John Bradshaw's "Family", "Healing the Shame that Binds You" and "Homecoming" changed my life. The first showed me where I came from and how I got to be the way I was. It gave me understanding, and the knowledge that I wasn't crazy and hopeless. I was taught to be that way.

The second book helped me to identify the specific ways it all happened, to remember it, and then it gave me hope that I could unlearn it all and be retrained. I could learn ways to change things to make things better.

The third book gave me direction, and tools to correct my behaviors and dysfunctional behaviors, and the ability to change my life. To really heal, without fear.

Now years later, I am happy and doing very well.

I whole-heartedly recommend these three books to anyone that is having any relationship problems or childhood issues, any type of addiction or codependent issues, feelings of inadequacy, insecurity or loss of self esteem.

In these books, there is knowledge that will heal you, there is hope to change, there is courage to gain and there is a better life.

My gratitude to you, Mr. John Bradshaw!

CE

Wow! Bradshaw picks up where his book, "Healing the Shame That Binds You" left off. He helps the reader to identify problems that arose out of his/her family setting and/or traumatic settings in early life. He then goes on to explain how one's past may well be having a negative impact on their CURRENT, adult life. Finally he helps the reader to eliminate and neutralize those negative impacts and truly become a whole and complete adult. If you find that your life is still going around in circles after reading Healing the Shame that Binds you, then you NEED this book! It is LOADED with pratical information and application. (If it doesn't become required reading for therapist courses abroad I'll be very suprised. It is fantastic! ) No..you are NOT a screw up according to Bradshaw.

If you have suffered from a difficult childhood, especially one which included an alcoholic, this book is a must read. Because he lived the life himself, John Bradshaw brings empathy to the task in buckets. The tests require honesty about yourself, but if you find that you fit the "wounded child" profile, this book will absolutely help you get out of the rut of recrimination that has dogged you most of your life. Perhaps the best part about his method is that it is relatively simple and you do it yourself. There are no expensive psychological or psychiatric tests, appointments, etc. I was so impressed that I bought the book for my brother and sister. And now, my sister and I are going to attend a Bradshaw lecture on a slightly different, but related, topic.

This book is extremely comprehensive and should be read early in the process. Through no fault of the author's, some material is out of date because the Russian Laws have changed since the book was written (i.e. two trips are now required). Outside of that, my wife and I found the book to be the best resource we could have possibly found. It contains helpful information and lists of questions to ask medical professionals, children's home directors, and adoption agency guides. The best thing about the book is that the material is broken down into simple sections and is presented in an easy to understand manner. I don't have enough room to write all the good things about this book, but it should be required reading for anyone considering adopting from Russia or other countries.

Covers every aspect of Russian adoption, from INS forms to selecting an agency to travel in Russia. I thought I had a grasp on Russian adoption then I read this book. We're just starting the process and I consider this book absolutely essential. The 'Ukraine and Kasakstan' part is a 20 page summary of differences.

This is the perfect book for anyone just getting started in adopting from Russia, Ukraine or Kasakstan. John Maclean gives a wonderful overview of the process, a good description of what a dossier consists of, and an idea how various regions do things differently. It brought together in one place all the information I had been seeking on the internet. It answered all my questions, and brought up issues I hadn't even been aware of. Highly recommend it!

John Saul's Second Child is the first horror book I ever read. (6+years ago) At my younger age I had trouble with some of the bigger words and darker concepts, but it was the best Saul I've ever read (and consequently the only).

Poor Melissa is having problems growing up and being accepted and generally--um--psychological others. Teri comes into her life ostensibly as a friend, but Teri has problems of her own...

Of everything literary branded into my mind, there will always be an image of Teri's mother hanging from a second-story window of a burning building and then doing a faceplant on the concrete below.

I can thank Saul for that--err--lovely imagery. Don't doubt though, it's a great book and I would submit, for starters.

I have genuinely loved horror as a genre ever since Second Child. It is a worthy book and will quiver you.

Second Child is a thrilling and bone chilling novel. I love the way the characters seems so life like. Second Child was the first book I had ever read by John Saul and I will have to admit it is my favorite. John Saul is a talented and gifted writer and I hope he will keep writing books as great as this one.

Second Child by John Saul was the most chilling book I've ever read. It kept my attention and wouldn't let go. This was writting at its best. Phylis was the very personification of the overbearing mother. I felt sorry for Melissa throughout the whole novel, and Terry got what she deserved at the end. I loved it, and my friends loved it too. I would recommend this book to anyone.

The audio tape for this book is magical. I grew up listening to it at my grandparents house and it was wonderful to listen to while going to bed. I listened to it almost every night and not once did I grow sick of it. The background music is so soothing and the book really comes alive with voice of the narrator. In short I LOVE it and I would strongly recommend it to everyone, no matter what their age!

