New Mexico Books

The Grady, Oklahoma, of 1961 was like hundreds of small towns dotting the Bible Belt. Into this setting Lisa Polisar brings a vivid reality in descibing the outwardly bland lives of her characters, until we feel we live next door to people we either pity, fear or hope will move away. Felt by superb narration, and seen through the eyes of fifteen-year-old Jake Leeds, Polisar's keen observations range from the mundane look of hand-crocheted oven mitts to a fetid basement jail cell where sadistic lawman Blackie Savage orders Jake locked up for snooping too much. The summer starts with an initiation ritual by Jake's best friend, Mikey: sleeping alone in "an empty field of coarse reeds and vile secrets" finds Jake terrorized by the moans and shrieks of a young woman. He runs from a bloody apparition of the murdered victim, sensing that if he does not get away he will end up dead like Mary Prairie. Yet, obsessed with tracking down her killer, Jake gradually uncovers a tangle of unlikely relationships that include his family and even himself. Polisar's genius at characterization and regional dialogue breathes life into the colorful residents whom Jake encounters in his search -- unaware that his dogged persistence begins to endanger his own safety.
By novel's end we are taking more discriminating looks at our own neighbors and acquaintences: what stillborn secrets might we pry out of their intimate worlds?
Albert Noyer / The Getorius and Arcadia Mysteries

Lisa Polisar's style of writing moves the reader through the story of Jake and his adventures so effortlessly that you feel that you are Jake. You will be frightened, confused, humiliated, determined and hurt as he is as he moves through this mystery to fruition.

This is a journey you will never regret taking and may want to return to from time to time for the complete escape and pleasure of the experience.

To say this is simply a mystery novel is not enough. Yes, there is a dynamic and dark plot that spreads out and thickens in a way Arthur Conan Doyle would be proud of. There is a cast of diverse characters that create a web of entertaining combinations that keep the story on the road to the inevitable. There is a foreboding sense of what is to come at every juncture. But the unique thing about this story are the brilliantly woven underlying darker elements of the typical American family.
The central character, Jake, takes this story to shocking depths and his demeanor serves to inspire us all. Jake is a classic specimen of the heartland. He knows his surroundings as well as his people. But like so many searchers, fictional or non, yearns for something fierce, and he finds it. Jake's obssession with solving the mystery Sherlock Holmes style is as much a rite of passage is it is a matter of course. The author brilliantly places Jake's deepening distress with his dysfunctional family as a springboard for his ever developing sleuth skills.
Fascinating characters add to the brilliant and efficient pace of this story, which seems to shift emphasis at various points to take in the all-encompassing supernatural nature of the tale. Much like old horror films, deliberately hiding the monster makes it all the more frightening, and the darkness in this story looms just outside the circus of Jake's life. It calls, and he answers. The author takes you on that journey and you read much about what it is to be alive, through Jake. And you thank him at the end of the story, and Lisa Polisar welcomes you.

One might describe The Ghost of Mary Prairie as a coming-of-age story, but it's much more than that.

The protagonist, Jake Leeds, faces up to the terrifying circumstances of his fifteenth summer. Virtually abandoned by his family and goaded on by friends, he sets off on a night of initiation on the wild Oklahoma prairie. The vision he experiences triggers a chain of events that forces the young man to confront his worst fears and struggle against seemingly overwhelming odds.

Polisar weaves the tale in the first-person narrative voice of a male teenager. Maintaining authenticity of voice while transposing gender from author to character is no mean task, a task that Polisar executes expertly in this tense and captivating tale. As the story unfolds, characters and scenes appear vivid and surreal, and the reader is swept up in tides of rushing adrenaline and adolescent hormones, and, along with Jake, the reader is held hostage till the end.

The suggestion of evil is always more powerful than the dissection of it. So, if you're looking for pulpy, graphic description, look elsewhere. This book overflows with implied metaphors and the powerful insinuation of poetic imagery, rendering it literary.

