Girls Books

The magic of CLICK! can pretty much be summed up with two words: positive energy. That being said, creating that positive energy takes some hard work. Authors Annabel Monaghan and Elisabeth Wolfe have made that battle easier by creating a book that will have you "clicking" in no time.

No matter how old you are, you've undoubtedly had experiences where you've seen things clicking into place for other people. For some, these "happenings" seem to be almost magical in how they come to be. When you read CLICK!, though, you'll realize that these people who seem to have everything fall into place have probably put some thought, along with some really hard work and positive energy, into getting what they want.

CLICK! guides you through it all -- figuring out what you want from life, whether it be a prom date, a good grade on an important test, or even just an easier time at home with your parents -- and provides you with step-by-step instructions on how to go about getting what you want. It's all a matter of positive energy, people!

Filled with tips, tricks, pop quizzes, real life scenarios, and even a day planner to map out your goals and how you plan to achieve them, this is the perfect book for any teen. Give it your sister, cousin, best friend...everyone can benefit by changing the way they think, and by putting that positive energy to good use!

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Click! is all about taking control. Relying on past experiences, Monaghan and Wolfe divulge their secrets to success. And best of all? Anyone can do it. All you need to know is how to focus your energy and concentrate on your goals, and you can make anything happen.

Fun and easy to read, girls of any age can benefit from Monaghan and Wolfe's direction. Click! even includes a daily journal to help you achieve what you've been wishing for. What better way to help you stick to your New Year's Resolutions than by following the advice in this helpful and infinitely useful book?

For more reviews, an interview with the authors, and a chance to win a copy of this book, visit http://thecompulsivereader.blogspot.com/

This book is easy to read, entertaining and has a great message that every girl needs to hear! If everyone in junior high and high school would read this book, girls would be much more fulfilled, less concerned about what others want them to be and more focused about who THEY want to be. Great pick!

This is a book that no teenage girl should be without. It's never too early for girls to learn how to take control of their destiny.

I wish I had this book at thirteen! What a beautiful and creative way to inspire girls to KNOW they can do, be, and have all that they want. I babysit for a thirteen-year-old-girl (and I'm talking about a "hip" teenager) who was glued to it and then I picked it up and couldn't put it down! Even In my mid-20's I could certainly adopt these brilliant approaches to making the most out of my life, and I promise you'll laugh all the way through. It's refreshing to know there's material out there that attracts young girls who truly want to get the most out of life. Thanks to Click! they now can! I think Monaghan and Wolfe need to write Click! the mid-20's guide to getting what you want!

The Clue of the Leaning Chimny is a book filled with adventure!!
It all starts with a man in a raincoat and stolen potery. Then a
friend asks Nancy to investigate his missing friends. Can Nancy solve a clue,and wrap up both cases? Read The Clue of the Leaning Chimny and find out!!!!!

When I first read this book I couldn't put it down.It was sointeresting and excitable.All the time I couldn't wait to read whatwould happen next.I would encourage anyone who is interested in mysteries and detective novels to read this book, as this is one of the best book I have ever read.

in this exiting mystery nancy tries to locate a missing vase wich is in dick miltons pottery shop.this vase is very rare and the only way dick thinks he can pay mr.soong,the owner of the vase,back is to locate a clay pit near a leaning chimney.while nancy is searching for the leaning chimney she finds a bording house that has one and when nancy goes in one of the rooms of the bording house to investinate she sees a man enter a secret panel in a closet nancy goes in the secret panel and finds it leadsto the next doors house attic.the man nancy saw eneter the attic escaped but when exploring the attic she finds a lot of rare pottrty vases in the attic!!!!!latter on nancy and bess and george go in the woods to investigate to see if they can find the right leaning chimney which they belive it is in the woods because a professor told them something about remenbering a leaning chimney and the girls soon find out that there is a leaning chimney in that area!the way nancy solves the mystery of the missing vases and the fake imitations of vases is exiting.expesially when nancy and mr.soong go to the leaning chimney to find out if mr.soongs friends which went missing five years before are being held prisinor there.

This book is really really good. Instead of a 5 star rating it deserves a 10 star rating. I could not put this book down. It was so bad that my reading teacher had to yell at me to pay attention and stop reading.I read this book in one day because I could not put it down. It was like my eyes were glued to the pages. My friend was doing a book report and she needed a book, she never ever reads so i was like just take this one and she finished it in one day also! The whole collection of Nancy Drew's book are like this, they are all really good,at least a 4.5 rating for all of them.I have only 30 books of the collection and I am still going, I am trying to finish the whole series, Carolyn Keene won't let you down, when it comes to a good book.Ths book is really, really good and i have nothing bad to say about it! Now since my friend read "The Clue of the leaning Chimney," she has asked her mom to get the rest of the collection. This book has action,laughs,thrillers, and much much more. Anyone who reads this review should believe me and get this 5 star rating book!

