Missouri Books

Corti who was a twenty-one year old artillery officer on the Stalingrad front, was part of the Eighth Italian Army that was cut off when Zhukov sent in the pincers that surrounded the Sixth German Army. His group was in a pocket northeast of Stalingrad that was made up of Italian and German soldiers.

Out of the 30 thousand Italians who held the front at the Don north of Stalingrad, less than four thousand made it out of the pocket and up to one thousand of those died from their wounds and exposure. Corti doesn't pull any punches as to what happened in the pocket or who was to blame.

Many of the Italians had just come to the front over the last two weeks. They were totally unprepared for what was going to become a retreat over one hundred kilometers while constantly under Russian fire. They had to walk most of the way in inadequate uniforms and boots while the Germans requestioned horse and mules and sleds for their own use.

Corti speaks of how the Germans were much better organized and kept their military lines-or-command intact, whereas the Italians in many cases became a mob without any reason or understanding of the situation. At times no one was in charge of taking care of the wounded or giving out provisions. While the German Luftwaffe dropped food and ammunition by parachute, the Italian Air Force was conspicuous by their absence.

The story is straight forward and brutal. Corti does not try to make excuses for anyone (including himself) in the treatment of fellow soldiers or of civilians. It was survive at any cost.

Zeb Kantrowitz

I have always been interested in the Second World War and especially the little known battles and actions of that war.
Lately; I have delved into the Italian part in this conflict and the tragic consequences to their brave soldiers.
"Few Returned", gives you a first hand glimpse of what it was like for man, pack animals and equipment, fighting and struggling to survive on the Eastern Front.
You will wonder how anyone returned from that winter retreat.
The author Eugenio Corti also gives the reader a good feel for the national differences between the Italians, Germans and Russians.
Combat is sporadic throughout the retreat, but again Corti gives you a good feel of how it was for all sides.

Above all, this book is a record of one man's experience as an Italian soldier fighting on the Eastern Front during World War II against Russia. More specifically, it is about a few horrible weeks of fighting and retreating. It is *not* a story or novel, really, but almost like an after action report. The book contains the author's feelings and some of what he saw, but you get the distinct sense while reading this book that he wrote it as a record of what he saw and did, and as an homage to his friends who never made it out of Russia, but not as an attempt to write a story. The author never really tries tying the events into a broader context or explaining the full experiences he had on the Eastern front; it is just a snap shot of a limited time frame, and only limited snapshots even within that time frame.

This book is not a blow by blow recitation of combat. While the author is clearly involved in a number of intense fights, both before and during the period covered in the book, we never really hear about it. It's almost as if he is trying NOT to make this a book about combat. If there is an engagement we hear of the troops forming up for it, a sentence or two about the fight, and then more pages about the aftermath - the wounds, the dead.

The most insightful and remarkable aspects of this book to me are: 1) the ability of the author to show us the horrors of war; 2) the brutality on both sides; and 3) how horrible the Nazis were even to their allies. I take each in turn.

1) This book makes very clear how much human suffering war brings with it. Through its dry, almost camera-like recitation of horror after horror (friends freezing to death in front of him, morter shells cutting people in two) we can almost imagine what it must be like to be walking through a combat zone strewn with bodies and wounded men and animals. We also see how war turns honorable, good men into self-interested beings centered only on survival. The author, for example, is clearly a brave, honorable, educated man and officer. We watch as his pride in being an officer and an Italian soldier slowly gives way to self-survival. We also watch as this man with deep loyalty to his unit and his friends gives way (as we all would, I'm sure) to self-interest. Fascinating.

2) Suffice it to say that the book makes clear how brutal all sides were in this war: Soviets and Nazis alike commit brutal, heartless acts.

3) The savagery and callousness of the Nazis towards their allies is stunning. While paying homage to the combat skills of the Nazis, the author shows clearly how the Nazies treated the Italians serving and dying in their cause only slightly better than their hated enemy the Soviets. For example, we read of a time when, during the retreat, the Nazis held up thousands of Italians, subjecting them to withering small arms and artillery fire from the Russians for hours, in order to clear mud off of German trucks. We see how Nazis failed to share food, information or shelter with their "allies." We see Germans shooting at wounded Italians (their allies, remember!) who dared to try and get a ride on a German vehicle.

This book is somewhat dry, somewhat repetititious, but worth a read for those wanting a sense of what the winter retreat was like for an Italian soldier serving in WW2's horribly grueling East Front.

This book is different from others in that it does not glorify War,it does not tend to over exaggerate what happened in battle, it does'nt even try to blow up the truth with nonsensical war heroics recounted ( like many german or British books, dare I say).
Its a straight forward recount in diary form of how onw Italian officer and his brave troops dared all to fight back the Russians, the bitter cold and the odds of making it back on foot without decent rations , heavyweapons or transportation which were rendered useless in battle or just plainly nevr had their ammo resupplied by the faster retreating better equiped self serving Nazis.
It si common for the uneducated armchair historian or plainly ignorant war hobbyist to brand the Italians as cowards, however when one delves deeper into the actualities of WW2 and gets to the events as they really happened unaltered by propaganda and rascist reporting then we really see that the Italians which were up against it from the start, put in as brave a performance as any fighting man could and beyond that in many a case.

