A fantastic children's book of a little girl telling about her winter coat which is not just any winter coat, & the six magical buttons which she gives along the way to her newfound friends.

Great way to learn to count & read, to see how good deeds are done & their results. I recommend "The Magical, Mystical, Marvelous Coat" to anyone with small children around - they'll love it!

This exciting, enchanting story will delight you and your children just as it delighted me and mine! It's a warm tale about a child's magical coat and the people in need whose problems are solved by the coat's wonder-working buttons. In these difficult days, the story's theme of giving to others and the way such generosity comes back to the giver, is especially welcome. We loved the rhymes and the beautiful pictures, and we can't wait for more books from this wonderful author.

I loved this book - a delicious combination of imaginative story-telling and pictorial enchantment. The narrative has rhythm, rhyme and pace. Simple as well as subtle; traditional with a twist. It makes for captivating reading aloud, and children can understand and pick up the themes and rhythm with ease. The lush and delicate imagery is a perfect compliment to the magical world of a child's imagination wherein we encounter a variety of storyland characters. Careful attention to her friends' needs and a generosity of spirit are justly rewarded at tale's end.
Light and as welcome as a breeze on a summer's day.

Miss Woman is Ann Vaughan Richards' first novel. Married to a scientist, a self-proclaimed recluse, A.V. Richards is a member of a large Alabama family who she says all gathered in the same spot...for generations.

Victoria is a town where everyone knows each other and their business. Told from the viewpoint of Willie Kay, a divorcee who has returned to the bosom of her family, Miss Woman at first seems to be a typical Southern story about racism. "Miss Woman" is a sassily dressed African-American woman who suddenly appears on the scene of Victoria. When she throws open her window to treat the residents of Victoria to an impromptu, loving blues performance, people don't know what to think. Then Callie Thomas runs into the street and gets hit by a car, and Glenna Bedsole, whose personal problems leave her deranged, is suddenly murdered. Willie Kay is in the middle of the action, but feels powerless:

"We didn't know what happened, but Glenna Bedsole knew and Callie Thomas knew. And, sitting in the alley beside the Victoria Dry Cleaners, O.K. Maylo knew. He had seen it all. He had seen Glenna Bedsole heap curses upon Callie's head, and he had seen her enter her store and come back with a handful of wire coat hangers, he had seen her throw the coat hangers on Callie's unsuspecting body, and he had seen Callie start in fright and run into Mr. Stroud's car. O.K. Maylo knew, all right."

As Ms. Richards' quirky but fascinating tale unfolds, her equally quirky but completely compelling characters roll out one at a time. Her tale is slow and ponderous; the type of story that appeals to any woman on a mission of self discovery or any man who craves insight into the workings of the female mind. Miss Woman operates on many levels: social; political; emotional; intellectual; philosophical. It is as much a tale that Oprah would like as it is a tale with a whodunit theme.

Miss Woman showcases a strong Black role model with the ability to make our hearts sing. Willie Kay is probably more a character whom most of us can relate to. The story itself is fascinating. Willie Kay herself uncovers emotional levels unplumbed by most of us. A great tale.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

Ann Vaughan Richards' first novel is a lush celebration of all things Southern: a tale as rich as homemade pecan pie and as tangled as a kudzu vine.
"Miss Woman" is set in fictional Victoria, Ala., where nothing much has changed in decades. When 45-year-old Willie Kay, newly divorced, returns to her hometown to start over, she finds that litttle has changed since her departure. Even the unyielding attitudes of the local folks seem frozen in an earlier, less enlightened, era. Old loves and old hatreds are still firmly in place here, and old secrets still fester underneath a veneer of politeness.
The town's rigid social order is cracked wide open with the arrival of Miss Woman. She appears without warning in the upstairs window of the Victoria Thrift Store on a steamy summer day, and as she bangs chords on an upright piano and sends her "low down, gut wrenching...You Can Have Him I Don't Want Him Didn't Love Him Anyhow Blues" floating across the town square, she embodies everything that the town is not. Her ample body shimmers in rainbow satins, her smiling face is framed by a turban; she is flamboyant, mysterious, uninhibited, spontaneous and generous.
These qualities alone would be condemnation enough for Glenna Bedsole, a vicious gossip bent on unraveling the lives of her neighbors. But even more alarming, in Glenna's eyes, is the fact that Miss Woman is black.
Glenna's own father was a notorious bigot whose ruthlessness earned him a bullet through the heart long ago. When the embittered woman launches a campaign of personal destruction against her fellow townspeople, probing her neighbors' best-kept secrets, a late-night visitor uses a shotgun to silence her. As the evidence around the case slowly unfolds, the list of possible suspects grows, and a small-minded band of residents turn suspicious eyes on Miss Woman.
Unsuspecting Willie Kay finds herself at the heart of a struggle that will transform her own life, and change the townspeople of Victoria forever.

