Marshall Books

This book came to me through the mail. I was expecting it but not what was in it. I started reading it and I couldn't put it down. I know God speaks to us through different avenues and this was just one of His ways of getting a message to me. If anyone has the opportunity to read this book, please do it. You will not regret it. Even though it is out of print there our plenty of copies out there. The person who sent a copy to me found it at an salvation army store.

I started reading chapter books for my cousin's children, and we decided to pick out "A Hare-Raising Tale" by Elizabeth Levy as one of our books.

The story is about a sleepy-eyed basset named Fletcher, whose fur spots are uniquely shaped like the continents of the world. He narrates the story to us, and starts off by saying that when he was a pup, he was put in the pet store, but because no one bought him, he was thrown out the back door and had to live in the streets. He makes friends with a flea named Jasper, but soon afterwards they are caught and put in the dog pound. While living in the pound, a girl named Jill comes and adopts him, and Fletcher goes to live with her. Jill and her friend Gwen decide to use Fletcher for show and tell, but things start going bad for Fletcher, when he is accused of doing something to Aniken (a mean rabbit), who is found missing after show and tell. Fletcher must prove that he is innocent by finding out what happened to Aniken.

My niece and I found this book exciting from start to finish. In the beginning of the book, Fletcher is very concerned about how he looks, and feels that he will not do well like other bassets because of his short tail and his unusual spots. But later, he finds that he has other special qualities, which he uses to solve the mystery. This provides a very nice moral for children who are concerned about what others think of them, and tells them that they should not lose hope even when things look bad.

Author Elizabeth Levy has used simple grammar and Mordicai Gerstein has drawn nice illustrations which children will find amusing and interesting. All in all, this is a fun chapter book to read which children and adults will find amusing to read.

I really enjoyed the story and thought it was told well. No glaring errors that I'm aware of. Students will enjoy this book and learn something.

I liked the book because Hattie is sort of like me because she goes through problems everyday like I go through.

I have a brother named Sam and Hattie has a brother named Sam.

Hattie is also involved in adventure and mystery and I like that too.

This book keep your attention until the very last page. You'll find yourself tagging along with Hattie Marshall as she learns a very important lesson. In other words, this book is great!

Book 1 in the "Hattie Marshall Frontier Adventures" series, Hattie Marshall And The Prowling Panther is a young adult novel about a twelve-year-old girl for whom frontier life can be scary. Threats range from floods that can sweep a person away to a hungry black panther that hunts for its next meal around the family farm. Worst of all, her beloved brother Sam is leaving on a cattle drive that will take him away from home for several months. But love between siblings remains strong despite distance, and God remains with her even when she is lonely and the world makes no sense. A gentle novel of surviving and making the most of life in rugged times, with roots in the tales that the author's grandfather told her about his childhood in east Texas.

Short stories are a much-neglected type of writing, especially the clear-cut ones that Stephen R. Marshall has penned in "Have You Any Spare Cue Sticks?" Like a more introspective David Almond, Marshall writes short but intense stories focusing on everything from basic spinechilling to complex philosophy.

Something nasty and carnivorous is lurking in "The Garage," while "Come, Dream With Me" hints at the strange, frightening results of a recurring dream. "The Bus, the Night, the Street" gives a somber glimpse of a young man venturing into the streets, where shadowy things are lurking. "Grief" is a touching glimpse of what happens when a man's wife dies, and his sorrowful actions and thoughts as he remembers her. "Whistling in the Dark" features a strange, eerie apartment where things come alive in frightening ways. A slick, debonair "Stranger" offers a man what he longs for most -- in exchange for his soul. "The Meanest Man in Town And the Haunted House" features an obnoxious guy insisting that he be taken to the haunted Hardwick Farm, where graves swallow the living.

The title story is somewhat different from the other stories, in which a guy has an intense discussion about various issues, with a girl with whom he has a special connection. "The Stranger -- Again" is a sequel to "Stranger," in which Mr. Mephistopheles brings a familiar stranger into the narrator's presence. "Aren't You Gerald Sweeney?" is the opening line of a story where an elderly man meets the narrator of "Stranger," and the two have a long talk about this world, and the divine world. Rise to "The 13th Floor" where witchcraft disrupts a seemingly normal party. And in the sequel to "Gerald Sweeney," called "Joseph's Sadness," in which Joseph reappears to speak to the narrator about kindness and selflessness.

Marshall's stories range from very inward-centered vignettes to atmospheric glimpses to some really creepy, horrific stories. His writing style suggests a more flowing David Almond with hints of Ray Bradbury, especially the creepy apartment and the hauntingly eerie alleyway in "Bus." There's also some religious dimension as well, in the "Stranger" stories and "Gerald Sweeney." Some of the stories have a definite beginning and end, while some are more like slices from a person's own experience, but all have a certain haunting, otherworldly quality.

Marshall's stories are an enjoyable read, especially for those who enjoy a surreal tint to their reading material. Definitely a good read.

This is the first cookbook the Hay Day put out. It even has an essay from Ales VanR. about the start of the store and pictures of the crew back in 1986 that are amazing. Wow that was some time ago when we all went to the store. At any rate, this is the precursor to the popular Workman opus, with seasonal menus, tips, and charts to help us all learn about food. And the recipes are fantastic too. Some will be repeated in the later volume, some will not. So it is worth purchasing if you are a HayDay fan from the area. Otherwise you can stick with the newer version and be quite content -- the newer version will have more of the items with which you are familiar from their prepared foods section. But that should not detract from this book -- it stands on its own quite well.

I am a first-grade teacher in the public schools of Guam, a United States Territory on the far western edge of the Pacific Ocean. My school's name is Machananao Elementary School. For some time, I have used thematic units to facilitate learning in my classroom. Near the beginning of each school year, I teach a unit on Diet and Dental Health. This year as part of that unit, I frequently played the cassette tape 'Healthy Habits for early learners'. My students truly loved the tape and every time I played it, they specifically asked for "Pump It Up!". You should know that I have children from about seven different cultures in my classroom. Some are from tiny little islands in the Federated States of Micronesia, (Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, Yap) and others are from either the Republic of the Philippines or the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, (a chain of islands immediately north of Guam.) I have long been a strong proponent of the use of music to teach all aspects of the curriculum and am currently researching the issue in pursuit of a Masters in Education. I want to personally thank you and your staff for producing the tape 'Healthy Habits for Early Learners.' Thank you sincerely, Royce D. 'Josh' Ledbetter

This account of Edison Marshall's own hunting experiences will
make you feel out of place in today's world. It captures a time
now gone.