Parties Books

Refreshing. This is a good word to describe The Ex-Debutante by Linda Francis Lee, for refreshing it is. I have never before read a book by Ms.Lee, but you can be sure that I will be looking for her backstock very quickly.

Carlisle Wainwright Cushing (the name alone is different---perfect!) goes home to Texas to deal with her mother's 4th divorce. The fact that she ran away from all things Texas years before only to be dragged back now is one of the best plotlines in the book. The secondary plot of the debutante ball is easily as important as the divorce, but ties all aspects of the other characters into the story so well, that it almost isn't a secondary plotline, but like a tie for first. And I haven't even mentioned the 501 Levi wearing Jack Blair---attorney-at-law. Mmmmmm, Jack. Yum. Sorry, it was the jeans reference.....back on topic now. Do you think there are Jack Blair's in Texas right now? Reason enough to take a "field trip" there to find out----I'm just saying.

Okay, so if you haven't figured it out by now, I liked the book. The characters all ring true (even the ones you want to slap upside the head) and had me struggling to put the book down for such menial reasons as to take care of my family. Whatever. For books like this, sacrifices have to be made. Take out was ordered. Family was fine. Book was finished. Alls well that ends well. Enjoy.

I love this author and I loved this book. I could not put it down and finished it over the weekend. I have read both of Linda Francis Lee's books and I can not wait for the next one! I loved the heroine,Carlisle, and I loved her Texas family! Do not miss this author.

I started this book yesterday afternoon and was up until 1:00 am until I finished. My 8 year old son's spelling homework didn't get done, my 4 year old son tried to drown me while he was taking a bath by kicking all the water out of the tub onto my reading figure hudddled by the vanity, the kids didn't get into bed until after 9, my husband kept trying to pick a fight with me but I kept ignoring him and reading, and the dog kept sneaking into the den and trying to get onto the recliner with me since I wasn't paying attention to him. That's how much I loved this book. I was oblivious to my life going on around me. ~sigh~ I was sorry when it ended but what a great read! It's a great book and I totally loved it! Hurray for Linda Francis Lee!

Two prime reasons propelled Carlisle Wainwright Cushing to leave Willow Creek, Texas three years ago. First the lawyer could not deal with her family's lofty social position especially her mother's marriage of the moment; worse she needed to leave behind Jack Blair, the man she has loved for fifteen years going back to high school.

She returns home when her mom asks her to represent her in her umpteenth divorce after divorce lawyer number four botched the proceedings so that ex hubby four has a line on the family accounting sheet. Her mom's spouse hires Jack. To her chagrin although engaged to Boston Brahmin attorney Phillip, she still wants Jack; he feels the same way. As she gets roped into planning the annual debutante gala hosted forever by her family but on the verge of collapse, Jack makes a move on her to regain the woman he let get away.

This is an amusing contemporary romance starring two likable lead characters, a horde of eccentric protagonists especially the families and the debutantes and an out of place Bostonian fiancé. The story line is humorous as Carlisle with her chick lit asides understands how Michael Corleone felt about being dragged home into the family business. Readers will laugh with the vulnerable heroine who wonders whether she can escape her DNA in time to keep her brain from frying while also pondering about her and Jack especially after the men's room incident.

Harriet Klausner

Carlisle Wainright Cushing has successfully reinvented herself. She's living in Boston, is engaged to Phillip and enjoys her career as a divorce lawyer. Nobody would guess that Carlisle is a member of THE Wainrights of Willow Creek, Texas. What made her flee? The reasons include a botched attempt at the Texas Dip during her Debutante Ball and falling in love with Jack Blair. However, when Carlisle receives the phone call, she knows it time to go home.

For Carlisle, going home is like having a supporting role on a soap opera: Her mother, Ridgely, is getting a divorce (for the fourth time). Her older brother Henry and his family have relocated back to Willow Creek after their oldest daughter was expelled from numerous schools. Her older sister, Savannah, is desperate to become pregnant. When Carlisle becomes her mother's attorney, she must face Jack Blair, who is representing her stepfather.

Carlisle's stay coincides with the Hundredth Annual Willow Creek Symphony Association Debutante Ball where eight young ladies from the best families are presented to society. A Wainright has always chaired the ball, and Carlisle is asked to do her part for the family. Unfortunately last year's ball was a disaster and no one wants to be a part of this year's ball. Rejected by respected families, Carlisle finds herself with a motley group of candidates: party girls, rebels and misfits.

