A Books

I LOVED this book as an upper elementary student after I lost my father very suddenly in an accident. I'm sure over the years I read this at least 10-20 times. I'm so glad to see it is still around so I can add it to my collection for my own children.

I read this book for the first time when I was probably 14. I read the book and remember crying through parts and laughing through others. I am so happy to have a chance to read it again. What an amazing story.

i read this book when i was 14 i'm 21 now and i was just looking for something to pass the time and i forgot how much i loved it!!!!

I read this book over 6 years ago... I still pick it up every once in a while.
It is so sad and sweet and touching, and I really good book.

I would give this book five stars. It is one of the best books I've ever read and I could not put it down. The story was captivating and it made you feel like you were another character watching this story unfold. You are so in touch with the characters emotions that certian points in the book don't really hit you until you see how she is hit by it. Over all this is my favorite book and I think everyone needs to read it.

As emphasized in the foreword section, by Dan Poynter, when buying or selling on Amazon, it takes skill and patience. First...as a reader and buyer of books, and even more, as an author. I have found the publication... "Sell Your Book On Amazon"...absolutely the most informational source I have purchased, to become aware of the entire operational mechanics of Amazon. It is amazing!! Author, Brent Sampson has presented all his obtained knowledge in a manner, that a reader and a first time author, like myself, can fully appreciate and in time...understand! Not only do I sincerely value what I have learned from this publication, it also made me value Amazon. I'm new at all of this...but...as a buiness person...for an organization to have accomplished so much for the reader and writer, in such a limited number of years, is beyond my comprehension. I do recommend this publication to both reader and writer. It will save you many hours of time!! Peggy Inez, Author, ISBN 978-159858-400-4

From Carlo Gabbi Author of An Amazing Story

Brent Sampson magically reveals all the secrets to improve sales for Print-on-Demand and Self-Publishing Writes who are using Amazon as a selling vehicle.

The author explain why, for a new self-published writer, that using Amazon is the easier way and the most proffitable.

Brent moves step by step from an initial chapter, Author Connect and Author Profiles through all the other necessary activities to receive back the greatest reward in selling your book profitably.

Chapters of importance are, Your Profile, Your Amazon Blog, Your bibliography, Reviews, Listmania, Amazon friends and on and on till you are at the end familiar with all the do's and dont's and be successful.

I have nothing but praise for this necessary book to all those that are using Amazon as the engine to became a popular writer.

Thank you Mr. Brent Samson for your great work.

Carlo Gabbi Author of An Amazing Story

This is really a half of a review, because I am only about midway
through Brent Sampson's book. For me it is like having a personal
guide walk me through the Amazon Jungle. I am confident that he
will keep me from getting lost.
Thank you Mr. Sampson for this easy to read "GPS" system.
Richard Walters
The 16 Minute Body Sculpting Kit: Attain Your Dream Body in Just 16 Minutes a Day!

I have been self publishing for five years now. I have authored five of my own books and have started releasing other author's books through my publishing company. I knew Amazon was a key player in my book sales and I have dabbled with Amazon over the last few years using various techniques for marketing that have worked quite well. But, what I've learned from this book, I GUARANTEE will at minimum, double my monthly sales!

This book is straight-forward and easy to read. I read it in one setting. I highlighted, then went back and began to apply the process. If you are an author struggling to get your voice heard and have no idea where to start marketing, Amazon is the place and this book is your guide! I will be using his 4 & 5 star suggestions for each and every one of my clients...In fact, I'll probably make this book a pre-requisite for my clients. I am so pleased with this book, that I will be mentioning it in my upcoming book release.

Jaime Vendera
Author of Raise Your Voice &
Mindset: Programming Your Mind For Success

Nothing about LSI? That is a very, very big deficiency for people interested in selling books on Amazon. Mailing copies to Amazon yourself or going through another publisher are NOT the only ways. Check around.

