Franklin Books

Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young girl

I think this is a great book. Anne Frank shows great emotion and tells her life in the "secret annex." She tells about her love life and how her experiences were in this life. I think people should read this book. It's educational in a way and will let you understand a little about what went on behind closed doors.

Anne's diary explains how she felt during her time in World War II. She was very unhappy about having to leave her home and go into hiding. While she was in hiding her and her family were captured by the Germans and taken to Jewish camps. Then after they were captured her father found Anne's diary and gave it to the world to read. Now we the people have all access to the thoughts of Anne Frank.

She was a young Jewish girl that lived a sad life. Anne had a good since of humor, a pretty smile and the heart of a true young girl. This girl who bared all in her diary will live on forever even though she is no longer with us. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about how life was in hiding during the Holocaust. It maybe sad, but this is a amazing story.
By: Sarah age 13

Anne Frank is about a girl who wrote a diary about her life. The main charecters are Anne and her family. The main problems are that they're Jewish and the Germans were prejudice against Jewish people at that time. The Germans were sending them to concentration camps. My favorate character was Anne because she is a really brave girl who writes a diary about her life and her terrible tragedy.

I could relate to Anne Frank because I come from another country where I was born and I also was having security problems there. I think I feel the same things she felt because sometimes I feel fear to be in Colombia, my native country. That's what she also felt.

I liked the book a lot, and I didn't have a favorite part of the book, because I liked the whole book...

I would recommend this book to people because I think it's really interesting and it's a true story. If I had to be someone in the book, I would be Anne because I would like to be recognized as a great writer in history.

This was an excellent book, very touching and very emotional, and Anne is a hero, a brave little girl.

When the war occurs, Anne and her family take refuge in The Secret Annex which is the back of a house. She writes down
her thoughts and feelings routinely, as in a diary. Abruptly, the
entries end.

It isn't until the afterword that we learn of her terrible fate. The sad part is that the incidents in this book
really happened. I give this book 5 stars:)

This is an excellent book. Diana Taylor is a wonderful writer and anyone interested in performance studies and/or theatre of conversion will benefit from reading it.

Taylor's "The Archive and the Repertoire" is an absolute must-read for all scholars and students in performance studies, cultural studies, Latin American studies, and the social sciences in general.

Drawing on a diverse range of case studies from a Peruvian community theatre troupe to Univision astrologist Walter Mercado to her own firsthand account of witnessing 9/11, Taylor creates a new vocabulary for describing how cultures remember and re-enact with the body.

Although her insights are crucial for the future of performance studies and useful to senior scholars in the field, she writes with a clarity and personality that will engage undergraduate students as well.

VERY highly recommended.

In her wonderful new book, Diana Taylor, a distinguished professor of both Spanish and performance studies, brings her areas of expertise into "conversation." Performances, she argues, are vital "acts of transfer" that transmit social knowledge, memory and a sense of identity in Latin/o American (and by extension other) cultures.
She writes, "I am not suggesting that we merely extend our analytic practice to other `Non-Western' areas. Rather, what I propose here is a real engagement between two fields that helps us rethink both." By working from the points of disconnection between area and performance studies Taylor creates a new framework for approaching performance as embodied social practice.

Shifting focus to "the live" requires new methodologies and Taylor creates exciting new theoretical tools to further this discussion. Since, in her view, much performance writing betrays the "embodiedness" it seeks to describe; Taylor coins terms that do not derive from literary sources. The repertoire of her title is her term for a "non-archival system of transfer" that can capture the ephemeral trace of performance. By providing her reader with a kind of archive of affect, Taylor makes the body central. She argues that the repertoire "allows for an alternative perspective on historical processes...by following traditions of embodied practice" instead of literary rhetoric. As an alternative to "narrative" she offers scenario, a term with a theatrical genealogy, meaning an open-ended " sketch or outline" as a way to connote colonial encounters. For example, Taylor wittily names the scenario in which we are encouraged to "overlook the displacement and disappearance of native peoples" at the root of the popular show Survivor, "Fantasy Island." Taylor expands on this theme in her second chapter, Scenarios of Discovery: Reflections on Performance and Ethnography. She writes, "Using scenario as a paradigm for understanding social structures and behaviors might allow us to draw from the repertoire as well as the archive."

