Fitzgerald Books

My daughter and I love Amelia Bedelia. Ive been reading them since I was a kid and they are still great! They constantly have my daughter laughing out loud. The vocabulary is great because it introduces new words and also exhibits how some words can have more than one meaning. This of course is why Amelia is always so confused. All in all this is a very funny and entertaining read. I highly recommend these books.

Poor, poor Amelia Bedelia -- so well-meaning and so very determined to do everything she is asked to do by her usually patient employer. But, this time, she went too far for Mrs. Rogers who was anxiously awaiting her cereal and coffee. I guess she wasn't expecting the cereal to be in her cup of coffee!

Suddenly finding herself unemployed, our favorite little housekeeper starts a dutiful job hunt. Oh, she's hired for a few new occupations, and once again follows orders to a T. In a beauty shop, she pins up a customer's hair with sharp pins from her purse! As a seamstress, she shortens dresses -- with scissors! If there's a mix-up possible in the world of employment, Amelia Bedelia will master it.

Don't despair, though. Come Back, Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish will see our heroine back at the job she does "best," working for her beloved Rogers family!

This is a lively, quick and humorous read with marvelous illustrations that move the story along for young readers.

This book is about the humor of taking things literally. Amelia Bedelia goes from job to job making mistakes because she does things so literally. Once, she saw a sign on a dress shop that said HELP WANTED. She went in and the store owner asked could she sew and Amelia say yes that she was handy with a needle. The owner showed her some dresses that had been marked and asked Amelia to shorten them. Amelia looked at the dresses and said "I don't need to sew to do this".
She took out her scissors and shortened the dresses where they were marked. The store owner got mad and told her to leave.

This book helped my seven year old get into reading... I'm very happy with this purchase...

When Amelia Bedelia, the housekeeper who literally takes everything literally, brings Mrs. Rogers her cereal with coffee, the woman takes one look at those flakes floating around in her coffee cup and fires Amelia before she gets a chance to fill her creme puffs. Amelia, one who always sees the bright side of life, sets out to find a job. First she goes to work in a beauty shop, but when she's told to pin up a customer's hair and does it with pins from her purse, she is fired. Then she finds work in a dress shop as a seamstress, but she shortens all the dresses with a scissors and is fired. As a file clerk, she stamps on the letters with her feet when told to stamp them and files papers with a fingernail file when told to file them. And when she goes to work for a doctor, well, you'll just have to read this book to your child to find out what mischief she gets into there. Fortunately she makes a terrific cream puff, because when she remembers she forgot to fill them and goes by the Rogers', they hire her back, because those cream puffs are just oh so good.

My son Devon is fast approaching three. He knows his letters, upper and lower case. He knows they make words and he loves to sit while I read Amelia Bedelia stories to him. We've been doing it for over a year now. At first I made up the story line as his didn't have the attention span or the ability to understand. Now I've started reading, pointing to the words as I go along. Ms. Parish has written an excellent series for children and in this one, Wallace Tripps illustrations set off Amelia's tales to a tee. If you want your toddler to read early, and I do, then this is a series for you.

Jack Priest, Dad in Training

Was Rob really Robert, Simon and Angelica's oldest son? Would they really kill their own son? It wasn't that clear unless I missed something.

When i first saw this book i saw it and i said to my self its just a book. After i heared i was suppose to read it for 15 min so i did. When i started readin it i didn't want to put it down. This book is fiction but if you like scary books you may want to read this.

This is the SCARIEST book i have ever read. The begining is freaky, and every part of the book kept me on the edge of my seat. This book should defintally become a movie. It's the scariest!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE Fear Street,it is UNREAL!!!...Unreal certainly IS the word isn't it??This is another very strange,very spooky,very EXCELLENT edition in this ..erm,imaginative..series!!

Jenna is visting her best friend Hannah who has recently moved to Shadyside. Jenna and Hannah run into Angelica and Simon Fear, whose daughters died a few years ago. Jenna doesn't trust the Fears, but Hannah loves them since they give her free things. But there's a terrifying secret Angelica and Simon are keeping from the girls. They have a plan to kill Hannah and Jenna so their dead daughters can start living again.

I really loved this book, but there were some boring parts which convinced me to give this book four stars. If you take away the boring parts, this book is awesome. The beginning and the ending are the best parts. There are usually never surprise endings in Fear Street Sagas, but there is in this one. Well, it's not a huge surprise. It can be guessed if you think hard about it. Anyway, Simon and Angelica are my favorite Fears. They're so evil that it's funny.

Read this book!

"By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young girl calling
'Michael, they have taken you away
For you stole Trevelyan's corn
So the young might see the morn'
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay..."

