Medicine Books

Indispensable for the armchair herbalist

I just bought my second copy of The Complete Medicinal Herbal (my first was lost) and am so happy to have it back again!

Ms. Ody certainly knows her herb uses and she shares that knowledge in a straightforward, understandable manner. The images are plentiful and make plant identification easy. Luckily, while this book is currently out of print, it can often be found used, for an affordable price.

Be you an armchair herbalist, a writer in need of common sense reference or just curious, this book is well worth the having.

I use this book often. The illustrations are great and clarifies
which parts of the herb to use. The instuctions covering how to prepare assorted concoctions is essential.

I thought this book was the most complete herbal book I have ever seen. Why? The A-Z listings with the pictures were great. She breaks down the several ways each herb can be used and for what along with making it easy to understand. She includes dried herbs, oil, tincture etc. She shows a picture of each, what to do with each and how to do it. With illustrations she shows how to harvest and dry, how to make herbal remedies, (again with picture instructions) Tinctures, infused oils, along with and creams and ointments. I thought it was extremely detailed and designed for the beginner. I am a true believer in natural medicine and the use of essential oils and herbs but I don't want to take classes or do a huge study to know what or how to use them. This is the answer. Simple, good pictures, complete as I will ever need and for the beginner and advanced alike. This book is a must have!

A must have book! If looking for an exhaustive herbal, you might try the German monographs, and others (although I've yet to see an all exhaustive on herbology), but for home or professional use, this is an awesome book! Has some projects, and many uses for the herbs that are in this wonderful book.

A library wouldn't be complete without it!

The book is lovely as far as pictures goes, but she leaves out some basic stuff that a beginner wants to know. I managed to figure it out, but it wasn't easy. For instance, she tells you to use a simple, but then doesn't explain the term.

I bought the book specifically to make eucalypus oil and a cough syrup, but she really doesn't tell you which method, hot or cold. With the herb Comfrey, she tells you it's a hot infusion and with Marigold she tells you it's a cold infusion. Being a beginner, I didn't know the difference between an infused oil and an essential oil, which caused alot of frustration. If she had devoted a couple of sentences under the infused oil section explaining that essential oils are very different and need specialized equipment, it would have saved me some frustration and less disappointment of the book. I had to find this out by searching on the internet.

She is from the United Kingdom and all her recipes are in european measures, so they all have to be converted, and I really had a hard time with that, maybe you won't. Although she does give you a conversion table for dosages. I did manage to make a cough syrup but I had doubts about my calculations. My husband is still alive, by the way.

She mentions Cherry bark as one of the remedies for coughs but doesn't have Cherry bark in the visual directory, which means there is no information on it at all.

After having said all of that, the descriptions and pictures of each plant is wonderful. Also, she lists combinations that are good together, like for coughs. There are 85 herbs listed in the book. It makes a good reference, but I will definately need another book to supplement it.

This book was extremely helpful to me. I never gave much thought to the healing ministry, mainly because it all seemed so foreign and so over-the-top. I thought all faith healers were a bunch of kooks and that miraculous healings were few and far between. It's sad that I thought all of that because I am a Christian and I grew up in a Christian home. Then I started dating this guy who felt called into the healing ministry. I was really troubled by this (and so was my family). So I started doing research. I didn't want to just bail out on anything if the healing ministry is valid, if it's real and it's of God. I came across this book and it explained it all for me. If you have doubts about the healing ministry, or you just need some more information... Read this book. It's amazing. There are some things in it than I have doubts about, but those are just small issues; trivial things that probably aren't that important. I like this book because Dr MacNutt isn't some radical, holy-rolling, throw-the-spirit-at-all-people kind of person. He is down to earth and he lays out the facts like they are. He doesn't claim to know the mysteries behind healing and even confesses that he, in no way, has all the answers. But this guy is experienced and it is well worth your time to read this book.

I believe that every Christian should read this book. It explains God's healing power in a very understandable and down to earth manner.

This is a very informative and helpful book. I recommend it for anyone striving for an understanding of hands-on healing. The book is written for any Christian, Catholic or Protestant, not just clergy.

This book has become the model I use for the healing ministry I lead.
Practical & Spirit led.

