I was shown this book by a family member just before my grandchildren came to visit from across the country. My grandson is 6 years old and had not yet entered the first grade. All it took was a look at the cover and he was into it.
He studied each of the pages and turned to me with a desperate voice (while holding my face with his hands and making me look into his eyes)"TEACH ME TO READ GRANDMA! I want to know what they are doing"!
Well, I think that says it all. This is a kid that does not sit still for a minute and here he was asking to learn to read!
The concept of photography of real kids, and the fabulous graphic arts, really drew my little guy into the book. I am hoping there are more to come. Books about "Time Soldiers" and grandchildren! tee hee...

As a teacher in the east county of San Diego I have just used this book with my class and it was a huge success. The children and the adults in my class were quite taken with the local connection. They enjoyed realizing that the photos were taken close to home and the story kept their interest. It was fun to read and to listen to. I met the authors and they were very informative and I enjoyed talking with them.
Thanks

"Rex", the first of the Time Soldier series by Robert Gould is a well written and beautifully photographed kid's adventure story in the time of the dinosaurs. Five boys and a girl travel back into a prehistoric age through a time warp portal in their neighborhood forest. "Rex" is written at an appropriate reading level for elementary age children and contains educational facts on dinosaurs and their environment. The younger children can concentrate on the excellent photography if they are not yet up to the reading level, while the older children can learn new vocabulary from reading the text. The fantastic computer generated images of the dinosaurs are very detailed, down to the wrinkles on the hides and gleam in their eyes. The story line emphasizes the friends helping each to survive the difficulties that they encounter. I highly recommend this book for elementary school age children.

Sarah is a twelve-year-old Puritan girl living in Massachusetts in 1651. She is dreadfully unhappy because she fears her widowed father plans to marry a strict woman who dislikes Sarah and considers her to be poorly behaved. Playing on Sundays is strictly forbidden by the Puritan church. But one Sunday after a snow storm, Sarah and her best friend, Elizabeth (whose parents are considered to be somewhat freethinking for Puritans) can't help themselves, and they start to play in the snow, when they notice someone watching them and flee. Later, Mistress Goddard (Sarah's potential future stepmother) comes forward and announces that she saw Elizabeth and her brother Roger (she thought Sarah was Roger because she had borrowed his coat) broke the rules of the Sabbath. Now Roger will be punished when Sarah is the one who broke the rules. Can Sarah find the courage to come forward with the truth? I highly reccomend this excellant, detailed historical novel.

This book about a girl 12 years old in a puritan community and how she lives with her dad and her best friend Elizabeth. I loved this book.

This is an excellent book! As soon as I picked it up I couldn't put it down. It was very exciting to read. I reccomend this book to anyone who likes exciting books.

When Emma, her older brother, and her younger sister left their home behind to seek refuge with their relatives in St. Louis, they thought they had left the worst of the destruction wrought by the Civil War behind. And they have. However, on board the Sultana, a paddle wheel boat headed up the Mississippi River, they find a new terror when the boat explodes and catches fire. Separated from their brother, Emma and her little sister must stay alive and find a way off the burning boat. An action-packed survival story filled with historical details.

Good characters. Good background plot. Good not over descriptive, but historically correct action. Good subject. Good book... what more can I say?

What if a war tore your family apart and changed your life forever? What if your mother was dead and you didn't know whether your father was dead or alive? What if you had to journey far from your home, and during that journey were surrounded by the enemy? What if your older brother was always getting into fights with the enemy soldiers and you, just twelve years old, had to rely on yourself and take care of your little sister on your own? What if the riverboat you were travelling on suddenly blew up and you had to fight to keep yourself and your little sister alive? What if you suddenly had to take help from your enemies if you wanted to live to see the next day? In Emma Eileen Grove, Kathleen Duey gives a powerful answer to these questions. Read this book or your missing out on something great!

I finished this book in one day. I was impressed about how the author took the reader from everyday life into another world, a world that is full of disaster and a great love story that will touch both young and old. Kathleen Duey is a great writer and you can tell from the first sentence in this book she knows alot about life back in the 19th Century.
This story is about a wealthy girl, that has everything. But when she falls in love with a Cajun worker in her Father's plantation, she knows her father will disaproves. So they meet in secret, hoping they can marry...read more to find out. If you like this book, I recommend her other novel, San Francisco Earthquake, 1906, which is another great romance novel.
This historical novel, deserves more than five stars.
Happy Readings!!

I Loved the book! I just finished reading it and it really was awesome. I wanted to be Madaline through out the whole book. It really lets your imagination soar. They are so in love and it is so exciting because you wonder if they will be caught and it keeps you reading until you're done. I would definetly recommend this book to anyone who likes historical romances.

