G Books

If you've put off getting your GED because you haven't got time to go to a class, don't worry and stop putting it off now! Get this book, refresh your mind, start using that "grey matter" again and pass the GED test with flying colors! This book is great, it has everything you need to prepare for taking your GED test and KNOW you'll pass. I did it and couldn't be happier.

Very helpful in preparing for the GED-I would strongly recommend buying this book if you are taking the GED

Hi,
I bought this book about 3 weeks before the test. Ive been out of school for 4 years and my main weakness was mathemetic-I did very badly in this area in school. This book breaks EVERYTHING down to you in a way that makes it easy for you to pass the test with high scores. You dont even particularly need to know the actual subject well. The GED tests your ability to think and ability to discern what questions they are asking-thats it! With math, I took the practiced tests(which I got a lot wrong)-but once I went back and checked the answers-I understood what the questions were asking me to do(Oh-so I just needed to do the Pythagorean theorem..).
I will say, that the tests in this book are about 25 percent harder than the real GED exam, so know that if you consistantly take the tests and go over what you got wrong-YOU WILL SCORE HIGH! No doubt about it.
I took the test this month and already got back my scores
680-Mathematics
700 Writing
760 Reading
660 Social Studies
680 Science
These are all scores in the high 90th percentiles for graduating high school seniors.The scores speak for themselves. I highly reccomend this book!

This book has really helped and has given me a place to start to get a new life.

I RECEIVED THE GED BOOK QUICKLY AND THE BOOK WAS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. THE GED BOOK WAS VERY HELPFUL.

Welcome to Mason County, where even the census takers were baffled when they came to a town where blacks looked white. Isabel is the main character in this story. Every one calls her Belly in Mason County. That all changes when a series of events after her childhood friend Teeny got pregnant, led her to Jamison county to stay with her Aunt Rachel. She takes piano lessons from a woman name Ophelia that calls her Isabel, shows her what a real lady is, wins over her heart, and also the heart of Uncle Avery, Aunt Rachel's husband. This causes a lot of problems in Belly's life and causes her to learn a lot life's lessons pretty early. This book was written very beautifully and opened my heart back up to my childhood. I won't tell the rest of the story but all of the characters were endearing and I'll never forget them.

Revisit childhood and relive it in a marvelous way! I felt that I grew up with Belly during the tale of "Miss Ophelia". After reading how her family interacted with each other, their personalities and histories, I felt like I knew them. I laughed out loud at their antics and conversations. You probably will too!

The book seems to start off a little slow in the beginning, but don't let that fool you. This is one to savor. It takes time to get to know this family and watch Isabel (Belly) come of age. While there were events that many of us could relate to, this book lacked the over-the-top, crazy drama that can be found in some other books about childhood family experiences. How refreshing! Belly actually had a good childhood! It was joy to read about. She also had some tough issues to deal with, and this kept the book grounded in reality.

Belly spent part of an important summer taking piano lessons from Miss Ophelia. Miss Ophelia left a powerful influence on Belly, and their time together was a "defining moment" in Belly's life. The way the author described their interaction and other aspects of Belly's life before and after was beautiful. I could picture everything, but the writing style wasn't too wordy. The style was very natural, and the characters seemed so authentic.

I took my time reading this book and looked forward to reading it every time I picked it up. I felt so contented while reading it and satisfied even after I'd finished it. I highly recommend this book. Reading it is time well spent.

This story is sooooo wonderfully written and told. This is one hot summer that readers will surely enjoy. The summer heat is not just in temperature, the heat also rises from the pages in the form of anger and passion.

This story of young Isabel (Belly) is very endearing. Each summer, Belly visits with her aunt and uncle in rural Virginia. She learns lessons that are never taught in summer school. When Miss Ophelia teaches Belly to play the piano, she also teaches her life lessons about love, friendship, responsibility, and accountability.

Though she appears to be very quiet, Miss Ophelia has deep passions about music and love which she eventually shares with others. You will enjoy the music as well as those who play it!

this book was an excellent read. it captured the whole time era and gracefuly put it into words. the author of this book seems to draw the reader into being a part of the novel. she gives you the sense of being there as a bystander, watching and understanding Belly's life that summer. i love the plot, the use of words and the key message. of friendship. i hope this isn't the last piece of work by this author. i highly recommend this book. you'll never want to put it down, and will continuosly find yourself hoping that it never ends.

This book hit me where the heart is!!! The characters: Belly, Willie, Miss Janie, Miss Rachel, Mama, Uncle Avery, Miss Pheenie, And of course, the lovely and dearest of all, Miss Ophelia. When I first got into the book,( first quarter of the book),It primarily focused on teen pregnancy and the main character (Belly's) best friend, Teenie getting sent away to get "rid of her problem", which hurt Isabel Anderson/Walker.
The way the book portrays Miss Opelia, and her warm and kind personality was so well-written, that in the end, I cried, thinking about the True love that could never be, between...
Oh!!!!! Youre just going to have to read the book and see why most of these people(including myself, of course) rated this book 5 stars.

