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This is a very interesting biography of a private man. Not much has ever been written about paul Frees; until now. Ben has done a great job with unlocking the mystery of this great man. This book covers just about every corner of Paul's early work in radio and his most well known work in movies and television. This Book is well worth the money. Paul left us in 1986 but you can still hear his voice to this day!

It is an enjoyable book to read about his life. It has many photos. All the important people in his life that could be contacted are featured in the book as well as quotes from Paul Frees himself. A great book!

I have been a huge fan of Paul Frees ever since I found out who he was. This book paints a remarkable picture of one of the great voice artists of all time. Speaking of painting, the picture he is standing next to on the cover is one he did - a talent I had no idea he had until I read the book.

I bought this book simply to read about Paul Frees' involvement with Disneyland and was quickly amazed at his career. A really enjoyable read, revealing both the good and bad. In other words - an honest look at a fabulous artist. Highly recommended.

Unlike many, I had known about Paul Frees being the man of multiple voices. The famous voice of the Disney Haunted Mansion ride "Ghost Host," Boris Badenov of Rocky and Bullwinkle, and the narrator of the original "War of the Worlds" movie are but a few of this man's familiar characters. What I did not realize, however, was how well known, and in demand he was during his entire lengthy career. I learned, but was not surprised to find out, how many hours and productions he had participated in on the radio. Furthermore, I found it interesting that just about anytime any film maker needed to come up with an exotic voice, or wanted someone to finish up another actor's dialogue, they called Paul Frees. I learned all of this by reading his biography, "Welcome, Foolish Mortals," which is the tagline for the Disney Ghost Host.

Anyone wishing to read about the career of a person of outstanding versatility and talent, should read this book. The composition of the book is smooth, and the narrative sustains one's continuing curiosity and interest. I wish that the author had interviewed, and provided more quotes from more people in show business still living that had worked with him professionally. I would have liked, for example, if the author had spoken with surving personnel from the Disney organization, or individuals from companies for whom he had worked as a vocal pitchman. Pillsbury, for example, comes to mind; Frees was the voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy (of course, Frees was quoted as suggesting he did not want to be solely remembered as just being the Pillsbury Doughboy).

Compared to the late Paul Frees, there is no one his equal past or present. Even the great impressionist Rich Little must have been in awe of this incredible man. In his own field, he really was a Burgermeister Meisterburger!

I purchased this book for a class, but it will be permanently added to my library. This book is an easy read, but focuses on the difficult issues of being a gifted student. It contains ideas for lessons dealing with social-emotional issues and testimonials from other gifted students. Great reference.

Some fresh perspectives, especially on underachieving, and very practical. Student's thoughts and input interesting. Good resource for teachers.

As an educational psychologist, I often recommend this book (along with the classic, Guiding the Gifted) to parents whose bright or gifted children are struggling with social emotional issues. This is a well-written, easy to use guide that looks at important issues such as self-esteem, self-image, and gifted underachievement. The authors go far beyond identifying these problems and offer lots of practical advice on how to help gifted kids who are struggling at home or at school. Clearly written with lots of sidebar material, checklists, anecdotes, and quotes from gifted kids, parents, and teachers - this book is a joy to read. Another great book on this topic is Gifted Children: Myths and Realities by Ellen Winner

This book is exactly what I hoped it would be- it gives solid information on gifted children and suggests ways to help them talk about concerns and challenges that come with the "gifted" label. This book was a wonderful discovery for me-- a brand new teacher of the gifted. (One chapter is devoted to the teacher.) The information in this book is encouraging for those new to the field and provides valuable insights into some of the general characteristics of gifted kids and the issues they face. It has some questionnaires and material that could easily lead you and into meaningful discussions.

"When Gifted Kids Don't Have All the Answers" isn't just an excellent book for teachers and parents of gifted children (though it definitely is such a book). I just picked this book up at the local bookstore, and, as a gifted child (well, young adult, now) myself, I can honestly say that this book has been just as much help for me as I think it would be for any teacher or parent, if only because it validates everything about gifted kids that I've known and felt ever since I was little.

I think that every gifted child should have a chance to read this book, if only to understand him- or herself a little bit better, as well as to understand the struggles that teachers and parents of gifted kids go through, trying to teach and parent such children. And I thank the authors very much for writing such an interesting, useful book.

