School Time Books

I am interested in the subject of reincarnation, but at first I wasn't sure I would like a book geared toward younger readers about some people's love life that spans through multiple liftimes. I was pleasantly surprised.

Despite what it says on the cover, "Reincarnation" isn't just a romance. It really covers the scope of issues related to the philosophy of reincarnation by following the lives of two people from pre-history to today. It addresses issues such as different cultural and religious beliefs in different lives, how expectations about life after death affect the actual experience, time between physical lives, fears and phobias that carry over, birth marks and physical attributes, talents and interests, and common relationships. In one lifetime the characters' genders were reversed, and they were often different races from one life to another. Past life memories arose from dreams, spontaneous recall, and eventually hypnotic regression.

The book was a little heavy-handed on the connections between lives, almost to a point where the current life was too overshadowed by past issues. But considering the topic, I'm not sure what other emphasis I would have expected. I also felt the ending physical validations for the characters' past lives were a little too convenient. Still, I've never read a work of fiction this detailed in the level of research the author put in to make it a believable account of the lifespan of a group of souls traveling through many lifetimes and growing together spiritually.

The story of two soulmates who first meet in prehistory (caveman times) and die fighting over a mysterious rock. The two continue to be reincarnated throughout history. In each life, they meet, feel a sudden and unexplainable connection, and then lose each other. It's like they keep getting "do-overs" until they get things right.

Fans of historical fiction will enjoy the brief glimpses into a variety of time periods--prehistory, ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, colonial America during the Salem witch trials, France during WWII/Holocaust, Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement, and modern day New York.

The story kept my interest for the most part, but I was disappointed with the ending. The resolution seemed to come too quickly and easily.

From the moment they first meet, this young man and woman have a powerful connection. But circumstance will not allow them to stay together; a fight for a green jewel ends both of their lives. However, their bond is so strong that it surpasses the boundary between life and death and they continue to be born into new bodies until they can finally be together.

Reincarnation is quite a unique story, and I have never quite read anything like it. Each story of these two lovers connects back to the previous ones in obvious ways, so it is easy to tell which character was reincarnated into which new character, although this was a little confusing when the girl became a guy. The easiest way for me to recognize who was who was with the details that carried over from setting to setting. For example, the main young woman always had a pet cat named Baby, a hurt ankle, and a great singing voice, and the main young man always had headaches and a skill in archery. I really enjoyed how all the characters were interconnected and also the various historical settings. A lot of research must have gone into this novel, and I am nearly positive that it is all accurate.

The idea behind Reincarnation is a philosophical question, and Suzanne Weyn attacks it head on. I really liked how she incorporated many major religions, according to their region, and their views on death and the afterlife. However, I found it kind of ironic how the two lovers were never reincarnated as people in India, which is where the two main religions believing in reincarnation, Buddhism and Hinduism, originated. But this can be forgiven since the characters read many books on Buddhism in the novel.

The ending of the story was bittersweet for me, because I did not feel that the story lived up to its full potential. Suzanne Weyn leaves a lot of the story up to interpretation, which is good for making the reader think about the concept of reincarnation, but it did not leave me with a sense that the young lovers would stay together in love for all of eternity. The one redeeming point was how the other two characters that are also reincarnated get together.

All in all, I was a little disappointed with Reincarnation, but it was a beautiful story nonetheless. I do recommend it, because it is a highly unique and thought-provoking read, and I hope that other readers will find it as sweet a love story as I did.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com