THE GREAT HUNGER is the definitive history of the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-1849. When the Englishwoman Cecil Woodham-Smith published this book in 1962 she was vilified and branded a Communist by the British establishment which had spent the previous 120 years explaining away what is undoubtedly the greatest European famine since antiquity. Estimates of the dead are difficult to quantify. Conservative historians put the number at 1-2 million; others place it closer to 6,000,000. At least another 1.5 million Irish fled their homeland.

Like most disasters, "An Gortha Mor" seems both inevitable and avoidable in retrospect. The Irish population exploded in the first half of the 19th century reaching an official 8.2 million (and an unofficial ten million) just before the Famine. But unlike Britain, which had become heavily industrialized and was moving confidently into the modern and scientific Victorian Era, Ireland was sunk in a morass of poverty and dejection. The average Irish countryman led a life no better than the poorest serfs of Imperial Russia of the day, and the Irish were subject to all manner of legal restrictions, mass unemployment, subsistence agriculture, exploitation by landlords, and eviction at whim from the land and their homes, often just a rude mud cabin. With no education, and few skills other than potato farming, eviction meant almost certain death for husbands, wives and children. Often, they were driven even from the bogs where they'd found shelter after being put out.

The Blight, too, meant certain death for far too many. Eating nothing but potatoes and buttermilk, these most wretched people literally had nothing at all to sustain them after the crop turned into a glutinous, stinking mass of black rot. They died in droves, particularly in the poor west of Ireland, bleak and rocky Connaught. The typhus which followed killed more.

As hideous as all this seems, Cecil Woodham-Smith tells us that the Blight was only one factor in the disaster that overtook the Irish. More insidious was the attitude of the British administration which largely stayed hardset in its laissez-faire attitude, refusing to step in and feed the Irish, refusing to interfere with the free market economy of the day, and worst of all, refusing to grasp that the market economy only works when people have money or skills to trade for products and services. In 1845, Ireland was still a pre-capitalist economy, and the mercantile approach of the British simply could not be applied there; still, the British tried, and blamed their own failure to address the Famine on their convenient perceptions of Irish intransigence and laziness.

Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan may be one of the most hated figures in Ireland even to this day. Effectively the head of British efforts at Famine Relief, Trevelyan was unenamored of the Irish, he was a rock-ribbed capitalist, and, though moral and moralistic to a fault, was also just as singleminded, blind to the suffering of the populace, but fixed on promoting Irish efforts at self-help. He bought a parsimonious 100,000 Pounds Sterling worth of unmilled American corn, and doled it out to provide for the eight million Irish. Amazingly, Trevelyan kept food EXPORTS flowing out of the country at pre-Famine levels throughout (!) Nothing could interfere with trade.

A disciple of the philosopher Thomas Malthus, Trevelyan cast a cold and dispassionate eye over Ireland's circumstances, seeing them as a form of natural population control. At the same time, the British placed the country under virtual martial law, decreeing "seven long years Transportation way on down to Van Diemen's Land" (Tasmania) for minor infractions and acts of desperation (such as stealing corn).

Was this, as many have posited, an organized genocide? Certainly, there were those among the British who despised the Irish to that extent. On the other hand, if this had been an organized killing field, then why did the British do anything at all to help the Irish, little as it was?

Woodham-Smith's tales of people living in bogs, of coffinless mass funerals, of fever patients being abandoned by their terrified relations, of Ireland starving to death, cannot help but touch the reader. The British are presented as less calculating than more stupid, unable to adjust their thought processes to meet the crisis. Conditions were so awful and the Irish were so reduced and brutalized, forced to filthiness, criminal desperation and hair-trigger violence that when the Irish left Ireland (on rotten-bottomed Coffin Ships, like as not), their arrival in American and Canadian ports can be summed up shortly: NO IRISH NEED APPLY. "Paddy Wagons" were so named because they carried Irish miscreants almost exclusively for a time. Miraculously, the Irish rose, and rose all the way to the U.S. Presidency in just three generations.

More than just a history of the Potato Famine, THE GREAT HUNGER is an indictment of the too-common human propensities of blaming the victim, making gestures instead of taking action, and that of ultimately doing nothing. The truth behind every human tragedy can be found in the pages of THE GREAT HUNGER.

This is an essential read.

I have read and reread this history several times and bought copies for
my sons.

I don't believe anyone can understand the Ireland of today without
this touching and tragic reference.

I had to read this novel for a college course on the British Empire. It is definitely not an easy read, but is extremely interesting if you can get through it (which I of course had to, to write a paper on it..). It is definitely one of the better assignments I have had to do.

Anyway, I just wanted to leave a comment, that I think its ridiculous that a handful of people that reviewed this book did not even realize that the book is written by a woman...