Kipling's language is almost poetic. It's meant to be read aloud. When read aloud to a child, say, a beloved girl of six, at bedtime, she stops fidgeting, she listens carefully, she asks questions about what this word means or why the family members are all so mean and have to spank the little elephant with the "'satiable curtiosity." Most of all, she's not bored and she wants to hear it again. And again. And she gets very excited when she finds out that her daddy got the whole series of "Just-So Stories."
I don't know how other children experience this. We're starting to teach our daughter about evolution of species; she asks a lot of questions about what elephants used to look like, and did they really once not have the really long noses they have today? I think she's starting to understand that this is a tall tale, but it's a great springboard for talking about the real-life origin of species (I think this statement is true even if you're trying to raise a creationist child).
Yes, there is a lot of spanking. It didn't seem to upset my daughter, and she's pretty high-strung.
All in all, a nicely rollicking story, and a good introduction to another classic in English-language children's literature.

Right after "The Cat who Walked Alone" This has always been my favorite "Just So Story." It is good to see it in an individual book, as it is a little unwieldy as part of a group. This is the story of a curious elephant and how the elephant go its trunk. I can not say much more as the reader needs to experience the story as it unfolds. The pictures add a dimension and do not distract from the words. Rudyard Kipling is a master at this telling. "In the High and Far-Off Times the Elephant, O Best Beloved, had no trunk."

Are teenagers different nowadays, not really. Is the way we raise teenagers different -- definately, if least if we follow the "oh so concerned" advice of the modern parenting experts.

Thankfully, Rosemond says "baloney" to the theory that the child is a victim. Our parents for the most part, knew how to raise a child, and Rosemond's theory is that with but a few exceptions, the techniques that worked 50 years ago still will work now. In sort, he advocates taking control out of the hands of the children and putting it back into the hands of the parents. A great book. I recommend it highly.

A MUST READ. A friend of mine offered this recommendation for this parenting book when I was frustrated with the friends my son was befriending. I loved the author's straightforward, no-nonsense approach to the teenage years. I have experienced the over protective, micromanaging parents that he refers to. I have also seen the "buddy" parents; neither style works in my opinion. I totally agreee with the concept that parenting styles must change after about 11-12 years of age. I loved the way the other fosters the idea of earning independence by your actions. I also thought the "teaching by example" concept was invaluable. I highly recommend this book.

I got a pile of "how to parent teenagers" books when things starting getting more challenging at home. Of all the ones I read, this is the best. It's clear, well-written and sound advice. It respects both parent and teenager.

This book was well-written and objective, and the author's use of Tim Bindner's own ramblings helped to illustrate his sociopathic personality and probable guilt in these crimes. Also, the book draws us a very detailed and disturbing picture of law enforcement agencies' unwillingness to work together to solve these injustices toward children. Anyone who has studied these types of criminals would immediately sense Bindner's guilt, but the cops in charge of investigating him refused to charge him, although they said they couldn't clear him either. I would like to know where Bindner is today, is he still a suspect, and how many more children have disappeared in his presence?

Tim Bindner has not been charged in the abductions and probable murders of Amber Schwartz, Michaela Garecht and Nikki Campbell. I guess that's why the book was so objective. I admired the author for that -- never stating his own opinion, just putting down the facts and letting the reader decide whether or not Tim did it. My conclusion: probably, but you cannot say for sure. A very absorbing book, though in my humble opinion it paid too much attention to Amber and not enough to Nikki and Michaela.

Philpin has put together an indepth look at a series of disturbing cases that have one thing in common: the same suspect. The author lets the reader decide if the suspect is guilty. Also central to the book is the story of how the police and FBI work together (or rather don't work together). Put this one on your reading list.

This book was extremely helpful in working with my 9-year-old. Rather than just tips and tricks for homework hassles with your kid, this book teaches PARENTS how to better guide their children so - methodically in turn - children magically start accepting their responsibilities, which in the end prepares them for responsible adulthood. The more you hound, the more you "hover," the more you check on them, the more you worry for them, the less they do themselves, which progressively makes them more dependent on you and less on themselves. This theory took me by surprise, as I wanted to be extremely involved with my child's work in school. But I had no idea I was actually hindering her growth and understanding of responsibility and accountability. The book also offers help for parents and children with consistent homework problems, attitudes and resistance. Excellent and easy-to-read.

John Rosemond came to our Educator's Conference to speak. His straightforward, common-sense approach caught my attention, so I bought his book and subscribed to his web site. Now, I recommend his book to my parents as a simple, common-sense way of dealing with the hassles of homework.

As the saying goes, "common sense isn't so common anymore". I find that to be true. John Rosemond takes a very straightforward, "the way grandma used to do it" approach to dealing with this important topic. Read it. Use it. You'll LIKE it!