"It was strange being able to sense the formation of the funnel without actually seeing it. The train was moving about fifty miles per hour, and I kept changing my mind about whether our speed was helping or not....From the aisle seat, I watched a sand flurry fill the air...just like someone had yanked up a giant tablecloth. Then the howl started. The rain pounded onto the east windows with fist-sized hailstones on the other side....The train car shook like an old washing machine now. I couldn't imagine it staying on the track. Women shrieked, babies were crying, and the men all had stone-white faces....The funnel thinned out, branched apart, and then braided itself together again, spraying the empty landscape with a destructive fury of grass, rain, hail, mud, steel, and wood, catching and releasing at the same time, using anything in its path to snowball its size."

As for the "suggestion of evil," our leaders and the press broadcast daily messages of fear and future-fear, with no end in sight. This obsession with fear could well be balanced with a message about personal sacrifice, hope, and courage. For an exploration of these virtues, read The Ghost of Mary Prairie, a novel for our time.

"The Ghost of Mary Prairie" is a mystery that's being solved by 15-year-old Jake Leeds. Jakes spends a night outside as an initiation and meets the ghost of a young girl whose murder was never solved. The encounter devastates Jake and he sets out to solve the murder as a way of coping with the encounter. This comes at a time when his family's disfunctions have broken through the surface and rendered his mom, dad and unmarried, teenage sister -- who has just had a baby -- incapable of support or even kindness. His connection to his best friend Mikey is getting frayed as Jake outgrows his immature childhood pal. And Jake has just met his first almost-girlfriend who provides more confusion than comfort.

So Jake's journey toward solving Mary Prairie's murder is a combination of a search for his soul as his life crumbles -- and an escape from his ambiguous and impossible-to-fulfill responsibilities to his family and Mikey.

This is quite the burden on young Jake. But Jake is smart, inquisitive and self-reliant. Desperation has given him strength, so he's up to the task. We eagerly follow him as he unearths clues amid his broken world.

The magic in this book is Jake's voice. Polisar uses first person to put us right in the heart of Jake's ragged spirit. It's a wonderfully rich voice that tells the truth without flinching. That voice carries us well as Jake moves through painful confusion to understanding and acceptance of his family's rotten secrets as he solves Mary's murder.

I am a former fifth grade instructor, a National Board Certified Teacher, and a college professor in Teacher Preparation. I highly recommend the Grandmother Stories series to elementary and early childhood instructors and parents who are homeschooling their children. The books have appropriate vocabulary and tell stories that explain nature in a creative manner. I learned several things I did not know about nature and its interactions from these books. Children love to have the books read to them and to read them to themselves. Duvall and Jacobs are a wonderful creative force as they merge their talents to produce books that will be enjoyed for generations to come.

This review by Melanie Tait appeared in the Spring, 2005 issue of the Journal of the Association for Childhood Education International: This is a delightful retelling of a Cherokee legend explaining how the rabbit lost his long, luxurious tail and how the otter learned to love swimming. It also teaches valuable lessons about pride, deceit and justice. The story is told in language simple enough for young independent readers, but would make an entertaining read aloud as well. The beautifully detailed black-and-white illustrations capture the essence of the story and set the scene for the traditional tale. Even the cover background and endpapers are intriguing. This book would be of particular interest to young people learning about or celebrating Native American cultures. Ages 6-12.

Stories abound in the Native culture about how the rabbit lost its tail, but few are so elegantly presented as this one. The dialogue and the story line keep a child's interest piqued, page after page, and the illustrations are a feast for the eyes. And of course, there is a happy ending for Ji-Stu the Rabbit. Now he can run through the woods much faster "without that troublesome tail!"

