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i absolutely ADORE this book. i fell in love with it for the first time when i was 12. i am 18 now, but the storyline and the characters are endearing to me every time i read it i must have read Ella enchanted about five times. the romance between ella and char is innocent, but it captures my heart every time. I was very disappointed when i saw the movie. I dont think the movie captured the essence of Ella and the magic that Levine bestowed in her book. If I could, I'd create a movie that is true to the book and its characters. Even though it is a children's book, it is still accessible to adults (though i am still kind of a child at heart- i LOVE fantasy stories)

1000000% RECOMMENDED

I actually saw the movie before I read the book and I loved the movie, but it's vastly different from the book. It was interesting to see the differences. I can see why some of the changes were made for the movie, but both are great in their own right.

I liked the treatment of Lucinda in the book better than in the movie. In the movie, Lucinda never learned or understood what she did to people, but in the book she did when Mandy tricked her into experiencing what she put Ella through.

I also liked that Ella had to find the inner-strength to break the curse, opposed to having an easy quick fix of undoing it. To be honest, Ella would have probably in more trouble if Lucinda had reversed the spell, so even if she wanted to obey at times, she would then be under a curse to never obey.

I also like that the prince was treated as a real person and given a real personality. Rewatching Disney's Cinderella as an adult, I was shocked how truly vapid the prince was. He had no personality. He was just a stereotypical pretty boy.

It was also nice reading the progression of Ella and Char's relationship, instead of her going to a ball and just falling in love with him.

This is a great book, which I'll definitely read again.

Romance, although also could be fantasy. Upper elementary to middle school. Reading level is supposed to be grade four, but it seems higher to me. 232 pages.

I read quite a bit of this book before I started to enjoy it, but because the librarian recommended it, I stuck with it. The book is the back story of Cinderella, although the reader doesn't realize it until near the end. Instantly, the story of Cinderella--which I never really liked--has a profound truth I now see: When we walk in another's shoes, our perceptions change. Honor book. No illustrations.

Ella Enchanted
By Gail Carson Levine

Ella only wanted to be a regular girl. But instead the day she was born, a curse was bestowed upon her. The gift of obedience. The fairy Lucinda does not think before she gives these silly curses and so when Ella is told to do something, she has to do it. If someone told Ella to kill herself she would have to obey. When Ella's mother gets very sick and dies, Ella is left with Mandy her cook that is her fairy godmother and her father. Ella's father traveled all the time and he doesn't know about her curse. Just like her mother said "Don't tell anyone about your curse." Ella had to obey.
But when Ella's dad introduces her to Dame Olga and her dreadfully bossy daughters, Ella realizes that the elder one, Hattie knows that Ella will do anything she says. Hattie commands Ella to give her the necklace that Ella's mom gave to her. But there is a silver lining on the story. Ella becomes dear friends with Prince Charmont, or as his friends call him, Char. Just when Ella thinks that Char and her are becoming great friends, Ella's father ships her off to finishing school so she can become a true lady with Hattie and the spoiled Olive (Hattie's sister).
Finishing school is the worst place for Ella. She must obey every command no matter how awful or difficult. When Ella cannot stand it anymore she runs away, and decides to quest for her fairy godmother and reverse the spell. But Hattie had forbidden Ella to see Char. So how will she be able to tell him how she really feels when he thinks she never wants to see him again?

Many young girls dream of having a fairy tale life just like the ones that appear in Disney movies such as Cinderella, but what happens when these girls grow into young ladies and expect a little more than your usual fairy tale? In her novel Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine adds a whole new twist to the familiar story of Cinderella. With the use of point of view, characterizations and themes, she achieves to appeal to a budding, young female audience that already has a love for the classic Disney tale.

Point of View
Carson presents a first person point of view that allows Ella to narrate her own story. Her thoughts, her commentary and each of her actions are plain for the reader to enjoy and experience a first hand look into Ella's world. The reader is allowed to relate her character, as she seems more realistic (as far as a fairy tale goes) than ever before, as she goes through every day teenage trials with boys (a prince, to be exact), friendship, fitting in, envy and such problems that still happen today.

Characterizations
Ella
While Disney's Cinderella is an upbeat, optimistic girl that seems to have the whole world set out for her, Levine's Ella is given a whole new dimension as a character. Ella, as a child, receives the "gift" of obedience by the wayward fairy, Lucinda. Forced to do everything she is told, Ella develops a strong, rebellious character determined to become her own person, despite what others command her to do. She may subdue physically, but mentally and spiritually, she is a character that is intelligent beyond her years that refuses to conformity, aesthetics and propriety for the wrong reasons. Carson develops Ella in such a way that her flaws and struggles with herself and others are present. Ella is not a glorified storybook character that has everything going perfectly for her; she fights for what she believes in, she makes mistakes to learn from them and goes through the motions just like her young female audience.