This review concerns the original 1949 edition as well as the edited 1967 edition which has a plot similar to the original. Bess' cousin Dick asks for Nancy's help when a valuable, old, oriental vase that was on display is stolen from his pottery shop. He also tells Nancy about a pit of china clay that is supposed to be located somewhere around River Heights near a leaning chimney. The clay is used in making fine pottery and could make Dick wealthy if he could find it. Finally, the owner of the stolen vase, Mr. Soong, seeks Nancy's help in finding his missing friend and the man's daughter, who came to America a few years previous, but disappeared before they arrived at Mr. Soong's. This is certainly one of the more interesting books of the Nancy Drew series. The book quickly grabbed my attention and managed to hold it until the final page, which I can really only say happened with about 1/3 of the books in the series. There is quite a bit of action in the book and the writing is very good, at least in the original edition; unfortunately, in most of the revised editions the writing has been dumbed down. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end and I think that most Nancy Drew fans would place this one on their Best Of the Series lists.

A perfect read for all teenager girls who are in an emotional rut of
> "WHAT SHOULD I DO?". This guide to being 'crazy in love' has
> everything from diagnosing love symptons to giving places to look for
> a NEW crush. This detailed guide was perfect for me, and I consult it
> everytimeI need to put on a song to cuddle to with my loved one, or a
> movie to watch. The humor makes it a most enjoyable read yet has real
> life teen quotes that don't make me feel alone each time I feel like I
> fell for the wrong guy. The book does not only try to help you find
> love, but alsotells you how tokeep love, andrecover from failing in
> love.There's room in the book to analyze your crush, from "in my
> dreams" to "in my nightmares" andproves that my boyfriend is really
> the one "in my dreams". It also hasquizzes tofind out if you're
> ready for a relationshipand tips as well,such as using feng shui to
> change your room for amore appealing style.This book covers
> everything and even taught me how to say "I love you" in Swahili
> (nakupenda).I passed this book along to my friends (even boys) and
> they all giggled throughout and loved it! Great buy for friends, and
> something EVERYbody can relate too.
>

Wow, where to begin, well first of as the title explains I wish I owned this book when I was 13. I would've felt a lot more normal about crushes and boys than I did. Not to mention as the book explains we even act differently when you have a crush on someone. A lot of times i would read a page and just say to myself Wow! Now I get it! Not to mention is was hilarious having all of the silly "Which is worse?" ultimatums, I enjoyed sitting with my friends during my off period going over them and laughing. Although this book made me laugh a lot another thing that I loved about this book is that it included astrology. Astrology is one of my favorite sciences, that and numerology. It's always interesting to see science combined in everyday life. This book was not only a learning experience but also a reminder of how weird we all really AREN'T. The chick who fell in love with Mr. Social Studies was the real wakeup call for me(pg.23).This book was humorous and fun and is a good short read for any girl who is learning the joy of having a crush or, maybe wants to learn to say I love you in more than 10 different languages.
-Lisa Macklin, New York, Age 16

I liked this book because it had some very good tips for girls, and it
was very well written. The only thing I didn't like about this book was
that there were pages where you were supposed to write in answers to
questions. I would not have included those pages, but there were only a
couple of them, so it didn't make that much of a difference.
Throughout the books, there are quotes from teens on their experiences. I
really liked that those were there because it was very interesting to read
real-life experiences from people just like me. Overall, I really enjoyed
these books.

The thing I can't stand most about dating books is when they take themselves way too seriously. Luckily these this book doesn't, and it's an entertaining read!

Crush reminds you what it's like to flirt or how to pick up on body language cues. I caught myself giggling on the how to stalk without stalking your crush. Trust me, getting the lowdown on a crush without seeming like a creepy groupie is hard.

There's also quite a few cool tips for first date locations and activities, crafty gift ideas, and so on. Honestly, the best section is "Warning Signs: 10 Ways to Tell He's Not Really Into You." Why? Because I think at some point in time we've all emailed or texted someone a little too much.

So whether you're a tween or teen headed for the dating scene for the first time, or you're much older but ready for Cupid to smack you upside the head with a love arrow, this book is chock full of great ideas and surprises for your next big swoonfest.