In this account of the Famine,the author paints a picture of events which led up to ,and caused the Famine, the international poliics of the day, the weather patterns, the logistics of providing relief to so many destitute people.
Written factually and without blame it is a most interesting and informative read, I am glad I bought it.

This history book reminds us that the Irish were mistreated in their homeland and in the USA when they first arrived. It tells of the heroic efforts to help the impoverished, illiterate populace and of the failed attempts by the British government to deal with a culture so foreign to their own.
It is a reminder of how far the Irish have come since the Celtic Tiger is rampant and people from Eastern Europe and the third world are going to Ireland for jobs and better lives.
Cecil Woodham-Smith is a British woman.

The thought of hiring someone to help in the house brought up a swirling mixture of emotions, making it hard to logically decide if household help was right for me. Besides covering all the how-to issues of placing ads, interviewing, training, and paying taxes, in her book Kathy helps readers sort out the emotional side of deciding to hire household help. In summation, if we are willing to buy a meal from a fast food chain that pays its workers a bit above minimum wage, why not pay someone to cook a meal for us in our own kitchen (at a higher hourly wage)? Ditto for paying for laundry services, a grocery store that picks out our food, or a babysitter to watch the kids while we do chores. Because I am a married woman without kids, I initially decided to hire a cleaning service to come once a month instead of hiring my own part-time employee. But when my husband ruptured his Achilles' tendon, leading to three successive casts and rehabilitation, my work activities as a self-employed writer and real estate investor came to a crashing halt. Much of my time was spent doing his share of the chores plus taking care of his new needs. I reread Kathy's book, placed an ad in the local college newspaper, and received three calls a day until I canceled the ad early (I decided it was worth it to offer $11 per hour to get the best applicants I could afford). The mature student I hired has worked in the past for a cleaning service, is more of a neatnik than I am, and is a talented cook! Even after my husband's leg heals, I suspect we are going to continue hiring part-time help. It is absolutely wonderful to leave my computer and walk upstairs into a clean house with fresh baked cookies cooling on the counter! For us, it is worth it to economize in other areas (our newest car is 8 years old) in order to afford household help. I'm glad Kathy wrote this book because it helped us make a decision that worked for us.

I am surprised by all the good reviews this book has received.

To start with, this book is mainly about a woman who says 1) she isn't very good at housework and 2) just plain doesn't want to do it, so she hires it out. Now, mind you, there is *nothing* wrong with that attitude, people hire out tasks all the time for those very reasons.

However, throughout the book, she makes derogatory assumptions such as:

Housekeeping is a no skills/low skills job
People who choose to be housekeepers aren't very smart
Children can't be trained to take over housekeeping tasks

And so on--too many to list here, and then in other parts of the book she goes and contradicts some of her previous statements.

Her arguments for hiring a housekeeper are of the whiny, I-shouldn't-have-to-do-this-demeaning-work type, and she brings up the tired, "traditional" man vs. woman arguments, as well as "we're all too busy". Do men and women argue over housework? Of course, but these days usually the arguments are neatnik vs. slob, not about who's doing (or not doing) the dishes. Are people busier than they used to be? Maybe, but that is a choice you make, not something forced on you.

Children need some chores to teach them life skills for when they leave home--the few chores she leaves for children in her book are a joke. If you're willing to take the time to train a new housekeeper, why not spend that quality time training your children instead? Not to mention that, if you're truly willing to pay for housekeeping, why not pay family first?

She has a cost justification worksheet, where for example she states that you save money by having your housekeeper prepare your meals. Well, no, you're shifting the costs from buying convenience foods and/or eating out to paying your new employee. And, by the way, her website where she says there are forms to use does not work.

In one way, this book was unintentionally funny--in the back she has a list of references. In it, she lists books such as The Sidetracked Sisters Catch Up On the Kitchen. If she'd taken time to actually *read* the book, and their first book, Sidetracked Home Executives, she would have learned that it would not be necessary to hire a housekeeper. Once you go to all the trouble to clean up for the housekeeper and get a system in place (which Sherman insists on, by the way, so that a housekeeper will *want* to work for you), the little that is left to do could easily be accomplished by her children, her, and her husband. For example, one of the DAILY tasks for her housekeeper is to vacuum the entry, living room, etc. Well, if you have a "no shoes" policy, you could vacuum once a week, or even every other week.

After reading this book, I still was not convinced that hiring out your housekeeping would allow you to increase your income, or even save you money, although it might make you feel better.

Now, on the other hand, a housekeeper would be quite helpful, say if you have several children under 5 at home, or are looking into one for an elderly parent, you're recovering from surgery, etc., and for someone in these situations, this book would be helpful for overcoming objections to hiring one. But for the vast majority of people, let's be honest, hiring out housekeeping is a *luxury*, not a necessity.

