Companies Books

Ron Fay, through his own experience, saves us the pitfalls of trial and error. Taking us through the planning process, he covers everthing from Market analysis, financial and tax considerations, equipment, and space planning, to personal training and membership retention. Other helpful tools include a section of forms and templates. As a Personal Trainer I knew the service end of the business but felt less sure of myself in terms of managing an entire facility. I took this book and have used it as a roadmap to open and successfully run a small club here in rural Upstate NY. Must Have reading for any trainer considering their own club.

THIS BOOK HAS SO MUCH SOUND INFO FOR THE NOVICE OR SEASONED TRAINER.I RUN A PERSONAL TRAINING BUSINESS FROM MY HOME . I WANTED TO TAKE THE LEAP OF FAITH INTO A LARGER BUILDING AND WAS LOADED DOWN WITH SO MUCH INFO I DID NOT NO WHERE TO START.THIS BOOK LAYS THE GROUND WORK FOR "THINGS THAT MAY BE FORGOTTEN" WHILE SPENDING YOUR FAMILIES LAST MONEY ON A FITNESS PLACE.THIS BOOK TOUCHES ON ALL OF WHAT WILL BE NEEDED TO OPEN THE DOORS OF A SMALL CLUB OR WORK OUT OF YOUR HOUSE IF NEEDED. THE FAYS DID NOT LEAVE ANY STONES LEFT UNTURNED. GREAT BOOK DERRICK BROWN

If you are thinking about starting a gym, regardless of size, this book is a MUST HAVE. I read it over a weekend. It is clear and concise and touched on many important aspects I never really thought about. Whether you are planning on a small home based gym or a large commercial one, this book gives great insights into equipment, financing, marketing, etc., AND a realistic view of what to expect from your business. Before you dive into a business, read this book. The information is well worth the money, and then some.

Excellent blue print for the person, that wants to start a business, without laying their financial life on the line.
This book shows how to start with little financial backing and build with the monies earned.
By following the advise given, many of the stops and starts of a new business can be avoided.
Highly reccomended for a small town successful business.

In researching my new idea to open a small gym, I was overwhelmed with information on the web and after perusing the SBA website and printing a full 3-ring binder's worth of research articles off the internet until I LUCKILY found this book. I was stunned to come across a book especially designed to guide me in my new idea to open a small gym. Then I was surprised at how completely applicable it was and how informative and practical the information was-these guys really share their secrets to success! Its a step by step easy to read well thought out book that guides your thoughts and decisions by helping you build a business plan based on your personal principles and desires for your gym. Its nothing short of amazing, and easily the most important bit of research I have done. I read the book and treated it like a text book, taking notes and when answering every question and carefully thinking about each point they recommend considering sot hat I read a little bit each day and wrote a lot and hammered out my own ideas in the process. I had all the ideas, but had not articulated them, organized them and nd built on them until I read this book. I am now 6 to 8 months from opening my gym but after reading this book, I have now articulated my true reasons for opening my own gym, and kept those reasons firmly in mind as I have analyzed my target market, competition and developed the marketing plan. I feel I am head and shoulders above most small business owners when they start out. I look forward to reporting back with the huge success of my new small gym!! Thanks to Ron and Barb Fay for not only sharing their experiences and lessons learned from them but for presenting these lessons clearly and in a concise book that gets the job done.

A very nice throughly researched book on the early days of live televised science fiction. Throughout the book the author compares Space Patrol with Star Trek although the series has much more in comon with Irwin Allen's Lost In Space tv series of the mid 1960s since Star Trek served little more than a political platform for Gene Roddenberry's extreme radical liberal views.

There's something about live broadcast TV that makes it very captivating to watch. I got hooked on Space Patrol, Lights Out, One Step Beyond, Suspense, Tales of Tomorrow and others just in the past few years. I think the plastic, over produced, candy apple feeling of today's television is just a little too noisy and unappealing for me. The world is chaotic and insane enough without the crash bang of modern media adding to it.

