Ball Books

Karen Ball writes with a gifted pen. REUNION is brimming with God's loving spirit, Karen's marvelous zest for life, and a page-turning story of two very special people who discover the real meaning of true love. Definitely a keeper!

Lori Copeland, author of FAITH and JUNE

Just finished reading REUNION. What a GREAT sotry. I just fell in love with Connor and Taylor and the whole family. Thanks to Ms. Ball for writing this book and I look forward to more of them from her!

I read REUNION and was greatly blessed. I hope there will be other books from Karen Ball in the future. Thanks to Ms. Ball for adding to my reading pleasure.

This is a great book! I loved it. It not only makes you feel the characters emotions, but gives you the little details of their lives that really bring you into the story. This book really has the qualities that separate an OK book from a great one! I can't wait for more!

I have read many inspiriational comtemporary romance novels, and REUNION is at the top of my list! The characters are so well-developed, they come to life. There are so many twists and turns to the story that it keeps you guessing. Too many books are predictable from page 1, but Karen Ball was able to capture my interest and bring me along through the entire story without my figuring everything out. The spiritual condition of the characters and how they turn to the Lord in their good times and bad depicts clearly the life of Christians.

I love animals and nature, but was never really interested in wolves before. Karen was able to give me a wonderful admiration for these creatures through REUNION. I have shared the book with family and friends and they all loved it!

Thank you for sharing your gift, Karen, and please keep them coming!

This is one of the best books i have read. Clear, in depth, and intelligent. Academic and also well written!
I highly recommend it.

This is one of the finest affirmations of Emanationism of the Neoplatonists, i.e. that complexity in nature doesnt require Supernatural causes as exposited by Creationists. While this book does not deal with philosophical-religious principles, that its premise is the explaination for complexity in nature as merely Phi (golden section) ratios, it does provide the backbone for Emanationism, of the metaphore for the Cosmos in Platos Repuplic 509d-511 wherein Phi is given as the principle Logos (ratio/'tapestry') behind complexity in nature.

This is a lyrical celebration of natural beauty and underlying complexity. Not only that, the book itself is beautifully typeset, composed and arranged. A real pleasure to read, aesthetically and intellectually. Sheer wonder.

I hope some publisher will do the world a favor and keep this book in print. It's a classic that belongs on the shelf right next to D'Arcy Thompson's "On Growth and Form." This might seem strange for me to say, but if I were to design an educational curriculum for people learning my profession (oncology), this book would be mandatory. It is highly recommended for anyone interested in morphogenesis. If anyone knows where I can buy 10 or 20 unused copies, I'd appreciate hearing from you (wmshea@earthlink.net).

The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature written by Philip Ball gives us some answers to long-standing questions as to why there are patterns in designs in nature that reoccur in seemly unrelated objects.

Biologists are used to the idea that form follows function. The shape and structure of a biological entity whether it is a protein molecule, an organism, or the wind blowing ripples in a sand dune all have a purpose and a function. These are things I was curious about when I was studying in college, things that caugh my attention as interrelated but how and why. Of course, things in my life became more complex, but these questions still always seemed to weigh in the back of my mind... A tree with limbs and a lightening bolt look simular and so too roots and nerves.

Well, "The Self-Made Tapestry" explains the why and how of why these simularities do exist. This book explains why these are not just coincidences. As nature weaves it tapestry through self-organization it employs no master plan it just applies simple local interactions between the component parts. The component parts inpart a common self-organization to energy conservation allowing for typically univeral patterns.

What I liked about this book is the author has put complex theories into non-technical language along with adequate illustrations show the reader how these patterns come about.

If you looking for a book on explains some of life's and nature's mysteries this is the book for you as it is highly readable and you begin to understand why things are as they are. The book reads like a textbook , the chapters build upon one another making for an accumilation of knowledge bases on a solid foundation from the start.

This book is a solid 4 stars giving the reader a adequate knowledge of the hows and whys of nature. This book only has very minor flaws, but that is all. I would highly recommend this book for you home science library as it would make a worthwhile addition.

Good book! Highly recommended by the instructor of our director's class for community theatre.

SENSE OF DIRECTION is a text every director will want to take a look at, even if, years later, some of Ball's advice seems dated (or too expensive-he was not a man to shy away from large budgets and extended rehearsals if he thought them necessary.) In person he could be rather abrasive, to the point of being ridiculous, like Ross Hunter in a caftan. But on the pages of his book, he exhibits a warm, spiritual nature, almost like a priest. Since the days of the Chekhov dynasty, the director has of course assumed near divine proportions in the theater and you get the feeling Ball enjoyed that role, but he is often very courteous towards his actors. He even goes so far as to say that "one of the director's most important qualifications is knowing when NOT to interrupt his actors."

