A Books

I purchased this book simply to replace my original copy, which I loaned out and which was never returned. Reading this book has been a favorite part of my Christmas for many years. While I regret losing my old copy, I am thankful I will now be able to carry on this tradition.

It's a fun story about an untraditional Christmas play. It shows how good can come of seemingly negative changes and find some unexpected, meaningful outcomes.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

I like books and I don't know if this is my favorite book but it is excellent. We read it as a family every year at Christmas. It never fails to touch me. It is fun with a redeeming message.

I have read this book at least once a year for 15yrs and now I'm reading it to my kids. It's a quick read, I can't put it down.

This is a great, easy way to get into the holiday spirit. Even though the intended audience is kids, I enjoyed it as well!

Having spent the last 25 years in Las Vegas I can attest that Brian Rouff knocked this one out of the ball park. I could swear that I know some of these people. The characters are so intriguing that we want to know them better. I hope that this will become a series because one seldom encounters so pleasant a read. The narrative is honest and refreshing and he captures Vegas Noir with style and understanding. Cheers for this page turner of a novel.

This short novel is very well-written. It has an engaging plot that leads to a gratifying ending. But, the best thing about Dice Angel is its character development. The characters are believable and diverse. The author is so focused on setting up the story's background and characterization that he doesn't introduce his central character, the Dice Angel, until half-way through the book.

Dice Angel paints most of its characters via dialog. Besides making the book a very fast read, this method brings the reader right into the action. The reader pegs each character just as he or she would do in real life, i.e. by listening to what they say and noticing what they do.

Without straining too hard to be funny, Mr. Rouff also does a good job of inserting humor into the story.

Dice Angel is a very good book written by a skillful and imaginative author.

In today's day and age people want to read something that is interesting, funny, and a quick read. If you are looking for a very well written book to take with you on the plane ride to Vegas or to the pool, then this is it. Not only is it a page turner, Mr. Rouff's wit shines through and will have you laughing all the way.

As a soon to be published author, it only makes sense for me to wholly endorse another author who inspires me. Bravo Brian, keep up the great work!

James C. Hughes, author, Vegas Original (coming fall, 2008)

"Dice Angel" is a great fun read. I laughed out loud several times while reading it, and the ending brought a real smile to my face. You also get to see Las Vegas from a locals point of view, which is dead on. The only reason it's not 5 stars is that it's really not meant to be. Its meant to be 4 star fun!

"Dice Angel" is a smart, hilarious page-turner with witty dialogue and vivid characters. Set in the real Las Vegas, known only to locals, the book offers an insider's view into the bizarre dichotomy of this world (i.e., who knew Mormonism flourished in Sin City?) We follow Jimmy D., our flawed but lovable, wise-cracking antihero, as he weaves his way through a series of trials and tribulations which would defeat a lesser soul. With nothing left to lose, Jimmy grudgingly hires the weird and wacky gambling guru, Amaris (the "Dice Angel") in the hopes that she can reverse his bad luck. Never a dull moment between these two, and the wild ride which ensues culminates with a couple of unexpected and thoroughly enjoyable twists. A great read!

My sons and I learned about this book while visiting a friend in the midwest. I ordered it as soon as we returned home. It is a heartwarming story. I especially love it and have used the story for saying good bye at preschool and when I have to travel for business. I think it would also be a cute gift for anyone nervous about embarking on a new adventure, young or old. Get it! This book will become one of your favorites.

It's not a bad book, it's just not that interesting to me. And while the kissing hand concept is definitely useful for any child worrying about leaving their parents for the day, I thought it was presented in an excessively sentimental way. I always find too much sentimentality just encourages children to dwell on how upset they are, rather than comforting them.

But if it works for your kid, great.

Like many teachers, I used this book on my first day for my kindergarten class. I would also recommend giving this book as a present to all of the parents that have a child going to kindergarten for the first time.

My daughter's kindergarten teacher read this to the kids and the parents the first day of school for orientation. I can tell you not a dry eye with the bunch of us parents! It was so touching that evening as well when my daughter asked me to kiss her hand so she could take it to school with her the first day. This will be an heirloom book for my other child as well as my grandchildren

I bought this book because my daughter bought one at her school for "us" when she was very young(separated because of divorce), it was lost in a move and it had sentimental value for both of us...it's not "the one" she bought, but it's just as good and in great condition.

