A Books

CHILD OF THE HUNT

Christopher Golden & Nancy Holder (1998)

RATING: 5/5 Stakes

SETTING: Season Three

TV CHARACTER APPEARANCES: Buffy, Joyce, Giles, Xander, Willow, Oz, Cordelia, Angel, Sheila Rosenberg, Xander's Dad, Xander's Mom, Ira Rosenberg, Cordelia's Dad

MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Connie DeMarco, Brian Anderson (runaways); Liz DeMarco, Jamie Anderson (runaways' parents); Erl King (villain); Lucy Hanover (ghostly Slayer); Roland (Erl King's son); "Robin Hood", "King Richard" (sorcerers)

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: "Jousting contests, human chess matches, lords and ladies and beggars . . . a traveling Renaissance fair has come to Sunnydale. The fair may seem terminally uncool, but Buffy and her friends are charmed anyway. Especially by a sad-eyed boy named Roland, who serves as the court jester. Unfortunately, the people from the fair are not the only visitors in Sunnydale. Roaming the countryside are nasty little creatures with a taste for flesh: the dark faerie. They are minions of the Wild Hunt, servants of the evil Erl King. Buffy's challenge is to annihilate the king and his murderous horde. But the path to his destruction leads straight to Roland, who is not quite human . . . and destined to become the Slayer's mortal adversary."

REVIEW

Child of the Hunt was the first Pocket Books adult Buffy novel, following the early Archway series of "young adult" novels. The change in tone and length serves the novel well, as Child of the Hunt is able, like many early Buffy episodes, to discuss a real problem facing youth (in this case, runaway teens) through the context of a supernatural crisis.

The main villain of the story is the Erl King (also known as Hern the Hunter), a mythological entity who leads the Wild Hunt, a murderous pack of demons which kills some humans but sweeps up the lonely, the depressed, the suicidal, and others in the throes of misery to join the cause before moving on.

The theme of the novel is parents and their children, and we get to see, at least, briefly, scenes with each of the Scooby's parents--some of whom have never been portrayed on screen, like Willow's and Cordelia's fathers. Written and set near the beginning of Season Three, the story benefits and integrates Buffy's decision to run away from Sunnydale at the end of Season Two.

The authors (Golden & Holder) deliver their usual excellent characterization of the Buffy cast, but what makes this novel really stand-out is the portrayal of the supporting characters: the runaway teens and their parents. Unlike the supporting characters in most Buffy novels, these aren't generic victims or bystanders--they each have a real personality and a role to play in the story. In addition, the Erl King has some real weight as a villain with the incorporation of real-worth myth.

Not much more needs to be said. Child of the Hunt combines a real-world problem, an interesting fictional menace, and great writing. The result is an excellent novel, worth picking up at any used bookstore.

(c) 2008 Jeremy Patrick (jhaeman@hotmail.com)

Jhaeman's Buffy Reviews: [...]

I was skeptical about reading any book based on a TV show, but this one was very well-thought out. The characters stayed true to their television depictions in a whole new and very interesting story. I recommend this for any Buffy fan.

does anybody else get why this book gets two diffrent covers? the one shown here (brown with xander, buffy and angel) and the one with buffy and a demon? their both about the fair.... so someone please explain.... AND is there any other buffy the vampire slayer books with altertive covers?
if you like "little things" the buffy book with spike of the cover, you must be a dark faerie fan so you'll love this book
p.s chistopher golded and nancy holder rock, buy anything with there names on
love ya D

This was my first Buffy the Vampire Slayer Book. I read it before I even watched the show, the plot just seemed good to me so I bought it, and little did I know I was about to become a Buffy Fanatic. It starts off with Buffy and this hunt that goes through the town and they take people capture. All the rest I can say is "WOW" I'd give this book 10 stars if I could. Even if you are not a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Book you should pick this one up.

P.S. Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder are the best Buffy writers in the series.

