Young Americans Books

My 6-year-old daughter loved this book. It has sparked an interest in learning all there is to know about Annie Oakley. I would like her to have all the books in this series. What a fantastic way to teach kids about American history and famous Americans. Great, great book.

Annie Oakley, a skilled hunter.

Introductory- Annie Oakley had many talents, but the best was hunting! When she was only 7, she built a trap to get meat for her family. One night she surprised everyone. A wolf was teasing the chickens. Annie grabbed a gun. All of a sudden, CRACK went the rifle and there in front of her lay a dead wolf! These are just a few stories in the book Annie Oakley by Ellen Wilson.

Analysis- Annie's family was poor, so the kids were sent to live in other houses. Annie had always wanted to go to school but she was sent to a home where she worked night and day. She did not like it so she ran away, even though she had no money to buy a train ticket. Finally, she was invited to stay with her sister in Cincinnati. There, she had a contest with the most famous shooter in the country and she won. Later on, he asked her to marry him. Of course she said yes! They did shows and many things together. In the end they were invited to perform for Queen Elizabeth!

Critique- I liked everything about the book. My favorite part of the book was when her brother and she climbed a tree and watched a shooting contest. Most of the books I read use dialog too much. In Ellen Wilson's books, she thoroughly explains everything. She also makes the story fun to read. This is a wonderful book and I would recommend it to anybody who likes history or who likes famous women.

Interpretation- My personal response is that I could not put this book down. It was written about her childhood so I could easily connect with her. I also connected because my dad, also a hunter, was bringing home pheasants and quail at the time. I learned that it takes skill to hunt and it is not easy.

I am morally outraged by this book. The name "Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans" is offensive to the forieners. I for one am proud to be born and bread in Swindon, England. I spent a few years as a professional poet in California and now I'm branded as one of them.

If it is not changed to "Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans and and Englishman" I will be forced to withdraw my wonderfull poem about a cloud.

James Fowler
Age: 21

I loved this nook because of the variety of the works and the ttremendous effot put forth by these children

I think Mr. Watts is quoting from the wrong edition. This is a very enjoyable book, though, and always interesting to flip through. A lot of the poetry is quite impressive, while still remaining a youthfulness to it. Probably my favortie book of poetry to flip through.

An excerpt from page 90, attributed to one Jarod John Hogan:

POOR FAT MAN

There once was a man who was so fat
That he couldn't fit through the door.
Poor fat man.
He tried to sit down but the sofa broke.
Poor fat man.
He tried to go on top of the Empire State Building.
That didn't work, he fell right through.
Poor fat man.
He tried going on the Rocky Mountains.
The mountains fell to the ground.
Poor fat man.
And then he tried going on the Titanic.
People say that it didn't sink because of an iceberg.
It sank because of him.
Poor fat man.

AUTUMN, by Brandon Hansen, page 51:

Autumn is very pretty.
Autumn is the prettiest time of the year.
If there is a prettier time of the year
Someone must of worked very hard.

Erin Hailey, age 10, writes of CHRISTMAS on page 57:

There is snow up to the sky.
There is reindeer flying up high.
There is a boy running around.
Santa is lying down.

Rather than trying to be a synopsis of a text, Velm captures the spirit and essence of each period covered as well as consistently helpful hints on test prep. It's kind of like having Alt. U.S. History version 2, the view from the left side of the fence.Entertaining as a stand alone 'read' even if you're not prepping for the test.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It's not easy to make history come alive, especially with the looming threat of a major exam. This book doesn't just summarize facts that you might need for the exam. It takes the drudgery out of the exam review. I found myself forgetting that preparation for the exam was the focus and just enjoying the history that became truly compelling in this book. I really think that it would be helpful if this book were used in classrooms along with other methods of test prepration. It is comprehensive without ever being dull, and it's written with wit and compassion. If it's possible to take the stress out of preparation for an AP exam, this book accomplishes that task.

I first found this book in it's first edition in 1994 after a trip to D.C. After picking it up from the library, I really wished that I had it when I was in D.C. I read it from cover to cover and learned so much about Arlington. I picked up the second edition during a visit to ANC in September, 2001. Every grave marker and memorial of renown is mentioned and the history behind the larger monuments is very good. It would be really nice if color pictures accompanied the text. I hope that Mr. Peters continues to update the book every now and then.

This is by far the best text devoted to the history of Arlington national cemetery I've seen. It begins with a detailed hisory of how the Washington-Lee family aquired the property, and the government seizure during the Civil war.. The property was used as a burial ground in part to prevent Robert E. Lee family from returning. The book goes on to list numerous notables now buried there and includes a brief but informative biography of each, most have pictures of the gravesite. Finally the book lists the many memorials inside and around the cemetery and the offical requirements for burial at Arlington.. A Fascinating book, I've read it several times and find something new every time I pick it up. Well worth purchasing for the history buff, or the casual tourist who wants to learn more about our most important national shrine.

