Town Books

Wonderful history of Father Flanagan and Boys Town. It is both a history and a narrative, telling the beautiful story. Well written and touching.

Fr. Edward Flanagan was a rare specimen indeed: a transparently good man. He believed that evil can only be tackled effectively with love and that no boy is irredeemable. What is more, he devoted himself to putting his beliefs into practice, and probably shortened his life in the process.

The authors have produced a beautifully-crafted account of Fr. Flanagan's life, filled with inspiring anecdotes, that cannot fail to uplift the heart of everyone who reads it. At the present time, when the Roman Catholic priesthood has been besmirched by the actions of a few, this book reminds us what one selfless man of God can achieve when he remains true to his Christian calling.

This historical novel has it all - action, conflict, war scenes, love scenes, endearing love, and mystery. Quite a delightful read! I couldn't put it down once I began reading it!

From the very beginning, the reader is drawn into the fast-paced action of this debut novel by Linda Morelli. Monique von Strade and her family are traveling from Prussia to Paris, when their coach is waylaid by dangerous highwaymen. She escapes into the nearby woods, but is pursued by the highwaymen, and is rescued by Pierre Latier. Although much older, Pierre is attracted to the beautiful young spirited Monique. Pierre has a secret mission to undertake, which interferes with their relationship from the very start. Unaware of his secret mission, Monique is made to believe he is engaged to another. She agrees to marry a libertine. Pierre learns about it and moves in to claim her as his own bride. It is not a smooth relationship, with misunderstandings and miscommunications.
Will their love overcome all the problems set before them?
Read the novel and find out!

Monique von Strade is a young Prussian noblewoman too independent for her own good-and her own time. Her family, determined to find a husband for her, are on their way to Paris when highwaymen attack the family coach.

A young French nobleman, Pierre Latier, the Marquis du Fonte, saves Monique and her family. Pierre, however, is a man with a dark past who, under the guise of Pierre Marchant, serves King Louis XVI as a spy.

Pierre insists they remain on his estate while Monique recovers from the concussion she received as a result of a highwayman's assault, then vows to push aside his growing attraction for this headstrong young woman. After all, he must prepare for his upcoming mission-that of escorting French arms to the fledging American colonies. His duty surpasses any attraction he may have for Monique, and he sends her away, letting her believe that his "pledge" is to another woman, rather than to his king and country.

Pierre, however, is unable to dislodge Monique from his mind. He seeks her out in Paris and learns she is to marry a libertine. Aware that her fiancé is a scoundrel and determined to convince her of that fact, he arranges to meet with her secretly. When Monique reveals her love for Pierre, despite his best intentions, Pierre is unable to resist his own growing love for this spirited female who has touched his heart.

Pierre departs on another mission, returns to marry Monique, and then leaves her to return to his dangerous pursuits. Monique, believing he has left because he cares for another, pursues him, determined to win Pierre's love and remain at his side.

When they are both nearly killed while at sea, then separated, each believes the other is dead. Monique becomes caught up in the American cause, while at the same time Pierre carries out orders for the Marquis de Lafayette.

What follows is a battle of love, distrust, and realization set amid the raging fires of war.

This first novel by a new romance author, Linda Morelli, is a real page-turner and keeper. Set amid the last days of America's struggle for Independence, Ms. Morelli's premiere offering is certain to touch every heart and, ultimately, make it sing with joy.

I've never seen my daugther, Rebecca, who's almost 3 love a book as much as this one. We checked it out from the library and now I'm here to buy it. She has quoted lines from the book since we turned it back in. My husband, who was a volunteer firefighter for a long time, enjoyed it too because it was technically correct (except for the fact that the chief wears a white hat). It shows how busy firefighters are even on the days when they're not fighting fires and how fires usually start at the most inconvenient times (dinner time!). An enjoyable read for any young child...

