Maryland Books

This book is 5 stars on the top! I don't even like horses and I enjoyed the book. It kind of wanted me to read about horses. This book has emotion, a little bit of actin[but at the end it has tons of action], and of course what every mystery HAS and NEEDS suspense. It might be a little boring at first but at the end of EACH chapter... oh I can't tell you! Buy or get this book to find out how Nancy solves this case! And ask your friends to try get a Nancy Drew book and enjoy the mystery. Enjoy this one too!

This was a very good book. There were some very big surprises and the horseback scenes were great! This book will definitely keep you guessing.

Wonderful reading for Nancy Drew, horse, and mystery lovers alike!!

Hanna (age 8) says it is great for horse lovers and hard to solve mystery fans. It's a great book for 2nd graders with help from mom and dad, even better for older girls.

Silver Spring, Maryland borders Washington, D.C. and shares the major thoroughfare of Georgia Avenue. I have lived on the Washington, D.C. side of the line for many years, and frequently take walks along the Georgia Avenue corridor: sometimes facing south into the District, sometimes north into Silver Spring, to the stores and the Metro or to sit in Blair Park and read.

With my walking though Silver Spring, I was fascinated by this collection of photographs "Historic Silver Spring" (2005) by Jerry McCoy and the Silver Spring Historical Society as part of a series of books called "Images of America" which celebrates neighborhoods and towns throughout our country. Although I have seen the streets and many of the places shown in this book many times, this book has given me a new understanding of and appreciation for a place with which I thought myself all too familiar. The book includes a collection of current scenes and of places that are no more, and they melded together for me in my looking at the photographs.

Silver Spring was founded by the Blair family of Maryland in the 1840s. It developed into a thriving residential commercial and transportation center and then went into a long decline. Sustained efforts over the last few decades have produced a revitalization of Silver Spring with the metro, mall, and new housing developments.

The book consists of over 120 pages of beautifully reproduced photographs together with careful annotations of date, place, and subject to help the viewer understand the photo and place it in a context. The four sections of the book include postcard photographs taken of Silver Spring in 1917 and 1928; photographs documenting the change in Silver Spring from the mansions of the Blairs through industrialization, through the present; photos of the main commercial intersection of Silver Spring at Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road; and photos of early homes in East Silver Spring.

I most enjoyed looking at the photographs of places I know or remembered. Thus I enjoyed the photos of the Silver Spring "Acorn" and "Spring" just off Georgia Avenue about four blocks from the District line. There is also a photograph of a mural that was painted recently at the site of Acorn Park on the wall of a failed department store to commemorate Silver Spring's past and present. There are pictures of trains, railway and streetcar stations, parks, post offices, ice cream parlors, and people -- and of the former Canada Dry bottling plant that closed a few years ago. The old Silver Spring Armory was demolished recently, and the book offers photos of the Armory, its demolition, and the new mall-associated construction that took it place. A community landmark was the Silver Spring Tastee Diner which was moved in the early 2000s from one site on Georgia Avenue to another site on the other side of the Georgia Avenue -- Colesville Road intersection. A homeless person named Norman Lane, the "Mayor" of Silver Spring, wandered the streets of downtown Silver Spring from the 1960s to his death in 1987. A sculpture was built in his memory in 1997, and it is reproduced here. There is much more. Introductory texts accompany each of the four sections of the book and each photograph is carefully annotated.

I was moved by the book, as it brought together places I know with places I didn't know. Documentary photographs such as those in this collection both bring a sense of continuity to a place and also gave me the brief feeling that time was somehow standing still. The book will help me look freshly and more carefully at places I see everyday. Those who know Silver Spring will love this book.

Robin Friedman

For anyone who grew up in Silver Spring this book is essential and for those who moved into SS, highly recommended. Highlights for me include: the original mansions of the founding Blair Family, the 1923 tornado that swept through SS, the 1969 attack on the draft board, the homeless "Mayor" of SS and many more, not the least of which is simply seeing the people looking back at me from the early 20th century up to now.

