Schools Books

a truly fantastic book!!! ALL of the heartland books leaves me all peaceful @ the end. dont ask y. its just the way lauren rites.
in this book, Mr. baldwin makes an emergency stop @ heartland, and they discover tys dad have transported trucks in an illegal trailer. amy + ty treat the horses, but the ppl who asked mr baldwin 2 transport the horses, still wanna deliver the poor, dehydrated horses 2 an aution house. will mr. baldwin lose his job? will the horses die? u wont no till u read this fantastic book!
carol

I really enjoyed reading A Season of Hope. I could not put the book down. Lauren Brooke is the very best author for horse books. If you like horses YOU MUST READ THEESE BOOKS or you will miss out on something so wonderful that there is no word to describe it. I really wish that there were more than twenty books in the series. A Season of Hope is about a girl named Amy and how she is faced with the horrors of animal cruelty to horses, although she could be dealing with the law Amy tries everything she can to help the horses. Amy is greatly helped by her sister Lou, her boyfriend Ty who is also a stable hand, Amy and Lou's grandpa, Lou's fiancé also the vet Scott, Joni a stable hand, and somehow Ty's father who hated horses but changed his mind after he spent time with them and then he finally understood that Ty belonged to work at Heartland. The phrase healing horses healing hearts means that in every book horses are healed and a person or people learn valuable life lessons. I love the Heartland books so much that for every book in the series I would give them all five stars, even more than that if I could. The Heartland books make me feel that I am inside the book watching it all. It seems as if I am watching television but different. My favorite part in the book would definitely be the ending but... you won't find out the ending unless you read it!

i absolutly love heartland books i wish lauren brooke wrote more than just 20!!! i been reading the series for years now and they never get boring i luv em!!!

This book is one of the best heartland books and i should know. I've read them all. As a surprising twist that takes place the whole book(if you didnt read the back)Ty's dad brings a truckload of horses that were to be sold in an auction house. All the horses were in very bad condition. Three of which died. You'll have to read the book to find out the rest. And you should. This is a really great book!

This book tells a lot about society. It is about horses that either have problems or are being abused. What does that say about people in general? It tells us some people can be cruel. Society does not help horses that have been hurt or abandoned. People should not be allowed to have pets if they dont take care of them. That is where society comes in. People should prove that they are mature or responsible to take care of a pet before they purchase it. People should be able to have pets, as long as they take care of them properly and treat them kindly.
The characters in this story are very similar to the people I know. The main character and I both like animals, expecialy horses. Amy is the main character. She helps abused horses with their problems and fears. She and I both believe that no animal should be tormented. Other characters like Ty and Nacy are like my mom and dad. Ty is like my dad becuase Ty helps around the stables and my dad is like that too. Nancy is like my mom she is kind and supports peoples ideas. My mom is very nice and she will support almost everyone's opinion. So all the characters do resemble friends and family even though they are different people.
There are a couple different themes in this book. One is that you should always treat your pets with respect, no matter how mean they are. Two, is to always support your friends. If they have an idea you should be bringing them up, not pushing them down. Last, but not least is to always help others. This is a very important one because people who need your help may need a friend as well. If you are able to help them out, you should also be able to be their friend and help them later on if they need it. So always help and be a friend to everyone!!

Title: She's So Money

Author: Cherry Cheva

Rating: 4.5/5

Good:

This book was extremely good. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this... I knew it'd be funny, but that was basically the extent of my knowledge.

I was extremely pleased to see that this book had even more going for it than hilarity.

Let's start with the main character. Maya was extremely believable, extremely flawed, and extremely real. She's the type of person I could probably meet walking down the street, or in a bookstore, or just anywhere. She's someone I could imagine having a conversation with. Which just makes her so easy to relate to.

And then there's the plot. What a crazy, wild scheme that Maya comes up with! And Cherry Cheva found a way to make it believable! I couldn't imagine something like this happening in my school, and yet somehow reading this book it seemed entirely plausible.

Finally, you have the ending. Semi-cheesy, but still entirely perfect for this book. Things didn't necessarily end how I expected them to, but that's only because I wasn't sure what to expect. This book was so crazy and fun, I never knew what would happen.

I am really really looking forward to reading Cherry's next book.


Bad:

The only bad thing I can think of was the cheesiness. Because, I'll admit, there was a lot of cheese. But for this book, it just worked. So I'm not going to complain.

High school senior Maya is a good girl. She works in her family's Thai restaurant after school every day and on weekends. She takes several AP courses, tutors and prays daily that she gets her acceptance to Stanford. She knows she's a straight arrow, and she likes it that way.

Things begin to change, however, when she is asked to tutor Camden King, a popular hottie and super-obnoxious wealthy senior. Their first meeting does not go well, as he leaves after a cell phone call and she throws away the backpack he forgot to take with him. He even offered her lots of cash to do his homework!

