Elizabeth( Betsey ) Zane has lived with her great aunt since her parents died. She longs for her home in Virginia where she can ride her horse freely instead of being told to act like a lady in crowded Philedelphia. When her great aunt dies Betsey makes the daring journey back to Virgina and her home. However she didn't get the welcome she wanted. Her oldest brother is strict and wants her to act like a lady. The story livens as she starts a budding romance with a soldier from nearby Fort Henry. Her world crashes down though when the Indians decide to attack Fort Henry and Besty and her family must flee to Fort Henry for safety. Everything holds up until Fort Henry runs out of gun powder. It looks like Besty is the only one who can get it. Can Besty prove to herself and her brothers that ladies are brave too and can do anything a man can? This was a great book and I highly recommend it. If you like the Dear America Series you will love this book!

This books shows how independent Betsy Zane was. If you are a Dear America fan then you will like this book a lot. It's mostly the same as the diaries only not in diary form. Betsy Zane was a young woman who moved from a city onto the Ohio River. She meets new people and her brothers prize their possessions at first more than Betsy herself who took the long journey to her homestead with a family who used to be slaves. Betsy has embarrasing moments on the way to the Zane homestead when she accidently brings up the subject of slaves to the former slaves! Betsy also gets to meet a boy named Johnny whom she likes. The author really put effort in this book!

As she did in her previous book, The Beaded Moccasins, Lynda Durrant tells the exciting story of a real 18th century girl. This time her heroine is Elizabeth "Betsy" Zane, whose courageous actions saved an American fort during the final battle of the Revolution in 1782. Thirteen-year-old Betsy has lived in Philadelphia ever since her parents died six years ago, and she longs to return to her Virginia frontier home. She gets the chance when her only relative in Philadelphia, her great aunt, dies. Betsy packs a few possessions and returns to her childhood home. But everything is different. One of her brothers lives among the Indians. Her oldest brother has strict ideas about how a young lady should behave. At times, life seems almost as boring as it did back in Philadelphia! A romance with a young soldier livens things up. But when the Indians and British come to attack, Betsy and her family must flee to nearby Fort Henry. And it will be Betsy's own heroic actions that change the tide of battle. I highly reccomend this to historical fiction fans, particuarly girls. It's a great read for fans of the Dear America series.

When I read Lynda Durrant's "Echohawk," I got the feeling that she had been heavily influenced to write this story by "The Last of the Mohicans," not the James Fennimore Cooper novel, but the outstanding 1992 movie which starred Daniel Day-Lewis as Hawkeye.

At age 4, Jonathan Starr was taken captive by Mohican Indians, adopted into the family of the warrior Glickihigan, and renamed Echohawk. For eight years, he lives among the Mohicans, forgetting his real family, and yearning for the day he can take his place as a man in the tribe. Although, Echohawk knows that he was born white, and indeed faces prejudice from members of the tribe due to his skin color, he really does not dwell on why he has come to live among the Mohicans. However, his adopted father decides that Echohawk has reached an age when he should be allowed to decide whether he wishes to remain a Mohican or return to the people he was born to. So Glickihigan enrolls Echohawk and his blood son, a mischevious seven year old called Bamaineo, in a whiteman's school and has them board at the schoolteacher's home. Glickihigan wants his sons to be able to speak English and understand the whites' ways so they can survive in a world that is coming to be dominated by the Europeans, but he also wants Echohawk to make a decision on who he will be in life.

Of course, being immersed in the whiteman's world triggers Echohawk's memories of his former life as Jonathan. These memories cause him to recall his real family and ask the question: what happened to them? And just as important, what was Glickihigan's involvement in how a white boy called Jonathan Starr ended up living as a Mohican called Echohawk?