Many in our "free" country are not free from emotional pain from the past. They are not free to act and react in ways they choose, as if an unseen grip kept them locked in patterns of behavior that are self-defeating.

Such a person is the main character of "When the Heart Soars Free." Jerry truly wants to live responsibly but unseen forces smother his best intentions. How he finds help and what he discovers about his self-defeating actions makes this book a must read. I'm ready for the sequel!

I read Kay Moore's book about a month ago and I couldn't put it down. I'm 16 and I'm a pretty big reader but When the heart Soars Free is on my top ten list. It takes so many twists and turns it is completley unpredictable! If you read When the Heart Soars Free you will not regret it. I don't want to give the whole thing away but this book is amazing!

Being an ardent reader of Christian fiction, I am continuously searching for books that are more than a "love story". "WHEN THE HEART SOARS FREE" balances the romance of young love with practical Bibical principles that must be applied to strengthen relationships. I recommend "WHEN THE HEART SOARS FREE" to anyone who has ever struggled with loss, lack of self-worth, or wondering if God cares about the events in our lives. Thank you, Kay Moore, for showing human conflicts that can be resolved through the power of God's forgiveness and love.

WHEN THE HEART SOARS FREE is an insightful book with a powerful message that can almost be read in a single sitting--it is virtually impossible to put it down until the last page is read. Kay Moore's writing style is so definitive and given to such detail that it is almost like watching a movie in your mind as you read--the rich descriptions make visualization so easy. The story is so "today" as there are people everywhere hurting in much the same way as the book's main characters, Jerry and Carol. This book is such a source of hope in the way it reveals the beauty of God's forgiveness, and His desire to "wipe the slate clean" and offer the hurting a new, fresh start. It offers hope not only to those lost and in search of meaning in life, but also to those needing to grow and mature in their spiritual walk and earthly relationships. The story is so touching and so beautifully revealed that I often found myself reaching for a tissue to dry my eyes so that I could read on. I can't wait to share my copy of WHEN THE HEART SOARS FREE with friends and family!

I am an avid reader of Christian fiction. I found "When the Heart Soars Free" refreshingly different as it deals with heart issues that are common to many of us. The salvation message is clearly presented as are ways of breaking free from emotional issues which can keep us defeated. I highly recommend "When the Heart Soars Free".

I highly recommend this information packed marketing tool. Over the past 15 years of business we have spent thousands of dollars on marketing classes. And it has been worth every penny.

But, if you want a resource for twenty bucks that will cover much of what I have learned over the past 15 years. Then this is the book. Lynn has compiled a wealth of information in a easy to read entertaining way. There is so much information that it is a bit like taking a drink of water from a fire hydrant!

My advice to you would be to pick two WOM tips that are in this book. Pick one that is comfortable for you, and pick one that you feel is absurd!! And then follow the formula exactly!

Be diligent and prepared to wait. It doesn't happen overnight. But if you stick with it, they will come!
www.irvingharris.com

We've all heard the phrase "word-of-mouth success." But if you think such success only happens to other business owners and professionals, you're wrong. Word of Mouth Advertising Online & Off walks you through the simple steps you too can take to build that highly coveted online and offline buzz for your brand, products, or services -- no matter how small your budget. Author Lynn Thorne, who's clearly done her homework, makes a great case for abandoning traditional (pricy, hit-or-miss) marketing tactics in favor of more grassroots, customized ways of hyping your business or organization. As a bonus, Thorne's writing style is both conversational and hilarious, making the book tough to put down. A must-read for entrepreneurs and marketing mavens everywhere.
--Michelle Goodman, author of My So-Called Freelance Life and The Anti 9-to-5 Guide
www.anti9to5guide.com

Lynn Thorne's Word of Mouth Advertising is a winner. Chock full of examples you can use today, this is one of the more helpful books I've read in a long time.

This book was a lifesaver for my small business, which was losing revenue due to the slower economy. I needed to attract more customers. But with my marketing budget depleted, I could not afford to increase the print advertising I traditionally depended on for new business. Word-of-Mouth Advertising Online and Off reveals why traditional advertising is failing, outdated, and has--in an effort to change with the times--given way to newer, more effective and economically sound forms of marketing.