Even though it seems like a complete fiasco, could returning to Willow Creek be the best thing for Carlisle?

Humorous and heartwarming, this tale of family and love is hard to put down! It provided a juicy look into the world of Junior Leagues and Debutante Balls. Carlisle is a wonderful main character: she's smart, sassy and has a big heart (which she tries to hide). Her family is also wonderfully kooky: pedigreed, at times neurotic, but also loving. This family dynamic works-like Carlisle, I found myself caring about these people and wanting to help them. I highly recommend the Ex-Debutante!

Armchair Interviews says: A wonderful, juicy story with lots of heart. Two thumbs up.

Holt describes the dark period leading up to the civil war brilliantly, with new ideas instead of the normal canned answers. He uses support from the great thinkers and leaders of the time including president Abraham Lincoln. Holt continues his famed career of historical insights with this amazingly insightful story of one of the most important topics in our nations history.

In The Fate of Their Country, Professor Holt skillfully and helpfully clarifies the vexed question of slavery extension, a controversy that played an important role in dividing North and South and setting the stage for war.

This is a relatively short book, and for a reason: Professor Holt wishes to acquaint a larger audience with some of the important issues that he has covered at greater length in some of his other work. Hence this accessible introduction.

What I find so interesting about the book is that it shows rather convincingly that debates over slavery extension were often not about slavery per se. The question of extending slavery into the territories became an issue of Southern honor: whether or not Southerners actually wanted to bring slaves into, say, New Mexico Territory (none were there by 1860), the issue became a matter of principle between sections of the country that had been so often at odds in the past.

The insistence upon slavery's extension into the territories was often a matter of saving face for the South rather than (necessarily) a matter of actually desiring to bring slaves there, particularly since neither North nor South seriously expected slavery to take root in most of the places over which they argued at such length.

Moreover, the subject of slavery extension came to symbolize all the differences between North and South, including controversies over the tariff, a homestead bill, internal improvement legislation, and the like.

Professor Holt is certainly not saying that slavery played no role whatever in the coming of the Civil War. But the issue has often been misunderstood, and it is Holt's aim to provide the reader with the evidence and the historical background he needs to understand the context in which slavery extension was debated. He concludes that irresponsible politicians, for their own narrow partisan advantage, all too often exploited the issue for demagogic purposes, with (ultimately) tragic consequences. A superb book.

I have been visiting Civil War battlefields for over 20 years. The more I learned about the war, the more I wondered how it had ever happened. Michael Holt's book discusses the issues that rocked the country during the 1850's. But it also discusses how these issues affected the thinking of ordinary people in the North and the South. It helped me understand why the events from John Brown's raid to the firing on Ft. Sumter aroused such anger in the country.

Michael F. Holt makes a great argument on past historical events leading up to the Civil War. He states clearly in the preface that he is writing this book to reach a wider audience. (And from the other reviews I can see he did!)

It is a resource book containing thoughts he previously used in his books on the Whigs and the 1850's, but if you're an American History teacher or professor this book could be used in the classroom. It is a great addition to my library and would easily work in an academic setting to hit on all the major "coming of events" before the War.

The only probably I have with this book is that Mr. Holt portrays John C. Calhoun as a radical. While me might have been in the 1830's by the Mexican War and the Compromise of 1850 Calhoun predicted the future of our Contry and in his address to Congress in 1850 urged for compromise over disunion.

I still would recommend this book to anyone who wanted some straight answers to the Antibellum period of United States history.

This short book by Michael Holt is the story of politics in America leading up to the Civil War. On the one hand, Holt makes a convincing argument that political leaders between 1820 and 1860 often acted out of raw political ambition rather than what was best for the country. In calculating the risk of taking certain actions Democrats, Whigs, and nascent Republicans took into account how their decisions would most affect their own political fortunes.

While principle sometimes played a part, this can be seen in Calhoun's staunch support for slavery no matter what and Republican's anti-Southern stance in 1858 and 1680, in too many instances all that mattered was how issues can be leveraged to gain the most support for you in the next election.

This is not a new idea in Civil War histories, but Holt makes an impressive case for it in just over 100 pages. The other theses of the book, the danger of sectionalism and the need to compromise, are also portrayed well. However, it is the danger of putting one's personal interests above the national that is the main lesson of this book. I don't believe another civil war is in any way imminent, but it would be wonderful if today's politicians would relearn that lesson. This book would be a great place for them to start.