Using these terms as "portable frameworks" and moving in and out of first person experience, Taylor explores a range of hemispheric performances. Chapters on the Mexican mestizaje, campy Latino American psychic Walter Mercado, and the ways that minority populations mourned Princess Diana, explore the hybrid spaces between perception and embodied culture. Taylor revisits the Argentinean "Dirty War"
(the topic of her book Disappearing Acts) in her chapter on H.I.J.O.S. -the children of the disappeared- and the "DNA of performance" that links them with their absent parents. Chapters on Brazilian performance artist Denise Stoklos, witnessing 9/11 and a 1998 Central Park performance of Rumba musicians interrupted by the NYPD, investigate the complex relations between hegemonic power and the anarchic spirit of live performance against a background of historic violence.

This book is a path-making piece of scholarship that recognizes performance as a valid focus of analysis. It creates a dialogue between area and performance studies that values the unique features of both. The questions Diana Taylor asks in Archive and the Repertoire extend beyond this work and will shape a terrain of inquiry in performance studies for years to come.

In these perilous times we are infused with patriotism and a firm
resolve to keep our country free and to send the word out that
we are strong in military might and determination. Unfortunately,
much of this is mere rhetoric. The present author, a retired
Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, brings to the forefront
his extensive experience and great concern for the future of our
country by detailing our past history in the area of military
procurement--its shortcomings as well as its positive aspects--
and a blueprint for the future. Although I feel well- informed about current events in the world, it was a startling revelation
for me to discover that I was totally unaware of the true nature
of military preparedness.We may have the determination to keep
our nation secure, but of necessity this must be backed by the means to do so. WE must have these means--military supplies and
weapons--precisely when needed. This implies that they must be
procured well in advance as speedily and efficiently as possible. Lengthy deliberations in the industrial sector and the
halls of government may seriously impair our effectiveness in our defense. Facts and figures are provided in this book to
strengthen the argument that we must act now so that we are not
caught defenseless. The author was in the center of the area of
procurement and had vital associations with some of the well-known personages involved, including the President of the United
States. The book is replete with anecdotes and personal comments
but never loses sight of its main theme and goal--to apprise
America of the absolute necessity to be always mightily prepared
and that speedy procurement is the sine qua non of this objective! I strongly recommend that this book be read by not
only our representatives in government but the general public
who should be informed.

Admiral Platt speaks with the voice of experience and commands attention for his ideas. We do need to rethink our national procurement and defense strategy.
I highly recommend this book for any person seeking a better understanding of military thinking and procurement, as well as the problems we as taxpayers all face.
This book is a must read for Defense Department personnel and anyone seeking a balanced perspective and alternative to newspaper and media hype about defense procurement and strategy. This truly is applied wisdom by a serious thinker that will hopefully be taken to heart by our leaders in the DOD.

Admiral Platt has managed a miracle. As a leader in transforming old practices to business practices in the Pentagon 20 years ago, his additional 8 years as a defense executive leaves him with a near-singular ability to light the way for how the Pentagon might yet succeed in transforming America's military hardware agenda. Not many college sophomores will reach for this compact, brief manifesto and memoir, but it would provide any one a sharply focused treatment of issues that are often avoided. I can say that no one in the Pentagon should be without it.

It's readable, doesn't bog down into the inevitable minutiae that characterizes most volumes about the defense business and it offers a serious warning -- that the U.S. defense business in general has become less competitive. That course can and should be changed. Bravo!

Babe Ruth
The book I have read is called babe Ruth. This book was written by Art Berke. I have chosen this book because it's about one of my favorite baseball player's Babe Ruth. This book has122 pages. It has 9chapters in it. The book includes. Table of contents, notes, further reading, and the index. Babe Ruth is what the called him that because
When he was around10 to 11 he was an orphan. At the orphanage played baseball.
That's when he hit the ball out of the orphanage then they wanted to come up with a name so they called him babe Ruth which stands for baby Ruth.He was also a left handed pitcher.

