A collection of essays wrote by african american and biracal young adults. The essays are about struggles the writers have been through while growing up, and on college campues. I throught all the essays were good.

This book is a very well-done sociological study of African American/bi-racial college students and the telling of their stories to get to this point in their lives. The stories are diverse yet similar. Bright, misunderstood, sticking out like sore thumbs because they were of color and intelligent. That is not the way it is supposed to be. Why is it African Americans are ridiculed for being smart. I read Kunjufu's book some years ago when my daughter was in middle school, Black Peer Pressure: To be Popular or Smart. Why must you choose. I am trying to remember my childhood experiences. I cannot remember being ridiculed for doing well in school. It seemed that was the norm for my group and the kids seem to have more respect for one another. I know this is unusual. I think about my brother who is now a well-known cardiologist in the Bay Area and when I look back on it, he must have felt isolated because he was one of those super-smart, gifted students. From the first story of Prince which was heart-wrenching. He was truly a testament to the poverty and hardship. He proved he could succeed against the oods. So, it is with Malik who had a drug-addicted mother. These young men's stories is in contrast to some of the more affluent of the group. Maria, Rob, and Steve had all of the amenities to have a good head start, well-eduacated, financially secure, and good neighborhoods. However I must say, I was disappointed that these students felt they had little in common with other black students because of their status. And it seemed their attitudes were reinforced by their parents attitudes who seemed to feel if it's white, its right. I am trying to reconcile these parents with the generation that had to strive for basic civil rights in housing and education. Where was the pride in being black. Why were they not going to black churches and putting their children in contact with other young black people with groups such as Jack and Jill or church youth groups? I always thought it was the generation these students that lost the black pride, not their parents who I guess are in their forties, fifties, and sixties. Claudio and Alessandro had to do with the problem of being both black and Latino and all the trials associated with being of a double culture. So often in Latin cultures, children are told they are Latino and then they get out into the world where no one will let them forget they are black. That can be a rude awakening when culture and color clash. The bi-racial students angst of being between two world, not knowing where they belong. This story was also very well told in "Black, White,Other" by Lise Funderburg. Christina and Susanna's black fathers evidently had problems with their black identities. It seems in these and many bi-racial families they do no discuss race, as if not talking about it, it won't be a problem. But as they find out, these issues need to be discussed. Sure these kind of parents say they just want their children to grow up to be good, healthy individuals, regardless of race. Not in America where race and race matters are so pervasive. The editors forewords before each chapter, Janie Victoria Ward and Tracy L. Robinson among them were provacative, intelligent studies. I would highly recommend this book to high school and college student of African descent as well as their parents and students of black sociology. Very well done.

Souls Looking Back is a thought-provoking, engaging and critical work that solidifies the validity of personal narrative as form of interpretive research with a focus on critical race theory. Anyone who may posses any questions regarding the power of such representation should read, ingest and reflect upon the stories of the young people presented in this book. The editors splendedly synthesized these educational and personal memoirs within the context of personal identity, critical race, critical feminist and critical race feminist perspectives. I would strongly recommend this book for all those with sincere interests in anthropology, sociology, psychology, African-American/African-Carribean/Afro-British studies, and education. This book truly exemplifies the multiplicity of lives our young people of color experience.

Of all the many books on suicide I've read through the years, this book rates highest on my list of books that are helpful in terms of the understanding it provides to survivors of suicide, including both the legacy and the different ways we process and come to terms with a suicide. What I spent years trying to understand in myself, my family members, and other suicide survivors, I found on the pages of this well-written and organized book. Time and again while reading, I would say aloud with some excitement: "That's WHY!" or "Exactly!" or "I wish I'd written that!" In addition, I couldn't resist sharing some of the passages and/or the insights I'd gained to others who were either struggling with the legacy suicide leaves behind or were contemplating suicide themselves. This book clearly shows that suicide leaves its own distinct fingerprints on the hearts and lives of its survivors. I wish I'd discovered the book long ago. Kudos to Victoria Alexander!

An excellent read for health care professionals, survivors of suicide and anyone seeking stories of human strength, Victoria Alexander offers a well organized collection of narratives from survivors of suicide. Raw in it's honesty, it offers hope of a future to the recently bereaved and a reference point for professionals and laypeople caring for those left behind. A survivor myself, it allowed me to address issues I had burried years earlier. A decade of collecting these touching, sometimes painful stories has allowed insight into a suffering that shame so often causes us to conceal.

Victoria Alexander brings her own experiences in life into this book that describes the isolation, confusion, desperation, anger, lack thereof of any emotion...once someone close to you takes their own life. For once I have found a book that is not purely engorged in its academic statistics. I applaud Ms. Alexander for seeing the truth of the terror. I am a survivor of suicide, and this book proves a great comfort in knowing that I am not the only one. I pray that we rid ourselves of the stigma. Interviews in this volume range from every corner of the nation, be it a son, wife, husband, daughter, mother, father, or anyone close who has died by their own hand.

Thank you Ms. Alexander.

Molly Leach Boise, ID

This is an excellent book. It is very imformative and useful. The book is well written. Furthermore, the author is concise and knowledgable.

Law and Science: Cases and Materials by Victoria Sutton was awarded the Texas Tech University President's Book Award April 2003, as the most outstanding book published by a Texas Tech University faculty member.

Purcell-Gates avoids the weighty conventions of academic writing and thus opens her studies and insights to the larger world. The book recounts her experiences over two years tutoring a completely illiterate mother and her nearly equally illiterate son. Purcell-Gates, who at the time worked at the local university and literacy center, tells their story with compassion and a strong effort to get at the causes and perpetuation of illiteracy in 20th century American cities, schools, and families. Hers is a noble cause and this is a superb and educational book. She serves her subjects well.

This is a detailed look at the life of a fictional but realistic policemen in Victorian London. Written with restrained humour, the book leads the reader through a typical day. Period illustrations show us the places, people and things of a policeman's lot.

There is a plot to this book and the reader is drawn along as Police Constable Arnold Pipkin pulls together a few loose ends to solve a small mystery involving an escaped villian and a fire in a clothing factory.

The second half of the book provides a non-fiction overview of law, crime and punishment in Victorian times. There is a short index and bibliography. Excellent material for anybody wanting to research the atmosphere of the period.

Why hasn't anyone reviewed this book?

I picked this up in the library. Though it's written by remodeling business consultants, I thought it was refreshingly empty of consultant-guru speak and actually a concise and example-packed manual for the businessperson. Many anecdotes AND real-world data examples, example forms, etc. etc.

The fact is that no one book (or any sum of books) will answer all your questions, but this is one of the few books I would buy for a builder's reference shelf, and seriously, I hardly buy any books. Also a very good book if you're taking some time to get a broad grasp of the business playing field for remodelers before you jump in.

Every student and instructor should own this case study workbook---it definetly is a must for all med chem and professional pharmacy students.

This book serves an important function, particularly in the lives of anyone considering suicide. Suicidal individuals often lose sight of or rationalize the effects their death and method thereof will have on those around them. This book serves as an excellant reminder of how much those left behind are affected, and why the effect is never 'for the best' as the suicidal person oftens tells themself. Also a good book for those whose lives have been touched by a suicide in order to start to heal.

The intention of the authors is an impressive one but they truely fail to provide a believable rationale. Clearly a text is needed in the area of the therapeutic blending of the arts and psychotherapy but this is not the one to read.