I love books with descriptions so vivid, I can smell the flowers, hear the rain, and feel the sweat drip down my neck. Miss Woman by Ann Vaughan Richards is exactly that kind of book. And her characters!! If you've ever felt overwhelmed or outflanked by your family, you will feel an immediate connection with Willie Kay, the narrator. The rest of the towns people of Victoria quickly become people as well, leaving you at times laughing at their antics and then completely shocked by their behavior. But don't make the mistake of dismissing this book as a light, frothy description of southern charm. This book also tackles serious subjects like adultery, abortion, racism, and murder. The framework of the novel is a murder mystery but it is really an in-depth look at the characters in a small southern town and their interactions with each other. I especially appreciated Ms. Richards' treatment of race relations. Although she does describe the racism most associate with the South (white man kills black man for being "uppity"), she also explores another, far less publicized side of these interactions. The love and care provided for an aging black woman by her "white family" and the courageous determination of a group of white people to provide Miss Woman a safe place to live are vivid counterpoints to the racism brutally portrayed in other parts of the book. Even a week after I have finished this book, I find myself revisiting the town of Victoria in my mind, wondering about the little mysteries left unsolved and the big question of "What happens next?" Good books always leave you wanting more and Miss Woman has done an excellent job of just that. So, grab a comfy chair, turn on your favorite blues music and let Miss Woman take you to that rainy, hot day in June when the blues notes first started falling from a second story window. . .

I recently started to read this book after many years and am amazed at how wonderfully descriptive the writer is. She makes one see so clearly what she is writing that you feel like you are there with the characters. She makes you see that no matter what race or color, we are all the same. We feel love, hate, happiness, sadness and all other emotions of the human spirit. She lets us see what everyday Indian life was like. I have some favorite books in my library that I read over and over and I am sure I'll read this one again.

This story of Cynthia Ann Parker, is an imposible book to put down. I read it 3 times in one month! I'm reading it again for the fourth time and I am enjoying it just as much as I did the 1,2,and 3 time I read it. Once you start reading it you fall so deep into the book that you feel like you are Cynthia Ann,and are looking into Wanderer's deep black eyes. You will laugh,and be scared, and weep with Cynthia Ann as Lucia St. Clair Robson, tells us the dramatic life of Cynthia Ann. You can picture what each character looks like and you can feel what each feels like. I'm going to read this book probily more than one thousand times more.

I found this book years ago and fell in love with it! I have since read it hundreds of times and am currently reading it again This is a book you can get lost in. It takes you into how her world might have been and settles her and her family into your heart forever. This is a MUST read book that you will want to reread over and over and over again

I re-visited "Sacred Connections" after almost a year. Any parent would benefit from these tender , moving stories of love, courage and commitment. The voices, of the subjects, reverberate in many of my personal encounters and experiences. It is a wonderful book.

I bought the book because I know some of the people interviewed in the book...but the book was even better than I had hoped it would be! The stories are very moving and brought tears to my eyes. It was nice to see a variety of closed adoption reunion and open adoption stories. I think the book shows people that contrary to current adoption stereotypes...adoptees, adoptive parents, and birth parents can all share a special bond or connection if they are open to it. Everybody has something special to add to the relationship...and having birth parents be a part of that relationship doesn't have to be threatening or confusing for anyone! This book would make a beautiful gift for anyone you know who is involved in adoption!

Wow! I loved this book. Letting people speak for themselves about adoption is so important. I sensed a compassionate hand in the editing of these stories that makes them a pleasure to read and gives an artful consistency without diminishing the individual voices. The photography is wonderfully evocative. By chance, I have had the opportunity to meet a few of the people whose stories are in the book. I was delighted to find that there was no disjuncture between my brief encounters and what I read, which added to its authenticity for me.

TIENE ALCANCES DESCONOCIDOS...
Es una ciencia que, con este libro, queda al alcance de todos...

de lo que expone este libro, estás enterado de que
LAS YERBAS CURAN Y MATAN..
Hay que andarse con cuidado

vivido en Oaxaca, entre los brujos y las yerberas...
De ahi, sus conocimientos amplisimos para curar con yerbas !
SE LAS SABE TODAS !!

Abby and the Notorious Neighbour is quite simply the best Baby-Sitters Club Mystery book I have ever read, and that is saying a lot, because I have read almost all of the BSC books, including the mysteries and the super specials and also the super mysteries, which are really exciting. In this book, Abby's sick and has to stay home for a long time and at first she;s bored because she has nothing to do, but then she accidentally comes across a show on TV called "Mystery Trackers" where they show the most wanted criminals on the loose and in one of the episodes, the show features a criminal who Abby is positive is her next door neightbour, Mr. Finch. So then she decideds to investigate and has a lot of fun doing it, so she's no longer bored. And there is a very interesting and suitable ending. I would recommend this book to any BSC fan or just anyone who loves a good mystery!

This book was great. No, more than great. Totally awesome! This was such a creepy mystery, and Abby and Kristy solve it in the coolest way. This was soooo realistic. The first time I read it I could hardly put it down.