Prince Charmont
When the thoughts of a charming prince come to mind, what is available is only the idea of a charming prince who is just there to both save the day and marry the girl. While in most fairy tales, the female lead character usually overshadows the male equivalent; Prince Charmont is far from hidden. Carson develops Char (as he is cleverly nicknamed) in such a way that he breaks away from the usual princely stereotypes by adding a little more to his personality but still maintaining the characteristics that would most likely still make any female weak in the knees. When Ella first meets Char, she keeps her distance in a demonstration of respect of his nobility, but he refuses to be regarded of higher ranking and asks to be addressed as any other person. He is kind hearted and humble but still he holds strong and true to the convictions that he is instructed as a young ruler. One example of this is when he pauses the beginning of a military journey to get on his hands and knees to help a merchant whose cart is overturned, instead of leaving off and ignoring the lower class. Another defining characteristic is that he, like Ella, struggles to create his own identity under the overpowering shadow of his future as the ruler of the kingdom of Frell. Char's authentic infatuation for Ella and his deep respect for her are what make the reader believe him as the true charming prince.

The Fairy Godmother
One may expect a flick of the wand and a bibidi boppidi boo to describe a fairy; Carson declines to this generic view. Mandy, Ella's fairy godmother is described as aging, overweight, speckled with freckles and frizzy hair. She hides her true identity from Ella and for the first 16 years of Ella's life, she is known as the kitchen maid and nanny. Her real self is only discovered after Ella's mother died and Ella is left to the care of no one but her father. The way that Carson portrays Mandy is in a stern, parental way so the reader can see her as a mother figure for Ella, more than just a fairy godmother that provides every single wish. Carson makes Mandy out to be a lovable character towards the reader because she nurtures and takes care of Ella while still remaining firm to what she thinks is best for her goddaughter.

Themes
In this novel, Carson explores themes that are of interest to a young female audience. One of these is the search for an identity and a place in the world. Carson develops her main theme as Ella is trying to establish herself as a person with her beliefs and convictions, and not just become a pawn to anybody's game that has knowledge of her curse. She demonstrates to the audience that they do not have to conform to a popular idea and encourages the reader to form opinions by gaining knowledge by Ella's example of maintaining her integrity and refusal to ignorance.

Another theme that goes hand-in-hand with the one mentioned before is integrity, being true to who you are. Carson encourages this by making Ella such a strong character that even though she is forced to be someone else, in her mind, she is determined to be who she truly is. Char is also another example of integrity. He is a prince, a trait that may give way to arrogance and to discrimination by status, but he denies any association of himself as a person to his nobility.

With these different literary aspects, Gail Carson Levine creates a fairy tale all her own that only alludes to the commonly known storyline. She creates a story for young girls to be immersed with such believable characters in a fictional world that teach very valuable lessons while also having those key elements that happen to draw the audience in.

This excerpt does a great job revealing the realities of war. It provides the perspective of the ones on the front line and does a wonderful job displaying the uncertainties that go along with warfare; however, it was a bit hard to follow at times, and it seemed a little "jumpy". Overall, great job!

I was an undergrad theatre major at the University of Iowa when Peter was a grad playwriting student there. His plays were entertaining, often darkly funny, grounded in a strong sense of narrative, and most of all intensely focused on ethical concerns... in particular the fundamental question of how to be a decent person when faced with untenable choices. It seems appropriate that he would turn his attention to the current Iraq war, which unfortunately provides many ways to explore that question on both a macro and micro scale.

I've only read the excerpt provided online here, but I was very engaged by the story and curious to find out where the war would take these fictional people. I found myself hoping that the character of Ryder finds a way to retain his humanity in a dehumanizing situation. More than that, I hope that Peter's work gets the chance to reach the wider audience it deserves.

I want to read more, to find out where Peter Ullian's deconstruction of situational ethics comes to rest, or if it does at all. Regarding comments about gratuitous sex and violence in Ullian's narrative: first of all, there isn't really any sex. The male characters think about sex constantly, which is what most men do in real life. As for the violence - exploding arms, dead kids - that sort of insanity happens every day in Iraq. It happened every day in Vietnam. I'm sure it's happening all over the world as we speak... and plenty of times there aren't even any American troops involved.

