Anne Books

This is a very well written book! Very dark and thought provoking. Anne Stuart is one of my favorite authors from her "Ice" series to the older novels she is a fantastic story teller!
Highly recommend this book!!

I am a fan of Anne Stuart's for life. After reading Nightfall and now Ritual Sins she has pushed her way to the top of my favorite authors list. There is simply NO ONE else out there quite like her. She can create the most unlikely characters that one can imagine. In Nightfall, the hero was a convicted serial killer and in Ritual Sins the hero is a cult leader and ex-con.....interested? You should be!

Read other reviews for the plot synopsis. I will spend this review commenting on the book instead.

Luke is multi-dimensional and not clearly good or clearly bad. Rather, he is an exciting blend of both good and bad. He has lived through hell and is, no doubt, a criminal who has had to "look out for himself" above all others. Usually this type of character would repulse me, but as we get to know this dark and dangerous man, all is explained, and I was able to get behind this man and cheer for him.

Rachel is also tough. I went between love for her and hate for her until I got to know her story. After I realized what she came from and what she had experienced in her life, it all made sense. Rachel's character is EXACTLY as she should be with the life she was dealt.

These are two MESSED UP people! What I loved about this book, is that Anne Stuart allows these two "disasters" to collide, and unknowingly heal each other. Through Rachel, Luke is able to "burn" his past, and through Luke, Rachel is able to "come alive" again. I guess that kind of healing from love is the type of story I like best! Add in some remarkable secondary characters and some evil plots, and I think you've got in your hands one of the best books out there!

DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!

Great plot, hot sex, superb characterisation. What more can I say? I need to go and get all her other books now.

I can't think of a single thing about this book I didn't like.

Luke is an opportunist. Manipulating and controlling his way to riches.
Rachel is a lost soul searching for meaning. And she believes that meaning lies in Luke and his hold on her mother's money.

Luke's a harsh one with a bag full of charms. You find yourself just as helplessly enthralled with him as everyone else seems to be. He's that seductive. And yes, that interesting. You're on the edge of your seat anticipating his next words. His next act.

Rachel is, finally, a heroine worthy of battling Anne's dark heroes. Yes that vulnerability is still there. But that doesn't mean she doesn't know how to pick up a sword. Or that she will put it down at the drop of a hat.

They're perfectly matched. And the plot is rather unique to boot. LOVE this book.

I won't write an entire plot summary, because others have already done so, but I will say that this is a fantastic novel in any category, despite the fact that it is indeed a romance. This genre is often dissmissed as containing nothing but tawdry bodice rippers, and this book takes down that assumption easily. Deep, dark, dangerous and edge-of-your seat, this story kept me up all night, and I couldn't stop thinking about it long after I'd finished it. What makes it so rave-worthy:
A) The characters are riveting. Both the main characters are extremely flawed, yet I found myself able to understand their motives, and rooting for them. Rachel is indeed a bit of a bitch, but it is clear that she has had a difficult life. Luke is a heartless con man who has forced me to redraw my line of acceptable behavior for a hero. He is bad, bad, bad, probably the baddest bad boy hero out there, and I wanted him anyways. Very sexy. Yes, these two develop a steamy relationship despite all odds. By the end, neither is unrealistically reformed, but both are changed by their experiences together.
B) The plot is quite unique; I think I would be pretty accurate in saying that there are not many romances out there about fraudulent cult leaders. I wasn't sure how I felt about this at first, but trust me, it works. The fast paced plot and emotional turmoil of the characters kept me hooked.

This might be tough on the faint of heart. Anyone looking for a light, funny romance should seriously consider looking elsewhere. The feeling of the book is heavy and dark, and the sex scenes are intense (and hot!). However, I think anyone, depite their reading preferences,would enjoy this immensely as long as they approach it with an open mind.

Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb is an unusual combination of travel guide and presidential biography. The authors discuss the American Presidents by describing how they are memorialized. By exploring each Presidential gravesite, the Authors also describe the lives of the Presidents. The book is far from morbid and quite enlightening and entertaining.

Although this book is about the deaths & funerals of this nations chief executives, it brings history alive for folks like myself who enjoy all things presidential. Focusing on the events that led to the end for each of our late presidents, this book is a thoroughly enjoyable read. I have visited many of the gravesites mentioned here & intend to endeavor to visit the the ones I haven't yet. This book is an indespensible guidebook for my future travels. Lots of great photos, too.

This book does not immediately give one the impression that it would be as good as it is. My first impression from the cover was that it would be just a compilation of unknown facts and surprises about famous people ,things and places.Then, after noting the sub-title "A Tour of Presidential Gravesites";I thumbed through it and immediately saw it was a very good summary of all the Presidents,their time in office,their wives,what they did after leaving office,the cause of their death,funeral arrangements,interm and final resting places and detailed information for anyone who would like to visit any or all of them. From this book you will learn what to expect at the sites as well as what else exists as 'museums'
there,hours open and any admission costs.It also details other final resting places of other known personalities nearby.
Lamb does an excellent job of showing that in the American system of Government, the President is one of the people and remains so; even after his term of serving in the world's greatest office; he returns to being just another American Citizen;a point often made by President Harry S Truman.
One of the things I liked about this book was that the author didn't just put together a bunch of readily information to fill a few pages on each President.He provided all the same information for each President, and in doing that;he makes it very evident that these were highly different people and comparisons are clearly brought out.A guide of this type where things are given about one President ,but not another, would be a lazy approach and frustrating to the reader.
In a very thumbnail manner the author shows that all these Presidents put the privilige of holding the office above all the politics involved in their lives.
I have to admit,that the answer to the title,s question,left me wondering until I saw the answer in another Cusromer,s Review.
If I may,here is something to entice you;
What President was the sole mourner at the committal of a politician,who had gone to jail for tax evasion; and when asked by the pastor; "Mr. President,why are you here?, he asked. "It's cold and bitter. Did you know this gentleman?" The President replied; "Pastor,I never forget a friend."
Anyone interested in American History or Politics will find this a great source of information and a readily available reference source. While a super guide to the Presidents' graves ;it is also a good reference.

This unique book is full of surprises, plenty of clear pictures, and short evaluations of each president. From Washington to the present George Bush, the reader visits the final resting places of our American presidents and learns how and when they died and their final words, in many cases.

Altho this book was published before the death of Ronald Reagan, pictures of his library and of the other living presidents are discussed.

In back of the book are names and places of the presidential libraries, the presidential and vice presidential gravesites listed by state, the burial places of president's wives and a host of other relevant material. Websites are even included.

Reading this book is an armchair traveller's delight. The traveller will appreciate the excellent directions. The research is phenomenal. Students of American history may want to add this to their book list.

If you are a fan of the American presidency and appreciate the valuable information that Brian Lamb and C-Span staff give us every day on the cable channels, you will absolutely enjoy this lively and well written book. Chapters are short, to the point, and contribute a wealth of information .

Brian Lamb and his C-SPAN team have written a number of wonderful and extremely-informative essay-filled booknotes on American History and Characters. "Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb" is no exception.

With contributions from Douglas Brinkley, Richard Norton Smith, and other noted Historians, this compact, easy-to-read volume is filled with vignettes and facts about all of the deceased Presidents, their last days, presumably their last words, and where they are buried. Admission prices to their libraries and museums (and this includes living Presidents and Jefferson Davis too) is also included.

Brinkley's insightful essay at the end of the book, in which he writes with great eloquence of the attachment of Springfield Illinois to Abraham Lincoln, and of his visits to other Presidential gravesites and museums is almost worth half of the price of this bargain edition.

Note: This book was published prior to the passing of President Reagan, yet it does note where he wished to be buried, and has information about the Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.