Although I'll turn 50 this year, I read this little book again today - my original Scholastic version from the 1960s - and fell in love again with the characters. I'm a softy, true, but it made me cry. I came to the Internet hoping Marian Cockrell had written another children's book, perhaps (I dearly hoped) a sequel. Maybe I'll buy the expanded version instead.

This treasure of a book is perfect for your grade-schooler who loves fairies, princesses, or magic. It's also perfect for the wide-eyed adult who's still a child at heart and loves those things as well.

I read this book as a child and searched for years for a copy to give my daughter. It is a wonderful fairy tale, with very good moral values. Share this with your kids!

First loved this story 53 years ago and have been looking for it ever since. So glad that it was reprinted. I enjoyed the expanded, but the first one was not and loved it anyway.

i'm thrilled that this book is back in print..my sister and i have fought over our copy for years...our kids have loved it also...they need to write more books like this

What a pleasure to see this charming children's chapter book back in print. It was a favorite of mine when I was grade-school age, and an old, taped-up and battered copy still sits on on my bookshelf. In this tale, the lives and adventures of a family of fairies and half-fairies are paraded before the eyes of Lucy, a little human girl who has wandered into the borderlands of their world. A mysterious young man named Michael takes Lucy to a deserted castle where the shadows of past inhabitants can be seen on the walls of a tower room. As Lucy watches the shadows move about, Michael identifies each figure, and recounts their adventures of long, long ago.

The stories of the fairy princes and princesses, and their human and non-human relatives and associates, are told a simple but descriptive prose that young readers should find appealing. For children still a little bit young for the vocabulary of Harry Potter, but too old for Dr. Seuss, this is a perfect read. The illustrations are delightful as well--how I loved the pictures of beautiful Princess Meira and her friend, the dragon Branstookah!

I enjoyed this book very much! It's a little different. I agree with Amazon on the age range, sort of. I'm not sure about nine year olds but maybe 5th through 7th grade?

I like this book because it is like a mystery because she wants to know her mom but she is living with a girl that they lived next door to. Will she saw pitchers of her mom and was disarmed to find out were she was at. She found out were she was and wanted to see her so she razed money she got a bus ticket and went to were her mom was and could not finder for a long time and then one day she figured out how it was. And then her mom died.
So I thank you should read this book If you like mysteries. It is the best book in the world!!!

So be it is a amazing fiction book that i know you should read. The best thing about this book is it controls your feelings. For example Heidi has a disabled mother. Heidi loves to play slot machines. Therefore, since this story takes place in Nevada Heidi tried a slot machine.
But then Heidi won money from the slot machine. She also wanted to find the meaning of soof and she did by communicating with Bernadette on the phone. She was also trying to find out about her past and she used to ride the bus to where her mother used to go.

So.B.It keeps you on edge because you never know what will happen next. So.B.It is super fun , exciting , easy to read , and some mystery. I gave this book five stars because there is so much going on , its like watching a movie. Anybody who likes novels like Shug will love this book. THe gernera would be a novel. This book always gives you a picture in your mind. I would recomend this to anybody who likes books that make you wonder what will happen next.


Also by: K.N.
So B. It by Sarah Weeks is a heartwarming book that has an emotional touch. I would give this book five out of five stars. Girls ages 9 and older would enjoy this general fiction book. Sarah Weeks has done an excellent job detailing a heartwarming book like non other. Mama knows 23 words including one being "soof," which Heidi takes an adventure to find what her mother means by it. Bernadette tells Heidi how one day when Heidi was one week old, her mother mysteriously appeared at Bernadette's door, and they have benn living together since then. Heidi then decides to find out who her mother really is by taking her own adventure to Liberty, New York. Will she find out her mother's past life, or will she get disappointed and find out nothing? Read So B. It to find out.

