E-Books Books

I love all the books by Robert Sabuda. My grandchildren are fascinated by his pop-ups. They are beyond anything I've seen in any other pop up books. My grandsons ages 13 to 7 love to look at the beasts as well as the dinosaurs in his last book. They also love all his other books on various subjects. The "Wizard of Oz" was a real favorite. Don't hesitate to start a library of his books. The kids look at them over and over again.

My little boy (6 years old) is such a huge fan of these beautiful books. Even I love looking at all the details and wondering how anyone could design such intricate pop-ups. If you have a child at home who loves beasts and monsters get this book. There is also lots of facts and trivia to keep your child interested as they get older.

This book and the other two Encyclopedia Prehistorica volumes are interactive and fascinating. While technically pop-up books I would consider them to be more art than craft. They are definitely geared toward older children and need to be handled carefully. Highly recommended to anyone 8 and up with an interest in unique books.

Another winning book from the Sabuda/Reinhart collaboration. Imaginative and well made. A creative work of art! Perect for any child who loves beasts and monsters.

My 6 yr old son received this as a Christmas gift. We all fell in love with it - even my 2 yr old! Being an Encyclopedia it is filled with information and the pop out pictures are fantastic, plus they grab the children's interest easily. I was amazed at the detail and quality of the pop outs. There are tiny books within the pages that also have tiny detailed pop outs. These books are going to be kept for a long time!

I recommend this book for all little girls of color. This includes biracial and adopted girls who can also become quite conflicted about their amazing locks.

Even though they may be surrounded by friends and immediate family with similar hair, sometimes they stop seeing the rich beauty of their own hair. They start comparing themselves with their family members with different hair.

This book was perfect for us. A godsend.

I think this book should be given to every family that adopts across racial barriers and recommended to every African American and biracial family (where one parent is of African descent).

Even better it should be read in every elementary school in America. The beauties of long, straight (especially blond) hair is extolled throughout children's literature. So should people of all cultures hear the beauty of African hair extolled.

I loved Ms. Tarpley's comments about her own hair journey. I am so grateful that she wrote this book. I wish it had been around 60 years ago so that many generations of girls could have seen the beauty of their hair affirmed in print.

I have loved every book written by Ms. Tarpley. I find them educational and uplifting. This book is no exception.

My older niece loves this book, all about a black girl who, as you expect, loves her hair.

She describes it in various poetic and imaginative terms - her hair can be like a globe, or be spun into a braid; it's curly like a vine winding into space; she likes to wear her hair in "ponytails like wings".

There are some unnecessarily didactic elements - kids at school teased her, so her teacher talked to them about having Pride in Your Heritage (a good concept, the whole book is about that, but that page wasn't so well-handled, I think), and her mother starts talking to her directly about how she's "lucky to have this head of hair" when she complains that haircombing *hurts* sometimes.

Also, some of the illustrations have odd perspective - I'm thinking specifically of one where she's going down the street with beads in her hair.

However, overall this is a really great book. And my nieces (aged five and 2.5) agree. They love reading this book.

My daughter loved this book as it has vivid illustrations and really helps to promote a love for African American hair!

IF YOU WERE THINKING OF BUYING THE BOOK "NAPPY HAIR", GET THIS ONE INSTEAD. ITS BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN.

This is an excellent book for building confidence in African-American girls about the natural beauty of their hair. The pictures are wonderfully done and contribute to the feeling of pride you get when reading this book. My daughter especially related to the part where the little girl makes music with the beads in her hair, and I try to remember to be as compassionate as the mom in the book when I comb her hair.

I was given this book by my mother who knows I love Maupin's writing. What I don't think either of us knew is that once I starting turning the pages on this great book, I could not put it down and I stayed up all night reading about this character that touched my heart.

I was so pleasantly surprised by this story. It actually has made a lasting impression on me. I was truly impacted in a positive way. Enjoy it. Make sure to have a free day or two to enjoy it fully. Highly recommended!

My title says it all. I'm not going to write a long, involved review. Suffice to say, I read a lot. A LOT. And this one is definitely in my top 5.

