Growing up in the Bronx in the 40's was not unlike the scenes of Brooklyn in "Mimmy & Sophie." The story and, especially,the illustrations, depicted the time perfectly. It brought back many memories -- falling asleep to the the sound of the streetcar on my block, playing outside without a "play date" or organized sport. I especially liked the scenes with the Charlotte Russe and the misspelling of those words. The interaction between the sisters was true to life. I'm anxious to read this book to my grandchildren and discussing what it was like growing up in New York City many years ago.

Thomas Yezerski and Miriam Cohen make a great team! The story of two young girls and their life together is perfectly captured in Mr. Yezerski's awesome illustrations. We would love to read more Mimmy and Sophie stories in bookstores soon.

I've got two little girls who love each other very much but are still learning to "play nice". It's great to find such a beautiful about two sisters in the same situation.

Miriam is the story of a young girl in a rugged land which is under the oppressive domination of the Roman Empire. Her promise will change the world. Author Jack Jacobson has crafted a powerful story of iron will, fateful decision, deadly violence and retribution. Highly recommended reading, Miriam truly captivates and enthralls the readers total attention down to the very last page.

This is wonderful book for young adults (although I have to admit to loving it too and I'm well past that stage!). Miriam comes to life as a young woman about to be wed. We get insight into the life of young people during Biblical times - the conflicts between peers, the political turmoil between the Romans and Jews. The plot is full of action; the characters full of pathos. A positive, good read for any age, but particularly young teens.

Very much enjoyed reading this book. Strongly recommend it as gift for teenage girls (or boys) ... but young adults will like it as well. Helps make the era Christ lived seem real today. Miriam is the story of Christ's mother when she was a teenager and you will Love her!

After the terrible tragedy at Littleton, "Mom and Dad, Please Come to the Principal's Office" is must reading for parents and teachers. The author was an elementary school teacher for 24 years and Principal for 20 years in central Los Angeles. Written on a case by case basis, it describes various children's problems and difficulties, provides analyses and remedial action. Only 108 pages. Invaluable.

After that terrible tragedy in Littleton, "Mom and Pop, Please Come to the Principal's Office" should be must reading for parents and teachers today. The author was an elementary school teacher for 24 years, followed by Principal for 20 years in the central Los Angeles area. Written on a case by case basis, it describes various children's problems, analysis and remedial action. Small book, only 108 pages, succinctly written.

After that terrible tragedy in Littleton, "Mom and Pop, Please Come to the Principal's Office" should be must reading for parents and teachers today. The author was an elementary school teacher for 24 years, followed by Principal for 20 years in the central Los Angeles area. Written on a case by case basis,it describes various student problems and provides valuable analysis and remedial action. Small book, only 108 pages, succinctly written.

A biography of a Roman emperor should concentrate on the life being observed but must also convey the events that occurred in the empire. Otherwise, the biography will be incomplete. However, the author runs the risk of writing a history without providing insight into the biographical subject. Miriam Griffin understands this and although she writes at length on the history of the principate she does not bury her immediate subject. Nero's life emerges from the sources that have come down to us (mainly by Tacitus, Suetonius, Seneca and Dio). As far as the book evoking a flesh and blood Nero, Ms. Griffin refrains from speculation and does not add her opinion although she seems to want to. Perhaps this will not be to the liking of some readers, and I think the lack of information invites intelligent theorizing about what Nero was really like.

This is an excellent study of Nero and has become the standard study to many. There are excellent appendices on historical sources and Nero's coinage. I agree that the book is a thoroughly researched and well-written but it could use some updating. I found it a little odd that Ms. Griffin brings the story of Nero's life to an end and then has chapters dealing with events in the empire, such as the Jewish revolt and Nero's tour of Greece. I think it would have been better to avoid this division. I was interested in some more detail about the Jewish revolt. Ms. Griffin also contrasts Nero with Caligula and Domitian, I think incorrectly. The issue of Caligula declaring himself a god is raised in contract with Nero (who did not). However, I think it is clear now that Caligula only authorized the worship of his numen. In a similar vein, Ms. Griffin recalls that Juvenal called Domitian a bald headed Nero, and relates how both killed off their relatives. This is a rather superficial comparison. Nero appears to have launched a campaign to eliminate all possible rivals and, while it is true that Domitian had his cousins executed, several years separated these actions and were the result of a conspiracy and treasonable activity.

In short, this is an admirable book that adds to our perspective on Nero and I highly recommend it.

A rather dry, scholarly account of Nero's reign (not quite biographical, but with some like elements). Obviously, this isn't a completely entertaining book, and if you're looking for a more "novelistic" account of the popular image of Nero, there are plenty of books that indulge in that excess. This is the finest resource on Nero that I know of : a complete, belated modern analysis. Griffin presents upfront the remaining contemporary accounts of Nero (Tacitus, Suetonius, Dio) and other evidence, especially coinage, to piece together the reign of Nero, debating it point-by-point to find the most likely of occurances. Many myths of Nero are dealt with in this probing, even-handed professional history that, I believe, paints a pretty convincing picture of his personality and politics.