Page-Turning Southern Novels!

Shadow of Dreams Book Review by Barbara Robinson
The novel is full of realistic Southern characters. If you love Southern novels, don't miss out on this one! Shadow of Dreams by Eva Marie Everson and G. W. Francis Chadwick is a well-written, well-developed novel full of foreshadowing. The main character serves as an excellent example of what happens to many young teens glamorized by the big city and running from problems at home. Instead of the prodigal son, the main character, Katie, is the prodigal daughter. I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen to Katie and her husband, and the bad guys. I loved the way the authors used literature for clues. I also loved the way the small-town Georgia guys protected their own and took care of the big-city guys. These authors do not preach, but they certainly know how to spin a tale that could serve to help others. These authors offer much insight, and a reflective reader will benefit from the experience of having read this novel. A good, reflective reader will find that this book is about many things that connect to life in such a way, it can't help but be realistic. The characters are realistic, not mere shells of characters. The way they talk and the things they say, the dialogue, provide that realistic touch to make them come to life. Katie's mom is really a Southern character. It is ironic that she seems to treat Katie as her own mother treated her, but she does not realize this.

Summon the Shadows Book Review

By Barbara Robinson

Summon the Shadows by Eva Marie Everson and G. W. Francis Chadwick is the second novel in a trilogy you won't want to miss. Katie, the main character loses her husband, but refuses to believe he is dead. She is forced to take over his business, running a posh hotel, as she faithfully waits for his return. Her faith in God sees her through. Katie remembers her roots and from where she has come. While being thankful to God for her own escape from the world of exotic dancing, she tries to help three other dancers find their escape by offering them jobs in the hotel. Looking back unable to let go of her past, one dancer secretly returns to the exotic dancing.

This book will not offend anyone with its subtle message of God's caring and love. Everson and Chadwick have interwoven the hope, love, and joy of His message throughout this exciting journey of Katie's life. Katie escapes the evil plot of others with the Lord's protection. Her faith and belief in God see her through the trials and tribulations she encounters at the hands of others. Even with so much turmoil in her own life, she still finds the time to love and care for others and opens her heart and hotel to saving the three dancers and turning their lives around.

This novel will keep you turning pages to find out what fate befalls the dancer who returns to exotic dancing. You will be on the edge of your seat wondering if Katie's husband will reappear, when she starts receiving gifts from an unknown admirer. Next, you will hold your breath as you await Katie's fate at the hands of so-called trusted friends who worked in her hotel. This novel is full of plot twists that make savory reading. Curl up with wonderful winter reads just in time for Christmas with this trilogy available through www.amazon.com because you won't want to miss a single book! What wonderful gifts of reading your presents may offer others!

Shadows of Light Book Review
By Eva Marie Everson
Book Reviewer: Barbara Robinson, Avid Reader and Passionate Writer, Educator

Shadows of Light is a page-turner with a Christian message delicately interwoven, so that the novel does not come off as preachy. Yet, it clearly delivers a much-needed message of God's love and forgiveness and how none of us are perfect. We all need loving kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and redemption, and the set of three novels in this collection clearly provide this message. Shadows of Light is the concluding book in the three-part series, one you will not want to put down until you see how it ends.

This final novel in the series of three illustrates how prayer and faith work in real life. Katie, the main character holds on to her faith, like the treasure it is, until her husband returns. She never gives up on him. Even when he returns and things are not picture perfect, she understands, has compassion, forgives, and continues to have faith in God. Maggie, the housekeeper, also models faith and how prayer works. She is not afraid of death and meeting her maker. In fact, she illustrates how she looks forward to doing so, and she tries to encourage Ben's faith. Just as in real life, all family members do not always share the same faith or amount of faith, but the novel displays a fine example of how one can model faith and belief in the power of prayer without preaching. One of my favorite parts of this novel is how Maggie is found with her finger marking a Bible verse and how Katie remembers the small things about Maggie, like where she kept Katie's slippers. For, when we lose our loved ones, it is always the small, simple things we miss the most about them.

Another favorite part is the epilogue and how the novel ends. I won't spoil the ending for you though. Read the book and find out for yourself! The ending ties in with an ongoing theme from the other two books as well as the third novel and wraps things up nicely like a well-wrapped Christmas gift. These novels would make great stocking stuffers for the readers in your life.

