Ward Books

My thoughts: Synopsis is the hero who is a cousin and also the guardian of the heroine, is in charge of making sure the heroine will marry and have a secure future despite her illegitimacy. But the heroine is in love with someone else - him ^_^ Yes, as the previous reviewer said, the prologue made me do something evil - skip to the ending!!! But they were right, I was not able to find out what the heck the story so I had to read the book correctly. I'm glad I did! The book was absolutely charming. The heroine was cute, spunky and full of fire and life. I thought it was funny and nice that she didn't shy away from kisses from other guys hahaha! The hero was also nice but I couldn't really imagine him as a mathematican, etc. And gosh, even though he wasn't the hero, the hero's rival was just so sweet! I felt SO bad that the heroine couldn't choose him =( I was hoping there was a sequel, that maybe he would have his own romance. Alas there wasn't. My only complaint is that I don't think there was enough "romantic" time between the hero and the heroine. I thought maybe there were stolen kisses or something but such was not the case. But despite all that, this book was REALLY good. That is why I gave it almost 5 stars. If you are semi disgusted by the fact that they are related, don't be. As mentioned by a previous reviewer, this was quite common in the olden days. I don't think they are first cousins. Heroine's father and hero were cousins. There is an 11 years age gap between them. Anyway, this book is highly recommended!

the story of ward and guardian romance-a classic regency theme. Some me be slightly off put with the fact that hero and heroine are cousins-second cousins to be exact-but realistically this was something that happened quite a bit in regency times.

A satisfying, years long tale is told in a short 200+ pages-with several secondary characters I'd love to see in their own books (and may well be for all I know).

A wonderful read for a traditional regency fan-4 stars!

Joan Wolf is just a great writer--and it is a crime that her fiction and talent is not better respected. While she has stopped writing her shorter, romance-fiction Regency novels for years, they are among my favorite books. I would not think of selling the ones I own--some of them more than 20 years old.
The Rebellious Ward is just an excellent example of how she takes a common theme/motif and elevates it to quality fiction--her characters are always real people--I feel I could know Catriona if I met her today on a visit to England. Even the secondary characters--such as Freddy--are writen with nuance and insight which given them a depth lacking in most other writers' work in fiction--historical or not.
I just wish she would return to this era. I love her novels of Ancient Britian as well--not too crazy about the Red Deer work--but I wish that someone would realize what a gem these novels are and reissue them--even do a series on Brit TV because several of the novels share some common characters--
just great writing...

You can always trust Joan Wolf to give you a good story. The usual guardian-ward romance but written with such consummate skill , it turns out to be so beautiful, touching and heart-warming. I just love it.

The prologue alone is worth the money. The suspense is so cleverly done that merely peeking at the last page wouldn't give the answer. I was caught and "fooled" until the very last moment. And the way everything gets wrapped up is really satisfactory.

We recently travelled in the Grand Canyon-Southern Utah area, and found this an invaluable resource. None of the reviews was off-base... although some of the prices are outdated at this point, it's to be expected. One thing that's nice about this guide is that it's pretty durable, so after several weeks of use in the planning of the trip, 10 days of being tossed about in backpack, car and luggage, and being used as a reference in my post-trip write-up of our travels, it still looks fairly new. I could probably sell it used, but I think I'll keep it for when I head back that way in a few years.

I travel in the Southwest frequently and have a diverse collection of guidebooks to the region. Rough Guide is my favorite, with the intelligently written descriptions and opinions. The other guidebooks are drier or shallower in comparison (Moon, Lonely Planet, Let's Go, DK, and Frommer's).

I usually carry multiple guidebooks on my vacations, but during my recent trip to the American Southwest I relied exclusively on this book.

One of the reasons I recommend this book is that it covers the Southwest as a single region, so it includes New Mexico, Arizona, southern Colorodo, southern Utah, and Las Vegas. Most other books are State-based, so it would take multiple books to cover the entire region.

Another reason to pick this book is that it is opinionated. It lists top ten sites in various categories (national parks, museums, etc.), so that you can plan your time effectively. The auther even recommends against some things, unlike most guidebooks.

I am picky about maps, and the maps in this book were uniformly accurate and reliable. Driving tips and recommended routes were quite useful.