This story deserves so many more stars if only just for the love story in it. The only fault that I found in it was that it was way too short. The ending came rather abruptly and unexpectedly but it was still extremely good and romantic. HURRICANE is a story about Madelaine LeBlanc, a plantation owner's daughter, who falls in love with Francoise, a Cajun hired hand who comes to work on the LeBlanc plantation after hurricanes ravage it. The disaster is downplayed a little too much. The love scenes are phenomenal and Ms. Duey did a splendid job with the dialogue between Phillipe and Francoise. I would recommend this book to any cheesy romance lover or any just regular romance lover (it's not that cheesy, really, I don't think)!!!!

I have read all but 2 of the books that r out & i stay up until 1;30 in the mornig to finish it in the 1st sitting! I totally recommend this book 2 EVERYONE! I u r looking for exciting reading than go from the 1st through the last ASAP!

This book is a thriller because there is suspense since it is hard to survive in a place full of alligators and snakes. This is the best Survival book of the series and it has one hilarious part: Phillip getting attacked by the "stick snake". This is Simon signing out.

This is the story of a wealthy twelve-year-old boy lost in the bayous of Louisiana in the 1850s and the poor Cajun girl who attempts to rescue him. It was a very exciting story filled with historical details. I also really liked the character of Lily. She was a very strong, determined girl who didn't let her handicap stand in her way!

I recommend this book to any one who likes excitement or good adventure. It's very exciting because you don't know if Will or Jess will find water or food. It has a lot of adventure because Will and Jess have to travel through sand storms, quick sand, and desert. When Will and Jess go through the sand storm they have to take shelter in an abandoned cave. It's a very tight space and it's hard for them to breathe. They have to go without meat for days before they find a weak ox, which they then cook over an open fire. I like the characters in the book because they are very independent and different. Will shows his self-sufficiency when he tries to go ahead to look for the rest of his party in the valley. In conclusion, if you like good adventure and great excitement, this is the book for you.

Twelve-year-olds Will and Jess Brantcourt are a twin brother and sister travelling west with their family to California in 1849. Because of their father's stubborness, the Brantcourts end up being separated in the desert from the rest of the wagon train. Now their wagon has broken down and their father is seriously ill, and the family is unable to continue. Now Will and Jess are the only ones that can save their family from death. So the determined twins set off across the desolate, dry, and unforgiving deserts of Death Valley. The valley threatens to live up to its name every moment of Will and Jess's desperate journey to find help as they encounter heat, thirst, hunger, and dangerous creatures. But they're determined to carry on and not give up, because their family is counting on them. This was another great book in the Survival series. I highly reccomend it if you like historical or survival stories.

Death Valley was another great book in the Survival! series by Kathleen Duey and Karen A. Bale. This book was about a brother and sister, Will and Jess Brantcourt. Mr. Brantcourt has decided the family will go west to search for gold in California, even though no one else in the family wants to go. Then he decides they will take a shotcut that will supposedly get them to California faster - one that goes through the cruel, unrelentingly hot desert of Death Valley. Then Pa gets sick from an injury, and the Brantcourts' wagon breaks an axle. Now, it's up to Will and Jess to go find help for their stranded family - for they are the only hope the Brantcourts have left. But can they survive in the desert with only scant food and water, and get help for their family before it's too late? Read this exciting book to find out!

After her parents died, seven-year-old Summer MacCleary left her home in London to become an indentured servant in the Virginia colony. Six years have gone by, and Summer is now thirteen. She counts the days until her twentieth birthday, when she will be free to leave. But although she longs for freedom, she has a fairly good position that she is grateful for - she cares for her master's infant son, and does some household chores. But her position is in jeopardy when her master's daughter, Letty, accuses Summer of stealing a valuable ring. If Summer is to avoid having her contract sold, she must discover what really happened to the ring. This was a highly enjoyable story about a resourceful young girl determined to clear her name, and in addition, it was filled with many details of colonial life.

Summer MacCleary is an indentured servant on a plantation in 1749. Then her masters daughter accuses her of stealing a ring. To find out what happens, read this book. It is very good.

Summer has arrived from Ireland as an indentured servant. She has conflicts with one of her new owner's children. Summer is afraid that her contract will be sold to a new owner. After she helps solve a mystery, she feels that her life will be better. This is a very good historical book and I highly recommend it to students 5th through the 8th grades, and for teachers, as well.