Deborah Duvall and Murv Jacob have brought the old Cherokee animal tales back to life with their How Rabbit Lost His Tail and their other titles in this series from the University of New Mexico Press. The old tales, recorded previously in mostly pedantic prose for dusty scholars to peruse, have been rewritten by Duvall in lively and very readable English for young readers and old alike, and they are lavishly illustrated by Jacob. The tales involve Ji-Stu, Rabbit, the Cherokee Trickster, who embodies all the characteristics of man: pride, arrogance, greed, deceit ("The path to the dance grounds followed the river that ran through the Cherokee lands. In some places where the river curved, the water formed deep pools that reflected the river bank above. Each time he passed such a pool, Ji-Stu stopped just long enough to look at his reflection, for he was very proud.") He even occasionally shows courage.
You can't go wrong in picking up How Rabbit Lost His Tail or any of the other beautifully illustrated books in this series, for you will enjoy them, your children will marvel at them, and you may even learn something about Cherokee culture or about human behavior from reading them. (...)

The Grandmother Stories are eloquent, beautifully illustrated tales that recapture the imagination of Native America. Debbie Duvall and Murv Jacob have done a brilliant job of revisiting the mythic world of Rabbit, Bear and Otter, and introducing them to a contemporary audience. These characters are timeless, as are their stories, and readers of all ages will delight in their antics and unique insights. - Teresa Miller, Center for Writers and Poets, OSU Tulsa

These Knopf Guides are fantastic. They are beautiful little books, they are not quick guides, they are conscious and indepth. The images are well presented and the text highly informative. This book on New York is especially good, New York is unique and lends itself well to a guide of this kind. Highly recommended.

It's the most handy guidebook I ever used. It tells you all the attractions in Manhattan and it doesn't flood you wth words. It organized into sections, so you don't have to fold the map over and over to find where you want to go. If you love to travel by yourself and you don't want to carry a big book around and look like a tourist, you should get this book.

It's only good for Manhattan though.

If you are traveling to NYC, and spending your time in Manhattan, this is the only map book you will need. It's compact, and will fit in your pocket, and is easy to use and to read.

It starts with a map of Manhattan, which is divided into several sections. Each section has a corresponding map. When you open the book to a section, you will see some text and small pictures showing some of the highlights that you may want to see in the area. Then, the page folds out to a detailed map that is large enough to read easily, even while your walking, but still quite compact. The paper is very heavy, and after ten days of extensive use, my book has no torn maps, or even battered edges.

The back of the book has both bus and subway maps, and although they are pretty small, you can still use them to get around on public transportation. The only thing I used to supplement this book was a compass, which helped when we emerged from a subway tunnel, and needed a quick direction.

The cost of this book is only slightly more than a traditional map and is, in my opinion, an incredible value for the money. As a first-time visitor to NYC using this book, I was amazed that I never got lost; not even once!

We used this book on our first visit to Manhatten and found the book to be very helpful. After preparing for our visit with this book, I felt comfortable and a familiarity with the city.

folks, this is the best idea for a tourbook/map that i have stumbled across yet. i'm not prone to raving, but this will garner praise from me until the cows come home (bearing foot & mouth) no doubt.

so, why is this so great? first of all, it's simple and well designed. the city is broken down into sections. you turn to those pages and there is a brief description of places to eat, shop, etc. the pages then open up into a map of the section with a description of major sites in the area.

brilliant! no fumbling around a big map trying to find your street. no squinting to figure out where you are. it's easy to find landmarks, metro stops, etc.

the card stock is nice and heavy and has lasted well even in my back pocket. the descriptions have been helpful without being too lengthy. and at this price, it's quite competitive with other maps while providing much more.

Desde que leí por Las enseñanzas de Don Juan primera vez y por esas casualidades de la vida, podría decir...quedé fascinada, tanto que por un lado me moría leerlo pero por otro lado era como una especie de dolor terminarlo ya que al cerrar ese libro era como cerrar ese mundo. Es por eso que al recién leer todos los comentarios publicados aquí y encontrar esa misma sensasión en cada uno que escribió siento una inmensa alegría. La verdad que los diversos libros de Castaneda me ayudaron a abrir un poco la cabeza y a desarrigarme un poco más de todo lo que no tiene sentido. Mis saludos para todos, Gaby.

la presencia permanente de la muerte

Las enseñanzas de Don Juan es uno de los libros mas maravillosos que he leido en mucho tiempo,lo recomiendo a todas las personas que tienen una mente abierta.