Are people really destined for each other? Does love conquer all things? This book is all about love and its endless possibilities. It all starts in prehistory. Kye is a hunter who stumbles away from home during a battle and ends up near a cave in which May lives. From the result of the battle, Kye needs to find something that he can take back which will help him receive the status of leader in his group. When he came near the cave, he saw May standing near the ledge of the cliff they were on. She then started to sing and once she did, Kye was captivated by her voice. He was near mesmerized when a sudden gust of wind came. It blew leaves away from the base of the cliff unveiling a sparkling green stone. This fascinated Kye nearly more than May's voice and he knew that this is what he needed to take back in order to be named leader. He needed to get the stone elusively without May seeing him. As he came closer to it, he thought that he was in the clear. Closer and closer he got until something suddenly collided with his shoulder at such an impact that it made him unbalanced. It was May. She threw herself at him in order to protect the stone. Both would stop at nothing to get it. They became so aggressive with each other that they dropped over the edge of the cliff. Both Kye and May crashed down at the bottom of the cliff. Their corpses are there but May still thinks she is alive. Why? Because she is above the water and floating in the air. She doesn't realize she is dead until she sees her body. Then she is being born again.....into Tetisheri. Time goes from prehistory, to Egypt in 1280 B.C.E., to Athens in 399 B.C.E., to Salem, Massachusetts in 1691, the Battle of Honey Springs on July 17, 1863, to Paris in 1937, to Mississippi in 1964 and ending in New York during present times. The lives they play happen in about the same way. They each live a life their own until one day they meet and find the connection with each other. For some reason there is always something that keeps them apart though. Will they ever figure out what it is? Will they end up with their "soul mate"?

I think this novel by Suzanne Weyn is great because of her style of writing. I like the way she changes her settings toward the middle and plays off of history. In the beginning I thought the pacing was monotonous and uncaptivating which made me put the book down and not read it for a while. But when I tried it a second time, I pushed myself to read it and after a couple chapters the pacing really picked up. Even though this book seems to be written from a Buddhist point of view I really liked it and would recommend it to everyone who likes an excellent love story because I am very pleased that I read it.

While this is not at the level of such Munsch classics as "The Paper Bag Princess" and "Love You Forever", it is certainly a worthy source of delightfully quirky entertainment. The plot was so inplausible, and yet taken with such nonchalance that I couldn't help but be delighted. Great little book to put you in a good mood.

This book was very disappointing because I was hoping to get a new perspective on economic thought. However, what I read was nothing of the sort. It was nothing more than a silly over-hyped (on this website) novel featuring unrealistic and dislikable characters. There was little action in the realm of reality. The whole premise of the book is absolute nonsense, however perhaps it could have basic principles of econ that may be useful in the classroom. It is basically a textbook converted into a novel ( a lovestory interwoven with economic history????)

Ok, I am an economist, and I know that no self respecting economist these days actually believes this stuff. There is little free market in the US, there are women who don't need a man to tell her about economics (this book could not have made women sound any more stupid), and there is little virtue about this book. The fact is, the economics in this book will not make you smarter, but will simply keep the rich in control. And, perhaps the worst is, the writing is simply horrible. Practice your market skills by avoiding this book.

All anyone ever hears about Adam Smith concerns his Wealth of Nations, everywhere from Economics class to movies like "A Beautiful Mind." This book is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about Adam Smith as a person and about what he really thought. Instead of dry biography, this book brings Adam Smith and his theories about economics and society directly into today's world. The story is funny and the characters are interesting and likeable; the novel makes the economic theories relatively painless. I've heard that a true economist is someone who sees something work in real life and wonders if it would work in theory; I think it's important for people to learn that this icon of economics was more complicated than that, and because of that I highly recommend this book.

I read Saving Adam Smith because the author, Dr. Jonathan Wight, was coming to my school as a visiting author. I did not know anything about Adam Smith or economics before I read it, but I learned about markets, economy and self interest v. greed. I thought the book was easy to read and I was surprised to understand the economic theory in the book. I liked the adventerous plot that kept me intested. I liked the storyline about the drive across country and all the trouble they got into. It was a fun book to read.

Economic science, like most social sciences, builds upon the works of previous generations. In order to leave time for new research and discovery, the accumulated wisdom of past generations is taught to new generations through summaries in textbooks and lectures.

This logical progression of economic science makes sense if the ideas and importance of past discoveries can be easily (and properly) conveyed by individuals unfamiliar with the original texts. For example, few physicists need to read the work of Newton to understand his discoveries and their importance to an understanding of how the world works today.