He was a professional director and the book covers every contingency from "first reading to opening night." Some of Ball's advice is not going to help you if you are an amateur. He gives the advice that actors, like cattle, can't hold too many ideas in their heads at one time so he urges the director to come up with a shorthand of small verbs or nouns with which the actor might make himself aware at all times. "Seduce," for example, might be his direction to the actor playing Cleopatra. Sounds elementary, but it works! After all, he was the man who boasted that he discovered Annette Bening.

He notes that often, for the first ten minutes of a play, the audience finds itself uncomfortable, with a marked realization of the artificiality of theater. They are sitting in a dark room and watching a bunch of people all lit up pretending to be real. As directors our job is to make those first ten minutes fly by so that the dream can swamp the audience and take them along with us on our journey. In passages like this one, he writes beautifully. Within a year or two after completing his book he was summarily fired from ACT and not long after that he had left this world for another, behind the curtains of life. Sad ending for what was once a glorious if eccentric career.

This book has opened my eyes to a greater view of the audition process as an actor. It has also awakened a fire in me to direct. I am planning on directing my first play this coming Fall, and I really feel prepared with this book and the class I'm taking now. A great text for discussion for directing classes.

Engagingly written.

Mr. William Ball, the former artistic director and founder of The American Conservatory Theatre in San Fransisco, boils down almost forty years of teaching, acting and directing experience into possibly the most effective,educational and practical document about directing. I shudder to use the word text book as that term implies dry academia- an approach which leads to the the death of the theatre- but really this book is indespensable to any theatre director. Ball lays out in a logical, simple and jargon free manner the nuts and bolts of building a balanced right and left brained community which has complete and utter access to the creative impulse. Everything in Ball's book is transferable, practical (sorry about using that term again but it is true)and impeccably rendered. For any theatre director, I strongly suggest purchasing this book as the foundation of any library. Five out of five stars.

William Ball's "Sense of Direction" has some excellent information for those involed in, or thinking about becoming involved in, directing. However, Mr. Ball is coming from the world of professional actors and sometimes his advise is not applicable for directors involved in educational theatre.

this is a real meat and potatoes book, which i think is a good thing. the worst thing about reading books about excersise is hearing about stuff that you dont need to know. this book is for people who have the time and desire to go to the gym at least 4 times a week. no half-hearted efforts here.
if you follow the book's schedule YOU WILL MAKE GAINS. this i think is the key to this books effectiveness. its not the lifts that he chooses or the number of sets/reps persay- if you have been lifting for sometime, most of the concepts will be pretty commen sense. he also leaves things open for you so your lifting sessions dont get stale.
I think one word sums this book up...simplicity. everything is done for you, you just need to have to drive to do it!

this book is very useful and is great when needing some extra info or just alternatives. i'm following the workouts in the book and am very pleased with how they translate to the field as well as just my overall health, fitness, and endurance.

I have rarely seen such detail in such a small space. Gets right to the point with easy-to-follow concepts, instructions, and pictures. Online resources are also helpful.

The illustrations are excellent. This book offers all the help you need to get started in your training for rugby. It even provides charts so you can keep a record of your progress.

I'm a multi sport athlete who trains all year round regardless of what sport I play. I bought a few of these Ultimate Guide to Weight Training books, and they definitely helped me train specifically for the different sports that I play. Then about a year later I received an email from amazon that there was a new edition out. These upgraded editions are even better than the originals, with more articles and a lot more sport-specific information. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who plays a lot of sports or wants to specifically focus on training for one sport in particular.

This was, I think, the first Tintin book published after World War II (Herge was briefly imprisoned after the liberation of Belgium, since he has contributed as an artist to a pro-axis newspaper). It's the first of a two volume adventure (the second part being Prisoners of the Sun) but the book is good on its own. It starts amusingly, as Tintin arrives in Marlinspike (he still does not live there) and sees Haddock turned into a country lord (with the fortune of the Unicorn treasure, I suppose). The action unfolds slowly: the seven members of a scientific expedition to Peru start to get mysteriously attacked one by one, falling into a coma, with fragments of a shattered crystal ball next to them. As Calculus is a friend of the last remaining scientist, they paid him a visit to his house. During the night, unfortunately, they cannot prevent an attack on him. Worse for them, Calculus unwittingly takes a gold bracelet, and he is kidnapped by the attackers (which as it turns out, turns to be, some Peruvians connected with the Inca empire, who see the scientists as looters of sacred artifacts). Tintin and Haddock has no choice but to go to Peru to rescue Calculus (this is further developed in Sun, an even better album). Overall, a great album, which has stand the test of time after almost 60 years.