Jerry McCoy has enormous learning lightly worn. With literary skill and a scrupulous command of the images and their historical background, he provides the reader with a fascinating and remarkable look at one of the most interesting - if neglected - suburbs in the United States. This book is a valuable contribution to the history of Silver Spring, but it will also appeal to anyone interested in the story of a small city through the decades. All the outward characteristics of a town are here - commercial buildings; houses; railroad, taxi and trolley terminals; post offices; armories; banks; motels; public commemorations and celebrations - but so are children, students, families, firefighters, waitresses - people who through the ebb and flow of their lives give any place on a map its heart and soul. The thoroughness of Mr. McCoy's research and the skill with which he chose the images is impressive. He captures Silver Spring's story and spirit perfectly.

Years before I ever thought about doing a book on Silver Spring's history I was talking to a woman during the course of trying to raise awareness of the need to restore Silver Spring's 1937 post office mural, "The Old Tavern" (it had been removed from the post office over a decade earlier and placed in storage). I remember her telling me, rather adamantly, "Silver Spring has no history!" I could only think to myself, "My, what an ignorant remark to make about ANY place."

That brief exchange always stayed with me. If this one person thought that way, there were probably many more people who thought the same as she did. Thus was the "seed" planted for eventual publication of "Historic Silver Spring."

As founder and president of the Silver Spring Historical Society, this book justly falls under our organization's mission of "creating and promoting awareness and appreciation of Silver Spring's heritage through sponsorship of educational activities and the preservation and protection
of historical sites, structures, artifacts and archives." My hope for the book is that local residents (and their kids!) or even visitors will use the book as an actual guide to their exploration of the fascinating history of downtown Silver Spring.

The book is divided into four chapters of photographs:

1. Through the Lens of Willard R. Ross: Silver Spring in 1917 and 1928

Willard R. Ross (1860-1948) was a Washington, DC post card photographer who was the first to systematically document downtown Silver Spring, first on June 21, 1917, and nearly eleven years later on March 28, 1928. Twenty real-photo post cards views depict how the original "silver" spring (named for the mica specks in the water) and Georgia Avenue looked when the area was still mostly rural.

2. From Country Estates to Light Industry to Urban Towers: South Silver Spring

South Silver Spring is the area of our downtown community that borders the District of Columbia. Depicting views of the summer estates belonging to founder Francis Preston Blair and his two sons, all constructed in the mid 19th century, photographs show how the area quickly became industrialized in less than 100 years. Today this same area is experiencing an unprecedented building boom of apartments and condominiums due to the area's close proximity to public transportation and the downtown Washington, DC core.

3. Main Streets of History: Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road

These two primary arteries that serve as downtown Silver Spring's "Main Streets" are visually documented as one walks north on Georgia Avenue from Eastern Avenue (at the District of Columbia line) and proceeds to Colesville Road. Incredibly, many of the early to mid 20th century commercial structures located on these two streets still survive and have been restored (the 1938 Silver Theatre and Shopping Center are examples) but far more many structures are in danger of demolition as the "revitalization" of downtown Silver Spring begins to reach out from the central business core of Georgia Avenue at Colesville Road.

4. East Silver Spring's Forgotten Origin: Silver Spring Park

This 100 year old residential neighborhood, located two blocks east of Georgia Avenue, is the second oldest neighborhood build adjacent to downtown Silver Spring. A leafy neighborhood of bungalows, its recent surge in popularity (as well as real estate prices!) has begun to exhibit threats from "McMansionization" (tearing down of original smaller homes to consruct larger ones), encroaching commercial zoning, and potential routing of state of Maryland-subsidized light rail public transportation.

To get a better idea of what is contained in "Historic Silver Spring," an index has been prepared and is viewable at http://www.homestead.com/silverspringhistory/bus.html.

If you grew up or lived in Silver Spring and have stories to share, please send them to [...]. The society would also love to see photographs, post cards, advertising memorabilia, etc. for possible use in a future companion book.

Thanks for looking!

[...]