The book shows the human and humorous side of the Presidents, including Calvin Coolidge's funny comment to a woman who said she'd bet him if he would say two words ("You Lose", was Silent Cal's response), or how William Howard Taft, a Unitarian, deftly fought back against religious prejudice.

A solid and fun read, especially around the July 4th holiday, and at 4.99 is a much better buy, and totally devoid of political commentary ala Sarah Vowell's weak-at-the-knees "Assassination Vacation".

Great Book. Full of Good Stuff to work with.

Very Speedy Mailing. Thanks.

This book is just another one of Patti Culea's delicious writings, complete with other people's work as well. Wonderful.

Creative Cloth Doll Beading: Designing and Embellishing with Beads



Creative Cloth Doll Beading
Designing and Embellishing with Beads
by Patti Medaris Culea with Anne Hesse and Laura McCabe

* Beaded Tattoo's - what more can I say? How COOL!

* The collaboration of these three stellar dollmakers brings out the best in each artist.

* Great new Techniques for wings, hair, creative clothing and beautiful faces! Also... detailed directions on making flowers - WOW!

I am not really a beader... so I sighed when I got this book "Oh... tedium, oh schemedum, oh little tiny bead-ium" but what I saw knocked that apathy right into a shocked puddle on the studio floor which was dangerously slick... what with all those beads rolling all over the place!


What a killer book! Patti gets some able assistance from two of the doll making worlds finest, Anne Hesse and Laura McCabe. Just as she did in the wonderful Creative Cloth Doll Couture, Patti provides one versatile doll pattern. This pattern is used by all three main artists and the many talented "gallery" artists, to create a flock of beautiful and unique dolls.

Patti does a chapter on flowers, making them look wickedly easy and raucously beautiful. Anne has the next chapter and with her two comrades, she leads us through a bead embroidered face, now THIS is exciting to me! Next Laura creates a "wood elf" and beads her leather garment with several cool techniques, my favorite being the bead stacking. Finally Patti returns at the end of the book and gives us "Franalizia of the North Sea" who has scales of beads, and a wealth of burned, melted and glued beading and embellishment techniques. She is a "Fairymaid" Upp you guessed it, a mermaid with wings, extremely clever!

Off to the right here... is my version of the beaded head... Ok, so I didn't draw the face onto the fabric and I didn't use a rubber stamp (tho this is a great idea!) , I basically didn't follow any of the directions, (tho they are great!) but I did get INSPIRED and I did LEARN about "Wedges", "Focal Beads" and "Fill Patterns". I also learned how to make fringe, and flowers and what a "bud" is. (this was welcome news to me as it associated with the "bezel" and I can't help but sit around snickering about "budding the bezel" or "bezelling the bud" - Yeah, just alittle easily amused... Ya think?!)

I highly recommend this book for us "regular folk" as well as the seasoned beaders. Hum, now where did my charolottes go, I need to do a basic bud on that bezel!

This would be a great gift

A must for your library. This book has easy to read instructions, wonderful instructive pictures and tons of inspiration! So very glad I purchased it!!!

I love Pattie's unusual style and I learn something new in everyone of her books and I have all but the faces one. My only complaint is having to add seam allowances on some pieces.I find it unnecessary and bothersome..but she must have a good reason for doing this I just don't like it. Also some of the instructions are vague for anyone with limited sewing skills. But it is always worth the time it takes to teach yourself if necessary.

This book is a little gem. It is one of a kind. There is no other book like this on the market, not that I know of, anyway. Although the author is a bit older than I am and some of the clothes are outdated, I could still relate to her. She related her life experiences by detailing what she wore during those experiences. We all can recall at least one event by remembering what we were wearing!! At times, she appears kind of catty, which just gives quite a human element to the book. I myself have so many clothes I cannot get rid of due to sentimental reasons. However, after reading this book, I may do the same thing she did and draw them or take a picture of them and then give them away. This is a GREAT book!!