This straight-shooting guide to how to handle those uncontrollable crushes skips the puff stuff for advice that resonates with the strong, smart girl. With "Crush", there's no excuse for stealing your BFF's boyfriend or waiting by the phone. Instead, Conley reminds her readers to "Want a lot out of life, and expect that you will get it." It's not that she leaves out the girly fun, ("Carry lip gloss. Never leave home without it," she writes) but Conley supports such bits with sound advice ("Have confidence. It's even better than lip gloss") to provide readers with a refreshingly healthy--never desperate--point of view.

THis is a very cute book especially for any tom boys out there. It would be a great birthday gift with a fancy little doll to go with it. It was in brand new condition and I love iT!!!!!

I loved this book, Beautiful simple story and awesome pictures. A great picture book for young children.
As an Ealy Childhood Educator I find books like this- beautiful art work, language rich story and a book for young children that is easy for them to understand, a wonderful opportunity for them to enjoy literature and learn to love books and reading.

This is a really fun book, with a great pro-tomboy message and beautiful, wonderfully detailed artwork. Highly recommended!

This book has become one of our daughter's favorites. In her words:
I like the pictures in the book because they look so real and kind of old fashioned. I love the picture of Charlotte's room. It has such nice things, there are bird nests, a seashell collection, and she even has a snake. I also like how they make Bruno move. He looks so cute in the picture when he's holding on Dahlia's hand when she is hurt. I love the book because it has so much adventure.

Now when I was a child I hated dolls. Hated them with a passion. Baby dolls especially raised my ire, but fortunately I received relatively few of them. Like many girls (more than you would think) I was more interested in stuffed animals and, on occasion, trucks and farm equipment toys. No silly frilly dollies for me, thank you very much. So I think a five-year-old version of myself would have been the perfect receptacle for Barbara McClintock's wonderful, "Dahlia". This is one of those rare books that tries to encourage girls to like dolls, but to do so in their own individual ways. For the girl-child that eschews the pink delicacy of your average Madame Alexander porcelain creation for rough n' tumble Tonka toys, this book makes an ideal gift.

Charlotte leads a great life. She gets to play outside with her stuffed bear Bruno and make as many mud pies as she would like. Then, one day, she receives a beautiful doll from her stuffy and elderly Aunt Edme. Charlotte and Bruno are not at all certain they will like this new doll (christened Dahlia). They explain to her that she does not belong to a tea-party-frilly-pram girl. She belongs to a digging-in-dirt-and-climbing-trees girl. Dahlia accompanies the two as they go about their day and it soon becomes clear that she's enjoying herself. The three win a wagon race against the local boys, make more mud cupcakes, plant rocks, and climb trees. And when an overly ambitious Dahlia goes a little further out onto a limb than she should have, Charlotte finds she may really love her little doll after all.

The book is set against a Victorian backdrop, a setting that cleverly places Charlotte in that nebulous age where acting like a "boy" wasn't frowned on yet. The story itself is great. The more outdoor activities Dahlia partakes of, the happier she appears. McClintock took care to give her inanimate characters just the slightest hint of life as well. Bruno and Dahlia never seem to move of their own accord, but their facial expressions do tend to change ever-so-slightly from scene to scene. I loved the delicate pen and inks that illustrated this book as well. McClintock shades and details each and every picture in this story with loving intricacy. These pictures draw you into them, giving you the chance to search them through for hidden secrets and minutia. The colors are muted, but rather than making the book ladylike and wan, it makes the book appear to be wholly in its own little world. And a beautiful little world it is too.

And of course, I love the story. Who wouldn't? Everybody wins here. For those stodgy individuals amongst us who believe that all little girls should play with dolls, here's a book that justifies that sentiment. For people who like books in which girls break out of traditional stereotypes regarding what they should play with and how, this book also fulfills a need. It has something for everyone, yet remains a deeply touching and unique work. "Dahlia" is a great treat for young and old alike. My favorite doll story yet.

All the books in Betty Webb's Desert series featuring PI Lena Jones have been very good. They are tied together by the mystery of Jones' background and her developing personal relationships, while each has an individual theme in the mystery Jones is focused on solving.

This one has a theme that is not for the squeamish. That does not make it less important as a social issue.

If the series has any drawback, it would lie in the often thinly veiled hostility towards government-employed law enforcement personnel.

I just finished Dessert Cut by Betty Webb it's her fifth Lena Jones Mystery - Lena is a Scottsdale Az. PI who has survived a gunshot to the head when she was a small girl and raised in the "system". This foray involved female genitalia mutilation, which used to be common in the Middle East (which I didn't know), and her fight to solve a little girls murder. If you haven't read her it will be worth your while to do so, she takes on a lot of today's socially conscious issues.