I recommend this book to all for the honesty and open portrayal of the horrors of War and the true nature of men when faced with the harshness and desperation of survival.
Its not a novel as anyone who's half literate can plainly see, but a diary of man brave man and his troops that fought their way thru the russians, the elements and evn the Nazis cruelty to survive!
Enjoy the read! A must have for the war historian at heart.

.. I think that one of the "soldier view" of the whole Eastern Front history from axis side is "The Sergeant In The Snow" by Mario Rigoni Stern.

I hated the author's neverending whining through out this book. I only finished reading this book because I had already started it. He incessant selfishness makes me question why she was given the blessing of a precious baby girl from China. This book is not really about adoption but how the writer has been wronged through out her life. I really don't know why she titled the book "Meeting Sophie" because the book is not about her daughter but about listening to her about her misfortunes in life. I don't reccomend this book because you will just be irritated by her whining about her life.

I think that Nancy McCabe's memoir is so good that I order it for my students at the college where I teach as part of the required reading material in my literature class on cultural identity. I first picked it up a few years ago when I was reading everything I could get my hands on about Chinese adoptions before my husband and I adopted our daughter from China. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is a memoir about much more than international adoption. McCabe is writing about identity within the family, the myths that parents and other members of a family often create about one another, and the struggle of finding one's identity especially as a girl in America. I think that in many ways the book shows how much all women--in America, China, etc.--have in common when it comes to the dilemma of needing to be an individual yet wanting to be accepted. I think that the subtitle of this book (A Memoir of Adoption) needs to be omitted or changed and that the book needs to be marketed as a memoir about cultural identity, parenting, and self-discovery--as well as adoption.

I would recommend this book to any single person considering overseas adoption. It was easy to read and enjoyable but I found the author had some strange views. It was almost like she was very unprepared for motherhood and had some family issues of her own to deal with already.
It wasn't my favourite adoption book but I did enjoy it. To be honest, it made me feel a whole lot better about my own situation!

Although I completed reading this book from the first page to the last, I only did so because I thought for sure the author was going to have some big time, life changing, realization at the end of her story. Her tone throughout the book is negative. She talks often about her own childhood issues, employment issues, and doubts about the adoption (which we all have, but hers seemed unfair to her future daughter). I found myself thinking, "We all have problems in our life, suck it up" and "how is her daughter going to feel when she reads this as an adult?" I don't think this is an appropriate book to read if you are looking for information about the process of adoption (I don't think the author meant this book to be about the process anyway) or if you are looking for inspiring adoption stories. If you are, however, looking for the story of a single mother who feels mistreated by everyone (her family, her coworkers, society, other adoptive parents) then this book might be for you. I found that even the writing of this book made me wonder what her editor was thinking. She uses one or two metaphors a couple times throughout. At least, enough for me to realize that I had read that same line earlier in the book.

I can relate to McCabe on a number of levels. Far from expecting a dry "here's the adoption process" sort of missive, I was quite glad to hear McCabe's emotional thoughts as she pursued bringing her daughter home from China.

Ms. McCabe happens to be a single woman with a Ph.D. and a job in academia. I've begun my own doctoral studies this fall, and my husband and I are also considering adopting from China. If the adoption goes through, I'll be close to the end of my program before we travel to China. I don't think there will be a conflict, as I want to keep my hours minimal and flexible (and plan to coordinate with my advisors well in advance of any interruption of my studies), but I wonder what others will think about my priorities.

Nancy McCabe had this problem; she was denied tenure during her adoption pursuit. She found a job at another university, but sure had a stressful time of it for a while. I remember that while I pursued my Master's as a single mother, I was always telling my advisors that my family came first, and always telling my family that I needed some time to study. Neither group seemed entirely satisfied (particularly my advisors, although I made it through just fine).

I appreciate that McCabe's book addresses the issues surrounding becoming a mother (which apply to *anyone*, not just adoptive mothers), particularly mothers working in the academic world.

I could also relate to McCabe's experiences with well-meaning, well-loved parents who couldn't quite interact in ways that were completely supportive to her goals and feelings (they try, and the love is absolutely there, but they somehow manage to miss the mark). I understood the feeling of loss, both before and after her father died. I appreciated that she shared this aspect of her life, as well, as it makes the journey that much more real (life doesn't stop or become any more simple just because you're adopting a child).

Ultimately, I was very encouraged by McCabe's book, and came away thinking, "Well, if she can make it, I bet I can, too!" Thanks, Nancy.

