For the most part I love novelizations, and "V" by A.C. Crispin, is one of the best that I have read. The writer does a great job keeping the reader the book form of a great mini-series. A MUST for any fan of the "V" series.

love the plot.. very interesting story.. the writing isn't so great but the plot is enough to keep me reading

The "V" pilot book has the same contents as the famous TV series. It follows the TV series pretty exactly, with just minor changes.

As a fan of the cult series, I can advise the lecture of this book to all other fans heartily. If you haven't seen the TV series - why, it's a good book anyway, check it out.

The book was OK, but somehow I was expecting more. I did learn some things to improve my speech, but thought the book would have been nicer with a few more exercises and a little less levity. Easy read -- 1 to 2 nights.

You can know "about" something your
entire life, but until you learn it "in
the gut", so to speak, you don't really
know it. It's a light, fast
read, but the message is profound and
will last a lifetime because you will
learn it with your "gut". I still think about and use what I read in this book every day.

I was amazed at how much deeper and stronger my voice sounded, after trying this approach for only a few minutes! I have always had a soft voice, and often had trouble projecting over the background noise in the architecture studios I teach. In spite of wishing for a more effective speaking voice, I don't have time to spend on laborious exercises. The approach presented in this book is easy to understand, and can be done in spare moments, in the shower, etc. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants their voice to sound more professional and confident.

This was the perfect gift for my best friend. I wanted to give her something special for being my maid of honor at my wedding, and this was perfect. She loved it, as much as I loved preparing it for her. It truly was a great way to show her how much I appreciate her and love our friendship.

I purchased this book for my best friend. She loved it. Every year we celebrate our first day meeting and take it out on our anniversary to reflect on our lives together!

I enjoyed filling in the blanks, including pictures and giving it to my friend of 18 years. We decided to start a tradition and exchange it every Christmas. I cannot wait to read the memories that she has recalled.

I really enjoyed this book. The information was presented clearly and would be a great benefit for those who are struggling with specific aspects of trumpet playing. I found its content to be helpful to any beginning player, especially those who wish to pursue music as a career.

As an adult (late 30s) I have only been learning the trumpet a month, and I found this book to be a huge help. Easy to read, helpful information and clear diagrams enabled me to get a better sense of what I am trying to achieve; and although the book itself states that it is designed for intermediate to advanced players, I would recommend it to the the complete novice too.

Although not a cheap book for readers down under (give the exchange rate and postage etc) it is definitely well worth the money, and a great reference book to be pick up again and again.

This is a great book for the novice or intermediate trumpet player. It's got all the information your band director may not have taught you. This is the kind of quality information you'd get in a lesson with a good teacher. If you want to develop your skills and get in some good habits, use this book.

You may recall Adam Hochschild's book of a couple years ago where he intimated that KING LEOPOLD'S GHOST remains a malevolent force guiding the carnage that is taking place in the present day Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Well here's one for the Congolese. Forty years after his assassination Patrice Lumumba remains a haunting presence, forever reminding Belgium of its past misdeeds in Africa. Broader still his death bears testimomy to the fact that so much of what Europe and our government talks about as human rights concerns is self-serving and empty rhetoric.

Enough with the anger though as I don't want to go overboard and see it in the stark ideological terms as the author does when he says that what happened in the Congo in 1960 is a "staggering example of what the Western ruling classes are capable of when their vital interests are threatened." That is too trite an answer for the circumstances surrounding Lumumba's assassination and way too simple an analysis of the complex situation in the Congo at the time of independence.

THE ASSASSINATION OF LUMUMBA looks at a tiny fraction of Congo's history. The book is almost entirely confined to the period from June 30th, 1960 (when the country became independent from Belgium) to January 17th, 1961, when Lumumba and two of his former ministers of government were executed in the breakaway province of Katanga. During that period the country went through crisis, with Belgium, France, the US, the USSR and the UN all wanting to have a say. There were at least three substantive leaders of the Congolese: Lumumba as prime minister, Joseph Kasavubu the president, and the usurper Joseph Mobuto (who after all was said and done emerged in 1965 as the dictator Mobuto Sese Seko). Throw into the mix a mutinying army, a secession in Katanga province and rebellions in two other provinces.