Herge, The Seven Crystal Balls (Methuen, 1948)

Another of the series' setup volumes (this one for Prisoners of the Sun), but as usual, that doesn't stop Herge from having all sorts of wild and wonderful things go on. An expedition comes back from South America, having discovered the tomb of Rascar Capac and brought the mummy back for study. Soon, one by one, the members of the expedition lapse into a coma. Needless to say, One of them is a friend of Calculus' (and one thing I found a minor annoyance throughout the rest of the series-- the hearing aid Calculus procured during Explorers on the Moon was never seen again. It was a good joke for the first few volumes, but it got old pretty quick.), of course, and so Tintin, Snowy, and Captain Haddock find themselves involved, however unwittingly, after Calculus is kidnapped. This is the only one of the setup volumes that actually feels like a setup volume, but it's still better than average, and also features the return (in a minor role) of Tintin's old friend General Alcazar, who would play an increasingly important role as the series went on. *** ½

Tintin and Captain Haddock go to a psychic show. There an Indian fakir puts his assistant into a trance. She forsees a mysterious illness striking a photographer on a recent expedition to recover Incan artifacts. One by one the researchers on the expedition fall into mysterious comas. Near each lies a shattered crystal ball...

For some comic relief here Captain Haddock tries hard to be oh so proper (he has recently aquired his ancestral estate and title). He is fixated on wearing a monocle at all times. This is an involved mystery with many clever bits of detective work and technology used by the characters. This particular book is definitely the first of two parts and doesn't stand alone. At the end of this one Tintin and the Captain are off in pursuit of a potential villain. But we still don't know what was in the crystal balls or how it connects to the Incan curse, and a major character has been kidnapped and not reunited with the heros. So you will have to read Prisoners of the Sun to not be left hanging after this one.

On a train to Marlinspike, Tintin is reading an article about the Sanders-Hardiman expedition which has spent two years excavating Inca tombs.
A gentleman on the train warns that a nasty end will await those "busybodies violating the Inca's burial chamber", comparing their predicted fate to that of the archaeologists, involved in the Tut-Ankh-Kamen affair.
On his visit to Marlinspike, Tintin is re-united with Captain Haddock, who is playing the role of the country lord of the manor in his newly inherited mansion of Marlinspike.
Tintin and the Captain go see a show at the Hippodrome, of magic and mystery, where the psychic Madame Yamilah has a vision of the serious illness of the husband of one of the audience, who hapens to be the photographer of the Sanders-Hardiman expedition.
The psychic revelation proves to be correct.
One after the other each of the men involved with the Sanders-Hardiman expedition falls into a coma, with fragmented crystal shards next to them, in each case.
Tintint and the Captain then accompany Professor Calaculus to his friend Professor Tarragon, and in a strange occurance the Rascar Capac mumy on Tarragon's posession mysteriously disappears, and each of the guests is visited by a frightening dream of Rascar Capac entering their guest rooms and smashing down a crystal ball on the ground.
Professor Tarragon soon also falls into the mysterious coma, and then Professor Calculus disappears, leadin Tintin and Haddock's investigations to lead them to plan a trip to Peru, which sets the stage for the sequel to this comic, Prisoners of the Sun (The Adventures of Tintin).
The Tintin adventures are amazingly detailed and intricate for a graphic novel, and this one is filled with much intrigue, suspense and action failing to disappoint, and reminding us why Tintin remains popular after nearly 8 decades.

The Seven Crystal Balls begins where its predecessor, Red Rackham's Treasure, left off, with Captain Haddock settling into his family estate, Marlinspike Hall, and enjoying his newfound lord-of-the-manor role perhaps just a tad too much. The mystery begins at a variety show which Tintin and the Captain attend that evening. One of the performers, a clairvoyante, is suddenly seized with a vision that an audience member's husband is in great danger. Shortly afterwards, it is announced that the woman's husband has indeed been taken seriously ill.