Durante el transcurso de una vida ocurren una serie de cosas que nos llaman la atención, pero existen otras que van mucho más alla y nos impactan, hasta el punto de cambiar una vida a partir del momento en que ocurren. Creo que eso paso conmigo al encontrar el primero de una serie de libros que son realmente magnificos.Carlitos representa al comienzo el espejo de nosotros mismos, los que estamos insertos en la cultura occidental; seres sofisticados y arrogantes que no creemos en nada aparte de lo podemos comprobar con los cinco sentidos. Me di cuenta que no somos para nada comparables con la libertad que tiene un guerrero. Don Juan decía que no existe una prueba de hombría más grande que seguir el camino del guerrero y esto porque es una de las empresas más dificiles que existe.Al conocer estas enseñanzas me he dado cuenta que hasta este punto de mi vida solo he perdido el tiempo en tonterías, como cargarme de deseos egoistas que al final no sirven de nada. Aunque talve! ! z no lo consiga, creo que seguir el camino del guerrero es lo unico que me queda por hacer, pues para mí en este momento es lo unico que tiene un significado verdadero.Gracias Carlos y sobre todo gracias Don Juan.

Posiblemente este sea uno de los libros mas importantes de mi vida. Descubre un mundo que siempre ha estado ahi mismo, el cual es dificil de percibir debido a nuestra propia tendencia de ser. Desgraciadamente en ultimas fechas ha sido objeto de un extrano culto "new age" propiciado por la mercadotecnia boras. Recomiendo ampliamente este libro pero solo a las personas con una amplia vision de la vida y un enfoque critico de la realidad.

This is a great guide. I can't vouch for its accuracy yet, but I was very pleased with the presentation and the level of information. Not too much info and not too little. Great photographs. It's a great help

Good info, we take it on every trip. The only gripe, it leaves out a lot of places.

This guidebook is a model for all camping guidebooks to follow. The book divides the state into a dozen regions, and lists the campgrounds in a logical order within each region. The campgrounds are rated with objective criteria on scenery, facilities, etc, and good descriptions are given. There is even advice about which campgrounds are likely to be late-night hangouts. From Forest Service to BLM to state parks, the book is a comprehensive resource.

My minor complaint is that there is limited advice about which campgrounds are more popular. Last summer, we found some campgrounds to be jammed while others were quiet, and it would have been helpful to know to to go for a peaceful campsite.

I give 5 stars for the logical presentation, the objective & accurate reviews and the comprehensive listings.

New Mexico has long been one of our favorite camping/RVing destinations. We consider "New Mexico Campgrounds: The Statewide Guide" to be the "MUST HAVE" reference to the state's wonderfully varied non-commercial campgrounds (Corps of Engineers, BLM, Forest Service, State and National Parks, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, and various Indian reservations).

"New Mexico Campgrounds" divides the state into 12 regions and provides detailed information on 175 campgrounds. For most of these campgrounds, you will find a color photo (there are 216 photos in the book). The book also provides a list rating each campground on scenery, desirability as a destination for RVers and for tenters, shade, privacy, facilities, campground activities, area activities and wheelchair accessibility. (The ratings are on a scale of 1 to 5 stars.) A convenient summary at each listing gives the campground's general location, elevation, number of sites, recommended RV length, season, nearest supply center, access road information, map references, and directions. Additionally, each listing includes a narrative description, a note as to whether or not the campground accepts reservations and phone numbers.

Admittedly, this is not the campground guide for the RVer seeking the sorts of facilities available only in commercial campgrounds. If swimming pools and full hookups are at the top of your list of campground priorities, you will be better served by other guide books. For the rest of us, this one is a MUST HAVE reference!

Excellent review of campgrounds on public lands (Forest Service, BLM, National Parks, and State Parks..) in New Mexico. I've visited many of these sites and her information is very accurate. This book is a must for those interested in camping in New Mexico.

