Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is one of the most clever and entertaining books yet written. The author's use of language is extremely appealing to the younger readers. These young readers are attracted to this book because of the author's use of many songs. For instance the lullaby sung by the duchess to her child. The Mock Turtle also sang to Alice and the Gryphon a song about the Lobster Quadrille. The author also uses poems that are entertaining and fun to listen to. "You are Old Father William" is one of the many poems. Not only does the author use poems but she also uses commonly known poems and changes the words to fit the character saying them. For instance the Mad-Hatter sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in different words saying "Up above the world you fly, Like a tea-tray in the sky." If this isn't a unique way of writing I dont know what is. Another style of her writingthat is appealing is when she creates a picture, using words in a poem, about the poem. Yhis is used on page 37. The words in the book are nbot hard so the book can be enjoyable when it is being read, not stressful. The author brings animals to life which is an interesting style of writing. This is Lewis Carroll's style of writing. The main character in this book is a little girl with blonde hair named Alice. This child is full of fantasies and dreams, which is what the book is about. Alice is very curious and likes to know every little detail. She thinks she is very smart. For example, when Alice is listening to the Dormouse's story she asks questions like "What did they live on," and makes smart comments such as "They could'nt have done that you know, they'd have been ill." She is also a little bit bratty, especially to the Dormouse when she says: "Nobody asked your opinion." These characteristics pull together to make an interesting main character and to create a fabulous story. The theme of the story is sometimes you need to take a break out of every day life and dream of fantasize. This makes your life more interesting even if you dream about things that will never come true. Alice does this when she dreams about changing sizes and listening to talking animals. Dreaming doesn't hurt anyone except the people who don't do it. If nobody ever had dreams life would be extremely stressful and boring. The plot of the story is all about Alice trying to find the white rabbit, which of course is in her dream. Following the white rabbit takes ALice to interesting places, such as the Courtroom filled with animals, and the Duchess' house, along with meeting interestingpeople such as the Cheshire-Cat and the Queen. This amazing cat hes the ability to disappear whenever it wants to and it always smiles. In the end Alice finds the white rabbit and then wakes up from her dream. This is the plot of the story. The story is effective to the reader. This is so because after listening to such acreative dream and fantasy, it inspires people to take a little time out of the day and be creative and dream once in a while. All the parts of this five star story; the writer's style, the main character, the theme, and the plot; come together to create the overall effectiveness of the story. This is why I rated this book five stars.

I really like Alice in Wonderland and its sequel because it is so whimsical. The way Dodgson made fun of Alice so much makes one laugh until tears come pouring down. He based the character Alice, on his friend; a real life Alice. Throughout the book, he constantly makes references to her, or something related to her. For example, when a character asks her the exact day Alice replies May 4th. May 4th is the real life Alice's birthday. Alice walks through Wonderland, and she sees many strange things, but thinks otherwise. If you like poems, you will certainly like Alice in Wonderland and its sequel, for both books contain numerous poems. However, in the book Carroll takes the original poems and creates a parody out of them. Something interesting to know is that all the poems relate to the chapters. These are all minor details, but something to muse over. On the surface, Alice in Wonderland is a book where she meets weird creatures and walks away from them always feeling humiliated, as she thinks she is smarter than she really is. That is most of Alice in Wonderland.

Alice through the Looking Glass is similar to the prequel, yet glaringly different. The whole book revolves around a chess game, and so the character's actions correspond to moves on the chessboard. Alice joins in the game, starts out as a white pawn, and proceeds to move until she becomes a queen. At each square, she meets a new character, but in one chapter, characters from the previous book are in this one too. An important thing to know in this famous classic is that everything is backwards. It makes sense since Alice is on the other side of a mirror, yet she encounters difficulty sometimes in understanding this. But in the end, she manages to become a queen and to checkmate the red king. Both books are very enjoyable, and I strongly advocate both children and adults to read it. Enjoy!! Cheers!!!!! : )