To me the live shows are a fun escape. They can be intense but nonabrasive. And the show from this period I like the best is SPACE PATROL.

It's in my nature to want to understand how things work, so once I got into SPACE PATROL I was hoping there might be some type of book out there on the subject of its making. I was quite surprised to see a NEW book on SPACE PATROL. New and HUGE and brimming with information!

Ms. Bassior's tribute to the production team and stars of the series is a very deep and involved personal journey starting in the 1980s and finally wrapping in 2004. Almost two decades in the making!

The main body of the text is taken from articles, newspaper clippings and personal interviews with all the surviving members of the show. Bassior weaves it all together into an amazing tapestry showing how the whole thing started, the actors' and crew's personal relationships and how it finally ended and beyond.

Being an animator by profession I always tend towards the technical aspects of a production and though not written in technical terms, there is a good deal in this book detailing how it went working in live TV. The chapter called "Huston We Have A Problem" is a mind-blowing example of the adrenalin drenched pitfalls and victories of working on a science fiction show full of special effects and unpredictable actors, all shot and broadcast live. It must've been truly intense working on a live production with so many variables in the mix. Bassior's book brings it all alive as the crew and actors relive this experience in her interviews.

I feel the fans of SPACE PATROL and live TV in general are extremely lucky to have this book available to them. I read the whole thing through in the first week I got it and since then pick it up and randomly read from various chapters just for fun. It's that type of book. So full of information and memories that you can pick it up again and again and always be entertained.

Thank you Ms. Bassior for all of your efforts in creating this book, it is truly worth it and very appreciated!

Some might think it's a waste of time to read a book about a television show that one never saw. But, although I never saw an episode of "Space Patrol" (it had gone off the air before I was five years old), this is one of the best books I've read in years. A 20-year labor-of-love, it clearly reflects the author's interest and dedication to the subject. She managed to interview virtually all of the surviving cast and production crew members, and their anecdotes bring the story of this live-action television series from the early 1950s to life. It's packed with details about the characters, the performers, the production challenges, the sets, the special effects and the marketing of spin-off toys. Even better, it examines the positive effects that "Space Patrol" had on children of the time, some of whom, inspired by the show, grew up to be NASA engineers, "rocket scientists" and astronauts. Back in the days of clear-cut moral values and before political correctness reared its ugly head, the "Space Patrol" crew served as excellent role models for the first of the baby-boomers. Reading this book will transport anyone who grew up in that era back to a simpler time when the world was a more pleasant place to live and when there were well-defined good guys and bad guys. It's a great read about a fascinating subject--highly recommended.

This is a very nice book for those of us who grew up watching Space Patrol. Well written - information on the show, its production, the cast as well as the products that you could get by sending in 'box tops', etc.

Wonderful photos of the cast, as well as models of the sets/rockets and props. A chronological listing of the TV shows as well as the Radio ones. Very nice addition to a collection of information on Science Fiction on the airwaves.

At first I thought that the price of the book was excessive, however, upon deciding to spend the money I feel it was well spent. If you, like me, grew up with early television this book will take you back to a time when the world was simplier and TV was a miracle.

The author of "Space Patrol: Missions of Daring in the Name of Early Television" has taken a long and loving look at one of the best Sci Fi programs of the 1950's. The information gathered is informative, refresing, and above all (to my knowledge) never before put in print. The interviews with former cast members is a delight, and the behind the scenes look gives you and idea of how the then infact television industry operated.

I recommend spending the $49.00 and take a trip back in time and re-live your youth with Buzz Corey, Cadet Happy, Carol Carlyle, Major Robinson, and Tonga... its worth it.

An inspiring read which has the potential to change your life providing you actively apply the principles.

