I have read this book to my 4th. grade class for the last 11 years...... I have tryed to make up a different voice for each the main characters.... We have even put on a school-play based on the part of the book that takes place in the department store....the kids love getting dressed up in the costumes that I had made up ..... I love when kids come back( who are now in college /high school) and ask if I still read the story of the Oddkins....

I loved this book. I'm eleven and my teacher read it to us in fourth grade. I'd reccomend this wonderful book to anyone. I thought it was really good. For ages 6-100, It's a good book you can enjoy over and over again. If you have a rainy day, read this book!

This book was first read to me when I was in the third grade by my student teacher, and it has been my favorite book ever since. The characters, although they are stuffed animals, come to life in this enchanting tale. If you haven't read it already, I highly recommend it!

Ok, first of all, let me point out the very well known fact that Christopher Pike, as talented as he is, does not have that much respect from the critics, much like the Horn Book review of this novel. But that's because of a couple of reasons: First of all, you have to have patience with his books. What I mean by that is, I mean that in order for you to like it, you have to read the entire book of his. And, in the entire last vampire series, I think the entire series is one book, telling one story of the same character with a bunch of unique plot twists intertwining. It's a great book, and so is the rest of the series. Sita grows from a cold blooded creature to a character that You later learn to love if you read the rest of the series. The entire series is good, buy it, read it, enjoy it. you'll like it.

All of the Last Vampire series just knocked me off my seat. I loved Seymour, I loved Sita, Ray, and even Kalika in the next few books. I've read all of them about 4 or 5 times and then I bought the collectors edition because I know that these books will be worth a lot of money in the future.

This book is great. It's a nice sequel to #1, though it does become boring in some points.. There's small sub-stories that get told inside by the characters that dont really seem like they need to be there, but nonetheless, they add to the overall effectiveness of the plot.

I read this whole book last night. I just couldn't put it down! It was about a 3 1/2 hour read without too many breaks.. I found it took me 4 chapters to realize i had to go to the restroom and to actually get up to go.

The bad guy's mother is a bit off her rocker, being as old as she is.. Really sick minded, its no wonder that the boy turned out the way he was.

Anyway, it was a good book and i just couldnt put it down. I reccommend this read to anyone who is a fan of Christopher Pike. :)

This opening novel of a space opera sets up an interesting world and is based on an interesting idea. In this world earth is destroyed in a biological and nuculear war and humanity has moved to colonies in orbit. A deadly killer has been released by earths old enemies. Killers that are superhumans enties that have two bodies controled by the same mind.

This book introduces several interesting characters. More importanly the book gets the mood and setting right. The characters move around in style and the story flows well. This book is really a modern dime novel, with the privet eye replaced by a special ops expert.

Unfortuneatly as a trilogy this story fails rather badly. The second and third books do not work nearly as well as the first two. Only the main two characters are kept through all three books and they simply don't stand up the rigor of another seven hundred pages. It is never truly awful the more of this you read the less interesting it is. I can recomend this first novel as a good quick read, but don't feel bad if you don't get around to the sequals.

My friend bought this book for me as a joke because I found the cover art to be amusing. I had read the synopsis on the back of the book, but never seriously thought about reading it until my friend bought it for me. Boy am I glad she did! The book was an genuine page-turner with twists and surprises around every bend. It follows a paratwa - an assassin that is composed of two bodies but one mind - and the paratawa's hunters and victims. In a relatively peaceful existence where everything (including the weather) is controlled by technology, the citizens are literally sheep for the taking as the paratwa reaks havoc. Two paratwa hunters are unfrozen from stasis and sent on the hunt... with technolgoy enabling anybody to alter their identity and the Ash Ock able to fill any position of power, everybody becomes a suspect!

Not only is the book a fascinating and well-crafted story, it brings the eery question to mind of how much technology is too much? And when, not if, will humanity become its own worse enemy?

The first page set you in what initially appears to be a worn-out subject: post-nuclear-war Earth. But within a few minutes you start to realize there is much more to this than you initially think, and by the time you're a quarter of the way though you are completely hooked. By the end of the novel, you find yourself amazed at how Christopher Hinz has managed to weave this story together out of so may complicated subplots and pretexts. The "pre-novel history" that is revealed throughout the story is utterly fascinating (I wish he would publish a prequel, or perhaps The Rigors by Meridian - you'll have to read the book to understand what I'm talking about!).

This is a must-read! I started at 2:00am one night, and didn't sleep until I was done. Since then I've read the book at least 20 or 30 times!

