At the age of 91, Diane Sandell's mother died after having been severely beaten in a California nursing home. This horrific event compelled Diane to found Network Outreach--Better Living for the Elderly (NOBLE). Collaborating with Lois Hudson, Sandell then wrote Ending Elder Abuse: A Family Guide, an important work that directly confronts the inexcusably pervasive maltreatment of our elder generation at home or in sheltered care. This critically important and immensely helpful volume provides the reader with a practical, creative approach to caring for their aging parents as well as offering solutions to professional caregivers and a realistic strategy for legislators and political activists seeking to eliminate this distressing problem that will increasingly affect us all as our population ages and medical advances extend our life spans. Critically important, highly recommended reading for anyone with a loved one in assisted living or nursing home care.

No reader can finish this book without having a profound awareness of the reality and prevalence of elder abuse as well as what can be done about it.

The appendices are perhaps the most important part. They obviously result from in-depth and shocking personal and shared experiences.

The very detailed guides to choosing and monitoring a care facility are invaluable. Although most references to government and voluntary resources are from California, they provide clues on what to look for in the readers' state and local community.

ENDING ELDER ABUSE is a very substantial contribution to the literature in this often avoided or ignored problem.

Diane Sandell and Lois Hudson's book "Ending Elder Abuse," is an excellent guide for those who are initially dealing with the care of an elderly loved one. At the same time, there is much that can be learned from the book by those of us who have been in the position to provide care for an elderly loved one.

We can no longer deny that elder abuse occurs and probably more often than we know. The book is a beautiful tribute to a much-loved mother who sadly experienced first-hand this abuse. The authors beautifully illustrate that each of us can make a difference. They give us hope that elder abuse can be stopped.

ANASTASIA books were made in the 80's and I wish that I had known they existed,I would have loved them as a kid even more than I do now.It is a fun,interesting ,sometimes hilarious series based on a bright young girl and her loving family,the Krupnicks.This novel focuses on Anastasia as she is left to take care of her little brother by herself,for a while.

Anastasia On Her Own is a wonderful book. It starts out slow, but then it gets really exciting. With the help of her friends, Anastasia survives being 13. I couldn't put it down. You could read it in one sitting. This is one of the series of books about Anastasia by Lois Lowry. All of the Anastasia books are wonderful.

I have always loved the Anastasia books. I think that they are quite funny and are very realistic. I think that this book is the best in the series. This book is very funny when dealing with Anastasia's problems and pitfalls. Overall a terrific book.

Ms. Engdahl has a unique talent for presenting sympathetic characters who deal with life-changing ordeals and must make hard ethical choices. Enchantress from the Stars introduces us to Elana, a young girl from a highly advanced culture who has the opportunity to rescue a primitive culture from another somewhere in between. Set in a science fiction framework and filled with commentary on the nature of magic, the responsibilities of knowledge, and the joys and sorrows of love, this book will enthrall you from beginning to end. The sequel, The Far Side of Evil, is even better.

In her novel Enchantress from the Stars, Sylvia Louise Engdahl combines science fiction and fantasy to weave together an intricate plot and tell an entertaining and interesting story. The time in which this story takes place is not clear. When the book begins, it seems as if Engdahl is writing of the future. As the story progresses, it seems as if she is writing of the past. In the end of the book, the two times intertwine so that it seems as if time does not exist at all.

The plot is set on the planet of Andrecia, home to a poverty-stricken, primitive society in which the people live in small rural villages and are governed by a monarchy. In one of the poor Andrecian villages, at the edge of the dreaded Enchanted Forest, lives a woodcutter with his four sons, all of whom dream of better, brighter futures. While the three eldest brothers wish for power, gold, and treasure, the youngest, Georyn, wants only wisdom equal to that of his King. Thus, when word travels to them that the person who slays the dragon inhabiting the Enchanted Forest will receive from the King whatever reward he desires, all four brothers are eager to set out at once. However, the dragon is actually a giant machine, or rockchewer, built by a far more technologically-advanced society, the Imperials. The Imperials, who are planning to take over the planet, have created the rockchewer to clear the land so they can build a colony. As the Andrecians appear one by one to Òslay the dragon,Ó they are paralyzed by the ImperialÕs stun-guns, making them defenseless captives.

Another society of people, even more advanced than the Imperials, is determined to stop them from taking over the planet. Elana and Evrek, two teenagers, and ElanaÕs father journey to Andrecia to help the native Andrecians revolt against the Imperials and scare them off the planet. ElanaÕs people have the unique ability to move objects with their minds and to communicate telepathically. As a result, Georyn and his brothers believe Elana to be an Enchantress. Through many tests and a developing friendship, she teaches Georyn how to control the movement of objects and prepares him for his face-off with the dragon.

"Enchantress From the Stars" is an engrossing book that keeps the reader on their toes from the very first chapter. Weaving together two different genres allows Engdahl to interest readers of all kinds. "Enchantress" is not only a story about dragons and spaceships, it is also about testing the true strength of love. A definite must read!