MacNutt has compiled the definitive work in Christian healing. Any church with or without a healing ministry would profit from a study of this book

Part one walks us through the usually explanations and rationale that a lot of people need as preparation for healing if they've grown up in naturalistic, materialistic educational systems. We need to be reminded of the plausibility that the transcendent God we believe in really does transcend. The only thing I might have found interesting that isn't included here would be a brief background of the philosophical foundations of modernity and rationalism, although it might not have been appropriate for MacNutt's intended audience.

Part two is an essential reminder of the necessity of faith and loving when it comes to healing. The book strikes a good balance between the theological, the practical, and the exhortative.


Part three is perhaps the most useful part of the work. It divides healing into four categories: forgiveness, emotional healing, physical healing, and exorcism. It gives careful analysis of each situation and practical approaches to prayer. I appreciate that when he comes to exorcism, he is neither dramatic nor shy.

Part four is a bit of a mishmash of last details. He gives twelve reasons why people may not be healed, talks about the presence of healing in the (seven) sacraments, and gives due consideration to the importance of secular medical care in addition to prayer.

Having watched a healing ministry be established and flourish at a church, I now wish retrospectively that this was the foundational text. Pragmatically, it is at least the notes on the growth of a healing ministry in a well-written, complete, and balanced form.

My father is recovering from his second brain surgery in two months, and will soon begin adjuvant radiation and/or chemotherapy. I've been looking for information for him on what he can do to help the healing process from the inside. I recently checked this book out from my local library along with five others. I returned the other four, and haven't put this one down.

Brimming with inspiring stories of actual patients, facts on cancer types and treatments, overviews of alternative therapies, and many references to other books, tapes and organizations which may help you on the "journey through cancer." I know our family will be referring to this book often, throughout the journey, wherever it leads.

I have been a person with cancer since June 1998. I am one who wants answers to questions about my health all the time. Mild depression sets in when I don't get it. "The Journey through Cancer" is definitely a journey through life as Dr. Geffen states. Take one day at a time. Don't fill yourself with questions and grab for answers. His "gameplan" enables a person with cancer to deal with cancer with less anxiety and makes us more in touch with reality. How I wish there were more Dr. Geffens in this world full of cancer whose compassionate nature and an open-minded understanding about various treatments will make it easier for a patient to relate with their physician.

I highly recomend this book to any person with cancer and their families. For truly understanding what we go through physically, emotionally and spritually will make the steps through healing an easier and less stressful one. It will definitely bring about a more loving and compassionate relationship between the patient and the members of the family. Knowing about cancer isn't enough. How we accept and deal with it contribute far more to healing than all medical practices combined.

My most wonderful gift? Dr. Geffen and I communicate regularly by e-mail. I was so happy to receive a reply to my congratulatory message and through his mail, I can definitely experience his compassionate spirit. Thank you Dr. Geffen.

When I was a happy and healthy 39 years old, I abruptly became the first cancer patient I'd known, with a stage III colorectal cancer. Once diagnosed, I put together the best medical team I could. Then I found myself with many equally crucial needs for help as I entered the strange and uniquely personal terrain of my cancer experiences. How will I get through this? What does this cancer mean for my life? Journey Through Cancer provided excellent questions, stories, and tools that helped strengthen and enrich my ability to navigate through cancer. I found Journey Through Cancer at the library, and it was the sole book I found that understood that cancer patients need more than prescriptions for treatment, diet and attitude. Journey Through Cancer coaches readers through a process of discovering their own best responses to the unique impacts of cancer on our lives. For cancer patients and their loved ones, this is a must-read book.

I have been a person with cancer since June 1998. I am one who wants answers to questions about my health all the time. Mild depression sets in when I don't get it. "The Journey through Cancer" is definitely a journey through life as Dr. Geffen states. Take one day at a time. Don't fill yourself with questions and grab for answers. His "gameplan" enables a person with cancer to deal with cancer with less anxiety and makes us more in touch with reality. How I wish there were more Dr. Geffens in this world full of cancer whose compassionate nature and an open-minded understanding about various treatments will make it easier for a patient to relate with their physician.