Not a bad novel, but far from being a great one. Mr Golden and Ms. Holder have a decent grasp on the Buffyverse (though, given their expertise, far too many errors still creep in). My biggest gripe here is with the writing style. Many things in the book are simply described. We are told about what happened rather than seeing them played out in a scene. This should virtually never happen in any novel.

Perhaps I have standards that are set too high, but I never see the fact that a novel is a media tie-in as an excuse for lazy writing.

In this book, the Animorphs and Ax morph misquitoes to get blood from a govermental official the Yeerks will try to infest so they can aquire him. They end up in Z-space and an Andalite ship picks them up. The ship is headed for Leera (remember book 15) and the pilot turns out to be a tratior! One of the officers kills the captain and self-distructs the ship, because it landed behind enemy lines. The Animorphs start disapering. Two have disapered by the time they reach the sea. The remaning Animorphs morph sharks and go into the ocean. Finally Ax and one remaning Animorphs are on a mission to destroy some Yeerk thing. Only Ax is left and he does it. What will happen next? Read the book to find out!

For a good synapsis of the actual story, I suggest you read the reviews before mine. They give an excellent overall idea of the story, so I don't want to repeat it in this review, as well.

As another outlook of someone way over the target audience, I've been reviewing the Animorphs for other adults who might be curious. This is another very well written and interesting story which introduces us to the earlier mentioned Leeran race which the Yeerks were attempting to make shark controllers for. Ax faces some very tough decisions in this particular story. Although the main theme is action packed alongside humor, we again have a story about a very lonely young boy who is growing up to fill the shoes (or hooves, as it were) of an older brother who was a legend, serve his people according to his beliefs, and yet where does that put him with the humans, who are almost a foster family? His loyalties are put to the ultimate test when he faces fellow Andalites, who are mortified to think humans have been given the morphing technology. The secret shame of the Andalites in unleashing the Yeerks on the galaxy because of a well-meaning Andalite has made the race very strict about offering anything to another race ever again. Ax was forced with the burden of accepting responsibility for giving the Animorphs their power to keep Elfangor's name cleared so his people can have a hero to look up to in a dark time of war in an earlier book. He has to face that again, this time to his own people, who he's wanted to see for a very long time. Ax also finds himself tail to tail with Visser Three once again, leaving the young cadet to wonder about fear, how to overcome it, and the real meaning of a coward. All of this is rolled into an exciting story about the Animorphs finding themselves swept up into a war between Yeerks and Leerans on a far distant planet due to a Z-Space fluke and a tiny morph. Ax's loyalties are questioned by himself, but also by the rest of the Animorphs. Is he one of them, or isn't he? What is he, really, Andalite or in his hearts, partially human? Ax is able to find his peace by the end of the story, and learns some very harsh realities about his own people, himself, and the world around him.

Animorphs: The Decision By K.A. Applegate

Ax is an andalite stuck on earth because of the horrible Visser Three, a monstrous Yeerk that is the only one to control an andalite's body. Visser Three destroys the andalite dome ship and kills Ax's brother, Elfangor. Now Ax is left with the task of avenging his brother's death and helping his human friends to beat the Yeerks and save Earth. I think the story was excellent and really portrays being a newcomer to a new place.

In this book you will find a new twist on the Z Space Theory. Hint: Just keep in mind how small mosquitoes really are. If you're into aliens you'll love this book. Psychics can be a problem when you're trying to keep a secret. If you're an Animorphs fan you definately need this book.

I like when two different breeds of aliens have war. Animorphs #18 provides an excellent source of science fiction literature. If you enjoy down-right wonderfully written sci-fi this is the book for you!

The storyline is very simple, a good complement to illustrations that are colorful and detailed enough to hold the attention of very young children. We got this when my first son was about 9 mos. old; within the next year he had it memorized and could "read" it to us. My son is now 22 (YEARS old) and my husband and I can still recite the book . . .

this is a great book to teach aobut seasons and bring in new vocabulary and it is a great book because it is for toddlers but it is a board book so it can withstand younger siblings.