To some extent, the same may not be true about economics. While some ideas, such as a consumption function might be easily conveyed without reading the original texts, the same may not be true of all economic insights. The distillation of a lifetime of work into a few paragraphs may not only fail to properly convey the important nature of an author?s work, but the distillation process might, over time, distort the message so much that it an economists work is frequently interpreted to mean something very different from what was originally intended.

University of Richmond economist Jonathan B. Wight clearly believes this to be the case with Adam Smith. Since few economists today read THE WEALTH OF NATIONS, let alone the book Smith thought was his best THE THEORY OF MORAL SENTIMENTS, their knowledge of his work is often limited to ?the invisible hand.?

The invisible hand is frequently taken to mean that selfishness is enough to make markets work. As Wight demonstrates in the book, Smith?s true insight was that ?selfishness is simply not enough? to make markets work.

Wight has undertaken an important task with this book. Not only is it good fiction (at least to a graduate student in economics), it is good economics and good pedagogy. SAVING ADAM SMITH will do more for economics than 90 percent of the articles in the AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW.

Reading this books just makes me want to quit my day job, move to Maine and build wooden boats. I have spent some time in my youth working in a Maine boatyard, and this book perfectly captures the character of that experience. But for now I guess I'll just need to be transported through the writing in this wonderful book. I've been a fan of Joel White's designs for years this book has built my appreciation for the man as well.

I read this book while I was vacationing in Maine. It made me have an understanding and appreciation of what goes on in those boat yards along the coast. It also made me wish I knew Joel White and some of the other boatbuilders. I found the end of this book very touching. The author portrays White's illness, but doesn't make it seem maudlin or sentimental. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in boats or the people who live in Maine.

As someone who has spent time scraping and painting the bottom of a large sailing boat, this book brought back all the sights and sounds of a boatyard. I could smell the dust and paint fumes, feel the smoothness of varnished rails, and sense the excitment when each boat was hoisted into the water. This book should interest all aspiring boat builders, and prepare them for the painstaking work of boat design, construction and restoration.

Wynott does a superb job describing the interpersonal dynamics of a boatyard's personnel and the importance of good management. Though I found myself irritated at Steve, Joel White's son, for spending his winter in the Carribean during his father's last year, Steve's management style is instructive for leading a group of talented artisans, be they boat builders, scientific researchers, or writers.

I savored every page of this short book, sometimes reading each section twice as not to miss the rich details. It made me laugh, such as the passage about novice sailors who they ended being towed into port and decided to buy a boat anyway, and cry -- Joel's death. I recommend it highly for all who find satisfaction in "messin' around with boats." This book squarely dispells what every boat owner already knows: Boating only looks romantic!

I read this book while I was vacationing in Maine. It made me have an understanding and appreciation of what goes on in those boat yards along the coast. It also made me wish I knew Joel White and some of the other boatbuilders. I found the end of this book very touching. The author portrays White's illness, but doesn't make it seem maudlin or sentimental. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in boats or the people who live in Maine.

I agree with the reviewer who suggested that this book really needs some illustrations. Whynott's word-pictures just aren't sufficient for those whose knowledge of sailing boats is limited.

As a non-reader of Wooden Boats magazine,the source of much of the info here, I'd love to have seen photos or sketches of the boats mentioned, as well as the boatyard crew.

And for the ocean-loving landlubbers among us, a good glossary would be a godsend. For example, what's deadwood? or a spoon-shaped bow?

It's also a bit of a stretch to say that Whynott wrote this book. Take out the extensive -- and wonderful -- citations from the writings of E.B. White and his son, Joel that Whynott lovingly included, and not much of the writing came from the pen/typewriter/PC of Whynott. What did is quite well written, sometimes really well written, however.

What this book really did is send me searching for my copy of E.B. White's "One Man's Meat." I'm not surprised to see this title in the "others who bought this book" section here on amazon.com.

I'm also gonna check out "The Yard: Building a Destroyer at the Bath Iron Works," by Michael S. Sanders. The Boston Globe review of this book is what interested me in Whynott's book -- which the reviewer liked a lot.