In investigating these events Belgian sociologist Ludo DeWitte focused his research on recently declassified Belgian documents. His thesis is that the conventional wisdom that Lumumba's death was "a Bantu affair" - as his countrymen called it - was all wrong. He argues that Belgium was instrumental in setting up, participating in, and covering up Lumumbas death. This book caused such a stir in Belgium that the government opened a parliamentiary enquiry to investigate the facts and the foreign minister promised that if proven true, an official apology would be offered.

Subsequent to the publishing of this book the commission released its findings. It said "certain members of the Belgian government and other Belgian figures have a moral responsibility in the circumstances which led to the death of Lumumba." Will the man's spirit be able to rest in peace with this? De Witte's specific point that an order for Lumumba's "definite elimination" came out of the offices of Count d'Aspremont-Lynden's Department of African Affairs, however still remains unproven. The Commission says plainly "in no document or witness account could it be found that the Belgian Government, or one of its members, gave the orders to physically eliminate Lumumba." If this means that there is still no resolution to this issue, we can nevertheless rest assured that in the words of Lumumba's last letter to his wife "the day will come when history will have its say."

"Assassination is the extreme form of censorship" (George Bernard Shaw)

This book is certainly well written to the extent that it is a historical account of the early life of independent Congo up until the assasination of the first premier. It has taken over three deacades for such a foreceful and convincing counterfactual case to emerge, but it is just proof that "No lie(s) can live forever". The author has done well on this score.

The connivance of a whole set of opportunists in the Congo and some players in the international arena would be shocking for a person otherwise unfamiliar with this period. This book is proof that Lumumba's life could have been saved but it was not politically expedient to do so. Most of all, the author has led to the questioning of the assumption that the U.N. is an enduring friend of developing countries.

The author deserves unqualified credit for painstakingly seeking the facts through which to support the central thesis that the assassination was planned even if not very neatly executed.While the author's work is certainly not the last word on this issue, it has helped to put to death the lies that were advanced in the period following the assassination. Compared to other publications on the subject, I consider this a definitive text and perhaps an indispensable book in the history section of all college and public libraries.

The author is genuinely moved to expose the great injustice that was perpetrated against Lumumba, Mpolo and Okito and by extension to the Congolese people. It is not difficult to understand how the series of events led to the increased militarisation of Congolese politics. Belgium and its monarchy owes the Congolese people an apology.

While Mr. De Witte appears to me as an admirer of Lumumba, he balances his admiration by stating the fact that Premier Lumumba had not sufficiently consolidated his polictical power and neither had he developed a coherent economic and political programme that could have frustrated the conspiracy. In essence, Africa's first generation of leaders relied heavily on charisma without the political organisation that was desperately needed. I think that this point is still valid.

While the book is a good read, (I went through it twice), I think that the author could have been carried away by his enthusiasm in the concluding portion. He set out to investigate and set the facts about the assassination but was concluding with a political sermon on the class factor and a slight leftist bent. This could have been relevant if he sought to explain Lumumba's political philosophy. In the absense of this, I asked myself, "Why is Ludo going this far?"

I would recommend this book to anyone with an open (not empty) mind. A good read and a classic. In the meantime, we hope that Lumumba's last prayer may come true soon.

...Five stars for the incredible amount of research that went into the writing of this book.. It is a book that was necessary and long overdue. For the first time we have clear proof of all the players, what they did and when they did it. Lumumba was assassinated by Tshombe?s police, with the help of Belgian officials. They can not any longer deny it.

De Witte depicts Lumumba as a fierce nationalist but denies that he was left-leaning. That claim may have to be investigated further. Lumumba did have strong connections to Russia and surely there is a reason why the university in Moscow for foreign students is named "Lumumba University". There is no doubt, though, that he presented himself as a socialist.

