's new friend
is raped, it is up to gaia to find the creeps and turn them over to the authorities. can gaia never have a life like a normal teenager without complications? this was a decent book but not one of the better ones. that is why it only has four stars.

Gaia Moore is excited about her newest friend, Mary Moore. She's fun, she's smart, she's exciting, and she's daring. But someone is preying on her. Someone is taking advantage of her. And Gaia knows one thing : nobody messes with her friends...

Gaia starts to go to school parties, and even slightly fits in and flirts with one of the hottest boys at school. Heather and Sam have a major problem and Heather gets drunk and sleeps with this one guy...except she cant remember sayind yes so shes not sure if its rape. The next day a girl claims she was rape, and its up to Gaia to find out who...

The whole rape thing was DISGUSTING, and so was the whole sex circle. I bet guys do that in real life, though. Its sick. But i like how Francine tells us EXACTLY what can happen in real life. She doesn't make things up. People really are raped out there and guys really do have sex circles behind our backs. There really are serial killers and drug dealers that kill to get their money. People really do these type of things, and this series is about a girl who try to change things in the world by kicking some twisted peoples butts.

After Toji's kiss Momo has mixed feelings. She wants to have enjoyed the moment, but her emotions are clouded by Sae's warnings that he is just a lecherous pervert, so she feels wrong about it all. But a surprise visit from Toji at Momo's home in the evening goes a long way to restore her faith in him...until Sae begins to unsettle everything again. She's pulling out every weapon in her arsenal to besmirch Momo's reputation, including telling Toji that a newly formed bruise on her cheek is from Momo hitting her after she saw Sae and Toji kissing one another.

The two want to make up, but with Sae's poisonous words entering both of their brains it becomes difficult to do. Suddenly, Toji is not coming to school and Momo is concerned that it might be because of their fight, though the rest of the class knows it's because he has appendicitis. When Kiley is the one to tell her the truth she rushes to Toji's side, to find Sae already there. Then things just go from bad to worse.

I am really starting to appreciate the subtle nuances of character development in this series. Momo is strong despite her self issues, and manages to stand up for herself often...just at the wrong times, usually when Sae has spent time blackening her name and Momo's reactions predictably follow the pattern of Sae's machinations. Sae is scheming, manipulative, conniving, and has no originality to her whatsoever... and yet she still manages to dominate a number of people in the story. Toji is hard to be sympathetic with at times, true he is being manipulated and doesn't know who to trust, however he is quick to believe the bad in people, so naturally he falls into Sae's scheming. And then there's Kiley, who though he is a lecher seems to be the one who legitimately cares about Momo... he is always there when she needs him, he is always worried about her feelings, but she is so quick to blow him off because of her "idealized" crush on Toji for too long... given the choice between the two I would have chosen Kiley long before this point...at least he is genuine and caring and accepts Momo with all her flaws that he never seems to see.

Overall, I am quickly getting addicted to this manga. This is high school angst at its juiciest, and I plan on reading the rest of the series as soon as is humanly possible.

I'll try not to write a review with any spoilers in it, but you really do have to have read the first two novels in order to understand what's going on in this book. I buy the Peach Girl manga for two reasons: 1) the story is so close to highschool reality, that most of the time, it's hard not to understand what the characters are going through, and 2) Miwa Ueda's artwork is absolutely beautiful! Continuing from the last book, in part three, Sae is still working to make Momo's life a living hell, and there are few people who Momo can really trust anymore. Toji is beginning to smarten up, and Momo is being more friendly to Kiley. If you liked the previous two books, there's no reason why you shouldn't like this one.

This was my favorite of the three published Peach Girl manga. The ending was satisfying, and they had a lot of good Kiley moments! If he's your favorite character, you'll love him more this time around.
In a way, this could be the end of the series, but there are a lot of unfinished questions, which you'll discover in the end of the book. If you thought that Momo ended up the underdog in the first two, you'll be satisfied with this one.

I gave this volume of the Peach Girl series five stars because it is the best of the first three. When the story starts, Sae has finally gotten what she wants; Momo and Toji have broken up. As if this is not enough, she enters Momo in the end of term swim meet... in every event. Not only will Momo be tanner than ever, but she will probably exhaust herself competing. To top it all off, Momo's classmates are crueler than ever. It's Kiley to the rescue, looking out for Momo no matter what... and all he wants in exchange is a ...hug?
The first part of this series comes to a grand climax in the last scene of this manga. For all Peach fans rooting for Momo, your heart will break and then you will cheer... buy the book if you want to know what I'm talking about. It will be well worth it.

Great! Toji finally gets a clue, Kiley finally gets a hug, and Sae finally gets her comeuppance! It didn't quite satisfy my lust for vengeance, because Momo really does get terribly abused and I feel Sae should at least be hit by a truck, but there you have it. I also feel some crueler punishment for Toji is in order, as I harbor a deep grudge against him for his previous actions in books 1 and 2, but we'll see how it goes in book 4. Tantalizing and full of poignant moments, as well as some funny ones.

