when i read these books i feel as if i am actually watching their videos it is like that with the other books i read like the full house books if i really get into the book i could sit there and read the book until its finished.

I thought it was a very good book. It had a good mystery in it. I enjoyed reading the book. I like reading all of Mary Kate and Ashley books.

This book shows even the most modest beginner how to grow, cook with, decorate, and use herbs cosmetically and medicinally. This book highlights ten common herbs you will recognize and be able to use such as: basil, rosemary, and oregano. I am looking forward to reading her next book. I highly recommend buying this book.

After September 11, 2001 many authors felt it necessary to respond in some way. But how? Joyce Carol Oates has chosen to write a novel, not about that historical event specifically, but about the nature of hate and evil. She chooses to concentrate this exploration in the intimate environment of a celebrated, reclusive writer named Joshua Seigl. He has reached a point in his life where he realises that he can no longer block the world out and needs human company. Searching for an assistant to help him organize his enormous body of work and attend to the menial chores of his large house, he encounters a drifter who calls herself Alma. Her body is covered in what may be scars, birthmarks or tattoos. Alma uses these mysterious marks on her body to fashion a personality for herself which can confront the uglier aspects of the world that her more sensitive self cannot combat. After hiring her there follows a working relationship in the intimate space of Seigl's house that unearths hidden aspects of both their identities. The unspoken antithesis that exists between them is built through months of a seemingly harmonious working relationship. Yet the hatred that exists between them is brought physically to the forefront by the exaggerated attitudes of Alma's dangerous, anti-Semitic lover Dmitri and Seigl's mentally unbalanced, passionately upper class sister Jet. Inevitably, the central characters own prejudices must come to the forefront where a tacit understanding is formed amidst tragic events.

The ultimate question this novel raises is: what place does art have in illuminating the past and dispensing with hatred? The answer is not as simple as it appears because fiction does not deal in truth. One can't help feeling that Oates herself is attempting to work out her own feelings over the matter in a heated argument toward the end of the novel where Joshua defends his writing:

"'Alma, I think of myself as writing stories for others. In place of others who are dead, or mute. Who can't speak for themselves.'"

This argument for the exhumation of buried events and people is the same that Oates has used in interviews to explain why she has written some novels such as Black Water and Blonde that reinvent historical situations. Alma's rebuttal is that he pretends to know these things, but doesn't actually know. However, one could argue that the point of fictional writing isn't to get at the "truth" but to convey an "idea" and in these "ideas" we discover the reality that has been hidden. The Tattooed Girl isn't a political novel in any obvious allegorical manner. It does, however, haunt your thoughts in the way it illuminates the divisions (economical, social, racial and religious) between people to such a startlingly intense degree. It is an incredibly important book that ought to be read now.

Although there aren't lots of designs to choose from (15) they are well-chosen with full-color pictures and easy directions. Includes hats, gliders, snapping mouths, jumping frogs, poppers, pinwheels, beads, star box, balloons, lilies and more. I borrowed it from the library to show my kids, but I'm buying a copy to keep.

This was a great book. I thought it was funny and exciting. The reason that it was funny was because they thought a man was a monster, but it was only Matt. It was funny becuase Matt was a kid and the three other guys were adults. Now if you want to find out the other problem you can read the story to find out. You can find this book in a local library or the media center. It was exciting because I always get fascintatecdd in the mysteries. So read the book.

This is still 5 of 5 but I usually rate books higher. It's OK.

this book is cool, you read the story and learn at the same time about plants volcano's .

at the same time you see some "action" in it and always the twins find their why out.

like why is there snow on the top of the mountain? and is there ar Siver monster?

in one line: Its cool to read the book with the action and the twins always solve any crime by dinner time and you learn about plants and volcano's

This sentimental gem by the author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm glows with familial warmth and the true spirit of Christmas. A frail ten-year-old girl named Carol (because she was born on Christmas Day and her mother heard the carols from the church next door) plans a memorable Christmas for a poor family of 9 children who live in the back alley. Carol wants nothing for herself this year, since she feels already blessed by the riches of love from her own family.

Quaintly narrated with occasional old-fashioned words to remind us of its century-old setting, this book may not appeal to hardcore 90's school kids, who prefer action and popular slang. But the messages of family unity, bravery in the face of hopelessness, and cheerful self-sacrifice provide inspiration, especially during the holiday season. Perfect to be read aloud a chapter at a time--promoting intergenerational literary pleasure and special family memories.

This is one of the books my third-grade teacher read aloud to us after recess to ease us back into our afternoon studies. It took at least a week, perhaps two for her to work her way through the story, which many of us had not heard before (unless we had an older brother or sister who had heard her read it during a previous year and came home to retell it). Some of her book choices appealed more to girls, some more to boys, but this one, I remember distinctly -- more than forty years later -- kept all of us attentive.