This book opened my eyes toa very different art form.Even after reading the book ,I don't exactly know what to make of it except that I found it interesting and really enjoyable.Obviously, Howell's subjects,techniques and realism are spellbinding.I guess what bothers me about this art is that I do not possess the faith expressed behind the art.Mother Earth,spirituality of ancestors ,circles of life,dream catchers,shamens,animal spirits,etc.,really escape me ;but that does not prevent me from enjoying the art.The imagination that comes through the painting "Fruit from the Light" coupled with the color,lighting and finess in the hair results in a painting that you just want to look at and enjoy for its own beauty.To me it doesn't matter who she is, what is on her mind,what does the painter want us to feel;I think that is to be determined by the viewer.
However,I must say that there is a great amount of mood running through his paintings which I find hard to describe.Haunting,bearing witness,distance,come to mind;but nothing such as happiness, hope,anticipation,peace,anger,etc.The images seem to say "This is me,and that's it ." I am looking forward to seeing more of his work.
So, if you like Indian Art with a strong slant on realism and a little mysticism,you should enjoy this book.

Frank Howell's work will take your breath away. This beautiful edition contains both poetry and a wonderful collection of Howell's sensitive and luminous work. You will find yourself looking at it again and again!

somtimes I like to have an interesting insight to a super book. the superiority of this book was displayed in superflous title. superman himself could not have wtitten a better such a superb book. I read it over supper.

This is a wonderfully thorough, insightful, and orchestrated collection of critical essays on America's greatest playwright and his work. I found Stephen Marino's piece to be the most fascinating; a very pleasurable read!

We bought a round flat crema cake / shaped like a moon /in Umbertide. /It looks like a phosphorescent frisbee. /We munch its wedges as the solstice turns.

-- from `Landscape with Bees'

David Young's poetic voice strikes its characteristic note here: wry modesty, mixed with love and longing for the world, and an invocation of the larger, mysterious cycles of natural change that surround and hold us. The poet writes of aging, acceptance, and, just to keep the reader on her toes, throws in the occasional surrealistic or metaphysical flight of fancy, as in `Landscape with Disappearing Poet,' dedicated to the Czech scientist and poet Miroslav Holub, who died suddenly in 1998:

Angels seem to fall / steadily /in a rain around barns and pastures,/ distressed by the way the cows / slump to their knees on the kill-floor,....

In his ninth book of poetry, At the White Window, Young's work continues, affectionately and patiently, to explore and chart the various landscapes in which the poet finds or places himself: the small midwestern college town where Young has lived for forty years, Oberlin, Ohio; travels to Europe; the internal landscapes of memory and grief; the quirky repainting of Oberlin as though it were a series of panels on a Chinese scroll, with human figures and their concerns placed in proper proportion to towering cliffs, lofty mountains, and vast mist rises. Because Oberlin sits on a flat, glacier-razed piece of Ohio countryside, Young tweaks the Asian tradition by seeing the cliffs and mountains in the clouds that fill the skyscape, along with its `denizens [who] are crows and hawks, herons and gulls.' Irony and whimsy keep sentimentality at bay in Young's poetry, while the passionate lyricism that perhaps led him to translate Rilke's Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus some years ago manifests, sometimes ecstatically, sometimes more somberly, in this new volume:

Or has she journeyed to a prairie / where all our codes and grids have been abandoned, / no houses, no towns, no roads -- clear sky, / a few birds riding aimlessly across it, / and a bird or two, meadowlarks probably, / tossing around in its depths? -- from `My Mother at Eighty-Eight'

David Young is a poet of wide interests, encompassing but extending far beyond the literary, and a generous heart. The finely crafted poems in At the White Window reflect in myriad ways the poet's lifelong appreciation of T'ang dynasty poetry, Shakespeare, Wallace Stevens, music, science, landscape painting, and nature. They are poems that resist the tyranny of despair and meaninglessness, instead advocating for a vision of the world that includes beauty and suffering in equal measures. This vision urges our responsibility as well: we create from what we see, but the seeing is also of our creation, a function of what, in the book's title poem, the poet terms `our unabashed humanity, both frame and view.'

We bought a round flat crema cake /shaped like a moon /in Umbertide./ It looks like a phosphorescent frisbee./ We munch its wedges as the solstice turns.

-- from "Landscape with Bees"

David Young's poetic voice strikes its characteristic note here: wry modesty, mixed with love and longing for the world, and an invocation of the larger, mysterious cycles of natural change that surround and hold us. The poet writes of aging, acceptance, and, just to keep the reader on her toes, throws in the occasional surrealistic or metaphysical flight of fancy, as in "Landscape with Disappearing Poet," dedicated to the Czech scientist and poet Miroslav Holub, who died suddenly in 1998:

Angels seem to fall/ steadily/ in a rain around barns and pastures,/ distressed by the way the cows/ slump to their knees on the kill-floor,....