The book has a few useful food recipes, some tips on getting your point across, and a sample housekeeper schedule that you might find useful. Borrow from your library first, before buying.

I also suggest that people read "Your Money or Your Life" along with this book to get some perspective. Would you rather do a little housework here and there on your terms and timetable, or work at a job that not only costs you money to go to, but puts restrictions on how you spend your time and creates extra stress in your life so that you can hire a housekeeper?

I'm sold on the idea of getting household help, but many of my friends say they would rather do it on their own. Rather clean toilets than play golf? Rather mop the floor than spend time with their families? Hey, get your priorities straight.
A clean house creates a haven for you and your family, but it doesn't have to cost you all your free time. This book helps you understand the need for help in our over-scheduled lives and what can be traded to make it affordable.
The book is written in a straight-forward manner and really covers the topic well.
Here's a comment I found by the author on the Dollar Stretchers website: "Conflicts over housework are rapidly joining the 'big two' causes of arguments (sex and money) in two-career families. Household chores which include tasks like grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, ironing, daily tidy-up, and heavy cleaning average 35 hours a week in families with children, a burden that is borne disproportionately by women whether or not they work outside the home. After trying, and failing, to get their husbands to take on an equal share of this workload, women are paying the price through increased stress levels, loss of leisure time, and damage to their marriages because of rising levels of anger and resentment towards their spouses."

This book practically saved my marriage. We were both working full-time but then had another full-time job at home so we barely had time for our marriage. The housekeeper isn't that expensive after we analyzed things.

Another book that we got that really got our marriage back on track was -- The Romantic's Guide. It gave us hundreds of tips and ideas on things to do to get closer again. I'd highly recommend both.

This "author", and I use that term loosely, has the nerve to write several "customer reviews" (as opposed to editorial reviews, which she is obviously not qualified to do) on several ground breaking amd creative books regarding social and economic conditions. For what reason? To shamelessly promote her own book. This is a pathetic attempt to plug her own work, and its a disgrace to legitimate authors. She ought to be ashamed of herself, not only for her comments, but for this pathetic literary attempt. Shame on you Kathy Sherman.

Delia and Karina are always fighting over so many things. Grades, Boys.... This time, they both want Vincent. But Karina wants to make sure, Vincent will go to him. She'll do anything. Even murder Delia. But when Vincent turns up dead, the town wants to know whuch one of the girls' kiss was deadly.

My 8 year old grandson checked this book out of the elementary school library. Needless to say, the title made me suspicious as to the content. After I read it, his parents notified the school. It has now been removed. This type of book may be o.k. for adults, if they like this sort of story; however, it should not be allowed in schools. Wonder where kids are getting the ideas to shoot up classrooms and malls? Check out the books they're reading......

Killer's Kiss is an easy to read fast flowing storyline that although a little predictable it has enough twists that keep the reader questioning what they think is going on is actually what is. R.L. Stine has written a substantial number of books marketed at children, young adults and adults and the publishing company has decided to place Killer's Kiss in the Young Adult category. Whilst some of Stine's childrens' fiction is a bit basic for adults or specifically written to only appeal to a specific age market this is not so with Killer's Kiss. Killer's Kiss is a simple and easy to read book but contains enough storyline substance that those who read most of their books from the adult fiction novel level won't still enjoy this. It also doesn't use teenage specific vocabulary (which would date the book extremely fast if it did) meaning those who are no longer teens can still follow it as well and in ten years time the next generation of young adults will still enjoy it as well.

Killer's Kiss is the story of a the self centred huge egod popular highschool boy (Vincent) and the affect his desire to manipulate two former best friends into believing he is dating each of them exclusively and convincing them the other is just jealous and delusional. Delia and Karina (the two girls) have been competing against each other their whole lives with Delia usually being pipped at the post by Karina. Delia has had enough of this and won't have what she believes to be her current boyfriend stolen from her. Karina has also had enough of what she believes to be Delia wanting everything she has. Throw in a talent contest and you've got an unhealthy competition that's deadly serious!

This book was very interesting.Right when I thought I had it figured out,it was something completely different.I've always loved R.L. Stine and this book didn't disappoint me at all.He has much better books,but this is still very great!

Although I thought this book would be kind of wack it turned out 2 be a great book. And the ending is so shocking. This was one of my first fear street books and know I read a book of Fear street almost everyday. This book is surprising and u wont let it down until your finish it. A thriller

I very much enjoy profiles of interesting people and had high hopes for this book, but it's awful. In fact, I gave up on about the fourth tape.