A Place to Belong is the first section in this book of four novels. It is fabulous. The story is about a young girl who has one thing in common with her father, they both lost her mother and brother in childbirth. He left and the girl, Maggie, was raised by her paternal grandmother. Years go by with bitterness left unresolved until the father tries and tries again to win over the love of his missed daughter. Only on his deathbed does he start to get through to her with his dearest friend and basically adopted son, Garrett Lucas; and then Maggie begins to find love both in the eyes of her father, the arms of Garrett Lucas, and in the heart of God.

Perfect Love is the second novel and the continuing story of A Place to Belong. Here Maggie's best friend from childhood Lillie is starting out her life of a perfect marriage, with a perfect husband, a perfect child in her womb, and just all around perfect love. Things begin to happen quickly, first Lille's husband becomes a Christian and she feels that she is losing him to a God that is not worth her money. Then she does lose her husband and her child. Lille thought she had it all and it is only when she is completely humbled and losing all material things, that she can see what she is missing. Here is where Dr. Monroe, a friend of Garrett's comes in... A widower of a wife lost in childbirth and an estranged Christian he understands Lillie's pain. It is by divine providence that they are both brought to the New Mexico ranch and both given second chances on life. Second chances through love, and forgiveness as each has their own struggles and burdens to pass. In this story, a reader is able to experience the necessity of actions that God allows so that his will maybe done. When you think you have something wonderful, it is hard to believe that sometimes God has something even better in mind for you, if you will just listen.

Tender Journeys is both a prequel to both of the first two stories as well as a caught up sequel as of chapter 12. Here you learn the story of Jenny and her past where her family was viciously murdered and she was left to live with a despicable woman of greed. Also, is the story of David and how he came to the ministry and New Mexico. They meet and learn to love each other and then make a life. From one escape and then to heart break three times, to Jenny being kidnapped and David being set up for another heart break that could be his ultimate chance of healing... Both Jenny and David have to deal with the past and things that they thought they were past and had forgiven. How many times can something be taken from you before you break? Can you ever be truly whole? Things are all things that are explored in this tale.

The Willing Heart completely tops all of the other stories in this set. Although, it has nothing to do with New Mexico as it is based in Colorado and Missouri. Here a woman, still a child as well as big sister, is set in a similar situation as the biblical Job. A man comes along appearing to all to be their hope and salvation, while only Alexandra knows the truth. The amazing power of God is fully shown in this story as Zandy can work through the evil skin of this man and find his innocence and help him find God. Tracie Peterson did an amazing job with this story making you really hate the evil and not the person. The empathy is amazing as you just strive to believe what is true, and what just cannot happen. This story was fabulous and so far my complete favorite. It was bold and daring, and quite enjoyable through the end.

I really enjoyed learning about the characters in this book, the first 3 really blend together as you get to know them. The last book was even more exciting and I could hardly put it down, it stayed within my thoughts until I could finish it!! Cant wait to read the Sunset series.

I picked up New Mexico Sunrise and took a chance on an author I had not read before. The four seperate novels were page turners and I ended up reading a novel a day. I had to keep reading to see how it would all end. The first three stories are about characters that show up in each, but with a different lead character. The last story is totally unrelated to the other three and doesn't even take place in New Mexico. The characters are appealing, with the exception of Riley in the last story, just keep reading for some surprises in that one. The romances are each unique and pleasing to read.

In "A Place to Belong" Garret Lucas is sent by Maggie's father to bring her home, and he is determined to do so. But Maggie is just as determined to stay right where she is. Using every trick in the book she tries to escape Garrett, even going so far as running away from the train. Finally Garret tells Maggie the reason he was sent to bring her home, because she's to be married . . . to him. When they arrive at her father's home, Maggie's animosity toward her father worries Garret and so he leaves so that they can reconcile. Maggie, already in love with Garret, is devastated . . .

In "Perfect Love" Lillie has recently lost her husband and her unborn baby. She decides to go and visit her friend Maggie Lucas and on the way she meets the insulting Dr. Daniel Monroe who keeps on her about her increasing weight. When she arrives at Maggie's she finds that her friend isn't there, but that another house guest has just arrived, Daniel. Maggie and Garret walk in to find Lillie chasing Daniel with a frying pan. It takes a lot for these two to see eye to eye . . . but they are both lost and searching for something to give them comfort.

