Joseph McDonald presents an intriguing look at the elements necessary for school reform to successfully occur in the 21st century. His presentation of the material is straightforward and readable. His points are relevant and necessary. Some of what he says has been standard fare in school reform movements for many years, yet he goes on to present some bold new ideas that will certainly make traditional thinkers uneasy.

McDonald divides his book into three parts: believing, wiring, and tuning. Part one, believing, is a values issue. What do schools believe? What knowledge does It cherish? What does school propose to accomplish? A vision must be established within the administration, teachers, students, and community for redesign to truly occur. Part three, tuning, is aligning the values of the outside community with the values of the school itself. Tuning is about resources for teacher learning and student learning. Tuning is about schools responding to the needs of the community's political, economic, and cultural forces. Tuning is figuring out how to know, weigh, and arbitrate these forces. Parts one and three are established truisms that have led school reform efforts for years.

Part two, wiring, is more revolutionary than parts one and three. Wiring, according to McDonald, is more than what it appears on the surface. Wiring is about relationships. Wiring is the distribution of energy, information, and power. Wiring is designing the interrelationships between curriculum, accountability, and governance. McDonald proposes that schools be wired to give information access to all people all the time. The current wiring structure in schools allows administrators to control the information it wishes teachers to have. It allows teachers to control the information it wishes students to receive. The control of information is the control of power. Wiring schools for the future is realigning the power structures that define traditional schools. This concept will be hard for many educators to accept, let ! alone embrace.

I must start my review by telling you that I truly enjoyed this book! It was easy to read and McDonald made it so that all readers could relate, regardless of our school situation. Joseph McDonald makes some very interesting remarks about what we must unlearn as educators, in order to have successful schools. He also mentions that each reform must be individual to each school and that not one single plan fits every school. He goes on to talk about how the factory model does not work especially when it come to the urban poor. He talks about the fact the sacrificing the urban poor is not an option, even when doing so means that affluent students will do better in life, due to this sacrifice.

McDonald calls for the radical reform of American schools. He states that the number one goal for schools should be to educate all students to use their minds well. He also states that schools must scale down, a process in which, as he puts it, the right people care about the right thing. I call this process establishing ownership of your students, school, and community. This book is a must read for all educators.

Stallings did something good. He brought out several misconceptions about the Last Supper (i.e., that it was an all male event). He additionally attempted to give us insight into the goings on of the week leading up to that fateful Passover from a cultural perspective. However, he made one severe (and common) error: He juxtaposed later Jewish cultural and religious traditions onto the first century disciples of Jesus. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your perspective), these sort of mistakes are all too common, so he has done no worse than many other authors on the same and similar subjects. Additionally, such mistakes did not mar the book so much so as to prevent me from lending it out to a friend who knew little to nothing about Jewish culture in general and first century culture in particular.

Rediscovering Passover is obviously a work of love and passion, and is the product of many years of research. Stallings does a wonderful job of blending Jewish history/faith with that of Catholic Christians. His love for both is obvious on every page. My family has celebrated a Christian adaptation of the Jewish Seder for many years and this book allowed me to add depth and more meaning to our celebrations. I would recommend this book to any one who is interested in examining their spiritual roots in the Jewish faith.

The familiar Conrad hero Captain Tom Lingard(Outcast of the Islands) comes to the rescue of an English pleasure yacht that has foundered in the shallows just as war is about to break out between Malay tribes. Tom has war supplies including gunpowder stored in his own boat that has been turned into a fort and Tom's decisions will greatly effect the outcome of the war. Meanwhile though there is the English problem which Tom sees as being just that until he spies on board a lovely woman. Thats enough to distract our hero from his more pressing war time duties. Romantic Tom recalls Lord Jim and is in fact Jims brother, but he is not as complex or as troubled as Jim was so this is more a tale of pure adventure. External events take precedence over internal conflicts and so the adventure can be enjoyed for just that. Not one of Conrads most important works but still it exerts a lot of appeal. Anything by the best writer ever of sea and island tales is worth my time.

Author writes about true piracy in Caribbean ca. 19th cent. Conrad writes with historical and experiential knowledge.

Perhaps you are alot like me, when you discover a great teacher, you want the front row seat, so you can ask lots of questions. Getting the front seat means being the first to class. Studying "Revelation of the Restoration" was my class away from class.

The authors provided a comprehensive study of the Doctrine and Covenants. The authors don't stagnate in boring date, time, and place trivia. Each chapter has interesting stories about early leaders, saints, and pioneers.