You will also find this book compact and light. While some other books are loaded with pictures, I find these books best enjoyed at home, before and after my trip, because they are too heavy to lug around during my trip.

Finally, I stayed in 5 hotels, all recommended by this book, and they were all safe choices. If you are looking for a splurge, I recommend Goulding's lodge at Monument Valley, especially for fans of old movies. To my surprise, I enjoyed the museum on site. Also, I used the inroom VCR to watch Stagecoach, and this was the perfect setup for my Monument Valley visit the next morning. At Canyon do Chelly NM, I would recommend not staying at the overpriced, dreary lodge. It's cheaper to stay at one of the places just outside the park. In Santa Fe, the El Rey Inn is convenient, friendly, and has a Route 66 feel.

On our recent trip through the grand circle of national parks in the four corners area, we carried several paperback guides, but quickly discarded the others in favor of this excellent book. We started reading it out loud as we approached each new town because of its wry observations, but quickly came to trust its preview of each new stop. We were never disappointed when we chose a non-chain motel from its recommendations, and we never got a bad meal wherever it said the food was good (and this was a budget trip).

It isn't perfect -- things change too fast. For instance, there are many new motels within easy distance of the Grand Canyon, easing the squeeze many travelers have experienced, and more are under construction. And they didn't warn us to avoid the grossly mis-named Kodachrome state park. But wherever I travel next, a Rough Guide will be with me, you can be sure.

This is the mother of all Southwest guidebooks, and as one reviewer stated, it is most useful because it covers multiple states (New Mexico, Arizona, Southern Utah, and Southern Nevada).

The maps inside are second-to-none. I always trust these maps, especially when I need to get off the major highways to a less-traveled road.

This book has medium-to-small type and thin pages, so they pack a lot of information into a small space. This is great for the traveler who doesn't want to lug around a huge and heavy book.

Every town has a good description, history, and information, followed by a list of practicalities like where to eat, where to stay, where to get more information. The Indian reservations are covered in great detail, and this was essential for my trip.

Love this book and I highly recommend it to anyone driving through the Southwest.

Well written, faith-filled, hopeful and rich in insights. A short read, but most worthwhile.

Fr. James Martin offers up a rare spiritual gem for those seeking an honest and simple account of the recovery effort. He offesr the simple yet profound story of one Jesuit priest's efforts to minister amidst the chaos at the WTC site. Highly recommended as the book to buy for anyone who wants to rememeber and reflect on this tragic day as we approach the fifth year anniversary of 9-11.

For the most part, Jim Martin was just like any other American on September 11th--desperate to do "something." But he had what most of us don't--a Roman collar and the knowledge that God's word would be needed the most in that place of unparallelled evil. A policeman escorts him to Ground Zero, and Father Martin is sure he has entered hell.

Frightened by the carnage around him, Father Martin struggles to minister to the firefighters, cops and paramedics frantically digging by hand to reach buddies and strangers alike. But in the end he finds that he does not need to reveal God to these heartbroken rescuers--instead, God's grace is revealed to the world by their tireless sacrifice.

Father Martin gives us a glimpse into the unseen world of Ground Zero in the weeks following the September 11th attacks--it is a story of horror and, surprisingly, of hope and grace. For anyone whose faith was sorely tested by September 11th (and whose wasn't?), this book offers inspiration and solace.

Father Martin describes the events of the World Trade Center tragedy of 9/11 in gently vivid, reader-kind prose. I felt I had a true, but down-to-earth description of how it must have been to have actually been on site following this terrible disaster, but without all the "must-sell" hype of news writers and television broadcasters. The scene described by Fr. Martin was descriptive without being gory or graphic. The whole experience of reading about the tragedy and its heros through the author's "eyes" was as a prayer. I want to give this book to all my friends and family, and recommend it highly. cbm/Atlanta, GA

As Sister Helen Prejean said on the back jacket, this is not just another 9/11 book. It is much more than that. Father Martin speaks of course about the heroism and charity of the rescue workers at the World Trade Center, but with this book he also gives the reader a profound meditation on the way that God can work during times of suffering. It is a deeply moving (and beautifully written) book.