"Tender Journeys" goes back a few years to tell the story of Jenny. Jenny was left alone and taken in by a self-serving woman who uses Jenny like a slave. When a young pastor, David, takes an interest in Jenny, a romantic interest, the lady panics that she's going to lose her income . . . so she sells jenny to another man. Jenny hopes David will come in time . . .

and in "The Willing Heart" a new man has come to save the town named Riley Dawson. Zandy is attracted to his good looks and him with hers. When he approaches her he makes an offer . . . one she could never accept. He warns her that her family will suffer if she refuses, but she could never do what he asks. Things go from bad to worse when she still won't do what he asks, so he involves the whole town. Then in a public meeting he tells all that it's all of Zandy's fault that these things are happening to them. Everyone presumes that she just won't marry him . . . and they all turn against her. . . she doesn't know how much longer she can keep this up. She starts to wonder where God is . . .

This set of stories are excellent . . . I've read them many times over and I never seem to tire of them. Tracie Peterson has done it again.

Four stories in one book and all are good! The first three deal with the same general cast but each features a different family. The last story is detached from the first three and actually sounds like a different author or certainly a different slant.

A Place to Belong features the life of Maggie, a wealthy young woman who refuses to be united with her estranged father. Only a threatened kidnapping changes her mind and subsequently her life. Perfect Love highlights the lives of Lillie and Dr. Daniel Monroe. Both have suffered horrible loss. Both are unbending when it comes to personal wants. The author does a fine job blending their complicated lives. Tender Journeys is Jenny's story. Actually, the reader may be a tad confused at the placement of this story in the book but finally one gets the connection. Jenny was orphaned by Apache Indians and hates them completely until she is forced to live with them. I was completely surprised in this one. Several excellent twists finally are evident even though the storyline moves somewhat slowly in places. The last story, The Willing Heart is the life of Zandy and Riley. He is the one character you can detest. Easily. Corrupt and wealthy from gambling and owning the whole town, he always gets what his money and power can buy. The one thing that is out of his reach is Zandy. Although she and her family suffer horribly for her moral standards, the outcome of the last book is definitely worth the whole thing.

Book 2 is titled New Mexico Sunset which I have already purchased. Way to go Tracie, and thanks for some excellent Christian Fiction reading!

This lady brought me to love a land and people in a manner I never dreamed possible. A must read for the romantic as well as the pedantic.

... this writing is like the geography [of Baja], desert surrounded by water. Rich, yet sparse; full, yet hungry. Like Mexico, full of soul. This book is much more than a regional tale: it is the beginning of a literature of Baja ...

I bought this book and it was so enjoyable that I read it in one sitting! I read constantly, but I can only think of three or four times in my life where I've read a book straight through. It's a wonderful story and I can't wait to pass it on to some friends...

Your beautiful metaphors, poetic style and sense of humor make wonderful reading along with the story...

I have recently read The Other Side - Journeys in Baja California by Judy Goldstein Botello and loved every word of the book so much that I had to write this letter of praise. Not only do I enjoy (meaning passionate about) travel memoir-adventure books and genre, but especially the subject of Mexico and sub-subject of Baja California. The author is extremely talented to articulate and convey her observations in such a charming way. It is a lovely read that possesses many aspects of the humor, color, soul of this fascinating region and its people. There is much more than meets the eye at the surface and the author captures this and a period of time that will never be again.

Sincerely,

Lorraine Holle, Resident of Seattle, WA

Portrait of an Artist is just that - a portrait of a powerful, unique artist. Refreshingly, for those of us who have an interest in art and some knowledge but are not familiar with technicalities, the book is very direct and honest. One comes away with the feeling they have met and experienced a fascinating woman - one who is not always pleasant and kind, but one who is always open and honest. Her art is used as a lens into her deepest feelings, although the only representations of her art are in photographs where she is posing in front of one of her paintings. Her devotion to her art was inspiring, although it seemed to overwhelm everything and everyone that surrounded her. I walk away from this book very glad to have met and experienced Georgia O'Keeffe, but also glad to have experienced her from a distance and not had to endure her intensity personally. This is a great compliment for a fascinating book.