The story, set in the 1880's, is simple: after several sons, a family finally has a little girl, who is named Carol because she is born on Christmas morning when the sounds of the choir singing a carol came floating in the window of the house. Sadly, she has an illness (unnamed) that the she and family must accept is incurable and will be fatal. Although she has just about every toy imaginable, and the continuous attention of her parents and older brothers, she longs to do something for someone else and decides, after a bit of thinking, to throw a birthday party (i.e., Christmas party) and invite the poor Ruggles children who live in the lane.

It can not be denied that the story is dripping with Victorian sentimentality and that Carol is almost too good to be true, nor can it be denied that it is effectively told and will touch all but the hardest hearts. The image of the Ruggles children wrapped in blankets while their mother washed their clothes in anticipation of the party is but one of the vivid vignettes in this delightful book.

Along with the Nativity story and "A Christmas Carol", put this on top of the list for holiday reading. As my third-grade teacher (long-departed) proved, this is a wonderful read-aloud story.

I first heard the Birds Christmas Carol when I was in grade school a long time ago. Our teacher was new to the area and I think she read the story to us because there was a little girl named Peoria. I loved the story from the very start. A few years later my parents purchased a house to renovate and I found a copy of the book in the attic. This was about 1954 or so. The publishing date in the book I discovered was 1888. I treasured this book and read it every year right after Thanksgiving. It always brought tears to my eyes. After I married I thought I packed all my books and stored them in my garage. I really didn't have time to look for or read the book for a few years and one day my son and the littled boy next dood apparently were playingg with matches and burning pages of books in my garage. I was most upset when I felt my old copy of the Birds Christmas Carol was burned up. This was about 1970. Recently, my daughter was searching through some old books at my mothers house and what do you know. She found my cherished copy of The Birds Christmas Carol intact. I have purchased a new copy to read to my children but now I can read my original copy to my grandchildren. I will alway cherish the story.I will always cherich my first copy of it that I have recovered after all these years.

I'LL TAKE YOU THERE was my first exposure to Joyce Carol Oates so I had no idea what to expect when I initially opened the front cover. At first glance the unnamed protagonist struck a nerve with me. She seemed so...strange and bizarre. But as the plot unfolded I became more entranced by her and began to comprehend her motives and actions. She was no longer strange but indeed a real and complex human being. Lacking any type of supporting family network she ventures through life trying to make emotional connections with others that she never experienced before. Set in upstate New York in the early 1960's the protagonist tries her best to integrate into Syracuse University social life. Unfortunately the harder she tries the more isolated she becomes. Her sorority sisters and classmates view her as a loser and social outcast. Her self-esteem suffers. Taking refuge in her studies she becomes enthralled by philosophical inquires. While in class one day she becomes acquainted with an advanced graduate student who shares her passion for philosophy. Social mores dictate that they should not become friends, let alone lovers, since she is white and he is black. Determined that she has enough love for both of them she begins to follow him around campus and stand outside of his apartment building. In the midst of the Civil Rights movement both characters face the harsh realities of race relations that are determined to split them apart. I'LL TAKE YOU THERE is a captivating novel that seeps into one's subconscious even while not reading. Oates' unnamed protagonist is unique and captivating. I enjoyed reading this book and I found myself often looking forward to the next time I can pick it up again.

This is a book about love: The narrator tells us about her attempts to belong. She wants to belong to the sorority, be one of those smooth, lovable girls - but all too soon she realizes that this cannot be: she's different. Maybe this feeling of being different from the "normal" people around her attracts her to the graduate student Vernor, although she falls in love with his clever voice before she sees his African American face. Vernor hates himself; he is drawn to philosophy because it seems to be a spiritual realm untainted with self; so it is no wonder that he cannot accept the narrator's love. The narrator's family seems to be devoid of love. Her mother died shortly after the narrator was born, who finds herself accused of being the one to blame for her mother's death. Her father, brothers, grandparents are taciturn, elusive strangers; and yet... This powerful novel shows how you create yourself, trying to be who you want to be; at the same time it proves that there are basics - roots? - from which you cannot escape.

Oates is a master at evoking physical and spiritual reality. The reader can smell the nightmare of the sorority house; the physical encounters with Vernor are so shocking because they are so real.
Maybe some readers' judgments are clouded by their expectations which come from reading other novels by Joyce Carol Oates. This is the first novel by her I have read, and I am deeply impressed by her mastery of the English language, by the beautiful rhythms and vivd descriptions which reminded me of Woolf and Mansfield.