Okay, here's my armchair review:

With incongruous detachment, Ullian depicts an existence where "real" is a trainwreck of people and processes that don't belong together, and "ideal" is a faraway abstraction that propels the world like an invisible puppetmaster. Soldiers allegedly sent to free the Iraqi people from a tyrant train to do so by watching porn and listening to death-metal (apparently, that's typical in reality - during the Gulf War, Slayer was used as a soundtrack for Marine training maneuvers in Saudi Arabia). The only in-depth discussion among the characters is about country music. Cross-cultural understanding? Forget it. Would any of these guys bother to learn Arabic or read about the Five Pillars of Islam? I don't think so. The people they've been told they're freeing are "impassive, inscrutable" (from narrative). In a situation requiring immediate action, the unit leader lets his mind wander into random associations and memories, to the point where the "embedded" female journalist accompanying the unit has to render medical attention to another soldier.

I want to know where Ullian is going with this. The absurdity of existence? The ultimate subjectivity of moral/ethical frameworks? The pointlessness of nationalism? Is there a political agenda? Is the message here that everyone just bad and clueless? I'm curious now.

My first of two beefs with Ullian's prose is that his characters' dialogue is a little too Pynchon-esque: affected overemphasis and a deliberate lack of contractions. My second beef is that the characters' memories are less, well, personal than they could be. If Ullian is trying to convey his views on politics and society through the recollections of characters, and sometimes it's a little stilted.

Overall, I was intrigued and I want to read the rest of it.

Ullian has a talent for balancing the absurd and the tragic, to grimly wry effect. His cast of warriors, juiced on action movies, porn and video games, would seem like some out-there postmodern creation if they weren't so obviously reflective of the America they came from. Instead, the author has created a narrative of soldiers as products of the American culture they have come to spread. Ullian's portrait is ambivalent-- there's no denying the dark edge of his soldiers' sex-and-violence media mikvah in preparation for battle, but the men themselves remain reflective, human and sympathetic.

To Repair the World by P. Ullian opens with an argument of over what qualifies as 'real' country music. This debate introduces two of a host of characters, several with 'classics' names. To have a Ulysses, a Cassandra and Achilles on one mission together screams doom.

The settings, while as realistic as I can imagine them being for never having been in a war zone, fought for validation with the comical nature of the dialog. This wasn't funny ha-ha stuff, but really bordered on forced soudning. It read, in fact, very much like the interplays of Joseph Heller's 'Catch-22'. If the author means to update that story for contemporary times, more than 'insert Iraq detail here' needs to occur. The vibe of 'Catch-22' may be timeless, but it was a commentary and reflection on the times it was produced not just a darkly-humorous accounting of the absurdities of war life.

As I read through the excerpt it felt as if the author was inconsistent with portraying this story as serious or satirized. When I felt it leaning one way, it'd go back the other. This really hit home when Luther's arm was blown off and Curtis struggles with whether to stop the vehicle to tie a tourniquet. Curtis then goes on this drawn out political and moral thought line, while Luther is bleeding out. This was just too awkward given the uncommitted tone to that point.

Overall, though the author clearly is a talented writer, his attempt at putting his own modern stamp on a familiar tale just didn't sit right with me.

This excerpt from "The Silence of Trees" draws the reader into the world of Nadya and keeps you wanting to learn more about what her future will bring. The writing is impeccable and makes you feel as if you are walking right next to her as she travels through the woods to find the gypsy camp.

I can't wait to read the remainder of the novel to see how Nadya's encounter with the voroshka impacts her life and those around her.

...this book to anyone who likes well-written literature. This powerful story would be interesting for readers of any age, upbringing or nationality. Can not wait to read the whole book, those first 14 pages are very impressive. Thank you.

A refreshing story that isn't often told. Great to see a Ukrainian story told from the eyes of a woman about a time that some of us don't know enough about. Will be waiting for the full book!

Just like a dream - I can fully live it myself. Can't wait for the rest....

Thank you!

The subtle beauty of this story pulls the reader in with whispers of magic and fairy tales. We meet our heroine, 16-year-old Nadya, who always has her head in the clouds. She is only vaguely aware of the tension in Ukraine, distant talk of war, and is concerned by more mundane things. Her wish is to steal over to the Gypsy camp and have a "voroshka" tell her fortune. Many of her friends have heard wonderful tales from the fortune teller, but Nadya's mother forbids her to go. Headstrong Nadya decides to go anyway, stealing into the dark night when her family is sleeping. The seduction of the Gypsy camp turns sinister when Nadya meets the voroshka, bruised and bloodied from a brutal encounter with Russian soldiers. The excerpt ends here, but we know there is more sorrow to come.

The writing in this piece is masterful, resonant, and haunting. It has an element of magic that makes it seem like a whimsical fairy tale, but whimsy is soon overcome with the dark words of war and brutality. It's a multi-layered story that drew me in with the powerful writing. Action is not at all lacking in this excerpt - I read eagerly to find out what happened to Nadya. My heart is actually still pounding from Nadya's adventures - if this book was available at Borders, I would be there right now buying it.