One weekend Maya's parents leave her and her brother in charge of the restaurant while they go to a wedding. Finally she is treated like the adult she knows she is. But she loses her cool when she encounters a set of miserable customers. They leave among threats, and she and her brother are too tired and crabby to clean up properly, vowing to do it the next day. The patrons follow through on their threats, and the Health Inspector leaves notice of violations and fines for Maya totaling $10,000! She is given only three weeks to pay the full amount.

Maya knows her family doesn't have that kind of money, so she takes Camden up on his potentially lucrative offer. He also has her do homework for a few friends, but not too well, so teachers won't be suspicious. She doesn't need sleep, right? Between spending time at the restaurant and doing her and others' homework, Maya is reaching the end of her rope.

Then Camden kisses Maya! It's her first, and now she's really confused. She won't make her deadline, so he proposes that she line up more tutors to join in and they will take a cut. Maya almost makes it, but of course someone figures out what's going on and threatens her. She needs more money, so they pull in students from another school. She thinks she's Camden's girlfriend now, but when she sees him with other girls, doubts creep in. In fact, Maya isn't sure of anything anymore.

Cherry Cheva, a writer for "Family Guy," brings readers a cast of realistic characters who make a few bad choices that spiral out of control. While the magnitude of this cheating operation seems crazy, it's easy to see how nice girl Maya gets sucked in. SHE'S SO MONEY will have readers turning pages quickly to find out what happens next and if Maya will be able to pull herself out of this mess.

--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

SHE'S SO MONEY
CHERRY CHEVA

Rating: 4.5 Enchantments

Maya could never imagine a little freedom could cause so much trouble. When her parents leave her in charge of the family restaurant and her younger brother, Nat, she never thought the restaurant would end up with a hefty fine thanks to two bitchy customers. But in order to keep the 10K fine a secret from her over-controlling parents, she needs to pay it off before they can find out about it. And that's where Camden King comes in.

Camden King needs help with his homework. His first encounter with Maya as his tutor doesn't go well at all, especially when he comes across as a bit of a jerk. In fact, she quits when he offers to pay her to do his homework. But Camden is anything but easily deterred.

I have to admit I thought the first chapter or two of the book felt a little slow to me. It wasn't until Maya was left on her own that the story began to pick up. One of the scenes that stuck with me takes place fairly early in the book. Maya and Camden are talking in the school hallway, having just come to an agreement about the `homework' issue. He starts asking her about having a boyfriend and she says she hasn't had one and when she says she hasn't been kissed, Camden leans over and kisses her. I absolutely loved Maya's reaction to the kiss!

Cherry Cheva is originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan and currently lives in Los Angeles where she writes for the animated series, Family Guy. SHE'S SO MONEY is her first novel. Visit her online at http://www.myspace.com/cherrycheva

Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
June 2008

She's So Money was one of the best books I have ever read!! Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down!! I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next!! It's a character driven book and action packed, when the main character finds herself in a heap of trouble and the only way she can get out of it is to go against her beliefs and team up with the most popular guy in school and do something she never thought she would!!

Although I had quite a few issues with this book, I couldn't help but feel myself reeled in. I stayed up reading it really late and even though I wasn't satisfied with all of the aspects of the book, I think it was a very good read. Now about those things that I had issues with...I think that the characters weren't developed enough and that the plot was a little too predictable. Don't get me wrong, I like me some nice, fluffy, and predictable books every now and then, but I definitely think that Cherry Cheva could've have worked to throw a few more twists into it than she did. And I also would've loved to be able to get to know the characters better. I think that that aspect of the book was rushed and not filled in very well. Also, the ending came a little too fast for my preference. It was very sudden and it just kind of ended. All that stuff probably makes this seem like a horrible book, but it really wasn't. One of the things that I liked was the unique plot. It might not have had many surprises, but it was a new and unexplored concept which was neat. I also liked how the side characters got to shine along with the main ones and we got to see the alternate sides of many of the "popular" characters in the book. And overall, I think that Cherry Cheva did a great job writing She's So Money. Even with all of the faults that I found with it, I really couldn't stop reading it. She just has the kind of writing style that leaves you wanting more and I am completely satisfied with this book and I would highly recommend it as a very fun and light read. Perfect for summer! Which, by the way, has arrived without me even noticing. I swear, I woke up last week and I was like; woah-there are only two weeks of school left! When did that happen? And since then I've been in a huge fog because of lack of sleep from studying for finals. I'm amazed that I'm having time to read at all. I probably shouldn't be reading...but oh well. Can't pull a girl away from her obsession, can you? And enough with my rambling already. :D Go read She's So Money!

Have you actually seat down and read a book? What all kinds of books do you like to read daily? Me I like all kinds of books. Such as romantic, mystery, and sad stories. That's all about what I read. But there are lots of interesting stories out there in the world.

