Maine Books

Celia Thaxter tried poetry and fiction, but it is hardly a surprise that this book carries her mark on literature today. A woman possessed by the beauty of flowers, she planned and nurtured her garden year after year on a windswept island off the Atlantic coast of Maine and New Hampshire. Her friends and visitors included a small group of distinguished artists and authors. To those not terribly interested in flower literature, An Island Garden will impress anyway by the sheer passion and stamina of the author.

This book is well-written and has beautiful color illustrations by Childe Hassam. It will appeal to gardeners especially, and also bird-lovers and those who are smitten with the coast of Maine. It comes in a slipcase, with an attractive gold-embossed cover and an introduction by Tasha Tudor.

Reading An Island Garden by Celia Thaxter has become a yearly ritual for me, to inspire and prepare me for yet another hopeful year of gardening. Ms. Thaxter's intimacy with the pleasures and plagues of each variety of perennial, biennial or annual she grows (mostly of the old-fashioned varieties) is astounding. This book has become a guidebook for me in replicating an old-fashioned "grandmother's" garden. Her poetic descriptions of her "flower children" and fervor in protecting them is both endearing and amusing. At times, it seems as though she is joking when she describes the lengths at which she'll go to ward of the pests which threaten her Island garden. Reading an Island Garden will bring you back to the gentle times of the Victorian Era and is especially perfect seaside or verandah reading. This is definitely for people who love their gardens and consider them as human as a member of the family!

In the closing years of the Nineteenth Century, Celia Thaxter (1835-94) lived on Appledore, one of the Isles of Shoal off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Contemplating the lovely garden that she had created there, she decided to write down her thoughts and share them with us. Taking the form of a yearlong calendar, she walks us through her experiences in her garden, as she tends it and protects it throughout the year.

This is an absolutely wonderful book! Celia obviously loved her garden and all of the green growing things around her. This love shines through the narrative, such as when she wrote, "He who is born with a silver spoon in his mouth is generally considered a fortunate person, but his good fortune is small compared to that of the happy mortal who enters this world with a passion for flowers in his soul."

As I said before, this book covers a year in the life of Celia's garden, but is not written as a simple chronology. Instead, the book covers Celia's work and her thoughts, moving from advice to poetry with a wonderful casualness. The boxed edition of this book is handsomely decorated, with Childe Hassam's illustrations setting just the perfect tone for it. This book makes a wonderful gift for the gardener in your life, and I can't recommend it enough!

Sorry folks, Tasha Tudor didn't write the introduction to this fine book. Allen Lacey wrote it. That doesn't detract from the book, but it does correct the listing above.

The illustrations are photoengravings of the original stone lithographs. Stone lithographs (chromolithographs) can take up to 30 stones to reproduce the color of the original. Chromolithographs, like wood engravings, are an original art form in and of themselves. They are, naturally, the size of the book itself, and not meant to substitute for the original paintings.

This is an exquisite little book, issued in a slip case, and makes a nice gift for those interested in the asesthetics of gardening.

This book is in the best traditions of the great storytelling - it could have been written by Robert Louis Stevenson. A lyrical tale of the Maine woods with a page turning plot and whimsical and almost magical encounters between homespun characters. A recommended read for anyone who enjoys good writing and a good old-fashioned yarn; and eminently suitable for intelligent younger readers.

Peter Loon is mainly an adventure story about the travels of a young boy whose mother has sent him to find someone he's never met. The time predates Van Reid's Moosepath League series; however, this story is just as full of interesting characters, twists, and marvelous tales. Despite the roughness of the time and place, Mr. Reid treats the reader fairly gently. The land essentially is another character and it appears to me that Mr. Reid is very fond of Maine and it's history. I was never bored.

I have enjoyed all the books by Van Reid. Its very much like a flash back to a simpler time, when the right thing was the right thing...

After the success of his "Moosepath League" trilogy, Reid turns his unjaundiced eye on a little-known aspect of an earlier period in Maine history - the struggle in the early 1800s between homesteading, hardscrabble farmers and the rich absentee owners, who had been granted huge tracts of wilderness by the English.