The author repeatedly mentions that Lumumba's rise to the presidency of the Congo was the story of a death foretold. Western governments repeatedly sais that Lumumba had to be "eliminated". But the interpretation was left open: did they mean "physically" or "politically"? It is interesting to note that it took them almost seven months to kill him. An assassin hired by the Belgians was called back. The CIA delivered a box of poison that was never used. Why this delay, when an invented illness would have been faster and politically more acceptable?

De Wittte also claims that Lumumba had to fail with his government because he lacked a functioning army and police force to back him up. What he never examines, unfortunately, is the fact that Belgium withdrew its administrative apparatus upon independence. And they had never trained any natives to be administrators. On July 1, 1960, The Congo had only a handful native lawyers, physicians, or even people with a higher education. Under those conditions you cannot run a country (you have to know where the telephones are).

Because of this book, Belgium officially apologized to the Congo ... Mr. de Witte could hardly wish for a better acknowledgement of his work.

The narratotion is so wordy and sloppy. She spends too much time for one word. Although I like the idea of this audiocassetes, but it would be more useful if her explanations for each word had been more compact.

Renee Mazer's Not To Scary Vocablary, for short NTSV, is an easy way to learn and easily remember SAT words in a snap! I'm 13 and I love the hilarious songs she uses. By using creative and imaginitive songs and funny poems this set of tapes will get you to remember the hardest words. For instance, the word abash means to embarrass. By taking part of the word abash she uses it for you to remember what it means; the bash in abash means bashful meaning embarassed. These wonderful tapes are great for people of all ages and can be used for either definitions for a homework assignment or just to improve your vocabulary. Renee, I think you have a great sense of creativity and put it into these amazing tapes!

I bought this item for my son, who is currently is a sophomore, to help increase his vocabulary and improve his SAT scores. He has enjoyed listening to these tapes as much as one can enjoy learning vocabulary. I would recommend this product to anyone preparing for any standardized test and to improve their vocabulary.

Well I just read this book and all I want to know is WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

And will there be another book ever?

I hope so.

This is really a great story, and it is full of funny characters and interesting places. After reading it, I wanted to go on an adventure myself. Traveling through the internet sounds fun and exciting. Maybe one day it will really happen.

My teacher read this book aloud to us. We read one or two chapters every day, and I couldn't wait for the next one to start! I loved the characters. They seemed like real people even though they were animals. I think this was one of the most fun books I ever read, and everybody else in my class thought so too. You MUST read this book!

"Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth" combines text by Anne Rockwell with illlustrations by R. Gregory Christie. Together they tell the story of Truth, who was an important figure in the movement to abolish slavery in the United States. The text discusses her own life in slavery, how she gained her freedom, and her participation in the abolitionist movement. The book includes a chronology of her life.

The illustrations are colorful and striking, but Christie's human figures are bizarrely distorted, with out-of-proportion heads, limbs, and hands. Ultimately I found that this style distracted me from the important story being told. Still, this book is a worthwhile look at an important figure in American history.

Many a young reader will be shocked by the opening page of this story about slavery in the U.S. For the auction block from which a 9-year-old girl was sold in 1806 was in Kingston, N.Y., not Alabama or Mississippi.

Isabella was sold only after a long day in which no bidders showed any interest--until the auctioneer threw in a flock of sheep. She was separated from her aged, ill parents, who were left to fend for themselves, having been worn out by cruel masters. Hell followed for Isabella, for her new master spoke English while she spoke Dutch--like most people in the Hudson valley. For not understanding, he whipped her so hard that her back bore the scars all the rest of her life.

She was sold to a tavern-keeper and, when she was 13, to a neighboring farmer named John Dumont. At 16, she was six feet tall and could do the work of any man. She was forced to wed, against her will, and bore four daughters and a son. In 1817, New York enacted a law that would free all slaves on July 4, 1827. By then, Isabella was 28. But when Dumont reneged on his promise to free her, she ran to a nearby farm, believing that its abolitionist owners would save her. The Van Wageners bought and freed her.