The novel also illustrates a love story and romance between Ben and Katie, the two main characters. It is very realistic to life and provides insight for the reader. If you like Southern novels, romance, or love stories, do not miss this delightful book. In fact, you won't want to miss a single one of the three.

This novel is full of plot twists that make savory reading. Curl up with wonderful winter reads just in time for Christmas with this trilogy available through www.amazon.com because you won't want to miss a single book from the collection: Summon the Shadows, Shadow of Dreams, and last, Shadows of Light.What wonderful gifts of reading your presents may offer others! Check out all of Eva Marie Everson's other great books online.

I'm hesitant to give low review to any author but felt compelled to do so because I was so disillusioned by the other reviews.

I kept waiting for something to happen in this novel and when it did, I was disappointed. It seemed that the entire book was written for the "surprise" ending which was overly dramatic and too unrealistic to be believable.

Then again, I had just read Francine Rivers' "Redeeming Love" and not much compares to that, now does it?

Eva Marie's series is fabulous. I couldn't wait to find the time to read the next page. I fell in love with Katie and hope there are plans to read more of her. Eva Marie's 3 books in this series is filled with exciting plot twists, suspense, and drew me closer to the Lord, plus making me even more appreciative of my wonderful husband. These books are delightful!

Once I started reading, I could not put it down. The characters and storylines are so realistic. I feel I know Katie personally (we are both from Georgia, after all). The suspense kept me on the edge of my seat with anticipation and the love between Ben and Katie warmed by heart. This is definitely a must read and will keep you coming back for more!

The prodigal daughter returns to her southern home after twenty-five years of absence. Katie runs from her problems, and she discovers she needs to make things right with God before she can solve her problems. This book was intriguing and suspenseful, and there were times when I was sitting on the edge of my seat! The characters were well-developed, and I'm anxious to start the sequal!

This is my favorite book. When I think of it, I recall being touched deeply as a child and haunted ever-after as one can be after waking from the most precious of dreams, trying to relate that experience to the waking world and having no choice but to relinquish it. While this might be described as a children's fiction, I still cannot understand how Mr. Davidson could have invented this narrative experience without either strong inspiration from realms beyond this one, or (may I dare say) without having experienced such an unimaginable happening himself. I am very happy to find that this book is getting some recognition. May it continue to open imaginations to questions of what is tangible and what is possible.

I ordered this book because of the reviews on Amazon.com - I like kids' books even though it has been a long time since I was a kid. I also liked Rose of Tibet by the same author. Under Plum Lake is pretty strange - it's the classic tale of the Garden of Eden, or Shangri-La, the protagonist is shown paradise and then shown the door, cast back into his normal life. However, it has a tragic effect on him - he can't function in his real world anymore because he longs to go back to the underwater paradise, it's all he can think about. Well-written, very colorful, sad and even stressful - also it seemed a lot like an LSD trip. By the way, one of my favorite books as a kid that I found again as an adult is Tom's Midnight Garden, although it is meant for a younger reader it is just as engrossing and evocative as Under Plum Lake.

I read this book in [...] Now at [...] I still think about this book. This not only got me into reading for the first time ever, but it also let me know that it was okay to keep my imagination growing. At a time when it wasn't cool to play with toys anymore or dream about ridiculous things, this book kept me going. Great great book. As you will see.

This book was one of my favorites growing up and my brothers absolute favorite! Now 36, I thought of it when I was telling my 10 year old what I read when I was younger. At that time, she wasn't interested in reading a lot. I bought this for my brother and she took it and read it first and hasn't stopped reading for the past year! Now we can talk about other realities and about not taking 'normal' definitions of reality as the only definitions. This book has really opened up her thinking (as it did mine!) She has now read about 15 novels since Under Plum Lake and we can make references to this book and laugh and really share some special moments.

Like everyone else here --- I picked this book up when I was 10 or 11, and totally and completely fell in love with it! Although I was a total girly girl (I was reading Anne of Green Gables and Daddy-long-legs at the time) --- this book still captivated me. I read and re-read that book until it was in tatters. Finally, when I was 14 or 15, I donated during a book drive. Ever since then, I've regretted it! I'm glad to see that there are still some copies around in the "used" section --- I'm so placing my order today!!!

El libro es buenísimo, particularmente el estilo de Gabo es genial y lo que lo hace aun mas meritorio es que se trata de un relato autobiográfico. Lamentablemente tengo que advertirles de un error de encuadernación en la edición de pasta dura (hardcover) las hojas vienen mal cortadas, he ya ordenado dos libros y los dos vienen con el mismo defecto. La editorial KNOPF ha hecho un muy mal trabajo. Mi recomendación... busquen otras editoriales.

El autor es un relator latinoamericano costumbrista. El realismo magico es lo comun y corriente en esos pagos. De ilusion tambien se vive. Quiza algun dia se inspire en escribir una novela sobre el realismo magico de la tragedia cubana, dada su intima afinidad con el Doctor Fidel Castro Ruz.