"So B. It" - A Moving and Suspenseful Story
A story telling the tale of Heidi unraveling secrets of her mother
By Kelly Lockerbie
December 20, 2007

"So B. It" by Sarah Weeks

So B. It, 245 pages, is a moving story about a thirteen year old girl named Heidi. She has no father, and does not remember anything about him. The sad part is, Heidi's mother, whom Heidi calls "Mama," has a mental disorder, or a "bum brain," as Heidi calls it. Heidi and Mama both live with Bernadette, or "Bernie," who used to be their next door neighbor, until Mama showed up with Heidi on her front doorstep. Bernie takes care of both Mama and Heidi.

Heidi does not know anything about her mother, or what happened to her in the past. She keeps track of her mother's slow progress, and notices that occasionally Mama would throw out the word "soof." Mama doesn't know many words; in fact, she only knows twenty-three. Because Mama knows a word that no one knows, this interests Heidi. She becomes determined to find the meaning.

Throughout the book, Heidi tries to gather clues towards the meaning of "soof," because she believes that it could possibly reveal her past.

The protagonist of this story is Heidi, and the book tells the book from her point of view. She is the narrator. Towards the beginning of the book, Heidi does not know anything about her mom, or even how she herself was born. All she knows is that her mom showed up on Bernie's front doorstep and in need of help. Basically, she was frustrated! She didn't know anything that happened before Bernie found her.

However, when Heidi visits various places, places she knew to go to from clues she gathered, she stops fighting with the past. Even thought she learns something about the story of her life, she has matured and understands that certain things in her and her mother's life will remain a mystery.

The theme of this story is love. Not romantic love, but love and affection for those who care about you. Heidi loved her mom, because she tried her hardest to take care of her despite her setbacks. Heidi also loved Bernadette. Without Bernie, Heidi and her mom would not have been able to survive. Heidi depended on Mama, and Mama depended on Bernie. Bernie held the family together.

From this reading I learned to be thankful for things I wouldn't normally expect to be grateful for. For example, my "identity." Since Mama is mentally challenged and can't remember anything in the past, Heidi didn't know a lot about who she is. She didn't have concrete evidence of facts that that average person does today. She spent a large amount of time trying to decipher things that we are basically handed to in a silver platter. By this I mean that we don't have to work hard to get information about ourselves, while Heidi was traveling far out of her way.

I would undoubtedly recommend this book for other readers, whether they are younger or older. This book wouldn't be difficult for younger people to read, but more critical readers (people in English 10H) would have a better grasp on the moral and meaning of the book. They would know what the author is trying to get across, the meaning of love.

This book is written in the form of a narrator talking directly to the main character, the little mouse. (Spoiler alert - there probably isn't really a bear.)

Very cute, very simple - each page has only one or two lines on it - and some clever illustrations (one one page, the mouse disguises his strawberry in a pair of fake glasses with a nose).

Only thing is that this book has been abridged slightly. The non-board book versions have a few illustrations that were left out of this version, and some of the two-page spreads in the other versions were cut down into one page in this version, making a few pages look a little choppy. Also, the last page of the book has become this book's back cover and blurb.

It doesn't ruin the book, or make it close to unreadable, but if I had to do it again I'd just buy the longer version to start with.

I'll admit I was hesitant to order this book--it didn't seem to be as "flashy" as some of the other children's books. But with such great reviews, I thought I'd try it out. After a few days this quickly become my 8 month old's favorite book. He loves hearing about the "big hungry bear" and I love the mouse's expressions on each page. Both the artwork & story are absolutely adorable. Highly recommended!

When my daughter was in Kindergarten, we purchased this book. We loved acting out the narrator's part and had so much fun! She loved this book so very much, she took it to share day. Her teacher adored the book, as did all of the children in her class. My daughter was a HUGE hit. When her teacher left to have a baby, we gifted her with her own copy of this book. She used it for years, we found out later at a chance meeting. My daughter is now 22. My niece is turning 3 and this book is going to be part of her birthday. I'm already planning out how to read it to her!