This book is delightful for children of 18 months to 3 years. The story is lyrical enough to capture their attention, the illustrations are delightful and Richard Scarry lives up to his excellent reputation as a chldren's author. It makes a great inexpensive gift.

I loved this book as a kid. When my family moved it was never seen again. I have been trying to find it again for years. I just found it! I read it to my daughter now and she gets so excited to turn to the next page. I am having fun sharing these kind of books with her. :)

This book holds the attention of my 18-month-old for quite a while, especially the rain page. It should last forever.

Alton Brown is a genius. His forward in the book explains that a recipe is analogous to a set of directions to a house, but what if there's a detour? Or what if you want to go somewhere else after? You're stuck. But now, what if you knew the whole map of the area, not just rote directions. That's what Alton teaches. He organizes by chapters centered on methods of cooking, not types of food. He explains things in software (food) and hardware (pans, utensils, etc).

It's more of a science angle at food, and probably won't help expert cooks, but for someone like me it's great.

If you like Good Eats, then buy this book. Immediately. If you want to learn about the science of cooking and use it as a springboard to improve your cooking technique across the board (and seriously, who wouldn't), then buy this book. Immediately. Through Good Eats and his books, Alton Brown has been become my culinary inspiration and hero. Just get it people. You won't regret it. :-)

Get this, and read it as if it is a novel or some non-fiction.

Yes, of course, there are recipes. But, the most interesting parts are the narrative sections and not the "put 12 oz of something, and 10 cans of something else" you'd find other books - perfection through preciseness don't work in cooking (well, there is a place for it, but not all the time).

Enjoy the book, and enjoy the food!

Like most people here, I bought this book because I enjoy Good Eats on TV.
I am, however, a very experienced cook...so while I enjoyed this book a great deal, I can't say I learned anything or even picked up any new recipes. (Plus, it's just not the same without Alton's voice.)
However...
I am going to give this as an XMas gift to two young gentlemen I know who are fresh out of college & who will be cooking for themselves for the first time ever come September. I have no doubt it will come in handy for them.

I bought this book based on the reviews on Amazon and also from watching Good Eats and really enjoying the series. My husband and I have learned so much from reading this book (in addition to many laughs from his writing style). We tried Alton's suggestions and they worked. Highly recommended.

For my daughter's first birthday, I wrote and illustrated a story for her about the day she was born. I'm no artist, mind you, but she loves it. (If you want to, I believe you can use the computer to make very simple sticker-like illustrations instead of drawing.) It was especially meaningful to her when her baby sister was born this last year. I am buying a new one for the little sister as well. I think it's a terrific idea for making a personalized keepsake FOR your child or grandchild.

The only drawback, you do have to be a little creative regarding the words per page limit.

This is such a great item and worth every penny. We'd love to do these every year and get duplicate copies for our families. This is a great way to capture the different stages of creativity in your children - and rewarding to them when they see their story "published" in a real book. Highly recommended for all ages!

I bought this book for my grandughter that is 10 years old and loves to write stores. It was a wise pick for me , as it is right at her age level. Easy to understand , Easy to follow directions . For any child that loves to write stores, or to encourage a child to write it is a great book.

Got this for my 6-yr old daughter's birthday. It was easy for us to do together. The great fun was getting the completed, hard-bound book back in the mail! She was so proud to be an author! She even took it to school to show her class. It's a great gift & a great keepsake.

We bought the first of these for our son when he was 3 1/2 and helped him create his first book. He loved it and would read it to us daily. He's five now and has 'created' 5 additional books (this time without our help). He loves this and has decided that he's going to become a writer when he grows up (after he becomes a pilot). As a result of creating the ILLUSTORY books, he's started keeping a journal (which we thought was a big endeavor for a 5 year old- but he's managing to write in it every day about the perils of kindergarten, of course!) Kudos to the makers of this product for keeping children educationally entertained!!

Awesome Book! A must read for those of us searching for a deeper relationship with our Savior! Highly Recommended!!!!