Rediscover Franklin! These wonderful books are full of humor, values and gentle guiding ways in everyday situations. A must for night time reading to calm boys and humor girls.

Franklin's Valentines captures the true spirit of the holiday unlike many of the valentine books I've read where friends compete for the biggest or best valentine ever. I also appreciate that Franklin's predicament is realistic. I'm sure all of us at one time, or another have forgotten to bring something to school, or have lost, or broken items along the way. Children relate to Franklin's dilemma about feeling left out and embarrassed. The illustrations are bright and bold, which are certainly eye-catching. The author, Paulette Bourgeois, does a fine job of communicating her story without stretching the vocabulary, or being too wordy. There isn't any rhyme, or cadence to her text, but her sentence structure is easy to follow especially for young readers. Definitely a winner.

My daughter loved this story as did I as the emphasis on Valentine's Day was about friendship and taking a day and celebrating friendships. As Franklin lost all of his Valentine's in the mud and didn't have any for his friends, he couldn't believe they still wanted to give him their cards and letters. He realized that friends like you for who you are and not what you can give them. As a parent, if feel this is one lesson that your kids can't learn too often.

My daughter loved this story of Frankin making his own Valentine's for his friends at school and losing them in a puddle in his hurry to get to the bus. He becomes upset and can't believe, even though he doesn't have cards to give to them, they still want him to have the ones they've made. In the end, Frankin decides to make "Friendship Day" the day after Valentine's Day with cards he's made and carefully put in his bag. It just teaches a great lesson of how nice people can be and how to appreciate the friends you have.

My daughter loved this story as did I as the emphasis on Valentine's Day was about friendship and taking a day and celebrating friendships. As Franklin lost all of his Valentine's in the mud and didn't have any for his friends, he couldn't believe they still wanted to give him their cards and letters. He realized that friends like you for who you are and not what you can give them. As a parent, if feel this is one lesson that your kids can't learn too often.

The book is a WINNER and a welcome relief to a Neanderthal party giver such as myself. When I think what I put my son through two years ago for his high school graduation, I cringe inwardly and ask the heavens for forgiveness. But life is made for second chances and my daughter is graduating from high school in a couple of months (June 2001).

My communications with my strong-willed seventeen-year-old daughter can become, even with the best of intentions, an unfortunate "tug of war." By following the authors' advice in the section titled "Don't Forget the Guest of Honor," this book has already paid great dividends. Within fifteen minutes of asking my daughter the questions suggested by Ginger and Mary in this section, I had a clear and concise idea of the type and size of celebration she would enjoy and, miraculously, not a single frustrated word was said between us. My daughter seemed genuinely pleased with the thoughtfulness of my questions as well as some of my ideas. The fact that the questions and ideas came from "Graduation: Celebrate with Style!" shall remain my secret - I plan to take full credit for everything and bask in my daughter's good feelings. Using the SOUND, SENSIBLE, STRAIGHTFORWARD ADVICE given by Ginger and Mary in "Graduation: Celebrate with Style!" I am confident that my daughter's graduation celebration will be memorable and appreciated by the guest of honor

One warning to readers - do not read the book before going to bed. I got so excited thinking of ideas for my daughter's graduation celebration that I had a hard time falling asleep.

I found this book very helpful for many special event parties! The ideas, tips and guidelines are useful for all social gatherings. I am using it now for a wedding celebration. The book is also a GREAT gift to give other parents.

A wonderful guide for throwing "just the right" graduation party. A book full of ideas that will make that special day "shine"!

This book will help you customize your party to your graduates and yuor specific needs, lots of good ideas,quick and easy to read.

This book gave me lots of great ideas! I'm actually excited about planning my party now, instead of being anxious. It answered lots of questions in an easy-to-read format. Thanks, Mary & Ginger!

i just finished it i read it all the time i love these series they are really funny all my friends love them too! i love all the sabrina books but this one is really good!

They really are great books. They'll make ya laugh on a day when you just want to cry, and they aren't so farfetched, either. Sabrina may have supernatural powers, but she deals with the same things us teens have to face everyday: being shunned by the most popular girl at school, having a weird family, liking your best guy friend... It's not as unusal as some may think. In fact, I can sometimes more than relate (of course, I'm not a witch though). And having the most cool girl in school reck your halloween party, can defintely happen.