I highly recomend this book to any person with cancer and their families. For truly understanding what we go through physically, emotionally and spritually will make the steps through healing an easier and less stressful one. It will definitely bring about a more loving and compassionate relationship between the patient and the members of the family. Knowing about cancer isn't enough. How we accept and deal with it contribute far more to healing than all medical practices combined.

My most wonderful gift? Dr. Geffen and I communicate regularly by e-mail. I was so happy to receive a reply to my congratulatory message and through his mail, I can definitely experience his compassionate spirit. Thank you Dr. Geffen.

Dr. Geffen's book, A Journey through Cancer, was a revelation to me, because it showed me how MY participation in the healing process was vital to the outcome of the cancerous condition that had arisen in my body. Good as the doctors and nurses were, I soon discovered that they were most willing to treat my symptoms, that is the outer reality, but there was no inclination whatsoever to address the inner reality,that is the spiritual and emotional aspects of the patient. In most oncology centers, as far as I can see, the holistic approach is practically unknown, to all intents and purposes.

Dr. Geffen explains the basics of the disease and the treatments in very clear terms, so that we are aware of the various processes. These explanations were very helpful to me when asking questions of the doctors and nurses.

I learned from Dr.Geffen that true healing can only come from within ourselves, once we have been able to overcome our fears and denials, once we have reversed our tendencies to repress and withhold, and to view, or feel, that treatments are ordeals to be borne, instead of envisaging our whole being as coming into action in tandem with the treatments. In "The Hound of Heaven", the poet Francis Thomson says: "Fear wist not to evade as Love wist to pursue" - in order to heal, our goal should be to replace fear with love, and Dr.Geffen illustrates this in a singularly illuminating way.

One of Dr.Geffen's most compelling concepts is that of transformation: we are not at war, we are not trying to kill or destroy anything, our wish is to bring harmony throughout our bodies. There is intelligence in all our cells, and our wish is to make all of them aware of their inherent power for wellbeing and joy.

A Journey through Cancer is a masterpiece of a rare order: it is imbued with knowledge, kindness, understanding, and above all it shows that the path of healing, and eventually of being, is through consciousness.

This book changed my life! I've been a cronic dieter my whole life. After gaining over 50 pounds with my daughter's pregnancy...and still having 20 to lose at her first birthday, I decided to do something about it. This book was the answer to my prayers. I thought that I had to starve myself to lose...and even that wasn't working any more! After ONLY Eight Weeks on the diet all 20 of my extra pounds are off and I'm working on those extra 10 that I thought would always be a part of me! I'm happy, healthy, THIN and EATING! You can be too! I hope that you buy this book and stick to the plan. It really does work!

Lean for life is the best diet book i have ever read. I have been over weight my entire life. I have lost 107lbs in 7 months. I continue to lose the weight and feel wonderful. I have energy and now i have the key to live my life with success. Anyone who states this diet does not work has not given it a chance.

I cannot even start to describe how wonderful it feel to look at myself in the mirror and see a new me..... After struggling for years to lose weight, I finally found my answers on April 2001 when my husband's best friend introduced me to the Lindora Diet. He had lost 85 Ibs in 10 months and I was truly amazed. I ordered the book and started the diet on April 7, 2001. The first week I lost 10 Ibs. I never felt better in my whole life. As of today, January 9, 2002, I am now 145 Ibs for 68 inches. I have lost altogether 80 Ibs and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT !.
Nothing comes easy but Lean for Life is worth a try.

I have been following this diet since my mom joined the lindora program in our town. I have lost almost 30 pounds in about 6 weeks and I feel great. I do not get tired and actually feel more energized. I do crave breads and sweets but I have a big sweet tooth. This is an easy way to lose weight and keep it off. Definately recommended.

Over the years I have written a number of diet book reviews ... I am happy to say that LEAN FOR LIFE is the last diet book I will need to review. LEAN FOR LIFE WORKS and I don't need to read anymore diet books!

The book "Lean For Life" has since been updated and retitled. It's now called "Lean For Life Phase One" and is available ... and at leanforlife.com. I would advise purchasing the new version instead of shelling out the extra money for an out of print copy of the original Lean for Life.