I finally got my own copy of "The Lives of Christopher Chant" and my collection is complete. Even if you have never heard of Chrestomanci in your life you will think he is the greatest after you have completed this book. Jones makes young Christopher interesting and convincing as he is swept through this adventure. It is great to see Christopher's powers forming and a delight when he finally comes into his own. His friend The Goddess is also wonderful. Like many of Jones' young heroines The Goddess is more intelligent and real than many young girls you read about in inferior books. Those who are familiar with the character of Christopher will be enchanted to see the beginnings of the little quirks that make our favorite enchanter so interesting. One of my favorite books.

Despite his connections with the world of enchantment, Christopher Chant is more interested in cricket that magic. Blessed, or cursed, with nine lives and the ability to travel to spirit worlds in his dreams, Christopher isn't too thrilled to discover that he is destined to become the next Chrestomanci. Quite content with his dream worlds and performing tasks for his Uncle Ralph, Christopher is horrified when he is made to leave school and friends behind and travel to Chrestomanci Castle. Here he will learn the skills necessary for his future role, a role that Christopher definitely does not want. Soon the future Chrestomanci is battling a group of smugglers attempting to steal from the dream worlds....

"The Lives of Christopher Chant" is young adult fantasy at its best. The plot is magical and will keep you reading right up until the end. A little slow to get going, the action soon picks up and never stops. Anyone who likes adventure or fantasy should love this. I can't wait to read the remaining books in the Chrestomanci series.

Evey night when young Christopher Chant goes to sleep he turns a corner in his room and enters The Place Between. From there he enters the Anywheres, magical worlds where people are kind to him and give him gifts. And when people find out about his gifts and the fact that he has nine lives they're more than thrilled. CHristopher suddenly finds himself thrown into two words. The world of his Uncle and his magical tests in the anywheres, and the world of the Chrestomanci in the Chrestomanci castle. Through this story CHristopher's magic and loyalty will be tested. And even though he dosen't want it, he's destined to become the great Chrestomanci who we know of so well in Charmed Life.

In my opinion this book housed what the last one I read (Magicians of Caprona) lacked. THe actual presence of the Chrestomanci for more than a couple scenes. I really enjoyed this book and even though I'm done with the series (it was good while it lasted) I'm thinkign about digging into more of the authors work. If you like tales of magic and adventure you'll love this book.

This was the first Christopher Pike book I read 11 years ago.I became hooked to his books until he started getting into the sci-fi,after that I moved on. I have read "Last Act" several times since and still love it today! It has many elements that a good book should have: romance, humor, saddness, and of course suspense. I would say this is a true Christopher Pike classic! I wish he would continue writting stories like this, "Weekend", and "Slumber Pary."

Eighteen-year-old Melanie Martin is new to Careville, Iowa, and feels out of place at her new high school. All of that changes though when she is encouraged to tryout for a part in the school play (Final Chance) by the director, Susan Trels, and lands one of the leading roles. Part of her reason for joining though was because of Marc Hall, the brooding ex-football player she has a crush on and who seems to like her as well.

At first, everything seems to be working out for Melanie--that is, until opening night when one of the cast members is shot and killed on-stage, and Melanie becomes the prime suspect. For the remaining half of the book, Melanie tries to find out who the real killer is, as well as trying to find a link to an accident that happened almost one year ago involving several of the drama students. Because if she doesn't find out soon, she'll be tried--and more than likely convicted--as an adult for first-degree murder.

As with a lot of the Christopher Pike books I've read, I didn't want to set this book aside for anything, not even for sleep. "Last Act" was very engrossing and complex, and it was hard to guess the villain until close to the end because of the back story with Clyde. Another reason why I liked this book so much was because of Jeramie, the eccentric photographer/actor who mostly spoke in riddles. I absolutely fell in love with him from the beginning; he was just flat-out weird and had a wonderfully dry sense of humor that was rarely acknowledged.

In my opinion, "Last Act" is one Mr. Pike's best books and should definitely be read if you're a Pike fan or into teen mysteries.

I read this book last year and i didn't think much of it. I am now reading it over, throughly, and found out it is one of the BEST books i've ever read! i'm not that much into horror books, but this is great! i can't wait to read another one of Pikes books!

I first stumbled upon this book at the age of twelve. I always enjoyed mazes and thought I'd be able to add another notch to my belt in no time at all, an hour at most. I spent every free minute for the next several months looking at this beautiful book, completely lost in its simplicity.

Twelve years later, I found myself entering the maze again, just as bewildered. I finally, with a little help from my friends (who think this book is evil in its purest form,) was able to find the shortest path from 1 to 45 and back again. Now if I can only unravel the hidden riddle and trace the answer through those many rooms, I believe I may just die a happy man.

As for the author/illustrator Christopher Manson, I tip my proverbial hat to you, sir. I believe you may have me in check, but I've a few tricks left up my sleeve as well.

I both fear and covet the next offering of this caliber, though to equal MAZE would be an astonishing feat.

This is my favorite book. Ever.

