Beck Books

The works by the Swedish writing duo of Sjowall/Wahloo are certainly an acquired taste. While their writing skills (characterizations, prose, story) are certainly laudable, their subversive interwoven social commentaries are probably not to everyone's liking. All their books make it seem as if Sweden is some absolutely horrible place due to the utterly inept government and decaying societal norms. 'Cop Killer' is a classic Sjowall/Wahloo mystery novel.

'Cop Killer' is actually two disjointed mysteries which come together in the end. As the title suggests, one of them involves the death of a police office. The other involves the grisly death of a woman. While neither mystery in my itself is brilliant, and I found the fusing of these two stories at the end of the novel to be contrived, Sjowall/Wahloo keep the reader entertained with really fine characterizations (especially of the frazzled police investigators). The book never bored me. But alas, I don't think 'Cop Killer' will be a memorable reading experience.


Bottom line: if you think you'd like Swedish mysteries written by fierce social critics then this book is for you. :-) But probably a curious read for all others.

The Beck mysteries are a unique series of politically critical, human procedurals that are wonderfully translated into English. They need to be read as a set--there are 10 of them--in order to understand the unique contribution that this husband and wife team have made to mystery fiction.

The ninth Martin Beck novel. Not as good as some of their previous work, but still pretty engaging nonetheless. ... The authors frequently remind us of how much better things were back in the good old days. Funny satire, but pretty cranky, and not much of a thriller.

The book redeems itself with some of Gunvald Larsson's uproarious antics and the shocking revelation of the identity of the title character.

"Cop Killer" is entertaining in parts, but I think Sjowall and Wahloo were beginning to get bored with the police procedural, and it shows.

All of the Martin Beck mysteries (I believe there are 10 in all) are excellent reads that offer a window into the criminal Scandinavian landscape. Sharply etched characterizations and stories that remind one of the Magritte novels of Simenon. It's a shame that they are hard to find!

I LOVE THIS SERIES!

Ogiwara has obviously been studying western fantasy for a long time to come up with such delightful, well rounded characters and a detailed world for them to live in. Rune is by far my favorite character, followed by Firiel who starts out a bit timid, but grows into her own strong willed self. Princesses, courtly politics, hints of dragons, and a mystery surrounding her father's scientific research... this book has it all to give you a good read and start off what looks to be a great series.

This is a review of Noriko Ogiwara's NOVEL- The Good Witch of the West, Volume One, the original source for the manga series.

Good Witch of the West (no relation to Wizard of Oz) starts with the story of Firiel, who's been planning excitedly for the upcoming ball for the Queen's birthday- an event so precious, her tough surrogate-mother/neighbor has scrounged up material for her gown and her father has torn himself away from his astronomical calculations long enough to send his surly apprentice to deliver her an heirloom for her dead mother- a necklace. As you are probably already expecting, this necklace gets Firiel in trouble at the ball, regarding the past- her father's heretical research and her mother's high lineage.

Good Witch of the West is a very light novel- and not even a particularly well crafted one. Its world is charming, but never strongly drawn- though we do get some promise of seeing how truly nefarious it is in subsequent volumes. The plot has a few tense moments, but is somewhat abbreviated at times, maybe even predictable at points, but has promise. Its strength lies in the possibilities for its characters. Firiel is a light-spirited heroine and acts somewhat immature at times, but always true to the people she loves. Bravely, the novel doesn't gloss over her faults, and the novel definitely shines most brightly in her arguments with her father's apprentice, Rune. Rune is knowledgeable and clever to the nobility's games of power, but also disagreeable, pessimistic, and sometimes pretentious- a wonderful counterpoint to Firiel.

It's a shame that these characters don't get to act to their fullest potential yet in this volume, still reacting to the secrets and lies that are being unveiled. But there is much promise- and I'm willing to read through volume two to see if they fulfill this promise. (Especially since I've great respect for Ogiwara from her first novel- the more serious epic Dragon Sword and Wind Child, rooted in Japanese mythology rather than Western fairy tales.)