I noticed below under "tag suggestions" that it has "gay fiction" and "gay classic" (I assume because the author is gay), and I want to point out that (from what I remember) there is no homosexuality in this book. (Not that there's anything wrong with homosexuality, yada, yada, yada...)

It's funny and touching. I've read it several times over the years, and it's always stayed with me.

His "Tales of the City" books are great too, but this one just stood out for me as an all-time great.

I did not care for this work about the drarf although I imagine she like so many people who are different had a very difficult time in life the suibject matter was not my cup of tea as to reading material. It's a well written piece of work if you're into dwarfs' life stories.

Received this book out of the blue from a seller on Amazon who bundled this with an order I placed. Tossed it aside for half a year before I sat down to read it last night and did NOT put it down until the last page -- then went back to the beginning once more. Touching, warm, creative, full of personality. At worst, it's entertaining. Do read it.

This is one of the best fiction books I have read. As an average sized person, I found this extraordinarily enlightening as to the difficulties and prejudices that little people go through each and every day. It was one of the most unique love stories ever and it really, truly made me feel the full gamut of emotions. If you buy one fiction book in your life, this is the one.

By looking at five different aspects of our personalities, we can see how our uniqueness in each of the areas combines to create an incredible potpourri of advantages and opportunities. Through an examination of spiritual gifts, passion, abilities, personality and life experiences, the author takes us on a journey to understanding our original divine design. With copious quotes, lists, and reflection questions, the author forces the reader into a very personal examination of the way that they are hard-wired. The The appendices are not superfluous but take the user on a journey that is exciting and filled with potential. It would be difficult to read this book and not emerge more confident and self-assured.

5 Reasons why this book is a MUST read. Here's my SHAPE acrostic.

Simple: Erik does an incredible job of making this stuff easy to use.

Helpful: The Spiritual profile that every participant leaves w/ helps the reader to succinctly understand what their next step for service is.

Authentic: if you're able to go through the small group curriculum ( video ) you'll seek Erik's authenticity. It's the real deal.

Passion: As you read the book you'll sense a desire to want to do something bigger than your normal everyday routine. You'll discover or rediscover your passion to impact lives or causes on a daily basis.

Experience: You must experience SHAPE either in book form or through the small group curriculum. Both are incredible resources!!

This book helped confirm the strengths I felt I had. The assessment really opened my eyes to the specific ways my spiritual strengths can be used to help others. I also appreciated the part of the book about having a board of advisors and a training partner. We can learn a lot from the people God has put in our life.

What an eye opener! After reading SHAPE and applying what I learned, I discovered where I truly am in my life, what I am good at, and where to spend my energy in daily living. Based on the content of SHAPE, I have made significant changes that have improved me, my marriage, and my other relationships. This is a must read if you want to get to know yourself on a deeper level, put your true talents to work on what matters most in life, and make a difference in the world you live in....

This book was a great follow up to the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. While Warren's book helped me understand that God created me for a purpose, SHAPE helped me discover how I am made to achieve this purpose and the practical steps to put this purpose into action!
Since reading both these books, God has revealed my purpose and shape to me and I am dedicating my life to becoming a marriage and family therapist. I am currently working in the field and going to school to get licensed as a therapist!

This was my 1st Thanksgiving and everything turned out wonderful! The receipes were very easy to follow. My mother in-law was a little worried how I was going to cook the turkey (she thought it would be dry) and it turned out to be PERFECT! What a great cookbook to have, I look foward to trying new receipes next year.

I have been using this book for Thanksgiving for 6 years and love it! I bought one for everyone I know and they all think it's great too. This year I made the Bread Rolls 101 and they were great. My turkey always comes out perfect using the writer's basic method. Everyone should own this book - I use it before and after the holidays and all thru the year!

If you judge a cookbook by how accurate the receipes are, how tasty or even how many times you reach for the book to get you out of a jam--than this is THE book for you. Although I work very hard to be organized during the holidays so I don't go completely bonkers(like keeping 3-hole binders of receipes and shopping lists). Without fail every year I need to go back and consult this book for some tip, technique or something essential I missed. Can't fail as a present to anyone from a newlywed (tucked inside a roaster pan) to a bachelor/bachelorette (attached to a cocktail shaker or hors'doerve plate)--every receipe works and taste great. Plus because they are all bound together, you won't misplace, lose, eat or toss these vital scraps of paper--like I did with that great sweet and savory butter head lettuce receipe....