No story in words.. just in pictures. Great way to make up your own story. What is happening? Is the pony real? Cool book to "read" with your kids. Very magicial.

Heather mama of 5

The book was received in good condition and in a timely manner. I would recommend this site to others.

We just got this book from the library and my daughter loves it. I'm going to have to buy it now. She loves being able to tell the story as she sees it, using her imagination. And she also loves reading the book by herself as well as with an adult. A Great idea.

A very complex story with no printed words. A five year old can tell a fine story from the picturs and a few questions such as "What will happen next?" and 'Why is the father mad?" I called the child "he" once and was quickly corrected by my daughter who had the same short hair and boy like clothes. It is wonderful to have a story where a girl is bold, has wouderful adventures and is loved by her family. We love the book, even 20 years later.

The right reader has a read-to-me kid and shares a vivid imagination with that child. The 80+ illustrations tell a wordless story of a small boy and his magical winged horse. Because it's wordless, the readers have to come up with a lot of the story for themselves - the characters' names, details of why and how, and much more. The pictorial narrative gives plenty of chance for embellishment: exciting rescues of flooded families and lost sheep, some friendly moments with innocent romantic potential, and a potentially frightening scene near the end, a nightmare from the cold war era. Because the story exists only with the reader's help, you control how much you will explore each of the book's themes. Although the images are a black&white and a little dated, they will give you and an imaginative child a lot to work with.

I regret that I came to this book with incorrect expectations. I had just read Lynd's "God's Man," and came away very impressed. It's another wordless story, but a grown-up story (as opposed to 'adult'), and done in woodcut. I hoped for more of that complexity and more of Lynd's work in that medium. This book offers neither. The problem is only in what I hoped for the book, not in the book itself. Still, I came away disappointed.

//wiredweird

I found this book of poetry an enjoyable escape from the day to day pressures associated with life. At the same time it was a touch of reality in terms of the things that should be most important to all of us "simple love".

Now, I can't think of a better way to communicate with my own feeling for the people that mean so much to me.

Simple Love by David Brian Williams ISBN: 0-9674294-0-4

"There is more to being black than meets the eye." This is a line from a David Brian Williams Poem. His work symbolizes this notion. His new book, Simple Love also informs us that there is more to being in love than meets the eye. In a time of so much animosity reared against love poetry because of the production of so much poorly constructed love poetry, Williams' book attempts to set the record straight. His poems are not just love poems in a vacuum. His poems are love poems that exist within the context of daily living. Poems such as "Simple Love," "I Believe in You and Me," and "Check One" resonate with the daily struggles of black folk just trying to get by, hoping on hope that this tonight will help me make it to tomorrow. Yet it is not just about the "tonight" love. It is about how love has been the sustaining force in the lives of African Americans. Williams' work shows that love, romantic love, is the nucleus of the Black Movement and the shield against white oppression. Buy this book, not because it is love poetry, but because it is well crafted love poetry.

I found this book to be very refreshing and uplifting as well as erotic. He uses eroticism just enough to get you to the edge without KNOCKING you over. My favorite by far was Check One, because of its simplicity. Love it!

There is no other way to decribe Mr. Williams except for Da Bomb. He definitely has it goin' on with his book Simple Love. The fact that it's so simple is what makes it so extraordinary. He is so expressive that by the end of the poem you feel every emotion that he was feeling as he was writing it. Keep it up Mr. Williams. I am definitely feelin' you (Especially on that --If I Could Hear Some Saxaphone--) I am awaiting the next release of your great works.

Ondrea Nicole Lewis

Simple Love is a misnomer. According to the brutally honest poetry of David Brian Williams, there is nothing simple about love. Williams has treated us to an unusally candid perspective of the often masked pain felt by men in love. His touches of eroticism reveal his desire to please, and his plea heard in "Check One" begs for an easier approach to dating and mating. There is nothing in "Simple Love" that any of us can not relate to. This man wants to love and be loved. Don't we all?