ANDREW SMITH

BABE RUTH
BY, ART BURKE

THE BIOGRAPHY BABE RUTH IS THE TRIUPHRATE STORY OF A BOY THAT CAME FROM NOTHING THE STRIVED TO BECOME THE BEST BASEBALL PLAYER EVER AND ACHIEVED THAT GOAL. YOUNG GEORGE WAS A FANOMINAL BASEBALL PLAYER IN HIS EARLY YEARS WHEN HE STARTED TO GET INTROUBLE BECAUSE HE HAD NO FATHER FIQURE IN HIS LIFE. HE ATTENDS THE BOYS SCHOOL OF ST. MARYS WHERE HIS BASEBALL CAREER IS STARTED.
THIS BOOK IS A IS A VERY GOOD STORY FOR THE FAMILY. IT IS ALSO VERY INSTRUCTIVE. IT SHOWS GOOD MORALE LESSONS IN LIFE AND WHEN MADE BAD DECISSIONS AND HOW TO LEARN FROM THEM. IN THIS BOOK THEY DIDN�T REALLY GO INTO THE FAMILY LIFE OF BABE RUTH WHICH I THOUGHT THEY COULD HAVE A BIT MORE. THIS BOOK ALSO NAMES MANY OF THE �GREAT BAMBINO�S� NICKNAMES. THIS BOOK AFFECTED ME IN MANY WAYS. IT SHOWED ME WHAT TO DO IN LIFE AND WHAT NOT TO DO. IT ALSO TAUGHT ME THAT YOU CANT ACCOMPLISH WHAT YOU WANT IN LIFE UNLESS YOU WORK HARD.

By, A.S.

Art Berke's biography of Babe Ruth is an excellent transitional biography between the introductory books written for young readers and the more scholarly biographies written by sports writers and other historians. Berke begins with the argument that Babe Ruth was simply the best there ever was in the history of baseball. Ty Cobb might have been a better overall hitter, Willie Mays and Joe DiMaggio were five-tool stars who could do everything, and Walter Johnson was a better pitcher, but there is only one Babe Ruth. Berke lets Ruth's former teammate Waite Hoyt explain that somebody could come along and hit more than 60 home runs in a single season (as Roger Maris, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds have done) or end up with more than 714 home runs in a career (as Hank Aaron did), but doing those things would not make anybody any Ruth. By the time they finish reading this book young readers will understand why that is the case. But Berke also provides the other side of the story, telling how Ruth had little discipline, an enormous appetite for food and alcohol, caroused off the field, and was a reckless driver. Of course, any youngster who keeps up with the sports page will be well aware of how being a great player does not translate into being a great human being.

The story of the Babe also resonates because George Human Ruth came from an underprivileged childhood in Baltimore, Maryland, to become the greatest sports hero the country had ever known in one of the great rags to riches stories. If Ruth could start at St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys and end up in the Baseball Hall of Fame then all sorts of things are possible. Berke covers all of Ruth's milestones, from his remarkable pitching exploits with the Boston Red Sox to his revolutionary home run prowess with the New York Yankees after the infamous sale that altered the balance of power in the American League. There is also the way his deep affection for children and his less than admirable excesses added to his legendary persona.

Ruth was the most photographed man on the planet when he was alive and the book is illustrated with almost two dozen black & white photographs and Douglass Corckwell's painting of Ruth's "Called Shot." In addition to the career batting and pitching statistics in the back of the book Berke has boxes in most of the chapters that have Highlights and Key Statistics for a particular period, putting the numbers into context (e.g., in the 1916 season Ruth we know he was first in E.R.A. and shutouts because those stats are in boldface in the back of the book, but Ruth was tied for second in the number of wins and innings pitched, and was third in winning percentage and strikeouts). But in addition to the numbers are the stories that Berke tells that flesh out the Babe's legend. There are more such stories out there and interested readers can turn to Robert W. Creamer's "Babe: The Legend Comes to Life" or other adult biographies of Ruth to find out even more. This version of the "Babe Ruth" story provides a solid foundation for going to that next level.

Benjamin Franklin's Numbers is very facinating, I never knew he more than a founding father. This is a great book for anyone who loves numbers and has a math background, something you won't learn in school.