Delightfully wacky little book deliciously decorated. Even though I'm a male I loved the book and its many drawing/paintings of clothing and other things. It is interesting to know how the book came about and how its author was writing about her life for her children and using her creative ability to show them how her life was growing up.

I learned of the book when reading Jane Smiley's book: "13 Ways of Looking at the Novel" and thought her comments interesting enough to buy the book and read it. And I enjoyed it very much. I recommend "Love, Loss and what I Wore" to everyone regardless of gender.

If I could, I would give this book more than 5 stars. What a clever idea to recall onel's life by remembering the outfits worn. Loved the delightful illustrations. Beckerman is a unqiue and talented writer/illustrator. Thanks for the memories!

I had picked this book up and put it back down several times when I saw it at the book store. I am glad I finally bought it! It is an interesting idea, and one that I am sure many of us can identify with: a memoir built on memories of certain beloved items of clothing. Ilene Beckerman had an interesting childhood and has had a varied life as an adult. Obviously, her talents lie more in writing than in drawing--the sketches of the clothing are rather simple,but she does manage to convey what she felt like wearing each outfit. It doesn't take very long to read, and if read in one sitting you get quite a sense of her life. Sometimes funny, sometimes quite bittersweet, but always entertaining.

I, like most of my women friends I've talked to, including my mother and my sisters, shape memories and moments based on the clothes we were wearing at the time.

I bought this book in 1995 when it was first published and have referred to it several times over the years for inspiration and support. I found it in the "Self-Help" section of the bookstore.

This little book does as good a job as anything I've read, at getting in a woman's head. Clothes are how we remember. Wearing our favorite clothes or shoes or carrying our favorite handbag gives us confidence and helps us cope.

For a while, I kept a diary of drawings of outfits whenever I'd want to remember an important event. Ask me what I was wearing when I held my niece for the first time (navy blue A-line Liz Claiborne dress) or when I went to my first job interview out of college (a polka-dot suit I called The Stewardess) or the night I was first kissed by the love of my life (a shirt that said "Keep On Truckin" in glitter... heh).

A good friend's mother passed away a few months ago, and I bought a copy for her, since Ms. Beckerman mentions the death of her own mother. She also mentions marriages, divorces, babies, and career successes, and most importantly, what she wore.

It makes a great gift for any woman. Or for yourself.

This is an excellent resource for anyone--manager or not--looking to bring out the best in their professional and personal relationships. As a former manager who's now self-employed, I wish I'd been briefed on Loehr and Emerson's secrets to coaching while trying to lead a team of 30. The Manager's Guide to Coaching is packed with so many clear, common-sense, intuitive tips that would have made me a much better leader! Now that I work for myself, I've already begun putting their essential life-skills to use when dealing with clients, friends, and family. The guide's concise, step-by-step approach lays out invaluable strategies for untangling difficult situations, communicating directly and compassionately, and moving stalled dialogue to the next level. This book has changed the way I interact with others--reminding me to be curious and ask open-ended questions, rather than simply giving answers. Whether you're managing a team of 100 or a team of one, do yourself--and your colleagues--a favor and read this book. It almost makes me want to become a manager again!

Both my wife and I found this book extremely helpful. My wife manages a retail store, and found the lessons and suggestions perfect for letting her coach her staff more effectively. I used the ideas in my own personal consulting business, and it has helped me be more effective in my business relations working with clients and contractors. I appreciate when someone (like the authors) can explain some of these concepts in an easy, understandable way, so this book was perfect for a variety of positions -- whether you're a professional manager or just someone who wants to use coaching to improve your own habits. Kudos to the authors for making this a fun and easy read!

An excellent book for those who want and need to be a coach in the workplace. In fact, this book is a 'coach' itself to the coach who is trying to coach! My first exposure to the concept of coaching--makes me want to learn more. Have purchased other copies for other managers in our office.