I had the pleasure of joining a few hundred people today, in Malibu, to celebrate the birthday of this beautiful and enormously-gifted author! It was truly a pleasure to meet the woman who I have admired since reading, "Lilla Belle the First Stages." "Lilla Belle" stirred my heart, like few books that I have read. I laughed, cried, and it made me think. This is a glue-book. Once I started reading "Lilla Belle," I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to read Ms. Cole's latest, "F.A.T. CHANCE." Hats off to you, Ms. Cole! Happy Birthday, and keep bringin' the hits. Thank you for autographing "Lilla Belle" and "F.A.T. CHANCE." And thank you for sharing your talent. You are a class act. You are one in a MILLION!

Lilla Belle touched my heart! This book also made me think. I have read it three times so far, and I just received it on Saturday. Truly an UNFORGETTABLE CLASSIC!

"Lilla Belle" is an unforgettable book, that stirred every emotion that I have as a human being! I was filled with anger, laughter, tears, and much cheer! This book educates, and speaks volumes to ALL! And it certainly didn't hurt that the BEAUTIFUL little girl on the cover, stole my heart!

Lilla Belle is a well-written, heartwarming novel that stirred my heart, especially, in major ways! This is a book for all. Old folks, (like me), and it's a very good book for our young folks, too. I loved the book, and I hope to meet the author one day.

TEARS, JOY, PAIN, LOVE ... YOU'LL EXPERIENCE ALL OF THE ABOVE!
EXCELLENT BOOK THAT TOUCHES THE HEART IN A MAJOR WAY!

I gave this book to both of my kids before they went to college.
My son first said that he wouldn't read it but when his roommates started getting into credit card problems they turned to this clever guide to see how he could make it through college without falling into the ubiquitous debt trap.

His fraternity brothers graduated with thousands of dollars in credit card debt. Two of them even had to move back into their parents' homes because they couldn't afford aparatments on their small starting salaries since their credit card payments far exceeded their salaries.

My son got a great job after college using advice he also found in this broad ranging book. Granted hia job didn't pay much in the beginning but without credit card debt he was able to get an apartment that he could afford and buy a used car with cash he had saved. A year later he has enough left over from his paycheck to put into a 401(k) plan. He's happy and able to support himself and his mother and I are proud that we have raised such a financially responsible son.

Our daughter chose to go directly to grad school. Learning from her brother's experiences she also followed the advice in this savvy book and just said NO to credit cards until her senior year of college. She uses the cards but pays them off each month.

While most of our friends don't like to discuss the financial problems that their kids have gotten into a lot of our neighbors' growns kids have shared their credit card problems with our kids. Some are even using the book to help them get out from under their college credit card debt.

That just scratches the surface of the useful advice in this book. All college kids and teenagers should be required to read this book before they've dug themselves into debt.

I highly recommend it.

Most of reviewers who gave 5* have only one review on their pages. At least it looks suspicious, at most like fake promotion.

This is one of the worst books written on finance. Nancy lloyd has a lot of fluff in this book and its only marketing. Iam glad my friend lent me this book and I didnt have to pay money for this POS. Compared to the peter Lynch and Graham book, this one is surely aimed for preschool toddlers.

If you have been trying to make money in the markets or even just getting started by paying off debts then you -- like most of us -- have probably bought many books that purported to help you manage your finances and create wealth.

Like most of us those other books probably did not work for you --even if they were recommended by TV celebrities who know nothing about finances but can't resist recommending books for other motives.

If those other inferior books did work as they were purported to then why would you still be looking for a book with usable answers?

This book, Simple Money Solutions, is a stunning exception.
The advice is accurate. It includes an array of advice because money advice is not one size fits all. And the advice never becomes obsolete. It does stand the test of time!

In fact those other books that claim to have THE One and Only answer is almost guaranteed to be nothing but a book built on unproven gimmicks or trendy tricks that do NOT work and that certainly won't work over the long haul.

This book and its author, Nancy Lloyd, have taken a different and sound approach to money matters. She presents the issues we're all struggling with out in a clear and concise way and then lays out the options, including financial products, services and strategies to implement various plans.

My neighbor and I both read this book but based on our individual situations we chose different financial strategies that fit our unique lives.

I have now thrown my other financial advice books out (I wouldn't even give them away for fear that some unsuspecting reader would follow those other books' feeble and inaccurate advice).

But I have been punked by other books for the last time.

Simple Money Solutions is a KEEPER!!

Our book club had a secret a few years ago. In addition to loving to read good books with strong narratives, it turned out that all of our 18 members also had huge amounts of credit card debt. Some of us had about $5,000 in debt, most of us hovered between $20,000 and 35,000 and two of us actually had over $50,000 in unwanted debt. Things were getting desperate.