This was a really good, easy-reading book. It's surprisingly insightful being written by a man. It's a book that speaks to the single woman hoping for a mate, as well as the married woman. I gives insight on how to understand how men think and feel and what they need, as well as how women feel. It challenges us to understand why we're have broken hearts and disappointments and how to become more whole.

T.D Jakes has written a book that every woman should read. Each page gives tremendous insights into the needs of a woman. Quite surprising to me, was that it was written by a man. I believe though that he was inspired by God - the Creator of women.
I have bought several copies to give to women I minister to from prison. There are golden nuggets within each page which will bring insight, love and healing to the reader. It's a good read for men, but may be a bit hard to understand all the emotion that is involved within it's pages.
I cried often and when I finished the book, I felt loved by God.

I got this book yesterday from a friend and I have only just read the introduction and T.D Jakes described me and the story of my life in a few sentences - It was amazing! I know I am going to love this book; for this book was wirtten for me...and it contains important messages tailor-made for me...So I suggest that you get this book too and it will speak directly to you too!

I cant imagine going through life as a woman without having read this book. I have read this book over and over again and I have given it out to my girlfriends as birthday gifts. Every woman just has to have it on their shelf-next to the bible.

Easy reading,interesting,and educational.After reading Orchid Fever,I read a comment in Orchids at Home,and having read Orchid Fever,I realized that ugly,just like beauty,is in the eye of the beholder.

Having no interest in orchids whatsoever, I picked up "Orchid Fever" because I have been smitten with Eric Hansen's lucied and entertaining adventure writings (see previous reviews). This book is well researched and very well salted with Hansen's devastating wit and easygoing demeanor.

We are introduced to the orchid universe via the growers, scientists, show judges, "orchid police", and so-called smugglers who turn out to be not so.

Hansen once more captivates with these loosely linked stories of orchid obsessed people and the absurdities of the power brokers so bent on enforcing horticultural regulations that end up ensnaring the wrong people.

"Orchid Fever" is part expose, part travelogue, part literary journalism, and part horticultural history. This really is investigative writing at its very best, at turns tantalizing and educational. This man has a seriously clever wit which keeps the narrative light and fluid.

Hansen's abilities as a writer are superb: he knows his craft as well as any contemporary non-fiction writer. The seven years of creating this wonderfully woven bunch of stories is very much appreciated. From the first sentence, your attention is requisitioned and not released until the last - the mark of a Big League writer I think.

As always with Eric Hansen, my highest kudos.

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts

"I thumbed through the pages ... Immediately I was confronted with centerfolds showing ... moistened, hot-pink lips that pouted in the direction of tautly curved shafts and heavily veined pouches." - from "Bodice Ripper", a chapter in ORCHID FEVER

A porn mag featuring your favorite XXX-rated stars? Um, no. An orchid catalogue, actually, as described by author Eric Hansen in his narrative exploration of the science, business, hobby, and collecting of orchids, ORCHID FEVER. Who knew flower breeding could be so titillating, or so lucrative? Indeed, as of the turn of the last century, orchids generated about $9 billion of worldwide business annually.

With so much money to be made, it's no surprise that the collection of wild orchids and their transport across national boundaries is so fiercely regulated, ostensibly to protect orchid populations in their natural habitats. But, of course, the cynical will recognize that it's all about the fees generated by the obligatory export licenses and certificates. Indeed, much of ORCHID FEVER is about the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), headquartered in Geneva, and its almost Gestapo-like enforcement powers, which, as Eric tells the story, have done virtually nothing to protect free-range orchids and have only increased their demand and value vis-a-vis breeders, hobbyists, and collectors.

Hansen illustrates his subject by traveling the world from California to Borneo to Minnesota to Britain to Germany to Turkey to France to New York and to Holland to interview the field's "horticultural extremists, pioneers, lone rangers, fantasy merchants, flower show flim-flam people, paid informers, rapacious nurserymen, international plant smugglers, pollen thieves, eccentric botanists, corrupt orchid judges, legendary growers, misfits, groupies, and camp followers". Though, as the author states, normal, balanced people are drawn to orchids, he found such only infrequently.

