I had an opportunity to read Help Me Decide and I was extremely impressed. When I think about all the peer pressure young people are under today and the many decisions they have to make that will affect their future, I could not think of a more helpful book on the market. Written by two educators whose experience, insight and practical observations make this an incisive, user friendly, original and relevant book for teenagers. It should be carried by every middle school in the country and by all schools of education. Too many schools are expelling students they don't know how to control and this book might prevent that by empowering young people to be a part of their education, decision making process in a way in which they can relate. It takes problems students face every day that might be disruptive to the classroom and while teaching the subject (English and reading) really addresses the whole issue of cognitive behavior change--no Ritalin or mood altering drugs, but using one's own brain to stop and think as to how one's behavior can be changed with positive, rather than negative choices. It helps the novice teacher with tools they can bring into the classroom and enhance their teaching style. This book crosses race, gender, and economic lines and is relevant to students in general because one disruptive child can effect the whole classes' ability to move ahead. Kudos to the authors and I hope those educators in a position to embrace something new and tested will share my excitement and order these books en masse. As soon as I figure how to place my order, I plan to order some and put in the hands of educators in my area. Hats off to the Boyd's for their creativity and beautifully done book. Thank you! Thank you! Thanks also to Amazon.Com for allowing us--the reader to share our thoughts. I work as a recruiter for Duke University and have dealt with young people for over 22 years advising, listening and counseling.

As a stepmom to children in public schools, I often hear their frustrations and concerns about how their peers resolve--or fail to resolve--the inevitable conflicts that occur in the school setting. A friend shared this book with me, and my stepkids gave it a "thumbs up" for practical, useful, and effective advice. Good job!

Every middle school teacher and high school too needs this book to help young teens learn options in a real exciting way that merges with every day situations that they might face. My students have come to look forward to our weekly SCENARIO DAY.The lessons are so realistic and helps them see options to various situations in a non-threatning manner. They're real thrilled to have figured out how to deal with certain situations. I know my classes are much more alive and interesting because of "OUR SCENARIO DAY"

i love this book this is coming from a person who loves to read ... this is one of the best books that i have ever read and i have a whole library full of books this is the book i most recomend u to buy !

Excellent source for building ideas from fences to cabins. The plans are concise and very detailed. Highly recommend for the do it yourself person!

Drums by Boyd has been called the best novel ever written about the Revolutionary War. Narrated from the viewpoint of a North Carolina Tory gentleman's adolescent son, it's unique outlook soon draws the reader into the drama of colonial unrest and the emotional battle men fought within themselves whether to cede from England or not. However, this is no psychological melodrama. Some of the most superb scenes in the novel are the depictions of a local horse race and a John Paul Jones sea battle. So why isn't Drums read more widely? It would seem Boyd's own excellent writing has gotten him into trouble for today's reader. Not only are his fight scenes realistic, but his cooly penetrating description of the early entrenchment of southern slavery, with all crudities of language and social class structure, is too graphic for our modern tastes. In short, he uses the "N" word too liberally. Reading this novel reminded me of reading HUCKLEBERRY FINN. It also reminded me of Olasky's FIGHTING FOR LIBERTY AND VIRTUE. Personally, I think it should be put back on high school reading lists. I think it would help in revealing why slavery was not addressed at the time of the Revolution as well as why it took a war to settle the matter.

James Boyd White has crafted another excellent exploration of the intersections of writing, law, culture, and society. A must read for those interested both in the art of writing well and in enhancing the ability to understand the various meanings contained in specific texts. While his specific areas of interest are Classical Studies and Law, the precise methods he uses apply to writers everywhere. Want to give an edge to your writing? Then read, "The Edge of Meaning."

This is the book that turned me on to the practice of law. Its discussions on the ethics of law are most facinating. It helped me answer the question "what does and should a lawyer do?" It is a fine piece of legal theory and a must read for lawyers and future lawyers alike.

A later edition of this book was published in 1994. The later edition has been broken down into 3 volumes by Oakwood Press. The 1994 edition has been rewritten with new material added that takes the history of the railway up to 1993. The later edition has also been broken down in to a diary of year by year account of significant events that have shaped the railway. Both the 1974 and the 1994 editions are very good reads and contain different texts there are some photographs that are common to both editions, and a good number that are unique to each publication

White is an perceptive reader of poetry and theological reflections who has his own idiosyncratic but highly accesible style; all at the service of making George Herbert's poetry shine more brightly for others...not at all to stand in the spotlight himself. The "self-consuming artifacts" that Herbert constructs to effectively communicate religious truth and human uncertainty are well represented by White's own writing style, a steady candleflame that slowly and inobtrusively fades into the brighter dawn of Herbert's meditations rising into the reader's consciousness. I would recommend this book equally strongly for someone who has never heard of Herbert, or for a long-time lover of his poems and essays.

