Man of the Family by Kathleen Karr is an historical fiction that is somewhat based on the experiences of Karr's father when he was a young boy. The story takes place in South Jersey in the year 1924. Here, an Hungarian immigrant couple are raising their five children on a chicken farm. Once a school teacher in Hungary, the father of this family, named Mihaly, is now forced to rely on farming for support since teaching in the United States requires a better knowledge of the English language than he has. Even though he can't teach in a classroom, Mihaly still spends his time teaching life's lessons to his children, especially to his eldest son Istvan. Istvan at 10 years old takes on many of the responsibilities of the chicken farm as he works alongside his father to make improvements on the farm. Even though Istvan thinks he is only helping his father, he is actually learning a lot about himself. All of these lessons will be recalled for Istvan in the face of a sudden tragedy. This is a very heart-warming, well-written book. It is nice to read a book that emphasizes family values and the influence of a good father on a family. Karr brings her father's life to this book in an eloquent, inspiring way. This book is worth the read for not only children, but for people of all ages!

The story has a slow start but does get interesting near the end. Over all it's a fairly good book.

One need not feel sorry for Gideon even though he is surrounded with irresponsible adults. Gideon is thoughtful and intelligent enough to make up for them all. Karr's characters are alive and handle the problems she throws at them;sometimes efficiently,sometimes unrealistically but always in an entertaining fashion. Chapter 7 is spine-tingling. Fifth graders will enjoy this romp.

In the Kaisers Clutch is a fun* book about two twins Fitzhugh and Nelly Dalton. They are preforming in a series that their mother is writing. They are doing great in the series when a number of byzar insidents happen to Nelly and Fitzhugh. They track down their late fathers co-worker to unmasked their staker. They find information on their stackers. When having dinner with their late father's co-worker Mr. Quinlen they see a suspious group and follow them home. When they follow them home they see some kind of smoke coming out of the laberatory. Nelly goes inside to find out whats happening. ITS THEIR STAKER. Nelly is in there what will happen to here?