The woman's husband, as it happens, was one of seven explorers recently returned from a voyage to South America to study the Incan mummy, Rascar Capac. As the story unfolds, the six other explorers - including Professor Calculus' ebullient friend, Professor Tarragon - are also rendered comatose by what appears to be the curse of the mummy. ("This will lead to trouble," a stranger prophetically warns Tintin at the beginning of the book, as they are travelling on a train and Tintin is reading about the explorers' expedition. "You see if it doesn't!")

The plot thickens even further, however, when Calculus, taking a stroll around Professor Tarragon's house, discovers a striking gold bracelet, puts it on (remarking on how nicely it goes with his coat), and then mysteriously disappears. It is up to Tintin and the Captain to find him -- but the mystery is left up in the air until the next Tintin volume, Prisoners of the Sun.

One final note: Also vitally important to this story is the return of Tintin's old friend General Alcazar, now performing as a music-hall knife thrower under the pseudonym Ramon Zarate. His knife-throwing partner, Chiquito, proves to be a prominent character in this mystery.

This book is no help at all. Claim your self esteem by not buying it and saving the money.

The reason I found this page is because I went online looking for the authors email adress to thank her. You dont get much more of a recommendation than that.
The diference I feel within 3 days of buying this book is amazing. Its true it the first 'self Help' book I have bought. However this book feels like it was written just for me. The examples and explanations of Low Self Esteeme and what it does to you, is so exact, that it makes me disappointed that I havent done something about myself earlier.

Carolyns writing feels like a friend trying to help. The writing is clear ,simple ,kind and motivating. Its simple to follow and I love the fact that she describes how things work and why they happen. To me ,if I understand something, I can work with it.

As my heading states.. If you even thinking you need this book.. then just buy it.

The best $$'s I have ever spent on myself.

Thank you to the Author.

Rob

I've read hundreds of self-help books over the years. Because there weren't many reviews on Amazon.com on this one, I wasn't expecting much. But, I thought I'd give it a try, as the title dealt specifically with a need I had in my life. WOW, this book was really a blessing...it's one of the best books I've ever read. It has practical steps that will help you reprogram the way you think, and how you interpret events, in ways that are more beneficial to self-esteem. The exercises are useful, and very eye opening. It shows how self esteem is at the root of codependent behaviors. This book teaches you how to be honest with yourself, and embrace your own experiences. I highly recommend it. I just purchased it a few days ago, read it once, and I'm going to read it again, just to soak it all in. Don't just buy it, READ it and follow the advice. This is the first review I've written on Amazon.com. I haven't read many books that were worth the time to recommend, but I simply HAD to recommend this one.

I find myself constantly recommending this book everywhere. "Claiming Your Self-Esteem" has definitely changed my life.

Before I read this book, I was a very codependent person. What drove me to buy this book was a petty argument with my coworker. Additionally, I had been driving my boyfriend crazy with my constant self-doubt and dependence on him, bringing people down with my negativity, and scaring friends away with sudden overreactions to trivial things.

Within two months of starting to read this book, I start to grow into a more loving person: truly understanding, much calmer, and finally with self-love.

What makes this book work is that it not only says what you need to do and points out the benefits of loving yourself, it also teaches you HOW to do love yourself.

This book has taught me how to how to confront and fix my old problems (that I used to always run away from), quiet the internal negative dialogue (that constantly plagued my mind for most of my life), how to meditate and listen to my body's cues, and (probably the most important) how to forgive myself and love myself unconditionally.

As a result, I've also learned how to get along better with others, and I am much more aware of people's behavior because I understand my own behavior.

I have been reading this book for only 5 months, but I feel like I have grown so much since then. Thank you, Carolyn Ball, for writing.

It helped me so much, words can't express it completely. I agree with what Rob wrote, and I did write Carolyn a Thank You letter when I finished reading it. I'm in the process of recommending it to a friend because I see the same pain in her life that I had in mine. Basically, this book shows you how your thoughts and perceptions become your reality. You are who you think you are. So simple, really, yet so powerful! I highly recommend this book!

Pamela Ball's tale of intrigue and exploitation is especially relevant as our country enters a new phase of imperialism. We should be reminded of the cost that others have had to pay for our own arrogance. But The Floating City is more than a tale of one country dominating another. It is a beautifully written love story as well. Ball's writing is among the best you'll read anywhere. This is a great book.