If you love Roman history, this deserves to be in your library.

If you thought Caligula was the last word in Caeserian depravity, you must check out the life and times of Nero, the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors. And Ms. Griffin's splendid biography is an excellent place to begin. She's both a classically trained (Oxford, Harvard, Columbia) historian and a gifted writer,

Thus, this biography is both scholarly and fascinating in a grisly rise and fall of an ancient psychopath sort of way. What follows is just a partial list of Nero's major crimes: matricide, parricide, fratricide, uxoricide, foeticide, homicide, suicide and maybe arson. Ironically, arson for which his name is historically synonymous, is the one felony for which hard evidence is lacking. However, he probably did play the lyre (not the fiddle) while Rome burned to the ground. Nero was absolutely devoted to the arts.

Ms. Griffin, like all good historians, has her own educated slant on Nero, but uses the primary sources--Roman historian Tacitus, Roman biographer Suetonius (The Twelve Caesars) and Greek historian, Cassius Dio--extremely well: she doesn't agree completely with any of them. My own favorite among this group is Suetonious. He's gossipy, entertaining, highly opinated and sometimes accused of not always being totally reliable because he was writing not too long after Nero's death and his sources were, for the most part, then current word of mouth:

"Besides abusing freeborn boys and seducing married women, he debauched the vestal virgin Rubria. The freedwoman Acte he all but made his lawful wife, after bribing some ex-consuls to perjure themselves by swearing that she was of royal birth. He castrated the boy Sporus and actually tried to make a woman of him; and he married him with all the usual ceremonies, including a dowry and a bridal veil, took him to his home attended by a great throng, and treated him as his wife."

Abusing boys, seducing women, debauching vestal virgins, bribing public officials, castrating and then marrying a boy. And that's just a small sampling of Nero's criminally insane imperial career. He also enjoyed slipping out of the palace in disguise of an evening and robbing and beating (sometimes to death) ordinary citizens. Sometimes he donned the skins of wild beasts and tortured male and female prisoners who had been tied naked to stakes. He kicked his pregnant second wife, Poppea, to death. For reasons known only to himself, he demanded that his tutor and chief advisor, the distinguished and blameless stoic philospher Seneca, commit suicide. And there were some exceedingly dark suspicions about the true nature of the relationship between him and his mother, the notoriously manipulative Agrippina. Optima Mater (Best of Mothers) was the first Praetorian guard watchword of Nero's reign. Eventually, they had a serious falling out which ended very badly for Agrippina.

Nero's reign lasted from his seventeenth year to his thirty-first. By then he had been pronounced a public enemy by the long-suffering Senate. They planned to punish him in the ancient fashion: the criminal was stripped, fastened by the neck in a fork [two pieces of wood, fastened together in the form of a "V"], and then beaten to death with rods. On hearing that ghastly sentence Nero, who had fled from Rome to hide in a country manor, wept and wailed for a long time about how the world was losing "a great artist." Finally, as the posse charged with bringing him in approached, and with the help of his private secretary, he managed to stab himself in the throat. His bugged-eyed corpse horrified everyone who saw it.

Nero's three immediate successors were Galba, Otho and Vitellius. All had brief, insignificant reigns. And all were brutally slain within months of assuming the imperial throne. Sic transit gloria mundi.

The bottom line for anyone reading about the subject Speer is that he has convinced himself of his innocence by an intelligent phsycological re-construction of events.

He always knew and was aware of what was happening...period. But a facinating individual he was nevertheless. Detached and aloof he twisted the truth in one of the worlds great pieces of fabrication.

Albert Speer, Hitler's architect and minister of armaments, is a fascinating figure. This book examines his inner struggle with personal responsibility for crimes of the 3rd Reich. Should be read with Gitta Sereny's "Albert Speer His Battle with Truth." Miriam Pollard has written a wonderful book.

To say that Albert Speer "repented" is to insult the entire concept. I believe it is possible that a person as evil as Speer could repent. I just don't believe that Speer ever really did - he did what he had to do to save his own hide. To raise Speer to the level of some sort of icon is ludicrous.

There are few things that inspire me more than a true story of a child of God who is faithful in the face of success and apparent failure. I see the reality of this woman's walk with God to be the challenge and encouragement. The accounts of her passion, travels, and encounters challenge my perspective on missions. I don't believe I had a real grasp on missions until I read this book. The quotations of her own journals and other writings bring a special feeling of knowing Lilias by the end of the book. This is a book I highly encourage all believers to read.

I am a voracious reader of non-fiction (particularly Christian non-fiction), but out of thousands of books I have read, this biography captivated me like no other. Perhaps because I am a writer and artist, I could identify with Lilias and her passions. Ultimately, however, this is a story of adventure, sacrifice, surrender and uncompromising dedication to Jesus Christ, all set against the exotic backdrop of Algeria. I can't wait to meet Lilias in heaven and tell her how she inspired me. Of course, I also look forward to meeting the authors someday because they brought Lilias to life. The narrative is as lovely as Lilias' art!