Favorite characters: Firefighter Frank

This book tells about a day in the life of a fireman. Firefighter Frank is the chief firefighter and tells the other firefighters what to do. The firemen travel to a school teaching kids about fire and how to escape from a fire safely. When they are ready to eat, they receive a call and travel to the fire. You will have to read the book to see what the ending is.
This is a great book because you learn about what firefighters think about what they do on an average day. Young kids who dream to be firefighters when they grow up will love this book, and even firefighters who want to teach kids about what firefighters do. Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, many children admire firefighters and wish to become one when they grow up, this is a great book to teach them about the career.

My boyfriend had this book as a little boy and it inspired him to be a firefighter. He has been serving as a volunteer firefighter for 10 years now, and we just purchased this book for his 1 year old niece. This book will long be a family tradition for us!

my dads a NY firemenand he got this book for me the pictures really look like his firehouse and eveything else except the mice.I really like the story too-areal neat book!!!!

This story about friendship is told artistically by distinguished illustrator Christopher Myers. A lonely boy, Jawanza, is drawn to the rooftop of his apartment building by birds, who by his observation, "spell letters and numbers in their flight." There he meets a man, Roderick Jackson Montgomery, who is friends with the birds and communicates with them by dancing with them. Jawanza is full of questions and learns that it takes time and patience to make friends with the birds. In the end he has his own dance with one of them. He finds beauty from what would appear to be a drab environment. The text is laid out in white vertical space adjacent to the gutter on each page. The watercolor illustrations, full of emotion and movement, fill the rest of each page. This well designed book creatively uses color in the telling of an extraordinary story.

Jawanza loved to spend his days looking out his open window, high up, near the roof and sky. From there he could see the children playing far below. Better yet, he could watch the birds flying from rooftop to rooftop, doing their bird dances across the sky. At times he shouted to them, "Hey, birds! Why you flying like that-all crazy bunched together-making pigeon clouds?" The birds never answered, but one day a voice from above called down to him. There was an old man on the roof, a Mr Roderick Montgomery the Three, dancing with the birds, and Jawanza just had to go up and investigate..... Christopher Myers, author of Wings, is back with another poetic and evocative picture book. His gentle, lyrical text, full of imagery and magic, is complemented by his marvelously bold, bright and expressive artwork, and little imaginations will soar as they pore over the joy in each picture. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, Fly is a special story of love, friendship and freedom that will transport kids up to the rooftop, and into another world.

FODOR'S WASHINGTON D.C. 2008 is a great book about the Washington D.C. area, covering both the city itself and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs, including Annapolis, MD and Arlington and Alexandria, VA. Whether you're traveling to the area, or are simply proud of being an American, this book is for you.

This guide was very informative. It included all dimensions of the DC area in an organized fashion. The map was convenient to use. School chaperones used this book to gather the details they would need for the recent student tour of the city.

John Quick's book is one of my favorite books, ever. About a young, precocious, inquisitive boy trying to make sense of the illogical world of adults, and the joy of growing up in a small coastal town. Each chapter reads like it's own story. The author's reflections and remembrances are laugh-out-loud funny, a few are sad, some have elements of both. In my house the book stays out and gets picked up often because you can open it in the middle and read a chapter, or read the whole book (it's hard to stop once you start). And it's just as good the second or third time as the first. I'm taking it to my Mom's for Christmas so we can read the wonderful Christmas chapter out loud.

Highly recommended!

Reading John Quick is true pleasure. He is a natural storyteller. He puts me in mind of men of my grandfathers generation. Laughing, cursing and loving their life and memories they spoke from the center of their beings and and knew they had drawn us closer. It is a delight to find John Quick can both tell a story and share it with us through his gifted writing.

Berry is a terrific main character, a former copy-a patrolman, not a detective-with a strong relationship to his family and friends. I enjoyed the secondary characters but a weakness was that his girlfriend Susan seemed unsympathetic in this book, so you didn't quite understand the ending. The sense of place is well done, there's good tension and a couple twists along the way. I particularly liked learning about the Montagnards of Viet Nam, about whom I had never heard. This is a very good series, well written series and is perfect for those who like some action but nothing overly dark

In Gainesboro, North Carolina, just before dying from cancer Montagnard expatriate Y'Grok Eban informs Boston cop Kevin Malone that the "Raven has come home" scaring the street tough police officer though he is not totally sure why. The brave Y'Grok saved many American lives during the Viet Nam war, but the exile never went home once he fled for the Carolina hills. Now a grand funeral befitting a genuine hero is planned that has caught the attention of the national media.