I managed (with great difficulty) to get through part of the article on Richard Pryor but the vulgar language made me stop. Granted, that might be appropriate for a piece about Pryor, but I think it would be possible to write an interesting biographical sketch without it.

The article on Ernest Hemingway was the most boring and meaningless piece of tripe I've ever read. How could ANYONE make Hemingway seem deadly dull? By recounting an almost minute by minute, blow by blow, excursion in New York to buy a coat. What was the author thinking????

The short article on Katharine White was okay, but nothing special and actually more about the writer than her subject.

The article on Mr. Hunter's Grave, which was a 'non celebrity' piece, was overly long and exceedingly dull, with very poor narration.

That's when I decided life is too short to spend listening to books like this. If this is the best The New Yorker can do, it's no wonder I don't subscribe!

If you are a fan of biographies but are intimidated by 1,000-page tomes, Life Stories is a great choice. Some say the New Yorker invented the "profile," and though it does seem the magazine was the first to call its biographical pieces by that name (amazing, considering how ubiquitous the term is today), editor David Remnick is quick to assert that they hardly invented the style. What they have done for decades is find the most interesting people and have the best writers provide illumination. Nearly every profile here is profound and nearly every one of them is short enough to read in a single (long) sitting. And while it's a treat to learn intimate details of some of the most famous people of the 20th century, it's the profiles of the lesser-known people that shine: from Joseph Mitchell's encounter with an aging churchman with a penchant for baking to the story of the Chudnovsky brothers, Russian emigres who built a supercomputer in their apartment from salvaged parts. Fantastic reading from start to finish.

The writing is beautiful. The story telling is beautiful. The stories are amazing. Five Stars.

This is a collection of prime examples of the long gone "profile" piece in The New Yorker magazine. They just don't write 'em like this anymore!

Choose Truman Capote's profile of Marlon Brando, or Lillian Ross' profile of Ernest Hemingway, or any of the 20-some other profiles in this book. You will read some of the best writing about some of the most exciting people in 20th Century history.

Is there a second volume in the works? I hope so!

Hemingway, Baryishnikov, and Henry Luce are the subjects of some of my favorite celebrity profiles in this wonderful book. But topping my list is "Man Goes to See a Doctor", the awesome Adam Gopnik's sweet and funny rendering of his shrink. Here's a snippet: "Your problems remind me of" - and here he named one of the heroes of the New York School. "Fortunately, you suffer from neither impotence nor alcoholism. This is in your favor." Highly recommended!

My daughters loved it. laughed out loud, AND they get credit for it as an AR book at school! Fantastic!

Pro: this was an exciting, interesting book. I enjoyed reading it and re-reading it.

Con: Bruce Coville can get very preachy at times. In this book we look at the worst of humanity, and he makes it sound like all of humanity is a terrible violent monsters. But while there are horrible things in the world, you must realize they are showing us the worst-there are better! And with all the no doubt millions of alien races, we're the worst of the worst? Yeah, right. I especially hate it when he talks about the television as if it serves to purpose other than to turn our brain into swiss cheese.

If you can get over the self-righteousness and the pessimism about the human race, this is a lovely book.

This was an incredible ending to a fun series that was started with My Teacher is an Alien. While it remained fun, it was also much more intense, like ice water suddenly dumped on you unexpectedly.

But I think it's "kid safe." As a child I saw Return to Oz and had horrid nightmares; by the age of 10 I read a short horror story for adults where I find out that the man telling the story is insane and his family is dead and I broke out in tears. Yet as sensitive as I was, this book did not cause a severe reaction, but pulled me in with its shocking surprises, both hopeful and horrid. Bruce Coville has done a truly amazing job at making the horrors of the world accessible to kids (though probably not younger than 10) without being either traumatizing or patronizing about it, though he did (thankfully) gloss over some of the worse parts. (Example: "What had already been done to those people was so ugly I cannot bring myself to describe it, even though the memory of it remains like a scar burned into my brain with a hot iron.")

Furthermore, I would add that this is not a book promoting any ideology. This doesn't encourage your children to grow up and vote Democrat or Republican, or embrace socialism or libertarianism. This is a book promoting VALUES. And contrary to the propaganda of many ideologues and Party Pushers, values and ideology are two completely different things.

All ideologies, to my knowledge, explain the ways that they think are best for solving the problems Coville brings up. But values determine what gets done; ideology detemines how it gets done. A revolution that changes ideology but not values will only change the HOW things get done, not WHAT gets done. Even functioning anarchies (communes, tribal, even regions like Barcelona in the Spanish Civil War) show that the values that are shared by a community will be displayed, no matter what system is in place.