I was captivated from the first page to the last. This gripping tale of evangelical artisans struggling to adapt to an emerging capitalist culture while keeping their producerist principles in 19th century Baltimore kept me up way past my bedtime in order to finish it. Even Dr. Sutton's footnotes are well worth reading!

This is the most informative and well-written book I've ever read. I was captivated by it from beginning to end and I think that William Sutton is the greatest history writer of all time. Buy this book! It's a classic!

Having borrowed this book twice from the library I have just now decided to buy a copy to keep in my bookshelf. This is an excellent book, and one which owes a good deal to E. P. Thompson's ground-breaking "Making of the English Working Class" in its method of historical analysis. In other words instead of relying on boring statistics and trends to explain the history of the common people it focuses on the people themselves and the actions that they took. This makes it interesting for the reader who is thus able to identify and empathise with the historical figures that Sutton describes. This is history as it should be written, a human story, about ordinary people and their lives, and how they reacted to events that seemed beyond their control.

The book itself examines how craft workers in Baltimore faced the challenges posed by industrial capitalism. How they saw their livelihoods being undermined by its cheap goods and the actions they took in response. In a sense it describes how the true Republic was lost. It also looks at the role that their religion played in that struggle. This is indeed a "peoples' history".

Writing history in this way, Sutton joins other excellent American historians like Ronald Schultz, Sean Wilentz, Bruce Laurie, and the late Christopher Lasch. All of these are well worth reading if you want to know how the common people lived before the crass materialism of modern capitalism stamped itself on American history. This history reconnects one to an older and more just and moral American Republic now sadly lost to corporate greed and warmongering. The American people are indeed well served by historians of this calibre.

Dr. Sutton effectively brings Jacksonian Baltimore to life in this morality tale that has become a cult classic. Dr.Sutton is indeed the greatest history writer ever in addition to being the rawest history teacher in the world. Journeymen for Jesus changed the way I thought about Jacksonian Baltimore and for that I am forever indebted to the master, Dr.Sutton.

We moved to Maryland from California about 4 years ago. Eugene Meyer's book was helpful for us to understand how our new state evolved and how its people and its culture changed through the years. Its amazing how true the statement is about Maryland - its America in a small package. You have the big city (Baltimore), the mountains, the Southern ways, the nation's capital, the suburbs (affluent and rural), you have the Chesapeake Bay, you have the historic Annapolis, the port town of Baltimore (old and historic, new and changing), you have Tobacco and gambling, you have the snooty Eastern Shore (both the gentrified few and the struggling fishermen)...its pretty amazing all the stories and the ways of life in such a little state...and here we thought California had all the stories...Maryland is such a beautiful little state and the whole family loves it...

Eugene Meyer captured the warm folksy feeling only a resident can feel. It would have been nice if he had added more tales from around Montgomery County (Rockville, Germantown, Gaithersburg), but I guess Poolesville is close enough. Great work and very recommended reading.

Eugene Meyer's book on Maryland is a fascinating look at various parts of the state, with an emphasis on the human interest stories that bring it to life. I moved to Maryland a year ago and reading this book brings me much closer to feeling like I've been here for awhile. One criticism: where's the map? Maryland is a geographically complicated state and a map would have provided a great service to understanding where Mr. Meyer's was writing from and off to next.

Maryland is a geographical diverse state that offers mountains, magnificent waters, and communities that range from small, intimate villages to large, thriving cities. In Maryland Lost And Found...Again, Eugene Meyer provides the armchair traveler with a guided tour of the state and explores the people and places that made Maryland special both in the past and the present. His essays touch upon Maryland's relationships and features including megalopolis, Appalachia, the Chesapeake Bay, the Deep South, the industrial North, rich farmland, a major port, the nation's capital, as well as the primary car and rail routes carrying East Coast interstate traffic. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in Maryland's "The Free State" history, geography and demographics, Meyer's engaging, informative, and "reader friendly" text is enhanced with black-and-white photographs.