Sabrina's throwing a Halloween party with a B-movie monster theme. But only Harvey & Jenny show up. Everyone else is at Libby's super-secret "surprise" Halloween affair. Libby's winning the popularity game-until Sabrina's Aunt Vesta, a real witch, invites some of her friends over a genuine monster bash. Soon everyone is partying at Sabrina's, where the zombies, mummy, Wolfman, and Frankenstein's monster are stealing the show. Sabrina's busy trying to keep her friends from learning the truth. That's when Libby discovers the magic pantry and meets the young warlock who can help her create some havoc of her own.

Suddenly, the party's out of control, and Sabrina's cover as a normal teenager is about to be blown!

Sabrina's throwing a Halloween party with a B-movie monster theme. But only Harvey & Jenny show up. Everyone else is at Libby's super-secret "surprise" Halloween affair. Libby's winning the popularity game-until Sabrina's Aunt Vesta, a real witch, invites some of her friends over a genuine monster bash.

Soon everyone is partying at Sabrina's, where the zombies, mummy, Wolfman, and Frankenstein's monster are stealing the show. Sabrina's busy trying to keep her friends from learning the truth. That's when Libby discovers the magic pantry and meets the young warlock who can help her create some havoc of her own.

Suddenly, the party's out of control, and Sabrina's cover as a normal teenager is about to be blown!

If you like to read Sabrina books then you MUST read this book. It was the most excitingest one i ever read and i could not put it down. It's about sabrina throwing a b-movie monster theme and during the party her aunt vesta shows up bringing along with her 2 witches and a worlock. Soon the party is out of controll all thanks to that warlock who is trying to make some hovac with libby. I call this a must read book.

This is such a charming little story, very endearing and close to the heart. I love reading stories where the kindness of the main characters resonate so beautifully. this book is great for kids because it teaches all good things about friendship, loyalty and comraderie. it's good for adults because we need to remember those things too !!! i recommend this book to everyone, all ages shapes and sizes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with the others that this was even better than the first - definitely my favorite. It is smartly written with a surprise ending that kept me guessing until the end. :-) I also like how Amy's culture and ethnic background are woven into the story in creative ways (i.e. birthday party invitations!). While the book is primarily entertaining, there is also an educational component to it as well. Can't wait for the next books to come out!

Believe it or not, I actually liked this one better than the first book, perhaps because the first one had to introduce all the characters. I was amazed that the book was able to hold my attention, as well as my six year old's and wondered how the authors would come up with a solution to the problem,I won't give away the ending!

My grandaughter, who is seven, absolutely loves the Amy HodgePodge books. Amy is a delightful character, a girl who is easy to relate to and love. This particular book has a lot of surprises like what happens when you plan a birthday party with good friends and everything goes not as expected. Just like the first Amy HodgePodge book, the ending is great and a little unusual. Amy and her friends are good kids who have lots of fun together and come up with good solutions for kids' everyday problems and adventures.

This follow-up to "All Mixed Up" is just as good if not better. My daughter and her little friends really enjoy having me read this book. If you are looking for a book you can read to your child and not be bored, this is a winner.

If you are interested in the history of the American Left or are a militant trying to understand some of the past lessons of our history concerning the communist response to various social and labor questions this book is for you. This book is part of a continuing series of volumes of the writings of James P. Cannon that were published by the organization he founded, the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), in the 1970's and 1980's. Cannon died in 1974. Look in this space for other related reviews of this series of documents on and by an important American Communist.

In their introduction the editors motivate the purpose for the publication of the book by stating the Cannon was the finest Communist leader that America had ever produced. This an intriguing question that has underlined this reviewer's approach to these volumes. The editors trace their political lineage back to Cannon's leadership of the early Communist Party and later after his expulsion to the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party so their perspective is obvious. What does the documentation provided here show? This certainly is the period of Cannon's political maturation, and the beginning of a long political collaboration working with Trotsky. The period under discussion- from the late 1920's when he was expelled as leader of the American Communist Party through the early 1930's with the start of the great labor upsurge which would bring wide spread unionization to the working class to 1938 and the formation of the SWP. Cannon won his spurs in this struggle to orient those organizations toward a revolutionary path. One thing is sure- in his prime, which includes this period- Cannon had the instincts to want to lead a revolution and had the evident capacity to do so. That he never had an opportunity to lead a revolution is his personal tragedy and ours as well.