When we finally fessed up to this secret problem we started looking for good money management-debt reduction books but while many claimed to do it most left us with more debt than we started with. Eithher their advice was too convoluted, or too simplistic or in some cases not legal.

Several of us had even been to debt consolidators and other debt eliminators but many of them took our money and fled without ever paying our bills.

Then we saw Nancy Lloyd on Good Morning America and decided to give this book a shot. Ding, ding, ding. It was a winner.
She explained in plain talk how to get real about our debt. We learned how to negotiate with our creditor -- even exactly what to say to get them to lower our interest, forgive some debt and get some negative marks taken off of our credit reports.

Nancy also showed us some simple ways to, as she put it "free up cash each month" so that we could finally make more than the minimum payments.

What can I say except that after several years all but two of us are DEBT FREE. The other two women can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Our book club has now become an investment club and Nancy's great advice on starting and growing a portfolio are paying off even in this sideways stock market.

We now have Peace of Mind at last and no longer fear answering the phone because the creditors are no longer calling!!!

I only received this book a couple weeks ago.
The 3 recipes I cooked were okay.
I had reservations about the two chicken breast filet recipes:
cooking times requested are very short and your filets can come out raw.
-She should've been more specific on to tell when its done by detailing the weight of the breast filets to use.

However, other recipes, especially the pasta ones, look really good!
Looking foward to using this book more.

This is a good book for technique and ingredients; belongs on every Italian cook's shelf. I agree it's a little limited re recipes. But, her recipe for Minestrone is the BEST I've ever tried! Excellent technique for prepping and cooking all the veggies. I've been making this soup for years and it's a true winner!

This is a hefty book - lots of detail, lots of instruction and pretty strict about how things need to be done. As someone who hasn't ventured outside of my comfort zone for cooking, this structure can be very helpful - but it can also complicate things as I have to prepare everything in advance and rarely can pull off a recipe in this book with a low stocked pantry.

Still, I can't fault the book for my need to prepare - overall it's great and when I do have the time to make a special trip for all the right ingredients I know I'll have everything spelled out for me. The thing is huge so it's not easy to move around a kitchen counter with a couple of fingers in the middle of cooking, but like my title indicates, it's like a text book. There's more than just recipes, there's reference information, instruction on preparation and history. A very well rounded book.

...I've referred to this book over the years for technique and authenticity of Italian cooking...it is a wonderful book. I agree that it is on par with Julia Child's French cookbook. I've made many of the recipes and they are fabulous....the poached shrimp, easy and delicious...the grilled shrimp with flavored breadcrumbs is another favorite, the Lemon, garlic & parsley chicken cutlets is marvelous...her focaccia recipe is the best...fried tomatoes......I can go on and on. Ms. Hazan has given us a remarkable gift.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, the depth of her knowledge of Italian cookery is amazing, on the other, the lack of specifics and inaccurate cooking times can be quite frustrating. This caveat should suffice: when making use of these recipes, make constant use of your tasting spoon!

I made Pasta e fagioli with fresh cranberry beans according to Ms. Hazan's recipe, and, because of Ms. Hazan's widely-acknowledged eminence, I followed her recipe precisely, something I rarely do, as I am an experienced cook. Her time for cooking the beans (45 minutes), left me with undercooked beans; they should have cooked for at least an hour and fifteen minutes, if not an hour and a half. No big deal, except I added the pasta at the point Ms. Hazan recommended.

I am sure that this book will be an invaluable resource to anyone who wants to learn Italian cooking, just make sure to test and modify these recipes as necessary ahead of time; following them as is can result in flubbed meals.

Everyone hears about the book you can't put down. ELIXIR, by Gary Braver,is such a book. It is one of the few thrillers I WILL read again. Chris Bacon is a trained biologist in search of medicinal plants, but returns from Papua New Guinea with the 'Fountain of Youth.' Now Braver poses some very big questions. Would living for centuries, maybe forever, be too much of a good thing? Where will everyone live if people don't die? Suppose members of families disagree? What will be the new policies? Who decides?

The author draws you in to this potentially changed world, but unfortunately some things never change. Greed, corruption, jealously, murder, all play a part in the compelling plot. This book should be a movie. Someone once said, Man is Nature's sole miatake. Braver shows us why.

A gripping bio/pharma thriller with the allure of forever young and the concequences.
Braver moves your imagination closer to reality in this fine novel.