This book is the first in a series. Frankly, I hope that in his next memoir there iwll be more about his literary writing b/c this doesn't cover his marvelous literary career at all.

The first sections of the book which deal with his childhood and schooling are comic and moving, with great turns of phrase and details about his grandfather and large family. What I found less interesting were the accounts of his journalism career. Apart from a very compelling section about a political asassination and its aftermath, I was a little bored. Even worse, I did not feel that some of his bohemian friends were distinguished from each other.

I am going to go back and reread The General in His Labyrinth and the novels that I so adore. I just prefer them.

Although I can consider myself a GGM fiction fan, I encountered "Vivir Para Contarla" utterly more attention-grabbing than any of his other works. Perhaps It was just the fact that he related his real life, from the time before his birth until he was something like twenty eight years old, in such a magical way that I could just not put the book down for more than a few moments. I could come across in this volume with so much of the background that made the genius in Gabo, that I could not accept it as factual. Actually I was so beguiled by the story, by the idiosyncrasy of his large and astonishing family, by the actual brilliance and intelligence of the child, the adolescent and the young man in Gabo, that I unreservedly supposed I was immersed in one more of this author's accomplishments. He relates his non precedent childhood and early adolescent years as a conspicuous reader and writer of poems and stories- which he memorized and recited by hearth-, as a distinguished picture drawer, as a notable singer, as an extremely timid person, in sum: as another character out of its novellas and short stories. He, at the same time, enriches our reading with his detailed and exhaustive career as an anonymous young journalist in Colombia, who spends an awesome amount of his free time discussing literature with his fellow workers and friends, at a time period when literature was the coolest matter to be involved in. However, the social and political backgrounds of his whereabouts are so precise and stuck to Colombian and the World's historic and social events, that henceforth what he conveys us in this first volume of his autobiography must have a great deal of reality in it.
In spite of the fact that a myriad of the characters, locations and events that we find as basis for his novellas and short stories come out of his real life, I do not believe it imperative to be acquainted to any of his other masterpieces in order to devour and absolutely enjoy this volume. It stands unique by itself!
I am anxiously waiting for the subsequent volumes of this trilogy, however due to the actual author's sickness; I don't believe we will be receiving the complete trilogy at all.

"Living to Tell the Tale," ("Vivir Para Contarla"), is the first book in a planned trilogy that will make up the memoirs of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the renown Colombian writer who initially won public acclaim in the mid-1960s for his novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude." At that time, Garcia Marquez, a journalist and writer, had never sold more than 700 copies of a book. While driving his family through Mexico, he had a veritable brainstorm. He remembered his grandmother's storytelling technique - to recall fantastic, improbable events as if they had actually happened - literally. That was the key to recounting the life of the imaginary village of Macondo and her inhabitants. He turned the car around and drove back home to begin "One Hundred Years of Solitude" anew. To my mind it is one of the 20th century's best works of fiction, and was highlighted in the citation awarding Garcia Marquez the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature.

"Living to Tell The Tale" relates the early years of the author's life, although some of the book's most important incidents predate Garcia Marquez's birth. The impact of these experiences, the people and their stories, were to have a powerful effect on him, as a man and as a writer. This is the tale of his parents' courtship, marriage and the birth of their children, Garcia Marquez, (Gabito), the oldest, and his ten siblings. It tells of his early years which were spent in Aracataca, in the home of his maternal grandparents. His grandfather, Colonel Nicolás Ricardo Márquez Mejía, was a Liberal veteran of the War of a Thousand Days. He was supposedly a storyteller of great repute. The Colonel told his young grandson that there was no greater burden than to have killed a man. Later García Márquez would put these words into the mouths of his characters. His grandmother, Tranquilina Iguarán Cotes, had a major influence on Gabriel's life also. Another great source of stories, her mind was filled with superstitions and folklore, and she gossiped away with her numerous sisters within hearing range of young "Gabito." No matter how fantastic her statements, she always delivered them as if they were the absolute, verifiable truth. This was the style which was to effect Garcia Marquez's fiction, sometimes called "magical realism." These women filled the house with stories of ghosts, premonitions and omens - all of which were studiously ignored by her husband. He had little interest in "women's beliefs."

Aracataca was a small village, a banana town on the Caribbean coast, where poverty was the norm and violence was an everyday occurrence. On December 6, 1928, in the Cienaga train station, near Aracataca, 3,000 striking banana workers were shot and killed by troops from Antioquia. Although still a baby, this event, recounted to him, was to have a profound effect on the author. The incident was officially forgotten and omitted from Colombian history textbooks.