The Floating City does a wonderful job of bringing Hawaii in the 1890s to life. Ball's descriptions are so wonderful you can almost smell them. Her writing is lovely and carries the reader along not wanting to stop. But what the books fails at is completing the story. There are far too many unanswered questions - not the least of which is how a woman from Norway (and not a very well schooled one at that) is managing to communicate with the Hawaiians and haoles. There's no explanation for why our heroine, Eva, suddenly decides to play detective despite everything telling her to run. Many of the books I read often leave me feeling that a good editor should have trimmed some of the story, this is the first in which I wish more had been added.

Interspersed between the chapters of Floating City, are short historical vignettes, documenting the events that destroyed Hawaiian society in its original tribal innocence and system of government.. Near the end of the novel, the historical events merge into actual time with the story line. Ultimately, Hawaii's self-governance is destroyed by the consummate greed of her conquerors, a fertile territory to poach and plunder, until Hawaii is finally attached to the U.S. as a state.

As the main characters are introduced, they are defined by the perceptions of Eva Hanson, a haole, native for caucasian, with reputed psychic abilities. However, Eva's unusual talents exist in the form of psychic intuitions, often experienced as a hyper-awareness of imminent personal danger. Because of her race, Eva's attempts to remain in the background of events are virtually impossible, and she remains disconcertingly visible to government officials. Nothing, and no one, is what it seems, and Eva is constantly reminded of the delicacy of her position. This heightened awareness of the unexpected persists, coloring all the events with a certain air of unreality.

1890's Hawaii is a country caught in the accelerating turmoil of political upheaval, the characters churning through this historical evolution that will determine the future of their culture, from innocence to corruption, greed and decay. With haunting familiarity, an ancestral way of life is cannibalized by an amoral society whose value system is defined by acquisition of much for the few, particularly the rapacious European/American investors. History continually repeats itself; today the locusts have moved on to the next part of the world with natural resources vulnerable to exploitation, leaving the residue for the survivors to reconstruct.

Pamela Ball is a new writer to me; I picked up her "Floating City" in anticipation of my upcoming first trip to Hawaii. The novel is set in Honolulu at the time of the U.S.'s forcible takeover of the islands and of Queen Liliuokalani's imprisonment. It follows a mysterious Norwegian woman who calls herself Eva Hansen (although we know she has stolen this name from someone), a woman who makes her living as a fortune-teller, a haole living among native Hawaiians. Hansen discovers the body of a murdered native man washed up on shore, and thus becomes entangled in an intrigue involving the takeover of Hawaiian politics and land by wealthy and corrupt Americans.

Ball does a superb job conveying 19th-century Honolulu, a strange mix of cultures, missionaries, opium, violence, Hawaaian culture in the throes of radical change, taboos, disease.....all in all it has a kind of gritty lurking-evil Wild-West feel, rather like an episode of "Deadwood." The intrigue is secondary to the atmosphere she creates; the result is very stylish and literary rather than genre-driven. There is an overall theme of identity and confusion: how do we know who we really are? Eva Hansen isn't really named Eva; the dead man isn't who he seems; Hawaii herself is deeper and more complex than the first glance suggests.

I like discovering writers previously unfamiliar to me, and expect that I will pick up more books by Ball even when my Hawaii trip is long past. PS - Hollywood, this would make a great movie....lots of exotic atmosphere and an interesting plot. Put in Cate Blanchett as Eva and you've got a winner.

It's 1895 and Royalist rebellion threatens in Hawaii. When a well-dressed Hawaiian man washes up dead on the beach at Honolulu, disrupting the women's morning fishing, Eva Hanson - the only white woman - is drafted to report the news to the police. Eva, on her own and far from her native Norway, living as a fortuneteller under the stolen name of a dead woman, agrees reluctantly and only because her roommate, Lehua, saw her slip a jade necklace off the dead man and into her pocket.

But the body is missing when Eva returns with the police and her worst fears are realized when the police - accompanied by a white political type - come knocking the next day, asking about her connection to the dead man. Upstairs a Royalist rebel hides, given shelter by Lehua. Though frightened and angry, Eva resists the police questions, shelters the fugitive. She is being drawn in despite herself.

Though her hard life has made her cynical, Hawaii seemed to offer a new start. "There was an orphanage for Hawaiian girls across the street, and old whalers next door with a pet rooster. There was the Widow, locally famous for outliving all her husbands and winning the orchid show every year for the last twenty-two years, and a shamisen player who made enough racket to drive away the living as well as the dead. There was Lehua, who was half our of her mind with grief and opium, and for the first time in her life, Eva fit right in."