I want another like it. Mr braver...please let us know when you are gonna write one as good as this. Does anyone else think this would make an awesome movie?!!??

I DO
Jamie

I'm the same age as the hero of the story (Chris Bacon) when he worked on producing the Elixir drug in the first half of the book. Despite his efforts and successful experiments, the drug has a terrible consequence. As I read this fast moving and thrilling story, I wondered if I would want to have Elixir available so I could live much longer than the lifespan nature has given me. Would the side effects be enough to make me fearful of taking Elixir? Would the social, environmental and moral consequences be enough? Where would all those billions and billions of people live if they didn't die? Or would the promise of staying young and never aging be too much of an attraction to ignore?

Braver doesn't just write suspenseful thrillers with good guys and bad guys in conflict with each other. He gets us to think about what can happen when something so promising and not really that far-fetched descends upon us. What will humans do to themselves and their world? Will they do the right thing? But what is the right thing? These are hard questions. Braver does not provide easy answers and we wouldn't want him to. He makes you care about the characters, think about these questions and also enjoy the ride he's taking you on. Any fiction writer capable of doing that deserves five stars and a recommendation to read his books.

Two weeks ago, I discovered a book called Flashback. It looked interesting, so I picked it up at the library. I was hooked at the first sentence. I then ran to the library where I picked up Grey Matter. I'm telling people "This man can flat out write." (That's a southern expression). I am now about to finish Gary's first Braver book: Elixir. Yes, I read them in reverse order; so, sue me.
I have become besotted with Braver's writing and I will BUY his next book, and all that follow. Hope Mr. Braver makes it soon.
I have advised all my friends, family and fellow readers to discover this fascinating writer. I mean, Robert B. Parker loves this guy!!!

Some books are like the best of cats, they end up in your lap whenever you have a spare moment; they seek your company even as you desire theirs. Stealing Karma will be that book that one gives to a dozen friends - and they will all be grateful for it. Amazing.

Aneesha Capur's novel, Stealing Karma, is a story brimming with characters and situations that feel fresh, unexplored, and compelling. The dynamics here may mirror others in contemporary fiction concerned with domestic complexities, however, Stealing Karma spins them on their head and uses the cultural milieu to show us human interaction as we have never seen it before. I want to be here, in this world, and get to know its characters and how they will ultimately resolve the issues they face. The writing is clear, lyrical, steeped in place and feeling, and makes you thirst for more. Capur offers a delightful antidote to the kinds of fiction we have seen so much of in the past few years. This is a book that many readers of all backgrounds will be sure to find satisfying.

A pity that one can only read a few pages of what promises to be a most interesting story! Capur catches the reader's imagination and holds it with tantalizing imagery and dialogue, moving the plot forward, leaving one wanting for more. What happens to Mira? How does she cope? I look forward to reading the novel in its entirety.

In a world where so many of us have been driven by a sense of adventure or desperation or opportunity to seek our fortunes abroad, Stealing Karma weaves the story of the expatriate into the life of Mira who loses nearly all connection to India after she leaves for Africa. Mira is suddenly widowed and the precariousness of her adopted world, her erstwhile world of choice, is stark. In her excerpt, Aneesha Capur skillfully sets the plot for the reader: karma will transform the comfortable, even opulent, lives of Mira and her young child. But Mira now belongs to neither the world she left nor the world that has left her.......

After reading the manuscript review by Publishers Weekly provided in the Editorial Reviews concerning the novel `Stealing Karma' by Aneesha Capur I couldn't wait to read the nine pages submitted to Amazon's ABNA contest. Here is a book containing a plethora of subject matter near and dear to my heart; prophetic dreams, Hindu deities, astrological omens, African tribal beliefs and Jungian psychology and reincarnation. It was almost too much to ask for.

With such high hopes in place I must admit that I was extremely disappointed after reading the excerpt. Not because the writing is bad or the story uninteresting. To the contrary, both writing and storyline are excellent. The disappointment experienced was due to the discovery that none of those tantalizing spiritual/occult matters already mentioned were included within the available nine pages.

Moving beyond my initial dismay, I did enjoy this excerpt and look forward to reading the novel at some later date. The characters are well developed and I found Mira an intriguing, beautiful and incredibly sympathetic figure. To create such an alluring and complex character in a short nine pages is a credit to the author and makes the reader hungry for more pages to explore.