I have lived in Maryland my entire life (with the exception of a few years between 1985 and 1994), and through the years I've done a lot of travel writing. This is an absolutely fabulous book: a must-read for anyone interested in the fascinating quirks and hidden stories in Maryland's geography and history. I think I'm familiar with just about every history/travel book that's been written on "The Free State," and this is certainly one of the best, and perhaps the best ever. Utterly fascinating and delightful reading.

This is a wonderful collection of pithy Mencken writings which you may often see quoted. If you have no intention of reading his full essays, read this. This was one of the best bathroom books I have ever had. It is funny, amusing, nihilistic, and condescendingly brutal (or is it brutally condescending?). Mencken writes with the authority of a god, but one with a strong sense of humor and an honest reverence for honesty. This is one of the most original, interesting, and inspirational American writers period. So pick up a copy and see your illusions melt away.

Chock-full of interesting and valuable insights, Minority Report encapsulates much of the Mencken oeuvre. The author never leaves room for doubt about his meaning. Not a few of the notebook entries reveal that Mencken had an inclination towards the visionary, as when he treats of scientific subjects. Mencken means everything he says; and although his writing has a very sharp flavor, his implicit message to the reader is that he is being as honest as possible within the confines of his own talents of reasoning and understanding. Mencken offends only insofar as the reader is guilty of taking himself too seriously. As the average entry is relatively brief, Minority Report accommodates all those who love to read deep but fun literature yet who find themselves always in a hurry with little time to devote to prolonged readings. Enthusiasts of H.L. Mencken will be pleased to find his hallmark of iconoclasm stamped on every page of Minority Report. For those new to Mencken, this is a good place to start. Those who have smarted aplenty from his other writings, either from too much laughter or from having watched their cherished preconceived notions herded to the slaughterhouse, should be pleasantly surprised by the depth, range and poignancy of H.L. Mencken's notebooks.

This outstanding collection of pithy, sage, irreverent and frequently hilarious snippets by the master wordsmith Henry Louis Mencken were prefaced by a statement of his disappointment that he wouldn't enjoy another lifetime in which he could develop his notes into articles or books. I too share his regret. As one who was captivated by the clarity and accuracy of his writings at a tender age, it gives me great pleasure to reread a replacement copy of Minority Report. If you only read two books by the Supreme American Iconoclast, make this one of them (by the way, the other should be 'A Mencken Chrestomathy'). You'll not be sorry!

This selection of HLM aphorisms appeared in his later years at the age of 68, just before his health seriously deteriorated. Basically a book of about 432 short witticisms, much like A. Bierce's DEVIL'S DICTIONARY, but with a bit too much bile a times. Obviously, he enjoys jabbing at the powerful ("Roosevelt II", among others), the New Deal, Lawyers, Politicians, Professors, just about everyone, or, all the hippocrites, idiots,morons,(standard words in the HLM lexicon) out there. Politically he seems to subscribe to the hard Victorian "Sink or Swim" philosophy, and constantly cracks those who cannot pull their own weight. Democracy? A sham for losers and loafers. Elections? Only those who have supported themselves for 5 years need apply. Mississippians and Tenneseeans? Mainly dim wits and holy rollers of inferior stock. Some of these comments get repetitive, and more than a little tasteless. But,still, at his best, he is incomparable, especially in critiqueing organized (mainly Christian) religion. In his view a total sham, completely irrational and unscientific. In fact, the world would be vastly improved if everyone took a few moments to consider his irreverent, but totally honest, religion comments.Wars? Completely without morals and really a suckers game run by incompetents with no knowledge of the horrors being unleached. So today HLM would be a far right libertarian, but would shoot his poisonous darts to all the war mongerers and phoney flag wavers. So where is today's HLM? There are a few who try, but none who can come close!

What a wonderful story! I was amazed that the author is a man. The character of Sheila Redden is so believable and your sympathy is with her even though she is about to leave her son. Ordinarily that would lose me as far as any compassion is concerned. I really enjoy Mr. Moore's style of writing and plan on reading all of his other books.

Wonderfully romantic reading, but not sappy or "unreal"......I loved this book from page one until the end.........a woman's awakening to her life. Highly recommend it.