Peter Loon is 17 when his father, Silas, is felled by a tree while helping Peter clear land for a farm of his own. The night before Silas' funeral, Peter's otherworldly mother, the beautiful and "touched" Rosemund, wakes him to demands he go on a search for an uncle he has never heard of, Obed Winslow. As the reader knows and Peter does not, Obed was Silas' best friend, who left after he lost the contest (literally) for Rosemund's hand.

Peter has never been further than a few miles from the little settlement carved out of the forest and at his lyrical, easygoing pace, Reid explores young man's welter of feelings, embodied in his familiar forest surroundings.

"Peter heard the breent of a nightjar nearby and thought he caught the glimpse of something wing past a fleeting pool of open sky. He had no idea what he was about, walking the woods in the middle of the night, but he did not find them unpleasant, at first, these immediate sensations.

"It was not long, however, before another reality of life, as he understood it, imposed itself - and that was the fact of uncanny things in the forest, the knowledge of curious and perhaps malicious disembodied minds lurking in the darkness between the trees."

Fretting about the family left behind, curious about the unknown world ahead, Peter's agitation is reflected in his surroundings until he lays down to sleep at the foot of a tree. Awakened by a dead deer, he appears, to the hunters, to spring from the belly of the beast, and thus begins an odyssey which opens his eyes to a greater section of humanity than he ever expected to encounter.

Taken up by an itinerant and well-read preacher, a wise man, Peter crosses paths with zealots using religion to further evil intentions, fair maidens in need of rescuing, angry farmers fomenting rebellion, rich landowners oozing contempt, liquored-up rabble rousers, coquettish girls with not enough to do and one fiery girl who does exactly as she pleases. He discovers class and the huge gulf between rich and poor - his perplexity at the notion of a picnic is particularly funny - and learns that good or evil resides with the individual and not his place in society. He discovers romance, and discovers it again. He has his eyes opened and retains his innocence.

Although more archetype than individual, Peter is an endearing character, who learns to rely on the core of integrity within him - along with his handsome looks and quick, if naïve, mind. As seen through his fresh eyes, the world is a chaotic, beautiful, violent, new place.

Beautifully written, this is a humorous, graceful, old-fashioned novel with a touch of Tom Jones and a whisper of Huck Finn. A fine beginning to a new series for Van Reid.

What a shame that the Publisher's Weekly review quoted on this page was so wrongheaded. And what a shame that I allowed it to keep me from reading this book for more than a year! It is almost as if the reviewer expected a romance novel and when it turned out to be something different the reviewer couldn't shift gears. What a shame!
"Peter Loon" is romantic, but in the old fashioned sense, that of an adventure. What hints of romance there are in the book are realistic and touching.
But it is the adventure that carries this book! It reminded me of something by Robert Louis Stevenson and that is no exageration. In particular "Peter Loon" reminded me of "Kidnapped." There is the beginning of the book, where the young man is looking for an uncle. There is the similarity in that both young protaganists come under the mentorship of an older wiser man. In Peter's case it is the extraordinary Parson Leach, who is one of the most fascinating charcters I have encountered in fiction lately. Also linking this book with "Kidnapped" in my mind is that both find their young wanderers stumbling into a civil rebellion. I loved "Kidnapped" and must go back and reread it after all these years. I loved "Peter Loon" too.
Made to choose, I would pick Mr. Reid's Moosepath series as my favorites, but this slice of eighteenth century adventure is exciting, evocative, and uplifting. The mistical scene when Peter is traveling the northern by forest and finds himself in the middle of a herd of dear is worth the price of the book. More people should read it and learn from Parson Leach about how to confront a dangerous situation with true Christian principle. Not to worry, the book is not preachy, only powerful.
It will be a long time before I let a bad review keep me away from one of my favorite authors. Sorry Mr. Reid. And thank you. My faith in your skills is unshaken. Beautiful cover, too.