"Behind the cash register (of a neighborhood grocery store) sat a long shelf filled with mass-produced Phalaenopsis hybrids, selling for $19.95; every time I saw them I thought about the California orchid grower who shot and killed his partner and then mutilated the corpse because they couldn't agree on how to breed and sell these supermarket-quality house plants."

Perhaps the most engaging chapter, especially if you like frozen desserts, is "The Fox Testicle Ice Cream", in which Eric journeys to Maras, Turkey, the home of orchid ice cream, salepi dondurma, made from the tubers of the flower genus Orchis. Indeed, the chapter is so informative and interesting that a large segment of it was apparently plagiarized on a website I discovered sponsored by a Turkish-American business alliance. (After I communicated this fact to the author, he replied that it wasn't the first or last time such has happened, and he would pursue getting credit for the entry.)

When I began dating as a teenager in the late sixties, if I really wanted to impress the girl I'd buy a stalk of 5-6 orchids for 3 bucks from an elderly next-door neighbor that grew them. I don't recall that the expenditure ever helped me get lucky, but they sure were impressive in the giving. Nowadays, try buying just one on Mother's Day for less than an hour's pay. After reading Hansen's excellent volume, I better understand the orchid's mystique.

There's probably a good book about orchids and the recondite subject of international orchid policy in "Orchid Fever." In fact, I'm sure of it. Unfortunately, Eric Hansen spoils his effort with a lubricious, snarky brew of exaggerations, sneers, dubious anecdotes and invented suggestions.

One example can stand for a multitude of sins. Hansen attends a three-day conference and trade show of orchid fanciers, trying to set up the idea that these people are wild, crazy, risk-taking guys and gals -- not far from sociopaths is the general view. His evidence: The conferees sang karaoke and after that, "What went on in the hotel rooms after dark between the orchid growers was anybody's guess."

You could write the same thing about an Amway convention. So?

The serious issue behind this unserious book is how (or if) to conserve orchids that may (or may not) be threatened by collectors, habitat destruction or whatever it is that threatens orchids.

The antagonists are, on one side, amateurs, businessmen and independent scholars; and, on the other, academics and international bureaucrats, who are accused of self-aggrandizement and appropriation. It is not an issue just with orchids or even just about plants. It comes up concerning ancient artifacts, fossils, sunken treasure, even -- in a non-material sense -- myths and legends. See my review of "A Dinosaur Named Sue" for an example with fossils.

A friend of mine who runs an orchid nursery confirms the difficulty. Under a treaty called CITES that purports to protect endangered species, he must prove that his commercial stock (450 species) does not derive from wild-collected plants. Of course, ultimately, any orchid derives from such stock, but CITES has rules. My friend got much of his stock from his teacher, now dead. How can he prove where the teacher obtained it?

My friend could have his business shut down. In the worst instance, he could be shut up in a prison. It has happened to others.

"Orchid Fever" has obtained wide publicity and wide sales. It was aimed at the thoughtless, the sensationalistic and the lascivious, and there are plenty of those people out there. It's sad that probably the most-read book about orchids turns out to be a piece of low-rent crap.

I read this with jaw agape most of the time. The main reason for this embarrassing state of affairs was the CITES ridiculousness that crops up again and again. Can people in positions of power REALLY be so stupid? Well, yep, they can, sadly enough for the thousands of plants that are destroyed in the name of "development," illegal to save by conservationists.
But the people Hansen meets are equally worthy of a jaw drop. Their passion--there's truly no other word, unless it is obsession--for their orchids simply astounded me. Wonderfully humorous, enlightening reading.
Now that I've read it nearly a decade after many of the encounters described, I am longing for an update. What's become of the CITES laws? Has common sense prevailed? What about the individual scientists and growers? Are they still as enthralled with their plants? What a terrific book, to leave me hungering for so much more!

Time has not eroded the significance of this book's contribution to the world of architecture. Though it reaches back to timeless solutions to architectural problems, it is also a way forward. As we devour our social capital in a half century of indiscriminate urban sprawl, this book offers alternatives that will help us revitalize our urban centers.