This book is a must for anyone who works in any industry interacting with people. Whether you are looking for improved ways to motivate your employees in order to achieve greater success or looking to enhance your own personal management relation skills, this is the perfect guide for you.

Whether you're a CEO or a new manager, working with this book will make your life easier.

I've worked my way through this entire series now, and while the first dozen or so (this is no. 23) were generally well done -- good, reasonably accurate descriptions of London of the 1880s, pointed contrast between Society's drawing rooms and the miserable existence of the laboring classes, vivid character development of both working cops and the elite -- the last few have shown a definite decline. Thomas Pitt, Inspector and then Superintendent at the Bow Street station, and a both very talented and highly empathic detective, has now been stripped of his position by the Forces of Evil (the entirely fictional and extremely melodramatic "Inner Circle") and dumped in the lap of Special Branch, where he's beginning to learn how to be a secret policeman instead of a public one. The "Seven Dials" area of London is a pretty minor player in this one, too; the author should have called it "Alexandria," because that's where Pitt is sent to gather information on a beautiful and patriotic Egyptian woman living in London who is caught red-handed wheeling a dead bottom through her back garden in a wheelbarrow. Also implicated is a high Foreign Office official, which is how Pitt and his "M"-like boss, Narraway, get involved. If the details of the motive for the murder become public, the government could fall, Egypt could erupt in revolt, and Suez might even be lost. Can't have that, right? The action is low-key, the plot development takes its time, and the reader will enjoy the scenery, both internal and external. At least The Inner Circle manages not to appear this time, and it's fun watching Pitt trying to deal with a totally foreign milieu -- even though Perry could have spent a lot more time painting its details.

I never really liked political anything, even in Anne Perry, but I could not put this one down. I finished it in one day. She did not disappoint me!!!! Thanks Anne

elizabeth cohen

Classic murder mysteries rely heavily for both their effectiveness and their appeal on a "slight of hands," and one of the tricks is a set of characters in whom one can become interested enough to relate to them in some way. Another is to create an ambiance that arrests the attention and keeps it. Anne Perry has a great knack for creating both memorable characters and an interesting stage on which they play out their roles in the story.

Her Seven Dials is an amazing recreation of Victorian England in the earlier days of the queen's reign. The era is young yet, and the political turmoil that will set the stage for World War I and the social changes it brings is just beginning. Some of the older characters can remember the Napoleon wars. Thomas and Charlotte Pitt are paradigms of lower middle class life in the period, with their fate in the hands of Thomas's mentor in the Secret Service, Victor Narroway, and their maid servant and her beau, Samuel Tellman, in theirs. The interactions among all of the characters gives as much a feeling for the period as does the mention of hansom cabs, harnesses, and horse manure in the streets. Even the yellow skies and the chocking, smog filled London streets is classic for the era.

Perry's characters are charming and detailed, each a work of art in them selves. The maidservant is spunky, savvy and sensitive, used to the school of hard knocks, and her friend Tellman is gruff, masculine in an "old fashioned" sort of way, and smarts under the unfairness of social inequality and the period's newly arising sense of social empowerment. The stiff, formal society in which Charlotte Pitt grew up and still has family is faced with an erosion of their privileges and with a growing sense that they are on the threshold of major change. They are like dinosaurs waiting for the asteroid to strike them.

All of this sets the background for a puzzling murder of a man who should not really have been where he was at all and certainly not dead. The central characters push forward in an attempt to make sense of the confusing, almost irrational facts. It is this irrationality that is part of the slight of hands. Eventually Pitt must go to Egypt to unravel the mystery by back tracking the murdered man and his alleged murderess.

The venue in Egypt is Alexandria, a city to which I have been about three or four times. The descriptions of Victorian Alexandria might still easily pass for today, although the city today is more Western than Cairo and much more so than Thebes. The description of the rug suq was definitely memorable. The quarrel that leads to a small riot in the book reminded me of the minor violence that occurred among men there and in Cairo in the few days before Sadat was assassinated. Like the brewing sense of political unrest in the book, here too, everyone felt the tension in the air; everyone knew that something was afoot, but no one knew what was about to happen. It was a very tense time, and so was Pitt's Egypt.