If you like books about adventurous, sci-fi stories about the world then you are sure to enjoy reading the Transall Saga by Gary Paulsen. This story is about a 13 year old boy who falls into a mysterious blue light that transports him very far into the future when he is hiking through the missle mountain range. When he thinks that he is alone on this deserted planet he is proven wrong when he finds and arrow in a tree. He is determined to find the people who this arrow belongs to. When he finds them he is rudely awakened by the style of life they live and decdides to move away but is captured by another tribe and forced into slavery but is granted his freedom because of his noble deeds and his different looks than everyone else. After the virus hit almost everyone died and the remaining people were changed physically and they had to start over because the virus had kept the population so low for so long that people forgot about normal life and went back into the stone ages. I really enjoyed reading this book because it has very good description and a very good storyline and plot that I could see maybe happening in the future if a virus like that hit or if there was a nuclear disaster. If you are looking for an adverturous, science fiction, page turning novel Gary Paulsen's The Transall Saga is right for you.


Nick Stauffer

I am a 13 yr old who reads a ton. my room is a library. This book was exceptionally good. I think everyone should read it. It is very creative. I think it has a good plot and is exciting. This book is to me, better than the Harry Potter series.

It is not gory, but it has some fighting which makes it exciting. It also keeps you on your toes. It is a little funny at times. IT IS A VERY INTERESTING BOOK AND I THINK YOU SHOULD READ IT.

Gary Paulson has once again written a compelling book on one boys struggle to survive in a strange world. Immediately in the first chapter the main character Mark is thrown into a dangerous environment making an interesting read right from the beginning. With the evolving plot line and the numerous surprises you'll have a hard time doing anything but read Mark's adventure.

As I read this book I loved the various ways Gary Paulson showed how Mark became a master of survival and gained status in the strange world of Transall. He describes everything perfectly so that you can picture it in your mind. Another great thing about the book is its ability to cover many genres; with the mystery of Transall it covers (you guessed it) mystery's spot, the alien world and mutated creatures will keep a sci fi fan happy, and it could even pass as an apt survival guide.

Anyone who has read and enjoyed the Hatchet books will definitely want to grab this book, like the Hatchet books it tells the story of a boys struggle to survive in a unfamiliar place, but it is also very different so it wont feel as if your reading a rewrite of Hatchet. Some of the variations I liked were that it was set in an entirely different plant, there's interaction with other humans (some hostile), the mystery that unravels as you read, and how it is set in more of a medieval time frame.

In the book The Transall Saga Matt Harrison is hiking in the old Magruder Missle Range when a strange blue light transports him to a future Earth where the Earth has a very different look after nuclear explosions. Matt finds himself in a jungle for a few years trying to find discover what happened to the blue light. While he is in the jungle one day he finds an arrow and that night hears noises coming from the forest. The next day he looks for people and finds them but is knocked out by a guard. He awakes in a hut a few hours later and lives with these people for a few weeks. After he decideds to leave the tribe is attacked by another tribe called the Toosk who kill most of the tribe but capture the rest and make them slaves. After the few years Matt is finally accepted into the tribe after he saves them from an attack from another tribe. After he is made a member, he starts a new life and starts a quest with a few other tribesmen and the leader of the Toosk called the Merkon. On the way to find the light the convoy is attacked and the Merkon is captured. Matt then decides to go on his own to the Toosk capital and find the Merkon. When Matt arrives he finds that the Merkon is alive and hears what has happened to Earth and how a disease like the Black Plague killed mostly everyone and the rest were left with physical disabilities. Matt then fights the Merkon and kills him and then the blue light appears and takes him back to his time.

Mark is a bigger kid who loves to explore. He goes out on his own in a desert for a hiking trip. He finds a bright blue light and desides to touch it. He finds himself waking up on another planet,or is it? He has to find ways to survive on this weird planet. He finds what looks to be human life and becomes part of the tribs or villages. He has to fight and protect his village that he grew to love and learns that we are all the same and there is no need for wars. This book teaches how to survive in the wild and how to love one another. Gary Paulson finds amazing ways to tie together the book at the end. It is interesting.

It just came to my attention that a new revised and corrected edition with a little additional material will be released in a couple of months! I have the orignal Random House edition and this is a great collection of instructive games with analysis of every move. I have enjoyed it with the "More Unbeatable" book as well.

This is a revised edition of the book originally published in 2003. The main difference between this edition and the earlier one are:
1) The format has been changed to double column on the pages. This allows the explanations of the moves to be closer to the diagrams which accompany the explanations.
2} Some of the analysis has been updated and expanded to further help the student.
3) A result of the new format and slightly smaller print has been a saving of space (less white space per page}. Therefore, the new edition has the same number of games and explanation, but in under 200 pages. At less than 1/2 the thickness of the previous edition, it is much easier to carry.
4} A new edition gave the author a chance to correct many typographical errors and rephrase explanations to make for further clarity.