Interesting. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I would be interested to see where the rest of the story leads. Keep up the adventure....

A great beginning that promises an adventurous trip. This is the type of story that would appeal to my grandchildren as much a it did to me. I would hope that it continues the line of adult/child understanding, and close relationship, as Keith implies, and am anxious to know where and what the story will reveal.

The setting is a sleeper ship; a large spaceship launched from Earth and destined for the trinary system whose primary star is Alpha Centauri. The light barrier has not been broken, so the journey will take years and the ship contains a complete set of components so that the people will be able to colonize the planets and they have taken samples of much of the flora and fauna of Earth with them. The people are inside cold-sleep tubes so that their metabolism is slowed to the point where their heart beats once every minute, a state of deep hibernation.
Unfortunately, the ship is barely out of the Solar System when a device carried by a boy causes his cell to malfunction, and all of the redundant systems fail to compensate. The computing system then does the only thing it can do, it reanimates him. However, he is only eight years old and the other fail-safe mechanisms designed to wake the senior officers in case of trouble do not work. The boy is then forced to live on his own for five years until he tries to enter a restricted area. This finally causes the emergency wake-up routines to reanimate the senior officers and after a short period of time they determine what has happened. The boy's parents are awakened and they learn that he has eaten a great deal of their emergency rations. The leaders also understand that five years of being alone will have caused the boy severe psychological trauma and he may even be feral. At the conclusion of the short, the boy has been discovered in an environment that simulates Yosemite and his mother is inside that environment looking for him.
This short is an excellent lead-in to what is clearly going to be an engaging novel. There are many potential plot lines that could be used as a consequence of the boy being alone for five years. The reasons why his small device caused all the fail-safe mechanisms to prove inadequate is also another potential twist. His mental state and how he will relate to his fellow humans is another area that could be explored. Finally, the colonists still have to get to their destination and given that they are still 2.25 light years from Alpha Centauri and a great deal of their rations have been consumed, the viability of the colony is now in jeopardy.

I read this story aloud to my five-year old son. After I read it out loud, I read it again to myself. We are both very eager to find out what happens next.

It's a great start to a story that has a huge universe of possibilities for what could come next -- from a simulated Yosemite to the high tech of a space travel to the frontier of the colony they are on their way to start.

Can't wait to read the rest of it!

A very good beginning with plenty of promise- and does what the best beginnings do: tell you what's going on and makes you want to know what happens next! We are embroiled immediately into the conflict: a 13-yr-old boy has been wandering alone around a spaceship for 5 yrs while everyone else was still in cryogenic sleep (for their 10 year journey).

While the world of the ship Hope is fairly well explained as we go on, the concepts (the science!) behind this science-fiction story are not particularly imaginative. The Hope is a giant spaceship equipped to transport its passengers to Alpha Centuri and supply them with the necessary tools to create the first human establishment outside of the Solar System. The future, while blessedly being fairly easy to understand- down to , is not all too different from the present- which somewhat stretches its credibility.

This same standard stereotypes practice somewhat also infects the characters, who often do not have much of a "voice"- we got the old-ish/tired-ish doctor type, the big mate (who does interesting resemble a zebra), etc. Such characters are often described. This is especially evident in the boy parents, who practically read from the "Concerned Parents Dialogue Guide"TM. The main character, Captain Drake does not suffer as much under such short-cut writing, thankfully, and is shaping up to be a quite effective person. (Even if he is forced to call into commands where someone/something gives him intel and he commands them to do such things "lock down the holding bay", "sweep the cargo deck"- well worn scenes from any spaceship drama of the last 30-35 years.)

Such criticisms don't particularly reduce the likeablility of this piece, however. It's fun! Stuff happens! Judging by this excerpt I would fully expect the novel to be an light, enjoyable read for a nice weekend after one of those soul-crushing weeks.

Some books are like the best of cats, they end up in your lap whenever you have a spare moment; they seek your company even as you desire theirs. Stealing Karma will be that book that one gives to a dozen friends - and they will all be grateful for it. Amazing.

Aneesha Capur's novel, Stealing Karma, is a story brimming with characters and situations that feel fresh, unexplored, and compelling. The dynamics here may mirror others in contemporary fiction concerned with domestic complexities, however, Stealing Karma spins them on their head and uses the cultural milieu to show us human interaction as we have never seen it before. I want to be here, in this world, and get to know its characters and how they will ultimately resolve the issues they face. The writing is clear, lyrical, steeped in place and feeling, and makes you thirst for more. Capur offers a delightful antidote to the kinds of fiction we have seen so much of in the past few years. This is a book that many readers of all backgrounds will be sure to find satisfying.