Lean for Life Phase One is a book that you do. Each day you are given step by step directions to follow to mentally and physically achieve your weight loss goals.
The program begins with a "prep" period where you buy the items you need for the diet and prepare yourself mentally.

The next 3 days are protein days. You select protein choices from a given list. I was shocked to find that it was easy. I ate cheese, yogurt, drank milk, protein bars, nibbled on chicken, eggs and more.

This is followed by a period where you add vegetables, grains and fruit from a list. The program is designed to get your body in a state of ketosis so you do not experience cravings, mood problems etc. AND IT WORKS!

On previous programs I had cravings for sweets and could not stick with the plan. But with LFL your cravings (if any) are very manageable and you eat so you are not hungry!

Each day adds in new mental concepts to work on to learn to become LEAN FOR LIFE. Exercise is also included - how much to do and when to do it for best effect.

After a cycle of weight loss you go into a period of metabolic adjustment adding in yet more food. Then you can repeat the cycle of weight loss if you need to lose more or you can go on to the carefully designed maintenance plan. Everything is planned out so you will become LEAN FOR LIFE and not gain the weigh back!

I have lost weight quickly, safely and with ease. It's a wonderful program and I highly recommend it! I am finally achieving my weight loss goals thanks to LEAN FOR LIFE!

This book was recommended as a gift to a pre-med student. She was excited to receive this as it dove-tailed with a course she is currently taking.

This book is amazing! I love it and recommend it to my friends. The author formerly wrote for a New York magazine, and his stories cover decades. It is interesting to see how some diseases such as Lyme's first became known and how the tools available to the medical profession have both changed and some have remained the same. Read it, you will love it!

I was given this book by one of the epidemiologists that was featured in the book. He had great respect for Roueche and loves his articles. I think these stories a very well written and really hold your attention. They also give you a good history of diseases and conditions. Great book!

This "classic collection of award-winning medical investigative reporting", published in 1988, is an excellent book. Each of the 25 case studies originally appeared as an "Annals of medicine" piece in the New Yorker, and there's not a dud in the bunch.

Most of the cases happened in the 1950's or 1960's, when sophisticated, CSI-era analytical techniques were unavailable. Nonetheless, there is no sense that these stories are dated. Roueche is a natural storyteller and has the rare ability to present technical aspects in a way that is intelligible to the non-expert reader, at just the right level of detail.

It's like 25 "House" episodes, but without the gratuitous obnoxiousness, condescension to the reader, or the ridiculous constraint that only a limping, misanthropic painkiller addict can be right.

Berton Roueché wrote for the "New Yorker" magazine for almost half a century, and was winner of the 1950 Albert Lasker Medical Journalism Award. His many volumes on physicians and medical detectives, including this book, were collected from his articles in the "New Yorker."

"The Medical Detectives" volume II is great bedtime reading, because the good guys, i.e. physicians and epidemiologists always get their villain (whether it's a germ, poison gas, or a disgruntled boyfriend). Volume II's twenty-three case histories date from 1947 to 1984, before the days when Big Insurance dictated how long patients would stay in hospitals and what kind of treatment they would receive. Some of the doctors in this book actually made house calls! A couple of the cases really stayed with me, because the patients were kept in the hospital for weeks at a time just to track down a diagnosis. In one case, a man had the hiccups. In the other, a woman had a headache. Can you guess what would happen to these patients if they went to an emergency room, today?

Anyone who is interested in medical detection will be both engrossed and instructed by Roueché's careful, detailed true-life mysteries. The cases contained in this volume range from the man who hiccupped for 27 years through the deliberate poisoning of a family. One of my favorites from 1948 is called, "The Fog". This does not refer to John Carpenter's famous 1980 horror movie, but a true story that is in some ways even more frightening than anything Hollywood could produce. It takes place in Donora, Pennsylvania, a gritty mill town along the Monongahela River, which is infamous for its fogs: "They are greasy, gagging fogs, often intact even at high noon, and they sometimes last for two or three days."

The Donora `Death Fog' killed 20 people and left hundreds injured and gasping for breath. Roueché tells this story of America's worst air pollution disaster through the observations of eye-witnesses, one of them a physician. London usually comes to mind when Death comes stalking through a thick fog, but this story is every bit as atmospheric as one by A. Conan Doyle, and "The Fog's" detectives are real people.