I grew up with this book. I would read it over and over to myself and my siblings. When my family moved though It was lost with a couple of other books too. I just recently found it and bought it. I now read it to my daughter and she gets so excited to turn the pages and read the next phrase and see the next picture. I am enjoying both our childhoods. :)

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1TTRY7U6R935X In this video I take you through this classic children's book by reading you this short story much the same way I did for my son. He loved this book so much that we bought two so we always had a backup. I read it so many times I knew it by heart. You can't read this book without expressing delight because the story is so charming and the illustrations so heart warming. This is an all time classic children's book.

One of those amazing stories that makes you realize just how much the human spirit can take, and still survive. And just how inhumane we humans can be towards each other. Once you start reading, you won't be able to put this down.

Szpilman reveals the tragedy of Jewish life in Warsaw under the German occupation from 1939-1946. Szpilman's autobiographical work was first published in postwar Poland in 1946 but then quickly removed from circulation by Polish authorities. An accomplished pianist before the war, Szpilman played for Polish Radio during the siege of Warsaw and later within the Jewish ghetto to provide food for his parents and siblings. With the systematic liquidation of Jewish life in Warsaw and separation from his family, Szpilman's life took a series of surprising twists. As the reader views life in the ghetto through the eyes of a survivor, his escape from the ghetto before the Jewish up-rising and his ultimate survival consistently depended upon a timely combination of luck and sympathetic acquaintances B including a German army officer.

Included with Szpilman's memoirs are excerpts from Captain Wilm Hosenfeld's diaries and Wolf Biermann's own brief commentary. Hosenfeld's equating of National Socialism with Stalinist Communist and Biermann's emphasis on Szpilman's willingness to break with his past detracts from the overall quality of this work. Nevertheless, this work is well written and will retain the reader's attention to the end.

I could not put down this book, and read it in two sittings. Wladyslaw Szpilman, the famed pianist and composer, describes his harrowing account of life under Nazi terror. As a Polish Jew, Szpilman was considered by the Nazis to be entirely subhuman, and it is a miracle he survived the persistent and random acts of violence that surrounded him. He was nearly sent to a death camp along with his five family members, and somehow was pulled off the Birkenau-bound train to a grim prospect of survival. The images in this book are harrowing, such as the depiction of the shattered skulls of little girls, victims of the Nazis' "preferred" method of killing children by picking them up by their legs and swinging them into a brick wall. Imagine the horror....Szpilman's account is so matter-of-fact at times that you wonder how he survived. The fact that he did is a testament of human endurance, but also the ways of fate. There were occasions when he survived simply by the luck of the draw in a Godless universe.

Why do I consider a first person account detailing the horrors of the Holocaust to be uplifting? The events described by the author are harrowing and nearly unbelieveable to the degree that I was astonished that the man, in the end, survives. Perhaps that is why I am so uplifted by this story. He survived. He defied evil by daring to live. He also dared to pick up the pieces of his shattered life and continue to live. He does this without any fanfare or obvious heroism. I think that is what makes this particular telling of the Holocaust so remarkable. The author writes it in such an unremarkable fashion that it forces you to sit up and take notice. By simply stating that the caramel was his 'family's last meal together' makes you pause to reflect on such an event. Beautifully written. Highly reccommended.

As a side note, Roman Polanski's adaptation of this book is truely brilliant. Adrien Brody's portrayal of Szpilman is awe inspiring and heart wrenching to watch. Both men do the book and Szpilman's memory justice.

I don't have too much to add to the other reviewers; having seen the movie I had a pretty good idea what to expect.

Probably the most interesting thing about the book version is the diary of a German officer who helped save Spilman. The officer's diary (from 1942-44) shows that he was aware of the Nazi extermination camps by mid-1942; he explained that most Jews were "so weak from starvation and misery that they couldn't offer any resistance." By December 1943, he knew that Germany would lose the war, but suggests that Germans would not revolt because "no one would risk his life by standing up to the Gestapo."