Written by international speaker and spiritual counselor Caroline Reynolds, Spiritual Fitness: How to Live in Truth and Trust offers a simple, seven week procedure for fostering purpose and sacredness in one's everyday life. Chapters cover how to detox one's soul, learn to meditate, seek one's role in life, and embrace the sacred aspect of relationships. Written in plain terms to be accessible to lay readers, Spiritual Fitness is a welcome repository of good counsel for emotional and spiritual health. "Soul level forgiveness is not about condoning or absolving someone's outrageous behavior. It means escaping from the painful zone of dealing with them only on an earthly, fear-based and limiting level. To forgive truly you must lift up your thinking to a soul level. Somehow you can find a present-day gift in this memory."

This book is definitely an "In Your Face" program. Each chapter presents full frontal examination of your Spirituality.

Unless you do the exercises at the end of each chapter, you are missing the full benefit of the book.

I highly recommend you use this book in a class or at least working with one other person to discuss what comes up for you.

I'll admit that I bought this to do research, to see what else was out there on the market that's in the genre we publish. What I discovered was a great book, written in an easy style, with practical exercises (I'll echo another reviewer here: DO the exercises. Really.). What I found especially thought provoking was early in the book when Reynolds talks about the "payoffs" for not getting what you say you want. Given that her discussion about that starts on page 11, it was a lot like "you had me at hello" and I dove into the rest of the book with a new outlook. Definitely a good read, and definitely do the exercises!

When I began this book, my expectations were that I'd pick up a few tips and practices that might help on the distraction-packed road toward more mindful living. I was totally surprised, however, both by the book's depth and the eloquence with which Reynolds writes.

Each chapter takes a down-to-earth look at a spiritual principle, then further grounds it in simple but powerful exercises that I actually found myself wanting to do. Most importantly, I wanted to do them again.

It's organized as a week-to-week program, and I went through it that way rather quickly and have found myself returning to particularly challenging areas again and again. Luckily, the book not only invites rereading, but rewards it -- many of the exercises that didn't resonate for me (and thus I skipped the first time through) were actually quite powerful the second (or, okay, third... fourth) time around.

There are plenty of books about spirituality out there, and sometimes it's easier to just move on to the next one hoping "it" will change your life. Reynolds clearly recognizes that change is your choice, not some formula, and she gives you powerful tools to recognize your blocks and finally get past them.

I recall checking this book out of my elementary-school library almost 30 years ago, and finally located another copy through Amazon. Steven Caney mixes tidbits from American history with an astonishing variety of info and activities for kids -- everything from building a treehouse to making lye soap to burying a time capsule, with recipes, games, folk remedies, ghost stories, handwriting analysis, magic tricks, clowning, and more. My wife, herself, an elementary-school teacher, has begun trolling Kids' America for ideas for her students, and notes that it's a shame the book is so hard to find these days.

I LOVED this book as a girl in 1979 and am SO glad to find it here. I still remember all the stuff I learnt from it, and I'm ordering it for my own son.

I also like knowing it will not be full of "fun internet links" and will actually have kids DOING, not just reading or watching.

Yes! You heard right. I loved this book as a kid (well into my teens) and now my 9 year old son looooves it. [...]

I received this as a birthday present when I was 10 years old in 1980, and it was my FAVORITE BOOK. I pored over it hour after hour and was just fascinated by everything in it. I still have that copy (which is completely identical to the one being sold today), and it is the most tattered thing imaginable. A couple years ago I bought another copy simply to have a clean version of it, but I still can't do away with the 25 year old copy I have, simply for the sake of sentimentality. I have now bought well over 10 copies of this and have given one to everyone I know. I give it as a gift to older children (7 and older), and to friends that I have who work with children (nannies/teachers). I can't wait until my daughter is old enough to enjoy this book herself. It is truly one of the best books for children of all time.

I was a little girl growing up in Japan, and took this book out of our school library every week for about three years. I pored over the stories, crafts and fun and loved every minute of it. I hope you love it as much as I did. I was eventually given a copy by a librarian friend of mine, and although it's in rough shape I treasure it!