Think: Stephen King and Thomas Harris meet Ed McBain. This is a fine debut by an author who, the back bio blurb says, lives in England. The book is about a small town in Maine: Think Salem's Lot. But the first person phraseology and dialogue of allegedly all-American middle class folk ring stiltified and British to this American ear: "I've not found," "midday" "half past six."
But Dialect be Darned - it's a fine debut! That's all I'm saying - to say more would engender giving away the genre in which this finally finds itself - and I just hate it when reviewers divulge too much!
/TundaVision, Amazon Reviewer

This was above and beyond your regular P.I. novel. It was atmospheric, with some scenes that made me feel like I was reading a gothic horror novel. And at the same time it was an astounding page-turner. I found myself staying up too late wanting to read more. Alex Rouke is a likable character, yet also human, with real flaws. I enjoyed the ending as well and did not find it predictable at all. Highly recommended for mystery/suspense fans. I'm looking forward to Rickards' next book.

This book is certainly interesting reading.

The story of a man who solves mysteries for a living running into a suspect he can't crack, in the town he grew up in of all places? Certainly a nice premise, and one that the author does his best to play through to the end.

I read this book while travelling in Europe, and after having spent a few days in England I was certainly aware of some Britishisms in the book, but otherwise the dialogue is clean and the characters range from interesting to tolerable. The lead character is tough and smart without being "hard boiled" or invincible, and even when some characters seem a little one-dimensional they are at least engagingly so.

Some of the relationships between characters are a bit thin at times, but the exploration of what it means to "go home again" with the express purpose of digging up the unpleasant corners of your past is built carefully. Certainly there are moments where the reader (or at least this reader couldn't) can't help but imagine what secrets might be lying beyond the edges of our own vague memories of home.

The twists and turns kept me reading, and the generally smooth writing made it enjoyable. I recommend this book for any casual reader's mystery list, as long as police procedurals and New England settings don't grate the nerves. They don't bother me at all, and I plan on picking up any other books from this author that I see.

Ex-FBI agent turned private investigator, Alex Rourke, is called back to his hometown of Winter's End, Maine by old friend, Sheriff Dale Townsend to help solve a murder of a woman found lying dead on a dark roadway. A young man wielding knives sits besides her naked corpse. The man refuses to give his name and to answer any questions. Rourke is an expert interrogator, but suspect is more adept at playing mind games than he could have imagined. Rourke struggles as he confronts his own demons brought into the forefront by this mysterious suspect who has too much personal knowledge of him.

WINTER'S END was an engrossing page-turner from the very first page; a very hard book to put down. The plot while not exactly realistic, was intricately plotted and very suspenseful. An excellent debut novel to what hopefully will become a series.

In this very good and very dark mystery set in Maine, Alex Rourke is asked to come home and help with a murder investigation. Alex is a former FBI agent born and raised in Winter's End, Maine. He hasn't been home once since he left years ago and now has resurrected his life as a private investigator in Boston.

But Sheriff Dale Townsend, brother of his best friend in school, needs his help. Sheriff Townsend has a suspect in the recent murder of a local woman. While the suspect was seen standing over the nude body holding knives in his hands during a heavy rain, there is not any proof that he actually committed the murder. The man won't confess or say anything meaningful at all and the Sheriff is stumped. The Sheriff and Alex worked another case a couple of years ago by phone with Alex suggesting a couple of things and that fact along with the fact that Alex had a reputation as a very good interrogator before his mental breakdown several years ago, convinces him that Alex is the man for the job. They need identification of the suspect and a confession fast as the local population is very upset and the pressure is on to close the case.

Alex agrees to help and soon finds himself back home in Winter's End dealing with a suspect that seems to be playing with him for his own amusement. At the same time, Alex begins to confront why he left in the first place and his actions the last several years. Alex is forced to deal with the past as dark forces move around him, pushing him towards a final confrontation and not just with the suspect.

Vast stretches of this debut novel reminded me tremendously of work by James Lee Burke. The author's use of imagery that, in this case is often the play of light and shadow evoked the association, as did his use of disturbing dreams and visions. Much like in James Lee Burke's works where the dead take visible form and have a message for the living, the same sort of thing happens in this novel several times. Alex's subconscious is very active and as this nearly three hundred-page novel works to its conclusion, the line of sanity becomes increasingly blurred.

