Related Subjects: Author Index Reviews Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Book reviews for "Batbedat,_Jean" sorted by average review score:

Jean M. Auel's the Earths Children: The Clan of the Cave Bear, the Valley of Horses, the Mammoth Hunters
Published in Hardcover by Crown Pub (November, 1986)
Author: Jean M. Auel
Amazon base price: $55.85
Used price: $169.99
Average review score:

Entire series wonderful, WHEN will the 5th book be out?
Have read all Jean Auel's books in the Earths Children series. I could not put them down. Please tell me when the 5th book will be out!

Fifth book!
The author planned to write six books in the Earth's Children series, and I hope she sticks with the plan. However, I wanted to answer the question about which everyone seems to be confused--the fifth book. Its title is **SHELTERS OF STONE** ... . Anyway, the first four books are not only completely absorbing plotwise, but Ms. Auel's obvious research into the history of the periods about which she writes adds to the value of reading her books. Don't wait! Read the first four as soon as possible--at least in time to get a copy of her unpublished paperback.

Excellent Books!!! I've read the whole series 6 or 7 times!!
The best series of books I've ever read. I can't wait until the 5th book comes out - hurry hurry please!!


Julie's Wolf Pack
Published in Hardcover by HarperCollins Children's Books (September, 1997)
Authors: Jean Craighead George and Wendell Minor
Amazon base price: $
Average review score:

"Fighting for survival"
Jean Craighead George describes how wolves survive in the wild and what the wolf pack goes through to survive. This is a great book to learn about wolves and their actions and the relations they have with humans and other animals. I thought it was a little slow moving and it didn't keep my interest going very well. It dragged on about the wolves' lives and was very repetitive. There wasn't a lot of descriptive writing to keep the interest flowing. But learning about the wolves was interesting and I enjoyed that.

A wonderful ending to the trilogy!
This is by far my favorite book of the Julie trilogy. Even though Julie isn't in it as much, I love the way the wolves' lives are described down to every detail. Wolves are my favorite animals, and this is one of the few books that I have read that actually is showing the book from a wolf packs' point of view. This will definetly make the story more appealing and interesting to the reader instead of it being told by an observer. Kapu and Sweet Fur Amy are my favorite wolves, and they were described in detail throughout this book, which made the story even better for me! Any animal lover will truly adore this book!!

an interesting book from a wolf's point of view.
Julie's Wolf Pack was a extermly good book. I happen to be a Jean Craighead George a this has to be one of her best works. I enjoyed the moments that happen from the wolves point of view. I liked the additions and subtractions of the wolves in the pack. Jean, if you read this, write another book like this!


Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real
Published in Hardcover by Outlet (December, 1988)
Authors: Margery Williams Bianco, Margery Williams, Jean Chandler, and Corey Nash
Amazon base price: $5.99
Used price: $0.25
Collectible price: $7.50
Buy one from zShops for: $4.85
Average review score:

I still love this book...I always will
These are the days of Sony Playstation 2 and Harry Potter, activites that do not really ever try to tell a great story that also gives a lesson without being preachy.

The Velveteen Rabbit is heartwrenchingly beautiful. The Rabbit who yearns to be Real and whose love for the boy was unconditional is both imaginative and sad. I cannot read this book without a lump coming to my throat and being transported to simpler days when the love of a toy was the greatest thing in the whole world.

This is a book with an ending that is mixed, that touches on the ambiguity of life and loss. But there is also hope of a new beginning. And I think children can understand that and grow from it.

I cherish this book deeply.

A True Classic!
A great book on love! I really loved this book as a kid and still remember when my Gramps used to read it to me when we would visit him in the province. He gifted me the book on my 7th birthday and became a real sentimental favorite. My original book got lost when my family vacationed in Milan when I was 12, too bad. I could recall how depressed I became when I discovered that I left the book in the hotel. I missed that book terribly and eversince I was on the look out for another copy, until 16 years later, my beautiful girlfriend gifted me one on our anniversary when she returned home from Munich. I was so happy as I lifted the copy out of the box and I couldn't help but shed a tear out of happiness! Since then, it remains on my bedside table. It is very enlightening, heart warming and full of love. I really love toys up to now and this book really manifests unconditonal love. I will surely treasure this book and in time gift it to my future kids. It's a real classic , something to be treasured forever!

