News and Media Books

This is a great book that teaches you while you have fun. If you've ever watched Ghostwriter on PBS you'd know that this book is writen exactly like the show. It's a great mystery where a kid named Jamal found a kidnapping message while in London and needs his friend's help back in New York to stop the crime. The book is fasted paced and jumps between three different point-of-views. I bought this book and loved it.

What a wonderful way to get to know the Old Testament men and women. This is a way to help the 21st century person understand the Old Testament culture and the meaning of many of the OT symbolisms and customs. The authors "interview" many of the OT characters, such as Adam, Moses, Solomon and Judas Maccabeus. The authors also added biblical quotations, information on religious, social and historical issues of that day. At the end of the book is a time line chart and a section of short bios of other OT people.

This book is written for teens and young adults, but is also very enjoyable and informative for adults. My husband and I teach RCIA classes, and use this information to help make the OT people come alive - especially to those who have no religious/biblical background. Our book has been borrowed by many of our "students" and every one of them has loved it.

WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR EVERYONE !!!!!

My story "Ho Ho Hold On" is in this collection and it's just one of about 50 pieces that share the joy of the holiday season. This book is perfect to place on the night table of your guest room this time of year. Leave it lay around just about anywhere for quick little doses of holiday joy. Enjoy!

Cup of Comfort is a fabulous anthology. The stories wrapped between the cover and back page are wonderful and fun to read. I bought copies for everyone on my Christmas list.

No matter your age, you just can't help but love Curious George!

With CURIOUS YOU: ON YOUR WAY!, author H. A. Rey takes the life and times of Curious George and applies it to the very important event of graduation. Whether it's graduating from preschool to a elementary school, from high school to college, or possibly even a graduation from childhood into adulthood, this is one book that you'll always be able to take along with you.

As we learn along with Curious George, there will always be new things to see and do, new heights to reach, new dreams to aspire to. Sometimes things might seem scary, and sometimes we won't know which direction to take. Whatever we do, though, and wherever we go, our family and friends will always be there to cheer us on.

This is the perfect gift for everyone in your life -- toddler, teen, or adult.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

As a child, I used to read the old-school Curious George books. In fact, my younger brother used to have a stuffed Curious George that he carried around until it was worn ragged!

Here I am, decades later. My 7 year old son saw the previews for the Curious George movie and wanted to see it. I took him to see the movie (featuring the voices of Will Ferrell and Drew Barrymore, among others) and he was utterly enthralled. (I found it a bit too slow for me, but hey! I'm a parent.)

I bought my son this book as a reminder of the movie since he enjoyed it so much, and he loves it! Lavishly illustrated on semi-glossy pages, Curious George's Big Adventures recounts George's time in the jungle (including putting painted handprints on an elephant's behind!), meeting the man with the yellow hat, "re-painting" the opera lady's apartment, sailing around the sky with balloons, the red monkey artifact in the museum, and George's take-off in the rocket ship.

The book comes with about 20 stickers, too, which the child can place on the back of the book (as recommended) or throughout the book or inside covers.

If your child loves monkeys or enjoyed the Curious George movie, they'll love this beautiful book! It's short, great for beginner readers, and makes a nice bedtime story.

I bought this book when I enrolled in journalism at university, and I thought it was brilliant. It is clear, well written and extremely informative. I recommend it to anybody who is considering a career as a journalist. It is one of the few nonfiction books I have been able to read cover to cover in such a short period of time. It deserves every star I have given it.

This is an interesting approach to the news as stories, and the role of mythology in journalism Lule observes "...storytelling is an essential part of what makes us human. We understand our lives and our world through story. Perhaps stories are so much a part of us because human life itself has the structure of story. Each of us has a central character. Each of us knows, better than we know anything, that life has a beginning, middle and end. We need stories because we are stories." He takes the position that "news stories offer sacred, societal narratives with shared values and beliefs, with lessons and themes, and with exemplary models that instruct and inform." Stories told by the media are used as examples which teach readers what are good and bad ways to behave. Good guys are lauded, "bad" guys are ripped apart. For his "data" Lule compares stories in the New York Times and other major papers. It is fascinating to see the differences, and to see, with his insightful narration, how, over time, the stories changed, and even, how the stories told by the Times actually changed the news itself, and affected how others reported on the actual events. Lule lists what he calls seven myths, which he says "appear frequently, if not daily, in the news. They are primordial stories that have guided human storytelling for ages. And they guide the news and stories of today." The myths are: The Victim, The Scapegoat, The Hero, The Good Mother, The Trickster, The Other World and The Flood. I found the book a fascinating read. I bought it because I thought I could learn better how the media thinks and digests news, so I could use this to my benefit in PR efforts I occasionally engage in. I was right. It will help. This would also be a great resource to any journalist who wants to learn how to tap further and deeper into the archetypal, mythical resonances in the hearts of readers. I'm in the process of organizing a conference, StoryCon, on the art and science of story. Jack Lule has agreed to be a participant at the meeting, along with story creation giants like Jim Bonnet, Chris Vogler, Syd Field, Lew Hunter, Linda Seger and many more.

It's actually a shame that this is published under an academic imprint (Guilford, which is a fantastic publisher) because the book will interest more than just academic readers. I bought copies for two author friends-- Stephen Larsen (Fire in the Mind, authorized biography of Joseph Campbell) and Thom Hartmann, (Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, Prophet's Way, ADD a Different Perspective) and both gobbled this book up, telling me the next day they'd spent the evening with it.

Reading for my 10 year old son was always a chore, never an adventure. He read the first chapter of this book and he was excited about reading. He read the first four books in this series in five days. They don't challenge a fourth grade reader, but they did excite his sense of adventure. Now he begs to go to bed early so he can read. Yippee!!!

An excellent horror/adventure novel by vastly talented (and underappreciated) author, Randall Boyll. We open up with the brilliant Dr. Peyton Westlakes's struggle to produce artificial skin for burn victims. Then Peyton becomes a victim himself, brutally assaulted by sadistic criminals, his face, hands and identity forever burned away. What follows is his struggle to rebuild his lab, his life...and to take revenge on the evil men who stole his world away from him. With the aid of his artificial skin masks, he can become anyone for 99 minutes, but soon learns he has become nobody at all. And like a strange and twisted Batman in bandages, he plans on delving out his own form of justice. You've seen the movie, now read the book. This is excellent writing and plotting. By turns funny and cruel and poignant, dark, gothic, sad and infinitely ironic, Darkman is a novel that's easily devoured and not soon forgotten. Don't damn the book because of the funky angle shots used by the Raimis for the making of the film. Take this book on its own terms. The other books in the series are similarily worth your time, but never quite live up to the emotional depth of the original Darkman.