Reviewed by Anita D. McClellan for Reader Views (10/07)

The fifth Lena Jones Mystery finds ex-cop and PI Lena scouting Arizona's Mexican border for Geronimo's 19th-century battle sites with LA-LA-Land film director Warren Quinn, her problematic and erstwhile lover, and leads Lena to discovery of the mutilated corpse of an unidentified girl between ages 5 and 7, nicknamed Precious Doe by the Cochise County medical examiner. Lena, who takes all instances of abused children personally, stumbles right into the local population of H-visa'ed, upper-middle class, foreign-born parents and their US-born and -raised daughters with a foot in two cultures.

A teen runaway's sheltering of a youngster from Old World and New World sect-driven practices helps to drive a deadly social, hierarchal rite deeply underground, pits daughters against parents, descendents of pioneers who fought the Apache Wars against immigrant plant managers, and makes strange bedfellows of an Anglo Christian women's sect and Middle Eastern and African parents determined to manage "their" women and girls as they see fit. The bodies of children pile up in Los Perdidos while Lena becomes obsessed with finding out what is going on in the wilderness desert country in spite of vigilante justice and the local sheriff, who has no clue what he and the community are dealing with but knows all about what makes Lena so determined to learn the truth. The Author's Note and Appendixes of "Desert Cut" make this novel's subject something no reader will forget and on which none can claim ignorance.

As the product of nine abusive foster homes who was found amnesic at age four on a Phoenix street severely disfigured from a shooting, Lena Jones is perennially seeking information about her parents and her abandonment's circumstances. Her Pima Indian, computer-geek partner, Jimmy Sisiwan, also orphaned as a child but adopted and raised by white parents, has his own obsessions and vulnerabilities, which make them ideal business partners and confidantes. Pieces of Lena's past emerge as the series unfolds. In the second book, she learns something about her mother; in the third, she learns about her father; in the fourth, she figures out why she is so drawn to certain kinds of cases.

"Desert Noir" (2001) launched the Lena Jones series, juxtaposing Scottsdale's up-market art scene with barrios, Indian lands and casinos, tourist traps. That heady brew of damaged and courageous PI, the Southwest's multi-tiered cultures, and breath-taking desert backdrop took a seat right away next to Nevada Barr's and Tony Hillerman's series. Ten percent of Webb's debut novel proceeds were donated to Lura Turner Homes, a Phoenix residence for brain-damaged adults and children and teens with Down's Syndrome which signaled exactly what sets Betty Webb's novels apart: crime fiction with a social conscience. Lena Jones Mysteries are based on stories the author covered as a journalist and are set against the backdrop of Arizona's landmark-strewn "Grand Canyon State" and its social underbelly. Today Webb writes the Independent Press book-review column for Mystery Scene, teaches writing at Phoenix College, and lives in Scottsdale, AZ.

"Desert Wives" (2003), exhaustingly researched by the author and vetted for accuracy by now-Governor Janet Napolitano, hones in on modern-day polygamy in the Arizona Strip wilderness bordering Utah and AZ. Reader beware: Nothing to do with the starry-eyed depiction of polygamy in the HBO series "Big Love." Publication of "Desert Wives " coincided with media awareness of polygamist Tom Green's trial during the 2002 Utah Winter Olympics. The novel has since become a course adoption title for Women's Studies classes, played a role in the FBI pursuit of recently convicted polygamist sect leader and Most Wanted Warren Jeffs of St. George, Utah, and helped change Arizona's laws on polygamy. "Desert Shadows" (2004) focuses on foster children, hate groups, the book-publishing industry and Lena's anger management therapy. "Desert Run" (2006), centers on the fictional murder of a real-life escapee survivor of a 1944 German POW camp in Arizona. This book introduces LA filmmaker Warren Quinn as a love interest and the volatile mixture of native and foreign cultures and races alongside a little-known World War II footnote set in Arizona's Superstition Mountains.

The imaginative mixture of history, geography, demographics, topical themes, solid research, Lena's efforts to achieve intimacy, and plot twists make all Lena Jones mysteries memorable in more ways than one.

"I'm not a nice girl," Lena Jones declares on the first page of the first book (Desert Wives) in this outstanding mystery series by Betty Webb, built around controversial darkside themes. By the time Desert Cut, Lena's fifth dilemma comes along, she still isn't. And it's a good thing.