I've had this cookbook for almost 10 years and it is still one of my favorites! It was one of two that made the cut when we moved abroad for a few years and had to leave most of our belongings in storage. There are meals to please my young son as well as his spice-loving parents. One of my favorite features is that the author suggests salads, starches, and desserts to go with each stew, and those recipes are also included in the book.

This is one of my favorite Winter cookbooks. The format is easy to use and the menu suggestions are very helpful. The stew recipes are varied and delicious.

I adore this cookbook - I've liked everything I've made from it, which is much more than I can say for most of the ones I've used. She has excellent taste in food, and most of these are very straightforward to make -- the ingedients are all things that are possible to acquire, the steps make sense and are understandable, and the suggestions about what to serve together are helpful. Hopefully, she'll write more of them.

This is a great cookbook! I've been cooking for many, many years. My family is spoiled rotten and expects only the best for dinner. We have not been disappointed with any of the recipes from this book. The stews are almost international in scope, are easy to make, and banish the "I've been making dinner for the last 25 years" cooking doldrums. Most of them are based on standard kitchen cupboard material. Most of them are healthy (occasional sour cream is the worst offender).
None of recipes depend on large quanties of cheese for flavor. I don't believe a can of condensed soup is ever called for and I have found that for many of them you can omit browning the meat -which is the part I hate when making stew.
This is a fun, exciting, interesting and successful cookbook. I don't believe it's been off my kitchen counter since I got it (two months ago) and I just ordered two more for gifts.

I love cookbooks...I have a zillion! This is one of my favorites. The recipes are fantastic and fairly easy to pull off, even for a Mom of two young kids. Buy it, you'll love it.

I remember loving those dark detective novels, set in dark times in dark American cities. They were narrated by downbeat private eyes who kept getting it wrong but somehow always ended up right. The protagonist was always cynical, gritty and real, and the women were shapely, ill-fated, dangerous or desperate. But times have changed and I was looking for something more up-to-date, which Charles Satzberg provides very expertly in "Swann's Last Song."

Swann lives in modern times in a modern American city. He had a wife and child, and it wasn't his fault he lost them. He's wounded. He cares. Living the rather boring life of a present-day private eye--a skip tracer--he reads because what else would you do when you're hiding in a car. He quotes poetry, buys drinks all round, and somehow ends up searching for the victim of a crime, its perpetrator, and himself. The investigation takes him across America and beyond, throwing him into and out of the unknown, twisting and turning as he stays one step ahead of the reader and two behind the answer.

Salzberg has created a worthy character in Swann, a narrator with dry wit and a pleasing sense of the absurd, and someone I sincerely hope to meet again on his next case.

Henry Swann is just an ordinary skip tracer in New York, sometimes paid in food stamps; that is, when he is paid at all. Then SHE walked in. Beautiful, poised Sally Janus hired Swann to locate her missing husband. It seemed like a simple enough case, but Harry Janus was involved in something sinister, big enough that someone decided he'd be better off dead.

Tracking down Harry's killer turns out to be a lot more complex than Swann anticipated. A dangerous web of deception, lies, multiple identities, drugs and antiquities dealing propels Swann to Mexico, where creatures that walk, fly, crawl and slither threaten to do Swann in at every turn. Swann barely escapes with his life and hurries to Berlin, as the noose of danger continues to tighten around his throat.

Thrilling and action packed, Swann's Last Song is an excellent read! SIX STARS, if not a halfpenny more.

I loved Salzberg's sense of language--that great noir pace that twists you around and doesn't let go. I'm a sucker for the genre, but this book was far more satisfying than most. If you love an unconventional mystery accompanied by a delicious dark wit, than you just don't want to miss this one. I hope to see more of Swann...and soon.

If you're like me and enjoy all those detective stories from the forties and fifties, you'll love Swann's Last Song. Salzberg has created an unapologetic true mystery with all the frills and chilly phrases. Every section lands you in another part of the world and the mystery but always with the sharp wit of the narrator, Mr. Swann. Try it. It's fun.

so much fun! so twisty and turny - and that's just the characters! Swann's self-effacing good nature is the perfect contrast and antidote to the surprising circumstances he must overcome. I loved it.

