It takes a ... what? It takes more than this book recognizes to improve education. The rhetoric here implies that the so-called "reform" movement is the way to cure school ills. To most teachers, however, this is simply another year's bureaucratic fad to morph educators into paper pushers. Although I found several insights here, and detailed information on six inner-city school districts, I was somewhat amazed by two important omissions: teachers and students. Teacher unions were trivialized by the suggestion that each little school decide, on their own, if they want to unionize.The writer recommends "hiring halls" for teachers, putting us on a level with farm workers and factory hands. This writing shows absolutely no understanding about why teachers need unions or how such organizations originated.

This writer clearly identifies a target audience -- mayors, civic leaders and school board members. By decision, it excludes teachers and students. It's sad to think -- and I've seen this happen -- that ivory tower bureaucrarts actually make decisions based on this type of dubious theory rather than getting down in the trenches with the reality of the classroom.

Content here is peppered with educratic jargon which twists other terminology into bastardized educational theories. School "incubators" make me think of premature babies."Real dollar budgets" make me wonder if bureaucrats are playing Monopoly with our taxes. "CEO Strong Schools strategy" pretends that a principal, who is middle management, is a CEO. Get real. The only CEO in the school district is the superintendent who is hired by an elected school board.

This book, to it's credit, recognizes the inability of reform to reform anything (last paragraph, page 84). Any good book offers new insights and "policy churn" gets my prize here. Teachers are jaded by bandwagon bureaucrats who recycle new versions of old ideas, one after another, never saying, "stop this" or "drop that."

Hillary Clinton quotes the African proverb, "It Takes a Village." This book spins the idea into, "a city." I'm waiting for the next trendy realization for someone to discover that, "It takes a teacher."

The best feature of this book is the photos, period. There are some excellent shots of wildflowers from the dunes, prairies, woodlands, and wetlands found throughout the book. Plants are grouped according to their habitat, making plants easier to identify in the field than they would be in an ordinary key. There are quite a few problems with the book, though. Bloom dates are very misleading and seem to be stilted to the very northern portion of the range covered. There is also a misidentification of appendaged waterleaf (canada waterleaf in this book), which is an oversight considering three botanists worked on the manuscript. There are also quite a few spelling errors that should have been corrected. Finally, the information is tired and recycled from the writers' past works. Great for the photos but I was highly disappointed by the text.

I've read this books versions both in English and in French, and to suggest that it is a terrible book in either is to miss the point entirely. Yes, it is a bit dry at times (especially if your French is bad.... cause you'd miss a lot of the subtlety...) Yes, in English it seems rough and not that well done. Yes, perhaps if you have a limited amount of time to read books regarding this subject matter, etc. this should not be the first book you read....

But it is a good story with a different viewpoint. Does one accept a common humanity and collaborate with the German-- who after all does not seem that evil.... or does one forgo that for the pride of being French.... and being the conquored....

Honestly, everything having to do with WWII is biased.... or most everything.... this portrait is at least honest about it.... and fairly nonpoliticized... though that is another topic entirely....

... below, for they know not what they read. This is a damn good book.

I too read this book for a French class, but with a teacher who had read it dozens of times and was able to point out the subtle intracies of the author's words. This is a powerful novel of a German soldier who loves France, French culture, and anything passionate or beautiful. Ironically, he is in France as its conqueror, occupying the home of an uncle and his niece. The uncle and niece are kept nameless and faceless, but representing the masses of France. The solider is nameless, representing the Nazis and Germany. The soldier believes that Germany and France will marry each other, uniting two magnificent and rich cultures. Through Vercors' stunning work, we are able to see a human light in the WWII Nazis who have been portrayed throughout history as only monsters. We are able to witness France's WWII occupation through the eyes of one. This book will make you rethink your own views and prejudices. This is a book that will make you see WWII, Germany, and France through a different perspective. It will also make you look at love in a different way--romantic, parental, patriotic, and so fourth. Which is strongest, that is what the book skillfully explores. This book can at times be a bit overdone in the melordramatics dept., but it's worth plowing through (cliff notes might help), even "en français"!