"The Spider in the Well" is a brilliantly written journey of a college football player's life as he grapples with guilt issues, his own devastating injury, and a senseless act of violence toward his father.
Paul Ford, a University of Minnesota standout and NFL prospect, is haunted by a horrific childhood accident which occurs as Paul was to be supervising his little brother, James. Paul's fascination with a spider in a well opening causes his attention to be diverted from his responsibility toward his little brother with tragic results. Self-induced guilt of the accident throws Paul into a pattern of re-occurring nightmares that would shape his later life.

As the demanding and lucrative world of the NFL seems within reach for Paul, he, himself, is faced with his own private nightmare as an awful injury dashes all hopes for the career that Paul so desperately desires. As his world crumbles around him, Paul is again faced with a devastating blow as his selfish girlfriend abruptly breaks up with him causing him to realize that her commitment to him was strictly based on Paul's future income and status as a football player.

Through it all, Paul's family steadfastly stands beside Paul gently reminding him that God has a plan for him and that his life is not wasted by his injury but instead enhanced by what miracles God could perform through him.

As Paul becomes more involved with the charitable work of his mother and father, his life is again turned upside-down by a senseless act of violence toward his father by the very person his father tried so hard to help. It is at this point in Paul's life that God's plan is revealed to him and the only thing in the way of Paul's life's mission is to come face to face with the nagging doubts in his own heart as well as with the Spider in the Well.

I was totally engrossed in this novel by Ms. Ward. I was struck by her ability to convey to the reader a sense of urgency in Paul's heart as he sought out life's true meaning for him. Her gentle guidance of the reader into the complexities of true forgiveness gave this reader a new-found appreciation for the importance of a solid relationship with oneself, one's family and with God.

I read this novel in one evening. I laughed, I cried, but most of all, I took time to re-examine my own life and for that I will always thank Lee Ann Ward for writing this wonderful novel, "The Spider in the Well".

Reviewed March 2004
Shannon Young
"Little Brown Shoes"

From the moment I started reading this novel, I couldn't put it down. Lee Ann Ward makes an impressive statement with her main character, Paul Ford, as he searches to find God through the low points of his young life. Paul must face adversity when his worst fears come to haunt him. With the help of those closest to him, he learns he doesn't have to walk the dark corridors of his life alone. The characters were well written and the story clear and thought out. This is not normally my genre but I thoroughly felt captivated by the story. Pick up a copy and enjoy The Spider in the Well!

by Nancy Arant Williams

College senior Paul Ford is on a roll. He's handsome, talented and in his final year at the University of Minnesota. And most exciting of all, at his next game he'll be observed by pro football scouts. How could life get any better?

He can't believe his luck that a stunning blonde named Tiffany has declared her love for him; they have nothing but bright hopes for the future together. But Paul has a recurring nightmare that no one could imagine--and it's crippling his life and emotional stability. The dream is so vivid he wakes screaming, waking up his teammates in the dark of night. And all because of a stupid spider in a well.

Paul's parents are proud of their well-known son, and not just for his football successes. They are thrilled with his love of God and his desire to be an honorable man. His parents aren't rich, in fact money has never been an idol to them, but they can't help but be excited at the potential ministry opportunities Paul's football success will engender.

Tiffany's attitude is a puzzle he can't help but wonder about. Does she love him, or is it simply his potential fortune she's so crazy about?

As game day approaches, Paul prays for God's will to be done, but he has no idea the day will change the course of history as far as he's concerned. And when Paul's whole world collapses, he can't help but wonder what on earth God was thinking.

Paul's father, Andy, who has been ministering to down and out men at the city mission, invites his son to join him and speak to the men. What he doesn't anticipate is that someone will try to kill his dad.

In a thought-provoking look at how life's twists can shatter the human spirit, Lee Ann Ward brings hope and encouragement to those who want to get serious about walking with God. In a warm and genuine way, she examines attitudes that shape us and our world, showing that it is possible to live what you believe and still thrive.

A powerful story about a man troubled by his past and struggling with his devotion to God. Lee Ann Ward has a wonderfully written novel that came from the heart. Must Read!

This is a beautifully written story that will catch you from the beginning like a literary spider's web. It's filled with passages that stir the spirit and warm the heart, and the story will stay with you long after you turn the last page.

