I am a high school biology teacher. Since reading this book I have purchased 5 of the Magic School Bus Chapter Books. This book provides excellent scientific information and students of all ages enjoy. I had my 6 year old nephew read it, I read it, and one of my freshmen biology students read it. We all came to the same conclusion; we want to take a trip the aquarium and see the sharks firsthand for ourselves. I highly reccommend anyone with a child or a love for science to read this book.

My 5 year daughter and I recently finished reading this book. This series is a wonderful way for kids to learn about science. After reading this book, she asked to go to a local aquarium to see some sharks for herself. We can't wait to read the other books in the series.

At home in Derry, young Joe Logan is tormented by the demans of his father and all his 'fairytale' stories. The atmosphere in this book is enough on its own to keep you enthralled.

At home in Derry, young Joe Logan is tormented by the demands of his father who was once a hero. This book is a look at Joes life, the good and the bad. The atmosphere of the area around him is enough on its own to be enthralling.

Dear Shelley, I liked your book called Adventure at the Bottom of the World:Adventure at the Top of the World. I liked learning about what you do to prepare to climb a mountain and what they do while climbing a mountain. It was very good.

Jennifer Johnston reminds us of the waste and regret that comes from love in inopportune times, in places where greater forces of emotion and hate are at play. Ireland after 1916 was a place of reawakened pride and passion. Those who existed in the previous order saw little place for themselves in the country about to be born. Johnston captures that sense of opportunity lost, for Miranda and, indeed, for the whole country. Living in South Africa today, it seems so familiar. A beautifully written book.

Two Moons is an excellent novel. Its use of symbolism throughout the novel is amazing. The book has a strong theme of guilt between all the characters and also has a small focus on old age and the preparation of death. It is a good read, not a long read and very poetic and a fantastic ending.

this book was slow and crap!!!¿¿¿

I didn't read this book out of my own free will. Unfortunately I had to read it for my leaving cert examination as it is one of the texts on my course. One of the reasons the book was chosen was because of it's brevity. The story itself is a very simple one. Alex trys to break the social,political and religious barriers by forging a relationship with Jerry, a Catholic boy on the opposite side of the great divide. Much of the book concentrates on the suspicious antics of the two and leads to some serious questions about their sexuality(Once they go swimming naked together). The second part of the book is set in the fields of Flanders during the First World War. This is were the book begins to get interesting. The sheer veracity with which she portrays the horrors of war is a great feature of her writing. For those who haven't read the book yet, I will not spoil it by telling you what happens in the end.

I read this slim volume because it is on my sons junior cert syllabus and I wanted to be able to discuss it with him. I am extremely happy to have been introduced to Jennifer Johnston via this book, it shall not be the last book by this author that I shall read.
The story is of a gentle boy growing up in austere circumstances in rural Ireland. His boy hood and youth is lonely and in many ways guilt ridden. He is educated at home and has no experience outside the very claustropobic circle of his own family. A domineering mother makes his and his fathers life hell. Alexanders only escape is through a local boy he meets when he is aged about 12 years. Jerry is a rag tag country urchin who lives life in the rural countryside to the full. The friendship by tacid agreement is kept secret, but they do make plans for the future. Naturally when Alex's mother finds out about the friendship she forbids it and takes Alex on an European trip to remove him from Jerrys influance.
As the boys grow into early manhood Alex begins to take his place at his fathers side managing their estate, Jerry takes a local labouring job. Alex begins to see life through his fathers eyes and begins to sympathise with him. Mother is not pleased and finds a perfect way to seperate father and son. She insists that Alexander goes to war.
Against his and fathers wishes this gently,uneducated ineffective boy/man is packed off to the British Army. Jerry due to econimic necessity also joins up. Alex is now and officer and Jerry an enlisted man. Becaus they are both in The Irish Brigade they are in the same company and so the unsuitable friendship continues,through the unmentionalbe horrors of WW1.
Both boys quickly turn to men and both meet the same sad and undeserved fate, much of which is caused by the establishments inability to understand the bonds of friendship and loyalty and by the young and unexperienced mens inability to stand up for themselves.

This is a wonderful book, ineffibly sad and evocative. Ms Johnston has an amazing ability to make one feel the cold, the mud, the fleas, the rats the naked fear, the utter despair.She can, with so few words, show how a superior can strip a man of his humanity, dignity and of his pride. These man are driven beyond any ability to cope, no 'normal ' terms of reference are left for them. They are quite unable to deal with what life is throwing at them and this inability leads to tragedy.
Two books which spring to mind are 'On The Western Front'by an author I cant recall and 'Bird Song' by Sabastian Faulks, these books evoke the same emotions as How Many MIles to Babylon.

"The Railway Station Man" is an unusual novel. It is not terribly long, and we are offered only a very brief snapshot into the lives of the characters around which the story evolves. The main character is a widow who seeks a new life in a small coastal village in Ireland after her husband is tragically killed and finds a sort of guilty hard won happiness with her painting and her cat. Her loneliness is broken occasionally by the visits of her distant son, and eventually she finds a different sort of happiness with the eccentric war hero who has bought the local abandoned railway station with a view to restoring it.

If this is a novel of anything however, it is how fleeting any happiness can be. In the background of this seemingly innocent tale is the great Irish "troubles" - hints of the IRA and matters far from innocent. It has all the ingredients for a rich and fascinating tale.

However, all of these ingredients do not really make for the wonderful tale that it could be - it falls a little far from the mark. We do not get to know these pivotal characters very well - things are hinted at in their past but never elaborated on. There is some issue brewing in the background, and somehow this is only hinted at until the shocking conclusion - shocking in both what happens and how abruptly it finishes the book. It is certainly well written, and has the promise of a far greater novel, but that is all it is - the promise of a great novel, and one that falls way short.