Wow! What a book! I don't usually read romance novels, and I'm still unsure as to what compelled me to buy this one. But whatever the reason, I'm glad I did!

Had someone handed me this book to read, stripped of its cover thus leaving me no clue as to whom had written it, never in a million years would I have guessed the author to be a man!
Brian Moore should be commended for his impressive ability at bringing to life the totally believable female character portrayed in this book. Few male writers can successfully execute on paper such a vivid and candid depiction of a middle-aged woman in turmoil--the revealing of her innermost thoughts about herself and the world around her as she grapples with the sensitive issues of aging and sexuality.

Anticipating her husband's arrival in France to celebrate their second honeymoon, Sheila Redden dreams of rekindling the passions and excitement once present in their stale, sixteen-year marriage. However, disillusioned by his many excuses for not showing up to meet her, Sheila soon becomes painfully aware that her husband's busy schedule with tending patients takes precedence over her happiness. Lonely and deeply hurt, Sheila does what I guess many emotionally-neglected wives would do--she has an affair. I don't think that she intentionally went out looking to get laid--it was just something that happened quite naturally given the vulnerable state of mind she was in at the time. What starts out as a seemingly innocent enough chat with a handsome young American in a Paris diner, suddenly magnifies into something far more serious. Riddled with guilt, yet driven by the desire to walk away from her loveless marriage in favor of a more independent life, Sheila confesses to her husband (over the phone!) that she is in love with another man. What follows Sheila's confession is an unexpected train of events that will drastically change the lives of all of those she touches.

As I've said before--Wow! What a book! This is one of those
'once upon a time' fairy tale romances, but one in which no one at the end rides off into the sunset happily ever after.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to just kick back and enjoy a good ole' fashioned, brilliantly-written romance novel. But be forewarned--some of the lovemaking scenes are quite explicit.

TWO THUMBS UP FOR THIS THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE NOVEL!

Smart, quiet, shy, too tall, Sheila had never been on her own. She went from dependence on her parents to dependence on a husband. After 15 years of marriage, a long-planned 2nd honeymoon sets into motion the chain of events which leads her away from her safe, ordered, boring existence, and awakens a desire for autonomy.

Moore's cool, precise, detached prose steers the reader through an emotional storm. If anything, this coolness enhances the intensely erotic scenes in the story. As always with Brian Moore, the tale seems to be driven by its own internal workings, and the personalities of its characters. Yet the ending is neither staid nor predictable. You will not be able to put this book down easily, or to put it out of your mind until long after you have finished reading it.

This is perhaps the most pleasurable "academic" history I have come across. Although it provides an extensive account of life in the Chesapeake through the lives and business dealings - and there are plenty of those enumerated - of the tenacious Carroll family, I was also struck by Ronald Hoffman's major theme of family continuity, of purpose driven by recollection and ambition that the Carrolls had in spades. The very tightly researched accounts of the family history in Ireland, and of all the other families like them in the chaos of the 17th century, is little short of astonishing. I'll admit to an enduring interest in Irish history, but this one illustrates why Carrolls and others left their broken aristocracy. That continuity touches on my own forebearers, one of whom was a first cousin of Charles Carroll of Carrollton's. She married another Irish immigrant Marylander and set out in 1796 to populate the then frontier in Kentucky with other Catholics, I am sure at direction of one of their neighbors in Upper Marlborough, MD, Fr. John Carroll, first Catholic bishop in America and also Charles' first cousin. A great read on many levels.

Ronald Hoffman is an excellent historian who has brought great knowledge of Chesapeake social and cultural history to this biographical work that places three generations of the Carroll family within their colonial context. It is a wonderful biography that gets the reader into the minds and lives of these three Charles Carroll's. But for me the best thing was the number of times it made me think, "Oh, that's how it was." I have read enough colonial history to know that there were lots of tenant laborers and not just slaves in the region, to know that Catholic Maryland quickly became Anglican Maryland, and to know that the Revolution was not just about ideas but also about social change. Ronald Hoffman's narrative, however, really brings these facts home. His book is not about any one of these issues in particular, but in telling the story of three generations of Carroll's in Maryland he brings home the greater circumstances of the colony better than many historians who have set out to make a case for one of the above arguments, or many of the other fascinating takes on early Chesapeake society contained in this highly readable book. I have not read any book lately that I enjoyed more.

