Swords for Hire" is a humorous and exciting medieval adventure. Inspired by "The Princess Bride", the style is similar enough that anyone who enjoyed that book should enjoy this one. Although it is written for the juvenile market (age 9 or so and older) it is still a delightful read for anyone. For a younger person the first thirty pages are somewhat slow but required in order to lay the foundation for the rest of the book. On the other hand, once you get to the section on "The Oddball" it picks up speed, the two primary characters become well developed and the book takes off. After that it is hard to put the book down and you may find yourself sitting up to finish it. "Swords for Hire" is a highly recommended and enjoyable read.

Sam Hatcher lived on a farm until he turned sixteen. Then he became an apprentice to Rigby Skeet, Sword For Hire. A smuggled message landed in their hands to reveal that the "deceased king" was not really dead. Instead, King Olive was caged in a far away dungeon and guarded by "the Boneman". The two set out to rescue their true king from the evil guards.

I found this story to be an absolute delight! All through the book I chuckled and often I found myself laughing out loud. The author expressed even the most common things in the most unusual and humorous ways. For example: "Imagine a dark, sinister-looking castle, then multiply by two and you'd have the castle of the Boneman."

The author also added some strange personalities that kids of all ages cannot help but find amusing, such as the false king who enjoyed nothing more than putting worms on top of his head. It is things such as these that will make young readers WANT to read. Each chapter is short, which is recommended for younger readers as well. And of course, there must be (and is) a beautiful damsel in distress that needs to be rescued. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Sam Hatcher is a normal, if a bit cynical, farm boy who is clearly not destined to become a farmer. His father recognizes this and sends him off to join the Royal Guard on his sixteenth birthday. Thus begins an adventure that teams him up with Rigby Skeet, a mentor who is slightly deranged, on a quest to rescue the true King from the dungeon in which his slimy, worm-loving brother has imprisoned him.

The story is fast and fun and often surprising, taking a classic adventure story and saturating it with humor and irony, smashing through clichés as quickly as the protagonists smash through obstacles.

Sam is no starry-eyed apprentice and his mentor is no all-knowing master, and this lack of established adventure story roles leaves room for so much more.

This story was loved by every kid with whom it was shared, from age seven to age fifteen, and the adults who read it loved it even more.

i personally don't like to read but i recieved this book as a gift, so i decided to start reading it. i could NOT stop reading, and i am telling the truth, i have NEVER EVER enjoyed a book so much! i really, really, really reccomend it! and i can't wait for her next novel to come out! i'm so so excited!

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I've always been interested in the Civil War and this gives a unique view of the war through a modern day doctor trapped there and trying to save lives with limited resorces while she searches for a way home. A fun romance and great read. I would recommend this to anyone.

I thought this book was great! The pictures of the objects are beautiful. Where a picture could not be obtained there is usually a detailed sketch of the object. The descriptions give not only insight into use of the archaological object but also surrounding information like similar objects and archeological context. Then the essays descibe the time period and unknown/debated issue of Egyptian Archeology. As a newbie to Egyptian Archaeology I found the book easy to read and felt that things were explained well.

This is great book and a fantastic love story! This is a great book that really causes true refelection and how we feel for our true friends. You really feel for Jon in the book and how hard his life had been and how he did not want to burden another person with those things. Nancy's does a fantastic job of keeping the book moving, interesting, and the time will fly while you read. I don't know about anyone else, but I have a hard time waiting until the next books arrive, because I just love the way she writes and the great stories her books tell.

This book was very well researched and written. I started reading it three days ago and could not put it down. After finishing it in 3 days I find myself very eager for Volume 2.
I strongly recomend this book to anyone with any remote interest in the civil war.

In Hobbies Through Children's Books And Activities, Nancy Jurenka offers classroom instructors for grades 3 through 6 a compendium of ideas and suggestions for utilizing hobby activities to enhance reading and reasoning skills. Each of the 30 chapters comprising this "user friendly" book focuses on a different hobby ranging from bird-watching, canine care, and drawing to stamp collecting, puppeteering, and kite construction. Hobbies Through Children's Books And Activities is a strongly recommended addition to elementary school and home schooling curriculum development resources reference collections.

I really like that it is written simply and is easy to understand. It breaks up the things to be done in the garden and yard into seasons so that you can easily tell what you can do during a particular time of the year! It's a great book!

She's at it again, another fantastic book by Nancy Campbell Allen. This book has you enthralled from the first word and leaves you wanting more. This is a great story about Claire O'Brain and Bump St. James and the wonderful encounters they have while on a archeological dig. The great love story that slowly unfolds through the book is just wonderful and you will love this book right down to the last page.

I have used _Rodale's Synonym Finder_ for a number of years in preparing lectures and sermons, as well as in writing. A few years ago, I introduced it to a colleague while he was writing a book. His response? "This book saved my life!" This past year, I introduced my [homeschooled] 13-year-old to it in order to give some help with writing a novel. The response? "This book is great, Dad! Thanks for telling me about it!" Needless to add, it is now a necessary part of our writing. I cannot recommend it too highly.