Like its predecessor, this book is for anyone (not just juniors) who want to understand why certain moves are played. Those who have read Irving Chernev's "Logical Chess: Move by Move" will be even more delighted with Mr. Snyder's book. Instead of the lengthy explanations that are repeated over and over again in Chernev's book, the book by Mr. Snyder gives the important information once at length and then relies of the reader to review if the explanation is needed again. When a move is a simple recapture he keeps the explanation to a short senctence. In the case of the opening moves being repeated in a later game, Snyder does not give the explanation again, but relies on the reader to refer back if explanation is needed. Half of the games are those of the author and half by other masters. Some important features of the book for students are:
1) Games are arranged by opening and thus start the player on developing an opening repretoire to play against opponents.
2) Analysis (i.e. alternate moves) is kept to the minimum needed to help the student gain understanding of what is happening and of alternate possibilities.
3) There are numerous diagrams (generally after every 3 or 4 moves) to help the student make sure of the correct position. And for stronger players it allows for them to read the book without the need of a board.
4) Explanation of moves are clear and concise. Anyone from about age 11 or 12 and up should have no trouble understanding the material.
I recommend this book for anyone who seriously wants to improve their play.

After having learned the basics from the same author's CHESS FOR JUNIORS book I decided to get this book for myself, my children and grandchildren.

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I just finished reviewing CHESS FOR JUNIORS, which I consider to be an 8th wonder of the world, and now I discovered the 9th!
CHESS FOR JUNIORS leaves off at the end with with nicely analyzed games (move by move commentary) and UNBEATABLE CHESS LESSONS FOR JUNIORS adds 24 more games. You will learn just what the author knows you need to learn once completeting CHESS FOR JUNIORS (well, if you know the basics well, then you can skip CHESS FOR JUNIORS and jump right into this book).

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I might also suggest that you get WINNING CHESS TOURNAMENTS FOR JUNIORS in this series, which provides an explanded opening system, intermediate level tactics and endgames and lots of information on how to improve and prepare for tournaments.

ENJOY!!!

I really enjoyed reading Unbeatable Chess Lessons For Juniors. I felt that I gained a lot of knowledge especially in the following areas,
a) Learning how to build an attack. The placement of your pieces and planning aheady.
b) Learning how to use sacrifices and to recognize when they work and do not work.
c) Positional play - manuvering your pieces and planning the use of Pawn structures.
d) Many tactical ideas were covered.
e) Learning the openings. The openings in the complete games are well covered with important opening lines being show. The games are organized by the type of openings being used. This makes it easy to study openings. The lines being shown are up to date and very accurate.
f) There are not a lot of endgames but the ones covered are very instructive. What I like is to see how plans were made to get to the winning endgame right from the opening! This book then gives a step by step explaination of how to win the endgame.
Some special features I liked about Unbeatable Chess Lessons For Juniors,
a) You are asked to find the best move. This forces you to think and makes for fun problems to solve out of games. This is much different than most books.
b) All the moves are analyzed.
c) General rules are pointed out. But, what makes it really nice is when the exceptions to the general rules happen, they are pointed out.
I like the nice easy flowing style of the author. For a person who already knows the very basic stuff about chess this book is just right. This is because there is both a review of important ideas and a depth of analysis making this book interesting for a more advanced player as well. The author uses a lot of his own game where he has used them in chess lessons with his own students. This makes the explaination very clear and things that only an experienced chess teacher knows need to be covered are right there. I have read some of the other reviews which have been helpful to me in being able to point out some of things that I agree with.
If you really love chess and like to study to improve this book is good for any age. But it is written so a 6th grader can understand it.
I understand that this book is going through a new printing correcting any typos and may be hard to get for a while. It would be worth waiting for if you cannot get it now or even getting a used copy for now.

The idea of explaining the idea behind every move is a good. I wish that more books would do this for the Beginning and Intermediate level chessplayer.
There are several problems with this book; 1) The book is overly focused on the opening - it should spend more time going into the middlegame and endgame, and 2) It often would not answer the questions I had about a move or what was going on it the game, and 3) half the games are of the author, who is only a measly master. However, overall I can still recommend this book.
This book does not compare in quality to my favorite book, "Logical Chess, Move by Move, which just recently was updated."