Like some other reviewers of this book, I bought it directly from the author at a local festival in North Carolina. I bought it because I found Kevin to be very engaging and I really wanted to support a local author. The book is a quick read, the story is compelling, but I kept getting distracted by the writing style. Spare as his story telling is, I think Kevin needs and deserves a really good editor. That said, I plan to purchase the sequel when it arrives because I do want to find out what Kevin's fictionalized version of himslf does next.

In fact, it was partly the cover that made me want to read it. It looked unusual. Unfortunately, I don't see much, if any, correlation between the cover and the story within. Kind of strange. Strange also, are the other reviews of this book. Something smells fishy--like the same person wrote most of the reviews maybe. They are all 3 or 4 sentences and have the same tone. Odd.

Anyway, about this book...It was a very quick read as Kevin Cropp is a very efficient (and pretty effective) writer, in my opinion. The thing I most took away from this book was the wonderful, subtle message through the story that life is too short to let troubled relationships fester. Don't try to figure out why, how, how to stop, how to change, a person/relationship or how to figure out why people choose to do what they do. Just accept the one(s) you love, unconditionally, at every step, wherever they are. All else will fall in place. This book would have been even better had I had more of an interest in baseball. A good book with a simple but powerful message.

The Time Keeper is a wonderfully heartrending tale of love and loss, forgiveness and reconciliation. Anyone who's ever had problems with their parents or with their children needs to read this book. It's great to see such good work come from a new up-and-coming novelist, and I can't wait for the sequel. Kudos to Kevin Cropp!

This book really hit home for me. I had a close family member who was dying of cancer and the author's description of the emotional and physical journey of his mother was spot on with my experience. I did not know what the book was about before picking it up to read, and therefore, was not expecting to identify with the characters. I am looking forward to Mr. Cropp's next work.

Growing up in Fayetteville and playing baseball with Kevin this was a story that really moved me. I got the book Christmas morning, and finished it Christmas night. I am not an avid reader, and my wife couldnt believe how much I enjoyed the story. I am looking forward to the sequel, and all other books that Kevin writes.

Not only was the book very pleasing to the eyes, it held my full attention to keep reading non-stop! Fascinating information about the spiritual level of these beautiful birds was also revealed. WOW! Much kudos and thanks to the AUTHOR for enlightening me.

I'm thrilled that my neighbors love this book. The kids just love the birds! And my older friends love it when they received in Christmas.

It's such a lively and vivid portrayal into the bird "characters" that I feel they are my true great friends.
The author has successfully conveyed her love for these birds to her readers and made them a part of their lives.

This is the best book you can get to give as a gift honestly :)
Would appeal to many, many people, regarless the age or even if you believe they don't care much about birds or things like that, you would see that they will love it!

This book surely shows the love animals have inside and the beauty of their inner souls.

first off - i am a real person and i did read this book back when it first came out and again in later years, i really like the storyline, it is a "what if" book - what if the 2nd comming is just a plain old everyday construction worker, what if some people believed, what if some did not and tried to discredit him, what if, what if, what if...... the only way to decide if you like it is to read it - it is a little dated now but the message is the same ......what if

I read this book originally in 1979 when it was first published when I was still in my teens. Someone lent me a copy recently and I was disappointed. The plot is ridiculous (hidden CIA informants, world conspiracies, ancient prophecies), the characters are cardboard cutouts and the "message" is about as subtle as a brick falling on your head.

I noticed that the cover blurb said "Soon to be a major motion picture." Looks like the producers came to their senses in time.

When Joseph Turner falls from a high rise building and survives without a scratch he puts it down to a fluke. However, other powerful people are now watching him in the hope he will fufuil a prophecy that is 500 years old.