There is this one book I read a couple of weeks ago. It was one of my favorite books I have read. Its sad, happy in some parts, has love in the book in a way. Nice and interesting. I think you should read it but first let me tell you about this book. I'm sure you will like it.

This book is by Lurlene McDaniel. She is a good author I think. I have read one of her books before. The book is called one Last Wish Someone Dies, Someone Lives. This is about a young man that writes Katie O' Roark A letter while she is in the hospital. In that letter there was a certified check for one hundred thousand dollars. On that letter it was stamped OLW meaning One Last Wish Foundation. Also it said your friend JWC. She didn't know what to think a guy that gave her money and she had no clue why. She was puzzled for days.

Then in this book a guy name Josh watched his brother on the football field go down cold. Scared to death Josh runs to him takes him to the hospital. No longer they were there. Josh and his grandfather heard the bad news of their brother/grandchild. The doctors came out and asked if they would like to donate his organs. That was the hardest mistake they have ever made in their lives. They said there last good byes, and there was no more of him. But Josh went to meet the girl that his brothers heart was going to Katie O' Roark. Did they become friends? Was he mad? Who had wrote the letter? To find more information on this book. You can check it out at Lincoln County Library.

This book was sad, but happy too, it was a great book and I think you and your friends would enjoy this book. Not just these book but also all of Lurlene McDaniel books. She is a great author.

I believe that some of the books I read as an adolescent have truly shaped my outlook on life as an adult, and few more so than this book. I picked it up by happy accident at a garage sale, and was immediately hooked on this author. Even though I still consider this one to be the best, I also loved all her others. This made me more sympathetic to people with illnesses where before they tended to make me uncomfortable. It also made me realize that I wanted to be an organ donor, and that I needed to tell my family this, in case something happened to me. Though I'd prefer to be using my own organs for a long time, if something happens to me, then it is a very great comfort to me to know that my death could mean life to others. If I have children, I will be sure to encourage my girls (or boys, though they probably wouldn't dig them) to read these books, because I think if more people read these then more people would become organ donors, and in turn more people would live.

Someone Dies, Someone lives, Is a great book it kept me hooked on to each word till the end of the last page. Its weird how a death can make a huge impact on two people. Aaron's death might have been good for both Katie for keeping her alive with his heart and heart breaking for Josh for loosing his only brother who got him as far as he is in life. This book is a type of book that will keep you guessing till the end.

At the beginning of a quartet of books starring Katie, the running champ that steals the pages of this book, Katie is plagued with a fatal heart disease. She won't survive without a heart transplant... and how many people have spare, healthy hearts to pass up? Despite getting a good transplant, Katie is down in the dumps. Will she ever run again? Will she reject the transplant? Then Katie meets Josh... she's more connected to him then meets the eye. Read this book! It's another one of McDaniel's fabulous books.

I've read quite a few books in the One Last Wish series and along with She Died Too Young, this one is my favourite. It is very realistic and with very believable characters. The story just takes you along with it. The main character in this book is Katie who desperatly needs a heart transplant after a virius has severly weakened her heart. It switches between scenes with Katie and Josh, who's brother Aaron dies and ends up being Katie's donor. After her transplant Katie had to fight to become a track runner again. I like the ending of this book because it doesn't all end 'happily ever after' but it's inspiring and uplifting. I recommend this book to anyone.

This is an excellent growing-up novel for any teen. Jenna Vaughn is a senior at a small charter school in Utah who, on the outside, has it all - friends, a boyfriend, a great body etc.

What Jenna's friends don't know is her rocky childhood or the one boy who helped ease her loneliness.

Peppered throughout the book are memories, little things that Jenna remembers about Cameron Quick and her own childhood. She remembers the day he snuck a ring and a note into her lunchbox saying that he loved her. She remembers being teased by the popular kids and being called Fattifer. She remembers the week Cameron spent at her house and how hyped on sugar he got after eating chocolate chip pancakes. She remembers the dollhouse he built for her birthday and escaping from his father. She remembers compulsively stealing food.

One day Cameron doesn't come to school and then he's just not there for a few months. When Jennifer finally gets her courage to ask the teacher says that he's moved away and the kids at school tell her he has died. Either way Cameron is gone and he didn't even say goodbye. Eight years later on Jenna's birthday Cameron shows up again to place a birthday card and a cheap plastic ring in her mailbox.

Jenna is thrilled Cameron is alive and hurt that he never contacted her before this. She's never forgotten what he meant to her but she's not sure how to incorporate him into the new life she's built for herself.

There are aspects of the book I really related to and I really felt some heart-tugs for Jenna and Cameron. The book was well-written in almost a journal style with randomly interspersed memories and completely from Jenna's point of view. The reader only knows what Jenna knows and sometimes this is helpful and sometimes it hinders the whole Cameron picture since it's based on her childhood information.