This collection of true medical stories starts off a bit slowly, but you will end up wishing for Volume III.

The beginning of the book held my interest, but then it waned. Somehow I just lost interest and still have not finished it. But I will try.

This is a staggeringly powerful and important book. Our relationship with the earth and all of its inhabitants is crucial to our continued biological, psychological and spiritual health and our survival as a species. Why we continue to ignore and deride this very real fact is a devastating mystery to me - this book, however, not only illuminates, in poignant and heart-breaking ways, our continued ignorance, but offers the reader the opportunity to begin learning how to reestablish this most fundamental of relationships. Liberally sprinkled with some truly excellent quotations from various authors, activists and thinkers, and full of some terrifying information about the pharmaceutical industry, this book is a captivating read. It is an incredibly useful text for anyone, most especially for those practicing a plant-based system of healing, as it gives a philosophical groundwork that every holistic herbalist can incorporate into their practice and their lifestyle.

I won't go into what the other reviewers have already said about the beauty and sensitivity of this book. (I have had experiences in the garden with certain "weeds" seeming to beckon to me to eat them, and that is why I bought this book, to see if there might be something to this.) I was blown away by how incredibly SMART plants are!

But I just have to say that I am literally trembling now after having read the sections on the preponderance and endurance of pharmaceutical drugs, medical wastes, and antibiotics in the environment.

I am one of those who must take several of the top ten drugs "for life," but I tend to have extremely bad reactions to drugs of all types. I am disabled now, I'm convinced, in large part due to pharmaceutical drugs and ubiquitous chemicals that have seriously undermined my health. I know that it takes a very long time (a) to get over the damaging side effects of drugs that don't agree with me and (b) to find drugs that will work for me. I would not take any drugs if I could find a workable alternative, so bad have my experiences with pharmaceuticals been.

Now I am concerned like I never have been before about the effect of all these drugs polluting our environment. I have tended to think in terms of those pills ending with me, even if it might take years to get over the terrible effects on my body and brain. Now I know that every single living thing on this planet is affected by these drugs...and not just one of them, ALL of them mixed together! Any pharmacist will tell you that the more drugs you combine, the more likely you're going to get seriously bad reactions.

And then I think of all the people I've known personally who have been addicted to benzodiazepines, Ambien, Xanax, and the like who were stark raving bezonkers half the time from withdrawal effects and didn't even know it. My sister and I were at the point of strangling our other sister until she went through several years of very difficult work to withdraw from the very small dose of Xanax she was taking each night.

It is seriously worrisome how really messed up these drugs can make people, and yet they are advertised on TV and prescribed (and upped and upped) like they are candy.

And the weight. I look around at all these obese people (I am one of them), and I am reminded of what several doctors have said to me: "As long as you are taking X drug, you aren't going to be able to lose any weight." When the author of "The Lost Language of Plants" mentioned that many drugs are designed to work only in the presence of fat, and that they concentrate in fatty tissues all up the food chain, I couldn't help wondering what's going on with the human species (not to mention every other living thing) that we are growing larger and larger. It can't be just exercise plus calories or levels of sugars and fats; I know, I've counted them all religiously.

I have to ask: Are our bodies adaptively packing on weight to allow ourselves to better handle and store the huge levels of bioactive chemicals we've doused our whole planet with? Could it be that gaining weight, like forming granulomas, is a mechanism the body uses to isolate and render as harmless as possible a dangerous foreign agent (all these chemicals and drugs that are being dumped into our environment by the billions of pounds)? Is anyone thinking about this, and are they looking into the possibility? Dying of "fat-related diseases" may be the lesser of the evils.

It scares the begeezus out of me to think about all this. But get this book. It may have just the solutions we need--if it's not too late. I just hope, if this planet has to choose between us and the plants, that the plants win out. Read this book and you'll understand why I say that.

This book is a change of pace. It is a book that makes you ponder about life itself.

This book is absolutely wonderful and exquisitely written. I loved the author's writing style, but especially appreciated his much-needed message. I can only hope that more people will continue to read this book and take away its powerful statement and do something with it! I plan on buying some of this author's other works, and couldn't suggest this book more! It's a true gem!