The printing- The book I received was not of the best quality. The ink levels vary from page to page- some pages featured the dark/crisp lettering while other pages suffered from out-of-ink syndrome (though always legible). The cover appeared to suffer this as well- being much too light and low in constrast. I've haven't bought any other Tokyopop novels, so I don't how it matches up, but it falls well below-par of Tokyopop's manga printings (which I have always great- clean, consistent printings on the inside, and colorful shiny covers on the outside).

The pleasant surprise of the printing is the illustrations that come interspersed in this novel. Well printed and add quite a bit of magic to the visualization of the world.

This book, the first in a promising new fantasy series about a country girl who discovers she's the potential heir to a kingdom, is mostly about setup. This is hardly a surprise, though, since the popular Japanese book series it's based on is overflowing with diverse characters and intersecting plot lines. First and foremost is Firiel Dee, a kind, loving, spirited, fiercely loyal tomboy. Her father, fond of her though he is, is too busy working to give her the time of day. His foundling apprentice, the grim and scholarly Rune, won't talk to her if he can avoid it, and not very civilly when he can't. Her only really close friends are the elderly caretakers she lives with, and they kinda wish she were more feminine.

At a royal party, Firiel is given the rare choice of living with a foster-family of noblemen, or going back to her humble home. She says she'd much prefer home, thank you--and says it without the copious hand-wringing and inner turmoil that accompanies the decision-making processes of your typical shoujo heroine. Firiel loves her little family, whatever they might think of her, and that's enough. In other words, Firiel is already shaping up to be a refreshing and winning new heroine.

So it's all the more shocking when the very next day, she hurries home to find that home is gone: her caretaker friend is dead, her father has fled the country, and the caretaker's widow has just long enough to give a harrowing account of what happened, before she too is (presumably) destroyed.

Since the book starts with only a miniscule 2-page backstory, readers are nearly as much in the dark as Firiel. But those two pages, as well as scraps and bits of what the characters at that royal party say or seem to say, hint at larger, darker things going on than one might find in the usual evil vs. good fantasy. Rune might know something, possibly more than anyone, but he's not telling . . .

In that, Rune is intriguing. At first, Ogawara seems to be setting him up to be Firiel's companion and protector--Firiel all but bullies him into swearing to stay with her always--but then they are quickly seperated by the same mysterious cult that just destroyed Firiel's entire life. The cult leader addresses Rune as an ally. Rune hardly denies it, but nevertheless fights like anything to ensure Firiel's escape.

Who IS this boy? Who are these people? Why do they hate Firiel, and her father, and his books so much that they'll kill anyone who's so much as looked at them? How do they know Rune? He was just a toddler when Firiel's father took him in. What on earth kind of a history could he have possibly had at that age?

Firiel is left to find the answers on her own--and she's about as successful as any normal person who's just lost everything and everybody they ever cared about could be expected to be. She doesn't attract any cutely squabbling friends with magical superpowers to protect and guide her on the way, she doesn't grow more mature and steadfast of purpose (yet), and she doesn't have an adorable animal companion. She's totally alone. Within a few days, she's a crumbling, half-crazed wreck to boot. And she still has no more answers than when she first started.

All of this leads to the conclusion that this is going to be a fun and epic series, with all the dark and twisty trimmings of a really good story.
The artwork is beautifully drawn by Haruhiko Momokawa. He uses a "soft and kind" sort of style that, especially in Firiel's character design, evokes fantasy manga art from the late seventies and early eighties. It's flowing, lush, lovely, and easy on the eyes. Rune is given a slightly edgier look, his lines are unrelentingly dark and solid all the way through. Even in candid moments he looks like he's holding in some great and disturbing inner darkness. That said, there are occasional lapses, where adult and elderly characters seem rather youthful, and periphery characters are almost interchangeable in mien. Fifteen-year-old Firiel looks and acts barely thirteen--however, the artist explains, it has more to do with her "youngness" than actual age, and he plans to have her design evolve as the story progresses. There's even a charming comparison sketch in the back to show what she might look like in another four or five books.

All in all, I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and hope it lives up to the start!

I picked up "Good Witch of the West" because of the pretty artwork, but I've really gotten into it.