Traditional patriotism demands that we believe that the founding fathers of America were all great democratic idealist. Although this may have been true for some, many others had no problem with the idea of an elite ruling class, so long as they were considered the elite. Thus the victory over England can be viewed as less of an American Democratic Revolution and more of a power transition from the English crown to the new American aristocracy.

A primary example of this American elite class was Maryland representative Charles Carroll of Carrollton. A signer of the American Declaration of Independence, Charles of Carrollton was a wealthy planter and businessman who became such not by his own doings but primarily through the inheritance and molding of his father, Charles Carroll of Annapolis. Ever mindful of his Irish and Catholic roots and the persecution therein by English aristocrats, the elder Charles did everything in his power to equip his son to fend off those who would attempt to cripple him politically and economically. In so doing, the elder Charles created a mindset of elitism within his son.

This irony is highlighted by Ronald Hoffman in his book, "Princes of Ireland, Planters of Europe," in which he examines the Carroll family and traces how a persecuted family from Ireland in 1500 came to be one of the prominent families in America by the time of the American Revolution

I was originally attracted to this book out of a simple curiosity about the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence (Charles Carroll outlived Adams and Jefferson by about six years, or about 56 years after 1776!). On a deeper level, I hoped to learn more about the kind of early capitalist that would be attracted to signing on to the American Revolution in general. What this book helped me discover was a family that had over time become focused, almost obsessed, with making a buck under fairly adverse circumstances (namely, continuing in their Roman Catholic faith that made it difficult for them to thrive, even in an enclave as seemingly sympathetic as colonial Maryland, with its relatively large Catholic population). But when the time came for this family to rise above its simple wealth building and to champion the cause of the Revolution, it did indeed rise to the occasion, however brief and painful the process might be. (Hoffman attends to both the private and public lives of the Carrolls.) The history of the Carrolls is a part of the history of the magic that was the American Revolution. It is not surprising that the book ends abruptly with the death of Charles Carroll's father and his wife, about 10 days apart from one another in 1782 (though there is a brief summing up of Carroll's remaining 50 years and the attention attracted by his death in 1832). The story is told, the dynasty pretty much complete.

What's the book like? At times it seems downright willfully prosaic, and the story proceeds much like a carefully written doctoral dissertation - all conclusions fully supported and made in as logical a context as possible, all contentions politically correct for our time. Hoffman's goal is of course to be scholarly and thorough, not to be entertaining or controversial. Thus the sweep of this history must emerge and coalesce in the mind of the reader. Leave being beaten over the head with the broader conclusions inherent in the narrative to more popularly written histories.

Suffice it to say, if you're a municipal library and you need to beef up your Revolutionary War material, this is a prime buy. If you're a true history buff, this would be an excellent choice to work into your reading list. It has the effect of immersing you into the spirit of the times and providing you with detail you could not have imagined you would find interesting (but you do). If you're a casual reader, just be advised - this is heavy stuff. It's not an easy read, but it is ultimately a rewarding one.

good chronological account of Early's 1864 campaign many interesting side notes to a little studied Confederate actio

Mr. Judge does history a great justice by writing the history of the Invasion of Washington from its inception. He covers the early phase from a confederate defeat at Cloyds Mountain in Pulaski County just south of Blacksburg (VA. Tech), takes you to Lynchburg and Early's arrival and the subsequent journey to Washington D.C. Gives the reader the complete field of study of the campaign. Wonderful description of future Baltimore Police Chief Harry Gilmore who was a colorful confederate calavary leader as well as a vivid description of the hidden valley of the Shennodoah, Fort Valley.

This book is must reading for anyone interested in Civil War history or who lives in the areas between Monocacy Junction and Washington, D. C. where this action occurred. The book provides a detailed synopsis of the action and is loaded with details of the local history, much of which remains intact for anyone interested in retracing the course of Early's raid.