Lena is a been-there woman. She needs all the experience she has as an ex-cop and now Scottsdale PI. One perfect morning she and her colleague/companion Warren Quinn are enjoying a pleasant ride across the Arizona desert when they make a stunning and horrifying discovery--the body of a girl-child. Is she the victim of an illegal border crossing gone wrong, or more, or worse?

Once again former investigative reporter Betty Webb shows her skills in spinning a fascinating story around a tough topic.

Webb is a fine place-writer. Her descriptions of the desert landscape and the people shaped by it alone recommend the book. But the culture is changing. There are more than the relationships between the Native American, the Anglos and the Hispanics. There is yet another wave of newcomers as burgeoning job opportunities attract workers from halfway around the world.

Herein lays the conflict. For the lovely child, the dead girl, was not abandoned after an accidental death, but is the victim of a brutal and unspeakable crime. So unspeakable that local sheriff refuses to give Lena the cause of death--for a time. Lena is persistent not only in gaining that knowledge but in pursuing the truth until all is understood. In the process, Lena learns more about herself and discovers more about her own tangled background.

The book is not all heavy going. There are flashes of the glitzy world of Beverly Hills when Lena flies over to her consulting job on a television Western, and as we learn of Warren's day job as an Oscar-winning Hollywood director. Plenty of humor sparks out as well.

Still, Webb reveals, as is sometimes best done in fiction, some eye-opening facts about this nameless crime. And she names it--female genital mutilation or amputation. Terrifying yes, but something every person needs to know of and understand in our changing culture.

Webb ends the book with two appendices (one with explicit language) and a bibliography on the subject. She's serious about this.

I recommend this book, both for the quality of the story and for the essential and painful information, but the reader should not pick it up unaware.

by Patricia Nordyke Pando
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

Scottsdale PI Lena Jones, in four previous appearances, has tackled some different and interesting and controversial topics, ranging from polygamy, the homeless and a former WWII German POW camp. In this latest novel, she uncovers horrific subject one knows about in Africa and the Middle East, but hardly comes to mind in the United States.

While horseback riding with her boyfriend scouting a film location in the Arizona desert, Lena finds the body of a seven-year-old girl. It turns out there are other young girls either missing or dead from a nearby town. Many of the inhabitants work for a chemical factory there, and are African or Middle Eastern immigrants. Lena can't get the thought of the little girl she found in a shallow grave from her mind, and starts her own investigation. Eventually, she ties together a common thread for all the dead and missing young girls, and a horrific one it is.

As in the previous books in the series, the plot is meticulously researched, with an outstanding bibliography, carefully written and documented, and the writing and story substantial. While constructed as a mystery, the novel is truly more important than the genre.


Highly recommended.

I actually didn't start this book with extremely high hopes, I thought it would be sort of 'high school drama meets Artemis Fowl'. Luckily, I was completely wrong.

Devilish is the first book I've read by Maureen Johnson, but I'll certainly be reading more. The plot is truley unique, very well crafted, and you are still guessing even when you get to the last page. I laughed out loud at many of the main character's (Jane's) comments. I read the whole thing in one sitting. The characters were well developed, and to top it all off, there is a touch of romance too.

The plot summary Amazon gives is actually fairly accurate, but it's also so much more than that. (Don't be turned off by the "Poodle Prom" part. It's a lot more inconsequential than the summary might lead you to believe.) Along with the fact that it's funny, unique, and well written, you'll also keep thnking about it long afterward. It will certainly make you wonder just what might be going on with Heaven and Hell, and exactly what that intense connection might be.

I'd definitely recommend this book, even to someone who might no long consider themselves a "young adult". My only complaint was that the end came too quickly, I really would have liked to know what happens after Jane recovers... What happens with her and Allison, Owen, and everyone else for that matter? And her schooling?

Hopefully, there will be a sequel.

I must say that I was very impressed while reading this. Now why can't all books be like this? Or should I say, "written like this"? Even though I shouldn't do this, and I know it's wrong, I judge a book by its cover. I know, the worst thing you can do to a book. When stumbling upon this book, the cover really interested me. A Hot Girl holding a Cup Cake. So I read the back of it, and gave it a chance, thining it was some girl chick flick novel. Before I knew it, I finished it in one day. And gave it to a friend and she read it in one day. Very good book if I must say so myself.
I love how the author writes. Her unique way of writing is what makes her a great author! She really makes the characters thoughts and feelings come alive and you just keep reading and turning the page because she has developed this "suspense" that makes you want to keep on reading and reading until you're finished with the book.
So basically this story is about a girl, after a horrible accident, sells her soul to the devil or should I say, a demon. I would highly recommend this book to others and I see that the other reviewers are just like me; loved the book. But, I warn you. Once you pick up this book, you will not be able to put it back down until you're finished. It's not your typical teen novel about some girl getting into conflicts with herself and boys and sex.
Highly Recommended
Overall Grade* A
Jordan

i am not normally a person who likes books with demons and devels. however i picked the book out without reading what it was about and i found out that it was an amazing book. i think that everyone should read this.