For so many years to me, Georgia O'Keeffe was just a well-known woman artist who painted flowers. Thanks to this book I came away feeling that I got to truly know and admire this artist and now I can look at her pictures differently with a deeper understanding and appreciation for them. Thanks to this book I think I have learned to look at the beauty in nature in a different way and feel that this book has taught me much about people and truly opened my eyes in many ways to the world around me and made me curious about different areas of our wonderful country. Very enlightening in many ways and definitely worth reading.

There are parts of New Mexico that, if you know of the woman, just scream This is Georgia O'Keeffe Country. This honest and admiring biography lays out the story of this incredible woman who lived to age 99. That's a long, long, long life. Her life found its trajectory when, in 1916, a friend sent some of her drawings to renowned photographer Alfred Stieglitz. He proclaimed her to be "a woman on paper." Furious (as only O'Keeffe could be furious), she confronted him, became his lover, and eventually married him, initiating an emotional and artistic collaboration that endured until his death.
O'Keeffe became a feminist before the word was even invented. When she realized that it would be impossible to become her own person while working in his shadow, she established the pattern of spending 6 months with him in NY and 6 months on her own in New Mexico, a place she always referred to as her spiritual home. Stiegitz died in 1946, and O'Keeffe lived on for another incredible half a century.
If you have the opportunity to visit New Mexico, don't miss the O'Keeffe museum in Santa Fe - and my all means visit her home in Abiqueque. To say it's Georgia O'Keeffe country is to put it far too mildly.

When author Laurie Lisle advised the artist, Georgia O'Keeffe, that hers was a story Lisle "wanted to tell," O'Keeffe, as was her wont, elected not to participate but told Lisle, "you are welcome to what you find." ("Forward and Acknowledgments.") Lisle, equipped with a passion for her subject and steadfastness of purpose - qualities similar to those governing O'Keeffe's own work and life - pored through museum bulletins and exhibition catalogue notes, magazine and newspaper articles, memoirs about O'Keeffe's artistic peers (including her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz), and O'Keeffe's letters preserved in Yale's Beinecke Rare Book Library. She spoke with O'Keeffe's schoolmates, in-laws, and friends. And, of course, she viewed O'Keeffe's creations.

There is not one spot of color in this book except for the auburn and gold lettering on the jacket of my paperback. The sixteen pages of photographs in the book, only four of which show O'Keeffe posing with her art, are black-and-white. One imagines, had the artist participated in this project and accepted that a literary work, with an artist as its subject, could be as beautiful and fascinating as the flowers, skulls, rivers, and stones she captured in her own paintings, O'Keeffe would have appreciated the lack of color. For much of her life, O'Keeffe's signature garb was black with a touch of white, due to a belief that admirers ought to focus on the art, not the artist.

While reading this book, one obviously is tempted to take occasional breaks from Lisle's gorgeously plain, non-effusive prose to google O'Keeffe's paintings. After I read about O'Keeffe's initiation into the jet age, where she was surprised to peer down from her airplane window and "see so many rivers, tributaries, and deltas undulating through the earth's deserts" ("Chapter 13: Clouds"), I just had to view "It Was Red and Pink." However, this book clearly is not an art critique. Paintings are discussed insofar as they provide insight into O'Keeffe's mind, heart, and soul. Most of the time, while reading, I stayed far away from the computer. I was riveted by tales about family, femininity, marriage, the artist's apparent struggle between remaining dedicated to painting and perhaps having a baby, the conflict between how she and the public perceived her work, intimations of mortality, and a devotion to the splendors of New Mexico even after her eyesight failed.

I would recommend this book to anyone who relishes art, history, New Mexico, femininism, humanity, or just would love to read a great book.