This book does indeed weave a challenging and interesting tale of a pioneeer missionary, who for the sake of the gospel left a comfortable and gracious victorian life for a life of sacrifice in the northern deserts of Africa, among Muslim tribemen.It is carefully crafted and includes some prints of Lilias' own artwork, which from what can be seen, is lovely.I wish a book could be devoted to more prints and more about Lilias' travels!

Bob Hatcher has done it again. This time he and his staff have compressed all you need to know about counselling for, and prescribing contraception in one pocket sized, easy to use book, While his larger and longer book is the standard in the field, it is too big to carry around with you as you are seeing patients. This small handbook gets around that problem and makes it easy for clinicians to look things up just when then need to know them. I recommend it heartily for those clinicians who provide reproductive health services.

This is an excellent and handy reference for novice and experienced clinicians who are working in women's health care. Not only does it provide quick references for aspects of family planning methods, it also has some very helpful guidance on women's health and primary care. I use it as an adjunct in case methodology for teaching graduate nurse-midwifery students.

Dr. Bob Hatcher has done it again; identified a need in the field of contraception and filled it. This pocket-sized guide will be useful for medical students, Ob/Gyn residents, primary care physicians, nurses, and other health professionals who'd like to have definitive contraceptive information they can just carry in their pocket.

It's also a useful guide for any smart consumer who'd like to make better decisions about her own contraceptive choices.

The guide is definitive, and well-worth the small cost of admission!

This is a first-rate cookbook. It satisfies two essential requirements: (1) nearly all of the recipes are amazingly simple; and (2) the results are fabulous, tasting far more complex than the simplicity of the recipes would lead one to expect. The artwork is colorful and pleasing, and the authors' many anecdotes about about their eccentric Italian-American relatives are amusing. This is, quite simply, the best cookbook I own.

Out of a selection of nearly a dozen books on Italian cooking, Penza & Corsi's book steps forward with a friendly smile and warm handshake. No airs, no yuppie insistance on unknown ingredients rise up to cow the cook. If some ingredients aren't always available, Penza & Corsi tell you what to do instead. They make new recipes easy in every respect--not because they're overly simple, but because the authors make them seem so. The results are delicious. By all means, try it!

Coming from Long Island, New York, I grew up on southern Italian cooking and I am still a great fan of it. I brought "Sician American Pasta:99 Recipes You Can't Refuse" a few years ago and it turned out to be one of my best buys in cook books. This is because there are so many excellent recipes packed in one cook book that I have used and have turned out great. John Penza & Tony Corsi have written a little gem in the area of cooking in general and it is more than worth the price you pay.

This book is the greatest. It folds out had has great pictures. I am going to order a second copy, since the first one is worn out from excessive use.

We read Sleep Safe Little Whale to our son every night before bed...he is almost one year old. Our son enjoys the lilting song of Sleep Safe Little Whale and the sweet pictures of all of the different animals. It is a great length. The repetion, song like quality, endearing illustrations, and the sweetness of it make Sleep Safe our favorite book.

This book is absolutely charming. The words have a melodious lilt to them, and the pictures are warm and beautiful. It is good cuddle time reading and soft fun for the eyes. Its confident message makes us ALL feel safer, as though someone IS ALWAYS THERE watching over us. My granddaughter loves the one I found accidentally in a bookshop! Another granddaughter is to be born soon. I must find another one for her.

Yes, do talk to your children, and especially about this book and it's subject. It is the most insightful and informative personal account of the whole problem in Europe during the Nazi period. Not only does Dora Sorell tell us about life before her internment, but also the problems that the end of the war created for those who lived under the communist rule. That is one thing that has been sorely lacking until now. We must never forget, and must tell our children and our grandchildren. Dora Sorell has given us a way to do that in her letters to Miriam.

Ms. Sorell describes life in pre war world two Transilvania and Holocaust events like nobody else. She expresses personal feelings, and at the same time paints the picture of the overall way of life for the Jewish community in the times preceding the war. The Holocaust description is the most moving one I ever read and preserves for future generations the realities of a terrible time through the eyes of a survivor. The book balances the view of a mature person with the feelings and desires of a young lady experiencing terrible events.

Tell the Children is a vivid story so well told that it is hard to believe its author is not a professional writer. Dora Sorell was taken by the Nazis from her home in a Romanian village to some of the worst concentration camps, where she managed not only to survive but also to be reunited with her childhood sweetheart, to become a physician, to experience years of almost unimaginable horror under Communist rule, and to escape successively to Italy, Brazil, and finally the United States. Her chronicle, presented as letters to her granddaughter, benefits from sharp perception, a powerful memory, an extraordinary interest in the people around her (including a large and interesting family), and a genuine ability at storytelling. Unpretentious as she is, Dora Sorell is a heroic woman. Her book is unpreachy and unsentimental but deeply felt, and for me it made a lot of modern history seem real for as if the first time.