The story starts off pretty typical. A country girl named Firiel Dee goes to the royal ball and catches the attention of the prince. Then the "shocking" discovery is made that she is the daughter of the long lost princess, and she herself is a princess. But when she returns home with her friend Rune, they are attacked by mysterious men in black robes. The story has hints that it's going to get more intricate and darker. Whatever Rune has been studying is called heresy by the queen, and there seems to be some sort of cover up.

I like the characters, especially Firiel. She annoyed me a little in the first volume. She was a little too sweet and brave. But as I've read other volumes, she's won me over with her determined attitude. Firiel doesn't have any trouble standing up for herself, and she's not above going after revenge. I also like Adale's character. She's pretty and sweet, and seems submissive, but she's clever and takes charge when she wants to.

As I've said, the art is beautiful. All the characters have pretty faces, and the girls have flowing hair and gowns. The backgrounds are beautiful too, with countryside and castles. The art's perfect for the fairy tale setting. The only problem is that the men tend to look a little cross-eyed when shown from a distance, but this is easily overlooked.

"Good Witch of the West" is an often over-looked little gem. Don't make the mistake of passing it up.

A bad clone of a great model. In some cases, imitation is not just a form of flattery -- it's a diservice. If you want to learn Situational Leadership go to the source: The Management of Organizational Behavior or The Situational Leader by Paul Hersey. Better yet, avail yourself of one of his world famous workshops. He has a new book as well: Leadership - A Behavioral Science Approach. The Leadership Window omits the most critical elements of this behavioral model. This "window" is broken and distorted. Save your money and go for the real deal.

Leadership styles, communication styles, coaching for performance, and situational leadership are very important philsophies in our Telcom Industry. We use The Leader's Window as part of our leadership development courses and find it very practical, application's based, and an effective training tool that aligns with our training programs. Even though it is dated 1994, the concepts are timeless.

This book is great reading for anyone who is trying to make sense of their role as a leader. It first sets out 4 clear leadership styles, and then marries the styles simply to 4 different types of business situations. What I loved about this book was the simplicity, which helped me do two things: first thoughtfully apply the concepts to analyze my past experiences, and second, to use it effectively in my interactions with my teams.

I have applied the Blanchard-Hersey Situational Leadership model for years with much success. The book I relied on, "Management of Organizational Behavior," was good but, being an MBA level text, was more theoretical than "how-to." The only other book I have seen on Situational Leadership is "Leadership and the One-Minute Manager," which was the exact opposite: Too simple.



This book combines the textbook's rigor with "One-Minute-style," easy to understand case studies to bring the model to life. Further, it is a how-to manual, which teaches you how to lead effectively using the model. You will learn: The development and intervention cycles, how to avoid being a "Leave `em alone, the zap `em" style manager, and how to properly empower a team, keeping control while simultaneously freeing people. You accomplish this by carefully modulating your relating and task-oriented behaviors in response to your report's motivationand skill. A proper match between employee readiness and a manager's approach generally leads to a more productive, harmonious work place.



This book is a classic. Along with the aforementioned text written by Paul Hersey and Ken Blachard (Of "One Minute Manager" fame), this book and Aubrey Daniels' behavioral modification how-to book, "Bringing the Best Out Of People" should be on every leader's bookshelf

I got this for my daughter who deals with depression and anxiety. I am glad I did. She said it was a big help to her. So I would definitely suggest it to others.

This is a practical step-by-step workbook with checklists and exercises to help identify the root of the problem, gain new understanding of it, review possible courses of action, and develop a wide range of coping skills and positive habits. It offers a hands-on approach to manage depression and anxiety and reduce emotional distress. I highly recommend this book.

In hindsight, I wish that I had started with the "Anxiety for Dummies" and the "Depression for Dummies" books first. I found that in my condition of extreme anxiety and depression there was much to high school like work to be studied over. The authors probably meant it to be set up this way, on ways to deal with your mental conditions after you understand them. So I blame myself for jumping straight into the "Workbook" phase which I found to be quite tedious under my current condition.
Sincerely, Terence Neill.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as I have many others of this particular genre. If you have a fascination or morbid curiosity about the overall subject of prison stories then you will enjoy this read. I was amazed and gladdened by Denise's faith and patience in Victor and the system. It was truly a triumphant moment when Victor won his release. Their bond is apparently so strong that it weathered the storms, and even today they continue to be devoted to one another and to their handicapped child. I admire them both.