At the same time, the character of Alex like many of the other characters in this novel is slowly developed. Unlike many first time novelists who perform a sort of data dump on the reader, each piece of background info is slowly doled out to the reader. As such, along with the other elements of pacing, plot, action, etc. everything is slowly but consistently moved forward tightening the grip on the reader as the novel unfolds.

This is a complex and very enjoyable novel and one of the best books I have read in a long time. Hopefully, this is the beginning not only of a series, but also of a novelist's career. If so, it is one heck of a start.

If you or a loved one have an eating disorder or weight issue, this is the book for you. If you don't, but you suffer from Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) or another form of crushing insecurity about your appearance which is unrelated to weight, you may wish to look at some of the other titles on the subject. While Ms. Maine does a nice job of describing the root causes (media, culture, etc.) of women loathing their own bodies, and makes an excellent case for a pro-women revolt of some sort, the classic title on that subject, "the Beauty Myth," by Naomi Wolf, goes into much greater depth on the subject. Either one, however, would be a great book to share with any unsympathetic men in your life, but the Beauty Myth is much more comprehensive.

As far as the practical suggestions in the Body Myth, again, if you have eating or weight issues, I think this book may help you. But if your concerns are on specific body parts, aging, or anything unrelated to weight and eating, keep shopping.

"The Body Myth" written by clinical psychologist Margo Maine and Joe Kelly is a ground-breaking must-read for today's woman struggling to comply with the perfectionistic one-size-fits-all body image currently in vogue. Challenging that image as unrealistic and damaging, the authors provide information and inspiration along with exercises at the end of each chapter which serve as powerful tools to help free women from the dangerous addiction to striving for thinness. Jane Pailas-Kimball, Ph.D., psychotherapist

This book very clearly and concisely explains why women in society are increasingly pressurised by the media to conform to a very narrow definition of feminine beauty. It is well-written and has excellent advice on how to counter the messages a woman is not considered a woman unless she is white, heterosexual and middle-class. The book does not blame women for feeling insecure but holds the media and society responsible. The authors argue that women are in fact diverse and they all come in different shapes, sizes and ethnicities. It is positive and includes some cases studies. This book is different in that it focuses on adult and mature women. Highly recommended and well worth the purchase price.

Thank you for writing this book! I have struggled with compulsive eating (although I would not call it that, this book does) for most of my life.

In the 1980s, feminist Robin Morgan called the power and provenance derived from men, and based on the ability to attract men/smaller body size, "abstract power" -- as opposed to "real power", the power derived from a woman's being physically strong and able to provide for herself.

While there are flaws to that theory, I see it in practice. Every single day, even at my job. And I work in the medical public relations field. A field where those guys could and should know better!

Yes, big news!?! This sexist, size-ist garbage does not diminish with advancing age. I spent, off and on, only a tiny fraction of my life at a normative size (including now, this time for the longest stretch ever). By virtue of large bone structure, I am a size 12 (spent part of my young adulthood in a size 44 dress). I practice moderate calorie restriction and exercise vigorously about five times a week to maintain this size. I haven't yet internalized anything long enough to be able to comport myself wisely and supremely unselfconciously at a buffet in Atlantic City, for instance.

Thank you, Dr. Maine and Mr. Kelly. You have the spirit of Everest-scaling mountaineers as I have never before seen in such authors on this topic!! As a result of reading your book, I feel that I have only twenty minutes' worth of Knowledge. And not the kind of "knowledge" you get from a Weight Watchers meeting (or any other bunch of self-righteous diet dweebs who think they alone have the right answer).

I am 51 years old. I am looking forward to your sequel and to seeing this book become a best-seller especially among us baby boomers.

This is one of the best books on eating disorders/body issues I have ever read. It is one of the few books that really "understands" what it's like for women to struggle with body/eating issues.

What makes this book especially unique is that it is geared towards adults. Most books on this topic focus on teenagers and at the oldest, college students. This book addresses the unique experiences and perspectives of adult women and their struggles. The book is more then just information - it offers a great deal of food for thought and thinking/writing activities to help women overcome their issues.

The book not only expresses a true understanding about eating disorders, but it offers the reader much opportunity for insight, change and hope through the words and exercises.