This book describes the daily/nightly family homework ordeal that traps so many of us. It promises remedies in non-technical, easy to read words. And it delivers on its promise with usable plans and examples in a variety of real life success stories.

Whether we parents were told wrong, as Rosemond blames modern "Parenting Experts," or whether we heard wrong, certainly parenting has become a bigger, more difficult deal, with parents believing more involvement makes us better parents while giving our kids more self-esteem. But this is not working. "Involvement" becomes interference, helping becomes confronting, their homework becomes our homework, their failure becomes our failure- so we will become more involved to avoid failure, because we want to be Good Parents. And so, homework becomes an exhausting no-win battlefield of wills littered with intellectual and emotional casualties. The answer is to back off and give homework responsibilities back to our kids, along with the rewards (pride, self-confidence, experience and privileges) and the consequences (failure, redemption, wisdom and denied privileges) of taking ownership of their own schoolwork. Stop hovering, checking, correcting, signing, protecting, threatening, pleading, promising, dictating, bribing and exasperating in the name of homework. (What is that saying about teaching a pig to talk, or was it to sing? It's a waste of your time and it only annoys the pig?!) Even more importantly, if you change these old ways of all-consuming conflict, you will stop neglecting yourself, your health, your marriage, and your family.

I'm using the book to set up a framework of goals, privileges and consequences for our 10-1/2 year-old fifth grader. The book doesn't cover some specifics in his case, such as trusting him for the 3-1/2 hours he is home alone after school, so we'll have to work out some things as we go along. But already, immediately, I've had two important revelations. First, I've never written down consequences before. I always thought I disciplined using consequences, but now I realize I only talked about them, made them up as we went along, changed them, threatened with them, held them inside and then blew them out of proportion. Until now I've never sat down with our son and his teacher, negotiated, and agreed to attainable goals and consistent consequences. Second, I didn't realize how entrenched I was in parenting by micro-managing until I tried these changes. As much as I agreed with these changes, I still had great difficulty not following our son around the house and not asking, "Did you finish... don't forget to... have you done... when are you going to...?" Even though I smugly read the book and approved of all the back-to-basics techniques, I still had trouble breaking my old habits, supporting these changes in task ownership, and trusting the motivational power of fair, consistent consequences. We shall see... The potential is exciting, and already there has been an immediate lowering of tension. I no longer take bad behavior or schoolwork personally, I don't get furious, and the consequences are established and accepted. It's a start- a flexible, negotiable start.

Among my favorite quotes from this book:

"...if the child fails to do his homework, no one should get upset but the child, and no one should be inconvenienced but the child."

"Kids are smart, but teenagers are clever."

"It is a simple statement of accountability that proposes that parents should never agonize over a child's behavior if the child is perfectly capable of agonizing over it himself."

"It's about coaching from the sidelines, as opposed to getting swept up in the action on the field."

Read, enjoy, learn, implement, then learn more!

(submitted by Larry Borshard)

The book is well written, and reads easily. The plot is simple: a live nuke is flying around the East coast aboard an old 727. As if that wasn't enough, add: the worst hurricane in the history of the US, a "Medusa Effect", and possibily EVERYTHING that could go wrong. You read the book until you say: "OK, now I don't buy this anymore". And I am not referring to the final landing of the 727 which is rather fun; but all the little details that have to go wrong. It's like Murphy's law squared, and you start thinking "give them a break, will you?". But actually, because the plot is so simple, it's the only thing John Nance could come up with to spice up the story.

John J. Nance knows how to keep a reader in suspense. This book goes up there with Pandora's Clock as enjoyable novels.

The story is about a mad scientist who creates a bomb in order to get even with government and torture his wife. This bomb is one-of-a-kind in that it can knock out all electronics and destroy the economy. That's one problem, but there's another. It is also a thermonuclear device that is being transported by a 727. On top of that the crew is flying in probably the worst hurricane storms in the country. Those are the major problems, but as known by Nance, he adds more complications for the 727 crew to handle and it will be their decision that decides the outcomes.

Medusa's Child is a page turner with on-going twists and turns. You don't know what will happen next. Unfortunately, the book loses a star from me to become the best because the ending seems so implausible, you are asking yourself, is that possible?

Anyhow, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book just because it is a exciting read and a great alternative to movies!!...