Joseph is an ordinary and likeable man with an extraordinary destiny. The book steadly ramps up the tension with the stakes as each chapter progresses. Even though this was written in the late 70s its still a thoughtful story on a possible second coming in todays media obsessed and cynical world.

While I'm not particulary partial to religious books, this one has is emphasis on humanity and the human spirit rather than any specific creed. If you run across a second hand copy this book is still worth picking up for a read as the story easily holds you till the end.

These reviews seem to have all been written by bogus people or friends. I went to the trouble of putting all the reviews in a pdf file so that I could search the talking points like "best book I ever read,", "changed my life," "loaned it to someone, wish it was in reprint so I could read it again,", and especially "where is the movie?" Here is my question - which idiot movie producer would be convinced by such a pathetically transparent ploy to invest? This hasbeen hack tv writer should take a course in subtlelty at least, and forcing his teenage son to write a review approaches child abuse - what was he, grounded? The whole business reminds me of "Naked Came the Stranger."

OK thriller about Catholic intrigue and a "Life of Brian"-esque story (sans humor) of an ordinary Joe discovering he's no. 2 in God's family. The plot keeps you entertained until the last third, but doesn't really take you anywhere. One other thing: somehow, I don't think that salvation of the world is going to come through wildcat strikes.

Also, I have to agree with a prior reader that a lot of the five-star reviews look and feel like Spam. This book was not a particularly large seller and it's nearly 30 years old. I'm very skeptical of so many reviews at all, let alone so many five-star reviews. Someone's manipulating the system.

This was such a great book when I read it many years ago. I've recently gotten ahold of a copy and have to say that it's still a great read, especially when we are surounded by object in our daily lives that seem capable of their own thoughts and motives. It's also nice to see young people painted in such a way where they're not just miniature adults but actual kids reacting well to tough situations. I always wanted to learn more about what happened to Ellen and Otto and imagined they both continued to be self-sufficient individuals who went on to do quite well for themselves.

The Silver Crown by Robert C. O'Brien is a wonderful fantasy about a girl named Ellen Carroll. Ellen wakes up one day and finds a silver crown on her bedside table. Shortly after, her house burns down with her family inside. Not knowing what else to do, Ellen decides to hitchhike to her Aunt's house. But then she finds the person who burnt down her house is stalking her because he wants to kidnap her and take her silver crown.

The book begins with Ellen receiving a silver crown in the mail on her birthday. The next thing she knows, her house has burned down, her family is missing and people are willing to engage in mayhem and murder to find her. Ellen decides she needs to visit an aunt and sets out on foot to find her. She eventually meets up with a somewhat mysterious young boy and they attempt to solve the mystery of the crown and get Ellen to safety. This book was written in 1969 and at times it really shows. For example, that Ellen wears pants briefly and gets messy is considered striking within the book. However, in the end the book is driven by Ellen's determination and will.

I first bought this book when I was 12 years old at a book fair at school. I absolutely adored it and read it repeatedly for the next year. I gave it away to someone and never got it back. Only recently have I thought about it again and decided that Amazon was the first place to look for it. When I had read it again I couldn't believe how much of it I remembered from many moons ago. It was the first book to capture my interest in fantasy writing and I have never looked back since.

I first this book when I was about 12, and it remains on my shelf to this day (I'm now 35.) I highly recommend it for kids who enjoy fantasy books. Yes, it's dark and has genuinely creepy moments in it--but I see no reason that should discourage young readers or their parents, as it's an extremely engaging tale of a little girl battling the forces of evil. Resourceful girl characters are in short supply in children's fantasy literature, so this shouldn't be passed over.

The issues raised in another review here (regarding the unhelpfulness of adult authority figures in the book, and Ellen's bad descision to accept a ride from a stranger) would be points well taken if this were a book for 5 year olds. However, any child old enough to read and appreciate this book should be well past the point of learning that policemen are generally good and that hitchhiking is unwise. Give kids some credit! And give them good books, like this one.