Season of Fire proves to be a well written and well researched book on Confederacy's last effort to do something meaningful by trying to attacked Washington DC. Led by General Jubal Early, the Confederate forces came pretty close to success and the authors were correct in saying that even if the occupation of Union capitol would only be momentary, the political and morale cost would be devastating for the north. While hindsight make this campaign almost a sideshow, the book revealed how close it really was to being a main event.

Right when you start feeling nauseous from all the sugar-coated sentimentalism in the world, or cynical from the overbearing and stolid commercialism in many publications today, a book like "Songs of Myself" comes along and reminds you that yes, there are real people out there, with real problems, and learning real life lessons.

I picked up this collection of short memoirs on assignment for a college course in memoir writing, believing it to be another boring textbook. Instead, I found myself reading long into the night, unable to put it down, gripped with the reality of these stories.

The writers in "Episodes From the Edge of Adulthood" cannot be called children but are not your stereotypical teenagers. They are unique individuals with intense emotions. Whether they're dealing with unexpected early pregnancy, death of loved ones, life-threatening situations, or simply the first time living away from home, these writers tell their stories succinctly and with raw emotion. True, the writing is at times amaturish, but it is really the stories that grip you, that make you laugh out loud or literally cry in sympathy, pain, or horror. The fact that they really happened is what gives them their power.

I would strongly recommend this for any student of memoir looking for examples of their peers. I would also recommend this collection of stories for any teenager, or even adult, who desires to walk a while in the shoes of another - to realize the deep emotions of someone on the Edge of Adulthood.

Very insightful. This collection showed almost brutal honesty. A worthwhile read for all.

Each memoir lends a different voice to the song of these student's lives. I learned so much about myself by reading about how each person bravely faced what could have destroyed them,but instead made them stronger in spirit. I was honored to have my painting in the book.

I submitted a the only painting that was published in the book(it opens the section on pregnancy) and i was honored to have my work surrounded by such honest and heartwrenching memories of my those in my generation. This book is truly unique in that it tells the story of people just reaching the threshold of adulthood, and how they reached that point.

I orginally bought this book in 1988 and thought it a beautifully written book on not only bird watching but of a Washington that no longer exists due to modern highways and bustle. I recently purchased this book for a friend who is a bird watcher and has lived in DC. I hope he will like it as much as I do. Jenny Brake

This is one of those rare books that lifts you out of your chair and brings you along on a soaring journey to the natural world beyond the government office windows. It is written as a daily journal of nature explorations in and around Washington, D.C. and makes a perfect companion for any watcher of spring. The author was a keen observer of natural life when he wrote the book in 1945, and the watchful naturalist today will find much to celebrate in the wildlife that is still here today, and also much to mourn that has been lost in the intervening decades. No more do we have rafts of mergansers resting in the Tidal Basin, but Dyke Marsh is still the place to see waterthrushes, and herons still stop by the ponds on the Mall. Halle's eloquent musings on the question of "What is important?" are still relevant today, as the press and government continue to occupy themselves with matters of man-made events and ignore the real news happening all around us--the news of the actual world going about its business completely unconcerned with scandal or finance. Swans still fly south over government office buildings, and anyone who notices and rejoices in such happenings will find a true friend in this marvelous book.

This a book from another time which is still relevant to our day and age. The writer takes time from a boring desk job in wartime Washington to provide timeless observations about nature along the Potomac river as he experiences it in early morning bicycle rides. He indirectly puts man in his place and foretells many of the things environmentalists have rediscovered in the last 20 years. Highly recommended in general, but especially if you have any familiarity with the area around Washington, DC.

Louis Halle reveals his soul in this evocative love letter to the stirrings of spring. Though set along Rock Creek and the Potomac River in and around Washington, this work will transport you away from this world into another time and place in which the sheer joy of seeing nature burst into color will overwhelm you. Close your eyes and have someone read this book to you and you will be able to smell the tidal waters and hear the wind in the marsh grass. Halle's book is pure pleasure.