I felt the end was unfinished but even that felt right after I thought about it. Jenna's mother said she always felt there was something unfinished about Jenna and Cameron and Jenna reflects later that that unfinished something was love. The book felt unfinished because their love is unfinished and that made me feel infinitely better about the ending and not really KNOWING how the two of them end up and if it all works out.

All in all an excellent book.

SWEETHEARTS
SARA ZARR


Rating: 4 Enchantments

Jennifer Harris' life has undergone a serious transformation since the last time she saw her childhood best friend Cameron Quick. Gone is the shy, chubby outcast Jennifer and in her place is Jenna Harris, a teenager who is popular, happy and dating one of the most hottest guys in school. She is in fact everything that `Jenna' knows Jennifer never could be. But when her long lost friend Cameron suddenly reappears in her life, a friend she thought dead, both are faced with the stinging memories of the past that no transformation can truly leave behind.

Confronted by her past and the truth about Cameron's disappearance, Jenna struggles to come to terms with who she was then and who she is now, all while rebuilding one of the most important relationships of her life.

Full of emotion, SWEETHEARTS is a beautifully written story about the power of friendship and its ability to transform. Anyone who's struggled to fit in will be able to sympathize with Jennifer's desire to transform herself into someone else.

This is Ms. Zarr's second young adult novel.

Reviewed by Lisa
YA Director
Enchanting Reviews
February 2008

As a child, Jennifer Harris was a social outcast. She was nicknamed the Fattifier, because she was chubby, and made fun of for her lisp. Her only friend was another outcast named Cameron Quirk. They were always there for each other, and Cameron made everything bearable for Jennifer. And when he suddenly leaves without even saying goodbye, Jennifer is devastated. She thinks that he is dead, and no one tells her otherwise.

Now Jennifer Harris is Jenna Vaughn. Her mom got married and Jennifer changed her name and her personality. She's got friends, a first boyfriend, and a loving family, all that she could ever want. But she can never forget Cameron, and memories of him haunt her constantly. So when Cameron just shows up one day at school, everything is changed for her.

Throughout the story, Jenna has flashbacks to when she was Jennifer. And Jenna is not quite sure if she likes who she is now, and not sure if she wants to become Jennifer again. When Cameron was her best friend, she could be anyone she wanted to be, but as Jenna, her whole life seems to be a lie.

Sweethearts was a beautiful story about how the strongest bonds of friendship can span any distance or amount of time. It was one of the saddest and most romantic books I have read in a long time, and it made me cry. It was filled with such raw emotion that I felt I was inside Jenna's head, living her life with her. And while the ending isn't perfect, it is filled with contentment and hope.

I highly recommend Sweethearts to everyone, especially girls who can't let go of their childhood sweethearts. It was a beautiful story, and I am glad I took the time to read this incredible story. I hope all of you get to read it too.

[...]

Cameron and Jennifer were best friends and fellow rejects when they were younger, until Cameron mysteriously disappears. She is left alone, with no idea what happened and dealing with her vicious school bullies all by herself.


Now, 8 years later, she's reinvented herself as Jenna. She lost weight, moved to a new school, and became someone that she thought everyone would like. She's made new friends and a boyfriend, Ethan, who have no idea about her past or Cameron, or what they went through together.


Until Cameron comes back on her 17th birthday. He shows up just as quickly as he disappeared, and he's bringing back memories that Jenna had tried to forget, and invoking feelings she'd never imagined she'd feel.


This book was absolutely mesmerizing. I was hooked from the first page, and I remained entranced until the very end. I started it yesterday morning, and then I had to stay up late to finish it. It's been a long time since I've read a story with a mystery and intrigue and emotions that match this book. I could really understand what Jenna was going through, and Cameron was such a unique and dynamic character that I couldn't help but be drawn to him. All of the characters, in fact, were unique and original. I know that this will be a book that I pick up a year from now and want to reread. I'm not likely to forget how amazing Sweethearts was for a long time.

What attracted me to this book initially was the cover (I saw it at the Little Brown stand in Bologna) - doesn't that frosted cookie look yummy? I also liked the jacket copy: "Sweethearts is about the power of memory, the bond of friendship, and the quiet resilience of our childhood hearts." So yeah, not exactly high concept, but I like to read "quieter" books every now and then too. And this one was just lovely.

High School Senior Jenna Vaughn has a cute boyfriend Ethan, tons of friends and seems to have it all together. But she still carries the scars of a solitary childhood - one in which her harried single mother didn't seem to have time for her and she only had one friend - fellow outcast and first love Cameron Quick who disappears one day without explanation.

When Cameron suddenly reappears years later, Jenna must come to terms with a traumatizing event in her past, confront her mother about her abandonment issues, and figure out what place Cameron, Ethan, and her new friends have in her life.

I found the story and Jenna's character arc to be very authentic. I have to admit, my first instinct was to scoff when I found out how relatively tame the "traumatic event" was - I mean it is very far from Cupcake Brown's childhood as she describes in her memoir A Piece of Cake (I urge you to check it for a great true story of triumph over adversity). Upon further reflection, I realized that within Jenna's scope of experience and from her narrow point of view, this one event was in fact earth-shattering.