But it is two years since the white mans' overthrowing of the monarchy and the country is in turmoil. "Everyone points to someone else as the cause of the country's woes. Sailors blame the missionaries, the missionaries blame the opium dealers, sugar cane planters blame the rulings of the legislature, and the legislators blame the end of the American Civil War; which poured Southern sugar back into the market. The prostitutes blame the foreigners for bringing the kiss of death, and everyone else blames the Chinese."

Outside the palace of the deposed queen (Eva is hoping the queen will hire her palm reading services and make her reputation) Eva is caught up in a rally turned riot and rescued by a Scot - McClelland, a man of talents and secrets. "A man that quiet was someone to be wary of." And "A man as smooth with a lie as she was. It was disconcerting to recognize your traits in someone else." But Eva is not wary and love sweeps her up, though its path is rocky. And the authorities seem inexplicably determined to pin the still-missing dead man on her.

Ball, ("Lava") who was born and raised on Oahu, immerses her characters in the atmosphere of Hawaii, capturing the tropical lushness and poverty, the devastation of foreign diseases, the anger of the dispossessed and disenfranchised Hawaiians, the greed of Western sugar barons and the cold rigidity of the missionaries. Her characters are damaged, but ardent, full of hope in the midst of hopelessness. A fine novel from an award winning writer.

America's favorite sport will never be the same again, now that Amelia Bedelia has been called in to substitute for another player.

If you've read any of Amelia's other books, you can just imagine what she will do for uniforms, stealing bases, running home and more. Baseball will be revolutionized, and young readers will be entertained from first page to last! The wonderful illustrations bring the humor to life.

Highly recommended!

Play ball, Amelia Bedelia reminded me of when the my team the Yankaes almost got beat but we won. I really liked this book.

Themes: Sometimes the literal meaning of certain phrases is not what they are intended to mean. Even if you get confused, holding a positive attitude and trying hard will pay off in the end.

Summary: Amelia Bedelia, a housekeeper who takes everything literally and knows very little about baseball, is recruited by the Grizzlies to play in their big game against the Tornados. The Grizzlies are short one player because he is sick. The humor begins when Amelia Bedelia shows up in her "uniform" to play the game. From that point on Amelia continues to take everything extremely literal. She "tags" players, and "puts them out". The story reaches its climax when Amelia Bedelia hits the game winning home run and on her way around the diamond, "steals" all the bases, and then "runs home" just like the Grizzlies tell her to do. When Amelia gets home she thinks that baseball is a very strange game. The Grizzlies show up, announcing they have won the game thanks to Amelia Bedelia. Amelia Bedelia serves cookies to the boys on "home plate" in celebration, even though she thinks it is a strange plate to be serving cookies on.

Evaluation: This is a very humorous fun story for children to enjoy and learn to read with. Amelia Bedelia is a lively well-rounded character. The fact that she takes everything completely literal will amuse children greatly. This in turn gets them interested in finishing the book, and even reading it themselves!

The lively colorful illustrations capture the fun and humor within the book. For example, they help to depict Amelia Bedelia in her "uniform", and "tagging" the other players, as well as "stealing the bases".

Overall this story is an excellent book to spark interest in reading for young children.

In this edition of Amelia Bedelia, Peggy Parish has done another wonderful job at telling a wonderful story. Amelia Bedelia is making an attempt to play baseball, and she has managed to take the lessons literally, as always. She learns stealing bases are okay and putting players out. This is a favorite in my household, and we laughed at Amelia Bedelia's attempts of playing baseball.

Our favorite part was when she hit the winning run, 'stole' every single base along the way, and she ran home like everyone told her to with all the bases. The kids were wonderful in this story and patient, and it was a fantastic read.

I recommend the Amelia Bedelia books for every household. Amelia Bedelia is a fun character, and it will make the kids laugh.

Joy.

Not since Abbot asked Costello "Who's on First?" has the national pastime been taken so literally. Taking things literally is precisedly what Amelia Bedelia has been doing ever since she first became a housekeeper. Tell her to "Dust the furniture" and she will dutifully find the Dusting Powder and do as she was told, even though at her house they undust the furniture. In Peggy Parish's "Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia," the Grizzlies baseball team is in trouble when one of their players gets sick and they need a replacement for their big game with the Tornadoes. Who steps up to the plate to save the day up the literal-minded Amelia Bedelia.