An extremely touching book
This book is a simple work of art. Its beauty in itself is virtually indescribable. When I was little, it was my favorite book. In fact, I've had it ever since I was born. It is about a boy who owns a stuffed rabbit, and longs for it to be real. Eventually, because he loved the rabbit so much, his wish was granted. The book is so well written that it brings tears to my eyes almost every time I read it. It is definitely one of my all-time favorites.


The Dog Is Not a Toy: House Rule #4
Published in Paperback by Andrews McMeel Publishing (15 April, 2001)
Author: Darby Conley
Amazon base price: $8.76
List price: $10.95 (that's 20% off!)
Used price: $6.49
Collectible price: $5.29
Buy one from zShops for: $3.99
Average review score:

Meet "Get Fuzzy" - you will never regret it.
I couldn't believe the comic strip. I actually laughed out loud at Bucky, Satchel and Rob's irrepressible antics. The comic strip was the first thing I looked at when I opened the paper in the morning.

Then - while browsing at a book store - I found it . . ."Get Fuzzy: The Dog is Not a Toy (House Rule #4)," Darby Conley's first book. Yes Virginia. . .there is a Santa Claus!

If you haven't met Bucky, Satchel and Rob yet, this book is a great introduction to the threesome. Bucky the cat is so irritating, he's lovable. Satchel, the mixed breed canine, has a heart of gold and gives everyone - even Bucky - the benefit of the doubt. Their human, Rob, is the glue that holds everything together.

In no time at all you'll be believing the three are real and you'll wish they lived next door to you. Don't miss this opportunity to laugh out loud.

Clarification of some of the following reviews
I have read this book 20+ times and reading some of the earlier reviews, I am quite confused. To clarify, there are no strips in this book which deal with Bucky and colon cancer, with Gumby, or with Bucky and Vietnam.
I cannot compare this strip to "Bloom Country" because I have never even heard of that strip. I can say, though, that I believe, although the strip follows a familiar genre (single guy, sarcastic cat and dumb dog), the majority of the jokes and gags are original and funny. I don't think the strip is trying to be like or better than Calvin & Hobbes, Garfield, etc. Each strip is unique and enjoyable in its own way. I would think that Get Fuzzy is edgier than Garfield and is more mature than Calvin & Hobbes. If you enjoy either of those strips, though, you'll probably enjoy this book and the strip. I love all three myself.
Also, a lot of people enjoy this strip because they can relate to the animal's behavior. If you have a cat or dog, you might see glimpses of your own pet in the characters, as many others have. (I happen to believe that Bucky looks a lot like my siamese brat... er, cat, who also has a "fang.")
So, if you're not sure yet about buying the book, why don't you just check out the strip a few times to see if you like it? It's available online at comics.com .

Bucky and Satchel really grow on you!
I did not care much for "Get Fuzzy" when it first appeared in my Sunday newspaper; the strips seemed disjointed, and I just didn't "get" the humor. Then, upon reading my daily "Dilbert" I saw that Scott Adams recommended "Get Fuzzy" for whatever reason, so I decided to give it a try on a daily basis. It was in reading the strips regularly that the personalities of Robbo and his pets really started to flesh out. Now that I have the book, I'm able to see all that I was missing in just reading the Sunday strip.

If you've just "sort of" enjoyed this strip in your paper or online, then this book really pulls it all together. I was extremely pleased to learn the origins of "Smacky", Bucky's best friend in the whole wide world. If you're a big fan of the strip, then you probably already have the book, so I'm preaching to the choir.

All-in-all: very funny.


Old Black: A Novel
Published in Hardcover by Beverly Book Co (November, 1998)
Authors: Doug Briggs, Edsel M. Cramer, Monique L. Jouannet, Jean-Claude Louis, and Gary Lynn Roberts
Amazon base price: $24.95
Used price: $5.62
Collectible price: $8.99
Average review score:

Wonderful story full of real people and a good horses
I'm a horsewoman, but I don't often find a good story with a horse as a main character. The authors don't often get their facts straight. This one did. Every detail that was explained was correct down to the smallest little thing.