The writing is top notch throughout and I'd be hard pressed to come up with a last chapter that is more beautifully expressed than this one. This book really makes you think about how certain people have touched your life and left a lasting mark in your heart.

Every parent should have these books for the grade school children. It's a great way to know if your school and/or child are keeping up with your childrens grade level. I used the book in the summer, prior to my childen entering the grade to make sure they were ready for their next school year.

Every parent should buy these books for their children. We bought the Fourth grade, second grade and Kindergarten and they are all fabulous. The kids find them very interesting and my husband and I even enjoy them. They are packed full of terrific information. Highly recommend. This is a book your child has to have.

I have been very pleased with this book. I love to get ideas out of it for our homeschool.

This series is very good to my kid. It covers not only literature and math, but science, art, history, etc as well. Both my kid and I like it very much.

When I bought this book from Amazon, I knew it was a steal! My daughter has already been helped so much by its stories, activities, and short biographies of famous people. I plan to eventually buy all of the books in the Core Curriculum series. They're just like vitamins and vegetables, they're good for kids!

This work is rather realistic. For anyone who grew up in similiar surroundings, it brings on waves of nostalgia. Growing up in the Ozark Mountains was quite similar to the setting of this story. These were simpler times, for good and bad, and it is good that we have something like this to pass on to our children. The illustrations in this book are soft and wonderful. The text is quite to the point and quite readable and understandable. The book leaves much room for open discussion, although it helps a lot if you actually grew up in these conditions, when discussing it with the young ones. I find that the simple fact there there was no electricity, no T.V., no radios, no running water, etc. quite difficult for children to understand and grasp. This book helps a lot. Recommend this one highly.

I read When I was young in the mountains, then took it to my father, who read it. Rylant is slightly older than me, but she grew up near where my dad was born and raised. My father said after reading that he'd pretty much grown up the same way. He left the poverty of Appalachia as a teenager via the poor man's college-- the service. I was born and raised in Utah. Books such as When I was young in the Mountains were a way for me to connect with a way of life I knew very little about, and I am very thankful for Rylant's work, especially since Dad died recently.

Growing up in West Virginia myself, I relate to to this book. Although I'm now 20 and currently attending college, I still love to read it. It is something I plan to read to my children.

A poignant reminiscence of a way of life that has largely disappeared.

This book showed us what is best about the mountains and the traditions of those living in those mountains. It has been so easy for our society to stereotype Appalachian mountain people as ignorant, backwards hillbillies that it is refreshing to see a depiction that shows mountain people in a different light. The old ways are disappearing. So are the mountains. The Appalachian mountains are one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world, containing one of the most diverse hardwood forests on earth. Mountain top coal removal, strip mining, and valley fills are destroying these mountains. Soon, the only way we will be able to show our children the beauty and wonder of these mountains will be through books and memories. "When I Was Young in the Mountains" will be a treasure in our house for generations. I encourage everyone to not only read this book, but also to support efforts to stop destructive, non-sustainable coal mining practices so we will be able to show our children and grandchildren more than just beautiful pictures of what once existed!

This book (and the entire series) is a great teaching tool for little ones. Often times, when my daughter needs a "reminder" about choosing her words carefully, we put this in our bedtime story rotation.

This is a great book to teach children that hands are not for hitting but rather helping. Another book that should be read by every parent and teacher of children 3-12 is Bully-Proofing Children: A Practical, Hands-On Guide to Stop Bullying.Parents and teachers can learn to create nurturing environments where children can get along;help children to express anger and use words to resolve conflict;teach social skills including friendship.... It should be on the shelf of every home and classroom.

Content of the book is great but the board pages of the book I received were bent and twisted.

I got this book for my son. He really enjoys it. It is simple enough that my toddler enjoys it also

Love this book. It's simple message is SO important, particularly for toddlers who are just learning how language can be helpful and hurtful. This book has great pictures and images, and a powerful message that should be reinforced in all toddlers (and parents, too!).

In the last couple of years several books have been published focusing on the huge, largely untapped, and unfocused upon, regional/local markets of people in LDC nations. Focusing on the needs, preferences, and wants of the people in these markets pave the way for mutual benefits and stronger symbiotic relationships. Authors Vijay Mahajan and Kimini Banga continue this relevant discourse with "The 86 Percent Solution." Their focus on the 'local and regional' instead of a national market is important for knowledge and understanding. Instead of focusing on national borders, businesspeople are focusing on Shanghai, Mumbai, town X, or city Y, or region Z. Not the "Indian Market, Chinese Market," or "Russian market." The crux likes back to this fact: eighty-six percent of the people on planet Earth earn less than $10,000 USD per year.