The alphabetical approach makes it extremely easy to use, and removes the step of consulting an index. The [numerous] synonyms are listed alphabetically in categories (e.g., casual/slang); it is difficult to see how Rodale could have made it easier to use--or more useful. I recommend _The Synonym Finder_ most highly it to all of my students, and to anyone who writes.

Normal thesauruses, MS Word Thesaurus don't hold a candle to the Synonym Finder. I invested in the hard cover edition because I hoped it would become a permanent, well-loved fixture on my desk...and it has. Whenever I am trying to think of a "different" way to spin a common word, this book takes me down numerous paths and gives me tons of ideas. As a marketing specialist/writer, it is essential that I am able to constantly be putting a new spin on a not-so-new idea and this book has become an invaluable tool for me to get there.

Roget's thesaurus was never real quality. The Synonym Finder beats it cold. I write books for a living. Because of my love for words and desire for variety--I use this book constantly. I encourage my students and everyone to secure a copy of this new classic.

This is a very personal history as the author takes personal interest in the Lt. Kidder massacre that occurred to a platoon of soldiers carrying a dispatch from General Sherman to Custer. This was during the 1867 Kansas Indian war during the military's unsuccessful campaign to defeat the various tribes. Earlier references to Kidder stated that the young inexperienced officer was unfamiliar with Indians and was ill prepared for his mission. However, the author through research confirms that Kidder had Civil War and Indian warfare experience. The latter was during the Sioux wars in Minnesota. The author provides more detail than the normal few pages in books about Custer. The detail includes a biography of Kidder, a detailed description of his family and particularly information about his father who was a judge and politician in South Dakota. High points include the story of the massacre. It starts initially with Kidders recent re-enlistment and assignment in Kansas and within a few weeks of his arrival, the mission to deliver Custer a dispatch who at that time was with the 7th trying to locate and defeat the Indians. Kidder finds Custer's trail but unfortunately where Custer turned off the Wallace trail, Kidder misses the new yet faint trail perhaps because he passed it at night. Approximately 200 warriors found Lt. Kidder instead and he tries to escape finally fortifying himself in a small ravine among high grass. It sounds familiar to the last survivors of Custer Hill running to a ravine for cover also killed without survivors. The author's surprisingly successful archeology digs help them map a course of battle and determine what may have happened. Kidder also had an Indian guide who died with all 11 army members. The author also writes of Kidders father making a brave trek to the battle site to recover his son's body, which actually encouraged the army to recover all the bodies. It's a personal trip with history and a real person's story about the need to find more detail about an often referred to event without elaborate research. The authors virtually take you there with their visit through descriptions, maps and photos.

This is a very personal history as the author takes personal interest in the Lt. Kidder massacre that occurred to a platoon of soldiers carrying a dispatch from General Sherman to Custer. This was during the 1867 Kansas Indian war during the military's unsuccessful campaign to defeat the various tribes. Earlier references to Kidder stated that the young inexperienced officer was unfamiliar with Indians and was ill prepared for his mission. However, the author through research confirms that Kidder had Civil War and Indian warfare experience. The latter was during the Sioux wars in Minnesota. The author provides more detail than the normal few pages in books about Custer. The detail includes a biography of Kidder, a detailed description of his family and particularly information about his father who was a judge and politician in South Dakota. High points include the story of the massacre. It starts initially with Kidders recent re-enlistment and assignment in Kansas and within a few weeks of his arrival, the mission to deliver Custer a dispatch who at that time was with the 7th trying to locate and defeat the Indians. Kidder finds Custer's trail but unfortunately where Custer turned off the Wallace trail, Kidder misses the new yet faint trail perhaps because he passed it at night. Approximately 200 warriors found Lt. Kidder instead and he tries to escape finally fortifying himself in a small ravine among high grass. It sounds familiar to the last survivors of Custer Hill running to a ravine for cover also killed without survivors. The author's surprisingly successful archeology digs help them map a course of battle and determine what may have happened. Kidder also had an Indian guide who died with all 11 army members. The author also writes of Kidders father making a brave trek to the battle site to recover his son's body, which actually encouraged the army to recover all the bodies. It's a personal trip with history and a real person's story about the need to find more detail about an often referred to event without elaborate research. The authors virtually take you there with their visit through descriptions, maps and photos.

This book provides an interesting and poignant study of Lt Lyman Kidder and his brutal demise.The work also affords the reader an insight into the tragic existence of the frontier family by following the journey of Lyman's father to claim his son's body from the remote battlesite. The authors' skillful use of original sources paints a vivid picture of a father's search for meaning following the death of his son. Judge Kidder's subsequent correspondance with Custer and Sherman, among others, affords an invaluable window into these turbulant times. The book will not only be enjoyed by students of American Frontier history, anyone with any degree of empathy with, or sympathy for, a family's love for their son will be moved. I recommend this book without reservation.