Old Black, the book, was a bigger book than it seemed. I counted about 35 characters counting Sam the Rodesian ridgeback dog, and, of course, Old Black himself. Not one character escapes my mind's eye. I knew them every one. Even the reporter, Paul Hardesty, was memorable, and had only a cameo (but important) appearance. Oscar and Ruby, I fell for them hard. Salt of the earth. And how I cried when ... but read it yourself. I could see why the author took that route, it was a big step up the ladder to adulthood for Jim. It took me a long time to read the whole scene because I had a hard time seeing anything.

The author truly introduced every character. And that isn't so often the case.

There was some extravagant adventure in this story, but I never once had to suspend disbelief. Old Black the horse was not overplayed into a super horse, either. Nor was that wonderful little boy Jim. And wasn't Alexandra something? Uncle Harry was right, she's a little princess. And speaking of Uncle Harry and Aunt Hazel, everybody who knows someone who has a loved one with Alzheimer's should get a copy of this book. I know in my heart that Jim's therapy would be beneficial.

There are some real heartbreaking scenes and events in this book. And some funny ones too. I thought I'd die laughing over Mr. Mehlman's "theoretical last days." And the incident involving the snake in the bathroom. My husband came in to see what I was laughing about. I told him I had been bitten by the fabled laughing snake. (Of course, he didn't get it until HE read the book.)Wasn't Harry's reaction something a man with a good sense of humor would come out with? And I can understand Matt and Jim laughing themselves sick.

I finished Old Black, lay back on the pillow and relished it a while, then started right back on page 1.

Old Black has it all!
Old Black is the most wholesome, absorbing, exciting, touching book I have ever read! And that's going back through a lot of books! Everything in the world that should be in it is there. Old Black the horse was as wonderful as his master, Jim Bradley.

I loved the old black couple, the Jacksons, who lived on the lane to the Bradley's little weekend ranch, and was truly touched by the genuine friendship between that couple and the Bradley family. All of the characters in the story, and there are quite a few, come vividly to life. You never have to think back and ask yourself, "Now just who is this walking on stage?" You know every one of them as if you had known them a long time.

The chapters involving the visit of Jim's Aunt Hazel and Uncle Harry are precious. Aunt Hazel has Alzheimer's disease and Uncle Harry is allowing her condition to get to him. It took the intuitive therapeutic interaction of a boy with compassion for his ailing aunt to show Uncle Har! ry, by examples, how to mitigate her suffering, how to lift her spirits. There was hilarity galore in those chapters, much of it at Aunt Hazel's expense, but it was never once in bad taste.

The rescue of Sheriff Martinez in the woods by Jim and Old Black, which consumed several chapters, was an endless stream of excitement that continued to escalate right up to the very last page of chapter 24. It was a tough job for both the boy and his horse that almost proved to be impossible, but every bit of it was entirely credible.

Old Black is a beautiful piece of creative writing. The story moved. It had a start, a middle, and definitely an ending, an ending that swept along through several chapters in such a rewarding way for the reader. Briggs never takes the writer's easy way out of a single scene or event, but works his plot with fascinating detail and excellent execution. The story was a fine blend of happiness, sadness, tragedy, and humor. Every aspect of the ending was perf! ect -- all the little loose ends that had collected along t! he way were neatly tied up in the most satisfying ways one could imagine -- even better than I ever imagined.

Without giving away the REAL treat at the very end, I will say I loved the way the jealousy toward Jim by the boy on the flashy horse was disposed of. That scene was a magnificent stroke! Then there is a very nice vignette involving that same boy at the very end that had best be left for the joy of reading it first hand. At that last horse show in the Astroarena, I swear I could hear the bawling, cackli! ng, mooing, crowing, grunting . . . of the animals, I was aware of the constant announcements over the loudspeakers, I smelled every aroma of the place, saw and heard the hay carts buzzing around, felt the presence of the activity going on all about -- I was THERE!

Old Black is a fairly long book --387 pages of text -- but I flew through it way too fast to suit me. We should be able to give an extra star to special books for appearances. This one is a beauty, with a nice oil painting for the cover, a pretty full-color map of "Old Black Territory" on the front and back endpapers, and at least five dozen gorgeous illutrations, which is why I presume the book was printed on such fine paper.

When you buy Old Black, you may as well buy two and get it over with. You'll just HAVE to let certain friends read it, and you'll sure not want to part with your own special copy.

(This review was provided by the reader, who does not have a computer, to the publisher for sending on to amazon.com.)