I bought this cookbook 7 years ago when faced with the prospect of hosting my first big holiday meal after getting married. I appreciated all the step-by-step directions for cooking basics like turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. Thanks in a large part to Rick Rodgers, I survived cooking for my in-laws!

It's still one of my most-used cookbooks for entertaining because it's got such great recipes. I always get compliments on the dishes I make from this book.

I am not a newbie to cooking for Thanksgiving and Christmas (around 15 years+), but this year's turkey was the best thanks to Rick. I have had this book for about 5 years, and it is the best resource for Thanksgiving and Christmas recipe ideas. This year I made the Chutney and Cranberry-Orange Relish that I used to buy, fairly pricey for a small amount. That will never happen again, now! He talks about the pitfalls of the great ideas that you hear of the different cooking methods for turkey and the problems with them. He kept me from making my turkey look like it had been in an accident (pg. 36). You will write in this book and stick your favorite holiday recipes in the pages like I did. Have fun with Rick!

My order arrived on time and the book was in pristine condition. This collection of books are great, meaningful gifts.

I bought this book for my husband in anticipation of our adopted daughter from China. For starters, I was thrilled that the photographs showed multicultural, multigenerational fathers and daughters including a photograph of a white father with an Asian daughter.

The sentiments inside are beautiful. If you're looking for a self-help book, this isn't it. If you're looking for short, single sentences of wisdom and encouragement accompanied by moving and beautiful photographs, this is your book.

I found this book in Target and must admit I was a little embarrassed by the tears streaming down my face when I read it. It reminded me of my own father, a true inspiration, and how my husband will be as a father once we bring our daughter home. This is a wonderful Father's Day, birthday, or Christmas present for any father from any daughter.

Like the author, I'm a divorced dad of daughters so his foreward struck close to home. As if the words and pictures in this book weren't sappy enough on their own, my daughters recently gave me a copy to which they'd added a sentence or a paragraph next to a dozen or so of the author's lines which resonated with them. I nearly cry every time I read it.

My daughters bought this book for my husband for Father's Day; he was so moved by each sentiment that when his friend's wife gave birth to their first child a few days later (a girl!), my husband asked me to get this book to give to the new parents. He felt that it was the most profound gift for the occasion, not just for now but for future years, to be read and re-read at all stages of their daughter's life. If these pages don't touch your heart as you read each one.....you need to visit a cardiologist to make sure you still have a beating, functional heart! And I recommend the companion book to be purchased with this one - a perfect set; "Why a Daughter Needs a Mom"

I purchased two copies of this book, one for my father and one for my husband. As I flipped through the pages I felt I could relate to every passage that was written. They are personal, yet universal........simple but descriptive. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to touch the heart of a dad with a little girl (or a grown little girl).

Wishing on Dandelions is a great follow up to Watching the Tree Limbs in the Maranatha Series. I'm glad DeMuth let readers see what happens to Maranatha. While this novel contains a love story, it's so natural and sweet that the book doesn't come across like a romance, but more of a journey where readers get to see Maranatha learn to let herself be loved.

Can you trust God once more after your life has been broken? It doesn't happen overnight, as 17-year-old Maranatha Winningham learns in this well-crafted story. WISHING ON DANDELIONS is a follow-up to WATCHING THE TREE LIMBS, in which Maranatha is abused by a young neighbor. In the opening pages of Mary DeMuth's latest novel, the reader learns that Natha's best friend Camille has left the small town of Burl, Texas, for college. Natha, meanwhile, plunges into her senior year of high school.

Because both her parents are dead, Natha lives with her father's brother. Since his stroke, Uncle Zane moves much slower and, while never much of a conversationalist, talks even less. Natha's home life is in turmoil when Uncle Zane marries Georgeanne, who has her own ideas about how the household should be run and in what part of town to live. Throughout the story, Georgeanne tries to build some sort of a relationship with Natha but often ends up crossing some imaginary barrier and offending the teen.