If I get into an ideological debate with someone who shares the same values as I do, then what we're debating is the best way to solve the same problem, not debating if the problem exists or how important it is. I also find that I much prefer the company of people who have different political leanings from myself but share my values to those who share my political leanings but not my values. I think that Bruce Coville, intentionally or unintentionally, has also expressed this view ("...not the leaders, not the government, just the people..."). Which is to say, don't fear that your child will be brainwashed into serving some political agenda, though Coville might get help your child to care in the first place.

Finally, the book does show much that is noble and good about humanity, too. I found it to be ultimately hopeful, if sobering.

In many ways, it's a child's version of Carl Sagan's Contact. While Contact has a credible alien society, IMO, My Teacher Flunked the Planet has entertaining aliens. But both books help us, kid or adult, look seriously at the insanity of our planet's societies, and also the hope.

Many science fiction books that are written for children aim to take them away into a fantasy land where anything can happen. Not this one. This story takes a hopeful mind back to the grim reality of the planet we live in, with all its violence, disease, and emotional pain presented in the book the way it really is. A continuation to a trilogy of somewhat less exciting books, My Teacher Flunked the Planet shows its readers how truly perverse and ignorant we ALL are, and shows that even those characters who believe they are above it all (some of the aliens) have as many flaws of their own as do we "barbaric" humans. I too noticed the strong liberal political messages in the book, after I had read it through several times. But even those who do not agree with Coville's political ambitions should be able to readily enjoy this book for its raw imaginary excitement.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed in this concluding story in Bruce Coville's My Alien series. This is a much more serious book than its predecessors, conveying a strong message about human society today. While it addresses important issues such as war, poverty, starvation, and other social ills, it comes off as a tad preachy in places. The fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, and it is up to the series' three young heroes to convince a worried Interplanetary Council that the planet should be spared. Susan Simmons, Duncan Dougal, and Peter Thompson come together as a complete unit for the first time, each having previously narrated his/her own account of the events and discoveries leading up to the ultimate final challenge. Susan has exposed her new teacher as a reptilian alien on a mission to "kidnap" five students for study, Duncan has gone from slow-witted bully to a nice, highly intelligent young man after having his brains "fried," and Peter has traveled into the depths of space and met all manner of alien creatures. With the help of a few human-friendly aliens, they now face the largest challenge conceivable: proving to the leaders of the galaxy that all hope for humanity's mending its wicked ways is not lost. If they fail, the Earth will be destroyed in much the same way harmful bacteria are eradicated before they can spread their harmful influence beyond the localized area in which they are currently festering.

Things aren't looking very good for life on Earth; traveling in disguise back on their home planet, our team gets a close-up look at many of mankind's worst ills, and even the kids are often at a loss as to how to defend a people who do such terrible things to one another. All of this is well and good (albeit a little too preachy), but the conclusion of the story (and thus of the whole series) was a let-down. The big climax is more of a hit-and-run than a well-executed denouement, leaving me looking down for the rug that Coville pulled from under my feet at the last minute. It's still an impressive final book in a very entertaining series, but I just expected something more. While this book is by far the most important of the series, incorporating issues that some young readers may not have a full grasp on yet, it is far less entertaining and amusing than the first three books. For a youngster ready to make the move to more serious children's fiction, though, My Teacher Flunked the Planet stands as a gateway to a world where learning takes its place alongside pure entertainment.

In the first sequel to his bestselling MY TEACHER IS AN ALIEN, Bruce Coville takes us back to the town of Kennituck Falls, home of Susan Simmons, Duncon Dougal, and the recently abducted (!!)) Peter Thompson. This time, however, there's a new alien in town who is even more heinous in appearance than Broxholm and with a strange new pet named Poot.

In the first novel, an alien named Broxholm takes over one of the local middle-school classrooms as a substitute teacher, with the expressed intention of capturing five children (the smartest kid, the dumbest kid, and the three most average kids) to take back to his alien space ship for further study. In the first novel Broxholm is painted as quite the enemy, and it is with cheering we root for Susan to defeat this evil, kidnapping alien.

As the first novel is a standalone book first and foremost (kind of like THE HOBBIT in that Coville had no real sequel in mind when he wrote it), it is very self-contained and can be read on its own without reading the other three. Starting with this sequel, Coville begins building a storyline that will not be fully resolved until the fourth installment in the series, MY TEACHER FLUNKED THE PLANET.

For this installment, a new alien has come to town, but the name of Kreeblim. Unlike Broxholm, who is harsh and rather strict, Kreeblim has a much sweeter disposition, and in personality much the opposite to Broxholm. Her mission is similar to Broxholm; conduct teaching experiments on the human race, to study how we learn. Her mission was supposed to end when Broxholm's did, but due to his sudden departure with Peter Thompson at the end of the first book, she is left to her own devices for a while, and decides to conduct some further field research by unleashing one of her student's unrealised brain potential.