There is a nice balance between doctrine and biographies of people, who were a part of Church history. The authors research yields some very interesting stories many of which were new to me.

One of the most important aspects of the book is that it gets the reader to reflect on man's relationship with God. The Doctrine and Covenants is a marvelous set of revealed scriptures.

It outlines the organization and name of the Church, (establishment, organization, and power of the priesthood), man's eternal potential and covenants., the establishment of Zion, building of temples, eternal marriage and family, judgement and mercy, prophets and revelation, genealogy and family research, (priesthood keys: Elijah, Elias, Mose, John the Baptist), wickness before the second coming, the call to be a missionary. A large number of additional topics are covered in the book.

Several years ago, Dr. Joseph Fielding McConkie co-wrote a commentary on the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and I ate it up! Wonderful! Wonderful! But this book is more than a follow-up to the Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon. It is even more that a commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants: it truly is a commentary on many of the institutional Revelations of the Restoration. It includes not only the Doctrine and Covenants, but also the Joseph Smith Translation, the Joseph Smith History, the Lectures on Faith, the Book of Abraham, the Wentworth Letter, and the King Follette Discourse!

As you can see, this book is geared for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so if you wan an introductopry book, I would recommend "Standing for Something," by the church's world leader, Gordon B. Hinckley.

Ezekiel bound the sticks of the Bible and the Book of Mormon together so that they become one! Not only should we bind the Bible and the Book of Mormon together, we need to bind them with the D&C, and the Pearl of Great Price, and with the counsel of the living prophets and apostles. This bundle of sticks can be very heavy, but thank goodness for palm pilots!

This book is doctrinal heavy, so it doesn't have a lot of the historical tidbits that some my want, but Cook's "The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith" would be better suited for such research. Or you could always go back to the primary text: "The History of the Church." It does, however, focus on what we believe and who we should act, and traces the lines of revelation as they cut across the lives of the early Saints. As a historian (BA from BYU, class of 1995), I would prefer studying doctrine over history-as important as it is-since we are saved by Jehovah, the god of Israel, and not Clio, the muse of history.

This is the next step in evolution of commentaries and surpasses Hyrum Mack Smith's "Doctrine and Covenants Commentary," which was the standard for so many generations. The McConkie-Ostler commentary has some advantages over the Smith commentary: it is more readable, it is up to date in the scholarship, up to date with the current revelations, and had an easier font. The disadvantage is the McConkie-Ostler commentary doesn't have the text of the D&C in the book, unlike the Smith Commentary or McConkie's earlier "Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon." The trade-off is between a larger, self contained work in several covers, or a slimmer, one volume, dependant work. I see merits and debits either way, and therefore respect the choice made.

On a personal note, Brother McConkie not only has the voice of his father, but the mind of his father as well. It is wonderful to see him and his brother Mark keeping the family tradition of doctrine alive. I have always been enlightened and, yes, even blessed by reading his words.

The Scepter and the Star by John Joseph Collins is an in-depth study of the complex problem of messianism and the varied messianic expectation(s) and speculation(s) during the time of Second Temple Judaism. The subtitle of the book, "The Messiahs of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature" is important because Collins does not restrict his study to the Dead Sea Scrolls. He goes through the Pseudepigrapha (a large, open-ended collection of biblically-related and biblically-dependant literature that is not a part of the Bible), the Apocrypha, the Hebrew Bible/Tanak/Old Testament and the messianic ideas contained within those works. Collins also deals with Jesus and the New Testament in this work, although it is on the side that these discussions take place.

Collins' knowledge of the Hebrew Bible is extensive on both theological and historical levels. His knowledge is also useful because in the Hebrew Bible are the roots of the problems with messianic interpretation - the scriptures themselves. Once Collins places particular scriptures in their historical context, he then goes on to show their influence(s) and interpretation(s) in various post- and extra-biblical works of literature. We find a pre-existent, heavenly messiah, a priestly messiah, a kingly messiah, and a militant messiah in the works Collins analyzes. At least one messiah was expected and possibly and two, depending on who wrote the work. Collins also deals with the history of the word "messiah" and its various uses in the Hebrew Bible.

In reading the book, the reader will gain some insights as to how and why the writers of the New Testament understood Jesus the way that they did, but the goal of the book is not to connect these works to Jesus. The book is, in many ways, a survey of the messianic thought during and before Jesus' time.