This book is based on a series of lectures that Cannon gave in New York in 1943 before he, along with 17 other party leaders, went to prison for revolutionary opposition to World War II. Volumes of his writings, as noted above, published later have dealt much more fully with some of the subjects of these lectures. I note The History of American Communism on the origins of the Communist party; The Left Opposition, 1928-31 on the early "dog days" after his expulsion from the Communist Party; The Communist League of America, 1932-1934 on the fight to go to the masses with an upsurge in labor struggles; and, the separately published James P. Cannon and the Early American Communist Movement on the internal struggle in the early period. Thus, I want to take up for review and analysis here the last part of the present book the period and policies which have come down in the history of the international Trotskyist movement as the `French turn'. In America this policy meant that the Workers Party, predecessor of the SWP formed in 1934, dissolved and entered the Socialist Party (SP) as part of an international tactic of revolutionary regroupment in the process of forming a vanguard party.

This writer has long been interested in and a little uneasy about the implementation of the policy of the `French turn'. Since it is not immediately apparent why one political organization would enter another organization for such a purpose and because many of today's militants may not be familiar with the period a little pre-history is in order. After the rise of Hitler in Germany in 1933 and after the defeat of the heroic Austrian working class in 1934 there was great turmoil and leftward motion in the international labor movement. That movement, in reaction and disgust at the erroneous policies of the Communist International and its `third period' catastrophic theory of capitalist collapse, gravitated toward the international social democracy.

Trotsky, after declaring the Communist International and its parties dead as revolutionary organizations in the wake of Hitler's rise in Germany maintained that new parties internationally and a new International was on the political agenda. Thus, the question for the mainly small and somewhat poorly organized pro-Trotskyist propaganda groupings was to move away from acting as a faction of the Comintern in order to take advantage of this movement to break out of their isolation and create at least small vanguard parties. Trotsky responded by strongly suggesting that his followers, at first in France then later elsewhere, enter social democratic and labor organizations in order to take advantage of this leftward movement.

In America, under Cannon's leadership, the Communist League of America (CLA) after successfully leading labor strikes in Minneapolis and elsewhere, fused with other radical labor activists in 1934 into the American Workers Party headed by A.J. Muste to form the Workers Party (WP) in 1934. While the cadre of the CLA were politically well educated and theoretically grounded that was not as true of Muste's forces. In a sense this fusion represented on the American terrain an application of the Trotsky-inspired international entry policy. Nevertheless, Cannon led the drive for what amounted to a second use of the entry tactic into the Socialist Party in order to intersect the growing left wing there.

The implementation of this policy was the subject of two internal fights in the WP before the policy was finally approved. The first fight was led those who were opposed to such an entry on the principle that revolutionaries could not enter a party affiliated with the betrayers of the Second International (the Oehlerites). That policy leads to sectarianism and isolation. The second fight, led by Muste himself, was concerned with the separate organizational integrity of the WP. That policy leads to organizational fetishism and isolation. At the time, and in hindsight, no militant could or should have argued on either of these grounds. Nevertheless, this writer believes an argument could be made on tactical grounds against entry in the Socialist Party. Why? Because of the untested nature of the newly-formed and politically undereducated WP. A sophisicated maneuver such as entry against a hardened, opportunist Socialist left wing with such forces would cause later problems. As indeed they did. The reviewer's alternative. United front, that is march separately but fight together, the Socialist Party to death whenever and whenever common issues came up, especially on trade union policy in the rising CIO, the role of their Socialist Pary comrades in the Spanish Civil War and their response to the frame-up Moscow Trials.

Cannon, in defending the policy at the time mentions that, despite the onerous conditions of entry set by the left-wing leadership, he believed, and with him Trotsky also, that the results of entry were justified by the organizational wreckage of the Socialist Party after the expulsion of the Trotskyist forces. Additional factors included the accrual of new forces, the freezing out of the Stalinists from influence in the Socialist Party and the work of the Trotsky Defense Committee. Those results may be credit able but this writer believes that such results could have been obtained more easily from the outside.