This book is the quintessential book on the subject of creating authentic living spaces.
This book provides a near mystical approach to architecture in a very simplistic form that anyone can understand.

This was an extremely helpful book in using to decide what house or town home to buy, why spaces might work, what needs to be added to them, etc. I am very glad I bought this book.

This book talks specifically about what works and doesn't work when building cities and towns and how to take the human element into consideration when doing so. However, I found its conclusions and most of its patterns applicable to software engineering. There are good books on software design patterns such as "Head First Design Patterns", and there are some good books on user interface design such as "Designing Interfaces: Patterns for Effective Interaction Design", but this book really helped me merge the idea of software design patterns with the user perspective in a way that other books I have read have not.

If you are a software designer, read the book all the way through, make notes as you go, and see if it doesn't help you write better organized code that is more responsive and coherent to a user who walks up to your user interface completely uninitiated in your method of design. I know it helped me.

I bought this book after reading the glowing reviews on amazon. It was also an inspiration for Will Wright to make SimCity and the SIMS..... so I had high expectations.

I was shocked to find how opinionated and philosophical the book is. I expected the book to look at the history of cities, towns, etc. and describe patterns that already exist (much like the GoF's software design patterns book talks about patterns that people actually use). Instead the book presents a series of ideals about how the world should be structured.

If these ideals came from concerns I could identify with, I would take it more seriously. But instead they attack "problems" which I do not perceive to exist. For example, on p. 43 "The homogeneous and undifferentiated character of modern cities kills all variety of life styles and arrest the growth of individual character." This statement is contrary to my experience. I have met many great characters from cities, and seen profound cultural differentiation emerge from cities (e.g. jazz, abstract painting, hippie culture, punk, you name it). But the authors proceed as if cities killing character is axiomatic. I agree that there is a rural character that is not present in cities. But citydwellers have another type of character which is equally valid.

I have only made it through the first 100 pages. In these pages are so many naive ideas about mixing cityspace and vacant space. I live in Los Angeles so I know about sprawl & I also know a lot about cars -- while they are aiming for less sprawl then LA, they also neglect traffic congestion. They claim that making small roads in places make people reluctant to drive there.... the experience worldwide (worst in Malaysia, I hear) is that people use whatever roads are present, and if the roads are small, they then just end up sitting in traffic. The author's are naive in their structuring of space, nowhere do they cite any hard evidence of how these structures function.

I might make it the rest of the way through.... at least it's an easy read, with so many repetitions in how the models work you can kinda skim through it. I like the spirit of the book, it is reminiscent of P.M.'s bolo'bolo.... but where bolo'bolo comes from a purely emotional position, these authors take themselves seriously and believe what they are saying is objectively true. I give the book 3 stars because it is nice to see someone work through the ideas of bolo'bolo (which was actually written ~6yrs after alexander's book). I would give 5 stars to a book that did so by looking more at actual data of how spaces are utilized, and presented designs that didn't have obvious flaws in them.

This book was very easy to read and understand. It had a wealth of information in it. I would recommend it to anyone who has any questions and wants answers about the thyroid gland. The book gives some great programs for you to follow.

I was very disappointed in this book. Didn't feel that I learned anything that I didn't already know.

This doctor goes very in-depth in his explanations of symptoms and how the thyroid works, but he is never talking over your head. He explains in easy-to-understand language how the thyroid works and what happens when it doesn't. This book has caused me to search for a new endocrinologist who is as concerned for his/her patient's overall health as Dr Arem. I recommend this book to all who are suffering from thyroid disease, even if you have had it for a long time. You will learn something new about your disease and it's treatment.

I had severe (tsh 337.85) hypothyroidism by the time I was diagnosed. This is the only author that I've seen that even mentioned some of the things that I experienced. I think that this doctor has a real feel for what the thyroid patient goes through.

This is the most informative book I have found on this subject.
I was able to get specific,understandable details from what testing accomplishes to symtoms, all the way to how to live with thyroid disease.
Well written and in laymen's language.