Caught in the middle of war. That's a pretty good discription of Mary's situation. Mary's Father is a die heart Tory,(he's loyal to the king of England, that is) witch poses a problem, seeing as her 18 year old brother, William, is a Patriot. On the night of the Peal's ball, which they have been preparing for since page one, Mary discovers an unexpected suprise in the shed... This story deals with alot of emotional subjects: :loyalty, family pride, the deep love of sister for brother, and, no matter how stubborn both might be, father for son. I thought what Mary's father did near the end was great. It brings to mind the old phrase: Actions Speak Louder Then Words. My love of history made me want to try this, and I'm very glad I did.

I Loved this book!!!!

As the daughter of a wealthy loyalist couple during the British occupation of Philadelphia in 1777, twelve-year-old Mary lives a life filled with luxury. But all is not right with her family - her older brother, William, is a patriot who ran away to join Washington's army. Because of this, William was disowned, and Marry hasn't heard from him since then. But now, on the eve of a ball hosted by her parents for British officers, Mary discovers William lying wounded in the shed. Mary must get help for her brother and hide him from her parents and the officers. This was an excellant story that showed how the Revolution tore a family apart, and how a brave, loyal young girl strives to bring them back together.

This is the best book ever. I am intending to read more of the series. What surprised me is it takes place in one day!!! Kathleen Duey is a great writer. I think her best will always be American Diaries: Mary Alice Peale / 1777.

I recommend this book to any one who likes to read and have a cliffhanger at the end of a chapter or two. Also, anyone who likes historical fiction would like this book. One example is when the Coal mine collapsed in Pennsylvania in 1859. Also, I recommend this book to any one who used to work in the mines because it is very realistic. The main character, Liam, said, "You should never light a match in a mine because the coal dust is very flammable." Also, I recommend it for anyone who thinks that girls can't work in the mine, because they can do the same amount of work that the men do only they do it more efficiently. Liam said "he saw a little bit of mischief in Rory's eyes." Rory is a girl who subbed for Paddy, Liam's brother. I learned that the mine could be a dangerous place to work, not because it could cave in, but rather that your boss might abuse you, such as hitting you with a broomstick.

Rory Hamilton hates the mines that took her father and brother away from her, never to return. Now she and her mother make ends meet by running a boardinghouse for miners. Rory is friends with a boy her age named Liam Quinn who, along with his younger brother, Paddy, and widowed father, works in the mines saving money for his sisters to come to America from Ireland. One day Liam's brother gets sick and is in danger of losing his job if he stays home. Even though she is terribly afraid of going in the mine, Rory disguises herself as a boy so she can take Paddy's place until he is better. Rory picks the worst possible day to enter the mine, since it's the day of a terrible cave in that traps Rory and Liam underground. If she is to survive, Rory must face her worst fears. A great survival/adventure story set against a historical background.

This is a great adventure story with non-stop action. Being trapped in a cave is for some their worst nightmare. This is as close as most will ever want to be to going into a cave. For more underground adventure stories don't miss Steward's, "Tales of Dirt, Danger, and Darkness."

As the American Diaries series progressed, I felt as if they were regressing in their style and interest. Then came this one. Reading the back it doesn't seem nearly as exciting as the others and can be mistaken for a sleeper. But it's actually the other way around. It was much better than those hugely descriptive action books in the series (except for Emma, that one was very good). Alexia is a character that you love. You connect with her more than many of the other Kathleen Duey characters. She wants to become a seamstress (ah-ha! Finally one with a dream!) and finally found a companion in the boarding house lady (who is also a seamstress). Her mother had died and she was constantly moving around. She loves her father very much and then faces a moral dilemma when he is going to try to swindle the seamstress. Finally, we come in touch with the character and sit on the edge of our seats... waiting to see what she will do! This is one of the best American Diaries books because of it's moral choices, not because of the so called action.

As the daughter of a travelling con man in the early 1900s, motherless twelve-year-old Alexia has always faced many moral dillemas. But it's his latest potential victim that she feels the worst about, because it's a woman that has befriended Alexia and been like a mother to her. The woman is Mrs. Tanner, who runs the boardinghouse where Alexia and her father are currently staying. He finally gets a real job, but quits and decides to swindle Mrs. Tanner, then he will flee with Alexia to another city. Can Alexia finally find the courage within her to stand up to her father, and make her own dreams come true? Read to find out! There wasn't much action here, but it was an excellant book nonetheless.

Another great American Diaries. Alexia, a 12 year old girl lives in 1905 San Francisco in a boarding house with her con-man father. He goes around cheating people out of their money and now his target is Alexia's true friend, Mrs. Tanner, the owner of the boarding house. Alexia has to stop this. But will she have the courage to do so?READ IT!