I really enjoyed this book. I'm from Kansas and she talked about areas that I'm familiar with. I felt she did a very good job telling her story about the hell she went through with her alcoholic husband while raising her many children virtually by herself. I would like the opportunity to meet this wonderful woman.

I have mixed feelings about this book, because on one hand you can learn some neat stuff about the way things were in the early part of the XX century. On the other hand, this book would have greatly improved if an editor had removed the extra weight included in the story. I can see this being a very fascinating memoir for her family members, but once you take this to the general public, the array of names and places and the personal messages to all grandchildren at the end of the book become too much. Nonetheless, it was interesting to read about the trials and tribulations of this woman, married at 20 to an alcoholic. Why she continued having children (eight in total) after she discovered her husband was a drunk i'd never be able to comprehend. She tries to explain how she felt during those years, and at times she is successful and at times she cuts her thoughts short and does not go any further with her analyses. It's a pity because she does have some engaging, albeit sometimes bland, perspective on issues like alcohol, politics, the military, war, family, sex, etc. Don't expect big depths on this book, which by the way is a very easy and fast read.

Jessie Lee has, in the simplest of prose, given us a glimpse into the life of an "average" woman. Her life is not filled with exotic trips or dinners with Presidents, but with the struggles of everyday life. Her rocky marriage to an alcoholic will give inspiration to many young women of today. Her memory is incredible and details abound of a life that began at the beginning of this century...this is an interesting book to read as this century comes to an end.

Nobody who reads this book will ever feel overworked or under appreciated, in quite the same way again. We have it so much easier today; and complain MORE !! My Mother is nearing the age of this remarkable woman, and we are hoping to get her to write her memories for us too; before they fade from her mind. She has been reluctant to start, due to the fact that she is not a professional writer. For her birthday this year, Mom is getting a copy of this book; and an audio tape, to listen to, and hopefully get inspired. My Mother has been a Nanny, earned a Master's Degree in Education, driven a Taxi and Limos for Official at United States Steel(during WW II), made bombs in a munitions plant, ridden Harley-Davison motorcycles, served as a Missionary for her church (where she met and married my Father), taught elementary school, raised two daughters, and still babysits their various off spring, while making beautiful quilts. Please God, let Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux give her the courage to tell us all about her adventurous life, too!!

Jessie Lee's incredible memory and stoically poingnant style take us all back in time, beginning with her childhood which was poor in material possessions but rich in love. Through her eyes, we see not only her family history but the history of a burgeoning nation unfold. She meets life's difficulties head on, from the untimely death of her mother to a difficult marriage and single parenthood. Her words do not plead for sympathy, just straightforwardly relate her amazing life and times. This is a must read for scholars of the 20th century and for those with a bent for human interest stories. Jessie Lee's voice is one of the precious few left from her generation.

I quite enjoyed this narrative of the great Tri-state tornado of 1925. I found the straightforward linear presentation easy to follow and the background explanations of the storm's formation added to one's understanding of the weather systems that produced such a massive tornado.
The fact that the author is a survivor of the storm adds to the sense of immediacy and gives a human dimension to these events.
The one minor quibble I have with this book doesn't occur until the final page of the main text, in which the author states that the last single tornado with a death toll of over 100 took place in 1944. As anyone from my area knows, however, the Beecher tornado which struck the north part of Flint, MI on June 8, 1953 killed 116.
That aside, however, I found this book an interesting insight into a disaster which - as the book's title indicates - is largely forgotten.

I'm a total amateur concerning meteorological disasters but I enjoy reading about some of the major disasters in America's past. So I skipped some of the technical stuff because I wouldn't have understood it anyway. But the human stories are what I like to read and, considering how long ago it was, I found this book pretty well written. Of course, he would have to rely on newspaper reports and family stories since most of the survivors, adults who would have the most accurate memories, would be dead now. I was also touched that he was writing about his own family's experience. I would have loved to see more photos but I'm sure they are few and rare to find now. It's not like the disasters of today with total media coverage. Anyway, I thought Akin did a good job of telling the human stories.

I found an earlier book called "The Tri-State Tornado" to be a better telling of this tragic weather event.

Akin is a survivor of the Tri State tornado. He was only 2 at the time, but his experiences resulted in him taking a lifelong interest in geography and weather. This book sets out to explain this March, 1925 tornado and its devastating effect on cities and communities in the three states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.
I found this book entertaining and informative about tornadoes and this particular disaster. This is a summary read, since the book only explains the disaster and how tornadoes form. I think Akin does a great job in detailing tornadoes and the 1925 Tri State tornado. I have not seen any other books about this particular disaster, so I am unsure why some of the previous reviewers have been harsh on this particular book. I found this a great and interesting read. At a little over 150 pages, a good reader can read this entire book in five or six hours.

At around 1:00 p.m., March 18, 1925, a tornado touched down in Reynolds Country, Missouri. But, this was no ordinary tornado. This was an F5 multivortex tornado that proceeded east-northeast across 219 miles, 13 counties and three states (Missouri, Illinois and Indiana). By the time the tornado dissipated, it had destroyed a number of small towns, erased a number of farms, and killed 695 people. This was the most deadly tornado in U.S. history, and this book tells its story.