I gave this book five stars because, more than any other technique we've tried, it has helped my daughter stop sucking her thumb. Now four years old, she had been sucking her thumb since she was about six months old. We've tried rewards, sticker charts, threatening loss of privileges, talking with the dentist, the works. Nothing worked. This book, in three weeks, has taken my daughter's bad habit from an all-day activity to just one she does in her sleep. We're still applying the principles from the book, in hopes that it even eradicates the sleep-time habit as well. In any case, I could not be happier that we read this book together.

My parents got me this when I was three to make me stop biting my nails. Sixteen years later I still bite my nails like crazy but I have a huge collection of Berenstain Bear books and read them to kids! I disagree with someoen saying this book was difficult for kids to understand. Maybe if they don't have any habits like mentioned in the book, but most Berenstain Bear books are simple.

The book is about the habit of nail biting although we used it to discuss quitting the thumb-sucking habit. It's a nice way to talk to your kid about how hard it is to break a bad habit. And it gave me, as the parent, an idea for how to reward daily efforts, rather than total success.

Sister Bear bites her nails. She finds it hard to quit. An idea is come up that every time she does not bite her nails, she gets money put into a jar. Then that money is hers to keep.

i find the berenstain bears book collection educational. this one was (surprisingly) an eye-opener for me as a parent as well. i followed the tip given here to stop my child from bitting his fingernails - and it worked.

This book is really cool, although those who don't like pictures of slightly (but not much) decayed bodies will not like some of the pictures. I personally think they are cool and amazing. I really enjoyed the way the author put what they thought happened into a story.

My mother gave this book to me when I was ten, which was a very long time ago. Those images of the mummies, so well-preserved that they don't look like mummies but like still-living human beings in some eternal pain we can't imagine -- they gave me nightmares then and they can still chill me to the stomach.

My mother gave this book to me when I was ten, which was a very long time ago. Those images of the mummies, so well-preserved that they don't look like mummies but like still-living human beings in some eternal pain we can't imagine -- they gave me nightmares then and they can still chill me to the stomach.

Buried in Ice is about two boats who went to the Arctic to discover new parts. They all died! Nobody worried though,because they had a three year supply of food.

What I like about the book is it's story,and adventure at the same time. Mystery because they want to find out what happenned to the crew. Adventure to survive in the cold.

I think we should apritiate explorers. For risking thier lives to find new things. These people tried to explor the Arctic. To find new places that were not put on the map yet,but they are now.

After seeing a clip on the Franklin Expedition in a documentary on mummies, I rushed to the library to see if there was a book on the subject. The only one available was this book in the juvenile section. At first I was disappointed, but, noticing a photo of the preserved body of one of the sailors, I checked it out. For a kids' book, this one is pretty cool. The first part of the book is a fictionalized (and very sanitized) story of chief stoker John Torrington and his friend and stoker Luke Smith on the HMS Terror. William Braine and Thomas Hartnell (John's brother) also make appearances. This story leaves the reader with questions that the author will answer in the second section describing the disinterring of Torrington, John Hartnell, and Braine and the information their well-preserved remains revealed. The photos are amazing and make this book fascinating for all ages. The first illustration of Torrington in the fictionalized story has him wearing the same articles found on his corpse (an intriguing, if a bit creepy, touch). The reading level and, at times, disturbing content is probably appropriate for kids 5th grade and up.

I'm ecstatic to have discovered this book. I'm a huge fan of YA books, and an even bigger fan of Veronica Mars, a critically acclaimed television show created and executive produced by Rob Thomas. I could go on and on about how great Rob Thomas is at writing dialogue, how perfectly plotted his story arcs are, and how he has the best understanding of the teenage mind in TV land... but that would be gushing. And I already kind of did that in the "Veronica Mars" review, so let's move on.

"Doing Time: Notes from the Undergrad" is a collection of short stories, each of which are first person narratives about how high schoolers spent their community service time (a requirement for their graduation). The stories range from slice of life tales, funny tidbits, and even tear jerkers, each of them commenting on the human condition. As with "Veronica Mars," Rob Thomas values the quirks and cynicism of realism over sentimentality, which makes this book ring all the more true.