This book is at the top of my recommendation book for anyone dealing with eating/body issues and those that want to understand why women struggle.

I believe Calico Bush is a good book because the brave people seem real. The main character, Marguerite, is an orphaned, French girl serving the Sargent Family for six years during the 1700's. The first pages are a bit boring, but the middle is excellent and the ending is perfect.

It was an O.K. book.I didn't like it because it didn't seem to go anywhere.It was a pointless book and ended really dumb.The plot was O.K. and I enjoyed the detail of the though.

This is a book of exceeding quality. The only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is because it's sad in parts (which I hate in books) and I hate how cruel the Sargent's are to Maggie because he is French. Plus, its not my favorite genre.

Still, it's a great book with all the qualities a good book needs ( and some bad). One of the first problems to come up is that Marguerite's (or Maggie, as the kids call her) position in life is bad! She is indentured (she put herself into slavery) to a family, the Sargents. This is made worse by the fact that the Sargent's are very strict and anti-French and Maggie is French.

The Sargent's youngest baby wanders into the fireplace and is killed.

There is some lovey type stuff in that Ira, a well educated man, falls in love with Abby Welles, a somewhat rich girl, and pursues her throughout the book.

I am a Sci-fi and fantasy fan but this book still really caught my interest. Overall this is a very good book and I highly recommend it.

The author, Rachel Field, excells at making her book come to life. The people in the story show quality traits of courage and kindness. The first part is a little boring, but the rest is superb. I love history and this is one of my favorite books that takes place during the French and Indian War.

Rachel Field's Calico Bush tells of Marguerite Ledoux , a young French immigrant who has been bound out to the Sargent family following the death of her Uncle and Grandmother. Marguerite, now Maggie, must face the trials of pioneer life as the Sargents move to farm a lonely stretch of land, continually threatened by Indians and the deprivations and dangers of their new circumstances. Maggie experiences the prejudices of her new home land, and fears the thought of losing her own identity. The four seasons come and go as Maggie experiences all the triumphs and struggles of life on the sparsely inhabited frontier of costal Maine. Calico Bush is another classic to be treasured from the author of Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. Rachel Field's love of the Maine coast shines through her descriptions of it harsh beauty.

Snyder's excellent writing draws you into this story of loss and redemption. A gentle story of a modern day man who comes full circle from his Maine childhood to his success in the world and back again to his childhood home. Having spent much of his life running from his humble beginnings, he ultimately learns that the ways of the world must yield to the ways of the heart for true happiness and peace to come. He shows us that each of us is in our own way a fallen angel in need of redemption.

I have read Fallen Angel and it was a truly inspiring story. You told a story one could believe in. I found Katherine and Olivia beautiful and down to earth and Terry a true Mainer.
Now I'm looking forward to watching the movie as it is programmed for this coming Sunday; hopefully they won't change a line!
Elizabeth Olsen, author of Blood Flow

I bought this audio book, popped it into the player and started listening....I swear this guy sounds like he is speed reading through this book. Very hard to follow and not at all enjoyable.

"Fallen Angel" a novel by Don J Snyder shows us how often life completes a full circle. Snyder has penned a tale of LOVE, both for family and for that one special person we all dream of meeting. "Fallen Angel" is in a class with the love stories of Nicholas Sparks, surpassing many best sellers with his supurb talent. Set aside an afternoon and get acquainted with the wonderful characters in FALLEN ANGEL. A truly great read.
Beverly J Scott author of Righteous Revenge

Terry McQuinn is a big deal. In fact, he is such a big deal in Hollywood that he can afford to always fly first class and share in all of life's finest. Terry McQuinn has also not heard his father's voice in ten years. Split up because of what Terry describes as "money and pride", Terry last saw his dad at his mother's funeral, ten years ago, and even then they stayed apart. Terry's dad had always been the caretaker for the summer cottages in Maine, beautiful cottages where wealthy residents could afford gardeners, housemaids, butlers and caretakers. Terry grew to look at his father as not much more than a servant, and Terry also felt his father deprived his mother of a life of her own in many ways. But the breach is broken by the raspy sound of his father's voice on the telephone one day. His father says only "I've got my doctor here... he wants to talk to you." The doctor informs Terry his father is dying. Terry flies home, but then tears up the last leg of his ticket to drive the rest of the way, coming to the realization that he doesn't really want to get there that quickly. By the time Terry reaches Maine, his father has passed on. But there are cottages to maintain, and his father's only workshop, and one very special cottage that holds Christmas memories tucked away in a little boy's mind that cannot be ignored. Terry decides he must open this one cottage for Christmas since it was a job his father had promised to do. The rest is magic, pure and simple, and if you believe in true love, and you believe that ice can melt, you will love this story.

