The real estate and financial speculation (i.e. high tech/dot com bubble) that has taken place under a corrupt mayor (a development attorney for Catellus, the successor to the railways) here in San Francisco might be a future chapter in this book. This is a fascinating read. I've even taken an SF history class with an Alioto (family of a former mayor, Joseph A.), and I still learned a lot. Hilarious, informative, reads like fiction, based on fact. Pelosi, Feinstein, Boxer, Newsom, Brown, Burton, Warren Hinckle, Ted Fang... These are their predecessors. The newspaper publishers, reporters, prostitutes and corrupt politicians. Read about all of them. You won't be able to put it down!

Old San Francisco at its best. Interesting stories about fascinating people. And best of all, because it contains twenty separate stories, you can pick it up any time and read for twenty minutes or so without losing the context.

We had expirence adam bengamin's dance workshops for disable and non-disable dancers, and found a new world. We dicided to continue practicing in this field and read and reread this beautiful book, worked with the exercises and the idea they present, and passed them to other dancers which found this new world too, found a place in themself that let them do and feel things they didn't believe.
This book is a must for anybody who wants to go to these places.

Our company have taken part to CONTACT-ART EUROPEAN PROJECT, with artistic-disabled and no persons.
I feel a very very excating-human experience.
This book "tell" about these experience.

When you receive an inheritance, despite how it sounds, free money isn't free. With it comes sorrow within your family. Family fights can crop up, too. In addition, one has the personal struggle of figuring out how to cope with grief on the one hand and new money on the other. This book helped me see that I wasn't as rich as I thought I was and that I had better guard my inheritance for my retirement.

I went to a bookstore to ask them to look for it in the computer- the first book they came up with was Managing your parents. People on line laughed. My reply "I don't need to know how to manage my parents - they're dead. I now need the inheritance guide." Well they didn't have it- so I read my sister's copy. Great and informative on what to do with it-no matter how small the inheritance is and believe me I am a poor heir but I will definitely use the information to make it grow- No immediate facelifts for me yet. I want a copy to refer to for my financial goals

Trying to raise children in today's world is tough. Trying to raise children with old-fashioned manners seems to be impossible. This wonderful book has reminded me of all the courtesies that I had forgotten, but would like to see in my son and daughter. It is helping me teach my children the importance of good manners. My thanks to the author.

Everyday on the nightly news, you hear of another incident ofviolence involving our youth. I can't help but to wonder if each ofthese kids had been taught "Manners of the Heart" if the outcome would not have been different.

This is a wonderful book. It brings delightful regional recipes to the reader. I already have dozens of these recipes on my list to try. Ms. Adams gives us information to pique our interest in the recipe without boring us.

Wonderfully put together and easy to use, this book should be on everyone's shelves who are intrested in cooking and keeping our heritage alive.

Anna Adams has crafted a masterful story about human emotions in THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT.

Nick Dylan weds Clair Atherton in a marriage of convenience--he fulfills a stipulation in his father's will, and Clair gets her beloved Federal era house back. All they have to do is look convincingly married for one year. Trouble is, Nick's father was the one who who repossessed Clair's parents' home.

Nick is not like his father, but can he make prickly Clair understand? And can he make his vengeful mother love him as a son?

Strong emotions and strong reasons for those emotions are at the heart of this complex story about two needy people. Well-drawn characters and a great page-turning plot make this a book not to be missed.

When Senator Jeff Dylan passes away, Nick finds himself mourning not the memory of his father, but the knowledge of his father's lifelong disappointment in him, as well as the relationship they never had. Although he'd never been the son his mother wanted either, Nick still finds himself drawn to her side when he hears reports of brandy and sleeping pills. He moves back into his father's house to care for his mother, who had never gotten the fact that she was Jeff's housemaid until he got her pregnant. Then Nick learns that Jeff's will demands that his son marry for love within a year and live in the family home for the first year of the marriage.

The sight of the Atherton house at foot of his family's estate always produces pangs of helpless guilt in Nick. Derelict and forgotten, the Federation era house once known as The Oaks slowly decays. Jeff only bought the mortgage and closed on it to wound the Arthertons. It was Jeff's way to take vengeance on the man who'd married Sylvia Atherton, the only woman he had ever loved. Nick sees Sylvia's daughter at the way to right the past. In return for marriage, he'll give The Oaks back to Clair.

Their family history seems an insurmountable barrier between them. His father the Senator defines Nick's identity to their small town, and no one seems to understand that his name has nothing to do with who he really is. They can't talk about the things that really matter without inflicting pain. Coming from a loving family, Clair Atherton can't possibly understand how his existence embarrassed his mother Leota and father Jeff. Yet their shared pain in the past seems to connect Nick and Clair in the most unlikely way.

Leota and Clair are both strong, but neither seems to be able to use it to benefit others without Nick's delicate influence. His delicate determination to love them offers a bright future if only both women will accept themselves and the love he offers. Instead, it seems Leota is determined to get lost in her jealousy of the younger woman, to destroy rather than to build a future. She becomes a mother on a mission, determined to free her son from the Atherton woman. Nothing would hurt her more than to let Sylvia Artherton's daughter win.