An excellent book for youth and young adults
I was given this book by a friend and was surprised at the well-balanced combination of story, locale and apt descriptions of riding events.

Buck Jones: a rodeo cowboy who becomes seriously ill and must get rid of his beloved horse. I liked Buck a lot, and so did his friends in the story. He raised Old Black from a colt and only became a rodeo star after Old Black came on the scene as his roping horse. The day he got rid of his beloved pal was a heart-rending scene.

Small things impressed me. The arrival at the Bradley's farm with Jim's new horse -- he so wanted to show him off to the old black couple down the lane, but he had to wait. Things to do on the farm. Getting on the horse took some imagination for 10-year-old Jim Bradley, but he solved THAT! Then got an extension for his stirrup. Small things, but so important to the story.

Jim's first real horse show was an adventure for me. The hospitality suite he and his mother came upon, and got acquainted with the Robertsons and their daughters. Jim's performance in that western riding class was beautiful, as written.

I adored little Alexandra Meridith, her father. Her grandparents, Oscar and Ruby, were fine old people, and dearly loved by that little boy.

The series of chapters dealing with the rescue of the sheriff out in the woods was as stirring and exciting as could be. And it reeked of realism. That long episode was brought to a perfect conclusion, even if some concerns still were left dangling. But they were wrapped up later.

The funeral of a black lady was a fine piece of descriptive writing, touching.

The ending of the story was purely satisfying. The indignant lady in the stands was a good, good touch. How she finally came around to applaud Old Black after accusing him of hurting her daughters chances in the class. The unlikely but understandable award to Old Black. Then, something I can't tell because it would ruin the ending for readers, but it was just exactly what should have happened. Even if it caught be completely by surprise.

A great story.


Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz
Published in Hardcover by Pantheon Books (23 October, 2001)
Authors: Charles M. Schulz, Chip Kidd, and Jean Schulz
Amazon base price: $20.97
List price: $29.95 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $13.00
Collectible price: $26.47
Buy one from zShops for: $14.75
Average review score:

A Must for any 'Peanuts' Fan and a True Work of Art
I have loved Peanuts since childhood, and have an almost complete collection of Peanuts books. Charles Schultz has always been an inspiration to me in my work as an occasional professional cartoonist. Not only is Schultz unsurpassed as an artist, he is also one of the great philosophers of twentieth century life in America.
This book is, first and foremost, a celebration of the comic strip. It is a work of art in its own right. All the cartoons in the book are photographed from either their original drawings, or directly from the newspapers. The reader can see the artistic details that Schultz has used in creating each frame in photos of the originals. And the use of the original strips, with their rough paper and newsprint lines, brings back the joy of reading the comics for the first time in the funnies. The Sunday comics are complete with the little color dots that created the color images. There are literally hundreds of comic strips, both daily and Sunday, in this book, and they give a good overview of Schultz's long career.
There are many photos of Schultz's doodles and rough sketches, of his desk and his artist's tools, early cartoons 'Sparky' sold to the Saturday Evening Post, early drawings of certain characters, some of which pre-date 'Peanuts' itself. One can actually see the characters develop, artistically and as human beings. Interspersed with the cartoons are textual explanations and stories about Schultz and his characters, including many insightful comments by Charles Schultz himself about the evolution and personalities of his characters. Also included are photos of early Peanuts toys and dolls, and even these are photographed lovingly and with attention to detail and shadow.
This is a magical book, and any Peanuts fan would love it and treasure it. It is a book one can return to over and over to enjoy. Leave it lying around the living room where everybody can enjoy it and relive the joy Charles Schultz and the Peanuts gang gave us for over fifty years. Better yet, introduce a new generation of kids to the strip. The Peanuts gang is a microcosm of us, and reading it reveals much about ourselves and helps us to look on life with tenderness and humor.
Buy this book, read it, and share it. It would make a wonderful present as well. It is the best Peanuts book to date.

A very nice collection of older Peanuts strips
I am an ardent collector of books related to the Peanuts comic strips created by Charles Schulz. But one thing you learn when you have this hobby is that not as much exists from the early days of Peanuts (particularly the first five years or so). My understanding is that as time went on, Schulz wasn't as fond of the earlier days of Peanuts and did not want these strips reprinted if he could help it. These were the days when Charlie Brown's shirt didn't have the famous zig-zag and Snoopy walked on all four legs and didn't have his famous "thought balloons".