"Concurrent Sentences," billed as a story of "Murder, Love and Redemption," is another of a recent genre of stories detailing the shoddy prosecution of a young, urban African American man, Victor Clark. Though not yet in film or up there in popularity with "The Hurricane," "Concurrent Sentences'" real-life theme is also thought-provoking and disturbing when the reader learns, for example, that a prosecution witness picked the accused from a selection of police mug shots of Mr. Clark. The problem? The police had no prior mug shots of Mr. Clark. Such minor points aside, a conviction is handed down. The startling inconsistencies of the trial, as well as the blossoming passion between inmate and author, Denise Beck-Clark are framed in vivid descriptions of their strikingly different childhoods and an uncommonly uplifting conclusion. The components of this story combine harmoniously to make "Concurrent Sentences" an easy and worthwhile read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as I have many others of this particular genre. If you have a fascination or morbid curiosity about the overall subject of prison stories then you will enjoy this read. I was amazed and gladdened by Denise's faith and patience in Victor and the system. It was truly a triumphant moment when Victor won his release. Their bond is apparently so strong that it weathered the storms, and even today they continue to be devoted to one another and to their handicapped child. I admire them both.

This is without a doubt the most personal of all of Henry Charlton Beck's books about New Jersey; it is truly a labor of love. Beck loved the Mullica River area of south Jersey ("To me the Mullica is the most wonderful of the unrecognized rivers of America."). He had spent years exploring the region and made many friends there. The book is a slow, sentimental journey up the river, from Barnegat Bay to the Forks up past Batsto and Atsion to Berlin, though he is most fond of the section between Chestnut Neck and Batsto. He writes of boatbuilders, fishermen, moss gatherers, and the last generation of salt hay farmers. He has known these people for years and tells their stories well. He also relates historical information - about near forgotten towns like Herman City, Bulltown, and Crowleytown as well as past events when the Mullica was an important shipping point. He says in his preface he almost wrote the book as a novel, and one can feel the emotions of a novelist as the book unfolds: joy and understanding, as well as a certain sadness and reverie (the book was written during WW II and some of the men Beck knew well were overseas fighting). Like an old-timer who tends perhaps to tell the same story more than once, to repeat himself while always emphasizing or pointing out the most significant parts (to him and, with hope in his tone, to the listener, too), Beck makes his way up the river he loves revealing as best he can what makes him love it so much - the people and their character. If sometimes it's hard to feel as enthusiastic as Beck is to visit one more decoy carver or listen to just one more fifth generation resident tell about when that broken down old building across the road there once hosted the best fiddlin' parties in the Pines - well, it's still a pleasure and a joy to accompany Fr. Beck up the river of his happiest memories.

I read this book in 1975 and again in 2002. It was like slipping into an old, soft woolen shirt I love to wear on cold winter evenings; it wraps around you like an old friend. Beck does an excellent job introducing us to the "Down Jersey" folk who lived along the Mullica River in simpler times; Charlie Weber, the last salt hay farmer who.."rolls mosquitoes off his sun-armored arms as if he were rolling down his sleeves"; Snapper Cobb,.. "for whom big days are marked by turtles and herring in the tide; Aunt Hattie Ford, who ran an old-fashioned grocery store where locals gathered around a comforting pot belly stove to exchange news and keep company, and where Beck was accepted as a native; and Constant Ford, who would "tramp across the old fields in search of bits of glass, old bricks, and cellar holes, seeking traces of his youth". Like an old friend of ours, Beck invites us along with him as he pokes around in all the hamlets that have held their own since the country was first settled; Lower Bank, Herman City, Green Bank, Crowleytown, Bulltown, and Pleasant Mills. He also treats us to some special forays out into the woods surrounding the river, where he gives us original material on places and things that have lived in Jersey legend since the rum runners ran these woods; Joe Mulliner, "highway robber of the pines"; the Leeds Devil, who.. "like a giant bird of prey, is seen to hover above some silent, star-bespangled pond within the umbrous recess of a cedar swamp"; and the lost town of Aserdaten, which has been swallowed by the vegetation of the mysterious Forked River Mountains. One of the really neat things about this book is that, because it was written in 1945, we get to learn about people and places from two distinct period of time. We learn a little about life along the Mullica during the World War II period, and we learn a lot about life along the Mullica in long times past, as the locals prominent in the late 1930's and early 40's relay their hand-me-down memories to Beck about the major events that shaped the river in colonial times. There are stories about the role of the river in the days of the iron furnaces at Batsto and Atsion, and glass production, moss pulling, pine cone gathering, and of course shipbuilding. The Mullica was an important river during the Revolutionary War, both as a highway for war supplies and a hideout for privateers who harassed and plundered British shipping so much that the British finally sent in several shiploads of well-armed troops to "break up once and for all this privateering along the Jersey coast". For some of the material in this part of 'Genesis', Beck digs information out of the late Gus Schneider, who made it a favorite hobby to collect the legends of British ships and Patriot resistance. Beck meets his match with Gus, for as the locals tell Beck about Gus;..."he don't write like you do....he just digs things up out of the river to prove its all true". All of this is just a glimpse of the wonderful stories about the people and places who made the Mullica their home that are to be found in "Jersey Genesis". In the final chapter (up around the headwaters), Beck expresses a melancholy sadness in bringing his story to a close..."the end of our journey and the river's end as well". Henry Charlton Beck loved the Mullica, and he brings the reader to love it as well. I look forward to a time in the future, perhaps when I have retired, to bring this book off the shelf and relive the trip to Down Jersey again.