Enter Duncan Dougal. The common dime-a-dozen school bully from the first novel, this installment is told totally from his POV. Coville gets into his head a lot, and helps young readers understand what made him the way he is through his home environment, and how his family life shapes his social interactions with the other characters. Duncan, the traditionally stupid bully, has a change of heart when Kreeblim uses a device in class that enables him to begin unlocking the full potential of his brain. Ultimately, this has unforeseen consequences which Kreeblim uses to contact her colleagues to send a ship to pick her up.

There's quite a few more details along the way, including the introduction of Kreeblim's bet Poot, a gelatin like animal who can be split into several new pieces (asexual reproduction) and figures prominently in both this and the last book. There is also a skin glove that Duncan finds that helps him realise a new alien is in town. (Of course, you can't help but wonder why Duncan, who becomes a genius by the end of the book, couldn't put two and two together and realise who the identity of the alien is when it's pretty obvious to the reader for most of the book. Even Kreeblim comments on this oversight of Duncan). Coville's main focus throughout the book is the awesome unrealised potential of the human brain, which comes into prominent display in the last book as well.

At the end of the novel, Peter Thompson arrives, telling Susan and Duncan there is the Earth is in serious intergalactic trouble, and is the cause of much turmoil. The three children are whisked off into outer space to be briefed by what is the rough equivalent of the United Nations for the Galaxy (though the more appropriate term would be United Planets or United Solar Systems or United Star Systems, something along those lines), and so the stage is set for the events in MY TEACHER FLUNKED THE PLANET.

One of the biggest changes from the previous novel is the readers' and characters' perceptions of the aliens. In the previous book, Coville painted Broxholm as the villain and leaves it at that. It is only in the three sequels do we learn that Broxholm and Kreeblim (who is actually Broxholm's superior), are actually on an anthropological mission on earth to investigate what the Intergalactic League has labeled "The Earth Question." And what is that question? Why are people so full of pain and rage and destroy themselves. Also, why do they have the most amazing brain in the entire known galaxy and use so little of it.

Throughout the book, Coville is clearly addressing learning issues, and helps his target audience of children relate to learning as a positive experience, as well as address the "human condition" that is everybody's problem. He also helps children relate too and further understand what makes Duncan a bully, and with this character he allows the children to build sympathy with a previously unsympathetic character.

Overall, this is a good novel for middle-schoolers, and an enjoyable story for adults as well. I read [(and reread)] the books when I was growing up numerous times, and have returned to them periodically in adulthood. The series is well-written enough that adults reading will find the books rather enjoyable, quick reads. But be warned. You can read the first one as a stand alone work. However, starting with this one, Coville leaves you hanging at the end, and you need to read the next two installments to get finish the full story arc. And the story arc is good enough that I encourage you to keep reading.

My girls loved it! PLUS, they get credit for it as an AR book at school! FANTASTIC!!!

My review for my teacher fried my brains was a good book. In fact I would recommend it to anyone who has an awkward imagination. The main character Duncan was a curious boy just like me so I can get a feel of what he's going through. Except I've never had an encounter with real live aliens, unfortunately he has. My favorite part of the book was when Duncan got his brains fried. Another good part of the book was when he found the green glob of gloop known as "Poot". Another creepy part of the book was when Duncan was in the dumpster and he found the human hand.
If you like Science fiction then this is a good book for you. This was a funny book and I enjoyed reading it.

My book review for My Teacher fried my brains was good. In fact I would recommend it to anyone who has an awkward imagination. The main character Duncan was a curious boy just like me so I can get a feel of what he's going through. Except I've never had an encounter with real live aliens, unfortunately he has. This was a fun book to read for anyone who likes Science Fiction. It was a creepy and interesting point of view from the author.

I really liked this book because it was very funny and exciting.Also whenever I finished a chapter I did not want to stop reading.And that is unusial for me.My favorite part was when the teacher fried his brains.I really think you should read this book because I do not like very many books and I liked this one.