A pity that one can only read a few pages of what promises to be a most interesting story! Capur catches the reader's imagination and holds it with tantalizing imagery and dialogue, moving the plot forward, leaving one wanting for more. What happens to Mira? How does she cope? I look forward to reading the novel in its entirety.

In a world where so many of us have been driven by a sense of adventure or desperation or opportunity to seek our fortunes abroad, Stealing Karma weaves the story of the expatriate into the life of Mira who loses nearly all connection to India after she leaves for Africa. Mira is suddenly widowed and the precariousness of her adopted world, her erstwhile world of choice, is stark. In her excerpt, Aneesha Capur skillfully sets the plot for the reader: karma will transform the comfortable, even opulent, lives of Mira and her young child. But Mira now belongs to neither the world she left nor the world that has left her.......

After reading the manuscript review by Publishers Weekly provided in the Editorial Reviews concerning the novel `Stealing Karma' by Aneesha Capur I couldn't wait to read the nine pages submitted to Amazon's ABNA contest. Here is a book containing a plethora of subject matter near and dear to my heart; prophetic dreams, Hindu deities, astrological omens, African tribal beliefs and Jungian psychology and reincarnation. It was almost too much to ask for.

With such high hopes in place I must admit that I was extremely disappointed after reading the excerpt. Not because the writing is bad or the story uninteresting. To the contrary, both writing and storyline are excellent. The disappointment experienced was due to the discovery that none of those tantalizing spiritual/occult matters already mentioned were included within the available nine pages.

Moving beyond my initial dismay, I did enjoy this excerpt and look forward to reading the novel at some later date. The characters are well developed and I found Mira an intriguing, beautiful and incredibly sympathetic figure. To create such an alluring and complex character in a short nine pages is a credit to the author and makes the reader hungry for more pages to explore.

Shannon Hale has proven to be a real creative, original and compelling writer. I was taken in by her storytelling, and completely sold by the characters! The Goose Girl is promising to be my favorite book of 2008. I couldn't put it down and when I finished it, I definitely wished there was more!

Goose Girl
By Shannon Hale

I loved the Goose Girl, for the well planned out characters, vivid imagery, smooth flow, and the continued suspense. This book had me hooked from the very beginning.

Ani was born a princess and was taught by her aunt to speak to swans. Her mother, the queen, found her to be a strange girl, who was awkward and uncomfortable with people. Her mother kept Ani inside the castle, so she could not talk to the birds and swans. Ani was not even allowed to associate with her own brother and sisters. She found solace in riding her horse, Falada, with whom she could communicate. She also enjoyed her best friend and lady in waiting, Selia. Selia had the gift of `people speaking', where Ani was best understood by the creatures.

The Queen Mother prepared Ani's brother for the throne. When confronted, she told Ani that she had prearranged her marriage to the prince of a far away kingdom.

Ani's lady in waiting schemed to take away the throne, marry the prince and kill Ani, along with all of her gurards. Ani, who had never before left the castle grounds, escaped with her life. She was exiled to live as a goose girl, taking care of the kings geese, while her lady in waiting lived as royalty.

Ani needed to disguise herself, and find allies to help regain her royal heritage and over throw the imposter, Selia.

There are bloody scenes, so the story would not be appropriate for younger children. This book will be delightful for the 6th to 9th grade level.

I highly recommend the Goose Girl and look forward to reading other books by Shannon Hale.

I thought this book was a bit simplistic in style, but it was still an enjoyable read. I wish it had been a bit more atmospheric. Between the updated, modern attitudes of the characters and the sparse descriptions, the book seemed much more modern that its intended setting. I liked it, but I felt like with a bit more effort, it could have been fantastic instead of just good.

This was the first book I read by Shannon Hale and since then I have recommended it to anyone looking for an enjoyable read. This is excellent for young and old, male and female. It is hard to find acceptable reading material for youth and this is outstanding!

Shannon Hale has committed a horrible sin; her re-telling of the Grimm "goose girl" is better than the original! The other two books in this series, Enna Burning and River Secrets, are also wonderful reads and bring back to life some of the lovable characters from goose girl.

Enjoy!

I like this book because it is like a mystery because she wants to know her mom but she is living with a girl that they lived next door to. Will she saw pitchers of her mom and was disarmed to find out were she was at. She found out were she was and wanted to see her so she razed money she got a bus ticket and went to were her mom was and could not finder for a long time and then one day she figured out how it was. And then her mom died.
So I thank you should read this book If you like mysteries. It is the best book in the world!!!

So be it is a amazing fiction book that i know you should read. The best thing about this book is it controls your feelings. For example Heidi has a disabled mother. Heidi loves to play slot machines. Therefore, since this story takes place in Nevada Heidi tried a slot machine.
But then Heidi won money from the slot machine. She also wanted to find the meaning of soof and she did by communicating with Bernadette on the phone. She was also trying to find out about her past and she used to ride the bus to where her mother used to go.