I own the unofficial Mullica River Website. I purchased this book in hopes of finding answers to the most common questions thay may arise when you visit the Mullica - i.e. What is the history with the abandoned house at the end of the river? or Who designed the Cuts? I didn't find these answers, rendering the book almost useless to me. It was full of chatter about people that really had very little to do with the Mullica River at all! There were a few useful sections about the British running the river ages ago, but still found the book to be difficult reading. The book was copyrighted originally in 1945, so don't plan on seeing recent history in the book (or propper grammer for that matter). It was REVISED (one page to be exact) in 1963.

Worth the money? Not for me. It now sits on a bookshelf collecting dust. Perhaps at my tag sale next year.

Rob Blanda

The pictures are lovely... nice and bright, easy to see without being too fussy. However, the cards are too hard to manipulate for little hands and there is an air of impatience about reading the words before getting to see the pictures - with little help given for what could be hidden. Now this could also be considered a good point, but my 18mth old just doesn't really care about what the hidden picture is, and is quite happy to stick his fingers in where the picture comes out from! A bit frustrating but a good idea.

This is a really, really fun book. My daughter loves pulling the tab when I read on each page, "What am I?" It's a more unique touch and feel book. The textures are different than the usual furry stuff.

My toddler loves this series but it is difficult for him to manipulate on his own, so some of the pages have been pulled apart. I strongly recommend that you supervise its use.

For a Master's class in college I was required to read this book from cover to cover, once I was finished with the book I was overcome with joy. To put this in the most blunt of terms, this book is difficult to understand, highly opinionated, has a tendency to preach from the proverbial soapbox, and mixes historical facts with the author's opinion.

This book is far from easy to read. Due to the fact that it does condense a large amount of history into one book, some inconsistency is expected. However, there is no indication that time is moving forward or has changed. This task increases in difficulty since the author has a tendency to wander off on his own opinion and snap back into fact without clear cut topical sentences.

As for the author's tendency to be both opinionated and preachy, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who has strong beliefs. From my own personal beliefs (which is something not everyone will glean from this text) the author has a grude against the Germans for the rise of the Nazis (Going so far as to call their language crude but this is also said of early English Galts - the good people who wrote Beowulf), misinterprets the Biblical 10 commandments in a way that is shameful, in International Law the author believes that Americans, of the United States, are crude and unintelligent in their dealings (ok some truth here but we are not as bad as he makes us sound), The Egyptians had nothing to do with the development of Western Law (but the Jews did), and the author dances around the issue of the creation of the Earth in Chapter 1 (which is accompanied with a long discussion comparing humans to ants), but in Chapter 3 adamently states that all life was formed in Africa. Moreover, the Romans were a great unparalleled people with the exception of Plato. Yet this also demonstrates another problem with this text. At one point he condemns Plato for viewing the world from the arisocratic point of view and in the next chapter it is the author himself doing the very same thing!

