Town Books

I grew up just off route 28, just outside Kingston, NY. My dad owned a business that is listed in the opening sections of the book, too. Life existed around route 28. But it wasnt until I was able to drive and explore it, that I truly began to appreciate it. Its the best way to view the Catskills in that area. Today I live near the north-west portion of the route, and use it frequently in the summer to travel into the Adirondacks. This book provides an excellent guide to all the sights and sounds along the way through NY's two great mountain ranges.

I've never seen a travel guide like this one before. I came across it when I was looking for another book about New York State and bought it on impulse. Many travel guides are very selective about what they include -- biggest hotels, most expensive restaurants, etc. But this travel guide tells absolutely everything that is on Route 28 ! Each entry is short but the author is clever about sneaking in bits and pieces of inside information. I thought I knew what was in Kingston (NY) but I have been driving right by it's best kept secrets. I had to laugh at his description of another area I was familiar with as having "soft, lumpy hills" because that's precisely what they look like. This is just an incredible book if you want to take a theme trip -- all the sports museums or all the antique stores. I can see that I'm going to be putting a lot of milage on my car because of this book!

This book has captured the stuggles of North Philly's young people....28th and Diamond marks a territory where only the strongest survive. This is the best young adult book of all times. I can't wait for the movie to come out. Good job Rachel and keep the books coming.

I remember the first book I read, a typical Dick and Jane primer. I can clearly recall the pictures of the blonde, blue-eyed, perpetually smiling people. As I looked around at my screaming siblings and frazzled mother, I realized Dick and Jane weren't from around my way. I had a hard time believing they were even from this planet. Roxie, on the other hand, is a much more familiar face. I bet I've past her stoop a hundred times. Her troubles and triumphs would fit in comfortably around here. The youth today see enough drama daily to wipe the smiles off Dick and Jane's faces permanently. With touchstones like this book, they will know they are not alone in their struggles to stay safe and sane.
Rachel Slaughter has created a key to open a million young minds. Young ears that aren't trying to hear anything fake, open up to her sermon because she speaks with their voice. When those hungry heads find this book, you can be sure it will be devoured. And you know, the better fed the head, the better it deals with troubles ahead.
Look for the series...

My six year old daughter and I loved this book. We read this for a homeschool lesson in Russian geography. My daughter was easily able to relate to the little Russian girl in the book as well as learn things about how a Russian family lives. Great pictures make the story very real and a nice map helped my daughter understand the spatial relationship between the US and Russia. Great book!!! Highly recommended!

The book "Russian Girl--Life in an Old Russian Town" has to be one of the best works of children literature I've ever read.Russ Kendall is not afraid to get up-close and personal in his photography and writing.Everything from the little girl(Olga) losing one of her baby teeth to her fear of being called on in her third-grade class is covered in this book.I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Russian way of life or for those with young children who can easily relate to how Olga feels.I give this book a definite 5-stars.

"Ruthie goes to town" is a wonderful and heartwarming book about the adventures of a little Amish girl. Our two children love the story and the beautiful pictures. As an Anthropologist I also really appreciate books which are not only well written and picturesque but also informative about other cultures. "Ruthie goes to town" is not just a wonderful book to read but also teaches children about the life as an Amish child living in the 21st century. Reading this book you can tell that Ruth Irene Garrett wrote this book from her heart reliving wonderful memories of her childhood.

I bought this childrens book about a week ago and my two little girls love it, I had to get another so each could have their own."Ruthie Goes to Town" is a wonderful story of a little amish girl growing up on a farm.The illustrations are beautiful, full of action and information.The story has several little stories wrapped up in one and what makes it all work is the fact that it is written by a person who was raised amish,Ruth Irene Garrett.If your looking to buy a gift for a child this is it,plus its the first in a series of 5 books about Ruthie.Don't take my word for it check it out you'll be happy you did

This lively history of Pulaski, the "Salmon Capital of the World" and its surrounding hamlets is a compelling look at life along the Salmon River during the past two hundred years. It's historically accurate, anecdotally interesting, and fast paced. Marston has detailed the land and its people from the days of the woolly mammoth to the twenty-first century. An abundance of black and white photos and some delightful illustrations make the book even more inviting. Communities desiring to compile their own local histories can learn much from studying this history of central New York State.

This definitive history of Pulaski, the Salmon Capital of the World, and its neighboring hamlets offers an intimate portrait of two hundred years of life along the Salmon River in central New York. The book is both historically accurate and anecdotally friendly. Unlike the brief histories compiled by local historians, this comprehensive look at a once prosperous mill town is the product of five years of research and planning by the Pulaski Historical Society and nearly two years of researching by the author, Hope Irvin Marston. The book is enlivened by the interweaving of the foibles of local citizens as recorded in their diaries or handed down by their ancestors. If you like history, add this one to your reading list.