However, someone enters the Clayton & Clayton Funeral Home, knocking unconscious director Barry Clayton before apparently stealing the corpse of Y'Grok. Barry's friend local Sheriff Tommy Lee Watkins is upset for personal reasons because four decades ago Y'Grok saved his life when he served in Nam. Kevin, coming south for the funeral, joins forces with Tommy Lee and Barry an ex-cop to locate the body, learn the meaning of Y'Grok's last cryptic message and find out why something that happened forty years ago suddenly haunts those still living today over an ocean and a continent away.

Using a contemporary mystery, Mark de Castrique provides an intriguing look (through the memories of those gathering for the funeral) of the Viet Nam War in which the Montagnard served as loyal allies to the American troops. The search for the stolen corpse and the efforts to break Y'Grok's enigmatic last words turn into a strong investigative tale that spins into much more as the war still haunts these men while they each reflect back to try to define what the final words of their late brother in arms meant. FOOLISH UNDERTAKING is a fabulous thriller that grips the audience from the moment the corpse is purloined and never slows down until Raven comes home.

Harriet Klausner

If you're a Social Climber fan--and you know if you are--you will love this book. It might even be the best in the series. Mimi goes to Europe and this was like a virtual vacation, where I learned abut all kinds of weird stuff (most important: why not to date an English guy). I am DYING for the next one to come out.

FOREIGN EXPOSURE: THE SOCIAL CLIMBER ABROAD is a continuation of the adventures of Mimi Schulman, first introduced in The Rise and Fall of a 10th Grade Social Climber and then appearing again in All Q, No A: More Tales of a 10th-Grade Social Climber. The first two books were hilariously excellent, favorites of mine, so I had high expectations for this book--and I was not disappointed! It's another hilariously written adventure full of awesome characters (though I missed my favorite characters from New York City while Mimi was in Europe).

Mimi at first sets off to spend the summer with her mother, but her time in Berlin is not what she expects. She wasn't looking forward to being forced to learn German, but it's better than her mother's new plans--she's gotten Mimi a babysitting job. Mimi is going to babysit for evil eight-year-old twins whose mother is a demanding, overbearing woman much like Mimi's own mother. Mimi has no time to herself, no time to enjoy the city at all, and, when her mother refuses to listen, she escapes it.

Mimi runs off to London, looking forward to spending the rest of her summer with Lily Morton, one of her best friends from New York. At first, London seems better than she could ever dream: she's got Lily around instead of her mother, she's staying with a wonderful family in their gigantic house, she's in an exciting city, and she's got a job at a popular celebrity magazine. Of course, nothing goes as well as planned, and nothing is as easy as it seems for Mimi.

I especially missed Sam Greckman in this story; he makes only brief appearances, and he's my favorite character from the first two books! All of the characters, are, of course, wonderfully written, though. Despite the absence of my favorite characters, Mimi's adventures in Europe are entertaining, and, as usual, left me wanting more from the brilliant duo of Lauren Mechling and Laura Moser!

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

I remember this from my childhood! It's full of great predictions about the future, about how we're all going to be living in bubbles on the moon by the year 2000, etc. Some of it was quite prescient, e.g. there's stuff about pollution, environmentalism, camcorders and satellite TV. Other stuff, like cylindrical space cities, was perhaps a bit overoptimistic. Today, it's a great retro read!

I read the Chinese version of this book when I was a kid. For a children's book, it's surprisingly insightful. It's also interesting to see how some of the preditions in the book have come true. The illustrations are great too. I find this book pretty inspiring even for an adult and I highly recommend it especially if you like sci-fi.