The fun, of course, comes when the kids tell Amelia Bedelia to tag a runner or make a base hit. Then there is the uniform that she comes up with (you need a uniform to play baseball, right?). The illustrations by Wallace Tripp capture the fun as Amelia Bedelia plays the game of baseball like nobody has ever played it before. Besides, you should see what Amelia Bedelia looks like when she swings a bat. Fortunately, one things she knows how to do right is to fix an empty cookie jar because she makes really great cookies (although she has doubts about using home plate to serve them on to her teammates). Fans of Peggy Parish's creation will enjoy seeing her on the baseball diamond while there might be some fans of the sport who will be introduced to the literally-minded housekeeper for the first time.

This book has taken us thorugh tropical rain forests, dense valleys, and sun-parched craters. The variety of hikes is wonderful. There is something for everyone in here, well, everyone except the beginner hiker. It seems even beginning hikes in the book are a bit challenging. This is because Oahu has such a varity of terrain. However, if you are looking to take a relaxing stroll through the woods this book will be of no use to you. We have children so we only do the novice hikes and even those are challenging, but fun and dirty! This is probalby for more serious hikers and some of the hikes mentioned are 12 miles long! That takes a long time in Oahu's terrain! The author always write in interesting tidbits of info in his hike description which I like. Things such as the where the strawberry guava trees are, where the WWII tunnel is, etc...The one negative to this book is that many of the hikes the author writes about are closed to the public and you have to write for permission to hike them. To me, this is a pain and I am not organized enough to plan ahead and do this. If you are better organized than I, I am sure you would enjoy them. We are just a bit more spontaneous. Enjoy!

I won a copy of the first edition of this book in a contest in 1994, and since then it has helped me find dozens of beautiful and enjoyable trails.

For example, one of the trails we found was a great hike in Wahiawa through the back country of an Army training base. As the author suggested, we wrote to the commander and we got permission to do this hike that rambles over hills and across streams, and all at the cool elevation of Wahiawa.

Some of the highlights of the book include great descriptions of the flora along the trail, reproductions of topo maps for each hike that show you the pitch of the trail(although you should probably get the real topo if you plan to get lost), clear route descriptions that show that the author has been on these trails many times, and a wonderful layout.

It is the best hiking book I have ever read (although I've probably only read about a dozen). It is without equal among O`ahu hiking books.

I just bought the second edition, and if possible, it's even better than the first one.

Simple: this is the best hiking book ever published regarding trails on Oahu. How do I know? Not only have I used it, I've hiked a couple of times with the author and watched him take notes. An experienced hiker with over 20 years in these mountains, Stuart Ball knows what he's talking about and describes the trails with detail, map, and comment. I've seen the other books on the market - this is by far the BEST reference for hiking on Oahu. Ask anyone you find on these trails - they might just produce a copy from their backpacks!

Working as an outdoor guide in Hawaii for a summer gave me a chance to discover the island of Oahu. It also helped me realize the that is the ONLY guide to hiking on Oahu that is worth buying. Not only do you get VERY accurate trail descriptions, you also get driving directions, directions from TheBus and information on flora and fauna in the area. I dare you to try and get lost!

this is a great hiking guide but please keep in mind the published date; it's quite old by now and as such, the detailed hiking descriptions are sorely in need of an update. thus, please be careful when using the guide as a reference, as you could end up getting lost. getting an opinion from local hikers would be your best bet.

This book was a wonderful read! I could hardly put it down. I did have some trouble keeping track of the many characters and Hawaiian verbage, even with the accompanying mini-reference in the back of the book, but overall it was a beautiful story. The writing seemed to flow just as a Hawaiian breeze. If anything, it makes me even more interested to visit and see some of the actual sites Smith talks of.

In quietness and confidence shall be your strength Kale Davis..."The Love Remains" is a call for a new approach to thinking and writing about culture. Written in a manner both accessible and compelling, this book will be of great interest to anthropologists as well as informed non-specialists; Smith's writing celebrates diversity, a historic and romantic narrative, and overflowing emotions. Kama'aema'e has a writing style which presents powerful reasons for protecting diversity within and outside the academy of social analysis. You will find the recess to be quite refreshing and rejuvenating. The author Kama'ma'ae Smith has allowed her humble act of writing to help the reader search for purpose, create vision, and fulfill life vision via reflecting on the everyday hardships of life through fictional circumstances and diverse relationships in this romantic epic of common and chiefly people. The main character of Kale reminds the reader that a person does not need to be a "super hero" when they have a deep relationship with Akua (God). The overall plot reminds to reader to acknowledge Akua in times of adversity and affliction - in all you do - and Akua will give you success. Sound writing and good leadership have a moral foundation...PONO (righteousness) is proved through Smith's careful actions and study of Hawaiian language and culture. Written with power and grace...standing on solid ground... "The Love Remains" is essential reading for those interested in the study of Hawaiian culture.