When I was assigned Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass to read for my Victorian Literature class, I was excited. Even though I had heard Alice's Adventures in Wonderland referred to countless times throughout my youth, I had never read the story or seen the movie. I had never heard of Through the Looking Glass, but while reading, I realized that many people who think they are talking about AAIW are actually referring to TTLG. The two texts seem to be conflated in a way that makes them indistinguishable from each other. It is for this reason that I enjoyed reading this edition of the texts. There is only a page separating the two stories, which allows the reader to easily make the transition between them. This small separation also allows the reader to recognize the undeniable connection between the texts and to understand why many people combine them in their minds.
AAIW is about a young girl named Alice whose boring day with her sister is interrupted when a white rabbit runs by her saying, "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" Alice's curiosity is aroused, but surprisingly not to a great degree. This is the first hint to the reader that Alice is not an average child, as she seems to believe that a talking rabbit is quite normal. She does become intrigued, though, when the rabbit produces a clock from his pocket, so she follows it down its hole and enters a world of wonder. I loved the story from this point on. It is filled with such unbelievable creatures and situations, but Carroll's writing style made me want to believe in a world that could be filled with so much magic and splendor. There was never a dull moment in the story, and each page was filled with more excitement. I will offer a warning, though. This story is not for those who like a neatly packaged plotline. It is written in a somewhat discontinuous nature and seems to follow some sort of dream logic where there are no rules. However, I enjoyed the nonsensical pattern. Without it, a dimension of the story would be lost. It offers some insight into the mind of a young, adventurous, fearless girl, and Carroll seems to be challenging his readers to be more like Alice.
The second text in this book, TTLG, is again a story about Alice. In this adventure, Alice travels through a wondrous world on the other side of her looking glass. As in AAIW, Alice again encounters absurd creatures, such as live chess pieces and talking flowers. The land she travels through is an oversized chessboard, which gives this story a more structured plot than AAIW. The chess theme provides Alice with sense of what she must accomplish in the looking- glass world, and it provides the reader with a sense of direction throughout the story. Alice's goal is to become a chess queen, so the reader knows that when she becomes queen, the story will be over. However, just because the story has some structure does not mean that it is not just as wild and marvelous as its predecessor. I enjoyed all of the characters. They seem to have an endless supply of advice that people in the 21st century can still learn from. My favorite example is when the Red Queen says, "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" Maybe what Carroll is suggesting is that if we read more nonsensical, unbelievable stories like his, we won't be so afraid to be adventurous and fearless like Alice; so that the next time a white rabbit runs by us, we might just see where it leads us.

As a descendant of William L. Manly, and as an avid reader of history, the book appealed to me. It is a tale of raw survival and heroism, as well as a testament to the pioneering spirit of people from our American past. It is also a book of human triumph over one of Mother nature's most trying environments on Earth. The easy-going narration of the events in William L. Manly's life draw you into the scenery, the essence of the beautiful, yet enigmatic desert which lures yet imposes such harsh demands on the body and soul. It seemed that the nearly intolerable conditions that William and his fellow pioneers endured were a kind of "Offering" to the desert, which is one of Mother nature's testing grounds of the human spirit.

First hand account of pioneers crossing the American west in 1849. Epic and heroic in scope, Manly describes hardships and an America nearly lost to history. Where it survives is in the deserts and wastelands of Utah, Nevada and California. One will never be able to travel these regions without thinking of Manly, Rogers and the Bennet-Arcane party.

Jean and I edited the Heyday Books edition of Manly's monumental work. This edition has foreward by Dr. Limerick and Jean and I added a preface, 400 notes, an epilogue, and an index. We, of course, are biased and think this is the best edition of his book. Needless to say, the original edition is the best. We hope you enjoy Manly's words and our additions.

American Passages was the textbook used for one of my American History courses. As my instructor said, it was a much tougher book than the previous one that had been used for the course, and I can understand why. The chapters are very long, sometimes inordinately so, and even though I was interested in the material and a good reader, they often took an hour or more to read through. However, the material _was_ interesting, the pictures, maps, graphs, and additional information well done, and it was well written. It does not go into full coverage of some topics, but I found it to be well-rounded, exploring many of the diverse issues that influenced our history and culture. It's an awe-inspiring journey to look through the past of our nation and see how it has impacted the present!

The book covers history from pre-Columbian days all the way through Clinton's presidency and the various scandals. Not many books can claim to be that current! Certainly a beautiful addition to any collection, and a wonderful resource for anyone interested in American History - just don't wait 'til the last minute if you're reading it for school!

If you are looking for a text to supplement your AP History classes, this book has lots of good material, and many helpful readings. If you combine this with some history readers, you will have a great basis to get your program off to a positive start.

I worked in all the area covered in the book produced by The Discovery Writers, even building a home just north of Lolo. Because of this familiarity I was more than a little excited waiting for this book from The Discovery Writers. I was not disappointed.