This is one of those gems that would never have been published in the US unless it came in with some momentum and buzz from afar. It describes adolesence, dipping deeply into the well, stringing together a series of vignettes that are well tied together. I'm a 54-year old businessman, parts of the book were agonizing and I actually found myself squinting through my fingers in raw embarassment. The wedding chapter was tremendous.
jk

Growing up anyplace isn't smooth, it isn't describable exactly. If you search your memories later, trying to ask why you did something, you can't, for the life of you, remember why. You just did it. Things happened. You tried to get to China. You mimicked the rock stars when you thought you were alone. You might even have licked cold locks---if you grew up in northern climes--- and got your tongue stuck. You were never the hero of your own legend. Well, folks, this novel captures that confusion perfectly. I've never set foot in Sweden, let alone in its far north by the Finnish border, where all the growing up takes place. But now I feel I know what it was like. Niemi's description, magical realism and all, gives you such joy, such interest, that I assure you, you will read POPULAR MUSIC IN VITTULA as quickly as you can. I haven't laughed out loud over a book so much for years. Hey, I even laughed in the Boston subway like some kind of weird, public transport cackler. But I didn't care. Kids fight in the woods with B-B guns, try to start rock bands to impress girls, experiment with sex and alcohol, get up the teacher's nose, visit scary old healers, watch the grownups pass out at huge drinkups, and dream of fast cars. In the very end, things turn out quite differently, but that's really familiar too. Most of the themes are hardly unique to the area, but it's Niemi's genius that he makes you feel it exotic and familiar at the same time. It's contemporary writing at its best and I think all readers in English owe a vote of thanks to the translator too.

You've got to have a strong stomach for a couple sections, say for example, if large piles of dead mice are not your forte. If you have ever seen Kaurismaki films like "Leningrad Cowboys Go America" or "The Man without a Past", you will recognize the same deadpan Finnish humor in Niemi's novel, whose characters are mainly from the Finnish minority in Sweden's rural north. I could recount a scene or two for the surfing reader, try to "deconstruct" whatever, go literary if I could, but your best bet would be to read the book. You will not regret it.

If you're looking for a funny and tender coming-of-age story set above the Arctic Circle, this is the book for you! It's set in Pajala, a small town in the remote Tornedalen region of Sweden, far north and near the Finnish border. The semi-autobiographical story is told through a series of twenty self-contained short stories that take Matti roughly from age 5-15 or so from the mid-'60s to mid-'70s. One is immediately given a taste of the book's style in the prologue, in which the adult Matti manages to freeze his tongue to a metal plaque atop a Nepalese mountain. He only manages to free himself (and live) by using his urine to break the bond, which then launches him into the story of his youth. The broad outlines of his experiences are similar to those of any other boy growing up in a remote place forty years ago. Life was boring and filled with hard work, some things were manly (hunting, work, fighting, hockey, eating, drinking, machines), and everything else is "women's work." If you're not good at manly things, well... at a minimum you won't fit in very well.

Of course, Matti is a little outside the mainstream, but manages to make his way with best friend Niila by his side. Where the book shines is in the the specifics of his childhood, in which wacky antics shine with humor and pathos, and magic realism rears its head every now and then. Some of the events covered include: discovering rock and roll music via the Beatles, a summer job as a mouse hunter, a raucous arm wrestling contest, an equally grueling sauna endurance contest, a sermon in Esperanto, a mind-boggling teenage drinking contest, tall tales of family prowess, a will reading degenerating into a brawl, starting a band with a cardboard guitar, the vagaries of a fundamentalist Christian sect (Laestadianism), first sexual encounters, and a BB-gun war. And let's not forget the transsexual hermit magician... All these individual parts are quite entertaining, even if they never quite add up to a complete hole. It's an amusing, and sometimes very funny look at growing up rural which would probably resonate much more with other remote cold climate dwellers than the average reader. A welcome oddball addition to the coming-of-age genre.

Note: The book was a runaway bestseller in Sweden, selling one copy for every twelve Swedes! Naturally, the book has been adapted as a film--which was co-written and directed by an Iranian who immigrated to Sweden as a teenager!

Poplular Music from Vittula is a very sweet coming of age novel about a boy growing up in Sweden in the 60s and 70s. It's an enjoyable read, filled with very funny episodes from Matti's life. Matti grew up in the middle of nowhere in Sweden--he remembers the first paved roads coming into his town. Matti also shares the first time he heard the Beatles and his antics in the local rock band. Niemi throws a bit of almost magical realism or mysticism in the novel. This is a charming and funny novel. Enjoy.