In 1940, when he was twelve, Gabo was awarded a scholarship to a secondary school for gifted students, run by Jesuits. The school, the Liceo Nacional, was in Zipaquirá, a city 30 miles to the north of Bogotá. It was during his school years, 1940s and 50s, that he was first drawn to poetry - a national obsession in Colombia. Verse was revered as an art form, and also as an effective means of social and political commentary. He and his friends, fellow students, would read aloud and discuss poetry late into the night. The youths admired a group of poets called the piedra y cielo ("stone and sky") and they were strongly influenced by Juan Ramon Jimenez and Pablo Neruda. Too poor to buy his own books, Gabo would devour novels borrowed from friends.

While still a boy, he decided he wanted to be a writer. The people who surrounded him in his childhood later became instrumental when developing the characters and the storylines for his novels. "Love In The Time of Cholera" was inspired by the romance between his mother and father. And his grandfather, who had twelve children, (some say 16), by two different women, became Colonel Aureliano Buendia in "One Hundred Years of Solitude."

One of the most powerful episodes of the book tells of the period called "La Violencia." In 1948 the Liberal presidential candidate, Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, was assassinated. The murder led to rioting, and left approximately 2500 dead on the streets of Bogota, during "el Bogotázo." Political violence and repression followed. One of the buildings that burned was the pension where Garcia Marquez lived, and his manuscripts were destroyed along with his living quarters. The National University was closed and he was forced to go to the university in Cartagena. Garcia Marquez began his career as a journalist, writing stories and commentary for a Liberal newspaper in Cartegana. Later he moved to the coastal city of Barranquilla where he began to associate with a group of young writers who admired modernists like Joyce, Woolf and Hemingway, and introduced Marquez to Faulkner. In 1954 he returned to Bogota, as a reporter for El Espectador.

Garcia Marquez begins his book, however, not with his real birth in 1928, but with his "birth as a writer," at age 22. He and his mother took a trip from Baranquilla, where he was working as a reporter, to his childhood home in Aracataca, now virtually a ghost town. They were going to sell the ancestral house. Vivid memories were stirred up here, memories which electrified his imagination. This trip was to change the course of his writing life. "With the first step I took onto the burning sands of the town, Aracataca instantly became Macondo, an earthly paradise of desolation and nostalgia." His one great subject became his family, "which was never the protagonist of anything, but only a witness to and victim of everything." His is not a chronological autobiography. Garcia Marquez cuts back and forth through time to show how memory colors experience. As he says in the book's epigraph, "Life is not what one lived, but what one remembers and how one remembers it in order to recount it."

Humor, dry wit, a sense of the absurd, is a trademark throughout the novels of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and this autobiography is full of his deadpan humor. His anecdotes of his many mistresses and cafe society are wonderful. "Living To Tell The Tale" is not a conventional literary memoir. It is a magical combination of memoir and national history written in the author's remarkable voice. It is his personal mythology, from the repertoire which birthed Macondo. The narrative is intimate and sincere, filled with bewitching details and descriptions. In spite of poverty, and the political turmoil so prevalent in Colombia during his lifetime, Gabo acknowledges his early years were filled with joy, a sense of well-being and encouragement from many people. Garcia Marquez leaves us, at the end of this volume, with a glimpse of his future love, his wife, ""wearing a green dress with golden lace in that year's style, her hair cut like swallows' wings, and with the intense stillness of someone waiting for a person who will not arrive."

Bravo Gabriel Garcia Marquez!!
JANA

Laura is a normal girl with a sweet younger brother and a frazzled single mother. Her life is ordinary until the day her brother is stamped with the image of a horrible man. Laura turns to Sorry, an older, intriguing boy who she believes to be a witch. Will he be able to help her?

This story is entrancing to read. I first read it as a 13 year old, and I still find it fascinating. It is a great read, especially for those interested in witchcraft stories.

Margaret Mahy's book is an unusual take on the juvenile magic-user theme. It takes place in New Zealand, in a single-parent home. Laura Chant lives with her divorced mother, and her toddler brother. Nothing is entirely reliable in Laura's world, certainly not her slightly flaky mother, their extremely flaky car, and especially the surrounding landscape, being transformed from forest and farm into a new subdivision.

Chant, perfectly named, can sense things that others can't. She can sense that her brother's rapid descent into illness is supernatural, and that it is linked to the boy's unfortunate contact with the also perfectly named Carmody Braque. She also can sense that the mysterious prefect at her school, an older boy named Sorensen Carlisle, is a "witch" and that he may hold the only key to healing her brother.

Sorry, as he's called, is one of those magnificent characters, the enigmatic boy who shows all the signs of being a proto-romance hero. But here, he's young, sly, and not above using his advantage over Laura. Mahy writes Laura as a strong character, and watching her handle Sorry is a lot of fun.