Many points in this book are common sense. If you're doing business in an area, then of course you have to learn about local area, and a neighborhood's conditions, wants, and needs. There is focus on marketing here, which seems to mean: dump products down people's throats and profit from it at the same time. (I understand the necessity for mutual benefits.) But at times this book sounds like "How to do business in LDC regions for dummies." To be fair, the information in this book is needed by many that come to foreign countries with very little insight into "how things really work" at the local and cultural level. This includes not only market needs, but how to behave, be culturally sensitive, and understand local, cultural etiquette. I frequently witness first-hand MBA grads and experienced western business people come to a foreign country with immense business, product knowledge, and marketing expertise. And they fall flat on their faces because they didn't have the proper information, training, and exposure to culturally deal with the local people. Oft-times these people didn't consider this knowledge or awareness to be important.

With globalization and increasing WTO-country membership, this book and others will be increasingly important to those doing business overseas and having business relationships with customers, employees, fellow managers, and even strangers. Cultural awareness is often equally just as important as "business knowledge." Sometimes, it's more important.

A note by the authors on English as the International Language:
The authors claim that English may not be the International Business Language in the future. This assertion is completely false and without merit. The authors state that "If you want to work with 86 percent of the world, you need to speak the languages of the 86 percent."

Yes, business people need to learn foreign languages. True, it's important for foreigners to study and attempt to learn the local language of a region if they are going to do business and/or live somewhere for a period of time. It leads to more cultural understanding and less instances of mis-communication. But the demand for English is skyrocketing in China and many other countries of the world. The demand for learning other non-English languages will increase - but the demand to learn and use English will not decrease. It will continue to grow, and much faster than other languages.

The contention that students and future business people from all over the world will learn Mandarin, Arabic, and Hindi because the *number* of people who speak these languages is greater, is oversimplified and unrealistic.

Just ask the Chinese: "Do you want foreigners to learn Mandarin?" Or, is it better for Chinese people to learn English?
The Chinese want to learn English. They also benefit tremendously from foreigners *not* learning Chinese. Ask a Vietnamese, Russian, Korean, Japanese, American, or German if they want to spend over 7+ years studying intensive Mandarin?

Chinese and Arabic speakers who learn English can communicate and do business all over the world in all continents. Mandarin speakers can do business only in certain parts of China. Big difference.
Non-native English speakers currently outnumber native English speaker by 4 to 1, and this gap is increasing.

Kudos to Mahajan and Banga for this book and their work in this field, which is finally getting more attention. Attention that is just, and far over due.

A related point:
The recent Nobel Prize awarded to Mohammed Yunus and his Grameen Bank for his micro-loans provided directly to poor people living in rural areas who are otherwise considered "not bankable." Most banks focus on large public projects and require collateral and credit. These large projects often involve corruption and embezzlement. The percentage of borrowers who repay their loans under Yunus's micro-lending program is very high. It works.

This is an informative and helpful book.

The 86 Percent Solution : How to Succeed in the Biggest Market Opportunity of the Next 50 Years (Hardcover)
by Vijay Mahajan, Kamini Banga
ISBN: 0131489070
The authors provide a very unique look into the biggest market for years to come.
The book The 86 Percent Solution provides rich insights into the emerging markets where per capita incomes of individuals is as low as $300 but still provide tremendous scope for growth.
Developing markets offer the greatest potential for gains unheard of in the developed markets. To venture into these markets companies will have to (un)learn all that worked elsewhere. The things that worked in developed economies and the basic presumptions made will not work in most developing nations of today. The concept of consumer is king is a myth in these places, where in fact a consumer is a person with limited purchasing power, bargaining power and storage capacity.
What works for marketing Fast Moving Consumer Goods won't work for Consumer Durables or for Services. Even though developing markets seem risky as there is little or no credit risk monitoring at the dealer level besides the usual problems of lack of infrastructure there will always be a first mover advantage for companies willing to invest in infrastructure.
Products like water filtration systems for individual homes will find a ready market where potable drinking water is unheard of. In the rural markets even with the sweltering heat it is difficult to sell an air conditioner where uninterrupted power supply is neither available nor expected.
To sell in these markets region specific plans rather then country specific ones will need to be formulated and implemented, due to the fragmented nature of the markets having their own special needs.
Through various example the authors explain all that works and doesn't work and why.
This book is a must read for all those who wish to tap this market and also all those who always wondered why all their wining strategies which worked so well for them for so many years everywhere else, just don't work in these markets.
The coauthor Vijay Mahajan is a former dean of the Indian School of Business and holds the John P. Harbin Centennial Chair in Business at McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin.
The coauthor Kamini Banga is an independent marketing consultant and managing director of Dimensions Consultancy Pvt. Ltd.