I can not for the life of me understand the author's description of malaquia, an Egyptian soup--which I refer to as "frog-pond"--made for special occasions, as "delicious." I found it slimy and green. The latter I could handle, the former I couldn't. The mention of the sound of what seemed like crickets to Pitt, also brings back memories. Actually the sound is not crickets but a similar one made by small frogs in the canals and on the banks of the Nile. It's very restful. All in all, Pitt's trip to Egypt was as memorable for me as for him.

A delightful mystery.

Anne Perry doesn't disappoint in this recorded book. Read well, and easily one for the bookshelf.

Very descriptive and historically accurate. You'll love her vivid pictures of Alexandria. Egypt comes alive. I'm a harsh critic but this work bowled me over.

Useful for the more experienced needleworker, but also for anyone with a general interest, Techniques of Indian Embroidery offers an ideal opportunity for anyone interested in drawing on the wealth of Indian embroidery techniques, and illustrates clearly how to achieve many beautiful stitches and techniques.

For centuries, India has been renowned for the richness and diversity of its embroidered textiles. Embroidery is part of the Indian way of life, and is in evidence everywhere: on clothes, adorning animals, in temples, homes and other buildings. In this book, Professor Anne Morrell explores the many traditions of Indian embroidery and its many techniques. She builds up a fascinating picture of the evolution in India, exploring the local traditions that make the work of each area unique, and looking at the way in which innovative stitches and designs have been added to those traditionally used to create new techniques and creative possibilities. She discusses the many different stitches and techniques in detail, including quilting, pattern-darning, counted-thread work, whitework, the enrichment of embroidery with mirrors, gold, silver and other metals, and applique and patchwork. many of the historical and contemporary embroideries illustrated are accompanied by clear worked samples showing exactly how the different stitches can be achieved and then used to create exciting effects. A final section includes twenty individual stitches and the method of working them, so that the techniques explored throughout the book can be put into practice. This is an invaluable working guide for anyone interested in drawing on the wealth of Indian embroidery techniques for use in their own embroideries or in the study of ethnic textiles. Anne Morrell was born in Madras and has long been interested in the embroidered textiles of India. She was a lecturer at Goldsmiths' College in London before moving to the Manchester Metropolitan University, where she became a Principal Lecturer in the Department of Textiles and Fashion. In 1992 she was appointed Professor. She is the author of a number of books and articles on embroidery under the names Anne Butler or Anne Morrell. She has held exhibitions of her work in many different countries.

This marvellous book includes the influences of local and regional traditions, exploring individual techniques such as quilting, counted-thread work, shisha (mirror) work, metal work, beading, applique and patchwork. A brilliantly written book, that I highly recommend.

Professor Anne Morrell, formerly Anne Butler, has chosen twenty of the most popular embroidery stitches, and her aim is to show not only how to work them, but also how to USE them effectively in finished pieces of embroidery, either on their own or in combination with other stitches. Each stitch there is a working diagram, an explanatory text and a photograph of the stitch in progress. This introductory page is followed by a series of photographs showing examples of the stitch in use, some historical, others from the work of contemporary embroiderers; all serve to illustrate the rich variety of effects which can be obtained with one stitch. The basic techniques and materials necessary for embroidery are explained in an introduction, together with some hints for the student on how to work with a wide range of stitches.