Then Violin Charlie, the son of a judge who lives in a better area in Burl, invites Natha to the Homecoming Dance. Georgeanne pitches in and takes Natha to purchase a new pink dress, building a bit of good will. Ultimately, Georgeanne has plans to move the entire family to this better part of town, which throws Natha into a panic as she wonders if she will be able to leave the protection of the house she has always known.

The abuse from the past comes roaring back into Natha's life. One day she rides her bicycle to a property where she likes to think. A man named Jake Gully confronts her about trespassing and then offers her a ride into town. When she gets into his truck, he takes off away from town and acts suggestively toward her. Natha manages to escape and reports the incident to the police. Miss Nichols, the assistant district attorney, pressures Natha to testify against Gully. After being convinced that he will be freed without her testimony, a reluctant Natha finally agrees to take that big step, as friends and family gather to support her throughout the trial.

WISHING ON DANDELIONS will keep the reader turning pages to see how Natha deals with the various obstacles that life throws in her direction. DeMuth has written an emotionally-charged novel that will help others grow in their own faith relationship.

--- Reviewed by W. Terry Whalin

If you are looking for a book that stirs your emotions and keeps you up until the wee hours of the morning, then I highly recommend Wishing on Dandelions by Mary DeMuth. WOD is the sequel to DeMuth's debut novel, Watching the Tree Limbs. Although it took me a little longer to be drawn into this second book, it surpasses the first. WTTL focuses on redemption, and as a natural progression, WOD focuses on learning how to accept God's love and growing deeper in understanding our redemption.

I found this story heavier that the first book, despite the fact that the main traumatic events occur to Maranatha in WTTL. For me, I identified on a deeper level with the struggle to fully grasp and accept that God loves me despite all my faults. While I enjoyed the first book, I connected more with the second. I appreciated the new characters Mary introduced as well. Some of them I liked immediately, and only wished to know them more. Some of them had to grow on me, but the more glimpses I got into their hearts, the more I wanted to know about their back stories. Still others I appreciated for the reality of their humanity. One character in particular I really thought was going to have a change of heart after he heard Maranatha's story, but he didn't. In fact, the depth of the judgment in his soul only became more evident. At first I was appalled, but then quickly realized that people like that do exist and therefore have an appropriate - even necessary - place in a novel like this.

One of the many things I enjoy about Mary's writing is that while she is a Christian author who discusses Christian values and issues, her books do not feel "Christian." Do you follow me here? Writing a great story is what comes first for Mary, not writing a Christian story that she hopes is great. Of course, Jesus pours out onto her page, but that's because He's so pervasive in her life, not because she has an agenda to write about Him. I applaud her for writing reality, writing authentically and writing with excellence. It's no wonder she's nominated for a Christy Award.

In a style and setting similar to Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Wishing on Dandelions" is the story of a girl sprouting into womanhood in a lazy town where everyone knows everyone else's business.
Maranatha Winningham, a seventeen-year-old orphan, is one of the most charming and endearing characters you'll come across. Well-mannered and respectful, she's everything you'd hope for in a teenager, but frequent glimpses into her thought life reveal a load of secrets and fears that she shares with no one--not even Charlie.
Charlie is everything a boyfriend should be--loyal, protective, forgiving. There's only one problem. He's black, and in Burl, it's simply not done. A mere blip on the sun-scored Texas map, 1980's Burl applauds young love, unless it comes in package of a different color.
His complete opposite, Georgeanne is loud, obnoxious, bossy, and irreversibly engaged to Maranatha's Uncle Zane. Maranatha pleads with God for her uncle to wake up and realize what he's about to get himself into, but God doesn't seem to be listening. Maybe the saying is right. Maybe hurt people hurt people. Maybe Maranatha needs to love Georgeanne anyway... Nah. It's easier to hate her.
A delightful encore to the celebrated "Watching the Tree Limbs," DeMuth's story tackles some serious issues while downplaying them with wit, humor, and a passel of quirky characters.
DeMuth has done a superb job of reviving 1980's Texas, complete with big hair, big trucks, and big attitudes. Who would have thought a Texas drawl could be written with such grace?
"Wishing on Dandelions" is worth sticking it out through the slow start. The heart of the book is worth waiting for. It's fun yet impacting, nostalgic and delightfully familiar.