With regard to the meaning and significance of the title, Mahajan and Banga explain that 86% of the world has a per capita gross national product (GNP) of less than $10,000 per year. So what? Not only do those markets represent the future of global commerce; "they also present rich opportunities for companies that have the imagination and creativity to envision [consumers within those markets]. But you won't recognize these opportunities through the lens of the developed world. You won't reach these consumers through the market strategies that work in the 14 percent markets. Developing markets have no smooth superhighways, no established consumer markets, no distribution networks, and, in many cases, no electricity. Developing markets are younger, behind in technology (but rapidly catching up), and inexperienced as consumers. These markets are very different. Yet with creative solutions tailored to their distinctive characteristics, ...you can realize the rich opportunities of these 86 percent markets."

Mahajan and Banga have carefully organized their material within eleven chapters which range from a rigorous analysis of "the lands of opportunity" to a "Conclusion" in which they explain why the markets in underdeveloping countries "not to be missed." More specifically, they discuss what they describe as a "complex tapestry" of convergent civilizations in which there really do seem to be almost unlimited opportunities to increase both the standard of living and quality of life for hundreds of millions of consumers. The challenge for those companies which attempt to market various goods and services in those markets is to understand their unique characteristics. To me, it seems at east as important to understand what they are not as it is to understand what they are...or can (and will) become.

Here are two brief excerpts and then a checklist which, I hope, indicate the scope and depth of Mahajan and Banga's analysis.

"There is no Chinese market. There is a market in Shanghai, or in a neighborhood in Shanghai. There is no Indian market. There is a market in Mumbai or Chennai, or in their local neighborhoods. Developing countries are a collection of fragmented local markets in a country that is gathered loosely under a single flag." (Page 77)

"Think English is the language to know for business? Maybe not for long. Consider that Mandarin Chinese has the largest number of speakers in the world -- a billion, including second-language speakers. This is followed by English, with about half as many speakers, and then Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, and Russian. If you want to work with 86 percent of the world, you need to speak the languages of the 86 percent." (page 83)

Which strategies will be most effective when "taking the market to the people"? Mahajan and Banga suggest seven:

1. Position for the paanwalla (i.e. small shop)

2. Create multiple levels of distribution (e.g. Hindustan Lever's "Project Shakti" based a direct-to-home model involving self-help groups, each comprised of 10-15 underprivileged women)

3. Use distribution bubbles (i.e. carnivals, market days, and vans which come and go) to find customers where they are

4. Take the bank out of the branch (e.g. Citibank's use of vans and a network of 9,000 direct-selling agents, called "Citi Friends," who visit homes)

5. Develop on-the-ground insights (i.e. understand and adapt to local aND even neighborhood regulations and conditions)

6. Create distribution systems from scratch (e.g. a new distribution system, based on grassroots networks, which built a supply chain for a camel's milk dairy in Mauritania)

7. Use existing networks creatively (e.g. the "dabbawala system" in Mumbai, India, probably the world's most efficient lunch delivery system which collects 175,000 home-cooked meals from workers' homes and delivers them to their offices)

Thoughtfully, Mahajan and Banga provide a section at the end of each of the first ten chapters, "The 86 Percent Solution," which summarizes key points and facilitates subsequent review of them. Before concluding their brilliant book, Mahajan and Banga share these thoughts when explaining why numbers are on the side of the developing world: Population Equals Profits. "The transformation is just beginning. There will be hiccups along the way and further surprises over the next two decades as the next `Chinas' and `Indias' emerge. The only certainty is the the 86 percent markets are here to stay. These markets are young and growing. Even though they won't become developed tomorrow,,, they are the future. And the companies that can develop the right solutions to meet their needs will find a rich source of growth."

Who will derive the greatest benefit from Mahajan and Banga's book? In my opinion, they are decision makers in two different categories of companies: Those which now market or are about to market in underdeveloping countries, and, other companies which now do business with -- or plan to do business with -- those in the first category. I also think this book will be of substantial interest and value to public officials who are now actively involved with helping to support global commerce.

Congratulations to Mahajan and Banga on a brilliant achievement!

This book is best appreciated if you have first read C.K. Prahalad's "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid," William Grieder's "The Soul of Capitalism," and Stuart Hart's "Capitalism at the Crossroads." It is a tactical or foreign neighborhood (both in the Third World and in the immigrant sections of the First World) implementation manual for profiting from sales to the poor.

It makes many obvious points as well as many not so obvious points, and I will not list them here. This is a book that requires patience and careful reading. The author has brought forward a great deal of detail in a very easy to read way.

I will end with thought that the Wharton School's publishing arm has really catalyzed for me with these varied book. The five billion at the bottom of the pyramid are the last remaining super-power on this planet. The good news is that we can profit from enriching them. The bad news is that we still have morons in power that think we can keep them down by using guns. Newsflash: there are not enough guns on the planet to keep the five billion and their off-spring from over-running us. Capitalism, and the rapid nurturing of indigenous self-sustaining wealth that includes the rapid education of women (which leads to saner men, less disease, limited growth) is our only salvation.