Maureen Johnson is a fantastic writer. This book was excellent. It was suspenseful and interesting and throughout the whole book there was never a point where I didn't want to know what would happen next. Cleverly written and interesting, this is definitely one of the most interesting and unique YA novels that I've read.

Jane Jarvis has always looked after her best friend, Ally. So Jane is determined to help Ally through Big-Little day at Saint Teresa's Preparatory School for Girls. Big-Little day is a day when seniors each choose a freshman to take under their wing and mentor as their "little." Ally, unpopular and totally lacking in self-confidence, is sure that no freshman will want her for a "big." And sure enough, Big-Little day ends disastrously for Ally when she humiliates herself in front of the whole school.

But the next day, something strange starts happening. Ally shows up at school with a new haircut and new clothes. Not only is her appearance changed, but Ally also seems to have developed a new-found confidence. Jane begins to suspect that something is wrong, and eventually she discovers that Ally has sold her soul to a demon. Jane is determined to save Ally at all costs, but more than that, Jane soon finds herself caught up in cosmic battle against the forces of evil.

I'm not a big fan of high school stories; high school wasn't all that great when I was actually there, and I certainly have no desire to relive it in books. But devilish caught my attention from the first page and held it to the end. Jane is a fascinating character, a brilliant student but a rebel, and it's a lot of fun to watch her try to outwit the demon. devilish is a funny, fast-paced story with many interesting twists, but mostly it's just a really good read.

I love the spy girls! I have read the other five books and I thimk they're great also, but #5 was emotionally in depth. (Especially for Jo) I would recomend this series to anyone. I can't wait for book #7!!

this book was amazing!!i love all of the Spy Girl books and if i were you i would read all of them!!they are thrilling yet funny and very interesting with cool twists at the end!! i didn't know a book could be this enjoyable!! Elizabeth Cage has to make more!! i can't put her books down i stay up all night reading them!! i love the characters and i think they are much cooler then charlies angles and i can auctually relate to them because they are teenagers and they aren't supposed to be bimbos like in Charlies Angles. this bool makes me want to be a spy when i grow up!!!! SO READ IT NOW!!!!!

When i first saw the book i thought it would be stupid and childish, but it wasn't once i started to read it i couldn't put it down.This book is the only one of the series i have read but i'm looking forward to going and reading all the books in order i'm going to get spy girls the first series and reading it, but hope by the time i get done reading the last book that there is going to be anther book out, and Elizabeth Cage if you are reading this i just want you to let you know that your book is the one out of a few that kept my attention for a long time you are really a good writter and don't let anyone tell you different.

This series is the best one i have ever read i read all the spy girl books and they all make you want to run to the store and buy the whole series so buy them all and read them in order this one was my favorite

The book was really good! When i first saw the book it looked childish and basically a bunch of fluf. Boy, was I wrong! The book is fantastic and I couldn't put it down! Now, Cage is back again with this great novel that is just as well written as all the others. I especially like Jo who is pretty and flirty but still seems never to meet the right guy. I can not wait untill number 6!

One of the best shapeshifter novels I have ever read. And I read a lot. I reccomend this to any Fantasy reader. Kyrie is a great heroine and the story is very real to life. You will believe in dragons (and large cats) after you read the book.

This is a wonderful fast, funny book packaged in the worst cover I've ever seen. My copy, the cover has been removed and destroyed with prejudice.

What's inside the cover is a modern take on the ancient shape-shifting myths, wrapped around an adventure as a young man terrified of losing his soul to the dragon within fights to stay ahead of Triads, mysterious killers, and a lovely young woman who is also a panther and who attracts him much more than he wants to admit.

I couldn't put it down - it's a fantastic read. Just ignore the cover.

Kyrie Smith had been looking for a place to belong. She thought she'd found it in Goldport, Colorado. She had a job as a waitress in the Athens, a Greek diner. She'd even managed to rent a small house with a patch of yard for a garden. It may not seem like much to others but it meant stability and normalcy for Kyrie -- who occasionally turned into a panther. Life was pretty good for a change, that is until Tom Ormson missed his shift at the diner and Kyrie found him naked and covered with blood next to a body in the parking lot.