This book is not an introduction by any means. It is an in-depth study; some previous knowledge of the Scrolls, the Pseudepigrapha, and Second Temple history will be useful to the reader. A glossary would have been nice and helpful and would have opened the doors for less knowledgeable readers to read and understand the book. Overall, this is an excellect read. However, previous knowledge will enable - and perhaps even be necessary - for reader to grasp the many insights in Collins' work.

The Scepter and the Star is an excellent and indepth study of the controversy between Judaism and Christianity. In this book we find substantial support for the reasons that many Jews did not accept Jesus as their Messiah. The Jews were looking for two Messiahs- not one. There is scriptural support, which is well documented by John Collins that points to two Messiah figures of the Apocalypse. Collins also references Dead Sea Scroll material that specifically points out two figures- a Davidic and a Priestly Messiah . This book explains how two diverse religions came and stayed- Judaism and Christianity- over these differences. It shows how the Bible was more than a religious book, but a history book as well. This is an excellent, well written book that should get people to look again at the Bible and perhaps read it with insight instead of letting others TELL you what it says!!

Although not the definitive guide on witchcraft, this book does do justice to the late Middle Ages and beyond, and describes the evolution and eventual downfall of witchcraft persecution. If you truly want to know about the history of witchcraft throughout the Middle Ages, you should combine this book with other books that cover the earlier history in more detail, such as R.I. Moore's "Formation of A Persecuting Society", which covers 950-1250; or Kors & Peters' "Witchcraft In Europe:1100-1700." I read alll three in college for a witchcraft class, and I would find none of them to be definitive on the subject. Taken together, however, they provided a strong overview on the topic.

what a great scholarly monograph! this book covers the misogyny, legal, religious and social underpinnings of the witch craze from 1450-1700

it covers europe and salem here in the old usa... finally, it provides insightful primary source documentation of witch craft trials.

hope you read it!

A systematic and thorough guidebook for victims of child abuse, which provides explanations of what the laws are and how they can work for the victim. Although this book is now five years old, its lessons are invaluable. You see, in a CRIMINAL case, it is up to the VICTIM to prove the case. But if the victim SUES the attacker, the situation is reversed. All parents should read this book

Shifting The Burden Of Truth is a ground-breaking book for the victim or survivor of sexual abuse and/or incest! One should never enter into a life-changing decision without the proper information and support and this book provides lots of both. It is written in a warm and supportive style and all legal jargon is explained so that it is understandable to the average person.My story is in this book under a pseudonym--but even if that were not the case,this book changed my life and was my constant companion during a very difficult journey!

I'm surprised this book is not getting more attention. It is a great introduction to the confusing history of Sicily. Sicily has been occupied and conquered so many times it is hard to keep track. Privitera does a great job of sorting through all of this and explaining the history of Sicily with ease. His motivation for writing this book was researching the history of his name and in so doing discovered so much about the history of this island. The title says it is an "illustrated history." However, the illustrations are not very good. This should not discourage you from purchasing this book because the text is what counts. I enjoyed this read and it did not take long to finish the book. Recommended for the Italian history buff.

Black-and-white photographs and artworks add a visual touch to Joseph F. Privitera's Sicily: An Illustrated History. This very direct and straightforward accounting of a world-famous portion of Italy ranges from the era of the Greeks down to the modern day. Historical figures, the role of the Church, war, colonial powers and much more all figure prominently in this compelling, highly recommended capsule-digest version of the impressively legacy and promising future of a distinguished land and its impressive people.

A fabulous book which explains the mechanisms of many common injuries in the combat arts and their immediate management on the mat. More importantly the book is both funny and understandable. I reccomend this to anyone who has been hit in the head or anyone who intends to hit other people in the head.

This book is an absolute must for anyone involved in combat arts such as wrestling, martial arts, boxing,etc. Estwanik has put together a thorough and comprehensive book that covers injuries that the fighter is likely to suffer. Accidents happen and most injuries can be prevented if one knows what to look for-this book covers it. I recommend it for the student and teacher alike.

I have had a devotion to Saint Joseph for many years, and i found this book to be a good sorce for both gaining knowledge about this saint whose life was filled with trials and tribulations, and also to spread the devotion to this patron saint of aviators, and of Students. This book is well writen and layed out in an easy to understand way. I would recommend this book to any wanting to learn about this Holy Man.

St. Joseph Of Copertino... Pray for us!!

An incredible Franciscan Saint (1603-1663), most famous for his miracles, levitations, and severe penances. The devil said of him, "Friar Joseph is the worst foe we have." 135pp. PB. Imprimatur.