This novel is full of brooding atmosphere but with a great contemporary setting. Mahy's protagonist carries her weight, but everyone else is equally nuanced and fascinating. The book calls itself a romance, but I've never read an adult romance filled with such menacing ambiguity.

This book is amazing. The writing is so simple and so beautiful that the images stay in your head for days after you've finished it. The story is about change and transformation, seen through the eyes of the two very different main characters. Both of them is different at the end, and has a different place in their lives and their families. The romance between Laura and Sorry really moves you, because they learn to love themselves as they fall in love with each other. Also, the magic and danger feels so real and not stupid or made up at all. The best thing about this book is that when you finish it, you feel transformed too. I love this book.

GENERAL COMMENTS: "The Changeover" strikes the tone of a precocious adolescent with verve. Fourteen-year-old Laura sometimes communicates with an open frankness that gets ignored, sometimes through sarcasm, which she uses as a screen when she must tell the truth but doesn't necessarily want to be understood. Her sensitivity to the nature of others grants her an awareness of her own growing body even as she delves into her gift to protect her brother. This book does a good job of showing the selfishness of teenagers, AND the selfishness of the parents that love them imperfectly, even as they compare to the sinister greed of Carmody Braque, the villain. The resolution(clue: quasi-spoiler appears in the rest of this sentence) aptly makes use of this comparison, by depending upon Laura's understanding of Carmdoy's needs, and her ability to exploit them as he exploits the children's desires.

MORE SPECIFIC DETAILS: Her sensitivity to others allows fourteen-year-old Laura to recognize danger, but she remains helpless in deflecting it, as when her parents get divorced. At fourteen, she is faced yet again with her gift of sensing the nature of things, and this time, it's her baby brother who will suffer. Mahy intertwines Laura's current dilemma with her family issues. She lives in a single-parent family in which the mother is no angel (although awfully close) and the absent father is no demon (although most noticeably absent). Laura is aware that her parents have needs that don't always include her best interest, but this doesn't mean that she doesn't seethe with resentment. At times, her mature assessment of the situation only frustrates her desire to react as a child.

ABOUT SORENSEN, LAURA'S CO-STAR: The flip side of her family is Sorensen Carlisle's two-parent family in which both parents are women (his mother and grandmother). His guardians, who are both witches, were sorely disappointed in Sorensen when they found a boy instead of the girl who might complete their circle of magic, and deserted him, albeit with a generous allowance, to an adopted family. One day he shows up at their door, with obvious marks of abuse on him, and in spite of his gender, the mark of magic as well. This late in the game, they are forced to repair their mistake as best they can-- only they can't take away his alienation from himself. It is these two teenagers that must fight Carmody, without further estranging themselves from their families in the bargain.

I read this book as a teenager when it originally came out in 1984. The greatest compliment that I can give The Changeover is that twenty+ years later, I still reread it sometimes--and I still enjoy it. I can't say that about too many of my childhood books.

The Changeover was a rare bird back in mid-eighties--there weren't too many well-written books about magic and the supernatural with teenage girls as the protagonists in those days. This was a genre that I adored and could never get enough of back then. So this novel was an instant favorite.

There are certain books that you read when you are young that shape the kind of person that you become--not necessarily in a large way, but in subtle way. The Changeover was one of these books for me. I didn't realize it when I read the book at fourteen, but The Changeover is a metaphor for changing from childhood to adulthood--from becoming a girl to becoming a woman. And this book really captures that--all the insecurity and the fear, and even the pleasure that you feel as a girl in your own new-found, womanly power. I guess this book appealed to me so much because it made me feel better about a lot of the things I was going through at fourteen; it gave me a certain confidence in myself: I wasn't just getting older--I was becoming a different being.

I have read other comments about this book and I agree with the reviewers that say they want a sequel. I still think about Laura from time to time--she and I were the same age when the book came out--and I often wonder what became of her and what type of woman she became.

I jsut had to repond to the critical review at the top. I first heard this book when I was 5, and agian when I was 8. i loved i tboth times. I recently bought it (as an adult) becuase it is definately a book that everyone should own. It has a incredible magic of its own that sweeps you along.This book is a classic that every child deserves to hear.

This book taught me to go for what you want in life. It teaches that no matter how impossible it may seem, it can be done. I read this as a child, now I am 29 and I still think of it. I still like to sit down with a chunk of cheese and a loaf of bread as a snack, just like Dakin took with her on her journey. When it snows in the winter I think of the colored snow on the mountain that Dakin was determined to investigate. I have even tried to make colored snow myself. Gargoyles have a whole different charm to them once you know this story. Just from writing this I am excited to read the book all over again.

