I wish I could rate this book with no stars! It's full of mistakes, inaccuracies and incorrect assumptions. The book cover depicts a picture of the Shah next to the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This would be the same as putting the picture of President Bush next to the flag of the Taliban. It's truely an insult.

In addition to the above mistake, the book is riddled with amatuer errors, such as listing Russia as a current neighbor of Iran. Any current map would illustrate that Russia no longer shares a land border with Iran, after the break up of Soviet Union.

There were too many mistakes to keep track, so the overall conclusion is how could one trust the author's reporting who can't even get the basic facts straight.

Despite that I read the book quickly, only to be additionally disappointed by the inability of the author to at least try to understand a nation with 2500 years of written history, of which only the last 24 years are without a king. It's difficult to take any of author's reporting unbiased or culturally sensitive. A great propaganda book for the Islamic Republic of Iran!

I thought this book did a tremendous job of telling the story of a controversial figure without taking sides. I found no factual errors to speak of--the other review posted mentions that the book refers to Iran's border with Russia, but it's referring to it's historic relationship, not it's current status. Propagandists for the Shah and the Pahlavi family will probably be angered by the book's references to the Shah's human rights abuses, but I thought the author did an excellent job of backing up her claims. It's well-written, and it treats it's audience--young adults--with respect. To accuse the author of being pro-Islamist is to completely miss the point of her arguments. She writes passionately about the tragedy that is modern Iranian history, and I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the region.

I love Most of Linda Girard's books, but this is the worst children's book I ever touched. It deserves a TURKEY instead of a star. It makes fun of children with AIDS. It says in this book that Alex got AIDS from a transfusion. It is no longer possible to get AIDS from blood transfusions because all donated blood is tested for HIV and AIDS. Don't waste your money on this piece of junk. Insteas buy the CD "For Our Children."

I really enjoyed the way the author handled this issue with regards to the boy Alex, a fourth grader with AIDS. The only part of the book I found disturbing was that of how the teacher reacted to the poem that was written about her. I did not think it was right that she would not enter it into the contest because she did not like it.