This is an outstanding book. We used the book for all of our reference points for Bar Harbor and the surrounding areas. I would recommend this book to anyone who is not familuar with Maine and all that it has to offer. Buy the book and use it to plan all of your activities and places to eat.

I purchased this as a gift for someone moving to the Maine coast. Frommers has always been helpful to me when I move to or visit a new region.

I live on the coast of Maine and have many requests from friends to visit during the summer and fall. I always send this book out before my friends arrive so that they can see everything the Maine coast has to offer and so that I can adequately make a plan for them to see the things that matter most to them. It is an invaluable guide and it "spot on" with descriptions.

We referred to this book frequently during our stay in Acadia. We didn't find any errors or misinformation, and so I'm giving it the highest rating because it served its purpose well.

This book helped our family find great places to stay overnight instead of the typical chain hotels. My husband found his new favorite restaurant in Portland off of the suggestions in the book. It was an out of the way restaurant and we would have never found that great find without the Frommer's book.

I do not like this book at all. It is quite boring and is stupid. Free is a stupid name for a young boy. It is stupid how her Mom is "strong" when she really is a dumb person.

I'm 12 years old and I love to read. This book was a great book! I couldn't put it down! I reccomend this book for kids 10 and up. There are some places in the book that would put a child under the age of 10 into confusion. There are a lot of life lessons in this book. But there are also some times where they swear or where something very sad or diffucult to understand will happen. Amazing writing and sentances that will just make you gasp!!! I loved it and i deffiantly reccomend you to read it! Its a real page turner!!

This is one of those books you'll go "ahhhh" to after setting it down. If you model your thinking as you do a read aloud with your kids, this one would be great. It would also be a great lit circle book. My only warning is that an adult says the "s" word twice....so be prepared to have your kids handle that maturely. Loved it!!!

Seriously, this author writes better than the majority of popular adult fiction writers I have read lately. This is a real pager turner, very believable characters and engrossing. Can't wait for another from the author!

I've read about 40 children's books in the last three months as part of a library-related project. This book stands out as the very best children's book I have read recently and one that I'd highly recommend to all children in grades 5-8. Some of it is predictable, but you won't care since you are enjoying this book so much and you care about the characters. The story is well written and a wonderful debut book for this author. I look forward to reading more of her work.

Named after the mighty Babe Ruth, Ruth DiMarco has some big shoes to fill. But she's already well on her way to achieving her dream of becoming a major-league baseball player. Eleven-year-old Ruth is the star shortstop in her small Maine hometown, and now a reporter is coming to interview her for Sports Illustrated. Ruth seems to be at the top of her game. Then one day she overhears her father in the crowd: "Real major-league talent. But I can't help thinking what a shame it is that it was all wasted on a girl."
Could her father be right?

This is an excellent novel that mixes deep and sometimes painful emotion with an engaging, realistic story. 11-year old Sofia Ruth DiMarco, named after the Babe by her baseball-loving family, is a young baseball phenomom. Even Sports Illustrated sends out a writer for a major feature about her. But what her the emotionally suppressed father, and Ruthie herself discover is the pain, longing, and isolation hidden behind her dazzling on-field brilliance.