But that's not all, she'd seen Tom as he'd changed from Nordic dragon to man. And then there was the lion that also seemed to be strangely compelling and not what he seemed in the diner's parking lot. Kyrie went from believing herself the only shapeshifter in the world to meeting two. One accepted and loved by his parents and one who'd been tossed out onto the streets when he first changed forms. For Kyrie, who'd never known family she found that maybe she could at least have friends.

There are at least four plot threads that intersect in Draw One in the Dark. They are all deftly woven together with changing points of view. It's also not a straight narrative but the flashbacks and changing point of view are not confusing and seem to fill in information at just the right time. The characters are slowly revealed to be more than what they seemed at first. While shapeshifting is not a new trope, it is handled in a different manner showing the reader the drawbacks to shapeshipfting. It's impact on relationships, family bonds, livelihood, and love.

I enjoyed this book because it's a new look at an old trick. The perspective of the shifted person is nicely modified; the shifting is more laborious and even painful. Life is gritty, the dialogue is realistic, and the people are solid characters. I could see the events unfolding almost as if it had been an X-Files episode (in the good years).

I'm looking forward to more of this author, and more of these characters. I plan to get a good seat in one of those booths by the window, along with a piece of pie and coffee, and just watch the story unfolding before my eyes.

Over the many years I've been reading science fiction and fantasy, I've seen many attempts to integrate `shifters' (people who can change into another physical form) into a plausible part of the modern world. This is the first work that succeeds, and on many levels. It is a good mystery, with enough clues to keep you guessing. The explanation of `shifters', and `shifting' in general, is seamlessly integrated in the story, without distracting from the action. It is also a coming of age tale.
First-rate storytelling, characters you can see (and smell) and care about, a tale that starts off quickly and never slows down. So come into the diner, hang up your stuff, sit down and enjoy the ride.

I read this book in one sitting! I have read many books on the Holocaust and this is one of my favorites! Edith gives a detailed look into the life of a young girl who survives WWII, this book made me very emotional, which I think all great books should do. Enjoy!

This book may not have the deep poignancy of Anne Frank's diary, as its author tells her story from an adult vantage point. But it does offer a vivid picture of day-to-day life as a jew in hiding in Nazi-occupied Holland. I readily felt Edith's anxiety, as she attempted to pass for a gentile, far from friends and family, and not knowing what had become of those she loved. The story also has a deep honesty -- it is clear, for example, that she often found the family who saved her difficult, and that she felt resentments as well as gratitude. I'm sure that this is, in fact, how it felt, and am grateful to Edith Velmans for the straightforward telling of her story.

Edith's Story written by Edith Velmans is a true story about courage, love, and survival during WWII. Edith's family is Jewish living in Holland during WWII. Her eldest brother Guss moves to America before the start of the war. The rest of the family does not want to leave. They don't believe Hitler will actually start rounding up Jews. They soon find out they were wrong. They first have to sew the yellow stars of David on all of their clothing. Then they are not allowed to go to the same school with non-Jews. Things keep getting worse and worse. Especially when Edith's mother has to go to the hospital and get her hip operated on. Her family soon decides to find places where Edith and her older brother, Jules, can go into hiding. Jules goes to live with a farmer up north and Edith goes to live with a family were she plays the part of Netti. A friend whose parent's have fallen ill and cannot take care of her. The rest of the story is about how Edith takes all of her courage and love to survive the war and worse the braking apart of her loving family.
I loved the book Edith's Story. It is the most loving heartwarming book I have ever read. For someone to have that much strength in such an awful part of history like Edith is amazing. This was a very good book. I normally do not like to read Holocaust books but I enjoyed this one a lot. This is a truly moving book with so much great hope in it. I recommend this book to any one because it is a wonderful story.

This book is an absolute treasure. It is a very moving account of an adolescent Jewish girl's life in Holland as the Nazi regime moved in and took over. The book contains some of her actual diary entries written as a teenager along with her present-day adult comments to help put the entries into perspective. I would highly recommend this book to everyone, but most especially to young people. It's a gripping story of a girl from the past with great courage and love of life.

I've read a number of accounts by Jews who were hidden by heroic friends and strangers during the Holocaust. But Edith Velmans' story stands out. I found myself totally drawn into her idyllic teenage life in the Hague as war slowly began to overshadow the sunshine of her youthful pusuits. She lovingly paints a warm but realistic picture of her community and family. I was especially touched by the letters she shares from her parents. Velmans also relates her psychological adjustment of going into hiding and taking on another identity, something other accounts have rarely mentioned. Yet through it all, Velmans captures the fact that despite the agony of going through such a painful experience, she emerged with her courage intact. I highly recommend this book, especially for teachers in search of good reading material for high school students studying the Holocaust. But anyone would enjoy this book. I read it one evening, unable to stop.