This book "Peanuts: The Art of Charles Schulz" is focused primarily on those early days of Peanuts, with most of the material from the first ten years of the strip (the 1950's). The strips are photographed from Schulz's archives and there are many strips I have never seen before (and I've seen just about every one that was published). You even get to see the long forgotten Charlotte Braun, who was in the strip for a short period around 1954 and had the fussbudget personality later assumed by Lucy. Fascinating. You see Lucy, Linus and Schroeder as babies. You see Charlie Brown with a huge head (much bigger in proportion to his body than you are used to seeing). And you see Snoopy as basically just a dog before he assumed his own thoughts and imagination.

There is also a lot of sketches and strips from the pre-Peanuts days (Lil Folks) that can really give you insight into how Peanuts eventually came to be. This has never been done to any great extent is any Peanuts book that I have seen.

The strips are terrific and the style of the presentation is very pleasant to look at as well. This book is laid out more as an art book than as a collection of comic strips. And it is very well done at that. It's better than just about all the books that were issued every five years to celebrate landmark years for Peanuts (25th anniversary, 30th, etc.)

This book is a must for any hardcore Peanuts fan who wants to see how this tremendous icon of American culture for the last half of the 20th century got its start.

Peanuts Masterpiece
Now, _this_ is the best collection you can get! Going through vast archives - including Charles M. Schulz's collection of _original_ strips, and newspaper clippings of the 1950s and beyond, as well as comic books of the 1960s, memorabilia like board games, records, bobbing-head toys (made by the Lego company before they made Lego!), and more, this is truly superb. And, the strips are presented in a unique form - instead of just reprints, we see photographs - detailed, high-quality, crystal clear photographs - of the originals, providing us with a massive increase in clarity - plus, with the newspaper clippings, we see those old dot-colored versions of the Sunday strips, and rarities - like what a strip looked like before Schulz adjusted the art for the published version, and a 1954 Sunday strip of Lucy and Charlie Brown at an ADULTS' golf tournament!! (The effect - that we only see them from about waist-down - is like how we saw Nanny in "Muppet Babies" -remember that?). We alo see Schulz' studio tools, left as they were after he finished the last strips in December 1999, and features like this - and the concluding pages - add a poignancy to the book. But it all works. There's no disappointments here!


Matilda Audio
Published in Audio Cassette by HarperAudio (October, 1995)
Authors: Roald Dahl and Jean Marsh
Amazon base price: $9.60
List price: $12.00 (that's 20% off!)
Used price: $8.01
Collectible price: $11.99
Buy one from zShops for: $7.56
Average review score:

Book Review For Matilda
BOOK REVIEW FOR MATILDA

4/16/02 Arvin

I really liked the book Matilda because the author that wrote this book wrote lots and lots of details in the book that you could imagine the picture of what it would be like. Also I like this book because the girl in the story is very determined to study.

In this story, a little girl lives with two mean parents who are upsets with watching T.V including their son. But not Matilda! She wants to read and study. So when in the morning Matilda's mom goes out to play bingo and her dad goes to his business with her brother going to school, Matilda goes to the library to read.

One day Matilda goes to school and meets a wonderful teacher. Miss Honey! But not only does Matilda meet a nice teacher, but also Matilda finds out something about her that no one else can do. Magic! Matilda uses her ability on her real enemy The Trunchbull.

Through reading this book, I have learned a valuable lesson. The father of Matilda loved to earn money so he cheated on the people, and his cars were cheap and would break down very fast. That was lying. I learned not to lie because Matilda's father got in trouble and ran away. Another lesson I learned was to not give up! When Matilda meets the mean principle, Matilda didn't stop standing up for herself and did not give up.

Read this trilling story to walk through the adventures with Matilda! It will never get off your hands until you are finished reading this book. I loved this book and I think you will too!

Another Great Book by Roald Dahl
Matilda Wormwood is an extraordinary child genius. She taught herself to read and speak before she was four-years-old--all without the help of her lazy, ignorant parents or older brother, Michael--and goes on to develop telekinetic abilities. Her teacher, Miss Jennifer Honey, is impressed with Matilda's accomplishments, and with further tutoring, she helps the young girl master her spectacular gift. This gift later becomes useful when Matilda decides to save Crunchem Hall Primary School from the sadistic Headmistress, Miss Agatha Trunchbull, and free her favorite teacher (Miss Honey) from poverty.