I used to think that word-of-mouth just occurred naturally. But the book explains that since consumers have become the marketers, or a "public of one," creating effective "buzz" makes word-of-mouth advertising the perfect weapon for enabling small businesses, and any organization (including nonprofits), to be giant players in any industry. The information on the value of utilizing the Internet for low- to no-cost advertising is particularly useful and inspiring. Other informative chapters in Word-of-Mouth Advertising, Online and Off also explain:
-Why the marketing industry doesn't want you to read this book.
-Why 82 percent of Inc.'s 500 is already using word-of-mouth advertising.
-The five steps to creating word-of-mouth.
-The difference between marketing and advertising.
-The five steps to ultimate marketing buzz.
-Why author Andy Sernovitz says, "Word-of-mouth is the most profitable
marketing you can do."

Despite the exhaustive research and referenced information, this book is easy to read and understand because of the author's concise style, organization and sense of humor. The chapter summaries, topical examples and case studies, advice from established experts, and comprehensive glossary and index make this book a highly effective and valuable marketing resource and reference tool. I have no doubt that buying this book was one of the best investments for my business.

Nice book. It is well written and well outlined. It explains pretty clearly what you can do to get free publicity for your product or service and how to create buzz. It has 12 chapters and two appendices:

0. Introduction to Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM)
1. First words - 5 advantages of WOMM
2. The C-word - The customer is king
3. The B-word - Buzz
4. Virtual words - Internet marketing
5. All the world's a stage - Affiliate marketing
6. For words - Viral marketing
7. Is that even a word? - Blogs
8. In words and out words - Email marketing
9. A word from our sponsors - Chapters 6-8, but for NPOs
10. The F-word - False, fake, and forthright
11. Bad words - Monitor negative buzz
12. Conclusion - Famous last words
A. Proven secrets and tips from WOMM
B. More types of low cost (or free) WOMM campaigns

There are many different types of marketing plans. Some are pretty much just advertising plans. Others are personal networking plans. Some are stickly Internet-based, i.e., Internet marketing. While others involve public speaking and doing seminars and workshops for a fee or free. The one that tends to touch upon all of these different styles of marketing is Word-of-Mouth (WOMM).

In this book you learn about the 5 steps to successful WOMM:

>>Find all the right people
>>Massage your message (give people something to talk about)
>>Give "the message/talk" away (send out free samples)
>>Pass "the talk" out (blog, viral campaign, reviews ...)
>>Stay on track

The author covers a lot of angles in this book when it comes to WOMM. I think it is definitely a worthwhile read for any small business owner who wants to reevaluate their company's marketing plan and make sure it is using WOMM to its fullest potential. 4 stars!

PS. I just read and posted a review for "Dirty Little Secrets of Buzz" (ISBN: 9781402213373). In my humble opinion, the instant book being reviewed should be read along with Dirty Little Secrets. Both books compliment each other.

This book covers every detail you can think of and those you can't think of. You can tell the author has experience and she offers great advice about contracts and financial matters. Something that I think tends to get overlooked in the whirlwind of wedding dreams. She also walks you through the entire planning process and combines all the sections at the end to form a flow plan for the day of the wedding.

Your wedding vision is the starting point in Your Stress Free Wedding Planner - Expert's Best Secrets to Creating the Wedding of Your Dreams by Judy Allen. After couples complete an independent questionnaire, they will have a better understanding of their thoughts and dreams about creating a custom wedding. This planner gives careful attention to all wedding tasks, therefore, leaving no assignment unaccomplished. The only drawback for this planner would be difficulty removing the pages from its spiral binding as the planner recommends for copymaking.

I bought this book/organizer because I can be a little [...] retentive with details and I wasn't sure exactly where to start since I'm the first in my family to plan a wedding in the last 20 years. it has been extremely helpful in both information and organization. It does work! Plus, there are a ton of worksheets in it that think of things I would normally have forgotten about until it was too late. Very helpful!

This is my go-to wedding organizer. It is comprehensive and full of worksheets and checklists so that you do not forget a thing when it comes to planning and orchestrating your wedding. The author is experienced in planning large-scale events so some of the tips may not apply to your wedding. However, since I had no idea where to even start planning when I got engaged, this book has been a lifesaver. I use this book with theknot.com planning checklist as well as a checklist from realsimple.com in order to make sure nothing is overlooked.

This gift has given a great deal of well deserved advice to a very special bride-to-be!

"ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Phil Lenahan, president of Veritas Financial Ninistries, is a Catholic who has counseled many families on financial issues.
His extensive background in accounting included overseeing the finances of a $250 million division of a Fortune 300 company.
Mr. Lenahan and his wife have seven children."