I can't imagine a publisher actually being interested in this story. It is completely lacking in literary form. It simply runs as an historical time-line of one man's short life as a 'full-time queen.' Melson grew up in middle america as a fat little boy. He chronicles his metamorphisis from fat kid to the ideal 'gay buff boy.' ... I'm not so sure this is the typical gay male's story and Melson managed to carve out a pretty rich life (literally and figuartively) trading on his looks until he was struck down by the tragedy of AIDS. We've read this story with much more complexity, richness and depth in the works of Paul Monette and so many other excellent writers. Should have been given out as a diary to loved ones. I don't see it's entertainment, literary or historical value. Wasted time, wasted life!

James Melson's memoir provides an insider view of the legendary-to-some, shocking-to-others sex-drug-disco scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In contrast to the novels produced at the time, _Golden Boy _has a protagonist who exists by day as well as by night, and even tries to establish a career. The book provides insight into the little-understood phenomenon of sponsoring the young and pretty, even when they refuse to put out. The ugly duckling boy from Dubuque, Iowa becomes first a Minneapolis model and then is passed on to well-connected New Yorkers who help him become an investment banker, the prorotypical occupation of the greedy Reagan era. Didn't he almost have it all? Alas, the author died of AIDS before the book appears. The posthumous memoir comes framed by substantial analyses by Larry Mass and Arnie Kantrowitz that I find more interesting (and markedly better-written) than the narrative they frame.

This is an intersting autobiography especially if you are interested in the 1970's party scene in NYC. The adventures he has & famous people he meets just by being good looking are astonishing. This is kind of a gay "Alice in Wonderland" with the young gay character seeing and experiencing all that a big city has to offer a cute young gay man.

James is not a likable character in the book and he honestly doesn't try to be. Some of his observations are predjudiced, self loathing and narcissistic however they were his "truth" as he lived it.

This story ends abruptly and feels unfinished. Partially because that is the truth when you die so young. However it is also because he really never accepts his faults or gains compassion for others. (despite one story depicting it)

The foreward gives away too much but the afterword is essential to put Jame's story in perspective.

CALIFORNIA SCREAMING is a much funnier and livlier book on this same topic - altho it is fiction.

I would recommend this only if you are a big fan of autobiography or you want to see young gay glitterati in NYC during the 70's. (Studio 54 etc)

Here are my thoughts on this book.

Pros: 1. Very reasonably priced as a comprehensive review book and supposedly a money back guarantee.
2. It is current and up to date (as of the April 2003 exam)
3. It has a pretty good variety and quantity of examples and practice problems.

Cons: 1. There are a large number of errors in the example and practice problems. I found at least 50 errors in using this book as a review guide and it is difficult, especially on some of the example problems where I would wonder for half an hour where I went wrong. Some of the errors are obvious, others are difficult or near impossible to spot if you are trying to relearn this material and remember very little. I am sure there are significantly more errors since my review did not cover the book comprehensively and I'm sure I missed a lot as well.
2. The text is not very well written. Some sections go into too much detail while others simply scratch the surface. There were times when I learned more from reading the EIT handbook than from this review book.
3. Lastly, I was a little disappointed when I went to take the practice exam and I found several identical questions to the practice problems provided in the different chapters. The least they could have done was make sure not to reuse questions so that when we'd like to take the practice exam we haven't just seen the questions from review sections.

First published in 1976, these short stories are Blish's adaptations of the screenplays of various episodes from the original series. The episodes aren't sorted into books according to either chronological order or identity of screenwriter.

"Patterns of Force" (episode 52, season 2, screenplay John Meredyth Lucas) Federation historian John Gill disappeared on the planet Ekos 6 months ago; searching for him, _Enterprise_ finds a major violation of the Prime Directive in progress: Ekosian society has been rebuilt for technological efficiency using the Nazi paradigm - and all the evil baggage that goes with it. How much control does Gill have over the situation, and what be done to repair the damage?

"The Gamesters of Triskelion" (episode 46, season 2, screenplay Margaret Armen) are bodiless intelligences whose only thrill in life is to arrange gladiatorial combats between their slaves, kidnapped from many worlds, and wagering on the result. When they kidnap Kirk, Chekov, and Uhura from a routine inspection of an automated monitoring station on Gamma II and bring them to Triskelion, the action is divided between _Enterprise_'s efforts to track them down and the captives' efforts to understand Triskelion culture and free themselves - and the thralls raised in captivity, if possible.