Wishing On Dandelions by Mary E. DeMuth couldn't come soon enough for me. I had devoured the first in the Maranatha series (Watching Tree Limbs) and was left wanting more. Part of the appeal for me was the raw Texas setting, since I lived several years in East Texas.
In Wishing On Dandelions, the main character, Maranatha Winningham is now a teenager trying to find her place in the world. Her history of sexual abuse taints the many events teenagers usually enjoy. She has more than teenage angst to blame for her struggles.
Maranatha also has to learn to deal with a new woman in her life. Uncle Zane married shallow Georganne Peach and brought her home amid many changes. While wedding drama is going on, Maranatha grapples with her feelings for Charlie. Was it wrong for her to love him as more than a friend? Nothing was black and white.
Reading this book will possibly be like rubbing salt in a wound. The same salt that stings, heals. As Wishing On Dandelions comes to a close, you will find issues resolved in your own life-issues you didn't even realize you were still struggling with. Go ahead, blow away the dandelion seeds and make a wish. It just might come true!

South African fiction is generally political, but this book, from Nigeria perhaps, goes way beyond that. There is a civil war that impacts the story, but much of it concerns chimpanzees, who have names just like humans and are studied carefully by the main character, a British woman who has left her husband, a brilliant but troubled mathematician, to start a new life. As Hope Clearwater uncovers riveting new info about the chimps, that they are warlike and cannibalistic, like humans, she reminisces about her relationship with her husband, John and her new relationship with an Egyptian MIG flier who dreamed of being an astronaut. The events of her life combine with the philosophical and intellectual musings of her characters (mathematical theorums and more)to accentuate a story that is full of interesting characters and an authentic African setting from the 1960s.

If someone had given me a basic description of what this novel was about, I probably would not have read it. I don't really have any interest in reading about the life of a scientist studying primates in Africa. But William Gibson is a masterful storyteller and I became enthralled with this book. It's truly moving and exciting and yes, even thrilling and hilarious sometimes. I read this book shortly after it was published and it's with me all these years later. They don't come much better than this.

I just read Boyd's latest, "Restless," and went back to re-read Brazzaville Beach which I first discovered 15 years ago. (Whoever recommended that, thanks!) Brazzaville still retains an intriguing set of themes, and somehow sets the scene to the troubles that west and central Africa have suffered in the past decade and today.
I won't go over the plot, but would suggest that Boyd's use of language is something that other reviewers have not stressed. It is very economical, and very rich; sometimes you have to read a sentence over to find the nuances of comedy, despair, cynicisms, and then go back to the purely narrative description that pulls his stories along.
Kudos to Boyd, and Brazzaville remains my favorite of the many novels of his that I've read. Will Hollywood wake up and make a film of this?

Since many readers have reviewed this book before me, I will not summarize its plot, or plots. I found both interconnected stories quite interesting. The account of the central character's life among the chimpanzees and in an African civil war was clearly based on first-hand experience as other readers have noted, and the tale of her troubled marriage to a mathematician in the John Nash mould (A BEAUTIFUL MIND) had personal resonance for me as the son and father of mathematicians. Although I found the methods by which these two stories are interlinked to be cumbersome or even pretentious at times, there is an extensive tissue of ideas knitting the book together into a whole. Among these are the values and limitations inherent in the pursuit of knowledge, and the dynamics of comradeship and friendship in closed societies. But the stories are connected most of all in the character of Hope Clearwater, who emerges as a strong but fallible woman, and entirely human.

The book also makes an interesting comparison with Russell Banks' more recent THE DARLING, whose female central character also works with chimps in a country torn by civil war. In that book, too, sections set in Africa are set off against a portrayal of the heroine on her own ground. I happen to prefer the Banks, but this may only be because I read it first.