I notice that Robert M. Snyder uses the (for Juniors) ie: Winning chess for juniors. Anyways, I came across books by Robert Snyder from the publisher chess for Everyone. And it would appear that all the chess for Juniors have become chess for Everyone. Some examples: Unbeatable chess Lessons, More unbeatable chess Lessons, Chess traps, and Winning chess tournaments. My question is are these books the same just with different covers or are they different in any significant way?

I was wondering for a long time while playing in chess tournaments what was the best way to train. This was to improve my game and to make me perform better in tournaments. I had a lot of books that just had materials to learn from. But I wanted to know what to study, how to study and then when I get to the tournament what to do to put me in the best shape.

WELL, WINNING CHESS TOURNAMENTS FOR JUNIORS, WAS THE BOOK I WAS LOOKING FOR. Not only did it cover all of those things, but it has some really cool material for actuall study. It was fun too because it used funny true stories like about the "Chess Genie" and what other kids try and do to disburb you while you play.

But I liked also the stuff about the rules that isn't told to you in the rule book. And the parts about how the thinking processes make typical mistakes. This book shows you using real positions from actual games where you typically make mistakes under chess psycology.

Though if you just want lots of great materials on endgames to study, a set out opening system (completely outlined), lots of tactical problems that are the most important to learn, then for this alone this book is great. I agree with the other reviews who say there is not another chess book like this one.

Want to improve? Want to know how and what to study? Want some great material for study? Golly, I love this book (I do think the picture of the two kids on the front cover is cheesy and staged, so I am glad I didn't judge this book by the cover as I am certain those kids did not know anything about chess but the girl is cute and the boy is dorky looking).

When I purchased Winning Chess Lessons for Juniors, I realized it actually contained much less instructional material then I had hoped for. Eventually I realized why and am puzzled as to why no other reviewer pointed this out. It is a companion book to Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors, another book by the Author. This book by itself is inadequate, but I realized it is for owners of the previous book, Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors. This book intentionally dodges around the material covered in Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors so none of it is repeating (This is a good thing).

This book is an add-on to Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors, an upgrade if you will. This is a great book, but is to slim to be by itself. Get Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors, and this book, and you should have no problems. As for the material covered in this book, it teaches you about tournaments and their rules. Chapter 3 is a psychology chapter, which is interesting and helpful, but nothing to rave about as other reviewers have. Chapter four shows you opening charts. While this did show me a new way to organize my openings, it didn't teach me much. The author mentioned for teaching that the reader should read Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors. Finally, it has a thick tactics chapter full of useful tactical puzzles(about 100 of them). It contains a nice endgame study chapter, then some annotated games by the authors national champions.

All in all a good book... for its intended purpose. I didn't take any stars away because for its purpose as an add on to Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors its great.

This really helped me improve how I did in tournaments. I had read some other chess books, that helped. But this book was the most helpful because it helped condition me for tournaments.
I especialy liked the chapter on psycology that teaches you about thinking mistakes during your play. Also what to be like eating, drinking, proper sleep during tournamnets and then about preparing.
How to study and what to study is neat. It also gives a lot of study stuff, problems, games, openings and endgames.
It also has some very funny true stories about players and things that happen. Very good book.

"Winning Chess Tournaments for Juniors" was the most useful single chess book I have read. One thing that hasn't been said in the other reviews, though implied is that this book helps you with ORGANIZATION and STRUCTURE in,

Helping you prepare for tournaments.

Telling you how to use many books, computers, methods of practice in ways that I never knew about.

Making it so I understand the rules and how to use them to your advantage. I will not likely be taken advantage of again!

Helping me prepare an opening system properly.

Telling me what is important to know about endgames with the endgames to study.

The importance of pattern recognition with many tactical puzzles to work on.

What to look for in a good qualified coach and chess teacher.

How psycology plays a part in chess and how you make mistakes when you analyze.

My list can go one, but I think I have said enough for now. I thing this book is simply the best book to help you do improve.