The reviewer's position has always been colored by looking at the policy from the hindsight of the divisive and fundamental faction fight of the 1939-40 period which basically split the party in two over the question of defense of the Soviet Union when it became really operative. Not an inconsiderable section of the opposition to defense of the Soviet Union came from the forces, especially from the socialist youth group, recruited during the entry. Thus, I still remain troubled by the policy. In the future militants will once again have to face this problem of regroupment of revolutionary forces, if under different conditions. Read this section of the book and make up your own mind.

cCannon never explains numbers here. Yet, this is the history of a group of revolutionists who went from two or three leaders of the Communist party who learned of Trotsky's critique of Stalin, to a group of a few dozens--The Generals without an Army they were call. They went from only a few ideas to merging and mixing with new currents of workers who came forward as the CIO Upsurge came forward. Their principles helped spark the organization of revolutionary workers in the great strikes in Minneapolis in 1934 and aftewrwards, then to influence workers in the sit down strikes in Flint and Dearborn and Detroit. Then to find thousands of young workers, intellectuals, and student youth in the Socialist party and battle the reformists there, to build Found the Socialist Workers party, found with thousands of members before World War II. But this is not about those numbers. Through most of history, real revolutionists real communists have been forced to fight in small organizations like the movement Cannon built. What this is about is the principles, the ideas, the lessons, the history, how to do things theoretically, how to do them practically, and how to do them right.

For those who wonder whether the American working class is capable of revolution -- read this book and be convinced by an engaging scrapper and committed working class hero who was there at the very beginning. Millions placed their hopes for a new dawn on the young Russian revolution, only to be betrayed by Stalin. Cannon tells the story of how he found his way out of the impasse, stumbling on a document by Leon Trotsky at a Moscow convention in 1928. He smuggled it out (in the days before photocopies and computer discs, no mean feat) and spent the next ten years involved in political faction fights, world-changing strikes, mobilizations against fascism...all leading up to the founding of the Socialist Workers Party in the US in 1938. Descriptions of building a fledgeling revolutionary party without funds for a telephone or office rent, are woven in with discourse on the implications of international debate on whether to defend the USSR in the looming world war. He explains the tactical manoevres, gives acerbic thumbnail sketches of various characters -- and makes hard work and fighting for what's right look like a very realistic option.

Sufrimos una época de guerras y revolución porque el sistema actual, fundado en la avaricia individual, padece cada vez más de sus trastornos mortales. Ya que año con año se avecina la Tercera Guerra Mundial, la editorial Pathfinder nos aconseja aprender de las otras dos ocasiones en que nos llevó al borde de la barbarie.

Los libros de Cannon no son sobre el pasado, sino cómo sacar mayor ventaja de las aperturas y oportunidades que necesariamente se van a presentar en el camino para forjar partidos de los trabajadores de común acuerdo en aprender de las luchas de los explotados donde sea que surgen y unidos en la trayectoria de construir un mundo libre del capitalismo.

Cannon era miembro fundador del movimiento del Obrero Mundial (IWW), los antecedentes del Partido Comunista y el Partido mismo. En los 20 era dirigente de la Defensa Internacional del Obrero (ILD) y fue representante norteamericano en el presidio del Internacional Comunista con Lenin y Trotsky.

Dado que el estalinismo ya no trompea el camino para que los luchadores se reúnen, hoy en día el movimiento comunista no necesita valerse del nombre "trotskista" para diferenciarse de los estalinistas; con este simple cambio de nomenclatura el contenido de La historia del trotskismo estadounidense sigue en pie de lucha. Traza la continuidad ideológica y marca la pauta para que detengamos la marcha de los explotadores hacia su tercera guerra mundial, que ellos mismos no pueden parar debido a su permanente caída en la taza de ganancias.

This book relates an important chapter of American history. However, this book speaks so well to real problems real people face every day, that despite the title, I don't think of it as history, but as a guide about how to fight to win. . . I read and discussed this book with a handful of Young Socialists in Washington, DC in 1967 when I wasn't sure about what to do about my life. After I read this I was sure, and I am still sure. . . This book tells the story and mines the experiences of a small band of revolutionary workers who wouldn't succumb to Stalin, to Roosevelt, to anyone, but continued the fight for principled communist politics and built the Socialist Workers Party. I am not surprised that out of the four of five of us who studied this book then, most are still fighting to change the world, and several became nationally known figures in the antiwar, Black rights, and women's movements. . . . There are so many lessons of practical life, of political organization, and of how to wage struggles in the labor movement, against persecution, against fascism, and about internationalism and true solidarity here. Someday, when the struggles of working people will be more pronounced and the fight to build a movement against capitalism more massive, this will be a handbook that millions of fighters will cherish. Know it now!