"The 7 Steps to Becoming Financially Free Workbook offers all the nuts and bolts to MAKE THE MOST OF GOD'S GENEROUS GIFTS.
In this perfect complement to the book 7 Steps to Becoming Financially Free, you'll find all the necessary tools to implement sound principles of financial management, budgeting, and investing in your life...."
[from the book of the back cover]

I have been looking for sound Catholic advice on manoey managing and am happy this was shown to me. It is a great investment. But you must get the text that goes with it. At the time I ordered it, I was only able to find the text (sorry Amazon) on the Barnes and Noble websight. I got mine used and in great condition. It is a treasure I will share and give as gifts to newly married couples whenever possible. I wish I learned all this years ago!!

This book does a great job of showing you how to put your faith first and money second. Phil makes money simple to understand and gives you basic goals to shoot for in order to get financially secure.

While showing you how to take the basic steps of getting to financial security, Phil includes short stories to emphasize key points and wraps everything up with biblical principles.

There is no promise that it will be easy to get financially stable, but the peace of doing so is well worth it.

This book is easy to read and relate to, and even if you are a financially minded person, the "why" behind your saving and spending gets clarified.

Read it, get the basics down, and you will get to financial security and peace.

While there are a lot of personal finance books, only a few really deal with the reasons why a person/family get into a debt situation. Well this book starts with the reason why and goes from there. The book is divided into two parts: "the reasons why" and "what to do about it".

Personally, I didn't know what I'd get out of the book (I've read a number of finance books by secular authors). To my surprise, I actually started to understand where I was making my mistakes and where my place and my money's place are in God's plan. If you want to finally fix your money problems, this is the book for you.

I must admit that the second part of the book is much more helpful with the workbook, so plan on buying both.

This workbook is a great way to work with your spouse when talking about finances and it helps you make godly decisions about your purchases.

Writing about race, specifically about the black race, in American entertainment is a dicey business--at best.

Then, not unlike a latter-day Alexis de Tocqueville or even Gunnar Myrdal, along comes Melvin Patrick Ely. Mr. Ely has written a well researched, passionately dispassionate analysis of the origins of the entertainment industry's racial miasma.

He takes us back to minstrelsy; on to the advent of radio before networks; then into the networks' formative years when an iconic show ruled the ether: "Amos'n'Andy". He informs us that even in 1930 blacks vigorously, if ineffectually, protested the show.

Mr. Ely has deconstructed more than a few of the racial myths that even today swirl around the "Amos 'n' Andy" radio program. He has eloquently put into context the television episodes and the NAACP's reaction to them.

He is objective and he is clear. Be forewarned, however, that this is not a coffee table book. It is written at 2nd to 3rd year undergraduate level, ie the book is not unlike a history text book, and all that that implies.

But it is, above all, lucid. And highly recommended.

History, well-researched and engagingly written, is as fascinating as the greatest fiction, if not more so. Melvin Ely combines a professor's concern for factualness with thorough, ground-breaking research and a novelist's way with narrative into an unfailingly entertaining work that is also of great and lasting academic, social and cultural importance. Ely has delivered a fascinating show business yarn with absorbing insight into human nature, sometimes noble, often naive, and occasionally downright repugnant. While not afraid to add an edge of attitude or a clear point of view when he chooses, the author still eschews easy answers and the predictable pedantics and prejudice of an ideologue of any political persuasion. With subtle surety, and never a trace of condescension, Ely ultimately shows us ourselves--good, bad and ugly--in an absorbing saga of American life and culture.

At a basic level, this book is a detailed, well-researched history of America's longest running (1929-1960 on both radio and television) comedy show. Ely does a fine job of describing the factors that led to the show's great popularity and the successful efforts of its creators, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, to maintain that popularity.

At a more sophisticated level, however, the book provides an intimate view of one of the great political events of this century, the American Civil Rights movement. Because Amos `N Andy was the only nationally popular series prior to 1960 featuring black characters, and because its creators and principal actors were both white, the show repeatedly drew both praise and criticism from the press and various organizations seeking to promote their own political agendas.

Ely describes in detail how Gosden and Correll went to great lengths to keep the show from being viewed as racist, yet in the long run they failed. As he points out,! that failure may have caused the major networks to shy away from shows featuring black performers and delay their introduction into television for another 20 years.