First published in 1953, this is the sequel to Cleary's "Ellen Tebbits," about a girl whose nemesis, a troublemaking boy named Otis Spofford, now gets the spotlight. Otis is cut out of the same cloth as Dennis The Menace and Calvin & Hobbes, he is 100% self-absorbed, action-craving, all-American boy and even though he'd never admit it, he loves to tease his classmate Ellen because, well, maybe he kind of likes her. The book starts slowly, since Otis is such an unsympathetic character, it's harder to care about him or his hijinks. Things pick up, though, when his path intersects with Ellen's and the story gains more emotional color. Particularly delightful is the moment when Ellen and her friend Austine realize that they don't *have* to run when Otis chases them, and the sudden comeuppance of this dopey third-grade bully is a classic moment in kid's lit. This is arguably one of Cleary's lesser works, but it's still pretty enriching. It's also a little darker and more negative than many of her other books: probably best to keep precocious younger readers away from this one for a while, if you don't want to them to learn, for example, how to wreck a classroom when the teacher steps out. But for older kids who have already discovered this kind of misbehavior, this book could be both fun and instructive. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain children's book reviews)

As a little girl I read Beverly Cleary books and now I have introduced them to my children who vary in age from 18 - 10, each four years apart. They all have loved all her books, but Otis Spofford was each one favorite! I paced them at grades and Otis was the book given in 4th grade. My son is now re-reading it! This book is a gem!

I read this book back in 3rd or 4th grade. Now in my 50s, I was driving to work today when for some reason I remembered the line: "Toreador, don't spit on the floor," which I then looked up in Google. This led me back to Bev Cleary, the author. (Although Bart Simpson also appears to have said it, I don't watch the Simpsons). In addition to Otis Spofford, she also wrote the Henry Huggins books, which I also enjoyed. A book like this that lasts nearly 50 years will probably be enjoyed by most readers.

The book I'm doing for my book review is Otis Spofford written by Beverly Clearly. I rate this book three star. I rate it this way because I didn't like it, but I kind of did like it. This book is about a kid who needs to do a project but needs a good grade. Otis and his friends do the weirdest project. If he doesn't get a good grade on his work, he will be grounded for two weeks in the summer. If I have to recommend this book I would, especially for people who don't believe in themselves when they're doing school work. If you want to find out the ending you must read the book Otis Spofford.

Emerson, NJ Fifth Grader

I read this to my third grade class and they loved it. Every day we wanted to see what Otis was up to. He is so mischievious that some of the kids really relate, especially when Otis talks about how boring school is (I took no offense). My students couldn't believe the stuff he pulled on his teacher and this was written over 50 years ago! Our favorite was the hair cutting incident. They couldn't believe he actually cut a girl's hair.

If you liked this book I would recommend Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, another story of a boy looking for some excitement. Enjoy!

'And out of the shadows of the ditch rose a thing of nightmare -- a vast thing, black and hooded.' from SHADOWGATE by EMILY RODDA

This book was very exciting. A bit violent in some bits like the death of Otto and the removal of the mask (OUCH!) but all in all a great children's book.

Would I be a horrible person to say that until this book, after so many Deltora stories, this is one of my absolute favorites? I was absolutely enchanted with the imagination of Rodda in this book as the takes on several different settings--the smalltown, folksy feel of a village, a wondrous traveling circus with a secret, and of course that classic scary ol' castle.

Lief, Barda, and Jasmine, whilst searching for the village known as Shadowgate, find themselve in the company of a group of performers known as the Masked Ones, acrobats, magicians, etc. who all wear the stunning masks of animals and hide a terrible secret as they do so.

As she did in "City of the Rats", Rodda cleverly examines a culture who do things without knowing the truth of what they do and people who would dare step outside the norms.

Like a scary clown story, this olds the eerie magic of a circus combined with classic horror and all-around imagination.

I like this book because its a fun adventure story where three kids travel throgh deltora to have dragons help them destroy the sisters. In this book lief,barda,jasmine go through many mysteries and puzzles to get to one of the sisters but before they can destroy the sisters they have to free the dragon in that area. Also the dragon can only help them so much because he has a border that he vowed not to pass before he went into a long deep sleep. Before you read this book you should read the books before it so you under stand the story.

The book Shadowgate by Emily Rodda was the second in the Dragon's of Deltora series. I had not read the first book in the series, but I was able to easily catch up on the story and understand the plot of this book. I thought it was a well written and interesting story of good versus evil - the heroes were brave and honarable, the evil villains were original, and the mythical creatures were not typical. I think this is a good choice for readers who like fantasy and adventure books.

Having destroyed the sister of the East, our heroes must destroy the sister of the North now, to free Deltora from the clutches of famine and death.The second sister lies in the shadowed ruins of Shadowgate, where dangerous monsters purr and crawl.The Shadow Lord knows all about their quest and tries everything he can to stop them.Will they be able to free themselves from the dangerous clutches of the masked ones, talented troups of travellers who wear masks that have somehow become part of their face?Will they be able to solve the many riddles of the towns they pass?Will Lief, Jasmine and Barda be able to overcome the evil shadows that lie on the old, deserted and ruined castle of Shadowgate?Read the second book in Deltora Dragons to find out!