Ward Larsen's "Stealing Trinity" opens during the waning days of World War II. Nazi officers are planning their escape routes, hoping to flee the country before they are captured. However, there is one loose end that concerns them--"Die Wespe," "a fat little German scientist who is working on the Manhattan Project with the Americans." The officers want to make contact with this spy, since there is a slim chance that this top secret mission may come to fruition. If it does, "those with the knowledge will control the future of our world." The Germans choose as their emissary Alexander Braun, a handsome Wehrmacht captain who grew up in America, attended Harvard, and speaks impeccable English as well as German. Braun's job will be to find Die Wespe and procure the scientific papers that he has been hiding for the sake of the Fatherland.

Braun makes his way to America, but his goal is not to revive the Nazi cause. He intends to enjoy the good life as the pampered husband of Lydia Cole, the woman he left behind before he returned to Germany. Complicating matters for Alex is Major Michael Thatcher, a one-legged British officer who is obsessed with locating and stopping Braun before he can complete his mission.

Larsen's novel contains all of the usual clichés: a race against time, an intrepid hero and spunky heroine, a murderous villain, and espionage that involves not only the Germans but the Russians and Americans, as well. Although the dialogue and plot are, for the most part, pedestrian, Larsen throws in a few good action sequences and some neat twists and turns. "Stealing Trinity" may not be top drawer World War II spy fiction, but it is entertaining enough to satisfy fans of this popular genre.

Ward Larsen has taken the old plot line of a potential resurgent Nazi regime at the close of WWII and added a great twist.

In the dying days of the Third Reich, Alexander Braun is tasked with contacting the Nazi spy inside the Manhatten project. In the turmoil of the failing Reich, a British Intelligence officer, Michael Thatcher, picks up on Braun's mission.

Thatcher, hindered by the FBI, persues Braun hoping to thwart his mission.

Mr. Larsen has again written a thriller that will make you lose sleep. The story has good character depth and will have you not wanting to put the book down.

With good characters and a twisting plot line, Mr. Larsen has gained a place on my list of preferred authors.

Ward Larsen debut novel "The Perfect Assassin" demonstrated his ability to write a riveting spy novel of the first order. Now in his follow-up novel "Stealing Trinity", he once against presents us with the wit, originality, and innovations of a master storyteller. Germany is collapsing as the Third Reich seeks to activate its deep cover spy within the Manhattan Project. British Intelligence is on to the Nazi plan and dispatches Major Michael Thatcher to track down Hitler's killer agent Alexander Braun before he can wreck havoc with America's nuclear program. Then the first atomic bomb (code named 'Trinity') is tested at Los Alamos on July 16, 1945 and in the days that follow, Thatcher and Braun are destined to a fateful showdown involving control of information that could change the course of the war and of the world. "Stealing Trinity" is a compelling read and a recommended addition to community library suspense/thriller fiction collections. Simply stated, this is the kind of story that Hollywood block buster movies are made from.

This is another good book from Ward Larsen. In this novel the Nazis
have placed a spy in the Manhattan Project. His code name is Die Wespe
(the Wasp). In the dying days od World War II the Nazis decide to bring Die Wespe home to gather the information that he has ovtained. They find
a sniper on the Russian front named Alexander Braun. He had previously lived in America with the last name Brown. British intelligence picks up on the plan. The Americans refuse to believe them. The British decide to send Major Michael Thatcher to track down Braun. Braun goes to the home of Lydia Cole,an old friend at Harvard. He is found there by Thatcher and
makes his escape. He heads to Los Alamos New Mexico. There he will find
Die Wespe whose real name is Karl Heinrich. He is a leading scientist working on Trinity, the atomic bomb used to end World War II. Braun comes
into possession of the secrets of how to construct the atomic bomb. He meets up with Lavrenti Beria of Russia who wants the secrets for Russia. Meanwhile Thatcher and Lydia Cole are hot on his trail. This leads to a wild ending. This is a very exciting book that you will enjoy.

This is a fantastical spy adventure. Alex Braun is a spy who traverses from Berlin to England, to the tumultuous Atlantic Ocean and then the moneyed leisure of Newport, Rhode Island where his Harvard sweetheart, Lydia Cole, is visiting her parents with her buffoon of a husband. He also travels to the vacant desert of New Mexico and J. Robert Oppenheimer's Manhattan Project, and lastly to the middle of the Pacific. Stealing Trinity moves along at a brisk pace, sucking the reader into an exciting WWII tale of espionage, treason, subterfuge and the realization that Germany is no longer fighting a war.