Having listened to Amos `N Andy on the radio as a child and subsequently watched it on TV, I like many other white Americans, was dumbfounded when the NAACP decided to attack it for being racist. For me at least, Gosden and Correll succeeded in their objective of establishing their characters as human types, not racial types. Sapphire was the spitting image of my best friend's mother, and Algonquin J. Calhoun came to typify every crooked lawyer (Is that redundant?) I later had the misfortune to meet.

Unfortunately, Ely touches only peripherally on the black sitcoms of the 80s and 90s (e.g., "The Jeffersons" and "In Living Color") which I (and many other Americans) personally found to be racist.

Despite dealing with a highly emotional topic, Ely has produced a lucid, objective and thought-provoking work! . His shortcomings consist of his failure to take into consideration the effects of the other great events of the period (the Great Depression, World War II, etc.) and his seeming assumption that all Americans cared about the Civil Rights movement. In fact, I think that more people (both black and white) cared more about putting food on the table and raising their families well.

There are few phrases in the English language as divisive as "Amos 'n' Andy." It is frequently a euphamism for humor at its most racist and simplistic. Yet could a program based on little more than a handful of stereotypes be able to thrive on radio for more than 30 years? This book answers that question by putting "Amos 'n' Andy" into perspective, through the evolution of the program, its roots in the minstrel shows, and its context within its own time. Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, the white creators of the program, are portrayed quite fairly in this book, and their motives are also presented in a fair way. Their goal was not to offend, though inevitably they did, but rather to entertain. This book shows how the core characters were portrayed in their own circle, the mythical Mystic Knights of the Sea lodge, and how they were portrayed beyond that inner circle, as the characters would intermingle with other blacks, and also whites. Also worth reading is the efforts by the Pittsburgh Courier and a few other black newspapers to boycott the show as early as 1931. More interesting, is how those attempts stalled, only to regain momentum 20 years later, with the advent of the television version. The phenomenon of "Amos 'n' Andy" is more complex than it would seem, as it tells us more about American society and racial relations than perhaps any othe program ever. This book is not just about "Amos 'n' Andy," but rather about ourselves. And for that, it should be a must-read. I was able to finish this book in two days it was so engrossing.

As the title indicates Ely's work is frankly a work of social history, not a performance biography, and is less interested in exploring "Amos 'n' Andy's" significant impact on the broadcasting medium than in viewing it as window into mid-20th Century American racial attitudes. Analysis of the program's content focuses on that perspective to the exclusion of all others, and detailed examination of the original scripts is confined primarily to the first two years of "Amos 'n' Andy."

Ely therefore fails to discuss in any detail the evolution of the characters and their relationships beyond 1929 -- and this is perhaps the book's greatest flaw, given that the characterizations and the dramatic sophistication of the program evolved substantially between 1929 and the mid-1930s It's unfortunate that Ely shortchanges this period of the program's history, as it in fact coincided with the peak of the program's popularity, and in my view an understanding of the evolution of the characters during the 1929-35 period is essential to an understanding of the series' appeal. (I have, in fact, read all of the scripts for the first decade of the series as part of my own research into "Amos 'n' Andy's" history.)

While Ely occasionally draws conclusions regarding the program's content that are contradicted by a detailed reading of the original 1930s scripts, and sometimes tends to over-interpret in his examination of public reaction to the program, in general his account is balanced and thoughtful, and his research into the African-American response to "Amos 'n' Andy" presents the definitive study of this aspect of the series.

Ely also deserves much praise for avoiding the self-indulgent deconstructionist jargon which tends to dominate current academic studies of popular culture -- his book is a rare example of an academic work which is both scholarly and extremely well-written. I'm very pleased to see the book is back in print.

This book was even better than expected. I haven't finished it yet, but having a hard time putting it down. Highly recommend to any mother! Helped me get rid of the guilt of staying home.

Cindy Ramming uses humor and her own life experience to help you assess the pro's and con's of working vs. staying at home. As an accountant, she evaluates the cost of working vs. the cost of staying home. Although she came to the conclusion that for her it was best emotionally and financially to stay home, she does not say that this choice is right for all mothers, rather, she helps give women tools to assess their own needs and come to their own conclusion. I look forward to reading future books by Mrs. Ramming.

