I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in broadening their perspective on the influence of social and structural forces on human personality and development.

The haunting York trilogy continues in "Faces in the Water," picking up the threads that the first book left dangling, and weaves them expertly into further complexity.

Dan has returned from York with some haunting memories of the odd gypsy family of Ambrose Faw, visions of Romans and Picts, and the discovery of a hereditary family disease. Now he's determined to leave the unusual vacation behind him, and spend some time with his kindly grandmother Blossom. But his time in York keeps intruding on the present.

His grandmother has hired a migrant worker named Lonnie, who reminds Dan of one of the gypsies from York. A letter comes from Joe, saying that the Faw family wants the silver denarius that was given to Dan at the end of the first book. Blossom makes some cryptic comments about Huntington's disease being an "evil" handed down through the family. And when Dan goes into the basement, where a stream runs through, he sees the face of Ambrose Faw watching him from the water.

When a magpie begins following him, Dan captures the bird and later sets it free. He is swept back in time over a thousand years, to York in the declining years of the Roman Empire, where he encounters an ancient parallel to the Faw family. How does this connect to the present, and how can he help the beautiful gypsy Orlenda?

The plot picks up the pace in "Faces," as some of the puzzles of "Shadows" are solved, but produce more questions as they are solved. For example, we see why Dan saw Jaspar as a wild man; but why does he see the Faw family sixteen hundred years in the past? What is the connection between these events and Huntington's disease? Or the connection between Blossom and the Faws? And what is up with those magpies?

Naylor's atmospheric writing is still present, with the nuanced dialogue and intricate characterizations of the first book. Not everyone is revealed on the outside, and that adds an aura of mystery to all the characters except Dan, who is our window to the events of the book. And though time travel is a well-worn cliche, Naylor manages to make it feel fresh and intriguing. It's virtually impossible to predict what is ahead for the characters or the plotline, and that's a delightful change from the usual ghost stories.

Undoubtedly "Footsteps at the Window" will be as good as "Shadows" and "Faces," as the second book leaves the readers waiting for the answers to its many questions. Excellent fantasy story for kids and adults alike.

This book is an extremely engaging and informative collection of essays by a number of religious scholars chronicling the attempts of various North American religious denominations to negotiate the impact of modernity on the family. These denominational histories reveal periods of growth and decline in the denominations themselves and in their attention to family issues. They also show the range of voices within the various denominations. These stories thus debunk the "culture wars" typology, according to which denominations are labeled as univocally liberal or conservative.

The two major forces that appear across these denominational accounts are the tension between individualism and community and the influence of market forces on family life. The stories show how these broad social forces, more than any one social movement have produced many changes in families. Feminism is usually cited as one of the forces that has impacted the modern family, and it has spurred action and/or inspired reaction in virtually every denomination. Likewise, the recent focus on fatherhood in a number of denominations demonstrates the continuing importance of social and cultural change on churches and families. The most powerful insights from these various denominational narratives are the need to negotiate with, rather than reject modernity, and the important point that the mere presence of conflict on issues like the family does not necessarily indicate failure.

Whether the conflict is over tradition and innovation, individualism and familism, public and private, ideals and reality, or protective withdrawal from or prophetic engagement with the surrounding culture, the essays in this volume show how the family has been an important locus of the reconciliation of religion and modernity in American culture.

This book is one of a number of books on the Industrial Revolution by Phyllis Deane. She focuses more on the positive aspects of the revolution, and has many good primary source quotes from famous people who lived during that time. If you don't want to pick it up here, definitely check it out at your local library.
-Jason Fooks

I used this book to teach my two young children to read. We followed the guideline and one year later they both could read simple books before 1st grade. A side benefit with this book is my children learn to spell simple words on their own --- all before they entered 1st grade

We absolutely loved this book. The pictures were gorgious and the facts and information fascinating. Most people we have talked to have always thought tulips ORIGINATED in Holland. We thought that, too, but learned differently in this great book! If you love tulips, this book is for you!

Ok, so it's been almost 20 years since I read the book.... twice. I found it quite amusing and entertaining even though it didn't fit my standard genre of Alfred Hitchcock & the 3 investigators or Astronomy books. It was one of my absolute favorite fiction books, and the reason I looked it up now on Amazon is because my wife, a teacher, had never heard of it. I guess some great works are just obscure. Too bad.

This series is the most intelligent and helpful workbook ever written. The exercises are psychologically astute, and the artwork is moving. Wickham is a highly established and reputable therapist. This book will be a boon to therapist, teachers, parents, and children. Check out the other books for children by these authors.

Phyllis Ann Naylor's haunting York trilogy dips back into time travel and the haunting presence of the gypsy family. Though it doesn't answer all the questions, "Footprints at the Window" gives a note of finality to this trilogy.

It's been a stressful summer for Dan: He's found that Huntington's Disease runs in his family and may strike him down when he's in his forties, his father is being tested, and he is haunted by magpies and visions of the Faws, gypsies, whom he encountered in York -- even to the point of being drawn back into the waning days of the Roman Empire. Now a family of gypsies has come to the land near where his grandmother lives, and it's making Dan nervous.

What he finds is seemingly another Faw family, a few years down the line and with radically different names. And while trying to help the girl Oriole -- who bears a striking resemblance to Orlenda -- Dan is drawn back in time. Now it's the Middle-Ages, during the time of the Black Death, and he is the only person to recover from the disease. He encounters another incarnation of the Faw family, and for the second time tries to help the beautiful Orlenda escape to safety. What will happen will change Dan's life forever...

Perhaps the only flaw of this trilogy is that in the third book, some of the threads are left dangling. For example, I was never entirely sure why it is that Joe, Dan, and the Faws are repeatedly featured in the past; the implication seems to be that they were reincarnated, especially since Blossom refers to her grandfather being the exact image of Ambrose Faw.

Naylor hasn't lost her talent for atmosphere, either between the characters or in a given place. Dan shows a plausible growth in character, and a new philosophical bent that he did not have in the first book. This new maturity is reflected in his actions in the Middle-Ages and his increased acceptance of "what will come will come."

As the story progresses, we also see that it is less a story about gypsies, past lives or incarnations, or time travel, but rather a story about Dan and the inner struggles that are brought into focus and greater clarity by the events of the trilogy. Gratifyingly, there is also a note both of finality and of "starting again" in this book, a wistful acceptance, and a very real sense that sometimes a thing like Huntington's Disease can't be predicted.

A good conclusion to an extremely good trilogy, "Footprints" is definitely worth checking out.

This book is thorough and comprehensive in scope. It tells you exactly what you need to know to apply for a grant from the many organizations it lists. A good measure of its worth is that it's in its 11th update.