Like all of Roald Dahl's books, this was a breeze and delight to read, filled with lots of mature humor and fun games. The book was made into a movie in 1996, and although I never saw it, I'd encourage anyone who plans to watch it to read the book first. Generally, Dahl's books outshine the movie version. Highly recommended for 8 to 12+ year-olds.

This book is about a very smart girl named Matilda
The book Matilda has the characters Matilda, her brother, her mother, her father, Mrs. Honey, Mrs. Trunchbull, Lavender, and Amanda. Matilda is the main character. Her parents took her as a mistake. They didn't like her at all. In fact when they got home from the hospital, they forgot her in the car. But Matilda is very smart. She learned how to take care of herself when she was about 4 - 6 the way that people would take care of themselves in their early 30's. In the morning her parents would go off to work and leave her nothing but cold uncooked soup on the stove. She would dump that and make herself pancakes. Then she would take the long trip to the library to read some books. Her parents had miserable jobs. Her father sold cheap old cars that weren't worth what he charged them. Her mother went off and played bingo. Matilda's father finally sent her to school. The principal at the school was very mean. She put children in a closet called the chokei and there were nails sticking in it and she locked it so they couldn't get out. Since her parents were very mean to her at the end Matilda's teacher Mrs. Honey adopted her. They both lived very happily for the rest of their life's. This book takes place in the present and most events occur when Matilda is in school. She acquires almost the entire school as her friends, even the older kids. When she was in school Mrs. Trunchbull made a boy called Bruce Bogtrotter eat a whole cake in front of an assembly of kids. Matilda cheered him on the whole time. along with everyone else. All together this book is a very good book,. and very, very exciting.


Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself
Published in Hardcover by Harvard Univ Pr (10 March, 2000)
Authors: Harriet A. Jacobs, Jean Fagan Yellin, and Lydia Maria Francis Child
Amazon base price: $40.00
Used price: $37.20
Average review score:

Great!
Intended to convince northerners -- particularly women -- of the rankness of Slavery, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl presents a powerful autobiography and convincing writing that reads like a gripping novel but is organized and argued like an essay.

Incidents follows the "true story" (its authenticity is doubted in some places) of Linda [Jacobs uses a pseudonym] who is born into the shackles of slavery and yearns for freedom. She lives with a depraved slave master who dehumanizes her, and a mistress who mistreats her. As the novel progresses, Linda becomes increasingly starved of freedom and resolves to escape, but Linda finds that even escaping presents its problems.

But Incidents is more than just a gripping narration of one woman's crusade for freedom, and is rather an organized attack on Slavery, intended to convince even the most apathetic of northerners. And in this too, Incidents succeeds. The writing is clear, and Jacobs' use of rhetorical strategy to preserve integrity is astonishing.

Well written, convincing, entertaining, Incidents is an amazing book.

Heartbreaking and eye-opening
When my history professor told us that we'd be reading this book and writing a paper over it I was less than excited. I thought it was going to be just another boring History text. To my surpise and delight I was hooked after only a few pages.

This true story of Harriet Jacobs, a 19th century slave, is absolutely mind-blowing. Ms. Jacobs spent 7 years of her life living in what was literally a wooden box in the rafters of her grandmother's shed. She was waiting for the perfect moment to escape to the North and bring her children out of slavery. From her perch in the shed she could look out onto the street and watch her children play and hear them talk about how much they missed their mother and wished to see her again (they had no idea she was in hiding). Jacobs even went so far as to send letters to her vicious master to make him believe that she was really in the Northern states.

Sure everyone learns about slavery in school, but we only get the narrow and highly shortened version of what it was to live in slavery. This book is an emotional account of slavery in all its brutality and what it was like to live in fear every moment of every day. Jacobs is a perfect portrait of an unbreakable spirit.