All Mothers Work manages to affirm stay-at-home motherhood, without needing to put down mothers who work outside the home. Cindy Ramming has been both a stay-at-home mom and a working-outside-the-home mom, and knows whereof she speaks. Her informal, intimate, and humorous style makes this book a quick read. The first half of the book helps the reader decide if staying at home is for her, the second half has practical supportive advice for those who do decide to "stay at home" (including a key secret--to be a successful "stay at home" mom, you need to get out of the house!). Unlike so many books for mothers which create idealized perfectionistic standards, All Mothers Work is realistic and supportive--Rammings admits some of her own foibles, too, which we can all identify with. The only reason I gave the book 4 instead of 5 stars was that it was shorter than I would have liked.

As a stay at home mom, I didn't think this book was for me, I had already made my decision. But as I read it, I was encouraged and affirmed in my choice to stay home and raise my children. Ramming also had some advice to help make the job easier.

An excellent source for women looking into the possibility of staying home, the book is also great for women who had already decided to do so. Great for stay-at-home women who, when asked what do they do, say "I'm just a Mom". It helped me to live with my own decision of quitting my job (and leaving behind a career) to take care of my daughter. Three cheers for Cindy Rammings!

This is the best poetry book that I have ever read in my life and most amazing thing was that I found out that the author dedicated this book to his wife who is from Azerbaijan which is also my home country. I think this is a great poet of the United States like Nizami for Azerbaijan or Pushkin for Russia...
I hope Americans will notice this guy for his talents and encourage him to continue writing works like this.

John Cary has got to be the most intelligent writer and poet ever!! Before my wife and I die we need to meet him. I saw the book at a friend's house and borrowed it to read while traveling from Georgia to New York and I read it outloud to my wife and she and I were both amazed at how this book flowed from his pages to my lips. You know, I have a masters degree and thought I was pretty smart and thought I knew a lot about US history but after reading this book a couple of times I realized that compared to this author I am such a baby. He writes with such a depth of feeling and to do that with history makes me wonder where has he been all this time or where have I been? Obviously, this can't be his first book? If it is, I can imagine what others will be like with more practice!! How does one top this? My advice, BUY LOTS OF COPIES AND GIVE THEM TO YOUR GRANDCHILDREN!!!

I have heard of John Cary from his book ENEMY FAMILY and wasn't aware that he had written another book until I was searching this website. Curiousity got the better of me so reviewed this work and bought the book and it is probably the best thing I have done in years. I have children and grandchildren who constantly talk about how boring history is to them but I when I read some of the chapters in this book, they didn't want for me to stop. Now I hate to say but I live in an area of the country where there are still some racists so I read the part about Dr. Martin Luther King and Civil Rights to one of these people and the actually began to tearup and I could tell they were holding back emotions. WOW!! What an impact. This taught me many of the causes of the various wars our country fought and not only the suffering of our guys but the suffering of our enemies as well. Very inspiring about 9-11 too!! Remarkable book!!!

Who would have thought of teaching history in such a form. I mean you have to read this book to appreciate it because it is one long rhyming poem. The man is brilliant and the way he uses this medium to express what I used to think of as boring rote memory really stirred my emotions!! Personally, this should be required reading on all levels and should be used to teach not only history but English and perhaps sociology as well. This guy taught me more about history in the few short hours I spent going over it the first time (trust me, there were lots of other times) than I had learned in the 34 years previous. Why isn't this in every classroom in every school, not only in the United States but in the world? It should be sold to or given to all foreigners when they apply for immigration or visas into this country. I can't say enough about it!! Great job!!

I am a recent immagrant to the United States so in order to gain my citizenship I needed to know your history and came across John Cary's book which made learning about this country very easy because it is written entirely in rhyming form. Also this helped me learn English very well. John Cary writes about your discovery, the contributions of immagrants and many of the struggles his ancestors had to suffer and also a lot about many wars and Presidents and a wonderful man named Martin Luther King. I think I cried at that part. Anyway, I recommend this to everyone!!!

MAYA ANGELOU opens this moviebook with truth. The answer to why our story must be retold over and over again. The shocking truth that a black man's skin could be cut into a postage stamp size flap and sold as souvenirs by his racist white murderers. The generational truth that Cinque's remarkable, chilling story lives on beyond the relic flap of that lynching. America today is the reason AMISTAD must live another generation in hopes that we try to do better.