This fascinating book was actually written by a survivor of the Tri-State Tornado. On March 18, 1925, Wallace Akin lived in the town of Murphysboro, Illinois, which was 40% destroyed by the tornado. Throughout this book, the author mixes person recollections with other eyewitness accounts to bring that fateful day back to life. As an added bonus, the book ends with an account of the fate of the area after the tornado (the Great Depression beginning a mere four years later), and then discusses the next four top killing tornadoes in U.S. history.

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating and highly informative book about a little known subject. If you are interested in tornadoes, then you simply must get this book about the granddaddy of them all! I highly recommend this book.

This is an interesting work on William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame. Touched on only briefly in most histories, Clark was quite an enigmatic person who figured prominently in early American and early Missouri frontier history. The subtitle, Shaping of the West, is quite appropriate as Clark, as Indian Agent for Missouri, negotiated numerous treaties with the Osage, Missouri, Fox, Sac, Winnebago and other contemporary Indian tribes.

Landon Jones does not spend too much time on the epic, 1803-1806 transcontinental exploration, choosing instead to focus on the other aspects of Clark's life. Brother of General George Rogers Clark, William is intimately connected in the Trans Appalachian West's Indian wars with the Shawnee and various other Lake Country, Northwest Indian tribes which culminated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers. This start sets the tone for the rest of his life which was spent fighting, evaluating, negotiating and moving Indians as America's frontiers rapidly moved across the Eastern and Midwestern United States.

For 50 years Clark and his family are directly involved in the early stages of America's Manifest Destiny, in the sweep of American history from colonial Virginia to the conquest of the West. No one played a larger part in that accomplishment than William Clark.

Book came in timly manner as described. Would buy again.

Reads like a Time or People magazine story -- both politically correct and boring.

What impresses immediately about this biography is the fact that it's a FULL biography and is not just concerned with the famed Lewis & Clark Expedition (only one of the ten chapters deals with it). Clark was born in 1770 (one of his older brothers was George Rogers Clark, the "hero of Vincennes" during the Revolutionary War), and took part in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 (it was on this campaign that he first met Meriwether Lewis). Resigning his commission from militia duty two years later, he retired to the family farm in Kentucky (near present-day Louisville). It was here that Lewis contacted Clark in 1803 proposing co-leadership roles in the expedition to the Pacific Ocean. Clark was the chief mapmaker on the journey, and also was preferred over Lewis as the one to negotiate with the Indians.

After the successful completion of this extraordinary exploring venture, Clark was named the principal Indian agent at St. Louis. He established Ft. Osage on the Missouri River and began dealing with Native American concerns, building a reputation as a fair, friendly, and compassionate (for his day) agent. He was present at Prairie du Chien during the late 1820s to help conclude major treaties with various tribes. He died in St. Louis in 1838.

Clark has been praised often as a brave and able explorer, and a successful Indian agent. He was human, though, and there were dark sides to Clark as well, which Jones is willing to point out. Once when he had "trouble" with one of his slaves, he paid a man 50 cents to whip him. Tens of thousands of Native Americans were forcibly removed from their lands while he was Indian agent, most notably the Cherokees, who were made to walk to Oklahoma from their lands in the southeastern US along what became know as the "Trail of Tears" because of the death and misery endured along it. Heroes, like everyone else, are not cut from a single cloth, and whether the reader thinks of Clark as a hero at all, Jones provides a balanced and fair account of Clark's life on which to decide.

I highly recommend this book. William Clark is presented as a highly capable and effective leader. He comes across as a strong and determined soldier, an amazing traveler and explorer, and a friendly man. But his prejudices (like nearly everyone of his generation) against African and Native Americans are described in striking detail.

Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery is only briefly described, and other books have told the full account of this story. Instead Jones concentrates the first half of the book on Clark's developmental years including his military service in various Indian conflicts prior to the expedition and his other preparation just growing up in the wilderness (I grew up in Kentucky, and Jones does a great job talking about Harrodsburg, Locust Grove, and Louisville). A sidelight story of his brother George Rogers Clark's campaigns against the Indians and his later struggles with managing the Northwest and with alcohol and poverty is fascinating. The last half of the book is informative and profoundly disturbing. Holding various administrative positions in Missouri, Clark was often the most powerful man in the West. He was responsible for the US's management of Indian affairs, and Clark signed more than 35 treaties with these tribes. There is a sameness to the ethnic cleansing that Clark helped perpetrate.

Jones kept me engaged throughout the book. Clark doesn't come off as a deep thinker or a complex man. Instead he is a creature of his times, and white Americans were extremely effective in our cruelty as we took control of the West . At times Clark rises above the rest - his treatment of Sacagawea and her son - but at times he is a cold hearted bastard - his relationship with his famous slave York.

