I have tried identifying birds with other books before, and I usually gave up in frustration because there'd be, like, 20 birds that mine could possibly be related to, but no exact match. These were mainly books that covered all of North America, or all of the Pacific states.

With "Birds of Los Angeles," I have actually identified several birds! The pictures are big and colorful, the information (habits, habitat, etc.) enough to tell you what you casually want to know. Its dimensions are compact but it is a little heavy, because of the weight of the glossy paper, but not impossible to take along backpacking.

20 years ago Los Angeles had over one hundred bad quality days (smoggy days). During 1997 only three bad quality days were called.

I suppose the birds never left the place, but now they are more beautiful then ever, and it is a pleasure to go outside to see them.

This book is a wonderful illustrated identification tool, it will augment your enjoyment of birding through this magnificent region.

In a world filled with drug ads, it's hard to find the truth about medicine. Newspapers and magazines aren't going to risk losing all that ad revenue by telling the truth about drugs, including vaccines. That's why every parent should read this book. At least you'll be able to make an informed decision about which drugs to have pumped into your children's bodies. The material in this book is all documented and factual and it provides a fascinating, though at times frightening, look at the vaccine industry today.

I acquired several copies of this book after seeing a segment of ABC's "20/20" in the mid 80's. I have a beautiful daughter who was born in 1975 who is today profoundly mentally disabled and has intractable seizures. I am saddened that, still today, untold numbers of children are still having their lives taken from them due to this "poison". This book is an excellent source for those seeking information, and a source of comfort for those of us in this situation. It was the first time I realized that I am not alone...

October 1998

This book was a real sanity check for me. As a small child, I had two bouts of mysterious convulsions followed by cessation of breathing. Just as in the book, doctors denied and concealed the facts about my reation to pertussis, but my parents were convinced that the vaccinations I had recieved were responsible and prevented me from being vaccinated in the future. A Shot in the Dark is probably the most important book parents or expecting parents can read to potentially save the life of their child. The information within has been almost completely surpressed by most pediatricians in the US.

Each chapter left me more and more angry at what had happened to me and more and more informed for the first time about this dangerous vaccine. The book is fair and critical of the medical community and its research and accounts are sound and vivid. The authors themselves know of what they write and have made life work out of tragedy saving countless others from the same fate.

I consider myself lucky to be alive today, and this book has helped me understand my body and my current health better than ever before. It is also inspiring, and after reading it, if you are like me, you will spread the warning and demand more from our doctors.

I am an RN, and have been taking care of a child with seizures, and brain damage for over a year now. The parents gave me his history.
The theory was that the seizures and developmental problems, which started after 3 months of age in an otherwise totally normal child until that time, were caused by the pertussis vaccine.

There was never a way to prove his problems were due to the vaccine, although all tests on the child and parents were negative as to any cause.
I cared for this child for a year before I read the book.

I was amazed at the similarity of his history with that of many other children in the book, and when I finished reading the book, there was no question in my mind that this child's problems were due exclusively to the vaccine.

Anyone considering parenthood,are pregnant, have newborns,are grandparents; owe it to themselves to read this book.

Be informed of the side effects so your child won't be one of the statistics. There are other alternatives, and also the new acellular vaccine is available now, but only to those who ask until the old vaccine is no longer available.

This book is a MUST read for parents and parents-to-be. If it has ever even occured to you that the medical system is not infallible, this book will open your eyes to a reality that most people would prefer to ignore. Vaccinations DO cause temporary and permanent damage to children every year in this country, and many of the diseases against which we are vaccinated are not as frightening as the damage caused by the vaccinations themselves.

This book focuses solely on the DTaP vaccination. There are many case histories of children who were permanently brain damaged and even killed by this vaccination. In some cases more than one child in a family has been permanently injured. In others parents have had to fight in court to retain custody of their younger children when they refused to vaccinate them following severe reactions in their older children.

The companies that manufacture vaccinations are making millions of dollars per year. When a child has a permanently debilitating reaction to a vaccine, the manufacturer is not even held financially responsible - the government uses our tax dollars to compensate families through an official program called the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Would this program even exist if it weren't obvious that vaccines DO cause damage in some instances?

This book gives great information about the kinds of children who are more likely to react to vaccinations, including those who were born prematurely or with a low birth weight, those from families with allergies and food sensitivities, and those who had family members experience vaccine reactions. It also describes in great detail the kinds of reactions one can expect from vaccinations - and which ones should not be considered "normal" despite what your pediatrician's office may tell you. If your child has received some vaccinations already and you feel uncomfortable about any symptoms he or she exhibited in the days following, READ THIS BOOK before you allow any further vaccinations. MANY children who were eventually permanently injured exhibited reactions to earlier vaccinations that were ignored or considered unimportant until hindsight provided the obvious answer.