This valley is, or at least was, one of the most beautiful in beautiful western Montana. As presented by the above writers as well as Bernard DeVoto it didn't, however, appear that way to the Corps of Discovery.

Of credit due The Discovery Writers the most must be for their intensive and extensive efforts in bringing together the works of so many different sources of information regarding the expeditions travel through the Bitterroot.

Of additional interest is the differences of opinion as to what was said when, where and by whom. The above from The Discovery Writers work, and a quick perusal of Devoto's Down the Lolo Trail in The Journals Of Lewis and Clark

The Editor's note regarding the viewpoint of, and the information taken from, the native people was well taken. GOOD FOR THEM.

The detail work as shown in Chapter Three - Members Of The Expedition - shows their dedication to detail GOOD FOR THEM.

The time taken from their busy lives and the effort needed to complete this work to me appears mind-boggling GOOD FOR THEM

All told a good piece of work.

The Tabby family faces competition from the new-fangled ice cream parlor across the street, although their most popular flavor keeps customers coming. However, they face closing when Tabitha`s recipe for their most popular flavor might be lost for ever, all because she didn`t write it down. My boys and I still enjoy trying to duplicate the flavor of TTFF ice cream. It`s no great work, but it is fun and encourages experimentation in the kitchen.

I loved this book!
It tells the famous expedition of Lewis and Clark from the perspectives of the participants, particularly Lewis, Clark and Sacagawea. Their voices form competing versions of the expedition; together they weave a narrative like glimpses of a river seen through branches. I was left with the sense that I had explored much more than just the blank space of the unknown on the map.

The mysteries in the hearts and minds of the characters unfolded inside of me. By the end of the book they had filled in a map of memories and desires that kept speaking to me long after I had closed the book.

This is a lyrical and rewarding book that will change the way you view the opening of the west and the history of America in general, along with what it means to explore the unknown, both up a river and through someone's heart.

THIS BOOK IS A SHEER JOY!
The adventures of William Clark and Merriweather Lewis have long been ample fodder for historical prose. Their expedition is probably the most memorable story of "See America First" type travel, and their triumph in exploring an unknown America has been well documented since the Jefferson era. But never has the story been so personal, nor as involving, as Brian Hall's take on their trek.
"I Should Be..." gets its title from Lewis's actual invitation to Clark to join the Corps of Discovery in exploring an uncharted Western America. The novel imagines the dialogue between the men, along with their native guide Sacagawea and Sacagewea's husband Toussaint Charbonneau, and uses the words of the foursome to propel the story from Washington DC to St. Louis, and then through the great Northwest. It removes the tale from the traditional dry narrative type of historical novel, and gives the characters rich, imagined lives that make the expedition almost personal to the reader.
All books of this type rise and fall on the strength of the cast, and Hall has populated his players with the necessary hopes, despairs and neuroses that would go hand in hand with creating a legendary tale. Lewis's grandeur in his mission and Clark's seeming envy at playing #2 in what was described to him as a mission led by equals are among the many plot devices used by Hall to make allready known charecters take on human form. A hysterical and well imagined portion of the book describing the naming of rivers after Lewis and Clark (where Clark gets the short end of the stick) is only one example of how well this story plays out.
Since the book is told in dialogue form, the chapters were Sacagawea describes the journey are difficult (Hall uses a device that blends English and Shoshone that is slightly confusing) but essential to the plot. This is a minor gripe for a book that is revolutionary in its retelling of history.
While everyone is familiar with how the story plays out and ends, there is a coda to the novel that describes Lewis and Clark's lives following the expedition that was new to me. Lewis's post-expedition live was tragic, while Clark became a mainstay of St. Louis society. Taking the book through their post-expedition lives gives Hall a great opportunity to expand on the price of fame and the fall of legends. He hits the mark with eloquence and sincerity.
I had never read anything by Hall prior to this book, so I don't know if the richness of this story could have been foreseen, or if he just got lucky. I will be looking forward to reading some of his other works now, for his talent in bringing character and emotion to one of history's greatest duo was incredibly impressive.

This beautifully written historical novel about Lewis and Clark and their extraordinary expedition conveys not just the historical facts of the tale, but also an artist's sense of the emotional and psychological workings of the minds of the main participants in this astounding journey. The author made me realize how a fine novelist is somewhat like an actor who is able to inhabit the mind of a character and convey that character's essence to his audience. To read this book is therefore like making the journey as if the reader were each of the main participants in it. An additional pleasure for me was learning a great deal about the history of this country in this well researched book.