I was somewhat reluctant to read this book because I am not a big fan of science fiction. However, I am so glad I read it! This is a very captivating story full of excitement and adventure, but also full of so much more. I found this book to be loaded with very deep meaning about life, humanity, and faith. The author was definitely trying to convey some interesting ideas about humanity and society, and I found those ideas to be fascinating and full of some important truths. This book opened my mind and really got me thinking about a lot of things.

This book will grab you right from the beginning, but I did find it to get just a little confusing in some places towards the end. However, overall I would definitely say it is a page-turner and well worth your time, not just for the entertainment value but also for the ideas that it contains. I highly recommend this book, even if you are not a fan of science fiction. Read it -- I feel confident that you will be glad you did!

All About Sam by Lois Lowry will make you read until you finish. You won't want to stop. This great story is about a boy named Sam, and he talks us through his amusing life starting from the second he was born until the age of about four. He has an older sister named Anastasha and a mom and a dad. I hope you choose to read All About Sam as your next reading book.

Have you ever wondered what your little brother or sister was thinking? Well, if you have, then All About Sam is a good book for you.
The book is about a family told from a baby's point of view. The baby's name is Sam. He has one big sister named Anastasia. His father's name is Myron and his mom's name is Katherine.
This book is very humorous. Sam is curious about everything. He takes a smoking pipe and lighter off his dad's desk and brings it to school for Show and Tell. He also goes into his mom and dad's bathroom and gives himself a punk haircut. He goes to his older sister's room and takes her pet fish Frank and flushes him down the toilet. He expects it to rain pet fish because his mom once told him that whatever is flushed down the toilet will come down as rain a couple of days later.
I understand this book because I have two younger sisters and a younger brother . If you like to laugh, you'll enjoy what this funny baby does, and I suggest you read All About Sam.

Oh my gosh, I really can't believe how great this book was?Sam is the cutest character! Boy, I sure got a laugh out of thisgreat book. This outstanding book is mostly about a boy named Sam. It all starts out when Sam was born. We find out about how he lived in the "Pan-tree." We learn about his pet worm and his tough voyage moving out of his apartment to a new house. You will find Sam a very interesting character. Learn about him, his worm, and his sister, Anastasia! I can write forever about this excellent book! Read more to find out. And don't forget other books about Sam and his friends!

by Kristen H.

Sam is a preschool boy who doesn't know how to dress for Future Jobs Day. He finally decides to dress like a zookeeper, his favorite character in his book. His mother stitches "Zooman Sam" on a one-piece pajama set of Sam's and his older sister borrows lots of caps with animal mascots for his hat. Since Sam only has time to show his class one hat, his teacher lets him continue wearing a different hat each day, and Sam works to decode the animal names on his hats. Nothing wrong with the story, but I have a hard time seeing how this story would appeal to "9-12 year olds," as the age recommendation above suggests. This book would be best used as a read-aloud for preschool through 2nd graders who are good listeners and don't require as many illustrations. (Another book of this type would be the Russell and Elisa books by Hoban.)

Section 1- Summary

In my book "Zooman Sam" Sam as the main character is at Krupnik's nursery school. The kids were told to dress up as what they want to be for their job. All the other boys in his class want to be a fireman in his class. Sam doesn't want to be a fireman. Instead he wants to be somebody important.

With the help of his mom and sister (Anastasia) Sam dresses up in a zookeeper's costume. Who would have thought? Maybe the title foreshadowed a lot! Sam's teacher let Sam to tell his class a little something different like an animal everyday. He likes the fun activity that he finds both really fun and challenging! The book was great!

Section 2 - Rate the Book
I rate this book Four Stars (excellent)

I think this book was excellent because it shows what I can't remember what it was like in pre-school! But it was fiction since he isn't "Vibrant" like usual. I recommend this book to kids ages 7-12 that like some fun with a (almost real) pre-school's day.

This was a hillarious comedy of a 4 year olds life. It starts out when his pre-school teacher announces that they will be having a future job day in the upcoming week. Sam decides that he will be a Zoo Keeper like Jake in his Zoo book. His mom makes him a Zoo keeper outfit that says Zooman Sam right on top. His sister Anastasia borrowed some baseball caps of animals from her un-boyfriend. His teacher and he decide that he will wear one cap every day. But when he used every cap in his bag except for the scary ones what will he do?!? Can Sam be a Zoo man forever!?!

The techniques are clearly presented and nicely illustrated. The suggestions and drawings will give you lots of inspiration for surface decorations, closures and special finishing touches. It also discusses cutting up patterns to get new lines to embellish and totally new looks to your old pattern. It gave me lots of imaginative ideas for my sewing projects.

This book is unlike any other design book I have seen. It contains inovative ideas from cover to cover. Every time I look through it I get so many inspirations I don't know which one to try first.