In the palpable words of Debbie Allen, the inhumanity of slavery in America was put on trial. When Joseph Cinque courageously and unselfishly challenged America's Declaration of Independence, its Constitution, its President of the United States, its abolitionists, its Supreme Court, and the Queen of Spain, the entire world watched. The truth about America's slave system was revealed. That truth must continue to be discussed and explored and remembered from one generation to the next. AMISTAD, therefore, should never die on a bookshelf or in history. AMISTAD forces Joseph Cinque's story into eternity. The pictures and quotes in this fine moviebook should continue to shame and inspire all of us today to paint a better existence for all mankind.

Ask a man of extraordinary intellectual power who is equally creative such as Steven Spielberg to define "truth" and he will show you it in living color page after page, clip after clip. You will beg to discover it over and over again because AMISTAD commands that type of loyalty to tell our story repeatedly to our children, black and white. Readers will gain a different perspective on "Give Us Free" each time. You will cry your own script to the young and help keep Cinque's purpose alive to make life better. The truth not only sets us all free, it keeps us free. AMISTAD is indeed truth.

The post list of additional reading resources about Amistad for both the young and the old are an integral part of this masterpiece.

Reviewed by Swaggie Coleman
for The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

The intercut of the church & prison was strange yet wonderful. The abolitionists gave Yomba an illustrated Bible and he gave his heart to Jesus[alternate version]. Cinque was the man who subsequently gave his life for his clan...Yomba was the informer who died beside Cinque in remorse. Cinque did what he did because he had to.

Just like his film on it, Steven Spielberg's work on this book, "Amistad: 'Give Us Free'", was well-executed. It reminds one of Alex Haley's "Roots". Both stir emotions. Every bit of the story shows how cruel a man can be to his fellow man. And, I disagree with all those who term this true story "a story of illegally enslaved Africans", (Mr Spielberg didn't). We are shying away from the truth, which is that no African, (not even one), was a legal slave. There is nothing that made one slave legal, and the other illegal. There is no legality in slavery. Absolutely! That treacherous and heartless people overpowered, kidnapped, and transported, (in the most inhumane manner), their fellow human beings to America and other places does not, in any way, make those victims of inhumanity "legal slaves". Regardless of all the face-saving tales that those who defiled our lands with the innocent blood, tears, and sweat of millions of Africans will like us to believe, the truth is that not even a single African volunteered to become a slave in any circumstance. They were all forced into it: with no option but death. Those who ripped and enjoyed the bloodied fruits of slavery merely sought cheap excuses in order to justify what they did. But we know that there is nothing legal in kidnapping and subjecting human beings to such a horrible condition.
'La Amistad' tells a soul-eroding story. Cinque and his cohorts are true heroes. They are heroes of freedom, heroes of justice, and heroes of human rights. Songs have been composed about them. Books have been written about them. Films have been made about them. And, history will forever appreciate their gallantry.

Put yourself in the shoes of the victims of slavery. Allow yourself to really, really feel what it would be like to have every aspect of your culture, values, language stripped from you. Imagine having to sit by while someone rapes your wife, mother, 11 year old daughter. Imagine having to eat an animal which you have been taught is poison. Imagine not having freedom to marry and having to watch your baby being driven away in a wagon, never being seen again, because one man has taken it upon himself the right to sell another. Sit there, close your eyes and then you will be brought into a deeper understanding of the people of the Amistad.

"THE BEST!", Its inspiring on one's will to keep himself and other Africans from the early slave trade which destroyed many families in America. Exciting effort to fight in a foreign country without knowing its language or laws. Very forth right in telling truth of American's untold "ugly" slave trade and what slave traders were willing to do just to keep it alive. Amistad's truth about slavery was very emotional, determined to express the will of any free man who's fighting williness to remain a free soul. A Heartfelt story about a lone struggle for Africans coming to America for the first time and having to face the ugliness of slavery, this was not right and should not have happened. All wasn't lost in the end and my true thanks to the many allies: former President - John Q. Adams, Mr(s) Baldwin, Gibbs, and former slave Joadson for their unyeilding efforts to abolish this ugly sore(slavery) which infested deep within America. I truely loved this story, because it was simply "THE BEST!" Also, thanks to Alex Pate and Steven Spielberg and the many others for bring out this ugly hidden part of America's history, I never knew this happened. This could have been me and I cried when I saw the movie. "THE BEST...."