I'm not too sure about the whole 'riddle-solution' aspect of this book. I have some suspicions, but none I'd consider the *right answer*. But that's not the point. Don't buy this book for a puzzle, buy it for the art. Each room is amazingly drawn in a manner strongly reminiscent of Surrealism. Long ago I scanned all of the pages of the book, and have been using them as desktop wallpaper ever since. There's always something new and interesting to look at.

I remember first stumbling across this book when a Jr. High classmate of mine brought it in for me to look at. I also remember how a number of kids in the class wanted to borrow it and be the first to figure it out. Fast forward 17 years...none of us have come up with the solution. I haven't seen the book since that time but have looked for it in a number of bookstores-waiting for the chance to come across this gem. Great illustrations aside, this is truly a book like no other-it's the paperback version of Myst...and Myst isn't even half this good.

Buy it...you will NOT be disappointed.

Overall, this is very good.

It covers all the main areas to writing a screenplay: Character, plots, story, etc. It covers the formatting stuff, and goes over the business side (getting agent, getting it read).

It has two things some of the other books don't: plenty of little exercises to help get you started. These were very helpful. And a full screenplay of his, with his annotated notes. The screenplay was helpful, particularly for me (a novice) to see how it all comes together.

The only downsides to this book are: 1) it's not as simple, structured, and easy to read as a couple of the others (Charles Deemer's I like alot), 2) The screenplay he wrote is not very good. You'd be better off going to [url] and downloading for free one of the hundreds of scripts there.

However, it did encourage me that if that thing could get optioned, that I could write one that gets optioned too!

If you're a novice, buy Deemer's to read first. If you're a beginner who's got some fundamentals and is starting to get serious, this is the book for you (but skip his script).

Keane's book is a essential for any screenwriter's bookshelf. Not only does it break down the A-Z essential elements of popular screenwriting, but it tackles the difficult subject of how to break into the business. You'd have to buy two or three books by most of the other popular screenwriting gurus to get the gamut of information that Keane packs into this medium size volume. His choice of films to reference as examples of different screenwriting techiniques is excellent and his humour keeps the fledgling writer from being discouraged. Keans writes in optimistic prose that makes you feel your goal is attainable. I read this book before starting my last screenplay and have since moved to Hollywood and had my work open quite a few doors. This is a coherant, reader-friendly how-to book that covers all the bases and is head and shoulders above the rest of its ilk.

Keane's approach to screenwriting emphasizes building on the foundations of concept and character, not just plugging variables into a screenplay formula. The chapters are organized in order of importance _for the success of the script,_ always posing tough questions upfront that can save the writer days of rewrite. Every time I start a new project or get stuck on one aspect, I go back to this book relying on it to point out story weaknesses as well as bring up practical business considerations. This guide is the next best thing to a personalized analysis, making the most of your abilities. Keane's anecdotes, advice, and tips carry weight because he writes from inside the entertainment industry, selling scripts that get produced today. From inkling of an idea to finding an agent, Keane's book is the most thorough and definitive screenwriting guide I've ever read.

A wonderful childhood book to read again even now at age 52.

The pictures of the tigers, bright clothing and how to make butter are still fresh in my mind from that story. I ran around that tree with that little boy, time and time again and I am glad that we are able to have this book available to share with our children and grandchildren.

Written by a British woman living in India at the turn of the century to entertain her two daughters, Little Black Sambo quickly became a funny classic of children's literature (modern fantasy). It is a tale of a jolly, resourceful little boy who gives away his red coat and his blue trousers and his purple shoes and his green umbrella to the different tigers who want to eat him up. Then the tigers fight over which is the grandest tiger, and chase each other around a tree, not letting go of each others' tails until they turn into butter. Little Black Sambo rescues his clothing and his father takes the melted butter home so his mother can make pancakes. They all sit down to supper and Little Black Sambo eats the most pancakes because he is so very hungry.

This book has the language of story-telling which appeals to children. It is also good to let children play-act out the story. The pictures illustrate the story with humor as well. The simple words, and the highly effective repetition, capture the attention of both reader and listener, frightening them just enough to excite them.

One of the most successful books ever written for the two-to-five age group, each picture exactly illustrates a moment in the story. The text and pictures present non-white people as living in entirely primitive conditions, and as having no culture. Sambo communicates with animals, which seemed to imply that he is inferior, and close to the animal world. The illustrations are crudely drawn, grinning stereotypes with clownish eyes and huge mouths. The situation "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up and I'll give you my beautiful little Red Coat" is the picture of the always docile black. Sambo's parents are called Black Jumbo and Black Mumbo, and these names are rather apt to harbor racial and religious intolerance (as in the phrase "mumbo-jumbo").