Eliss'a Quest is a marvel...you'll find yourself instantly and delightfully immersed in a wondrous world that is described so precisely that you will know and feel Ellisa's world as intimately as she does.. Verrillo's almost musical pacing quickens with every well- turned phrase towards an ending that is immenesly satisfying yet leaves you deliciously wanting more... This a book for the ages - young ages, older ages, and for time immemorial as a gift with priceless lessons about our universal strengths as humans. There is no better time for such lessons to be imparted,, particularly for those of us coming of age, in a period in human history where so much is at stake. Read this book for all that, but also read it if you wish to someday be as good a writer as Verrillo.obviously is. I will be a better writer for having read Ellisa's Quest.

Elissa has lived in the valley with the healing woman for her whole life. She does not know who her parents were and Nana has never spoken of them. Elissa has learned not to ask questions about her past, so it is shock when her father, a nobleman, turns up one evening to claim her and take her away. At first, Elissa is thrilled to finally learn who she is, but her father proves just as taciturn as Nana. Elissa soon discovers that her father has only claimed her to use her as a bargaining chip in marriage to a despicable Khan. Now, Elissa must use her wits and her magical power of talking to animals to escape the destiny her father has planned for her and set out on a quest to find and claim her true identity. With locations sweeping from a lush, forested mountainside to the cruel desert citadel, this fantasy novel is exciting and full of adventurous escapes. Elissa is a realistic heroine and uses her powers to find creative solutions during her quest. Upper elementary and junior high fantasy readers will welcome this first volume of a projected trilogy.

After reading ELISSA'S QUEST, I am looking forward to the next installment of the PHOENIX RISING trilogy.

Elissa is thirteen years old and lives with the midwife in the village of High Crossing. Her caretaker doesn't speak to Elissa about her parentage and so Elissa grows up lonely. Her only friends are the animals around the valley, because she has the gift of understanding their language. Her best friend is Gertrude, the donkey.

One day a royal contingent arrives and Elissa learns that she is a princess and she is to go with her father on a quest. On this mission she is abducted, treated like a princess, makes friends, makes enemies, and finally saves the world.

Throughout the quest she learns many lessons of loyalty, family, identity, and power. Elissa is a strong female character. She thinks for herself and is very independent. She takes risks but is still sensitive enough to be vulnerable. This is a classic fantasy tale with a quest and a strong heroine.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and recommend it to all.

Reviewed by: Marta Morrison

Erica Verrillo's ELISSA'S QUEST tells of a girl who leads a lonely solitary life, knows nothing of her family, and hides her magical gift from the world. He's a healer's apprentice, but dreams of excitement and adventure - until a guest changes her life. This is Book One of the Phoenix Rising trilogy and provides a powerful fantasy indeed.

Erica Verrillo has created an immensely evocative landscape with splendid characters in the story "Elissa's Quest". How could we not embrace "a girl who knew her own mind even if she did not always choose to speak it". Elissa is humble yet brave, and certainly up to the task given her as she finds that, "he who will not follow the fates will be dragged by them". She has a "gift" which she uses to great advantage with each step she takes on her journey involving intrigue and self discovery. Elissa learns the true history of her family, and of the larger geographical domain where she is born when the time comes for her to enter into the real world of politics, treachery, and the abuse of power. Add to this mix the impending threat of environmental change, talking animals, and courageous characters that inspire hope for the perception of human potential.
In this tale we follow Elissa as she is thrust into a situation of change not unlike the world we know. She experiences her own biological changes, participates in rites of initiation, and most importantly, learns how to use her gifts in a world that encompasses diverse cultures, and spiritualities beyond her doorstep where people are reduced to bargaining chips. She creates alliances with the animals, the Ankaa, Maya of the Water People, and the beautiful Blue People. How she resolves conflict is admirable. She discovers her truth, the importance of the healers, the healing powers of the lake, and something about wisdom.
Verrillo's writing is spiced with humor, the animal's perspectives are right on, and the maxims useful to reflect on. The vividly eloquent passages provide the perfect vehicle for travel through Elissa's world. The first book of the Phoenix Rising Trilogy is a very good story.

Now I am left with some questions:

Will we meet the Northern People?
Who is the Ancient One?
Will Elissa's father come though for her?
Does Ralph have something for Gertrude?
What about those emerald green eyes that attract moths at dusk?