I read this story to my daughter for the first time when she was 4 and she loved it. A year later she wanted me to get it out of the library again. Recently, she insisted that we buy it. We read it through twice and now, since she is an excellent independent reader at 6, she is reading it again for atleast an hour at night to herself. Her favorite part is when the gargoyles say that they can "still feel". She has made her own stuffed gargoyles out of paper and pretends to be Dakin talking to them. This story is pure magic. It combines all of the elements of a questing story, but the fact that it is about a brave girl who knows her own mind, makes it special. There aren't many stories written for young girls like this and that makes it even more unique. I highly recommend it to anyone with a child who has a thirst for adventure and an interest in all things magical.

This adventurous, amazing, edge of your seat tale is my all-time favorite book! I've read it about three times and I've never gotten tired of it. When ever I see it in a library, I jump up and down and tell everybody "that's my favorite book!" I suggest anybody I see and all of my friends to read it. It is extremely entertaining.

I remember my mother reading this book to my twin sister and me. It was a hard back copy that she had gotten from the Library. My sister and I would come down out of our bunk beds and sit on the floor with my mother as we were enthralled to listen to her read this story. I loved the colored snow and the gargoyals. When I was married and had my first child I desired to read this book to my son and I did but it was mostly for me since he was only a few months old at the time. I will read it to him again. But I love this book. This story is a great treasure to me that I will always remember.

I am a patient that has had heart problems for awhile now. I just had surgery in 2006, so reading this book really helped me to understand where heart surgery all started. It brought it all home for me at the end. There is something about this surgeon that I now have a close connection to, and I didn't even realize it until the end! Those of you who have read "King of Hearts" would understand! This book has taught me a lot, but it also has a lot of great stories intertwined within. Totally worth the read!!

The medical history related in this book is one of the boldest and most amazing one. If it wasn't for these highly risk taking individuals, open heart surgery would not be possible today.

When a friend gave me this book to read, I thought I'd skim a few chapters and either get bored with the technical details or be bothered by them since I have had heart surgery for congenital heart defects myself.

I thumbed though the first chapter and I was hooked! The writing demonstrates the intensity found in intense pediatric cases very well and uses that and the determination of Dr. Lillehei to move the story along at a fast clip. I finished it in about 36 hours!

I had gotten to the point there I was trying to take care of myself well as an adult with congenital heart disease (treated defects), but I hadn't quite grasped the details of my own surgeries nor did I want to. After I read this book I ordered my surgical records immediately and was excited to read them! The book filled the descriptions of the surgeries with such excitement that it carried over into my own personal education about my health.

I like how they told the story of Dr. Lillehei as a person who did great things, but was also human being as much as his patients - with faults of his own - but also clearly, great gifts.

For more information about the long-term outcome of patients with congenital heart defects/disease and how we continue to lead the longest and healthiest lives possible for us, please visit the Adult Congenital Heart Association's website at www.achaheart.org

Once I picked up this book, I couldn't put it down. What a fascinating subject and such wonderful storyteller. From the mom of a "heart baby" it just amazes me how far we've come in such a short amount of time.

It's a good story, and Dr. Lillehei blazed an amazing trail, but this man appeared to be a sociopath who destroyed everything and everybody he touched - except, of course, his patients. I can't believe nobody addressed this yet, or maybe they were so fascinated by the story that they missed - or dismissed - it completely. This was more than a massive ego; this guy could have been a Dr. Swango had things been just a wee bit different.

I realize the book was about Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, but his brother Richard was also a transplant surgeon, as are his sons Craig and Kevin.

although the movie doesnt compare.. AT ALL!! Penelope Williamson is by far my favorite author.. and this book is a great read.. you fall in love with everyone in the book, and whens its over you wished you could continue with them!

Although I am not usually a big fan of the typical Romance genre, (which to me has one dimensional charactors and a very predictable story line) this book seemed like so much more. I am sure some will say the story is "predictable", but I felt as though it certainly was believable and there was more of an exploration of human nature with the "good and evil" being not so clear-cut but rather having lots of "gray areas". For instance, the "Plain People" or Amish of the book who feel they are so "holy" and "closer to God than the "Unbelievers" who don't belong to their religion, in some instances are shown to exhibit the very human foibles of jealousy, anger, and mean-spiritedness and the "Outsider" who is a "cold-blooded" killer is shown in instances where great restraint and a giving and kind nature is illustrated. Some of the Amish in the book are very rigid in their thinking and acting and yet you see where Rachel is less rigid and gives more thought to life and sees things in much less "black and white" issues.