Is there are trend to construct contemporary novels out of separate stories which are only loosely connected? Within a six-week period, I have also read David Mitchell's CLOUD ATLAS (billed as a novel) and Joan Silber's IDEAS OF HEAVEN (billed as a "ring of stories," but with at least as much interconnectedness as the Mitchell). Also Anne Michaels' FUGITIVE PIECES, which introduces an entirely new life-story in the last quarter of the book in order to cast oblique light on the subject of the first three-quarters; Michael Ondaatje uses a similar technique -- marvelously -- in DIVISADERO. The multiple story is also a favorite technique of W. G. Sebald (THE EMIGRANTS and VERTIGO), whose novels are closer to memoirs anyway. But you also see it in more popular works, such as Jennifer Haigh's MRS KIMBLE and the opening at least of Kate Atkinson's CASE HISTORIES. It is an interesting and potentially powerful trend -- provided only that the various tales ARE connected in significant ways. The test, I think, is whether any one of the stories would lose by being told on its own; in this particular case, I think it would lose something, but not much; hence my reluctant reduction of my vote from 5 stars to only 4.

Man vs chimpanzee: Boyd takes the wonderfully named Hope Clearwater's experience as a chimp-sanctuary research scientist in Africa and interleaves it with her crumbling marriage to a failed mathematical genius/lunatic, John.

Hope suffers from an unerring scientific passion to tell the truth about her empirical observations, a quality not always shared by her colleagues or bosses, whose agendas and motives grow darker as the book progresses.

Boyd jumps seamlessly across time and place to make this an easy one-day read and a very rewarding one. Brazzaville Beach blends a depth of detail, well-juxtaposed mathematical theories and the realisation that chimps can be just as brutal as human beings.

This is an intelligent, quality novel from an intelligent, world-class novelist.

The book is so much better than the movie. It gives you a much truer sense of what the women went through. Which is to be expected, of course, but I was surprised at the changes in the movie.

I assume that you will have seen the Movie first. I would have never heard of this book, without references in the DVD. BUT it is not necessary that you see the movie first. AND if you see the movie after reading the book be prepared for differences. But aside from comparisons, this is a terrific read about the first successful Sexual Harrassment case in the USA. It is set in the North Country made famous by Mr. Zimmerman. In fact some of the scenes and some of the characters are from Hibbing. Hero is one of the many misused words in Americana. But hero could be safely applied to the Lawyers who defended Lois Jenen.

Throughout my college career, I have become more and more aware of America's history in regards to inequality. Class Action brought up one of the most publicized forms of inequality in our nation, which is the inequality between men and women, especially in the workplace. Today, women are still only making $0.74-$0.76 on the dollar that every man makes, but that is only a mild form of the inequality that occurred only 30 years ago.

On March 25, 1975, Lois Jensen begins work at Eveleth Taconite in the mines to earn enough money to support her young son so they both could get off welfare. While the pay was very good, Lois, and other women who worked at the mines, endured sexual harassment that ranged from sexual comments to inappropriate touching and coercion by the male workers. Twelve years later, Lois finally decides that the only way to deal with the sexual harassment is through legal action since none of her bosses in the mines will correct the male workers' behaviors. Unfortunately, Lois only endures more hardship through trying to gain support of the other women at the mines, retain her job, and keep her sanity while being harassed even more. Lois's commitment to "right the wrong" of how the men treated the women at the mines brings up many questions of our society and what is legal that reside within.

Class Action helps us evaluate male privilege in the workforce, laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) and how they were upheld, the immortal power of companies, and the human cost to achieve social change. It is astounding to read the type of harassment that these women endured and to realize that it happened in other parts of the country, and to some extent, still does today. The only things that Lois Jensen truly wanted was knowing that women would not have to live what she did through the company adopting a sexual harassment policy and an apology. She never got the apology, but thankfully, the former occurred on December 30, 1998.

The was a great book if you are interested in Civil Rights history and activism, women's rights, the jural system in relation to gender, and the economics of inequality. While Lois, other women, and the mines settled in 1998, the women essentially lost. After all that had happened, to achieve this precedent for sexual harassment law the women had to sacrifice their lives. This ultimately brings up the issue of how we have to be martyrs to make any social change truly happen.