This book is one of a handful that could be said to be truly revolutionary in terms of transforming the planet from one beset by poverty, to one inspired by entrepreneurship at the neighborhood level.

Business is obviously always on the lookout for growth opportunities. In the book The 86% Solution - How To Succeed In the Biggest Market Opportunity of the 21st Century by Vijay Mahajan and Kamini Banga, the argument is made (and quite effectively) that the largest new markets are in the developing countries... 86% of the world. However, the rules are significantly different in those markets...

Contents: The Lands of Opportunity; Don't Build a Car When You Need a Bullock Cart; Aim for the Ricochet Economy; Connect Brands to the Market; Think Young; Grow Big by Thinking Small; Bring Your Own Infrastructure; Look for the Leapfrog; Take the Market to the People; Develop with the Market; An Opportunity Not to Be Missed; Index

Many companies that have tried to move into these developing countries did so by following the same rules that worked in the richest 14% of the world. They more often than not failed miserably. The economies are different, the purchasing power is different, and the market plays by different rules based on culture. The authors do an excellent job in showing how a different approach to these markets are necessary in order to succeed. For instance, in "Grow Big by Thinking Small", they explain that developing country consumers are using to buying what they need when they need it, and only the amount they immediately need. They often don't have either the space to store bulk quantities nor the extra income to stockpile. Trying to sell laundry detergent for 100 loads will fail. Selling enough soap for one load for a few pennies will work. The margins are thin, but the volume is huge. Your company needs to figure out how to make it all work. In "Take the Market to the People", you'll learn that the concept of going to the nearest Wal-Mart is completely unknown. Your "store" may be a stall at a weekly market bazaar or a person cycling your wares from village to village. You better understand that and package/price accordingly. And what do you do when you're marketing electrical items in a country where power is normally unavailable for hours each day? That's your new reality...

For any business or entrepreneur looking to tap into the vastly underserved global markets, this book is required reading. Even if you're just moderately interested in business and markets, the information here is fascinating. What we consider normal, really isn't...

This is a great resource for anyone who teaches math to elementary or middle school students. It is full of useful information and ideas for lessons.

This is a timeless treasure of mathematical understandings generated by Marilyn Burns and her associates. These activities, coupled with hands-on training for teachers, can make a tremendous difference in the mathematical understanding of elementary and early middle school teachers. Most important in this edition are the addition of Burns' revised thinking on Teaching Arithmetic (part 3), and her compilation of discussions for 40 activities (part 4). These two additions have rounded this meaningful math resource into a powerful tool for on-going staff development.

I received the text book in a reasonable amount of time. The information in this book is extrememly helpful for those who are in the teaching field, or even for those who have children and want to help with math homework.

I haven't finished reading this entire valuable resource, but it has a great conceptual framework followed by creative ideas. I teach 7th Grade Mathematics overseas where my students have not had a great basis in analytical thinking and I look forward to using these ideas with my classes this year.

I love this book! It is a great resource with ideas for getting kids interested in math and what questions teachers should ask themselves as they teach. It also points out common mistakes students make and their thought processes for getting there. It is divided into sections by mathematical topics and also has dozens of lesson plan ideas, both for full lessons and those quick time-fillers. This is the most reader-friendly textbook I've ever had to read for a class--it's so easy to read!

I enjoy the adventure in all these books and particularly like the fact that there is a series of books and they have the same characters.

A famous writer is coming to Green Lawn, but after the writer doesn't show up for a book signing event in the Book Nook, Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose are worried.
Later in Dink's letter it says the the writer was probly kidnapped.
SO they started investingation, was the auther really kidnapped and by whom?
You need to read the book and find out!

My eight year old grandson is avid reader. He reads 2 years ahead of his grade level in school. I always think of books for my grandkids as gifts. When his birthday was coming, I came looking for books. I found this series. They are called the A-Z mysteries. I bought the first ten books A-J and they were such a success. He loves everyone of them. I am going to buy more of them to use as gifts for good report cards, etc. I think that books are the most important gift that you can give to a child and these books are great.

I like everything about the kidnapping stuff. I like Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose. I think the pictures should be in color.
It was a good mystery.

I wanted to get a beginner's chapter book for my almost 6-year-old daughter. I thought about Junie B. Jones or the Magic Tree House series, but I was turned off by Junie's poor grammar (or at least the author's attempt to make her sound like a "real" 6-year-old), and by the Magic Tree House's female character being "dreamy" while her brother was "logical". This book managed to avoid those caveats, while still being an entertaining read for my daughter. I wasn't sure at first if she could follow a chapter book on her own, with illustrations only appearing every 3 pages or so, so I read her the first two chapters last night. This morning, the first thing she reached for was that book. Instead of getting up and watching Saturday morning cartoons, she sat in bed, ate a banana, and finished her new book. I couldn't ask for anything better.