"And the Children Shall Lead" (episode 60, season 3, screenplay Edward J. Lakso). One of the few Trek episodes featuring children. In this case, all the adult members of the Triacus expedition are found dead upon _Enterprise_'s arrival, apparent suicides, but their children are unhurt, even unaffected by their parents' deaths. The Triacus expedition accidentally awakened Gorgan, a hibernating alien presence on the planet, who manipulates the children by offering them power in exchange for helping it regain its own power. Some nice character-revealing touches as Gorgan awakens the adults' worst fears. However, the original episode is flawed by trying to have it both ways, both with Gorgan coercing the children and having them cooperate freely.

"The Corbomite Maneuver" (episode 3, season 1, screenplay Jerry Sohl). [One image from this episode graced Trek's closing credits throughout its run.] On a routine survey/mapping mission, _Enterprise_ makes first contact with the Fesarius, in the person of Captain Belok, an alien of fearsome appearance who paradoxically condemns _Enterprise_ to destruction because of the *Federation*'s violent tendencies. In response to Spock's analogy of checkmate, Kirk changes the paradigm to poker, responding with a bluff: claiming that the _Enterprise_ carries a 'corbomite'-based weapon that'll make any alien victory a Pyrrhic one.

"Shore Leave" (episode 17, season 1, screenplay Theodore Sturgeon aka Edward Hamilton Waldo); the animated sequel "Once Upon a Planet" can be found in _Star Trek Log 3_. Finding an uninhabited and apparently peaceful planet, Kirk agrees with McCoy that it's ideal for some long-overdue shore leave. Ironically, it's more suited to the purpose than they know: a long-gone alien race modified it as a resort, in which the master computer is set to create *any* scenario a guest might desire - potentially very dangerous to those with uncontrolled imaginations. (Kirk, remembering an old Academy rival, for instance, inadvertently conjures him up, and they eventually have a long drawn-out fistfight.)

The mix of episodes used to create this volume is weak, apart from "Shore Leave".

Note that 2 episodes - those featuring con man Harvey Mudd - were never adapted by Blish: Stephen Kandel's episodes "Mudd's Women" and "I, Mudd" (he wrote a sequel, "Mudd's Passion", for the animated series later on.) I don't count "The Cage", as I consider that to have been covered by "The Menagerie".

Oh! At last a James Stewart biography...No, just a piece of sensational pulp from a man who can neither spell, nor construct complete sentences. I hate this book!

I fortunately did not spend any money on this piece of garbage. I do find it amusing that this author, who claims (in several lines on the back cover) to have spent "years researching the true story," and had "many interviews with the family and the man himself," never bothered to learn the correct spelling of Mrs. James Stewart's maiden name! Everywhere throughout the book is Mrs. Gloria McLean Stewart's name and the names of her 2 sons misspelled! Surely with all of the biographies written (both worthwhile and mediocre reads) Mr. Quirk could have glanced at the spelling. We are talking about the one great love and the two sons in this superior actor and father's life! What an atrocity to attempt to mar the image and memory of such a fine, giving, and reputable man. Shame on you, Mr. Quirk. You obviously have done nothing worthwhile in this life and must degrade the work and life of another to boost youself. Post Script: I would have given this zero stars had that been an option.

I saw this book and got excited because I didn't know there was a biography out about Jimmy Stewart. Had I known of Mr. Quirk's reputation for sensationalistic biographies, I would not have gone near this book and I'm sorry I did. He continually and unabashedly from page one infers that Mr. Stewart was as at best a bisexual and he implies much worse. He derides his values, his war record and his movies. I guess since there has never been a hint of scandal about the man, Mr. Quirk decided to invent some. Of course, AFTER Mr. Stewart is no longer with us to defend himself. He spends a paragraph in the last chapter trying to say that Jimmy more or less gave him permission to write a book about him. I doubt this is what he would have in mind. He makes fun of his later movies, primarily it seems because they were "family films". He blisters him for a book of poems he released not even mentioning how well it did or how his reading one in particular about his dog brought the usually unemotional Johnny Carson to tears on THE TONIGHT SHOW in the late 1980's and Johnny showed it every year thereafter on his anniversary shows. I could say much more but the bottom line is if you want to read something real about Jimmy and you don't like wasting money, avoid this book like the plague. I wish I had.