The baby sitters club girls rae my favourite book carecters. they are sooo awsom. The mystery Abby and the notorios neibourgh was one of the best books Ann M. Martin ever wrote.

I loved this book and would recommend it for anyone who wants to learn about the different racial struggles our counrty has gone through. I got so caught up in the story I forgot how much history I was learning. I would encourage everyone to read it just for the history background and hopefully you will learn just as much about yourself as I did.

This is the third Ann Tatlock novel I have read and I am telling everyone about it. Yes, this story deals with some huge issues, such as racial tensions, war, alcoholism and disfunctional families, but the wonderful part of this is that you are more caught up in the story than in the issues.

I was almost accidentally learning more than I ever knew about racism, etc. while being entirely captivated by the warm story line and it's diverse characters.

When I read an Ann Tatlock novel I am IN the story. It stays with me throughout the day and long after I've finished reading it. I recommend this book to anyone who wants quality, moral and entertaining reading.

I picked this book up in my library and it is by far and away the best book I have read in a long, long time. I read a wide variety of fiction, legal thrillers, suspense, etc...This book blew me away. I could not put it down and cried my way thru it.

Even if you dont' think Christian fiction is your thing, I think that this wonderful book, told a story that was beautifully written, with a wonderful message, but without being "preachy" as some other Christian fiction has a tendency to be.

Don't read it because its a Christian novel, read it because its a wonderful story.

To

Mallory is having a hard time at SMS so she goes on the net and search for schools she could enroll in snd she's been accepted. But Jessi's mad that Mallory told Mary Anne first rather than her To tell you the truth this BSC book wasn't really what I expected. I expected Mallory to change her mind like any old book but she''s leaving I'll miss her like the BSC

Poor Mary Anne! Being stuck in the middle isn't what she had in mind! With Mallory going off to Riverbend Hall the BSC is upset. Jessi is heartbroken, after all she's losing her best friend. However Jessi shows her sadnness through anger, especially since Mal concults Mary Anne first about her problems. Will Mal go away? Will Mary Anne solve the feud? You HAVE to read this book!

Mary Anne in the Middle was a very good book. One of the best BSC books written so far. Mallory hates SMS, and wants to go to a boarding school. When she gets accepted, she tells Mary Anne first. Jessi finds out, and now she is furious at Mallory. Mallory is angry at Jessi for not understanding. Poor Mary Anne is stuck in the middle. Besides Jessi, Mallory's siblings are all mad at her as well! And how will the BSC go on with another member too short? Will Mallory and Jessi make up before she leaves? Can the BSC find a replacement for Mal? Will Mary Anne be stuck in the middle forever? You've got to read the book and find out!

AASIGNED TO COMPANY "D" 1/46, 196 INF, I KNOW MR. NOLAN HAS TONS IF INTERVIEWS AND DOCUMENTS ON THE SUBJECT, FSB MARY ANN, I BELIEVE THAT VOLUMES COULD AND SHOULD BE WRITTEN AS WELL AS PHOTS, NOT TO STOP SHORT OF A FEATURE FILM.....

This book helped me remember how lucky I am to be here to read it. I was amazed at how much detail he found in his research, best one Ive read on viet nam and what it was really like. Thanks mr. Nolan

The war was winding down but for the men of the 196th LIB home was just a distant dream. As a member of Charlie Company, I can attest to the accuracy and fairness the author treats the grunts of LZ MaryAnn. I only pray that we will never see a war like VN again.

As an acquaintance of the author's I rejoice that she has come through her ordeals and is again the happy person I knew long before the events she described. As a Christian, however, I was left deeply saddened that yet another person has failed to have Jesus come into her heart because of the "agendas" of some so-called Christian and religious organizations. The "Jesus-drug" she mentions as the basis of extreme fundamentalist churches, and the personality-directed groups "Jews for Jesus" and "Focus on the Family" left her with an incorrect view of true Christianty. I urge all Christians who read this book to pray that we can better learn to share the glory of Jesus without obscuring His love and death for our sins by our own "agendas".

This book is an autobiographical account of the author, Jo Ann Schneider-Farris. In particular, she takes the reader with avid captivation into the world of an organization few get exposed to in the way she has. She does so revealing personal aspects of her and organized religious organizations. She confirms for me concerns that I had in dealing with this particular organization years ago. The brilliance of her prose in self revelation brings a light of honesty to the transcript. Jo Ann's journey takes the reader along with her in a delightful timeline fashion. I am left, knowing that her life's journey is only in progress. I want to know more. It would be nice if Jo Ann were to publish a sequel or additional autobiographical release. I would recommend this book to anyone. On a personal note, I would like to thank Jo Ann for sharing this. I have found it tremendously uplifting!

Jo Ann Farris' story is thoroughly captivating! It's not often that we get a first-hand look at what goes on behind the scenes of religious organizations such as Jews for Jesus. In addition, Jo Ann shows us how determination and love from her family allowed her to overcome her hardships and keep moving forward toward a happier life. The story is quite inspirational and I heartily recommend it.