This month our book club read 'Swimming Up the Sun' and we all loved it! It was hard to put down the book while following Nicole on her journey to find her biological parents. Once they were located, Nicole faced more challenges as she struggled to build mutually comfortable relationships with them. Of course, this part of the book rings true for all of us, whether we were adopted or not. Ultimately, we need to discover contentment within our own lives, while leaving ourselves open to the unexpected. As Nicole states, "... happiness happens in its own good time."

I purchased the book in the morning, started reading it about an hour later and kept reading and reading. The book was engaging -- at the end of each chapter I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Ms. Burton's sleuthing and tenacity are good lessons for anyone searching for anyone or anything.

Very interesting and realistic twist on the adoption search story. The author doesn't sugarcoat anything, and produces a nice mix of humor and deep emotion.

Characters are realistic, which is fitting because this is a memoir, not fiction. But it's very hard to convey a realistic view of family members. Hats off to Nicole Burton for that.

Needs a little editing, otherwise 5 stars.

This book rivals some of the best mystery novels. The reader accompanies Nicole Burton as she solves the mystery of who her parents are and describes the relationships she forms with them. The book was sensitive, insightful, and beautifully written. Although it was a serious subject, I found the book witty and humorous. It was a pleasure accompanying her on this adventure.

As the daughter of an adopted woman who was disappointed in her own search for birth relatives, this story resonated with me on many levels, but one needn't have a connection to adoption to enjoy the honest and moving story of this woman's journey. My book club recently read this and, for once, everyone actually read the whole book! All of us connected with at least one of the characters and found this hard to put down. As a memoir of an adoption or just as a good read, this is worth picking up.

This book is a tremendous resource for anyone who does teambuilding! Included are activities that can be done on a "shoestring" budget as well as some more advanced initiatives. Especially helful is a section with plans on building props for team building activities! A few "old classic" activities are included, but it mostly covers new activities.

Jim Cain recently conducted a workshop for our ACA group. He mentioned that the book came about because he was giving out a thick stack of hand-outs at his workshops that were darn close to a book. So he put them together and created this book. The energy and spirit that Jim shows in his workshops is clearly reflected in this book. Although nothing can really replace an "in-person" demonstration of the activities, this book gives clear explainations and examples in a "how to" format. Along with a section on how to build many of the activities with supplies easily available at many home improvement centers. There are activities for youth, schools, camps, corporate; large budget or small budget. This book is an excellent investment.

I've worked with high school groups and some corporate groups in outdoor adventure education for more than 12 years and this book would have been most helpful earlier in my career. This is a MUST BUY for anyone who in involved in training or education. The vaule of the book is so much higher than the acutal price. Once again. This is a MUST BUY for your personal or business libaray.

Possibly a top five choice for those beginning an experiential-adventure education, resource book library.

Very good written and visual descriptions. In addition,the authors focused a great deal on assisting the reader in identifying and locating the resources and tools necessary for each activity and initiative. The detailed information is useful for both purchasing and creating additions to your equipment bag of tricks. This feature alone has been very attractive to those browsing through the book at our introductory level, facilitator workshops.

The book features a good blend of low prop, portable activities along with less-portable intiatives. Also, helpful variations of activities such as the spider web and bull ring are provided.

You may find less expensive, activity books, but this remains an excellent value as a quality resource book.

For those looking to begin a library - this is one of my top five recommendations. If you are an experienced facilitator, you will likely find good information, but you may not find the book as valuable as a less experienced facilitator.