Clark lived a long and full life. One particularly enjoyable (and very well done feature of this book) is Jones' willingness to digress as he discusses the many people whose life Clark touches . The list is long and I appreciated these brief descriptions of de Tocqueville, Anthony Wayne, Thomas Hart Benton, Lafayette, William Henry Harrison, Black Hawn, Tecumseh, and many others.

Mr.Ned Wakefield teaches Jessica and Elizabeth,his twin daughters,a secret language called Ithig(The ..word?..ithig is placed between syllables).The two do their best to keep the language a secret but their friends start acting like brats,feeling hapless that the secret will not be shared with them.Soon,the language is all around school!!Uh-oh!

This book was pretty good.

I've seen better but it comes in pretty well

When Mr.Wakefield gets home from work,he teaches the twins Ithing[I don't understand it,myself] They are using it at Guidio's Pizza Palace,when Caroline Pierce walks in and wants to know what they are talking about.Mr.Wakefield informs her it is family matters.Jessica talks Ithing all over school and makes Lila[The Spoiled Brat of the Unicorns] cross. She is having a party and invites everyone,except the twins. Jessica spills Ithing,after Elizabeth and Jessica promised Mr.Wakefield not to tell the secret langauge.Even the new teacher picks it up.

In "Keeping Secrets", the Wakefield twins learn a secret new language called Ithig, which is similar to pig Latin, except the word "ithig" is placed between the syllables of each word, lithigike thithigis. It sounds pretty complicated, but Elizabeth and Jessica pick up on it within minutes--even featherbrained Jessica.

Elizabeth and Jessica promise to keep it a secret with their father as a fun game, but their loyalty is tried when the girls' best friends (Amy Sutton and Lila Fowler) demand to know their secret or else. The reaction to the twins' secrecy is a little over dramatic and immature, but then again this is middle school.

Lila even refuses to invite the twins to a big star-studded party unless they tell her everything. Jessica, of course, is the first to break her promise. Soon everybody at Sweet Valley Middle School starts talking "Ithig", mainly as a way to confuse their new teacher Ms. McDonald.

"Keeping Secrets" certainly isn't the best Sweet Valley Twins book I've read so far, but if you're into secret languages, you might like this one.

It looks like two books with the same title are being reviewed here, "The Orphan Train" and "Sweet Valley Twins." I'm going to review the Sweet Valley Twins book. In this story, Jessica and Elizabeth learn an artificial code language called "ithig." They promise to keep it a secret and not teach it to anyone, but they eventually bend and teach the whole school. Now the whole school knows the "ithig" language, and they plan to play a trick on a new teacher. And as always, Elizabeth comes to the rescue. I think it's a fun book to read, but it's not one of the best in the Sweet Valley Twins series. The story isn't very realistic, and the kids seem to catch on to the new language much too quickly. But it's fun, so I'll give it 3 stars.

This is a good book about a hotel owner, Justine Bryers, who was raped and had a son with a red mark on his face that was very angry and out for revenge against her. Her son was a real "snake." She was becoming paralyzed and people came to help her. I found it to be very interesting and it held my attention.

I really enjoyed this sweet romance from DG. In this story there is a lot going on.

Jill Jones is called a wildcat by the oilmen of Rainwater. This comes from her dumping water on a man who was tracking gunk onto her freshly washed porch of the hotel. Jill comes to Rainwater to help her Aunt whose health is failing. When her brother finds that she is in this wild western town all by herself he sends their close family friend Thad to watch out for her.

This is where a lot of the romance starts but there is also a murderer among them, long held secrets etc... to mention a few things. There is more than one romance happening in this story. I really enjoyed the development of the characters etc...

I only discovered Dorothy Garlock books about a month ago, and have already read four. I've been hitting used book stores for more! This book is set in a oil boom town with Jill sent there to take care of an ill Aunt. I like these books because they are an easy read with twist and turns and of course a spunky romace. I have family from the areas she writes about and can envision them as young vibrant people with hopes and dreams, it makes me want to research my family history more. A great read!

Typical Dorothy Garlock. Once I pick up a book by her I don't stop reading till the book is finished. Even though most of her story lines are similar, she adds just right amount of a twist to make it different. A good read for a lazy day.

The book had somewhat of a predictable plot, but it was an enjoyable book to read. It consists of love and mystery. At times it will make you laugh and then make you cry. I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it.

We wanted to get a hard-cover Tom Sawyer for our son, someone he could treasure for a long time. This edition looks handsome enough, and has a ribbon bookmark, which is nice. It was a little disappointing that this all-American classic was printed in China. The book warps back and forth with changes in humidity; that's something I haven't seen any other book do. The story about how the illustrations were done is what hooked us; they are nice enough, but they are very small and there aren't so many of them. They really don't bring the book to life as we were imagining they might.

This is one of my favourite childhood stories. Tom's adventures are of the kind every child wants to experience. Loved it, read it many times.