It's a very good book for use as Lactation consultunts, MD and everyone else that works with breastfeeding mothers.

AWESOME book!!! I use it constantly. I've also compared the info in the book with what my pediatrician and a lactation consultant recommend and found that the info in the book corresponds with both.

This book should be a required book for breastfeeding mothers. In our world of unedicuated medical professionals regarding breastfeeding, all mothers should be armed with this book before they see a doctor- that way you KNOW for sure if the medication really is safe, or isn't. Too many doctors will tell a mother to stop breastfeeding during medication, or to pump and dump- and that is bad advice all around. There are TONS of medications that are safe for use during breastfeeding and we need to arm ourselves and teach our doctors so that we ALL get the best treatment. GET THIS BOOK!!!!

As a new mom, I was very paranoid to ingest any medicines. This book informed me of all medications, AND vitamins. I was looking for a book that also contained herbs. This one has a few, and a good rating system. Very clear, and layperson terms.

As a pharmacist, this is absolutely the first book I turn to for any question about medication and breastfeeding. It's very readable, and has both the quick, "bottom-line" recommendation and an explanation of the quality and quantity of research that led to that conclusion. I recommend it to anyone in the medical field who might encounter a breastfeeding patient as well as any woman who is currently breastfeeding or plans to in the near future. The author's website ([...]) is also useful.

If the answers you're looking for aren't here, or if you're looking for detailed recommendations about medications in pregnancy, try your local teratology information service (www.otispregnancy.org). Most of them accept calls from both the public and health care professionals, many of them handle both lactation and pregnancy questions, and it's free to call and get information. I'm not affiliated with them in any way, but I've found them a very useful resource that doesn't seem to be very well publicized.

This book was excellent. In perfect condition. Exactly what I needed for class. Got to me even quicker than I expected. Completely satisfied.

Pretty self explanatory, but the side coloration page layout is great and the book comes with a cd rom, so you don't have to lug it around with you.

The book arrived in new condition, but it took over 2 weeks to get here.

I'm a first year nursing student and I would definately recommend it to anyone going into the medical field

I like this mosby book for reference. It's very reliable and informative. Helps me in my hospital job.

I want to congratulate Amelia Davis on creating a book that is different from all of the other MS books. Her book reaches into the lives of people living with MS and shares some of the feelings that caregivers and friends experience as well.

This is a wonderfully unique look at the amazing people who are challeged by this disease and how they live extraordinary lives in spite of it. Amelia's photography is a window into this world, her work is "present" and revealing of who people are.

Davis reaches the inner soul of the reader--regardless of whether or not you have MS. Her photographs capture the essence of the folks who share their stories. I was touched and inspired by this book!

Ameila Davis is a documentary photographer, diagnosed with MS in 1998.

Though titled "My Story", this book is really "their stories". In this book, she uses her trained eye to illustrate 32 essays personally portraying the lives of men and women with Multiple Sclerosis.

They range from 17 to 70, across a spectrum of ethnicities, genders, occupations, socio-economic backgrounds and family circumstances.

Through her book, Amelia captures the unique approach each person has used to frame their chronic disease with, not only a positive attitude, but with a positive approach to life.

She also includes the caregivers ... those frequently forgotten in the struggle with MS and all chronic disease.

Her essays help others to see, through the stories of real people, the different possible treatments and therapies and the techniques for coping (such as exercise, yoga, creative activities and competitive sports).

Her photographs capture the people behind these essays, putting a real face, a personal face, on what is often discussed in impersonal, clinical terms. You don't just read their story; you are drawn into a human connection with them.

This is a book to buy and read. And it is also a book to buy and display, a coffee table book.

Discussing MS with friends and family can be difficult. Chronic disease can create a "distance", a separation. This book can help to bridge that gap.

As someone picks up this book to browse and becomes captured by the photographs, it can crack the door to an open conversation about MS, about what it means and about how lives continue after diagnosis.

I happen to have MS and one of the problems of having a little understood illness is the distance it creates in one's personal relationships. Even with friends and family.