I have worked on challenge courses for nearly ten years and used much of what I do there in my other life as a middle school teacher. This is the best single volume I've seen. I was thrilled to read up on some truly new ideas as well as most of the tried and true stalwarts. Too often I've bought a book only to find that it is a repackaging of ideas that have been around a while. There is some of this, but plenty of innovation. The descriptions are clear and Caine has provided step-by-step instructions for making all of the equipment described in the book. They also comprehensively list other books, equipment vendors, organizations, etc.

If you know someone who's budget allows only one book, this is a great place to start.

This book is an excellent buy for those looking for a triage manual. I currently work in Telehealth and the information the book provides helps to guide all of my phone calls. It's a good refresher for those who can't remember it all. The book also includes education that can be provided to the patients. It's a wonderful resource!

I needed this text in order to get my nurse two!! It is simple to understand and helps you remember whhat you need !!

I have been a nurse for 18 years- recently going back to work in a phone triage position, I got this book to help me catch the things I wouldn't normally think of. So far I really haven't needed it. It seems more for the newer nurse.

Very well laid out and easy to use.

After reviewing many book I find Telephone Triage Protocols for Nurses the best one out on the market. My team agrees.

This is the protocol book that has been approved by our physicians. We use every day for phone triage at a very busy college health center. The nuses find it very easy to use and the content is excellent.
I highly recommend it for any medical clinic that performs any type telephone triage.

The Melendy family has moved from New York City. It's summertime and their father is in Washington on important business. The loveable housekeeper Cuffy must leave to care for her cousin who has suffered a fall. Since Willy (also employed by the Melendy family) is in residence, Cuffy decides to leave the children on their own.

As in the previous two books in the Melendy series, there are adventures enough to last a lifetime. Some are fun and others are darker, sadder and more dangerous.

The children meet Mark Herron. He's a lonely orphan who has a nasty guardian in Oren Meeker. Then there's the wonderful story of Mr. Titus and the 12-pound catfish, an illegal whiskey still, a house fire that results in death, the despicable DeLaceys, the resolve of the children to make sure the canning of the victory garden is done and the house is spotless by the time Cuffy returns home, and a surprise involving Mark and the Melendys. There are obstacles to overcome and everyone pitches in to see that the story has a happy ending.

Then There Were Five is nostalgia at its best. The time is World War II and life is difficult, but the Melendys love each other, care for their neighbors and work hard keeping up their home while Father and Cuffy are gone-and manage to have adventures at the same time. I'll read this novel again and again.

Armchair Interviews says: The entire Melendy series is a must read. Start with The Saturdays. You'll want to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.

I read the Melendy books at around the age the rest of you did--but that was 55 years ago. At the age of 65, I'm about to order the Quartet to read them again. I just saw on someone's blog a photograph of a beautiful light-green moth chrysalis with golden flecks that looks like a jade earring. I'd never seen such a chrysalis, either "live" or in a photo, but I recognized it instantly as the one Mona discovers by the brook (forget which book now). I was swept by a wave of nostalgia and came right to Amazon to order the books, and that warm feeling was only intensified as I read the reviews mentioning readers' favorite bits, almost all of which I remember. I can hardly wait to read again the wonderful description of Fafner the dragon at the Met, and the chaotic scenes of Randy and Mona in the throes of preserving summer produce, complete with exploding jars of tomatoes.

I can't imagine why I haven't gotten hold of these utterly magical books that were such a blessing in my childhood to reread long since, but better late than never.

"Then There Were Five" in the third book in the Melendy Quartet, and picks up immediately where "The Four-Story Mistake" left off. We meet the Melendy children again on a hot June afternoon, when they are building a dam across the brook on their property to make it deep enough to swim in. It's a team effort and everybody is pulling their weight. It's typical of this family; they play and share alike.

But unlike the first two Melendy books, which were more or less a series of unrelated adventures, "Then There Were Five has a plot running all through it. World War II is on everybody's mind. Father is away in Washington for most of the book, working at a government job "so secret I have to guard against talking to myself". The four Melendy children are left in the care of Cuffy, their housekeeper, and Willy Sloper, their handyman. The war has everyone involved. Cuffy is growing a Victory Garden. Oliver is adding to the family diet by fishing every day in the brook (Rush has chub coming out of his ears), and Rush and Randy start on an ambitious scrap drive. And its on their scrap drive in the countryside that they meet a person who will become a part of their lives forever.