Usually, it's my husband who keeps me awake laughing at whatever book he's reading in bed. This time, it's my turn! This is the first book in years that has made me laugh out loud over and over again. Yes, it's crude in spots -- but that shouldn't surprise anyone who has spent time with teenage boys. The amusing stories are just part of the author's arsenal of techniques for conveying the sense of living on the very scary edge of reality that comes with growing up.

I'd give a special award to the translator for the freshness of the language. I put this book in a class with the works of Tom Robbins and John Barth and will be looking for more from Mikael Niemi.

My daughter is 5 and just loved these books. She was very excited to know where the fairies would be found. I also enjoyed reading them with her.

My daughter and I stumbled up Ruby the Red Fairy, it was just such a good story, we had to get the whole collection to find out what happens at the end. My daughter is five years old and not only enjoys reading the story - because it is just challenging enough for her (and advanced reader), but also just loves the story. I am sure we will be reading all about the other fairies as well, the weather and gem fairies! Great stories!!!!

What can I say! This Rainbow Magic Books 1-7 Boxset was a gift from "Santa" for my 7 year old. It was great to see her reading them for most of Christmas Day. She loves this series and has created a puppet show, her own written story, and even paper drawings of the characters so she can include them with her WebKinzs. Highly recommended by dad!!

I purchased this set for my daughter for Christmas and she absolutely loves it. We stumbled on the fairy series accidentally at a local bookstore, and since then she has been begging for more! She's 7 and I would recommend this series for any girl her age.

Some don't like the stories or the illustrations. But I have to say, my daughter loves it all. She is into the short chapter books and loves these. She is in kindergarten and tends to be afraid of EVERYTHING (can't even watch Disney movies, something is either too scary or some relationship is too sad). But these books are great. The goblins are just goofy enough that she doesn't mind their "badness". She loves all the fairies and even when she "pretend plays" she is usually one of the characters fighting off the goblins or Jack Frost. We have all three series (Rainbow fairies, Jewel fairies and Weather Fairies). She wishes there were more.

The 7th book in the series is a well told tale in the saga. Its not the best of the series (Memories of Ice, Bonehunters, Gardens of the Moon) but it is welldone nonetheless. The last 250 pages just race by and you will not want to put down to stop. The first 2/3 of the book is hard to put down as well. Throughout, there are tragedies and triumphs, grief and humor.

Its a truly complex book and ultimately rewarding, as well.

Can't say enough about Erikson and the Malazan Book of the Fallen. However, this trade paperback of Reaper's Gale had a packet missing in it. 32 pages were repeated after page 544, so I missed 32 pages of action. Very annoying. I don't know if it was just my copy or all of them, but I was pretty upset about this. TOR really should proof their ashcans before sending them to press, or at least pull the bad copies before shipping them to market.

With every book Erikson writes I become more and more impressed. In the beginning I thought it was good writing, interesting story and world, but wasn't too sure. Book 1 was pretty good, book 2 fell a little short, but book 3 picked up and from then on each successive book got that much better, which brings us to the most recent book, by far the best so far.

Erikson writes epic fantasy on a level all his own. The world is massive and engaging. It is at once believable and yet otherworldly, creating a fusion of worlds that leaves your jaw hanging. I am amazed at how well he writes the characters and holds such a complex and huge story together, with each book at least 800 pages.

In Reaper's Gale we finally see the two worlds, the Malazan and the Letherii, finally begin to converge. We get to see the Bonehunters as well as the Tiste Edur. But it wouldn't be Erikson if some new aspect were not introduced to add such color and flavor to an already mind numbingly full bodied book. We see the Awl, the Benetract, an Ascendent previously undisclosed and a bunch of Elder gods.

I could go on and on but I wouldn't do the book or Erikson justice. His writing is amazing. His world is amazing. Everything is amazing about this series. I think he is by far my favorite fantasy author out there right now, and is one of the few authors who can write more than a three book series and make every single one of them an amazingly complex book that is also a page turner. Bravo Erikson.

If I could give this a 10 out of 5, I wouldn't hesitate. And the upside? Book 8 is coming out in a few months so we don't have long to wait to indulge ourselves once again.

5 stars.

I think this may have been the best book of the series.
It raps everything up and action action action.
Simply Loved it

The brutal Tiste Edur tribe of the north rules the Letherii Empire that they only recently conquered, but their control is weak and shaky as most people oppose them and Chancellor Gnol still runs the government. The Emperor of a Thousand Deaths Rhulad Senger symbolizes all that is wrong with the monarchy as everyone believes he is insane even his own people yet he sits on the throne. As the Edur purists fear Letherii economic assimilation, opposition from within grows as each time Rhulad dies, he returns to life less lucid and coherent.

