14 year old Thad wants to be a scout. He starts to look for dinosaur bones on Indian land. The Indians find him, they mean no harm. He becomes friends with them and learns about life. Thad meets Buffalo Bill and he recommends Thad for a fossil hunting expedition. Thad gets the job and starts digging with them. This book starts kind of slow but then picks up the pace. The characters are great and the plot is awesome.

Wow! what a book to read! Hey, it is a book everybody should read at least once.

This book was a very good book. It tells most of the things you need to know about Mark Twain, and it tells them in an interesting way. The only problem with using this book to write a report about Mark Twain's life is that it doesn't include some things that you might need to know. For example, it doesn't say the school he went to (which was John Dawson school). It also doesn't say too much about his children or wife. But it does tell a lot of good details, even little ones, about his life. I think this is a good book if you want to learn about Mark Twain or write a report about him.

DARK SWAN is a good mystery, but equally important it has some very interesting characters. I came on line to see if I could find some more books by the same author that would feature Calista and her son, Charley. I feel like they are people that I want to know better and that there are things in their past that I want to find out about. The author treats some difficult subject matter in a very sympathetic manner and I really enjoyed some of the tongue-in-cheek (?) descriptions. I had figured out "who done it" before the end of the book, but that didn't interfere with my involvement with the characters as they worked toward the solution. I just finished the book about half an hour ago and have already passed it on to someone else!

this was a pretty good book. however, i am not too interested in the mexican war, so i was not very interested in some parts of the story line, but if u r interested in the mexican war, this book is definetly 4 u!

I think the best part of the book is that it shows children the fun and excitement of doing primate research in the wild. It shows why Alison Jolly has returned to the same piece of forest for the last 30 years. It balances that by displaying some of the sorrow when you cannot help a dying animal.

And of course, it describes Lemur catta social organization at a level which should be entertaining to children, and mentions briefly some of the other lemurs found in Berenty reserve.

The book is nicely illustrated with photographs on every page.

This book was aimed to be read by a younger audience (kids ages 7-14). It covers information about formation of the island and the colonization of the island in a simple written manner. I also like the way it divides the book into 11 chapters and adds something about the poetic Edda at the start of each chapter to relay how mythology interplays with realistic events like the formation of such an island. But as an adult reader, I still had more questions after I finished the book.

The book does not go in depth about the geological nature of the island. Yes, the island was formed from a volcanic eruption, but what is the nature and quality of the land? Will it be settled by Man as it has been by birds and plant-life? What is the future of such an island? (The book implies at the end that it will be destroyed, but does not tell the reader the specifics of how/when/why). I was looking to answer such questions more in depth about this new island.

The stength of this book lies in its remarkable pictures. If only you could get some of these astonishing pictures as a poster and hang them up on your walls...You would stare at them in awe for hours!

As far as buying it...it would be worth your money if you have kids who like volcanos or like to read because they would be able to appreciate it more. If not, it would be worth getting it to read at a public library or a used book. I would not spend too much money obtaining it.

The book, "Beyond the Divide," is a book, portraying the life of Meribah Simon, an Amish girl from a close-knit Pennsylvanian community. Most of the plot takes place on the trail that Meribah and her father, Will Simon, are traveling on to California for the gold rush. During their long journey, the Simon's come together with other traveling families and become close friends. Between the emigrants, they shared food, labor, and supplies. Meribah meets a girl named Serena, and they become close friends. Along the trail, strange occurances happen and Serena and her mother disappear. These strange occurances caused by the cruelty exemlified by the other travelers. Finally, Meribah and her father are abandoned. During this, Will Simon, the dad, is very sick, and the first snowflakes fall. Meribah knows that only a miracle can save them. Giving this book three stars, would be offering it way too much credit. Since this book was action packed at some parts, I'm giving it two stars, but it was lacking the real experience of migration to the West. So, for future reference, don't read this book because you will be wasting your time. In conclusion, I suggest this book to no one and all the illiterates around the world.