Ruth is the only girl on her team and in her family, her pioneering firefighter mother having been killed several years before. Her future in baseball is doubtful because of her gender, and her family doesn't recognize her claims to grief and her desires to remember her mother. With the help of the sportswriter, her feminist friend Ellie, and, especially, her own courage in confronting her family, she discovers her true, multifaceted identity. The pride and confidence she feels on the field are, at the story's conclusion, extended to her feelings about herself. I recommend this to older kids because of the mature themes: Baseball is really just a subtext for this psychological portrayal of a young woman. Yet, it's both serious and fun at the same time. This winner of the Marguerite De Angeli Prize (for a first novel aimed at middle-grade readers) is a well-written story of some of the pains and joys of growing up. Recommended.

With the start of the WNBA and the consistent popularity of women's tennis and golf, it has become more realistic for women to imagine themselves as professional atheletes. But, what if ground hasn't been broken yet in your sport?

Named for the Babe (a famous baseball player, not that I need to tell you that), Ruth DiMarco is probably the best short stop East Shore, Maine has ever seen. Her batting is impeccable, her field skills unsurpassed. She eats, drinks, and sleeps baseball, but during a game she unfortunately hears her father say something about it being a shame such talent was wasted on a girl.

So, begins the inspiring new novel by Maria Testa, SOME KIND OF PRIDE. Hurt by her father's remarks, Ruth begins to doubt her future in baseball and her love for the game. But, Ruth has more advocates than she realizes including her biggest fan and best friend Ellie, a self-declared feminist, a Sports Illustrated writer named Ross sent to write about her amazing stats, and even her mother who died in a rescue attempt as the only female fire fighter in the area. Ruth gains strength from these forces and learns that her passion for baseball beats all odds and hushes all naysayers.

SOME KIND OF PRIDE is for any kid bucking the system and puts a positive twist on the remark, "you throw like a girl!"

(...)

This book breaks new ground in sports fiction for kids by offering both a compelling coming-of-age story and a real appreciation for one child's love of baseball. And to top it all off, it's about a girl! The author's expertise in her craft and in her sport shines through. This is a sometimes emotional, always enjoyable, and ultimately satisfying read.

Maria Testa's SOME KIND OF PRIDE is one of those rare books that will make you laugh and cry and teach you something while you're at it. Male or female, child or adult, this is the type of novel everyone should read. The characters are real, the story is fun and the message is never overstated. I highly recommend this novel for teen and pre-teen girls and reluctant readers.

I absolutely LOVED this book. I don't know exactly what it was, but I thought of the characters for days! I almost wish someone would make a feature film about it, but there is ALWAYS a chance that the book wouldn't match the film. Sigh. Anyway...I STRONGLY recommend this book!

I liked this book because it's about Maine and it's well put together, like one of the Indian baskets the main character learns to create. It pulls you along and concludes satisfyingly. But maybe a little too satisfyingly: At around 19, Blue has her whole life figured out, which I find hard to buy. Also hard to believe is how noble the Indian characters are. Some flaws would have been nice. My other quibble (I know this is truly picky) is the constant use of "alright" instead of "all right." I look forward to reading other books by Thayer but hope she's edited a little better next time.

This book was fabulous. I couldn't put it down. It's a book about Blue, who is a twin. Her other twin, Berry, died a few days after the birth because she had no brain. Blue seems haunted by the mystery behind Berry as her family never talks about her. This book tells of a girl growing up and finding where she belongs in all this chaos in her life. Blue has an accident when she is a child.....that leaves her missing one eye and other scars and a disability. Her father was responsible for the accident. Her relationship with her mother is strained, because of catching her mother having sex with a friend. The father hides behind his camera.....literally, not able to relate much to any one without using his camera to catch every moment he thinks is worth saving. The only stability that Blue finds is in her Grandfather, a Passamoquoddy indian. He teaches her about life, nature, and passion. He loves her unconditionally. He is her safe harbor, where she can go to ask all the mysteries of life. This book was a narrative of how Blue felt about her life and going through it. You feel like you are right there with Blue during the whole book. Again, this is a beautiful book. You will love it.

Great for the young adult reader who is learning about who they are in relation to the stereotypes that surround them in today's world. Writing style is easy to read, a good rainy day book. Also very nice description of Maine, somewhat idealic, but nice nonetheless.

For the first time in my life, I actually cried over a book. Cynthia Thayer created a character so real and so heartwarming, I couldn't help but feel her pain.