The first story gives a nice context to those that follow. A college student named Randall is asked to review the reports that the high schoolers in question have written, and those reports are the subsequent stories. However, as another reviewer mentioned, this book feels extremely open-ended, as it doesn't close with another Randall story. However, that's a minor quibble, as this truly isn't a novel. It's simply a collection of short stories that center around a similar theme.

Some stories were better than others, but this book was entertaining throughout, which is rare for short story collections. It's short, it's packed with dialogue that zings across the page that will make any "Veronica Mars" fan feel like they are at home at last. It's not perfect, and it's not a life-changing book, but it's a great little book from an author whose work--whether it be prose or television--should be on your To Buy list.

8/10

Doing Time by Rob Thomas is a great book. Rob Thomas does an excellent job of writing ten short stories in which each one appeals to teenagers. Thomas does an exceptional job of conveying morals and themes from each story that really makes one think.
This book is exceptionally well written. Thomas was really able to bring these characters alive and have them become appealing to us young adults. He really portrays how teenagers would react in certain types of situations and made each story very logical and relaxing to read. I really liked how he had some twisted endings and had endings that really made one want to sit and think about what they have just read.
Thomas does such a good job with each story that you just do not want to have the stories end. He does such a good job of bringing out the character's personality traits. He truly does make them alive and seem like one of our friends at school. The only negative thing that Thomas does throughout this whole book is that he doesn't have much closure to the book.

This book is full of stories that are irony and also true. Most of them were similar to the ones that I read before but there was something always odd and unexpected. ¡®Doing Time¡¯ is about hours. It made me want to go over to Lee High School get involved with friends there volunteering for others. I would definitely recommend to the others who don¡¯t want to worry about which types of book they want to read because this book is related to our real lives and it shows Rob Thomas¡¯s thoughtful comments from each characters.

Again, I was reading stories about volunteer hours and everyone knows they need those to get into the colleges they want to go. There was this high school girl and she was part of a team that delivers stuffs. On the Christmas day, she was delivering boxes of can foods and some small furniture to the neighbors who do not have a food to celebrate their
own holidays. But by this chance to meet other people, she realized something that she should have not known. I kept on reading this story to the end and I said, ¡°Yeah, I¡®d be crying so hard in my mind if it was me.¡±

I remember one of the stories about this boy named Randall. He was a normal kid and one day, his mom introduced Preston, who was a very popular football player, to her son.
Preston was a cool guy helping Randall out with his talented football skills. And then all of a sudden I started thinking Randall is a lucky boy who has a tutor instead of his own big brother. I just remember this story by these characters but also there was unexpected
ending which kept me still. I was very amazed in a way of this story¡¯s ending that Rob Thomas had ended.

I would recommend the book Doing Time to any reader who will give a book a chance. Rob Thomas wrote this book about 0 diferent Cmunnity Service stories. At a place called Lee High you have to have 200 hours of community service put in b4 you can graduate. In one of the chapters 2 people volonteer at a library and every wednesday there is a meeting of people who have lost pets. In another chapter A geeky young women starts volonteering at a type of Care/ Rehabilatation Center. A man that she fel l in love with a yar or 2 b4 has to go there b/c of a motocycle crsh. As i said this is a grate book and I woi=uldrecommend it.

In Doing Time- Notes from the undergrad, Rob Thomas who is the author tells 10 differant stories by using various student narrators. The students all have in common the fact that they have to do 200 hours of community service for their requirement for their school in order to graduate. In one story "Shacks from Mansions", a football player named Preston plays for the Dallas Cowboys. He is tutoring a boy named Randall. Preston was Randall's big brother. Randall learned a great amount from him. In another story there was a boy and a girl who worked for the library near them. The lirary held meetings every Wednesday. The meetings were about people discussing their emotions about their passed-away pets. One Wednesday when the boy was working he went into the backroom to get something. He accidentally overheard them talking. He looked through the shelves and saw a picture up on the wall of a dead pet. He learned that he did not want to go back to that library. This book was not recommended for children under the age of 12. Some of the language was explicit. I learned that it would be very difficult to do 200 hours of community service.

I have used My Stuff Planner with my middle school students who struggle with learning disabilities. It keeps them organized and prepared. Parents always know what is happening in the classroom.