All Alone

Have you ever had to choose between your loving father and the place you have lived for your whole life? Meribah Simon has. She lived in an Amish community her whole life, but now has left her home to search for gold with her father. On April 1,1849,Meribah and her father leave Holly Springs, Pennsylvania, to start their journey. Traveling in a covered wagon, they join the train and meet all kinds of people. Meribah becomes friends with Serena Billings, a rich girl traveling with her family. While Meribah draws, Serena paints. Not all the people are nice though. The Timm brothers are always making trouble. They meet up with some Indians but they just want to trade. One day Serena goes on a walk with Mr. Wickham. The Timm brothers go too, and something awful happens. At first no one will tell Meribah what happened and Serena will not speak to anyone. Finally Meribah realizes what happened and tries to help Serena get better. But she does not get better and one day just wanders off, never seen again. Her mother, wanting to find Serena, also leaves, never found.
In August, Meribah's father gets sick. Meribah has to do most of the work, with some help from others. Then the Whitings get sick and Meribah and her father stay behind with them while the train moves on. Then the Whitings decide not to go on, so Meribah and her father move on. Finally they catch up. Then they crash and their stronger ox, Josie, dies. They are left behind to live on their own. They make home in a cave, and Will tells Meribah how to fix the wagon. Then someone comes to the rescue. It is Mr. Goodnough, an artist Meribah met in Saint Joseph. They join his wagon train and are on their way again. After awhile, Goodnough decides to stay back with Meribah because her father cannot make it.
After a couple of weeks Goodnough decides to go get help. Soon after he leaves, Meribah's father dies. Meribah is alone.
This book is good, but spread out too long. I think True North, another book by the same author, was better. It was more compact.

"Beyond the Divde" is a great book, intended for mature readers. Will Simon has been shunned by his Amish community and is planning to go to California. His daughter Meribah travels with him and this is her story on the trip on the emigrant trail during the Gold Rush. They join a company and Meribah becomes friends with a rich girl name Serena Billings. This book is packed with emotion, information, and action. I guarentee that a mature reader, who enjoys or dosen't mind historical fiction, will love this book.

Reading this book is by far the most boring thing I have ever done in my enitre life. I would rather poke my eyes out than ever read this book again. The plot consists of a girl named Afrika, a slave who is trying to escape to Canada. Simultaneously, a completely unneccesary, boring side plot is thrown in about a girl named Lucy, who is a selfish brat who cares only about herself. The entire book she complains about her sister's wedding. Only during the last few pages does Lucy contribute anything at all to the main plot. If not for Lucy, this would be a mediocre book. Whatever you do, stay clear from this book.

True North was one story that I felt transported to. One minute I was sitting on my bed reading and the next I was in 19th Century Boston. The book is a story of two very different girls whose paths cross. The first is Afrika, a fugitive slave girl who is travelling on the Underground Railroad. Afrika had previously been sexually abused by her overseer and the result, her child, died. The other is a tomboy named Lucy Bradford, who feels out of place amongst her sister's wedding plans and life in Boston. Suddenly, Lucy learns the truth about her beloved grandfather, Pap. He is a conductor on the Underground Railroad. But a sudden tragedy forces Lucy to graduate from childhood forever. Thus on her path to womanhood she meets Afrika; who is depending on Lucy to take Pap's place. I liked this book and was astounded by the realism of the girls' predicaments, while at the same time I thought that parts of True North were unrealistic.

True North, by Kathryn Lasky, is one of the best books I have read about the Underground Railroad. It tells the parallel stories of Lucy Bradford, the youngest daughter of a well-to-do Boston family, and Afrika, a fourteen-year-old slave girl who is escaping on the Underground Railroad. As the story moves on, the two girl's lives grow closer together, as Lucy discovers a well-kept secret that her grandfather is involved in the Underground Railroad. As Lucy is trying to avoid the seemingly endless parties leading up to her sister Iris's wedding, Afrika is sleeping by day and walking miles upon miles at night, following the stars and the moss to reach Canada and freedom. Kathryn Lasky wrote a masterpiece here, interweaving fact with fiction to create a highly educational and enjoyable story.