Chased off one farm by an evil drunk named Oren Meeker, Rush and Randy meet his young cousin Mark Herron, thirteen years old, orphaned at an early age and living with Oren because he has no other family. Oren is cruel and abusive; we learn that on the infrequent occasions Mark has been allowed to attend school, he has shown up with black eyes and an empty lunchbox. But he's managed to survive despite his depressing home; he's bright, friendly, hardworking and resourceful. Randy and Rush take to him right off the bat. If only there were some way they could help him.

Parallel to Mark's story there are plenty of amusing sidelights such as Oliver's obsession with creepy-crawly things, Mona's impulsive decision to can everything in the vegetable garden while Cuffy is off visiting a sick cousin, and a family picnic where Oliver manages to fall down a well. But the story of meeting and rescuing Mark is central to the book, and lends the book much of its undertone, which is darker and more mature than the first two Melendy books. Enright shows her young readers that not all families are happy like the Melendy family; some families are unhappy, abusive and cruel. The Melendy children realize how fortunate they are not only to not have a family like Mark's, but also to be able to share what they have.

Although the book spans only one summer, the Melendy children do a lot of growing up in three and a half months. They prove themselves to be resourceful and resilient, remarkably able to look out for themselves and each other with only occasional adult supervision while Father is away in Washington and Cuffy is off attending a family emergency. We realize how lucky Mark is to become part of this vibrant family. We almost wish we could be part of it as well.

Judy Lind

I agree with those who say that this is the best book out of the four. It's definitely the most complex, and has the most character development. Mark, who was an abused child long before that became a catch-phrase, is sketched out wonderfully. Oren's sister, who he mentioned early on, must have been a good influence on him, because he's resilient, kind and intelligent, despite what he has to put up with from Oren. I agree with Rush when he said the Melendys were the lucky ones, to get Mark for a brother!

Although I did think Rush was pretty rude, barging in every day while the girls were canning, and demanding to be fed immediately! Did he think that just because Mona and Randy didn't have a five-course meal ready and waiting, that they were going to let the guys starve? And it's not like they'd been doing nothing! God bless Mr. Titus for helping them out!

My favorite bits were when Rush and Mark spy on Oren and his pals at the still---that was real adult talk, but still appropriate for a kids' book: not easy to bring off---and the auction and fair. I loved when the Delacey brothers showed up and bid on the boar. "The three of them should be very happy together"---good one, Willy!

And I felt so bad for Oliver when he fell down the well! That was a good device, too. For so long, he'd gotten so little attention because he didn't demand any, and look what finally happened. It forced the other kids to realize how much they cared about him, and show it, and they handled it themselves, showing how capable they were. Good for them!

And I also liked when Cuffy was leaving to visit her cousin and had to cram weeks worth of nagging into an hour. "Close the windows whenever it rains! (Duh!) Call me long distance if anything goes wrong! (And that will help, how?) Don't forget to feed the DOGS! (Like they'd let you!)"

The third Melendy novel has a darker undertone than the preceding two, with the introduction of Mark Herron, a lonely orphan befriended by Rush and Randy, and his guardian-cousin, the fearsome Oren Meeker. There are thrills and heart-clutchers a-plenty--Rush and Mark spying on an illegal whiskey still, a vividly described house fire--but they're nicely leavened by the lighter incidents like the character of Mr. Jasper Titus, rural gourmand, and the resolve of Mona and Randy to undertake the canning of the family's victory-garden produce. And in the end everything comes out right, as it should in a juvenile. This is the book to which Enright was leading up with the previous two, and perhaps the best she wrote. The whole trilogy would make a splendid miniseries on TV (is any executive reading this? I'll even do the script!).