The first thing a reader notices about "The Love Remains" is not the romantic and randy heroine, Kale Davis, although she is adorable, but that most of the dialogue is in Hawaiian.
With English underneath, of course. Why didn't somebody think of this before?
Described as an "historical novel," "The Love Remains" is both more and less than that, and will reward readers who come to it from several different interests.
Author Katherine Smith, a resident of Kapalua, says she was curious about the history of the place but found very little in print about the days before it came into the hands of the Baldwins, the pre-eminent business clan on Maui for a century. So she studied Hawaiian for five years in order to read Hawaiian newspapers from the Kingdom, and interviewed descendants of Kale Davis, who was a real person, the last chiefess of the ahapuaa (self-contained administrative district) of Honokahua.
And not just a last chiefess, also a first offspring of modern Hawaii, daughter of an Hawaiian mother and a haole (white) father, Isaac Davis, one of Kamehameha the Great's famous English instructors.
A less deft writer could easily have turned this into a cheap romance about Hawaiian royalty. Smith instead places Kale where she was in history, in the Maui backwoods, trying to lead a devastated rural area to recover from the human wastage of Kamehameha's imperialism and then to cope with the maelstrom of change that battered the long-isolated Hawaiians.
Smith dances nimbly among the several pitfalls of the historical novelist, especially the didactic historic novelist. In an introduction, she explains that while the historical framework is meant to be accurate, the story itself is imaginative.
Thus, the writer and her reader are several times confronted with the dreaded event of the didactic historical novel -- the heroine is introduced, for plot purposes, to, say, a paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy), which is the occasion for a lecture on how cattle got to the islands. This impedes the progress of the novel as love story, but Smith brings these episodes off with less awkwardness than most writers trying to balance the mostly incompatible demands of entertainment and instruction.
The Hawaiian cultural aspects of the story were reviewed by Kumu Aloha Keko`olani of Honolulu Community College.
As far as my knowledge goes, most of the the antique "furniture" with which the story is decorated is accurate, although I believe that historically it would have been unlikely that Kale's great grandfather could have been a navigator. That position would have had to have been several generations earlier. (In the revised version of this print-on-demand book, this has been changed.)
Sarah (Kale) Davis's story is violent yet triumphant. The 19th century was a more dangerous time in the islands than today. Kale, who is introduced to us in 1817 as an inexperienced 20-year-old, has to deal with historic crises of political revolution, epidemic, famine, storm, religious upheaval and learning to write. To these problems, the novelist adds large measures of sex, conspiracy, self-doubt, pregnancy and marriage -- five of those -- to the fictional heroine.
Something for every taste.
In the end, the love that remains is that of a devoted chiefess for her people and her land.
The final attractive feature of this book is that the reader does not have to endure hearing the scream of the ax on the grindstone. Not many other seriously intended Maui novels can say as much.
As a grace note, the author says she is donating a portion of the proceeds of her book to the Hawaiian Language Immersion Education program on West Maui, which gave her the tools to pursue this admirable effort.

The Love Remains is a fabulous book that has been brilliantly written by an author who obviously did her homework. I laughed; I cried I felt fear, pain and joy. It was like an emotional roller coaster ride. Katherine Kamemae Smith did a wonderful job portraying a period in Hawaii's history that was very turbulent. She takes her readers on a wild ride through out the changing of Hawaii's newly established monarchy. Through her book I feel as though I have come to know personally many very famous historical figures of Hawaii. The likes of who include, Queen Keopuolani, King Kamehameha's Kahuna Nui Hewahewa, John Olohana Young, Alika Adams and more. This book was a true gift to us all.

As a Hawaiian (75%) I was bothered by how the Hawaiians were portrayed compared to other ethnicities. Sarah (Kale)is a liar when she does not tell Alika that her former husband (James Kanehoa) is at Honokohua. James Kanehoa is a drunk and wife abuser. Maka, is a rapist and murderer. Kanekuapu'u (fourth husband and minister) is an adulterer. It surprised me that caucasions were incapable of such acts.

Even the British Admiral is exonerated for his dastardly act of overthrowing the kingdom. The rest of the book is fine, but why are Hawaiians portrayed in this light?