That inside threat is still jelling but the external assaults are greater to the stability of the tottering empire. Redmask leads the belligerent Awl'dan tribes of the east against the Letherii and the powerful rival Malazan Empire sees an opportunity has sent its armada to take the capital by sea. Others also seek to usurp the Edur.

REAPER'S GALE, tale seven of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, is an extremely complex fantasy and fans of the series will marvel at the epic scope; newcomers need to start at the beginning (see GARDENS OF THE MOON). The myriad of subplots are much more convoluted and complicated than the simplicity described above, but for the most part the often vividly brutal events tie to the beleaguered Edur and its rule over the Letherii Empire. The threads left dangling forebode quite a future in this saga as Steven Erickson provides his strongest entry in a deep series in quite awhile.

Harriet Klausner

Have you ever had telekinetic powers and want to get rid of them? Well, a girl named, Felicia, in Runaway by R.L.Stine did. Before her telekinetic powers start up again, she wanted to run away. However, everyone knew she had these powers and that her two best friends were dead as a door nail because of them. Rather than staying where she was, Felicia ran away from her family and friends to a small town called Shadeyside. There she meet two new wonderful friends. Their names were Zan and Nick. They got her a job cooking hamburgers at a local resturant, and seemed pretty nice. Zan Nick and Felicia stayed friends for quite a long time. One day, Felicia, overheard two boys talking about how they can't watch a man's cat while he was on a vacation anymore. She needed the money and a place to sleep at night, so she asked them if she could watch the cat. They said sure,why not. The next day at work, Zan told her to change the light bulb in the storage room. When she got there, the room was flooded with water like an indoor pool. When she took the light bulb out of it's socket, it started a fire. No one was hurt and everyone got out safly. That night, when Felicia entered the den area of the man's home, it looked like a hurricane had hit. There were papers off the desk and on the floor. Just a she was about to clean up the papers, she noticed there was blood on the walls, too. When Felicia went to wipe the blood off the walls, she realized it was only red paint. The thought that someone knows who I really am scared her silly. When Felicia is about to runaway agian, someone finds out who she really is. Who could it be? Ladies and gentlemen, I invite and encourage you to read this fabulous book, Runaway, by R.L. Stine.

i love it!r.l stine did a great job on this but isnt for childeren uder at least 13 because how the gresome detail about "oh kristy!"felicia cried.one of the support beams had cut off kristys arm.felicia could see the white bone and the ragged layers of muscle."bricks had cruched anys face his nose and lips and eyelids scraped raw" so i warn u this is not for young childeren if you are in to gruesomw stuff like me you should reaf this but i just wanna warn you the details are pretty gruesome if you love r.l. stine read this during the day cause at night when kristy and andy are found you may see visions of them beware!

This book diserves a 5 because the way that he puts out the story just blows your mind... I like the way he put a little bit of drama, suspence, and a tiny bit of romance. Don't forget the crazy people. He is one of my favorite authors. Next to Stephen King that is.

I realy enjoyed the runaway. last sunday i was coming home from florida and read 8 chapters. I would of read all of it but i slept instead. Then the next morning i read the book in 2 hours which is the fastest ive ever read a fear street. I have a hard time reading books usualy but this one realy interested me so it was alot easier. This was with out a doubht one of rl's finest.

Have you ever heard of a girl with telekinetic powers? Well in the book Runaway a girl named Felicia has powers to move things with her mind. One problem, she couldn't control her powers. So she became a runaway. After he escaped all the tests people were doing on her she went to a town called Shadyside. There she met a boy called Nick and his girlfriend Zan, short for Alexandria. Felicia became runaway because at her old town she killed two people. Zan found out about her secret and tried to kill her. Next her friend Debbie tried to kill her. Do you think she think survived?
While I was reading the book, I was on the edge of my seat. Everyday I read two to four chapters. When I was reading the book I pictured I was in the book watching everything. Everyday when I was in school I couldn't wait until my study hall so I could read the book. One weekend I stayed up from 9:00pm to 1:00am finishing the book. I absolutely could not put the book down. The book had so much action and excitement. That is what I look for in a book.
Felicia, the protagonist, is tall, slender, brown eyes, and long brown hair. Her personality traits are nice, caring, helpful, concerned, generous and courageous. She showed she was helpful by helping out at the Burger Basket. She showed she was courageous when the Burger Basket started on fire and people were still trapped inside the building. She went inside and cleared the fire with her telekinetic powers. She has a couple of strengths and weaknesses. Her strengths are that she has telekinetic powers. Her weaknesses are that she cannot control them. They just go off when ever they feel like it. An example is when she was in school, she felt the powers swell inside of her, then they just burst out and a row of lockers began to tremble and books began to slam against the lockers.
Felicia seems like a nice girl. She seems she would help out no matter what the situation. She acted strange a few times but people got used to it, except for Zan. It seems like she had a lot of adventures. This was a good book, I hope you read it.