After reading Pandora's Clock I thought a book could not be better! THAT WAS WRONG. This is the best book that's ever written. It's great from the first to the last page. Nance does understand what people want to read. Some writers are boring you with details which don't have anything to do with the story. But Nance won't. I hope that there will be a new Nance book soon. Because on this moment he's the best 'Techno-Thriller' writer. GO READ THIS BOOK

Brainchild is a well-crafted, fairly thrilling read, the story holding up very well until almost the very end; had the final chapter not have been included, I would have given this book five stars. That ultimate chapter, though--basically a postscript--changes the whole tenor of the novel and in doing so does it great harm, in my opinion. I can forgive its inclusion, though, and it takes nothing away from the engrossing read of the novel up to that point. This is a rather typical Saul plot, augmented by a technological pulse that holds together very well, despite some minor inherent problems. There is a curse of sorts involved, and yes it all started over a century ago; yes, there is a rather typically happy family that find their lives turned upside down by tragedy. These are Saul staples, yet all of this works remarkably well in Brainchild. Your typical teenaged boy does a typically teenaged thing and ends up at the bottom of a ravine inside a thoroughly wrecked automobile. His massive brain injuries should have killed him, but he survives; his father, a doctor, calls on the only brain specialist who can possible save his son--a childhood acquaintance of his wife's whom he essentially despises. Miraculously, the boy does survive; he even prospers, becoming super-smart, but the rebuilding of his brain has left him without emotion and without any memory of his life before the accident. His friends begin to avoid him eventually, and his father especially senses something very wrong, but the doctor who saved his life refuses to tell the family exactly what he did to save him. Then his mother's friends begin to be mysteriously murdered, and a tragedy that happened long ago somehow becomes an integral part of the horror that is unleashed on an unsuspecting town. The plot heats up quite satisfactorily from there, and there is enough unpredictability to the concluding events to keep you deeply involved in seeing how the story plays out.

John Saul is a talented writer, and he does a great job of keeping this story moving at all times. Brainchild is one of his more original novels--the basic theme is rather typical of his work, but the narrative flows exceedingly well, the technological marvels we encounter remain sufficiently plausible throughout, and all of my questions were answered quite satisfactorily. I did not like the last chapter, but that does not mean that others won't find it compelling; it does offer a final twist to things. A futuristic medical thriller, invested heavily in horror and science fiction, Brainchild should prove itself a compelling, satisfying read for fans of several genres.

A young boy is saved from life ending brain damage when a local doctor's miraculous new technique of energizing dead brain tissue with computer chips brings him back, albeit as an emotionless and quite homicidal super genius.

With its spooky combination of science and the supernatural, it was easy for me to gulp this frothy yet suspenseful and frightening tale down in a single warm, summer afternoon, in no less than four hours. Once again Saul delivers a unique psychological thriller to enthrall his numerous fans. Recommended.

I love all of Mr. Sauls work! This one was great also. Easy to read and keeps you on your toes. I just love a good thriller

I think this is a fine book. I bought it expecting a list of things that my child should know prior to entering Kindergarten. Instead what I got was a book that I could use to teach my child. Excellent!

I think it would be better with a comprehensive list of expectations and/or goals that every child should reach by the time they are through with Kindergarten. That is the teacher in my coming out.

I found that the social studies section was amazing. I didn't realize that kindergarten children could comprehend so much.

Word of Warning: This is ONLY the very basics that a child should be able to learn. This is NOT the be all end all of a kindergarten curriculum to use for homeschooling. However, it can be used as a place to jump start your learning. You will need to add more literature and poetry and math activities. However, it's a well rounded, full of information, useful book.

When I bought this book, I expected to see more of a checklist of what my child needed to know for Kindergarten and what my child would learn in Kindergarten. As a former Kindergarten teacher, I have an idea of what is needed, but I wanted it in writing. What I got was different, but not bad.

This book is devided into sections: reading, writing, art, etc.
There are whole stories, poems, songs, and lessons for a kindergartener. While I don't expect that it will be enough for teaching a whole year of Kindergarten at home, I think it will be a great start. The emphasis is placed on reading (rightly so I think). I would like to see more in the math section though. I find that the art section is lacking, while the Social Studies section has much more than I would expect a Kindergartener to know. I hope I'm pleasantly suprised in that area.

For information purpose it is not in a themematic form. It does cover many of the things that you would expect to see in a classical education (artists, authors, paintings etc). But it is lacking if you want a fully classical education.

While there a few resources, there are not near as many as I would like to see. I'd also like to see a comprehensive, overall list of what a child is expected to know before and after Kindergarten.

While it seems that I have discussed many of the points I see that need improvement, I think this book is great. It is probably the most comprehensive one book you can find for helping your child in Kindergarten. This would be a great start for homeschooling parents who don't want to spend a lot of money. It is a great book for parents who want to help their child learn prior to and during kindergarten but aren't really sure what to do.

I would buy this book. Just be aware of the limitations and be prepared to suppliment those areas.

This book is a must have! You can use this book as a guide line for your child's education. I love it as a homeschooling parent. It is a great book to use as a guide for what your child should know at what grade level. It has language arts, history, fine arts, and more all in one book. It is worth the money! It tells you "how to use the book" it gives parents and teachers introductions on each subject. It's a great book! Highly recommended for parents!I have more of these books I would recommend this book to parents of the appropriate ages of the books.