A disturbing and well researched story that demonstrates why doctor's can't be trusted to police themselves. The story is about a psychopath who, at times, goes by the name Michael Swango ( he uses several alaises ). They wrote a book about him because he is a medical doctor who murdered sixy some-odd patients by poisoning them to death and because his crimes were intentionally covered up by a host of medical and political hoi polloi. The cover-up could be considered by some to be more heinous and far more reaching than the brutal extinction of Swango's helpless victims. The author gives his readers a description of Swango's childhood supposedly to help us understand what makes Swango 'tick'. His childhood wasn't perfect. You know what? Neither was mine. The man is clearly one of the most troubled psychopaths in American history, someone who should, and I believe eventually will, spend the rest of his life in jail. The good news, he's currently in jail on a fraud charge. The bad news? He's scheduled to be released in January 2000 and if history repeats itself ( and I bet it will ) he will again be free to poison people. I'm convinced we'll hear of him again somewhere soon. Swango in and of himself is dangerous because he is a conniving, immoral cold-hearted liar. What makes him more dangerous is that he is a member of a so-called Elite group in the US, the American Medical Association, an organization that appears to be above the law. Their protection of him can only be described as shameful - not to mention criminal. What needs to be understood is why such an august body would subject itself to such a potentially damaging scrutiny while trying to protect one bad apple. One answer that might be offered is that the AMA does not want to be the subject of a law suit. But why would they fear litagation if it could be proved that the errant AMA member actually did commit what he is accused of? Because once the AMA opens the door to outside scrutiny, it will only invite further intrusions into their inner sanctum. It will eventually weaken their heirarchy. They fear that they will loose the protection from outside intrusion that they enjoy, a protection that everyday citizens do not enjoy. We need to rally around the nurses and medical personnel on the front line who can bring allegations such as these to the forefront without fear of retribution from the doctors on staff. I hope Mr. Stewarts book raises our awareness of these situations. At the risk of sounding hysterical, I don't think it's an absurd idea to suggest that Swango's picture and description of his past should be posted on as many webpages as possible. Remember, this guy can't help himself. When he's found out, he moves to another city or State. He even went to Africa to avoid investigations and poisoned scores of helpless poor pateints there! When he was found out there, he reappeared on Long Island in New York and poisoned otherwise healthy patients to death! It can happen to you and me. I think the actions of the medical profession in this situaion are unconscionable, and I implore you to educate yourself and your families about the particulars before it's too late.

I read this investigative 314 page book in one sitting. If there's a lesson in it, it's that authority figures, such as doctors, suffer pride, envy, lust, just like the rest of us but unlike the rest of us, too often fail to acknowledge their fallibility. It highlights the patriarchal and sexist nature of the American medical profession which, like other parts of society, is not hermetically sealed off from that society. Example: the direct eye evidence of an elderly female patient counts for nothing; the evidence of nurses counts for little; the suppositions and the presumptions of doctors counts a great deal - and so a serial killer doctor continues to practice. Equally frightening is how a number of eminent and respected so called "scientists" of some very prestigious medical establishments chose Dr Michael Swango because they liked the look of him, because he seemed nice. To what extent did Dr Swango achieve his macabre goals because he was the picture of an energetic, white, clean cut, blue-eyed, blonde haired American ex-marine? (The author notes that staff at one mid-western hospital were relieved to find Dr Swango was "english speaking" so many "foreign doctors" had they through their portals).

Although I felt a little uneasy in the beginning of this book at what seemed to be the gossip like approach of the author, about who did or didn't like Michael Swango at school, whose favourite he was at home etc, the beginning serves to draw you in to his life through the eyes of friends acquaintances and relatives so that the real horror of his actions slowly dawns on the reader. In a state approaching disbelief you are witness to a horrible journey. Thanks to the American press and to patients such as Mrs Delbert Cooper Sr and to the author and to the nurses involved the mistakes made can be revealed, and discussed. A tad more humility by some doctors might have helped to prevent a lot of what happened in this story.

How did a maniac like Michael Swango get away with so much for so long? That's the one question that Stewart really can't answer in his intelligent, well-written (and surprisingly balanced) portrait of a doctor gone bad. (He makes a few good guesses--lack of effective policing in the medical community, our own faith in doctors' infallibility, etc.) Swango's level of pyschosis may be unique, but lack of oversight of poor and/or impaired doctors is not. Swango left a trail of bodies, poisonings, and bizarre occurences everywhere he went. Many people noticed, but no one who was in a position to ever blew the whistle on him. For shame. (A good book to read along with this one is Walter Bogdonavich's "The Great White Lie," about scandals in the medical community.)

The sections dealing with Swango's late girlfriend, Kristin Kinney, are absolutely heartbreaking. I'm not a sentimental man, but I actually wept from the sheer horror of what that poor woman and her family went through. I only hope Swango is still in prison...particularly since I make my home in Illinois.

(Oh, and if you're interested in writing, Stewart's "Follow the Story" is also witty and well worth reading.)

Cain, one of several creature-feature-action-adventure novels by Huggins (also Leviathan, Hunter), is great if you love action films. I certainly enjoyed it. Plenty of action, nasty monster, superhuman good guy, all the standard clichés.
The problem, however, is the abundance of said clichés. With the exception of an interesting Jesuit priest, the story and characters are all run-of-the-mill stereotypes. All the action scenes are standard set pieces. The Biblical allusions are heavy-handed (the demonic Cain's previous incarnation was defeated by King David, Cain fights a character named Solomon, i.e. David's son). Character resolution is tied too neatly (Solomon loses his wife and daughter, then rescues a single mom and her daughter). Huggins overuses the same adjectives over and over again, like "volcanic" and "titanic." And apparently there are some inaccuracies in his use of biology and military facts, but see other reviews for more details. Still, entertaining, but check out "Leviathan" for a better monster and "Hunter" for a better book overall.

Most everyone else here basically out lined the story so there is no point in repeating myself here! I just wanted to comment because this book was excellent, and I think everyone who likes reading novels should read this book! It was incredible! It had amazing action and the characters in there all seemed so real. It was very, very good! Definitely the best book I had read so far! I am reading though another book called the Hunter again written by Huggins and it does have the makings of being better than Cain! I don't know I might like that better when I finish it, but I would definitely recommend reading all of his books!

After reading this book, I thought it would be a definite movie. First you got Cain who would easily be played by Van Disel (the guy from Pitch Black), Soloman played by Hugh Jackman (wolverine of x-men), but thats just my opinion. James Huggins is a brilliant writer who takes you on a jouney of good vs. evil and gives you every gruesome detail that makes it oh so much better to read.