Karl Heinrich, a misguided German Fascist on the Manhattan Project, is ready and willing to impart the secrets of the quiet tribe of university department chairs and Nobel Laureates on Oppenheimer's project in order for the Third Reich to see fruition. Heinrich meets up with Braun (also known as Alex Brown, to his American friends), for their rendezvous, all the while Braun is making plans to sell the secrets to the Russians-and not alerting the fat little Fascist that he's two-timing him.

Simultaneously, Major Michael Thatcher, of the Queen's Military in Great Britain, and Mr. Jones of the FBI, are hot on Braun's trail. But Thatcher has a secret weapon to help him get to Braun quicker-the help of blithe young Lydia Cole, the woman who once loved Alex Brown, but who has now suffered a great loss at his hands.

You won't be able to put Stealing Trinity down. Regardless of how much truth is in this novel, it's a great peek into the history of the A-bomb.

Armchair Interviews says: Amazingly well-written, fast-paced and intriguing.

35 years after reading this the first time, I found myself wanting to read all about Sue and her friends again. I have spent the last 32 years in nursing, and am still going strong in school as well as actual practice. The stories are fun, heartwarming and an excellent opportunity to re-visit the wonder of being new to the art of nursing. Great reading for a young person who thinks she (or he) might want to pursue a career in the hands and heart profession of Nursing.

I loved these books as a child, and 40 years later (30 of them, nursing) I still love them. The books are a fascinating time capsule of nursing in the 1930's through '50's. The surface of nursing has changed immensely, but the spirit of it is shown vividly in these stories: respectful, non-pitying caring for people in their crunch times. And on a third level, they're fine stories of growing up, in any age.

This is the first book in the series. It starts with Sue joining forces with her soon to be best friends Kit and Connie on a wonderful and some times frightening adventure in nursing school. This is the way nursing should be taught ......with the students living in the hospital having classes in the morning and working with patients part of day.
This book gives a delightful view of a bygone era. I highly reccomend this series for all ages.
An interesting bit of trivia......Helen Boylston was living with Laura Ingalls Wilder while writing some of the Sue Barton books. Helen and Rose Wilder were friends.

This is the first of the "Sue Barton" series. In this story, Sue enters nursing school. She meets two girls, Kit and Connie, who become her best friends. And during their first year there, Sue learns the techniques of nursing as she is gradually moved from one department to another in the course of her studies.

One running concern the student nurses have, is whether they will have the courage to risk their lives in a life-or-death emergency. Sue is especially doubtful about this. Then, one night she herself is rushed into surgery for an emergency appendectomy. Then, while recovering on the ward, she suddenly comes up against a delirious patient who is trying to escape from the hospital. Can Sue stop her --even if the situation puts Sue herself into danger?

This is a wonderful story. Having been first published in 1936, some of the dialogue is a little dated, but otherwise, the story moves quickly and builds to an exciting and logical climax. Highly recommended.

Sue B beats Cherry Ames hands down. Both are nursing series and I like them both but Sue Barton series includes character and plot development that the Ames books just don't have though they are amusing. Sue Barton is fully fleshed out character that you want to succeed.
This book is about her probationary year in which she has several exciting adventures that firmly awaken her to why she wants to be a nurse.

This is quite an unusual book, one of the best I've read in a long time. In addition to its compelling true story, the writing is superb. The author(Sunny) has taken a gut-wrenching tragedy that befell her and her family during the Great Depression and sprinkled it liberally with unaffected humor
and quirky insights into a child's-eye view of tragedy. What could have been a schmaltzy tale of woe is instead a warm, at times excruciatingly funny read. The chain of events, covering a period of two years in the 1930's (with some flashbacks to World War One) is brilliantly recalled by the author in charmingly descriptive detail.

You won't find this book in your local bookstore, however, because it was published by a print-on-demand company and bookstores shun such books. What a pity, because this fine book is being overlooked by millions. But perhaps not for long, because I discovered that the School Library Journal, a
magazine for high school librarians, has included "Sunny" on its annual list of best books, in this case 2005, recommending it for both adults and teenagers. Further research has disclosed that the book is popping up on "required reading" lists in some high schools.