Lois Lowry is one of the best writers for children around, but I find Sam to be one of the most annoying characters around. He is simply too precocious to be at all believable, as was his sister Anastasia before him! In fact, all the neighbors are really too clever, interesting, well educated and understanding to ring too true to me. Maybe there really is a neighborhood like Sam's someplace, but I doubt it. That said, I always read each new Lowry book and do find myself enjoying them, and I'm sure most readers would too.

I really loved this book. My favorite part was when he found out that the towel he had was his dads gym towel waiting to be washed. I would recommend this book to everyone!

See You Around Sam is about a boy named Sam who almost runs away from home to Alaska. The story takes place in a small country town in the Fall of the 1950's. In the end, Sam goes home to see his family and friends because misses them.

This is a great book for kids. I wouldn't say it's the best in the series, but it is really well-written. It ranks right up there with the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary and the Fudge books by Judy Blume. I had never heard of the Anastasia books until recently, when I bought a bunch of them at a used bookstore. I wish I had known about them when I was a child. I would have loved them. The Anastasia books are great to analyze for character development, which I like to do because I am also a writer. Even her parents are great characters! The only thing that bothers me about this book is the way it deals with another race. Honestly, it enforces a stereotype that makes blacks look really stupid. So, if you are African-American, it may irk you. Even though it is sort of a mild slur, it did bother me a little bit, even though I am not black. Overall, though, it was a good book, and it really makes you want to read more of them.

In my opinion the 'Anastasia' series should be a treasured possesion in any book collection. I read 'Anastasia Krupnik' and 'Anastasia Again!' for the first time when I was 9, and have re-read them again and again. I liked them so much that I purchased copies for my own collection. Since then I have read as many Lois Lowry books as I could get my hands on, including the rest of the 'Anastasia' series. Anastasia Krupnik is a ten-year old girl with a lot on her plate, like falling in love, moving out on her own, converting religions and getting an unnecessary baby brother. It seems as though Frank, her goldfish, and her secret notebook (in which Anastasia stores her most private thoughts) are her only friends, what can Anastasia do! This book, although a little different, is a wonderful story for kids around the world.

YOU WANT EXCITEMENT? Read Anastasia Krupnik and you will get the lfe of a 10 year old girl in your hands! Anastasia deals with things 10 year olds deal with everyday and Anastasia grows older with each book so you can enjoy the series whatever age you are, HOW COOL IS THAT! Also in some of the books theres a pesky little brother SAM! So if you have a little brother Anastasia knows what you go through with him! Anastasia Krupnik is an Aswesome series and if you dont read them YOUR MISSING OUT!

The 100th Thing About Caroline is a great book. You will really like it if you have ever mixed up something real with an idea from your imagination. You will also like it if you think some people look like dinosaurs. The number one reason I liked this book is because of the funny ending.

Caroline Tate is an overly imaginative 11 year old that finds herself investigating a possible murder. The only thing is is that she and her brother are the potential victims. The story takes place in a small apartment building in New York City which is where Caroline found a letter. The letter was written to the " Mystery Man", Frederick Fiske who just happens to be dating Caroline's mother. The letter said that Joanna Tate ( Caroline's mother) is terrific, but the kids MUST be eliminated. The rest of the story is suspenseful as Caroline, J.P. and Caroline's friend Stacy investigate Frederick Fiske is really a cold - blooded killer. I enjoyed reading this book reading this & I recommend it because it keeps you guessing until the very end.

The One Hundredth Thing About Caroline is about a girl named Caroline Tate. Caroline is eleven years old. She is determined about being a paleontologist when she grows up. She lives in an apartment with, her mom and her annoying older brother James Priestly Tate (J.P.). Caroline's mom & dad are divorced so her dad lives somewhere else. J.P., Caroline and her friend Stacy Bauritcher who wants to be a detective, find a letter in the trash for Fredrick Fiske. It says to eliminate the kids, so he can marry the mother. Stacy finds out that Caroline and J.P. are the kids that will be eliminated. If you like mysteries PLUS adventure stories you should probably read this book!

Hot Copy - Rachel is a very independent woman who shoulders everyone's responsiblities. Then Sam comes to town, renting her house taking on the job as senior editor. They have great chemistry. And it was so perfect, he was a reporter that wanted to relax from his travels and she didn't want to wander far from home. It was a joy to read.

From Caviar to Chaos - Daniel is an author who goes back home to Iowa to cure his writer's block, where he then falls in love with Jessica, the local vet. I lived in Iowa for 20+ years, there is no Oakes, IA. And the author put this fictional town god knows where because it was suppose to be close to Ames and Fairfield. Those towns are atleast 4 hours apart. She should have done better research and made the setting in a place she knew a little better. This was a short story, yet the author kept trying to make things secret, like we shouldn't know it till the end. It only made the story confusing and not very enjoyable. And the main characters had absolutely no chemistry. Why would they ever get together? And in the story, Jessica kept mentioning how thin and sickly Daniel looked, like he had AIDS or something. This was never later explained. I guess when a writer has writer's block he gets really skinny and sickly looking. (Hell, I wish I had writer's block, then I could lose that extra 5 pounds.)