So.B.It keeps you on edge because you never know what will happen next. So.B.It is super fun , exciting , easy to read , and some mystery. I gave this book five stars because there is so much going on , its like watching a movie. Anybody who likes novels like Shug will love this book. THe gernera would be a novel. This book always gives you a picture in your mind. I would recomend this to anybody who likes books that make you wonder what will happen next.


Also by: K.N.
So B. It by Sarah Weeks is a heartwarming book that has an emotional touch. I would give this book five out of five stars. Girls ages 9 and older would enjoy this general fiction book. Sarah Weeks has done an excellent job detailing a heartwarming book like non other. Mama knows 23 words including one being "soof," which Heidi takes an adventure to find what her mother means by it. Bernadette tells Heidi how one day when Heidi was one week old, her mother mysteriously appeared at Bernadette's door, and they have benn living together since then. Heidi then decides to find out who her mother really is by taking her own adventure to Liberty, New York. Will she find out her mother's past life, or will she get disappointed and find out nothing? Read So B. It to find out.

"So B. It" - A Moving and Suspenseful Story
A story telling the tale of Heidi unraveling secrets of her mother
By Kelly Lockerbie
December 20, 2007

"So B. It" by Sarah Weeks

So B. It, 245 pages, is a moving story about a thirteen year old girl named Heidi. She has no father, and does not remember anything about him. The sad part is, Heidi's mother, whom Heidi calls "Mama," has a mental disorder, or a "bum brain," as Heidi calls it. Heidi and Mama both live with Bernadette, or "Bernie," who used to be their next door neighbor, until Mama showed up with Heidi on her front doorstep. Bernie takes care of both Mama and Heidi.

Heidi does not know anything about her mother, or what happened to her in the past. She keeps track of her mother's slow progress, and notices that occasionally Mama would throw out the word "soof." Mama doesn't know many words; in fact, she only knows twenty-three. Because Mama knows a word that no one knows, this interests Heidi. She becomes determined to find the meaning.

Throughout the book, Heidi tries to gather clues towards the meaning of "soof," because she believes that it could possibly reveal her past.

The protagonist of this story is Heidi, and the book tells the book from her point of view. She is the narrator. Towards the beginning of the book, Heidi does not know anything about her mom, or even how she herself was born. All she knows is that her mom showed up on Bernie's front doorstep and in need of help. Basically, she was frustrated! She didn't know anything that happened before Bernie found her.

However, when Heidi visits various places, places she knew to go to from clues she gathered, she stops fighting with the past. Even thought she learns something about the story of her life, she has matured and understands that certain things in her and her mother's life will remain a mystery.

The theme of this story is love. Not romantic love, but love and affection for those who care about you. Heidi loved her mom, because she tried her hardest to take care of her despite her setbacks. Heidi also loved Bernadette. Without Bernie, Heidi and her mom would not have been able to survive. Heidi depended on Mama, and Mama depended on Bernie. Bernie held the family together.

From this reading I learned to be thankful for things I wouldn't normally expect to be grateful for. For example, my "identity." Since Mama is mentally challenged and can't remember anything in the past, Heidi didn't know a lot about who she is. She didn't have concrete evidence of facts that that average person does today. She spent a large amount of time trying to decipher things that we are basically handed to in a silver platter. By this I mean that we don't have to work hard to get information about ourselves, while Heidi was traveling far out of her way.

I would undoubtedly recommend this book for other readers, whether they are younger or older. This book wouldn't be difficult for younger people to read, but more critical readers (people in English 10H) would have a better grasp on the moral and meaning of the book. They would know what the author is trying to get across, the meaning of love.

"Things aren't the way they are supposed to be," I said.
"How are they supposed to be?" she asked.
"A person is supposed to know where they came from, Bernie."
This is the burning question that Heidi It is determined to find out. Heidi is a 12 year old girl who lives with her mentally disabled mother and Bernadette, their caring neighbor. Trying to find the answer to this question leads her on a cross country journey to find out her history in this moving novel, So B. It, by Sarah Weeks.
She wants to find where she and her mother came from before they showed up at Bernadette's door in the apartment that they currently live in. She also wants to find out what "soof" means, a mysterious word that her mother repeatedly says and that seems to linger over Heidi wherever she goes.
This book is told through the eyes of Heidi in present day Reno. Throughout the book Sarah Weeks makes it so that you can feel the frustration, but also love that Heidi has towards her mother. Appearing to be slow-paced in the beginning, the book soon turns into a page-turning adventure where Heidi is an easily likeable character. Her bravery leads her to meet the most interesting people.
The novel is best suited for middle-aged girls who can understand everyday struggles, or ones need help to. Anyone who reads this will be left with the message of the book long after the last page is turned.