This book is an okay book to read. It starts off kinda slow but begins to get better as you read it. Mark Twain is a very good author and knows how to write a book, but this isn't one of his best books. I really liked his other book Huckleberry Fin. that was a fun book to read, cause i could picture really well what was going on with the two boys. But this book is still a good book to read if you are bored or if you need a book to read over the summer, but it would not be a book that I would choose to read again.

I think this book was the best book for reading counts because the characters are funny and some of them get into alot of trouble. I like the way the author writes the story. He makes the characters sound interesting and the situations that they are in don't sound boring. I think if people don't like to read as mush as other people do, they will enjoy this book. In this story, there is a boy named Tom Sawyer , who gets really gullable people to do his work for him. He also gets himself into alot of trouble. For example, Tom and his friends went to an island and they decided not to return home. Their family was getting worried and they were searching for them all over the town. Soon they asumed that they were dead. On the day of the funeral they returned, and of course, they got into alot of trouble. I reccomend this book because it is exciting and adventerous. You will really like this book!

It being the Fourth of July, or Small Explosives Day as I call it (training kids early to think bombs are fun can pay off with trillions of tax dollars, no questions asked), I am reminded of my favorite American, Mr. Sam Clemens.
I remember it was a hot July day, I was five or six and happily wandering the local library, and I saw an old copy of Tom Sawyer on a shelf. I'd heard of it, saw the cover of a kid with a slingshot in his back pocket, and said, "This is for me!"
I have never looked back.
Huck Finn is a deeper book, no doubt, dealing with deeper issues, while TS is all about the joys and pains of being a kid, and especially the joys of being a smart little rebel. No other book ever made America seem more appealing to me.
Twain understands what this country was meant to be, could be, should be, might be. He knows what kids are about, and how much smarter than adults they can be. From Tom Sawyer to Letters From The Earth rises and falls an arc that few artists of any nation can touch. Twain knows that this is the best and the worst country on earth, full of truly good-hearted if misinformed people who would love to trust their leaders if they could.
Above all, Twain lets us laugh at ourselves while seeing our foibles in the light of day.
There's a game where you pick three figures in history you'd like to have dinner with. I always used to choose Christ, Buddha, and Shakespeare. Thinking about it now, I might have to go with Twain at the head of the table.
Alas, to be betwixt Twain and Shakespeare...o, to lean back and listen. And laugh.
Thank you, Mr. Clemens. You will always be the real Uncle Sam.

Written by the adopted grandson of Laura Ingalls Wilder this book chronicles a year in the life of young Rose Wilder. After their long pilgrimage east from the prairie, the family has survived their first year in the Ozarks, on lthier new place which they name Rocky Ridge Farm. In this 3rd book in the RR series Rose is almost nine, coping with conflicting loyalties to girlfriends (country versus town girls) and feeling the faint stirrings of jealousy. Throughout extremes of weather the Wilders offer a solid foundation of faith and charity toward their less fortunate neighbors. Continuing the girlhood mishaps of Laura's own life in the Little House books Rose amuses and entertains readers while learning valuable lessons about life, for human interaction is similar
regardless of geographic environment. Tenderly cared for by her devoted parents, nurtured in faith, hope and compassion she will surely blossom as gloriously as the young apple orchard they cherish.

In the Land of the Big Red Apple is a GREAT book! Rose begins to adjust to her new home in Missouri at Rocky Ridge Farm. She gets a new donkey named Spookendyke for her ninth birthday, a huge ice storm hits, she gets to celebrate her first real Christmas in the Ozarks, and her parents bulid a new house.

In the Land of the Big Red Apple is adventurous and suspenseful. Rose and her Mama and Papa moved to Missouri and left her Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Mary, Aunt Carry, and Aunt Grace in De Smet because of a drought. Rose's best friend was Alva. Alva hated town girls. Rose's Papa had a hired hand. His name was Abe. Abe lived in a rented shack with his little brother Swiny. Abe and Swiny's mother and father had died. They met Abe when Papa caught Swiny stealing some of Mama's eggs. The next morning Abe came by to apologize. Then they harvested the last harvest. Then Mama and Rose baked and cooked for Thanksgiving. They invited the Coolys over for supper. The last thing Mama put on their plates was three kernels of corn to remind them of the Pilgrims. Then they said grace. After they ate Rose told Paul and George about a cave, but she wasn't allowed to go in it. Paul said, "They wouldn't know if we do so let's go." They went inside the cave and got really muddy. They got in big trouble when they got back. It was time to go back to school. Rose saw Blanche, her school friend. Rose's Papa came and picked Rose up from school. Papa said, "Why Rose you're lips are blue and you're shivering." When Rose got home he said, "Go sit by the fire." Soon it was Rose's birthday! Mama kept looking out the window but wouldn't let Rose. When it was time for chores her Mama wouldn't let her do her chores. When Papa came inside he said, "Go outside and have a look." There was a donkey outside with a new saddle! A little while after Rose's birthday was a terrible ice storm! It was hard getting around. You had to put cloth on your shoes. Their orchard barely made it. Abe was sparking with Effie, Alva's older sitter. Then Abe asked Effie if she would marry him. Will Effie marry Abe? I recommend this book, because it shows you what it was like when Rose was a little girl compared to now.