Schools provide homework helpers, but none are as good as this one! My Stuff Planner has large spaces for writing in assignments, and it lays flat on the desk. Each page is dated, so students can easily find the correct page. This Planner is absolutely the best!

This book was a life-saver for my fourteen year old daughter. She used it to organizer herself, and her grades shot up to A's and B's. The layout was easy to use, with a week-at-a-glance pages, and the monthly calendars that helped her with her long-range planning. She loved the daily quotes, too. I recommend this homework helper for everyone!

I thought that this was more than it is. By reading the review and description, I thought there would be added advice, teaching ideas, great help for the student. But, they already have a planner at school. And that is all this book is. A planner. There is no other use for this book. It's just a calendar.

As an educator with 35 years experience in public and private schools, I highly endorse My Stuff Planner. It fills a need that until recently was ignored. Because it is non-electronic, it provides on-going record and note keeping that is safe from battery failure.

Students and parents have a ready reference to events and homework assignments. By using My Stuff Planner, students quickly learn the value of being organized. Because the book is user-friendly, students can begin using it immediately.

Just as adults realize the uses of a day-planner, so will students. I give my full support to My Stuff Planner.

This book called Prom Time by Bobbie Weiss, and David Weiss is a good book. This book has two main characters Sabrina and Libby. They are fighting over who is going to be the ball of the party. Sabrina wants it this way and Libby wants the party to be her way. This may or may not be a good idea. The author wants you to know that fighting over something like that is not at all the way to sort things out. Use a different way, calmly decide what to do. I recommend this book to 5th graders and up, because it is an easy read and you can get a lot out of it. Also under the grade of 5 you won't really make a good impact on you.

It wasnt as great as 'Showdown At The Mall' or 'Prisoner Of Cabin 13' but it also wasnt as bad as 'Dogs Life'. Reading the title of the book makes you think its all about the prom when realy thats all talk untill the last chapter, what the book is actually about is a fairwind spell. The fact that Sabrina keeps been taken out to buy dresses gets boring after a while, i think this book is actually at its best at the beginning fading out as you go on. But i wouldent completly rule it out its written very well and i like the story line. I think it was better than 'Age Of Aquariums', i think all the Weiss' books seemed to drag but this was a good one.

I enjoyed this book, but it was not as good as most Sabrina books. Sabrina is mad that Libby is making the prom unfair, so she uses a fair wind potion. But she doesn't read the fine print, and doubles the wind, making it twice as strong and unstoppable.

Sabrina thinks her prom night should be...well, magical. Just like anyone else's. But Libby is planning the whole show, & that means only one person will have a wonderful time: Libby. That's just not fair!

So Sabrina decides to fight back. She conjures up a "fair wind", and soon she and Libby are both on the prom comitee. After all, it's only fair...

The fair wind isn't finished yet, though. It sweeps through every corner of every corner of school, then follows Sabrina home, with some crazy consequences. The way things are going, it'll even ruin the prom. Sabrina's got to figure out how to get things back to normal...before her prom night becomes a nightmare!

Sabrina thinks her prom night should be...well, magical. Just like anyone else's. But Libby is planning the whole show, & that means only one person will have a wonderful time: Libby. That's just not fair!

So Sabrina decides to fight back. She conjures up a "fair wind", and soon she and Libby are both on the prom comiteen. After all, it's only fair...

The fair wind isn't finished yet, though. It sweeps through every corner of every corner of school, then follows Sabrina home, with some crazy consequences. The way things are going, it'll even ruin the prom. Sabrina's got to figure out how to get things back to normal...before her prom night becomes a nightmare!

This book is invaluable! As a returning adult student (grad school) this book provides the ultimate road map for getting A+ grades. As a star student (h.s. valedictorian) I know a lot about getting the top grade in every class - this book provided me with tips I've never read anywhere else, and I've read a few books on this topic. I recently used a few of these new study ideas in 2 econ classes at jr college (review before grad school) and I received A+ grades in both classes - exactly what I wanted! Since it's been over 20 yrs since I've been in a classroom, my results were unexpectedly high, and I'm thrilled. These authors know their stuff, and they present it in clear, understandable ways that can be easily learned and consistently used. I am very grateful that I've found this book and will use the ideas and processes the authors provide for the rest of my school career (the book also provides ideas that can be transferred to the business world about preparation, people communications, and process.) This book is the best I've found; and would benefit high school, college and all adult students, regardless of field of study.