A very poweful tale of the great injustice put on slaves.
I have read Incidents in the Life of a Slave by Harriet Jacobs, twice! I enjoyed reading her book. Her book is full of rich vocabulary. Her writing skills and the description of events she used was impressive, i.e. the separation of mother and child being sold to slaveholders, I felt the pain. In her writings, she constantly humbled herself because of her circumstances of being a slave and how she felt incompetent to write her life story. I must say that Jacobs did a magnificent job, considering her life of chattel slavery. Besides being courageous, strong and enduring, she was a very wise person. I think Jacob's does not give herself credit for being wise. She was very wise because she had to plan various strategies to outwit her devil master's attempts to capture her. She was wise in not trusting Harriet Beecher Stowe. What was Stowe's purpose of forwarding Jacob's writings to Mrs. Willis, which included her sexual history? Jacobs was no fool. Finally, the most indelible impression on my mind was when she hid in her grandmother's house, above the storage room, for seven years! I was right there with her. Great job Harriet Jacobs!!


Ester's Child
Published in Paperback by Windsor Brooke Books (June, 2003)
Author: Jean Sasson
Amazon base price: $10.36
List price: $12.95 (that's 20% off!)
Average review score:

The best book of 2001
I am an avid reader, reading at least one book a week, along with numerous magazines and newspapers. After 9/11, I wanted to know EVERYTHING about every reason listed telling us why certain Muslims feel they have a valid reason to attack America and Americans. I searched to find various books on the issue of Jews/Arabs and this book caught my attention. The current violence in Israel led me to buy ESTER'S CHILD by Jean Sasson. As I read this book, I was astonished at how little I really knew about the Jews & Palestinians who live in Israel. Why is this not taught in school? It creates such understanding to know the history of this age-old conflict, yet Jean Sasson teaches history in the most interesting manner--in the pages of a well-written and wonderfully compassionate book--without even trying.

Honestly, I cannot believe that this book is not required reading in high schools and universities. This is the kind of book that gets young people to reading!!! Young people are going to be running governments in just a few years and they need to know how people FEEL who live these events...

Wake up world! We must understand the history of these conflicts before we can stop them!!!

After reading this book, I felt compelled to buy everything by this author and I am starting PRINCESS when I finish this review.

I now have a new "favorite" author, JEAN SASSON.

Thank you Jean for this extremely compelling book... I encourage every one who reads this review to buy this book, absorb this book. You will be glad that you did...

All you need is love
Esters Child
Jean Sasson in this book has surpassed in excellence all her previous books; so if the Sultana Trilogy was an International best seller, this book should be a MEGA best seller.
I, as an Arab sided with the Jews in their plight throughout the book
And wept for the Palestinians.
Jean Sasson was able to turn our feelings the way she did for one simple reason , she is a humanitarian , a wonderful person that looks beyond hatred and pores her true feelings and emotions deep

into the stream of humanity. Her ability to do this was coupled with an excellent ability to interweave fiction with true history . I wish more Americans, Arabs and Jews thought the way Ms. Sasson thinks. We would have less venom, hatred and wars in this world that is practically going into pieces at this very moment.
The book is so real , that you live with the characters ( Arabs and Jews )as if they were made of flesh and blood. During my University years in the American university in Beirut during the 70's, I had many friends and classmates that lives in areas close to Shatilla camp. Some had connections with Palestinian Resistance Groups, as a result of which I know Shatilla very well. The book took me back 20 years to those narrow streets , reviving a memory I never thought would be revived . The description lacked one thing only , the odors of the place, only because it was written on paper.
I give the book a million stars , and not just 5 .

M. N. Al-Askari

Jean Sasson is remarkable
I've read Jean Sasson's other exemplary works of non-fiction and was a little worried about her ability to adapt to fiction. I should not have been. While Ester's Child is a fictional tale of hope and perseverance for both a Jewish and Palestinian family, it is the historically accurate setting that I found most impressive. Nobody else has even attempted to broach the subject of Israeli and Palestinian interaction in such an even and unbiased fashion. Bill O'Reilly says, "We report, you decide" and that is was Jean has done so well within a story that is fictional.

There can be no basis for terroristic acts to achieve one's ends and the few that perform these acts hurt so much the cause that much greater numbers of Palestinians would rather achieve through peaceful means. I can tell that Jean must have associated with and spent a lot of time with people on both sides of this issue. This book ought to be the first textbook used in educational classes trying to study their dissention.


Night Before Christmas
Published in Library Binding by Bt Bound (October, 1999)
Authors: Clement Clarke Moore and Jean Hirashima
Amazon base price: $10.35

Related Subjects: Author Index Reviews Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Reviews are from readers at Amazon.com. To add a review, follow the Amazon buy link above.