All in all, this text was a waste of time. It does have moments of brillance that make it somewhat worthwhile, but they quickly fade into the background with a tirade of opinions masked as historical fact. I quite firmly believe that this text should be labeled fiction - maybe historical fiction. I wouldn't recommend reading this text unless required.

Reading this book is an cheerful thing.it is fit for all kinds of people.

This is one of the series of high quality, low cost reprints of legal and historical classics published by The Liberty Press. It was originally published in 1927, and first reprinted by Liberty in 1992. Zane was a successful commercial attorney who also had a strong interest in the history of the law. This book was an ambitious undertaking, an outline of the development of the Western legal tradition from prehistoric to modern times. It is no doubt regarded as being hopelessly out of date by modern legal scholars, but I haven't seen anything better or more recent for the general reader.

Zane's style is for the most part simple and straightforward, understandable by the reader of average education and literacy. At the time he wrote this book, in the mid-1920's, prosperity had come for the first time to millions of Americans, and television had not yet been invented. Reading was a major middle-class activity, the Book of the Month Club and Readers Digest were becoming household names, and Zane's book was aimed at that newly educated audience.

Zane has a couple of hobby-horses, one being that commercial law is the foundation of civilization, and he tends to ride it a bit excessively. He may be correct in his opinion, given that commerce is the foundation of the prosperity and dominance of our modern "Western" civilization, but his own professional bias is also clearly at work. He was also fascinated by the development of the English court system and legal profession. His description of those institutions in the Late Middle Ages is a bit tedious, with more detail than the average general reader is likely to find interesting. He is very opinionated, which I find entertaining, but this may not be to everyone's taste.

He believed that law evolved organically out of the fact that human beings were creatures who lived in groups and therefore needed to regulate their behavior towards each other in order to survive and reproduce. Law, for Zane, is a human creation, deeply based on custom and biology, not on divine will or the theories of judges. His very informative discussion of the origins of the concept of "natural law" illustrates this belief.

He has little good to say about the laws of the ancient Greeks, attributes most of what we now call law, including the English Common Law, to the Romans. He also has little regard for the Anglo-Saxons, or Justice Coke, or the jury system. His chapter on the development of the American legal system is titled "The Absolute Reign of Law", which states his view of the case very clearly. He spends much time in this chapter discussing the impeachment of Justice Samuel Chase in 1804, which he believes permanently set the shape of the American political system. (It should be noted that Justice Rehnquist wrote a history of the Chase impeachment in 1992.)

His chapter on international law includes a long discussion of the Alabama Claims tribunal. He had a jaundiced view of the American attitude toward that tribunal, and would no doubt be unsurprised by the attitude of the current American government toward international law.

Zane's book is a solid introduction to the history of the Western legal system, and provides a good foundation for further study by the non-professional. Highly recommended.

"This Book" was okay. I enjoyed reading it, but didn't really feel like the characters were developed enough for me to care about them. Riley is sent to a retreat for overweight girls by her somewhat wicked stepmother. She meets some friends, and of course a boy and gets into trouble with the principal. I feel like the author could have had more fun with the premise, but it was pretty dull with little action. However, the dialogue was excellent and realistic. Cute story but little substance

THIS BOOK ISN'T FAT, IT'S FABULOUS
NINA BECK
Contemporary Young Adult

Rating 3.5 Enchantments

Riley Swain is used to getting what she wants in life, guys, friends, clothes. But suddenly she's on her way to fat camp (argh, the horror). She thinks her size twelve figure is fabulous, but apparently her father and stepmother- to-be have other ideas, which is why instead of going on the class trip to Mexico for spring break, she's headed to upstate New York and New Horizon. But Riley can't have her friends and fellow Manhattanites knowing the truth, so she concocts a cover story that she's actually going on a family bonding trip to an upstate NY spa.

While there were portions of the book I really enjoyed, especially when Riley meets Eric, which might have been my favorite scene of the book, the rest of it seemed to hit a lull. The story moved quite fast from Riley at home in Manhattan to being shipped off to fat camp. I think the story would have benefited from a slower pace and a chance to know the supporting characters. The only characters I felt you really got to know was Riley with a bit of Eric and her almost obsession with her best friend D. I did however enjoy Riley's letter writing campaign to her lawyer and others to keep from having to go to New Horizon.