I suggest this read to anyone who is serious about stuyding and wants to earn A's. Although it's a lot of work if you follow the book's suggestions I can't see how anyone could not get great grades!

This book is similar to the book, SURVEY OF 300 A+ STUDENTS: A+ STUDENTS DESCRIBE THEIR ACADEMIC STRATEGIES, by Kenneth Green (from Harvard). However, I think that Kenneth Green's book is more comprehensive and gives the information in a chronological order, which makes it a smoother read.

The content and writing style of this book are more appropriate to the high school or college student. The book probably would not motivate a younger reader...too serious and too general.

This book is rather brief. This book is like a brief assortment of topics.
It didn't help me much. For time management (which possibly is the greatest skill that any student must master), the authors just mention very briefly.

Our 4 y.o. loves this series (we also have the audio) he can listen to them for hours. When a child would rather listen to books than watch tv, it's a winner! To the educator from Hawaii, GET OVER IT. It's a series about Jack and Annie, they go around helping/saving everyone. Jack saving 2 Hawaiian kids and his little sister from a devastating tsunami, you found that offensive? Now if you want to criticize the book how about the lack of research, there is no B in the Hawaiian alphabet. Kama would have never been allowed to climb a coconut tree, in ancient times women did not gather or prepare food until after menstruation ceased. Boka would not have been making kapa (aka tapa) that was women's work. Lastly, poi is NEVER made with fruit juice! But what she did get right makes up for the mistakes, she captured the Aloha Spirit. Reading this story with my son makes me miss home!

I read a story that will take you to Hawaii! If you want to go to Hawaii, Magic Tree House book #28, High Tide in Hawaii is waiting for you.

Jack and Annie are solving rhymes and this book is the last rhyme. Jack and Annie will learn how to surf and dance.

The rhyme from Morgan le Fay (the long ago Librarian) is to "build a special kind of ship that rides the waves, both high and low, on every kind of trip".

There is trouble by tsunami, but you have to find out in this book!

I love this book because it makes me laugh. Just like this, Jack was trying to stand and surf but he kept fell down. Hawaiian friends ( Kumu and Boka) will help him stand.

I recommend this book to people who love Magic Tree House series and people who have been to Hawaii before. Go ahead and check this book out!

My children have several books in this series (Magic Tree House). I bought this one for my 9 year old. This one is about going back in time and learning about friendship. It's a nice story.

The only part I didn't like was the peer pressure for one character to surf (a child who was afraid to surf) with no lessons or safety info. At least they did show some danger in doing so later on in the story. (I don't think you should stop kids from learning new sports but there should be parental supervision, "how to" lessons and safety instructions.)

Overall, I feel this is a great book.

My 1st grader hates to put it down, he would rather read Magic Tree House books, than play video games. He even reads them to his class and explains the story for show and tell. In his kindergarten class the teacher would also let him read the Magic Tree House books out loud, not to give her a break, but to promote reading out loud. Great books!

While I appreciate that this is a popular series, as an elementary educator from Hawai'i I would like Amazon customers to consider not buying this particular installment of the Tree House books. It perpetuates the most ridiculous stereotypes of Hawai'i and Hawaiians. It makes Native Hawaiians out to be ignorant and indebted to a boy for his superior knowledge -- this is simply a repetition of the old story that Pacific Islanders needed to be saved by the West. At the risk of being cynical, how about a book that explains how the kids did not save Native Hawaiians from the near genocide that followed contact with the West? There are many good books for kids set in Hawai'i, written by people who know the Islands, its history and traditions. Please look for books like these -- The Fish and Its Gifts/Na Makana a Na I'a, Bon Dance in Hawai'i, To Find the Way, or Mr. Miyataki's Wonderful Machine.