Most geeks admire Ben Franklin, and not only for patriotic reasons. He was a brilliant, vibrant mind who made contributions to several fields. There isn't a lack of biographies about the man. Or even good ones at that. What this short (and sweet) book does though, is to cover Franklin as a mathematician, a side of the genius that is often hidden or disputed. This hardcover focuses on Magic Squares and Franklin's contribution to this field, even though he wrongly considered them as enjoyable, but useless in practice. Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey is filled with mathematical puzzles and will be a pleasure to read for those who can appreciate small challenges and the historical importance of Pasles' research.

If I could sit down with anyone from the past, my choice would be easy: Benjamin Franklin. Franklin would have been easy to talk to, even if he might have been a little pedantic. But he was funny, and sociable, and what a résumé he has: diplomat, printer, businessman, scientist, inventor, musician, expert chess player, essayist, autobiographer. It is hard to think of any aspect of this myriad-minded man that has not been covered by previous biographers, but they have always tended to leave out his discoveries in mathematics. Paul C. Pasles, an associate professor of mathematical sciences, has now paid tribute to those discoveries, and has uncovered more of them than any previous biographer has known. _Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey_ will be a delight for Franklin fans like me, and it will provide those who are interested in number puzzles, simple to complex, with much to play with. Pasles has included puzzles in every chapter, and, don't worry, has put all the answers and explanations in an appendix. Franklin's mathematical achievements are chiefly his discoveries in magic squares, and readers will come away not only with an appreciation of his mathematical cleverness, but of the beauty of the remarkable objects he discovered.

Franklin didn't do well in math at his school, but became adept at using numbers for his printing business, and had to be able to calculate for some of the tables in his famous almanacs. He used numbers for predictions of population statistics, but the magic square was his mathematical delight. A magic square is an arrangement of numbers in a square grid, generally starting from one and using each successive number in its box on the grid, so that the rows, columns, diagonals, and other patterns add up to the same sum. Franklin did his initial work on the squares around 1736, when he was bored by debates in the Pennsylvania Assembly, for which he was clerk. His attitude expressed in a letter sounds just like the one he had toward all his endeavors: "Not being content with these [regular properties of magic squares], which I looked on as common and easy things, I had imposed on myself more difficult tasks, and succeeded in making other magic squares, with a variety of properties, and much more curious." There are many of his eight-by-eight squares given here, some with elaborate keys; one shows that not only the rows and bent diagonals sum up properly to 260, but so do bent diagonals parallel to the corner-to-corner version, as do the four corner squares added to the four central squares, as do "knight's move" diagonals; and any 2-by-2 inner block of cells adds up to half of 260. Then there are the 16-by-16 monsters. And then there are the magic circles he invented, with radii and concentric circles adding up to a specific number, as do what Franklin called the "excentric" circles spiraling around the circular pattern.

Franklin knew that some of his magic square inventions were better than any that had ever been made. Of one, he wrote, "...for I make no question you will readily allow this square of 16 to be the most magically magical of any magic square ever made by any magician." And yet they represented Franklin at play, and he remained modest about his magic square efforts, writing later in life that he had amused himself at making magic squares because he had the leisure, leisure which "I still think I might have employed more usefully". Franklin was eventually disappointed in his studies in electricity because (when electrical storage was still primitive) it could not be made practical and beneficial, and maybe he would have felt this way about his magic squares as well. Utility, Pasles reminds us, is not the measure of good mathematics, however. "Our object," he writes, "is not to show that Franklin would have identified himself as a mathematician, only that he was adept at the systematic and creative ways of thinking about numbers, arrangements, and relationships that characterize mathematical thought." Pasles has included many of Franklin's squares, and printed many in colors that show the complicated weave of patterns within them. It is a wonderful introduction to an entirely new way of admiring a great thinker.

