This was, bar none, my favorite childhood book, and I had hundreds of books as a child. It has occasionally haunted my dreams even as an adult. I have searched for it for many years. Now that I have a daughter of my own, I am so thankful to be able to find this book again. We read it together every night, after all the other miscellaneous bedtime books. This one is really special.

I have been looking for this book for my daughter because it was clearly my very favorite book when I was a child. The description of the other dolls in the book and all of their individual attributes sent my imagination reeling. I also remember learning how to find beauty in all things from reading this book. A must read for girls everywhere!

I still have the 1962 paperback edition and the pages are so brittle. I get all choked up reading it to my own daughter now, as I used to when my mother read it to me. It is 30 pages and tells the tender story of a girl named Betsy and her decision to bring her Best-Loved doll to a party. It is a doll that has seen better days. She had many other choices, but she followed her heart. Moral: True beauty is on the inside. I treasure this book as much as Betsy does her doll.

An entire ecosystem is revealed in this work; a look inside a true "natural wonder", the Chesapeake Bay. I picked up this nature/local interest book at a small store on Smith Island, Maryland, and began reading it on the boat trip back to Crisfield. I found "The Bay" to be a surprising page-turner -- along with detailed descriptions of the life cycles of familiar wildlife such as ospreys, eagles and great blue herons, and the ubiquitous Maryland blue crabs and jellyfish, there are facets of bay life in this book which I'd never even considered -- sea creatures that light up with natural phosphorescence, animals that regress as they develop from infancy to adulthood, and one beautifully descriptive chapter entitled "The Chesapeake Marshes" which came alive as I read it! I loved this book! One need not be a scientist nor a naturalist to appreciate this superbly written tribute to one of the most beautiful places on earth. The final chapter, "Compensation", clearly illustrates the symbiotic relationships of living creatures within an ecosystem and their interdependence upon one another for the continuation of life, not only in the Chesapeake Bay region, but as a representation of life systems everywhere. The writing was spellbinding; Mr. Klingel wrote so well that I found myself reading on and on for the sheer pleasure of experiencing his words. Although "The Bay" was written nearly 50 years ago, its story is as timeless as the nature it so aptly describes.

This is a very impressive and timely book on Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) by 74 contributors in the field of pediatrics and child health from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Holland and Italy.
The term EBM was developed by Sackett and colleagues from the McMaster University (Sackett DL et al. Evidence based medicine. BMJ 1996;312:71-2) as "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients" or in other words, good medical practice based on as much facts as possible for the benefit of your patient. Since 1991 this field has been incooporated into many medical schools around the work, textbooks published and now we see it reaching pediatrics and child health.
This superbly edited book (updates will be regularly posted on www.evidbasedpediatrics.com) is devided into three sections: "Finding, evaluating and applying the evidence"; "Evidence for routine practices: screening/prevention" and finally "Common pediatrics conditions" with a good and comprehensive index.
The steps in the practice of Evidence Based Pediatrics (EBP) are: to evaluate the clinical situation (by history, by examination and laboratory tests), identify information needs and structure clinical questions, search for relevant information from the literature, evaluate the evidence found or identify lack of evidence and finally apply the evidence to your patients.
You will find many useful and structured entries in this book from the issue of the "well child" to the common pediatric problems of otitis media, constipation, short stature or croup.
We believe that this important book should find its way to the desks of the practicing pediatrician, the lecturer in child health and the researcher in pediatrics.

Professor Joav Merrick, MD
Medical director, Division for Mental Retardation, Box 1260, IL-91012 Jerusalem, Israel, email: jmerrick@aquanet.co.il

Mohammed Morad, MD
Family physician, Division for Community Health, Ben Gurion University, Box 653, IL-84105 Beer-Sheva, Israel, email: morad-62@barak-online.net

Sarah Adamson's writing is incredible. I could feel myself in the 'role' of Robin so easily...each sensation she experienced was conveyed perfectly through Sarah's words. It read very well....very good flow from chapter to chapter. It was hard to put down (which is always a sign of a good book.)

My only problem with the book has nothing to do with the story, but rather with the lack of proof-reading. There were numerous places throughout the book where the word was spelled correctly but was not used in the right context. Spell-check is great but not a replacement for proofing. Just an observance from an used-to-be copy-editor.

That said: This book is absolutely wonderful. I enjoyed The Marketplace as well and am truly looking forward to reading The Trainer.

Once more, Laura Antoniou takes us into the world of the Marketplace where consensual slaves go through harsh training, then are sold for time limited terms to real owners. This time, she focuses on one slave-girl, Robin, and her journey through training under the hands of Chris Parker and then her life as the sole woman in her gay masters' household. In addition the novel itself, this Mystic Rose edition has a short story, "A Familiar Ring", which takes us futher along in Robin's service and gives us a glimpse back into the BDSM community as it exists today. If you liked the first book, you'll enjoy this one just as much.

Of all the books in the Marketplace series, this has always been my favorite. Not only is it filled with erotic imagery and some really hot sex scenes, it's a great look into the psyche of Robin, who is training to become a slave, and what kind of person would really want to do this. Antoniou really keeps the story tight, and keeps the erotic tension throughout the entire novel. I was thrilled to read the added short (well, not so short!) story that gives us even more about Robin and puts her into a great three-way with two really hot, fun, lesbians. The story is wonderful, and worth the price to pick up the new edition!

This book is a fascinating look into the lives of an 19th century couple. The book chronicles the love letters between the two victorian lovers while the man was away doing survey work for the U.S. Geological Survey, and the woman, a young girl, waiting for his return. The work was extracted from letters which are in the possession of the authors, who are second generation decendents. One of the authors, Edna Owens, lives in California and recently celebrated her 95th birthday. This remarkable woman with a crystal-clear memory looks back lovingly in time to grandparents who made an indelible impression on all who knew them, particularly their family.

The book also traces lineage within this family, and pictures abound of early family homes, gatherings, etc. Short biographies are contained of family members, many telling much about the rigorous and often fatal environment of those early pioneer days. This book is best appreciated by those who wish to take a look into the past and glean a sense of a simpler time when the familes of the nation were sending out their roots in a relatively new world.