At the time she was writing the story, black had no unpleasant significance. Indians were quite prepared to talk about black; the derogatory idea crept in later. Bannerman did not have any sort of color prejudice: black was used to make an interesting story for children and a black child was a more romantic figure for a white child to read about. It was inevitable that a woman of Bannerman's background and period would think and write as she did. Her outlook is certainly racist in the context of today, and would have no place in a multi-racial society.

This book has been repeatedly challenged as an acceptance of white superiority, and is still banned from libraries, showing an awareness of the deep roots of racism in our history, culture, and language.

Digging through an old box, I found my tiny, tattered little book of Little Black Sambo, which is very old as it was my dad's before mine! I LOVED this book as a child, I am 30 now, and can't wait to share it with my own children. I remember just staring at the brilliantly colored illustrations and being entranced by the whole story line---even a little scared at the tigers! I really did wonder if tigers running in circles could make butter and I even think I asked my dad if it was real!

I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised to see that you can still purchase this book, although in the original format I have no idea. It is too bad that libraries would think to ban a book like this----I am a "white" person who is totally colorblind and I have to say that reading and loving Little Black Sambo as a child never made me want to be racist or gave me racist thoughts. It is a work of fiction, and even as a child I knew that it was just a story.

Anyways--this is a great read for grownups and for reading to little ones--and it is a good thing, I guess, that you can also purchase a politically correct version to share with children of any color also--because the story line is the fun part of the book.

KT

I've never read any of Christopher Pike's books before but this book isn't that bad. Just reading this book tells me that this Pike fellow is a very vivid writer thats one thing I really like about this book. You could say that I like his "vividness" ^_~ If theres one thing I don't like about this book it's that some parts are really prolonged! Grrrr! Theres this one part in the book where the main character is looking in the water and she's having a vision. Now she's having this vision but the writer never really gets to the vision. The book starts telling me stuff that happening to her. I want to know what that vision was! OH well what ever! ^_^ This book is still cool because the girl is a witch and she fights stuff. So.......yeah! Read this book! "It Be cool"

A great reading adventure. The outcome of reading the book is almost 'magical'. Julia, a seventeen year old 'good witch' has learned through her mother, that she has great gifts to help the world. The journey is enlightening. One thing her mother told her never to do is look into a pond with the moonlight shining upon it. She's intrigued by this statement and gets trapped into seeing the future because of it. The story line picks up after this vision and what she does to stop it, the actions from all her friends and the conclusion. Pike, always goes into depth of the characters. You will feel as though you know them. You will feel for them. Intriguing and magical, I give this book a high rating and would recommend to most young adults.

Witch was one of the best books I've ever read. Julia was an incrediable character,and she was portrayed very realistically.I read The Last Vampire before this one, the 1st vampire book was my first Pike book, and i have to say Witch equals the series.I understood her motivation and I also understood what her best friend felt at the end because I felt for Amy, afraid of losing Julia, afraid that (she was going to sink below the surface again and never reappear) witchp pg.33 It was a good, but very sad book. I cried for a very loong time.

Bob Fenner is one of the most helpful personalities in the industry. I bought his book only after finding his personalized help offered on [the internet]. He helped me avoid so many pitfalls with his website, I just had to buy his book. It's not all pictures like so many books, and it's up to date. I've saved myself a lot of money just using his book and following his advice. With the price of marine aquariums and fishes, saving even one fish buys this book for you. Check it out, or check him out on his site first. I'm sure you wont be disappointed.

It is needless to say how great this book is. It covers almost every possible topics for beginner and is very interesting reading. However, there are few things you may want to know:

1. The author sometimes scatter important notes of same topic in different section and never repeat. You want to read this book carefully and word by word.

2. Some topics are not very detail for a beginner. For example, the medical treatment for desease dont not cover the appropriate dosage or treatment time. For filtration system, it does not recommand which type of filter capacity is suitable for certain size of aquarium.

3. Many spices of fish and invertabrates have no picture in this book to help you identify them

4. This book is a must for any one who just started a marine aquarium but may not be enough for experienced aquarist

Overall, I still give this book 5 star for giving so much experienced advices that my marine aquarium is finally sucessful.

This is a great book to get you started. Most topics are covered in an easy to understand context. In-depth discussions about irrelevant topics are left out, although you will gain a greater understanding from this book much moreso than the average beginner book. It explains differences between fish only systems, fish & invertebrate systems, and reef systems and gives you all the knowledge you need to get started and maintain the system of your choosing. Although specific in-depth discussions are not found here as in other books I've read (i.e. books by Martin Moe who tends to elaborate on inpertinent information which may be of interest to advanced marinists), this book contains the most USEFUL information in one place. Pictures are great--very colorful and and helpful in some instances. Also, the author of "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" is quite concerned about the environmental impact of specimen collection on our coral reefs, and lays out an outlook that all of us should adhere to. I would definitely recommend this book to all but the most experienced who keep a salt water system.