What a wonderful title and an intriguing excerpt. I await the completed book to finally find out what happens. Ms Coulter's previous books never disappointed and I'm sure this newest one will be no exception. Please publish it soon. I look forward to a pleasant, relaxing day of reading Precarious.

I am moved by what I've read so far. I am already invested in this young man, and I want to know more, to know how the story progresses and ends.

In her opening words Ms. Coulter presents the reader with a blend of fact, remembrance, and family lore that form the memory of Marcus her protagonist. "He didn't know exactly where he was born. But he's been told..." Ms. Coulter does not tell us what is true and what is not, leaving her reader to reflect on the blurring of the past that confuses and confounds the universal human experience of searching for the truth of one's own life to understand it and perhaps gain some larger knowledge.

Ms. Coulter's prose is sparing. Cliantha, Marcus's mother, wears "a smart houndstooth suit...each piece $11.98 at the twelve-dollar store." This sharp recollection, as though retrieved from a dream, is telling. Like other descriptions it is brief and neat; the reader, however, sees it perfectly and feels that he is there.

The movement, at the end of the chapter, to the voice of the attorney is intriguing. The reader is left eager to continue, to turn the page, and follow the life of young Marcus now perhaps in some difficulty.

Precarious by H. Coulter introduces the story of Marcus and Eliza, first by bringing the reader up to date with Marcus.

Abandoned at birth, found by a stranger, then reclaimed by his mother, Marcus is set up for a life of uncertainty from minutes old. His path over the next few years is tied in with his child-like mother who's fantasy of a better existence for them isn't met with reality. By the time Marcus is nine-years-old he is in the 'system' surrounded by temporary siblings, care-takers, and case workers. His secret hope is that his mom is finally coming to get him (now that she's broken up with her latest boyfriend), but for the reader with any knowledge of those who end up in the foster system for a long term, they are often in for the long haul.

All of this early tale is told to us by Eliza Couvillion, we come to realize, as the excerpt wraps up with her brief introduction.

The characters presented are sympathetic and evoke sentiments of concern and pity. As the reader, I began to share in Marcus's cling to hope--hope that his life will at least improve with a twist of fate.

The writing is engaging and the story well paced. While it isn't necessarily the type of tale that would jump out at me to read, once I got going, I was interested in seeing how it played out.

Hope Coulter's excerpt, Precarious, is a rich and vivid beginning to what is no doubt an exceptional novel: with such a strong opening - an invitation to continue - how could it not be so. The images painted in these first few pages are captivating: the red plastic shopping cart at Target, "Swiggins" wig askew, the trip to the grocery store to browse for a meal when there wasn't enough money to buy one.... These are images I can see as if they'd happened in my own life, with depth and clarity, and in three dimensions.

But the sensory delights don't stop there: like a tune you find yourself humming as you drive down the road, I've got the sounds of Precarious speaking to me, reminding me there's lots more to read. The songs of Cliantha, with the percussion of her shoes as accompaniment, the cars speeding down the 'short' street, then what I know is a high-pitched, annoyed, jerky sound of reverse gears of impatient drivers foiled in a short-cut, the toilet that runs when you don't jiggle the handle.... I know these sounds, and they draw me further into the story. The voices are clear and right on target, "honey I look good," and the kids talking about the 'retard' bus, and the way the kids in the foster house talk to each other about waiting for the phone. The language is superb - I can hear this book and all its characters.

The smells and feelings Hope Coulter evokes are further evidence of a gifted southern storyteller in the finest tradition. Cliantha's perfume 'unspooling' through the rooms, the smell of coffee dripping in the morning, and the pangs of hunger Marcus struggles to cope with are deftly and delicately described.

So many images that keep popping up in my mind, making me wonder if I've forgotten something, only to realize that I've forgotten to read the rest of the novel. The tones of the voice of a familiar and rich storyteller call the reader back for more. Ms. Coulter's skill as a writer puts her readers at ease that she will spin this yarn in the finest fashion. And like the smell of coffee dripping in the morning awakens my appetite for a steaming cup and the day before me, my senses are stirred by Hope Coulter's delicious excerpt. I need answers to so many questions this taste provides. I very much hope this novel will be published soon.

A boy and his horse.


In something of a change of pace, a horse book that may just be slightly more directed at boys than girls, although the plot stays fairly similar.

Boy helps out horse in island shipwreck situation. Horse returns the favour. Horse of course is an impressive specimen and can do the fast running thing quite nicely.

So, off to the races then go.