Many people think of Indian embroidery as shisha (glass) work, which incorporates tiny mirrors into rich, colourful embroidered patterns. Particular to India, this embroidery technique is thought to have been developed by the wife of Shah Jahan; he built the Taj Mahal at Agra in her honour. Shisha is covered in this book, together with many other techniques, all illustrated with splendid examples. Sections cover embroidery stitches; quilting, darning and pattern-darning; counted-thread work; whitework; metal work; embroidery with a hook; and applique and patchwork. A section at the back gives diagrams of the stitches used, but the main use of this book is as a splendid record and inspiration, tracing the origins and techniques used for centuries in India to adorn clothes, homes, temples and animals. But this is no dry history book; it is written in a very practical, interesting way.

We first saw this book at our local Children's Museum. After reading it, I had to have this as part of our home library. The illustrations are so original, as is the funny story. It makes us laugh each time we read it together. Plus, the final soup is made of lots of different kinds of vegetables--a great healthy meal reinforcement for your preschooler.

My grandmother used to tell me this story and now I can pass that on to my grandchildren who unfortunately do not live in the same state. It's a wonderful story (with lines I still quote as an adult!) and terrific illustrations that will make you laugh right out loud.

The juxtaposition of the photograph-like mishmashed black and white backgrounds with the colorful illustrations of characters and key items make this book fun and interesting to look at. The twist on the nursery rhyme is hilarious and easy for children to identify with. My child loves to point out the different animals and vegetables and always laughs throughout the story (a lamb hanging out in the diswasher, etc gets lots of giggles). Makes vegetables fun.

We just love the cadence of the words, so fun to read. And the art is so unique, mixing photography with drawing of the characters. My 3 year old picks this one over and over. GREAT gift for a vegetarian friend! (the lady in the book gets so fed up going to Market and managing the animals and fish she has purchased, that she finally gives up and makes veggie soup for everyone~animals included) We are not vegetarians, and this book in no way was preaching Veganism...but it would be appreciated on another level by a Vegan I think. Just buy it...its great.

Anne Miranda made a fun story out of a small nursery rhyme.

The book keeps the rhythm of the old rhyme but you will have trouble keeping it as the artwork has many things to take you away from the story.

The pictures made my daughter stay on each page for a little while as she had to see what happened as each animal started to trash the old lady's house.

It's a great little book and I have had to read it every night. A couple times in fact.

Freedom summer is a story of 2 little boys one black one white who are friends during the desegregation movement. They really do not understand that skin color was supposed to make a difference in their friendship. An excellent book for the classroom showing that color doesn't matter.

An emotionally charged story for all readers, Freedom Summer is not a book to soon be forgotten. While its focus is on segregation, students of the current time can relate it to issues of bullying and prejudice. The painted pictures match the text and convey deep emotion through the use of color and texture. While the text is criticized for being overly contrived and romanticized in places, it often matches the message and mood of the pages. As a story for younger readers, it conveys a depth of emotion during a difficult time in history without overwhelming the reader with facts and information.

The story is told with a variety of colorful expressions and analogies. Illustrations are simply beautiful. The story was one that touched my heart and flooded me with memories of my own childhood, when this could have been my own town. I immediately shared the book with my own 9-year old granddaughter. Wonderful, powerful!!

This book won the Coretta Scott King award and the Ezra Jack Keats Book award. It is easy to understand why. Gorgeous illustrations belong in a museum; what appears to be oil or acrylic is rendered in a naturalistic, painterly style.

At the beginning of the book there is a historical note on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forms the basis for the action in the story. Two boys, one white and one black, are best friends in the deep South. They enjoy playing together in the summer in the river and on the fields. The black child's mother works as a domestic for the white child's family.

The summer of 1964 brings changes that some white people resent. The Act makes it illegal to bar blacks from businesses, public pools, and other places where they had been unable to go freely. Initially the boys were elated because that meant they could both swim in the public pool. But the pool is being filled in with asphalt when they arrive.

The level of hatred towards African Americans is palpable when reading Freedom Summer. It succeeds on all levels; a beautiful, educational, moving book. White attitudes are depicted honestly, but there are also open-minded whites who help the Civil Rights Act succeed. At the end of the story the two boys are entering a store together to buy ice pops. The reader is left rooting for them.