Durrant seems to have written a story that could be very well be construed as a sort of "The Last of the Mohicans: The Early Years" with Glickihigan as Chingachgook, Bamaineo as Uncus, and Echohawk as Hawkeye. In fact, Durrant even describes the destruction of the Mohicans from disease and thus sets the stage for Glickihigan and Bamaineo to be "the last of the Mohicans." As stated before Durrant seems to be more influenced by the film than Cooper's novel, in that, like the movie, the Hawkeye-like character, Echohawk, is the adopted son of the Chingachgook-like character, Glickihigan, and not just a friend as in the novel. Also, Echohawk is starting to develop the skills of an outstanding hunter and marksman- how Hawkeye like!

I think young boys between the age of 9-12 might enjoy this book especially if they have interest in American Indians and history. However, it's not exactly an action packed saga, but more of a coming of age story of a boy figuring out his past and what his future will be. And thus, it may not appeal to boys looking for a pure adventure story. Finally, Durrant has written a sequel to this book called "Turtle Clan Journey." It would be interesting to know whether she continues to write about Echohawk and, if so, does she plan on letting him grow into a juvenile literature version of Daniel Day-Lewis' Hawkeye?

I love to read books about Native Americans, especially since I'm part Cherokee. This book was no exception. It told about a teenage boy who'd been captured and raised by a Mohican tribe at a very young age. He discovered his heritage when he and his Indian brother Bamaineo were sent to a school for white boys. They struggled in the "civilized" world, although they eventually made friends there. But how will Echohawk deal with his shocking past? Can he forgive his adoptive father Glickihigan and the other men for killing his biological family? I definitely reccomend this book. My mother and I read it at the same time and discussed it. We both enjoyed it, and I'm sure you will too.

At first I was skeptical about reading "Echohawk" but as I started to read it, it really held my attention and it turned out to be a great book. It is about a boy who is taken by the Mohicans and the boy lives the way the Indians do for 8 years. His adoptive father, Glickihigan, sends Echohawk and his little brother, Bamaineo, to school to learn English. When he finds out that the teacher is going to take him to Boston, he runs away with his brother.

This book was one of the most popular on the shelf for independent reading this year, with both male and female middle school students. Perhaps it was because it is based on an actual event. Perhaps the straight forward language used by the author appealed. Whatever the reason, as a teacher, I make note of any book that motivates students to read, and this one did.

I found the book to be very interesting, because she was my Great,Great,Great,Great Grandmother on my Dad's side. I was told the story of Mary Campbell being captured by the Indians in
Ohio by my Dad,Grandmother,and Aunt. I never knew why she was captured until I read the book and found out she was to replace the Indian Chief's granddaughter the had died.

I highly recommend Beaded Moccasins. I planned to read this to my 7-year-old. It's a bit long (and no pictures) for that age, but in another couple of years, I know she'll read it (and love it) herself. A good story for a girl to digest, it imparts a lot of history and humanity too. It would make a great mother-daughter read, as there's a significant layer here that deals with mother-daughter and other woman-to-woman relationships.

This book would be good for someone who already knows calculus and wants to refresh their skills. In the mathmatical examples there are gaps where more explination is needed. If The book where more thorough in its explinations then the student could learn the subject with a lot less trouble.

This book was the textbook for a Calc 2 class that I took. It had been a long time since I took calc 1, and had forgotten most of the information. This book did a nice job of providing clear examples, and thoughtful exercises. It is one of the most readable math books that I have read (and there are a lot of bad ones out there). I would strongly recommend getting the answer guide also, since the answers in the book do not show how the problem was solved. Sometimes your answer could be correct, but appears different than the answer in the back because of the algebra involved.

I'm studying my major and I really need to learn Calculus. Even this book is for people who have studied this subject before it makes you think and imagine what you are doing. Sometimes it explains shortly some chapters, but it helps you to improve your skill and to learn by the way of thinking and imagination. I'll recommend this book for everyone who likes Math (specially Calculus) and who really wants to learn it well. In my own opinion is a nice book and what makes it special is the MATHEMATICA sofware it uses as well as it teaches you Calculus. If I have someday to teach Calculus I will use this book. The only problem... is ... as the MATHEMATICA software.