Sunny, Ward of the State is a book I've read cover to cover at least three times and dipped into randomly more times than I can count. It is a vastly comforting story with many lessons in it (for me, at any rate). It's a story about humanity at it's bumbling best (which is pretty much all we can hope for). It's a story about muddling through by dint of will and courage and love. And it's true.

Sonja Heinze Coryat was Sunny, a six year old child of German immigrants whose small world was her oyster when her mother was diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis. Sonja's world and that of her brother and two sisters rapidly disintegrated into chaos and horror as their father struggled unsuccessfully to hold the family together when their mother had to be hospitalized indefinitely. In the middle of the Great Depression, immigrants who could barely speak English had few options in the best of circumstances. Sunny's Pop had to surrender, finally, his kids to the State. What ensues is heroism. The kids and their father and their mother were heroes, all - no question about it.

Not surprisingly, Sonja recalls all of it, in her plainspoken way - sometimes with anger and sadness, often with humor, always with love.

Sonja Heinze Coryat vividly recounts her childhood, from growing up in the German neighborhoods of New York with her family, to the time she spent as a Ward of the State. She evokes the wrenching illness of her mother that led to her family's difficulties and her memories are played out against the backdrop of the Great Depression. What is amazing about this singular tale of a tragic childhood is that Sonya brings to the pages of her book not primarily the pain and sadness, but the warmth and humor of her early years. When I finished the book, I just had to smile at the enduring image of her father presenting her with furniture for her first child that he "just got". SUNNY Ward of the State is an inspiring story of one family's triumph over adversity.

I thought this book was excellent. A gentle, sad story written in a witty, intelligent way. Not only does the reader get to feel the experience of Sunny's childhood, but they also get a lesson about life in the early 20th century. 5 stars all the way...

"Sunny, Ward of the State" is one of those books you've got to keep reading. It's a true story of an immigrant family during the Great Depression and their major problems: The mother gets TB and is put into a sanitarium, the four kids have to go to children's homes, and the father is at his wit's end. It's beautfully written and the story is skillfully told, often in the voice of a 6-year old child. It's not a tear jerker but has a lot of quirky humor. I liked it better than "Angela's Ashes." This is the kind of book America needs today, to remind them of this historical era and how people used to cope with adversity. I hope the author writes a sequel.

This is a beautiful and inspiring reflection of Christ's passion. The prayers at the end of each chapter go right to the heart. It is an easy read and makes a wonderful gift for anyone going through a tough time.

There is not a writing by Caryll Houselander that I have not appreciated. One of the best!

I love this book. It is the traditional stations that Caryll writes with depth of heart and spirit with insight only given and received in the power of our Helper, Holy Spirit. Highly recommended for the faithful follower of Christ.

This extraordinary book makes a superb complement to Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

Houselander was one of England's most popular spiritual writers in the mid-20th century. She was also one of the best, and this is arguably her finest work.

The book is based on the ancient devotional practice of praying The Stations of the Cross. The Stations are 14 incidents in Christ's Passion; for example, Christ is judged; Christ meets his mother while carrying His cross; Christ is stripped; Christ is nailed to the cross; Christ dies.

For each incident, Houselander provides a few pages of profound reflection and a short prayer. Her poignant writing is utterly devoid of sentimentality or flowery ornament. She plunges straight into each moment, showing us how we can walk the painful Way of the Cross with Jesus, and how He in fact walks with us at every moment of suffering in our lives.

Read this book to experience The Passion, to draw nearer to Him, and to recognize how He is still being spit upon, still being put into agony in every man, woman, and child who suffers.

This is a reprinting of an older version that was originally published in the 1950's. This author enjoyed great popularity for her spiritual writings in the 40's and 50's. I came across this one last year but only got around to reading it this year. It has an a meditation between 4 and 8 pages per station. It also has woodcut prints by the author at the beginning of each chapter. Also each chapter ends with a prayer composed to tie the meditation to our own lives. The meditations in this edition go much deeper than some of the others. The reflections lead to deep introspection.