I grew up on "da range" and I'm familiar with the mines. My hometown is Hoyt Lakes, not very far from Eveleth. My dad and one of my uncles worked at LTV Steel outside of Hoyt Lakes, I think even my brother worked there for a while. I don't remember hearing anything of the trial. Back in 1998 I was 9 years old. I became familiar with it, when they were filming the movie North Country while I was going to the community college in Virginia. I've watched the movie multiple times. Then this summer in one of my English classes we were required to read Class Action. By the time the class finished I hadn't finished the book yet, but that didn't stop me from reading it. This is a really great book, and I've had a hard time putting it down. Its so interesting to learn the facts of the case, and was even more surprised when I recognized some of the last names of the people. I haven't quite finished yet, I have about 60 pages to go. I keep finding myself getting irritated with the rulings of Judge McNulty. This is a very important book, and in my opinion everyone should read it.

Like some other reviewers I came across this book after seeing the movie North Country. The movie though is just good entertainment pulling at the heartstrings and very loosely based on the legal problems of single mother Lois Jenson.

The book, I'm pleased to say, is much more gripping and will keep you turning the pages until the end. I thought it raised various issues like:

*Why did the legal aspects of this case take from 1984 until a settlement in 1998? In 1997 a judgement from the Eighth Circuit court commented on the 'inordinate delay' and that it simply was not possible for the parties to get justice 'when a final outcome is issued more than ten years' after the case was filed and more than fifteen years since Lois started her class action.

*Why did the mineworkers union maintain such a male chauvinist view towards its female members? I always assumed that Minnesota folk, historically populated by hard working European immigrants in a hostile physical environment would have been much more sympathetic to the sexual harassment that went on year after year in the mines. In fact very few males come out of this story with much credibility, from the mine management down to the union, they are really shown to be sexist and ultra conservative when females start to (legally) work in their domain.

*Why did it take so long for the mines main insurance company, who were going to be the ultimate payers of any compensation, to get to grips with the case? When they did get closely involved in 1998 the problems seemed to evaporate and the ladies got their money

The authors write in a simple straightforward style fortunately avoiding flowery generalisations that seem a staple of non-fiction writing. The story unfolds in a logically time frame from March 1975 to the final financial settlement in November 1998. Early on there is an excellent historical overview of the Mesabi Range and the importance of the raw materials lying just under the surface. A nice touch I thought was the frequent explanations of points of law and how these affected the progress of the case.

A couple of points occurred to me as a read the book: I would have liked to see a listing at the start describing the principals, frequently a name popped up and I wondered who the person was having seen a mention maybe a hundred pages earlier. So much of the story describes the mine and other buildings, a simple diagram of the plant layout would have been helpful.

'Class Action' is a powerful narrative about a hostile working environment and the legal system and it reminds of a quote by Thomas Noon Talfourd:
Fill the seats of justice
With good men not so absolute in goodness
As to forget what human frailty is.

BTW. I wanted to see photos of the four heroes of the book, the wonderful Lois Jenson and her legal team Paul Sprenger, Jane Lang and Jean Boler and I found them all through Google Images.

This book was of great help, particularly when our pups began to dehydrate after birth. There were only 2 things it did not prepare us for, having smaller than normal litters and the mother's nervous behavior affecting her care of such a small litter. According to the emergency vet on holiday call, there are breed specific behaviors which play into the mother's care and can interfere. My only wish was that I could have found a book more specific to my breed. As a general instruction manual, it was of great help. The two little pups are dear and are doing well now, 2 weeks later.

We just had a litter and everything went great. There are nine healthy pups. We had to do the slinging thing with one pup, and with the illustrations and directions it worked and the pup is healthy. We didn't loose one!!!

I bought this book to help me get through breeding my two Yorkies. It was comprehensive and easy for the non-vet to understand. If I had a question, it had the answer.

Excellent book. My dog just delivered 8 healthy puppies. I had read the book several weeks earlier and kept reffering to it as the whelping approached. It directed me all through the process and I learned many things that helped me avoid what would have been costly mistakes.

This is the best of the dog breeding books I bought when wanting to learn specifics about breeding my bitch. It gives time lines, what to expect when and also info on what to expect from the stud. I found this book to be very practical as it answered most of my breeding questions.