I also liked the two main charactors of the book and if you "like" the charactors you can't help but like the book. I also liked the story but would have liked a little less time spent on exploring the lives of some of the peripheral charactors in the book, such as the town doctor and the prostitute and a little more on the two main charactors. I also wish the author had written this book with some perspective of the inner thoughts and feelings of the "Outsider" but perhaps she did not because he was supposed to be an enigma, a mystery man.

All in all, I highly recommend the book. I also recommend the DVD which closely follows the book.

I love Penelope Williamson is one of my favorite authors, and I've read my share of them ,till nowadays I must have read 400 historical and contemporaneal romance novels, I am a compulsive reader, and I consider this book wonderful ,it was the first I had read of this author and I liked it so much that I've read all of her books,save the suspence ones, I really got upset when I knew she had changed of genre.What a pity!
I advise you to read it, you won't be disappointed.

This book reminded me of the movie "Witness" with Harrison Ford.

Boy, do I love this author's style of writing.

I felt like this story ended abruptly. I'm still wondering what happened with Marliee and Lucas and if Rachel's family ever spoke to her again, but then again perhaps wanting more is the measure of a good novel.

I happened upon the Showtime movie based on this book and was totally entranced by it. Imagine my joy to read "Based upon the novel by Penelope Williamson" among the movie credits! I immediately found the novel on Amazon, ordered it and received it within a few days. I could not put it down! I am not a fan of "bodice rippers", but I do like an interesting historical romance if the characters aren't caricatures, as so many are. Well, Johnny Cain and Rachel Yoder, despite their romance novel names, are anything but! Ms. Williamson is brave enough to give her characters flaws like ordinary human beings. Johnny Cain, when he stumbles upon Rachel's farm, is not a completely likeable or charming guy, but it is believable that he would be taken in by the love and warmth of Rachel's home and family - especially when the reality of his own origins surface. I could have done with a little less of the prostitute/doctor story line but, all in all, it was one of the best books I have read! The ending of the book is somewhat darker than the movie's version, but it moved me so that I reread it several times! I rate this novel right up there with another of my favorites, "Outlander"! Watch the movie (it's available on Amazon, I think), then read the book. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

After reading The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf I went back to Malory -- Lynet was just like in Morris' book, constantly digging at Beaumains and harping on having a kitchen boy substitute for a real Arthurian knight.

After reading the first three books Morris has written in The Squire's Tales, I broke down and bought all he's written to date -- in hard cover. They are absolutely delightful, funny, clever, pretty true to the original romances. I read one, then pass it on to my grandson. We're having a ball.

This was the first book that I read out of many of Gerlad Morris' comical retellings of King Arthur. The information seems to be accurate and the book is just so funny. These books are classics that anyone of any age will enjoy!

I first read this book when I was in sixth (or fifth, or something -- I don't remember exactly when) grade. My church met in a school building, and toddler nursery was held in the library. I was bored one day, and I thought "The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf" looked interesting, so I started to read it. I was pleasantly delighted with my discovery. (My parents had to search the entire building for me -- that's how engrossed in the book I was.)

Unfortunately, we left that building, and my memory of the book's title left with it. It took me until last year to find it -- and I did that only by looking through all of the shelves in the children's section of the local library.

I was again pleasantly suprised by the book -- it's very well-written, immensely funny, and admirably suited to reading aloud (I had my mom read it out loud to me and my younger sister). At parts, it had me shivering with anticipation, and other times I was consumed entirely with helpless laughter.

I would highly reccomend this book to anyone. My dad, who doesn't particularly enjoy reading what he calls "girly books", thoroughly enjoyed this one. In fact, this book has inspired in us a delight of all books Gerald Morris -- and he's never disappointed us.

I love this book. Completely fabulous dry wit. Sassy girl protagonist, great dwarf character. Plot goes along at a good clip. I've been a long-standing fan of Gerald Morris, and this one is his best one, as far as I'm concerned. I've read and re-read it.

I absolutely loved this book! It is a retelling of the story of Beaumains (beautiful hands) the Kitchen Knight. Perhaps some of you are familiar with this story. The basic plot is that a young man comes to King Arthur's court to work in the kitchen. He has beautiful hands unused to hard work, hence the name. Anyway, one day a lady comes to Court to find a champion to rescue her sister who is besieged by the red knight. The kitchen boy is knighted and offers to go with her. She treats him badly throughout their journeys, though he often proves himself. At the end he frees and marries the sister and shows himself as Sir Gareth, younger brother to Sir Gawain.
Well, leave it to Morris to mix this story up! First of all, Lady Lynet is helped on her journey by a mysterious dwarf, Beaumains is a complete dolt, the sister, Lady Lyonesse is a disgraceful cold-hearted flirt, and far more is happening than appears to be! The ending is delightfully satisfying and romantic, and I cracked up hysterically several times during this book. I finished it in one sitting! Definitely a must-read for King Arthur fans!