I love THE LAURA INGALLS YEARS and the ROSE YEARS. In the later ROSE books, Rose is a little more fiesty and romantical...it builds up as the series goes along, so this is more for pre-teens and teens later on. Otherwise it is very wholesome and fun; Rose is interesting, and has many ideas about the world! I have all the LAURA YEARS books except THE FIRST FOUR YEARS and all the ROSE books except ON THE BANKS OF THE BAYOU (my fave) and BACHELOR GIRL (haven't read that yet).
...

I found this entire series of books to be disappointing. The writing was average but what really bothered me most is how the stories lacked the sweet innocence of the original series. On doing some research I discovered that parts of the books were based on Rose's diaries. Unfortunately, she was not a happy soul and these books suffer from her same pessimism. The listed author for this book (MacBride) died before the last few books were published. The books were still published under his name and HarperCollins claimed that he wrote the manuscript before dying yet one of the last books in this series contains several chapters (almost verbatim) from a story that Rose wrote herself for an adult audience. The story is totally out of character with the series. Rose and her friend sneak out for several nights to meet a traveling salesman. He eventually makes a pass at her...

This series is okay as light reading for adolescents but if you are looking for a piece of americana, and/or a wholesome book for your child or self this is not the best choice. It grossly fails to live up to the original series of books. The Caroline series is a better choice.

This is a very good book about a legend of the game. It is a very good read and provides a lot of insight on how Sisler was perceived by many of his peers. My only problem with the book is the author mistakenly saying that Roberto Clemente was from the Dominican Republic. A glaring mistake like this makes me wonder what other facts might be wrong.

George Sisler, the subject of Rick Huhn's book, "The Sizzler," is yet another of the classic ballplayers of the early 20th century, admired during his career, acknowledged for his achievements during and after his career, slowly forgotten over the years and without a biography until recently. Huhn has stepped in to correct that oversight in Sisler's case, and it is a welcome addition to the baseball greats section of the library.

George Sisler, as Huhn stressed, was not a colorful player: he kept a low profile and let his playing do the talking. There were few incidents in his life where he made waves: signing a professional contract while underage, and the resulting fight for his services helping to lead to the end of the National Commission; his tenure as manager of the St. Louis Browns, his transfer to the Senators in the late 1920s; his sinus infection and the resulting difficulties with Browns management in 1923; but most importantly, his hitting and fielding with the Browns during his greatest years. His record for hits in a season was untouched for 84 years, and his two years with averages over .400 are impressive, even for the time in which he played. He finished second to Ruth in home runs one year, and his Runs Created between 1915 and 1922 surpassed Ruth by over 100. That he was not exactly the same player after sitting out 1923 is a disappointment, but he was certainly honored in his time, named by Ty Cobb in his all-time team as first baseman.

Huhn has provided us with a fine biography of a deserving player, a stand-out performer in his time, and all time.

One other thing: It has been noted that Bill James, author and Society of American Baseball Research member, wrote in his 2001 Historical Baseball Abstract that Sisler is "perhaps the most over-rated player in baseball history." (p. 441) Mr. James is entitled to his opinion; it's his book and he can interpret the statistics in any way he cares to. I've been a SABR member for over 25 years and am familiar with Mr. James' work, and it is quite safe to say that I do not agree with him a good half the time, this being one of those times. If you look back at his 1985 Historical Baseball Abstract, you'll find that he said "George Sisler is probably the only player other than Gehrig who can reasonably be considered the greatest first baseman ever in terms of peak value . . . Sisler was a different type of player, he didn't have the home run pop, but he hit for a higher average, was faster and a better defensive player than Gehrig, and the comparison between the two is not easy." (p. 346)

So what happened? Sisler's statistics didn't change in the 16 years between books; the 1920s didn't change, either. Most of the guys who seemingly leap-frogged over him in performance were done playing before 1985. Mr. James explains on page of the 2001 book that in rereading the 1985 book there are a lot of things that he didn't like. As I said, it's his book and he writes what he wants, but that doesn't mean I'm buying what he's pushing on me. In terms of perspective of the times, Sisler was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939, in the year of the inauguration of the Hall of Fame, as was Gehrig. A number of guys who jumped ahead of him on the list of top first basemen won't get in the Hall except with a ticket. If this makes Mr. James an over-rated writer, well, I won't say that he is or isn't. But you can make up your mind whether the old Bill James is also the new Bill James, and which one you want to believe.