Dumont, however, sold her son Peter to an Alabama plantation owner. To sell a slave out-of-state was then illegal in New York. Isabella took the unheard-of step of hiring a white lawyer to plead a court case for the return of her son. She won, he returned, she sent him to school, and he became a sailor on a whaling ship.

After Peter left, Isabella dreamed that she should travel the U.S. and tell people of her bondage. She took the name of Sojourner Truth. The final pages of this adventure tell some of the accomplishments of this American heroine. The illustrations greatly compliment the story, accentuating the iron will of a woman who would not be bought, or silenced.

The book concludes with a one-page author's note and a chronology of the events of Sojourner Truth's life. In the former, the author writes of those times when evil rules, and good people feel called upon to tell the truth to those who do not wish to hear.

Sojourner Truth was such a person, and she lived in such a time. Children find this story inspirational. Alyssa A. Lappen

Anne Rockwell's moving picture book biography of Sojourner Truth is a powerful and evocative story that will draw youngsters in and take them on a journey toward freedom with an amazing woman. Born into slavery, Isabella was taken away from her parents when she was only nine, sold three times, threatened, beaten and lost her own children to slavery before she was finally freed. Though she never learned to read or write, she challenged the system of buying and selling people in court, traveled around the country, spoke out against slavery and became one of the most powerful voices in the abolitionist movement. She was a sojourner, one who is only passing through and her mission was to speak the truth about the evils of slavery..... Ms Rockwell's passionate and eloquently written biography is complemented by Gregory Christie's beautifully rich paintings and together they've authored a story about this remarkable woman that's full of courage and strength. With an author's note and timeline at the end to augment and enhance discussions, Only Passing Through is a wonderful book, perfect for youngsters 9-12 and a story few will soon forget.

I found the book to be rather shallow. Her life seems to be just too easy. Moreover, she's been so blessed that, of course, she can praise and thank God. I, too, am in a wheelchair. Among my peers, I've seen true struggling and difficult issues that people deal with. Yet, with God's help, I see many rise above their circumstances. Their stories are truly inspirational and attest to God's greatness. Bondi's story would have had far more impact and depth if she truly had overcome some of life's struggles.

I could not put this book down. It is such an inspiratinal story about someone whose life was just devestated by a terrible accident and how she overcame such physical problems to live a productive life. I cried and laughed through the whole book. It really touches your life and soul in how God has such a plan for us.

A salesperson at Cornerstone Bookstore in Helena recommended this book for a friend of mine whose child was injusred last year. I read it first.
This is more than a book about a marvelous woman overcoming tragedy through her faith. It is so personal in all details, and her family support is wonderful and enviable for all, in all her relationships. Renee is Catholic, but denominationalism has nothing to do with it- Jesus Christ shines through in ALL of her story- His faithfulness to her, and her faithfulness to Him. Another current, up-to-date miracle story! Great reading, much to ponder.

I have to admit that my daughter loves these books. But I think they are much less than they could have been. The illustrations are attractive but have no dramatic power and no personality. All the people look the same. The stories reveal no individuality in the characters. Everyone gets along and behaves well, and no desires conflict. I think the idyllic quality is part of what appeals to my daughter, but I think she also enjoys seeing some details of how people lived in a very different time.

My 2-year-old daughter loves this series (My First Little House Books). Dance at Grandpa's was her first and still her favorite. At 2, she is already fascinated by Laura, Mary, Pa, and Ma and their lives...just as I was by reading the Little House series when I was older. Dance at Grandpa's is a wonderful story with beautiful illustrations. I highly recommend it (and the other books) to all parents!

Dance at Grandpa's, and ALL the "My First Little House Books", are wonderful! They've been a great way to get my pre-schooler interested in American history. She can really identify with the characters, and is fascinated by how life was different in "the old days".