Strange in a way that I loved this book so much when I read it in fourth grade, because, ironically, in real life, horses kind of scare me. I think Walter Farley's book is magical and I hope others who read it find as much meaning as I did in the story of a boy named Alec Ramsey, who survives a shipwreck and befriends a magnificent black Arabian stallion. Yes, this enduring classic is basically a fantasy, but sometimes it takes fantasy to create a book that is capable of touching the human soul in the exact way this one does.

What would you do if your horse saved you from the frightening death of drowning? Then what would you do if that horse was taken away from you? That is exactly what Alec thought of in the fictional book The Black Stallion written by Walter Farley.

Alec was on a ship back to his homeland, when the ship got in contact with a glacier. No one even thought of about saving that horrible, kicking, horse in the stables. Though Alec knew it was the right thing so he went into the stables and saved the horse. As they jumped off the ship, Alec was too weak to swim. So the stallion swam miles with Alec at the end of the stallions lead rope, until they saw land. They were stuck on that island fighting to survive as their friendship grew between them. One day a ship came and saved them. In a couple of days they would be at home. The stallion was named The Black and was kept in an older barn behind Alec's house.

I couldn't put this book down. This whole series was amazing. Anyone who loves horses would love these books. This book made me happy, nervous, and sad. It also made me cry. I think everyone should experience these feelings when you read a book.

-Courtney Dommer

This book is a must-read for any child. When I was young I read lots of Jack London books and I also read the entire Walter Farley Black Stallion series. Walter Farley's books are written in a very simple style, easy for young readers to understand. The movie is a timeless classic & was so well done. Some children will find the movie slow (no talking during the whole island sequence) but if your child appreciates beautiful images, and is horse-crazy, they'll love the film. I now own a black Arabian stallion of my own...so be careful, Black Stallion books can cause a lifelong horse addiction!

I greatly enjoyed this book when I was younger, and I still like it. However, in recent years I have come to realize how prejudicially obsessed Walter Farley was about Arabians. Even in his book The Great Dane Thor, the horses only briefly mentioned in the book were Arabians. He didn't seem to realize that there were other breeds in the world. For instance, he had the Black's daughter, Black Minx run in the Kentucky Derby--a race exclusively limited to Thoroughbreds.

In recent years, I have also realized Farley's poor writing stile. Not only did he not do research, but he presented his views as FACT, not opinions. For instance, ALL horses are intelligent, but especially ARABIANs; ALL horses are more sensitive than people and can find water by smell in a desert...or land in an ocean. Among horses, Farley stated on no uncertain terms that Arabians are by far the most superior, and that among Arabians, The Black was king.

I don't know about you, but I'm kind of tired of that. I'd like to see the Black lose a race or two, or sire a dud colt. The Island Stallion was the same--in fact, when the Black met Flame, the fight between them was a draw because they were both FLAWLESS Arabians, so perfect that neither could beat the other. It was a satisfying end when I was little, but now it annoys the fire out of me. I have read most of the series, and it is always the same: The Almighty Arabian wins out over man, nature, or other horses...and here is one once-avid reader who is sick of it.

I usually don't read new authors, but I must say this is one lady I will stick with! The storyline was just spellbounding, I read it in one day. You feel as if the characters are real, you can relate to them on so many different levels. Ms. Shapodee leaves you wanting more. There's so much to describe that all I can say is get the book and you won't be disappointed.

Awesome to the end
You will see red when finished

I couldn't put this book down!!! I like how the author makes you wait until the last chapter to find out why her mother hates her so.
I sent a recommendation to Black Expressions to put this book in their catalog!!1
Keep up the good work Kieja....waiting for the next one.

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It's a definite page turner and you must read it slowly or you may miss some good parts. I would recommend this book to everyone. It's worth every penny!

Written In Red Ink (WIRI) is a story of Emily Bennett, who struggles to raise
her family in the shadow of her own mother's hatred. Can she figure out her
mother's secret while holding onto her own?

On the outside, Emily has a perfect life. She has a great husband, beautiful
children and her own bookstore. Under the surface sits a woman in turmoil
between a husband who is losing trust in her, children who don't seem to have
respect for her and a mother who hates her for an unknown reason.

I enjoyed the storyline of Emily and her quest to find out the secrets of her
life immensely. The "secret" did not disappoint and had me questioning how
would I feel in that case. The sub-plots however, were too many and
underdeveloped. New developments with other characters were only revealed in
relation to Emily's story. For instance, Emily's daughter Lisa was dealing
with secrets of her own. I was interested in seeing how she dealt with her
situation only for it to be dropped. I did not hear Lisa's voice again until
close to the end of the book. This seemed to be the case for most of the
supporting characters.

I look forward to the sequel to this book and hope that it takes us further
into the lives of the other characters. This book is a 3.5 on the APOOO
scale.

Reviewed by Nicole
APOOO BookClub