In his ninth book of poetry, At the White Window, Young's work continues, affectionately and patiently, to explore and chart the various landscapes in which the poet finds or places himself: the small midwestern college town where Young has lived for forty years, Oberlin, Ohio; travels to Europe; the internal landscapes of memory and grief; the quirky repainting of Oberlin as though it were a series of panels on a Chinese scroll, with human figures and their concerns placed in proper proportion to towering cliffs, lofty mountains, and vast mist rises. Because Oberlin sits on a flat, glacier-razed piece of Ohio countryside, Young tweaks the Asian tradition by seeing the cliffs and mountains in the clouds that fill the skyscape, along with its "denizens [who] are crows and hawks, herons and gulls." Irony and whimsy keep sentimentality at bay in Young's poetry, while the passionate lyricism that perhaps led him to translate Rilke's Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus some years ago manifests, sometimes ecstatically, sometimes more somberly, in this new volume:

Or has she journeyed to a prairie/ where all our codes and grids have been abandoned,/ no houses, no towns, no roads; clear sky,/ a few birds riding aimlessly across it,/ and a bird or two, meadowlarks probably,/ tossing around in its depths? -- from "My Mother at Eighty-Eight"

David Young is a poet of wide interests, encompassing but extending far beyond the literary, and a generous heart. The finely crafted poems in At the White Window reflect in myriad ways the poet's lifelong appreciation of T'ang dynasty poetry, Shakespeare, Wallace Stevens, music, science, landscape painting, and nature. They are poems that resist the tyranny of despair and meaninglessness, instead advocating for a vision of the world that includes beauty and suffering in equal measures. This vision urges our responsibility as well: we create from what we see, but the seeing is also of our creation, a function of what, in the book's title poem, the poet terms "our unabashed humanity, both frame and view."

I've purchased several copies of "Authors By Request: An Inside Look At Your Favorite Writers," as gifts for my children's teachers and student teachers. It's a wonderful gift for educators because it profiles the popular authors our kids are reading, plus offers writing tips and activities. I also bought a copy for my sister, a teacher, and for our family bookshelf. We love books at my house and this paperback really highlights some terrific writers. It's a good book at a good price.

I've purchased several copies of "Authors By Request: An Inside Look At Your Favorite Writers," as gifts for my children's teachers and student teachers. It's a wonderful gift for educators because it profiles the popular authors our kids are reading, plus offers writing tips and activities. I also bought a copy for my sister, friends that are moms, teachers, and for our family bookshelf. We love books at my house and this paperback really highlights some terrific writers. It's a good book at a good price.

I stumbled across this book at a thrift sale. Having first heard of Bayard Rustin about three years ago by way of a documentary film, I quickly snatched up the book at the bargain price of twenty-five cents! What started as a casual perusal of the text at the sale turned into a focused absorption of the life of one of the least acknowledged civil and human rights activist in the country's history. I'm still amazed that throughout high school and college history classes, some of which designed to highlight the African American experience, I don't recall ever encountering acknowledgement of his work in the movement. Well this book is an excellent start to making Rustin's story accessible to a mass reading public. The book is written for readers of the middle school age but it's not dummied down in content. The large font makes for fast reading at the adult level and its easy on the eyes for seniors.

The book is organized in ten chapters and chronologically moves through Rustin's life and his involvement in various movements and organizations aimed at equality and freedom for the human race. Chapter titles are:

* Growing Up Quaker
* College and Communism
* Conscientious Objector
* Greater Militancy
* The Civil Rights Movement Begins
* The Southern Christian Leadership Conference
* To March or Not to March
* March Organizer
* The March on Washington
* International Organizer

Although an older publication, I think this is a powerful addition to the classroom. A little leg work may be able to turn up copies at a great discount. I certainly plan on telling all of the educators that I know about the book. Highly Recommended!

Here is a fine biography for "Ages 10 and up" - - the "UP" being any age. "Behind the Scenes of the Civil Rights Movement" is about Bayard Rustin, a behind-the-scenes guy who not only lived in exciting times, he was a pivotal figure in the U.S. civil rights movement for decades. He was known as a "genius for organization" & the MARCH ON WASHINGTON happened in large part because of his skills. The 1963 March was the largest gathering of people 'of like mind' who had ever demonstrated peacefully, AND successfully.

Bayard Rustin was a controversial young man, raised by Quaker grandparents who influenced his strong beliefs in nonviolence. Well-known author Jim Haskins describes Rustin's college days when he discovered he was a homosexual, and became interested in communism. Not much later a meeting with A. Philip Randolph (the famous organizer of black railroad porters) began a life-long influence on Rustin's thinking and direction. Bayard Rustin was a conscientious objector to war and chose to be imprisoned for those beliefs. After World War II he became involved and very influential regarding issues of protest marches and reconciliation.

He died at age 75, still actively working for justice and human rights. At his funeral one of his recorded spirituals was played, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen". Bayard Rustin had a tenor voice which might have taken him successfully to a career as a musician but his compassion for people called him to a different road in life. Reviewer mcHaiku recommends this portrayal of an important worker toward change in American life; it is of particular value for young people to hear different views about 'service for the greater good' and about patriotism, and to weigh their own instincts against the pressures exerted by peers and the media.