Have you ever felt bad because of how people treat you because of your color? Well if you have, you can make a connection with this book "Freedom Summer". "Freedom Summer" is about how two friends, no matter what people say, they continue being friends. That's how people treat one of them just because of his color black. If you want to know more about the book "Freedom Summer" just read it.

I first learned of Mistress Masham's Repose during a game of charades. (Can you imagine trying to act out this title, especially since it's a book so few people have heard of?) I had already read and loved The Once and Future King, and set out to find a copy. I have read this book three times over the past 20 years. Each time it strikes me anew as such a wonderfully funny, sweet and substantial novel. It could be that the title itself is what kept it from becoming a classic alongside Wind in the Willows and A Wrinkle in Time. Read this book! Buy this book for all the book-loving children in your life!

As an American child of about 10, I acquired a battered copy of this book along with a bunch of children's books from a family friend whose children had outgrown them. As other reviewers suggest, I was mystified by much of the book (the poet Pope?) but I still found it a great adventure story and loved the illustrations. It didn't hurt that I resembled Maria myself (a bookish tomboy with glasses--thank God for LASIK). I have re-read the book with pleasure on a number of occasions and now understand the references, but I wouldn't hesitate to give this book to an intelligent American child today. Perhaps it would prompt him or her to learn more about British history and literature. I'm glad to see it has been reprinted.

As kids, both my brother and I considered this one of our favorite books - and we did a LOT of reading. I can't tell you how many times I read it. Our copy was lost at some point, so I am thrilled that it is back in print so I can now read it to my own children. My kids are 3 and 6, so still a bit young for this book, but I'll probably buy a copy now for my own pleasure, and another for my brother.
I have always loved books that lead you to another book, and I just had to read "Gulliver's Travels" after reading this one. As a kid, much of it went over my head, but I still enjoyed it. Now that I think about it, I should re-read that one too...

Although one of White's lesser-known works, to my mind it's easily one of his best (Anne Fine regards it as her favourite children's book). The concept of Lilliputians living in an English landscape garden is superb, and White develops his theme in wonderfully enticing ways - and always with his typical 'feel' for character and setting. There's so much to enjoy in this tale - still a classic after 60 years.

After finishing university T. H. White worked as a teacher in the Stowe School which occupies a gigantic former Baroque stately home: here he conceived of the idea of Malplaquet, modeled after the greatest of all British country homes, Blenheim Palace, where the Dukes of Marlborough have lived and where Winston Churchill was born and raised. Malplaquet, an imaginary dilapidated repository of all its nation's history (we find out the Princes in the Tower were executed in its medieval dungeon, which also contains the ax which beheaded Charles I), would make a wonderful setting for any book, but rather than use it for a Gothic (the obvious choice), here White had the inspiration to make it the setting for a children's fantasy. White's mansion is not only the home of the little girl Maria who has inherited the estate (and not much else) and her warders--some cruel, some kind--but also a group of Lilliputians brought over from their island home during the time of Swift, whom Maria encounters one day. Maria's encounter with the Lilliputians becomes for her a means for learning about the nature of tyranny--both that exercised over herself by her guardian the Vicar Mr. Hater and her governess Miss Brown, but also that she herself can hardly keep herself from exercising over the Lilliputian community hidden on her estate.

This is a children's book that, to be honest, will best be appreciated by adults. White imagined his readers not only familiar with GULLIVER'S TRAVELS but also with some of the history of seventeenth and eighteenth-century England: American children particularly today would be confused as to who Mistresses Masham and Morley were, or what Malplaquet is named after, or even who Gulliver was. And their patience might well be tried by White's love of Wodehousean "types": the bluff Lord Lieutenant with an obsession with horses and hounds, and Maria's mentor the absent-minded and esoteric antiquarian the Professor . But adults (and even older children) should love this book, and its well-structured narrative is a real pleasure.