Anna Adams skillfully writes in a distinctly crisp, sharp tone that uniquely reflects the tension between her characters, at times relaxing into a softer prose that reflects the emotions beneath the tension. The brittle tension periodically allows the glow of passion and love to shine through like sunlight on a cloudy day, lending Adams' prose a polish and sophistication quite rare in genre romance. Very highly recommended.

Hi! My name is Theresa Therese! To whoever is listening, I'd really like a copy of this book when it is available! (That'll teach me for being so arrogant as to type my own name into a search engine! ... This was the no 1 result).

The book was purchased for my teenage son who is very interested in black and white photography. He loves the book. A collection of Ansel Adams work in light and shadows in one book is worth more than the price. A must read.

I have three sons, age 7, 5 and 2 and they all were thrilled by this book and the others in the series.

The art is fun and very kid-friendly. They laughed out loud with the storyline and illustrations.

Best of all these books are not written down to children. My toddler loved it but it also makes a great first reader for my seven year-old, who is not insulted by it's content. It is not "a baby book."

The text is in rhyme and tells the comical story of Maximilian the baker and his attempt to become a magician. Too impatient to read the magic book that accompanied his magic hat, Max's magic result sin mixed up and silly spells. During his first school visit Max learns that real magic is simply making others laugh. Written for young readers ages 6 to 9, Maximilian The Great is very nicely illustrated by Adam Corsi. A unique aspect is the provision of a special section of tips for the young reader on writing and illustrating, with information on how they can submit their own work in a contest for publication.

Geraldine Thomas was a thirteen year old tomboy. Her best friend was Jay Thornton, who was always too curious for his own good. Geri's other friend was Randy, who was an oddball to others his age due to his high intelligence. During a hot day Geri suggested hunting up, what the locals called, Blue Pool. It was a an isolated, tear drop shaped, crystal blue lake a few miles away. Many tales circulated about people dying at the lake or disappearing, but Geri and Jay still decide to go. That was only the first of several bad choices the two made that day. Randy was the only one smart enough not to thumb his nose up at danger. He stayed home. Soon Geri and Jay are facing venomous snakes, hopping on and off moving trains, starting a brush fire, finding a new cave, being chased by two mean men out to seriously harm them, and much more! During it all, Geri and Jay become closer and learn some interesting things about each other.

***** Author, W. Royce Adams, writes the way pre- teens and teens talk in today's real world. This makes the story more believable and smoother for the reader. Readers cannot help but learn a few things while reading the story as well, such as what stalactites, stalagmites, and gypsum grotto are. I would not be surprised to see this book win awards! Many will place this book upon their "Keeper" shelves. I sure will! My twelve year old son could hardly wait to get his hands on the book once I was finished.

Perfect for fans of "Hardy Boys" and "Nancy Drew", or just for those who enjoy a lot of excitement in their stories! Highly recommended reading here! Don't miss this one! *****

Detra Fitch

When thirteen-year-old Geri and her best friend Jay decide to cool off by finding Blue Pool (and unfrequented, off-limits area known to be dangerous) they discover more than they bargained for as they hop a freight train to take them up river, accidentally start a grass fire, and find themselves chased through a huge, unchartered cave by two men willing to do anything to keep secret what the kids have discovered. The adventures of Geri and Jay bring them one step closer to maturity and acceptance of responsibility, along with the sense of a new, unfamiliar relationship between them. With Me & Jay, author Royce Adams documents an undeniable talent for story telling that is as young reader friendly as it is entertaining.

To survive polio in the 1950s was unusual in itself, but for a premature, two-week-old baby to live--in spite of impoverished circumstances and lack of medical attention--nothing short of a miracle had to occur. Alethea Adams was no ordinary child, and even as she scooted around her mountain home on her seat, unable to force her crippled legs to walk, this seven-year-old Cherokee girl cherished a dream: someday she would walk that "Trail of Crying" which her mother described--a long and arduous journey from Tennessee to Oklahoma, a trail from which the blood of some 4,000 of Alethea's Cherokee ancestors still cries out to those who will listen. Not only does MESSAGE IN THE WIND detail the fulfillment of that little girl's impossible dream; it allows contemporary readers to visualize the actual events which the Cherokees must have encountered during the 1838 Removal, and grants an inside view of the emotional toll this horrendous chapter in American history has taken on a strong and proud people. Supplemented by maps and historical sketches, MESSAGE IN THE WIND is a must-read for anyone interested in Cherokee culture.

Ms. Adams-Wells takes a person through the historic journey made by her ancestors and describes the people, feelings, and adventures she experiences along this long and arduous walk. Being the only modern day woman to walk as her ancestors did, clad in moccasins and carrying a 50lb back pack, she minces no words describing her journey and the treatment she received.A monumental journey for anyone, she desesrves a place of honor for this book..