Having just seen the Georgia Okeeffe exibition at the Phillips Gallery in Washington, DC, I had to run out and buy a biography to learn more about this incredible artist. This book gives deep personal insight to Ms O'keeffe's life and work.

Although I knew that Lynn and her husband were finally able to adopt their daughters, I simply could not put this book down. I kept reading to find out what struggles they had to endure next. I was so happy when the adoption was finalized.

We also adopted a child from a former state of the Soviet Union and Ms. Doxon's story brought back many memories of that experience. We thought what we went through was grueling and trying, but their experience was far worse. We have given this book to friends who are trying to adopt currently from Ukraine. We want them to go in armed with the knowledge, insight, and courage that was so accurately portrayed in Rainbows From Heaven. This is a must read for anyone who is thinking about adopting from overseas. This book shows that with God & the desire to adopt that all things are possible.

This true story of a family's struggle to adopt three girls from the Ukraine was capitivating from page one! I laughed, I cried and I prayed for this family thoughout this book. What an inspiring story of faith, love, and determination. Truly, one of the best books I've read in a long time!

I felt inspired by the perseverence of the author. I enjoyed reading the perspective of the young children. I was moved by their journey as orphans prior to their adoption by their American parents.

Lynn Ellen Doxon's book about the adoption of three girls from the Ukraine is truly a story about faith, courage and persistence in the face of difficulty. Lynn Ellen and her husband, Robert, are proof that with God's help, the impossible can be accomplished. This is a fine piece of writing, and will fill the reader with hope and joy.

This book provides an enlightening look at Diebenkorn's early biomorphic landscape drawings and paintings. It's full of quality images and incisive analysis, and gives a thoughtful overview of his formative break-through years.

Of the few scholarly books written on Deibenkorn's prolific production, this volume offers a new insight into the relationships of his previous developmental and matured California works. His clearly defined non-objective landscapes hold the seeds of the objective period to follow and an even more defined structural forecast of his late period of geometric compositions. Diebenkorn's use of color in New Mexico brings together both a broad stroke vision of the native landscape and an alternate coloration of local floral and costume. This author views the Albequerque series as his deepest expression of color beyond the sand, stone and dry botanical forms of cactus and sage as a predominating foilage. The light-hearted color canvases are of very special interest.

Of all artists of the twentieth century, few, if any, have explored the diversity of color intricately entwined within the composition structure so much as Diebenkorn.

Ray W. Clarke
Cleveland and Palm Beach

This book is something of a revelation for anyone who has an interest in American painting, but isn't an artist, academic or serious collector. Richard Diebenkorn, for me, has always been a great West Coast, landscape/colorist painter, known most recently for the Ocean Park series that became a kind of hallmark for him. "Richard Diebenkorn in New Mexico" shows an entirely different phase of his remarkable professional life; one that saw him fully committed to the dominant abstract expressionist school of the time and painting with quite a different pallette of colors than that he would come to be known for some 20-30 years later. This book is a wonderful collection of paintings, drawings and sculpture that provide examples of how the then-student Diebenkorn developed his craft over a two-plus year period in the 1950s. This is a major pleasure to read, peruse and discuss as well as a wonderful addition to any art library.

This book accompanies an exhibition of Diebenkorn's works painted in New Mexico in the early 1950's. Wonderful illustrations make it a valuable addition to the literature on the artist. Now, you really have to be an all-out Diebenkorn fan to consider that these early works measure up to what was being painted at the same time in New York by the likes of Pollock, De Kooning, Rothko, Kline and Guston. Diebenkorn became great when he started the Ocean Park series in the 1970's, but here, he only reveals himself as a good colorist. The merit of this catalogue lies, in my opinion, in the high quality of the illustrations, albeit of minor works, and in the sensible text written by a leading authority on the artist.

This excellent collection represents the works produced by Richard Diebenkorn during his tenure at the University of New Mexico from 1950-52, comprising some of his most exciting abstract images. The companion exhibit at the Harwood Museum in Taos, New Mexico once again confirms Diebenkorn's stature as one of the most influential and important abstract painters of our time.