This is a beautiful story which will wrench the emotions of the reader, pulling them into the story with Julie Hunter. Julie faces her impending death in the battle with lupus with great strength and courage. With a husband who refuses to face the seriousness of her illness, and a daughter about to become a mother, Julie focuses her energy toward reaching her dream of a college degree. As the disease rages forward with breathtaking speed, she finds compassion where she least expects it. Don Lipton, professor and intimidator of students, is mired in guilt for a tragedy which happened twenty years earlier. Julie is the student who refuses to be intimidated, searching instead for the secrets which haunt his soul.

Barbara Jeanne Fisher weaves her story by pulling these two unlikely souls together in a love story that does not cross the boundaries of betraying vows. Through her own struggles with Lupus, Barbara writes from the heart a story of "Stolen Moments".

I don't usually read love stories about dying people, but this book grabbed me emotionally. What I liked best about the book was the way Ms. Fisher used her lead character's writing to become a pathway to expressing emotions, both for Julie Hunter and for those she loves. The released emotions then had a healing effect on all around. I also thought Ms. Fisher handled the descriptions of dying with lupus in a sensitive and convincing way. Finally, her descriptions of nature and places are outstanding. You will feel like you are really there.

This novel is structured around an opening scene that displays the developed love between Julie and her creative writing professor, Don Lipton, after Julie's death. Then the book moves backward through flashback, and eventually reconnects to the opening scene. Those who want a lot of surprises will probably not find this book very exciting. It's more like a ride on a carousel than on a rollar coaster. Those who are interested in psychological evolution will find the plot interesting.

Here's the story line: Julie, the heroine, decides to go back to college now that her daughter is grown and married. Unfortunately, she has an incurable disease, lupus, which means she will not live much longer and is quite ill. She wants a college degree in mathematics, a long-time goal. Her husband Robert owns a company in town and is facing a crisis in his business that has him totally preoccupied. He is also having trouble facing up to the seriousness of Julie's illness. Julie's daughter, Cheryl, is about to give birth to a son, and is having a ball with her husband Tom. All of this is sidetracked when she has to take a course in creative writing from Don Lipton, who both annoys and challenges her to give writing her best shot. In the process, her writing improves, she learns why Don Lipton is such a grouch, and she begins to use her writing to heal.

I felt inspired by this book to look around me to see who else might be hurting, whose brusque manner simply hides pain that needs to be released. As a writer, I found myself encouraged to put more of my own emotions into future works to the help the reader find her or his own lessons. That's a lot of insight to get from one novel. Thank you!

I just finished Stolen Moments and am awed by the depth of the characters and emotions Barbara Jeanne has created. As an author, I'm a voracious reader and am regularly disappointed by the reams of shallow who-struck-John paperstock that seems to find its way to the shelves of our mass-market book stores. Without a doubt, it's the best love story I have ever read. "Love Story" used to be the example by which we all judged love stories, but Stolen Moments has just raised the bar. The characters are as real as the people we all know from our own experiences in this life and Barbara has captured the depth of emotions that we all know are there or have experienced but can't seem to adequately explain. I can only feel sorry for those who are too young, or have too little real-life experience, to appreciate the depth of emotion within its pages.

In the most simple terms, it's wonderful, and it's wonderful to know that there really are talented writers still alive and well in America.

Useful information for ADD folks and those who love them. The challenge, of course, is getting the ADD folks to focus on the timely info before they get involved with life: jobs, marriages, interpersonal relationships......Book is a good baseline from which the non-ADD person can coach loved ones.

This book has taught me more about ADD than all the other books I have read combined. For anyone diagnosed with ADD, thinks they have ADD, or is close to someone with ADD, this book will deepen your understanding for what is really going on in the brain of an ADD individual. This book armed me with the information to understand myself better and to better inform my doctor so that he can understand me better. The authors explain the scientific reasons for ADD in its complex detail in a way that can be easily comprehended by any reader. The authors also address a subdivision of ADD that most books ignore and continue to address the vast differences that individuals within different groupings may experience. This is a great book to keep handy as a resource on ADD.

This book was a disappointment. Having bought other F-P titles for my toddler, I was expecting an upbeat and imaginative story. Instead, the book is about a little girl who says "no" to everything; this is the very behavior that I DON'T want to reinforce!

This is a great book before bed time. Not only does the book teach a great lesson to parents but is visually stimulating to your little person by introducing shapes and objects like hearts, ballons, squares, balls, circles, etc. My son loves this book and it has helped him pick out shapes in his world. Thanks.