I now have a copy of "My Story" on my coffee table and I'm truly amazed by the number of people who, because of the presence of the book, are finally able to speak and ask questions about MS . They glance through the book and suddenly a dialog window opens.

The photos are superb, respectful and celebratory at the same time and every person's essay is different. I highly recommend the book.

I was fortunate to have been photographed by Amelia Davis in her new book about Multiple Sclerosis. Amelia traveled all over the country interviewing physically challenged individuals and their care givers. In doing so, she composed an enlightening yet very touching collection of stories, all through the eye of her camera. Her choice of black and white photos added another dimension and increased the already dramatic content. I was very skeptical that photos could capture the anguish I sometimes feel or capture the love and concern my care givers provide but I am now a believer! Her artistic eye caught the underlying emotions and all while we quietly talked and laughed among ourselves.

Many of Amelia's photographs portray some of the more difficult aspects of the disease, how many young people have learned to live with what is often a chronic illness. Her photographs also show how indiscriminate MS really is and how, like myself, you too could walk up one morning numb and tingling from head to toe. For me, the most healing aspect of the book was how others handled their emotional difficulties. Early on, I felt as if I was being punished for mishandling something in my past. I felt lonely and isolated due to my new differences. However, like many of the other biographies, I too have learned that 'attitude is everything' and that you alone are capable of taking the 'limits' out of limitations.

The book's addition of the often forgotten care giver was an extremely refreshing aspect of her book. I always thank my husband for having made the decision to stay but so little credit is given to these unselfish individuals. It is easy to take others for granted until your welfare is suddenly out of your control.

I gave Amelia a five star rating not because I was included in her book but because her photographs speak for themselves! Even if you are not faced with a chronic illness, the biographies will touch you with their uncensored frankness. Amelia walked in and out of my life but her pictures captured a fleeting glance, pose or emotion that explains to others the essence of that particular moment in time...

Great work, Amelia!!!

This was by far the most depressing book that I have read by this author! I loved the overall theme of the story, but I hated the end. I have a hard time believing that any mother would be that selfish when her only daughter is fighting cancer. Still, this is a well written story about the meaning of life and death. It teaches you not to be scared of dying and to live each day, each second to its fullest.

I have read the entire Lurlene Mcdaniel series, and the 'Clearwater Crossing' series. Lurlene Mcdaniel's books were such an inspiration, and it is an awesome series, as soon as you lift up the book, you can never put it back down. It's almost impossible to expect to read one of her books, and drop the series alltogether. This is for all ages, mostly teens, and helps out more than ever. She is an inspiring writer, and many writers should more often be like her, and writing books that do effect teens, and can help them.

Carrie Blake is a fifteen-year-old who was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago. At that time, she also had to deal with her parents' divorce. She meets Keith Gardner, an athlete at her high school, who also had cancer, Hodgkin's disease. Both are in the hospital support group. They are both assigned to work on the picnic for cancer patients. As they get to know one another, both become great friends. Keith has a wonderful family who treats Carrie very kindly, while Carrie's parents are both seeing other people. But not everything is perfect for the Gardners. Soon, Keith's cancer returns, and there is nothing that can be done. Keith's family, and Carrie, have to learn how to live without him. This is a really great story, with plenty of emotion, as all of Lurlene McDaniel's books are.

As I sit here I have just finished the book not 10 minutes ago. My face is still tear stained. The book shook me to the core and mand me cry MANY times and is the best book i have ever read. The whole book tought me so much and opened my eyes. My dad has always told me 'the worst thing in the world for a parent to do is bury a child' and this book made me leave my room crying and hug my mom. Its so undiscribeable how this book touched me and how it made the think. This book is something every person should read adults and teens alike.

i have read all of the lurlene mcdaniel books and i loved all of them!this one really got my attention though!its about a girl named carrie.her parents just got a divorce and it was tearing her up.Carrie was diagnosed with leukemia and went to a support group.there she gets to know keith gardner.his family becomes quitte close to carrie.keith gets an x-ray and finds he has a tumor in his stomach.the family goes to a camping spot while keith starts to slip away.in this carrie learns what a true family is.i realy recomend this book to all preteens and teens!10-17it really is a 5 star book!