I'll Take You There is a story divided into three sections concerning crucial stages of a girl's development and narrated in the first person by the girl, Anellia, herself. This is the same structure Joyce Carol Oates uses in her 1986 novel Marya: A Life though the stories of the two novels differ in some crucial elements. The first section, The Penitent, is primarily concerned with Anellia's torturous time spent in a sorority called Kappa Gamma Pi and her relationship with the foreboding and ultimately tragic English headmistress Mrs. Agnes Thayer. Her entrance into the sorority sparked by a timid desire to gain acceptance from her peers, gradually reveals the shallow nature of the sisters and the vacuous symbols of their elite collective. The second section, The Negro Lover, explores Anellia's complex relationship with brilliant and troubled Vernor Matheius. Her obsession with the philosophy student blooms into a tumultuous relationship based on passion that is stirred by feelings of alienation. Each of them are fiercely intelligent and trapped by a societal definition based on the exterior that they cannot escape. But unlike Vernor, Anellia embraces this identity distinction, her Jewish heritage, in order to exile herself from the repugnant normality she has discovered. The third and slightest section, The Way Out, finds Anellia extracted from the developmental struggle of university and unexpectedly driven to a reunion with her estranged father. As he is slowly dying, she develops a relationship with his caregiver and fiancee Hildie. The feelings of opportunities lost and emotions wasted are gradually excavated over their time together as they come to terms with losing a man who will always remain an aloof mystery.

This novel is brewing with complex ideas all delicately arranged around an intricate plot. The sections of the novel could stand quite independently from each other. But together they draw an intriguing picture of Anellia's development and her discovery of the woman she wants to become. The frame she has set around her life is designed to mollify her qualms with existence but it is also a trap that limits the freedom of her individuality. The language she composes to liberate herself is also an unbearable burden. This is revealed in the telling line: "In fear I seemed to be plucking at, with childish fingers, a consolation of philosophy." Anellia's relationship with Vernor is akin to an artist gazing upon her muse, drawing inspiration and guidance to create an artwork, an identity for herself. Unhesitating in her confrontation of the troubles of racial relations as Oates always is, the denial of the language which defines Vernor's color provokes the collapse of any true connection between them. This, paired with Vernor's own inability to divert from the path he has limited himself to, makes their coupling wildly antagonistic and dangerous.

It is significant that Oates has dedicated this novel to Gloria Vanderbilt, the visual artist, on who's work Oates has written: "It may be that Dream Boxes represent an elliptical, subversive reclaiming of identity by one who has, unlike most of us, been over-defined - 'over-determined' in psychoanalytical terms-by the exterior world." Anellia is also unique and this confession to an unknown companion is her psychological triptych. Engagingly emotional and philosophical, I'll Take You There is a deep study of a difficult climb to adulthood. Its artful composition produces a compelling novel. It is a skillful accomplishment that can be enjoyed by both the passionate thinking and the romantic reader.

In Orman's first Doctor Who novel, the Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Benny fight an entity from Aztec times that is a sort of Blishian Jack-the-Ripper character, surviving on death and destruction. I'm afraid that this book did nothing to change my lack of enthusiasm for Doctor Who novels: if I want good science fiction, I'll read good science fiction. If I want good character pieces, I'll read fanfic. This mishmash succeeds at neither, and I'm not singling out Orman - that's my capsule opinion of all of the Doctor Who New Adventures, with rare exceptions.

THE LEFT-HANDED HUMMINGBIRD is one of the few Doctor Who books that I've read multiple times. It's one of my favorites and never disappoints. It feels different from a lot of the books surround it in the series, and given the differing styles of the NA authors, that is saying quite a bit.

"Gritty", "realistic" and "intense" are the words that come to mind first when thinking about this book. The characters are certainly put through hell, but it never feels gratuitous or unnecessary. Their suffering isn't approached one-dimensionally, as the ordeals that our friends are put through actually reveal a lot about how their characters work. It's a bit of a cliché to say so, but we learn about fictional characters when we see them put through the wringer. It's not so much that we see people here who are scared, but that their fear is portrayed in a realistic way. There is no false bravado or boring heroism. When people stand up against the odds, it actually means something.

The story is relatively fast-moving. I was amazed at how much had happened before I had even got to page fifty. The plot is perhaps a little more complicated than it really needs to be, but I found that to be enjoyable, so I can't complain too much. It all fits together logically and satisfactorily. No cheap short cuts are taken, so despite the different timelines and detailed plot strands, everything fits together amazingly well.

There's not too much to complain about here. A few of the Beatles jokes get a little silly. Maybe the plot jumps about a bit too quickly at the end. Though when these are the biggest problems in a book you know you're reading a winner. If you never got around to reading this one on its initial publication, then you missed out on something special. This one's a keeper.

Combining a series of well-known events (the Aztec empire, the sinking of the Titanic, and the assassination of John Lennon) with an underlying strange force that is influencing matters across time, this story advances the current story arc in an unexpected manner...

This is the first novel by Kate Orman, who is one of the best of the Who authors, continues the "Alternate Universe" arc (started with 'Blood Heat' and 'The Dimension Riders' and continuing with 'Conundrum' and 'No Future'). And what a debut! A vital utilisation of the time travel concept underlying the series, a fairly complex plot that slowly unravels as the story continues.

One of Ms Orman's strong points is characterisation, and this is on display herein. However, she is not yet at the height of her writing powers in this book, good though it is. You should give this, and any other books by the same author, a thorough read.

Wonderfull book that encourages children to thnk about their ability to make a difference in environmental issues. One 11 year old boy I know missed dinner to finish the story! Great story with a likeable heroine.