Roberta Muthler, library media specialist (Lock Haven, PA)

San Rafael is a fictitious city whose location is between Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Guatemala. This book is a historical description of the changes in the city starting with the first clearing of the jungle, through the rise of the Mayan civilization, Spanish conquest and control, post-independence political and social instability to the rise of a modern industrial metropolis.
Fourteen historical epochs are examined and for each there is a textual description of the main social and political structure and specific problems. There are also four diagrams, one a two-page layout of the city, a second that is a depiction of the people going about their daily lives, one that is a small layout of the city with highlights on the main structures, and a small one that demonstrates a specific item in the city at that time. All of the last three types of diagrams also have accompanying explanatory captions.
This book is an excellent supplementary text for the study of Central America. By going through the historical phases of a city, you learn how urban life in that region has evolved over thousands of years.

Wow! This book is great. I have used it in my ninth grade geography classroom as an introduction to research. The kids really enjoy the pictures, and it provides a focused look at the development of civilization on the Yucatan Peninsula. This is also a great book for readers as young as ten.

This is the best book available on the problems of sprawl. Preservation Pa.(sponsor of the book) and Hylton recently received a National Trust for Historic Preservation Honor Award for the impact the book has had. The book can be read in 2 hours; the photography is stunning.

This book is a clear outline of how suburbia took over and imposed a lifestyle on us that I'll bet we didn't want. Do you live in a house that requires you to drive to get anythinq? Even a loaf of bread? The ideas are clear, simple and seem so obvious. An easy read about a very complex subject.

I find it hard to understand why this book hasn't received more attention, as it is both beautifully written and a hilarious page-turner. Its teenage protagonist, an endearingly naive Queens Catholic-schoolboy, is on a desperate mission to lose his innocence to the world of oddball adults (jaded, entrancingly perverse, or psychotically needy) he encounters while working in the Paramount Pictures mail room in Times Square in l965. Skoyles portrays the seamy vivacity of Times Square right before its decent into hard-core inferno and that portrayal and his treatment of the various characters who influence the 16-year-old John are illuminated by the author's vision of the fascinating oddness of people, their individuality. John, an innocent voyeur, is a perceptive foil and his growing-up over the summer feels both satisfying and wistful. The book has many pleasures but most striking to me is its humor -- I simply couldn't stop laughing while reading it.

Skoyles's "Secret Frequencies" is extraordinarily funny and moving--his sense of character is unbelievably vivid, as is his sense of what is at once dark and comic in a scene. This is the best memoir I've ever read of growing up with the hopes for a New York City, a life of bars and restaurants and clothes and taxi cabs, a life the narrator glimpses the summer he travels each day from Queens to work at Paramount Pictures in Times Square. Totally recommended!

This book is good because it has good pictures. I like the picture where the coyote licks the water. This book reminds me of Owl Moon by Jane Yolen because both stories are about boys and fathers getting together. They are both also about birds flying and the connections people have to animals. Secret Place has great descriptions like this, "Close by is a freeway where cars and trucks boom, and a railroad track with freight trains that shunt and grunt. There are warehouses with windows blinded by dust and names paint-scrawled on their brick walls."

"Secret Place" is a beautiful story: through its words, illustrations, and message. The author and illustrator tell the story of a boy who finds a secret place that is the home for many kinds of urban wildlife. This story is a wonderful teaching tool for children. It teaches respect for animals and wildlife, while at the same time educating about the many different kinds of wildlife that live in the city and how they came to live in an urban environment. "Secret Place" would be excellent for an environmental unit. I would find a way to work it into any unit, or have children read it on their own. It would be a good story to read to and share with children. Another excellent book with an environmental message is "Two Days in May" by Harriet Peck Taylor.

I absolutely loved Secrets of Sant Angelo. I was raised by an Italian Mom and Dad but one of our dearest friends was Jewish, and this book brought back so many memories...the expresssions, superstitions, warm hearts! It was a book I could hardly wait to finish but didn't want it to end. There's a lot more in the book to think about than just the story. You can really feel for all the characters because we all have been in similar situations at one time or another. I would love to sit down and have an Espresso with Jeff Shapiro.

Jeff Shapiro has written another gem of a story set in the small Tuscan town of Sant'Angelo. As in Renato's Luck, the subplots are introduced gently as we enjoy the characters and the culture of the town. We become familiar with several intriguing characters, all of them presented with the sympathy and humor that comes with knowing someone well. Religious and relationship themes are interesting, expanding the reach of the story beyond Sant'Angelo. Italian words and phrases are used throughout the book, lending a charming local flavor. (Even the chicken speaks Italian: "clo,clo,clo.") Many subplots become integrated as the central plot emerges gradually, becoming complex and compelling as the book becomes a real page turner. It's best to go slowly, however, because the author offers many tender but provocative insights into human character and existence. Mystery, comedy, passion, religion and local color, this book has it all.