This last moron to post a review bashed Sisler saying that he is overrated, mostly noted because he hardly hit home runs. I didn't think one had to hit home runs in order to be a Hall of Famer. It's obvious he wasn't a slugger - but just look at this: Twice he was second in the AL in long balls and five times he was in the top 10; on six occasions he was in the top 5 in slugging percentage. Seven times he was top 10 in RBI, four times the steals champ. Let's throw in an MVP for good measure. The list goes on reflecting Sisler's above-average speed and outstanding hitting ability (over 200 hits in 6 different seasons, very easily could have been 8).

Don't allow the lack of Sisler power numbers deter you from reading this book.

I hope Huhn did not spend much time on this project.

George Sisler had a .340 career batting average, and that sounds impressive to the few baseball fans who still think batting average is a major statistic. But for the rest of us, Sisler is either--as the preeminent living baseball historian, Bill James, calls him--the most overrated player in baseball history, or, as I call him, the second most overrated player in baseball history, behind Roberto Clemente.

The two men had the same problem. They racked up very high batting averages for their eras, and thus superficially appeared to be great hitters, but they almost never walked. Thus, their career ON-BASE PERCENTAGES, of which "batting average" is but a portion, were mediocre. And neither one of them hit home runs, though Sisler was especially egregious in this respect.

He played in one of baseball's greatest launching pads ever, Sportsman's Park, where it was: 310 down the right field line, 322 to straightaway right, and 351 to deepest right center. And he played there with the super-live ball of the 1920's, before they put the screen up in that part of the park. He also got to play as a visitor in Cleveland's League Park and NY's Yankee Stadium, when they were generous to left-handed hitters, as well as nearly three full seasons as a visitor in the outrageous Baker Bowl in Philly, the century's greatest launching pad.

Do you know how many HR's the guy hit in his career? Try 102.

So this guy is not "baseball's forgotten great." This guy is deservedly forgotten, because sophisticated baseball fans have come to realize he wasn't great. All those years in Sportsman's Park, and he never once hit 20 HR's. All those gaudy batting averages, and his career on-base percentage was lower than those of Fred McGriff, Alvin Davis, Gene Tenace, Elmer Valo, Jack Clark and many scores of other guys who hit nowhere near .300, let alone .340.

Finally, I'm aware of Sisler's mid-career injury, and the huge decline in his stats which flowed from it. He was a vastly better player before that than afterward, and without it, he may have been truly great. But so what? Anyone remember Don Mattingly? I remember thinking he was going to replace Lou Gehrig as the greatest 1B of all time. And I wasn't alone. His back injury ruined him, and if he still makes the Hall, it will be only because he was a Yankee. These things happen, and they don't make Sisler something he was not. (And Sisler was just as terrible about taking walks before the injury as after.)

Next time, Mr. Huhn, write about a "forgotten great" who truly was great. This book was a waste of your time, and is a waste of any reader's time.

Jim F.

In response to "J.F. Baseball history nut, music fan", I think the point of Sisler's talent has been missed. I won't go so far as to call Mr. J.F, etc. a moron, but he has certainly missed the boat on some things.

J.F, et. al. tosses around some players who were "better" than Sisler. Let's pick one and compare their stats. How about Jack Clark? True, Sisler didn't walk very much, but he also didn't strike out very much. How many times did he strike out? Try 327 times, in approximately 8200 AB. How many times did Jack Clark strike out? Try 1441 in approximately 6800 AB. ('Nuf said.) Interestingly, Clark and Sisler have an identical OBP, of .379, and Clark has a slightly higher slugging number -- about 10 points higher. Looking at those two stats, they appear somewhat equal, but look at the hit totals: Sisler, 2812; Clark 1826. You see, Sisler wasn't "taking" walks because he was too busy actually getting hits! So, Clark has a thousand fewer hits, and struck out about a thousand more times. Even taking into consideration the ~800 more walks Clark had, I would still rather have Sisler on my team.

PLUS, Sisler scored about 100 more runs than Clark -- on fewer walks, home runs, and in fewer seasons played. This could be because Sisler also stole about 300 more bases than Clark did, or maybe that he hit about 100 more doubles than Clark. Or, maybe, that Clark was a big, dopey power hitter who could do little more than swat the ball a pretty fair distance when he was lucky enough to hit it at all. In essence, this means that while Clark had bigger power numbers, and leads Sisler in the sexy stats of modern baseball analysis, he really wasn't a better player. Not even close. To understand statistics you have to analyze things for yourself and deduce what they really mean -- don't rely on the percentage stats at the end of the row.

This is such a silly comparison, I don't even know why I'm continuing to waste my time on it. I'm not even mentioning Sisler's fielding prowess, and all the ancedotal evidence for his greatness. (Do you think the most "overrated player ever" would have been the first firstbaseman elected to the Hall of Fame? Think about it.)

I could go on, but I think I'm done.

Finally, read the book. It may not be the best piece of baseball writing ever, but don't let J.F.&Company's ridiculous critique hold you back.