While this book is not always available on Amazon, it is always available from BooksfromPathfinder, an Amazon Z store that you can get to by clicking on New and Used further up this page!

I have used other planned party products before, and found them very constrictive. This is nothing like those. It is much more fun. What is great about this book is that it gives you choices - you can lean on the fab ideas in the book, but you also gain the tools and the confidence to make your own party. A great book for everyone who loves throwing parties with a twist.

I found this book to be extremely entertaining reading. I will be having a Murder Mystery Party this year for sure. I am also thinking of buying a few for gifts for my closest friends and family. This is a original gift idea especially for the avid party throwers!

This is definitely the best book to read if you ever thought about throwing a Murder Mystery Party. And if you don't know what a Murder Mystery Party is, this is a must read. Joseph Franco has done an incredible job explaining this stuff.

I've gone to several Murder Mystery parties, and they're always a blast. Even if you've never hosted a party--or if you're not very good at it--Mr. Franco walks you through the process of creating a Murder Mystery step by step. If you're tired of the same ol' parties week after week, year after year, buy this book and shake things up. Your friends will thank you.

I've read Mr. Franco's book and I'm excited about hosting my first Murder Mystery Party. There are tons of ideas and suggestions and lots of help with getting started and personalizing your party. A must to own and a great gift.

This cookbook is a great blend of fun photos, bio, and recipes. Well laid-out and easy to read. Substantive. A GREAT special occasion gift!

Also by Michael & Karan Feder, "Liberace, Your Personal Fashion Consultant"- with pop-out images of Liberace to stand on your desk! Liberace: Your Personal Fashion Consultant; and by Michael Feder, "Olive Parrot Shares Her Birthday", a read-aloud illustrated story for Parrot lovers, their feathered friends, and kids and grandkids as well Olive Parrot Shares her Birthday

The Joy of Liberace makes everyday a holiday. Every home should have one. There is no better recipe for joy.

The Joy of Liberace already has me planning my next party. Can you imagine the feast for friends, with bling all over and Liberace playing in the background. This is not only a cook book, but a look into a icon we have heard very little about for 20 years. I recomend this book to anyone who wants to have fun and can appreciate the over the top life of Liberace

This book is total fun. Every mother should have opne. It creates a complete Liberace atmosphere- with authentic recipes from the time.Visually,it is terrific-totally enjoyable.

Confessions of a Middle Childis a very good book. This book is about a girl named Julep O' Toole. Julep is an eleven yeat old, middle child who feels like she is invisible. In the book she often has conflicts with her older sister Harmony and her younger brother Cooper. In the book Julep is finally given a chance to come out of the shadows. But will she, you'll just have to find out. I really like this book and suggest it to 6th grade girls.

Julep is one of my favorite books! The author does a good job of writing how life really is in middle school with all the problems Julep faces with her friends. The journal and drawings are great, too. I've read two of the Julep books (Miss Independent is good) and hope to read the third soon. If you are a kid you will LOVE this book!

Julep makes you laugh from beginning to end! I love the part where Clavin reads from Julep's journal over the loudspeaker at school!! Read this book and you will really enjoy it. All of my friends are reading Julep now and we can't wait to read the other books in the series. Go Julep!! C.Y.L. (you will get this when you read the book).

Julep is a middle child and she is stuck between her older sister and younger brother. I like this book because it's very funny and has lots of action, too, like when Julep gets her journal read over the P.A. at school! It also tells a good story. Julep has to help her brother when he has a bad asthma attack and her sister doesn't know what to do. Julep will make you think and make you laugh, so read it!! There are more books in the series, which I plan to read. Julep O' Toole: Miss IndependentJulep O'Toole: What I Really Want To Do Is Direct (Julep O'Toole)

Julep is a middle child and she hates it. She wants to be popular like her older sister or the spoiled baby like her little brother. I love this book because Julep is very real. She gets into embarrassing situations, just like me and my friends do sometimes. My teacher read this book to our class and we all thought it was true and funny! It's serious, too, like when Julep has to help her little brother when he has an asthma attack. Read this book!