"The Journal of Augustus Pelletier: The Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804" was not a good addition to the "My Name Is America" series, and a disappointment for author Kathryn Lasky. I was looking forward to more history, but instead was shown a lot of scenery. After reading this book, I felt like I walked away only reading half of his diary. The beginning started out very good, but by the end, it was as if Lasky didn't know what to write anymore, and decided to stretch it out. The epilogue was also a disappointment. Not even good for beginner learners of this time in history. I do not recommend.

Wouldn't it be cool to get to name waterfalls? Well, that's mostly what they did in the Lewis and Clark expedition, besides having a young crewmember with a step dad that punished him by cutting off his ear!
This book is a great book. It's part of the Dear America series and has so much action! In this book they travel with a Navajo girl named Sacajawea who wishes to travel back to her homelands on the way and sure enough they stopped there, but Sacajewea couldn't go in! In the expedition they're traveling along the Mississippi river. Now here's the action packed summary of the story!
Traveling along the riverside going from Indian camp to Indian camp. Scavenging for food trying to hide. Gus a 14-year-old boy was keeping close to a kettle boat with Lewis and Clark aboard. He brought up the courage to expose himself to Lewis. Lewis didn't seem to care at all, he just told him to mark down the length and width of the river after Lewis measured it. When Lewis brought Gus aboard everyone was surprised. As Gus journeyed through to the shining sea he became a part of the permanent party - the party that travels to the shining sea.
I liked this book because it starts out with the main character avoiding being seen and trying to stay alive. There are some things that I didn't like though, for example, there was so much walking. I mean practically to whole book was walking. Another thing I didn't like was that some passages were confusing and I didn't understand. Besides that I would really recommend The Journal of Augustus Pelletier by Kathryn Lasky.

First of all, the entire "Dear America/My Name is America" series is based on historical journals from a fictional child. To critisize this book because Augustus did not exsist is unfounded. For the past three years, I have read this book aloud to my students to accompany our Lewis & Clark unit. Every class I have read Augustus to, love it! My students have never walked away confused about Lewis & Clark. I recommend Augustus to all children interested in Lewis & Clark!

In the year 3038, the human race has been transformed by genetic technology. There are the Genhents, those who have recieved the forty-eighth chromosome; and the far worse off Originals, with only the usual forty-six. There are no unwanted or even unplanned children, parents choose their child's gender, talents, and inclinations. Inherited disease is a thing from history books. Thirteen-year old Darci is a fairly normal genhent, and yet, despite her privledged status in society, she feels something is wrong with the way things are, though she can't quite decide what. Others are only confused by her strange thoughts and questions, and she is left with only the nagging feeling that only she is different...

This was truly an excellent book, unusual and thought provoking. I really couldn't guess the ending from the end of the chapter one, and Darci herself seemed so ordinary in a lot of ways that I found her very likable and easy to relate too.

The only real problem I had with this book was something another reviewer also pointed out; fifty or even one hundred years in the future would have been a much more believable setting for this particular novel. Even if there was a dark age, or a series of "clone wars" as is implyed several times in this book, I for one find it hard to believe that 1000+ years in the future, kids will still be wearing baseball hats and blue jeans, and thirteen-year old's will still be attending eighth grade.

Besides this minor detail however, this book was great and I definitely recommend it to sci-fi fans of any age.

STAR SPLIT was an interesting mix of science and story. Set over one thousand years in the future, this book finds the world's people not too far removed from our own 21st century folks - there are no aliens, no robots, no Jetsons-esque contraptions - except for the long strides made with human cloning, chromosome research and other genetic enhancements. Those with bonus DNA and cultivated strengths are "Genhaunts," and in an elevated position with regards to the "Originals." One young girl discovers there is more to her family's personal history and to the process and progress of society. A good book for young readers interested in science or those wondering how cloning could happen.

I think the book was very good. It was exiting and flowed. The book was well writen and has become one of my favorites.