Books by Augusta Stevenson can always be counted on to deliver a good story and to respect a child's intelligence - and to teach. The book opens: "A long time ago, away up in New England in the little city of Boston there was a certain blue ball. It was about the size of a cocoanut, and it hung above the front door of a certain little house. On this blue ball was a name - Josiah Franklin. That was all, but it was enough. Everyone in Boston knew that the blue ball was the sign Josiah Franklin used for his candle-and-soap shop in Union Street. They knew that he lived in this little house, too, as most tradesmen did in those days. They knew that the shop was in the front room facing the street, and that the Franklin family lived in the big room just back of it." The Childhood of Family Americans series, almost 100 years old now, chronicles the early years of famous American men and women in an accessible manner. Each book is faithful in spirit to the values and experiences that influenced the person's development. These books reaffirm the importance of our American heritage.

us historians of our past...I highly recommend this biography of a young printer, Benjamin Franklin. Stevenson talks about the bigger of Ben's life, however going into smallest details in ocations(In my opinion: Like all biographers should.)This is a small price for a large book and may be ordered from Amazon.com!

I thought that it was a good book because I like biographies. I especially liked the part when he went to the Latin School and he couldn't say the poem because the school master gave Ben the wrong poem. I recommend this book to you if you like to read biographies. I also recommend this book if you think that a president's life would be interesting.

Brave Bear is a wonderful little book about a bear cub who helps a baby bird who fell out of her nest. Rather than narrating the story like most children's books, Mallat instead uses compelling illustrations and the brief monologue of the cub, allowing the reader's and child's mind to fill in the rest. While short and simple enough to be read to the youngest child, the book can also serve as a catalyst for dialog with older children. "How do you think the bird felt when ___?" "Why did the bear _____?" Brave Bear is enjoyable to parent and child!

Because the text accompanying the illustrations is concise, my three year old son has easily memorized all of the sentences. I'm sure the next step is "reading" each sentence for each dramatic event in this attention grabbing story. We've been reading it every night for two weeks solid.

I think this is a great book and there are some awsome drawings on it...it is a great book for younger kids who are learning about helping and sharing with each other

Every school library will want this book. Through diverse, inspiring examples Dr.Perry shows how teens all across America have made a difference by volunteering their time and passion to good causes. Each story is both personal and universal and brings home the point that nothing feels better than making the world a better place. In the back of the book are great suggestions for getting started with your own service project and special tips if you're shy or unsure what kind of project is right for you. This book would also be a great gift for service organizations to give to outstanding teens.

So much of what is said in the news about young people today is negative and critical of them, highlighting disasters and tragedies. CATCH THE SPIRIT focuses on a few of the many teenagers who volunteer and make a difference in the world by giving of themselves and reaching out to help others. More important, they learn that confidence and self-esteem come from taking having purpose and taking action in their lives. How delightful to hear these stories in the words of these young, courageous, and empathic teens! I'd love to see some of these stories featured on TV talk shows.

~Joan Mazza, author of Dream Back Your Life; Dreaming Your Real Self; Things That Tick Me Off; and Exploring Your Sexual Self.

Even thought this is a book of wonderful examples about teens who have volunteered, it's an inspiration for everyone -- whether they already volunteer or want to. I'm recommending this book to the thousands of people I network with while co-authoring "Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul."

Excellent book. The only thing is about Brazil. I lived in Brazil and only the super rich speak English and even some of the wealthy do not. If you go to Brazil, expect to hear Portuguese.

I use this book in my grade 4 classroom. The pictures and writing help my United State's students better understand the world around them. This book is a favorite in my classroom.

Stunning photographs, concise maps, and simple text that introduces the basics of a culture, a country, and a way of life make this book great "back seat" reading. Kids shouldn't be watching tv in the car anyway. Books like this will make the ride more enjoyable and enriching. It also would be a great addition to a pediatrician's waiting room, or a dentist.

Terrific read! Divided up into sub headings, there are inspirational quotes that set you pondering and leave you with a lot to consider. Fun to read when you just have a couple of spare minutes, too. I would highly recommend it

this is a wonderful bite size book that is a great and easy read for everyone. I gave lots as gifts and people really thought they were great.

Fantastic quotes, questions, stories, and illustrations. I have always been a fan of the 7 Habits, and this is a wonderful way to share its principles in a lighter format.

Of course, this is not as in-depth as the original The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, but it is just as inspiring. It's fun too. A quick read and lots of ideas that you can ponder, share with others, and discuss.

I gave this book to my sister, and she loved it. Also recommended: Renewal: Nourishing Body, Mind, Heart, and Soul.