Ms. Beck likes peppermint tea, movies with lots of synchronized dance sequences, boys with curly hair, and living in Brooklyn, New York. She also likes writing characters that make her laugh and make other people ask, "Um. . . is this autobiographical?" This Book Isn't Fat, It's Fabulous is her first novel. You can learn more about THIS BOOK ISN'T FAT, IT'S FABULOUS here: http://thisispoint.com/books/fatfabulous.asp

Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
August 2008

Nina Beck has written a great book. Our heroine is Riley Swain who comes from money, has a best enemy not a best friend, and a guy who is her best friend but whom she has loved for a long time. Riley is content to play the New York Socialite and her manners and behavior would be fit for the tabloids if she were a Spears or a Swank. But since she just goes to an expensive high school, and hangs out with well-to-do friends, she is just the center of attention. But all of that is about to change.

It's her senior year and she has coordinated and planned the senior trip to Mexico for the second week of spring break. But now her Father and soon-to-be step-mom have registered her to go to a Fat Camp at the New Horizons School for Young Ladies. While there, things in her life turn topsy-turvy; she starts falling for a boy who isn't her type and she needs to plan an escape so she can go on the trip and fool her parents. She starts examining her motives and behaviors in a real and profound way. Yet how can it all work out?

She has lied to her best friend the day before leaving New York and she kissed him for the first time and it was not what she expected. She has booked a fake spa week to fool her friends about where she is. She now has a new man in her life, but is not sure what she feels about the old one, and her whole world is crashing down around her.

Riley Swain who says that she is fabulous, and does not care what anybody else says, is now having feelings and is caring for people in ways she never knew she could. Can she untangle her feelings and save her social life that seems destined to crash and burn on Saturday? Read and find out.

This book really is fabulous. I enjoyed it a lot, and lent it to a friend - she was laughing out loud on the first page. This book is not about a fat girl becoming skinny, it is about an unhealthy girl becoming healthy, and that starts on the inside with the emotions. This is one of the best books for young people I have read since Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, and like that book, this has a lot to offer to the younger generation, and maybe even something for us older folks.

(First Published in Imprint 2008-09-12.)

This book is part of the Uncover Book series. The center of the book is made up of layers of plastic anatomical models of the physiological systems of a dog. The text surround the cut-out middle contains various facts related to the featured system. Photos and illustrations further support the information presented. As you lift each page, you can isolate the featured system and reveal another layer.

The pages, front and back, cover the system suspended in the cut-out area. The areas covered are as follows: Best Friends (with a see-through image of Labrador Retriever), Skull and Jaws, Skeleton, Cardiopulmonary, Reproductive, Digestion, Nervous System, Muscle System, and Skin and Fur.

The book presents many facts related to featured system. In some cases, I was surprised to learn new things about dogs (a litter of pups can have more than one father). I also found myself wanted to enforce knowledge I already knew (calling one of my dogs over so I could feel his legs as I looked at the pictures and plastic representation of the dog's leg bones).

The book doesn't provide an exhaustive explanation of the systems (I found the cardiopulmonary section lacking). Some of the plastic representations are a little disappointing (the reproductive system is a small squiggle). The book is more of a springboard to delving deeper elsewhere if there is an interest.

Overall, I liked the book. I feel it would be of great interest to most young readers and would be enjoyed by the adults sharing it with them. The book is not just for dog owners. It would pair nicely with other books in the series so the reader could compare and contrast different species.

As a dog breeder, I really value the visual details provided in this imaginative book. It's a accurate representation of canine anatomy using relevant descriptive terms. I highly recommend this book.

My daughter loves both dogs and Uncover books, so we were excited to see this one come out. I have to say, we were a little disappointed. Both the facts presented in the text and the parts included in the model seem to have been chosen randomly. The book does not present a systematic introduction to a dog's anatomy and the facts do not join together to make a whole as they did in the human body book, where every page talks about a different body system. It did not hold my child's interest as much as the earlier books did.