This collection of short stories are sweet tales about teen-agers discovering their sexuality or coming out.

This is a book i wish i had read when i was 16... and would make a great gift for any young teen - no matter what their sexuality- to teach tolerance and acceptance.

For similar type things... try Francesca Lia Block's "Weetzie Bat" books... also very sweet books that deal beautifully with homosexuality at the young adult reading level.

The stories in this book are diverse, sometimes funny, sometimes serious, sometimes both; but although they are not preachy, there is a message that underlies all of them: you are not alone. I highly recommend this book for use in high schools -- it handles the subject of homosexuality in a variety of ways, from many points of view, so that anyone can find something they can identify with. "Parents' Night" made me cry at the end. Twice. And I never cry. The title story is hilarious. Yes, it's an allegory, but it's a funny allegory. Great for kids who are gay or questioning, and great for kids who aren't.

This book is terrific! For once there is a book of short stories that is not just about teenagers who are homosexuals, but a book about those of us who have friends or family who are gay. This book conveys the anxiety of coming out of the closet and the shock of people's reactions with startling reality. Parent's Night, Am I Blue, and Dancing Backwards are among my favorites. I'm sure even the staunchest straight will have to ask, "Am I Blue?"

Jan Forrest's recent book, Coming Home to Ourselves: A Woman's Journey to Wholeness has helped me to begin again with a journey I began twenty years ago. No matter where a woman is on her own "spiritual journey," this book can help to remotivate and reinspire setting out again on the path that WILL lead to wholeness. Jan Forrest speaks with the authority of someone who's learned from past experiences and wants to share what she's learned with others walking a similar path. Her voice has integrity and purpose as well as calm assurance that all IS well within, we just need to be quiet enough to connect with ourselves, our authentic selves. I would recommend Coming Home to Ourselves: A Woman's Journey to Wholeness, to any woman who wants to do just that, reclaim the pieces of her life and use them to create a beautiful collage of who she is as a "whole person" and what she hopes for in the depth of her heart and soul.

Ah, what a treasure...A book that guides us as gently and surely as a valued mentor! Coming Home to Ourselves provides a nurturing and supportive framework for all women, whether newly embarking on their journey toward joy and wholeness or already many wise moons along the path. And, most important to me, Jan's wonderful book encourages us to create a profound and respectful friendship with ourselves while providing us with practical and poetic ways to do just that.

Coming Home to Ourselves should be required reading for any woman who is in crisis. It provides an excellent sense of well-being and is the first step to recovery.

The book offers 168 pages of nurturing and insight. It provides more healing than a warm bath,a manicure and a call to your best friend.

Coming Home to Ourselves is a must read for any woman.

How can I begin to tell you of Victor. I read his book in the late 70's when Victor was still alive. His story was so profoundly moving that when at the end of the book it gave his location in America, I was inspired to try contacting him. I asked the information operater in his city if she had a listing for him. She did. When I dialed the number it was Victor himself that answered the phone. I had a conversation with this incredible human being who had survived an experience that is beyond imagination. Of that conversation, one thing he said has reverberated in my mind ever since. . ."Don't ever think it can't happen here" Years later I called again. He was the kind of man you simply never forget. By this time Galina had come to America and it was her that answered this time. Victor had passed away. I assured her of the pledge that I had made to her husband years before. That was that I would tell his story as often as possible and see that people read his book. I have bought over 20 copies throughout the years to loan to others. It is a book that once you have read it you are compelled to share it. It is no longer in print, but well worth the effort of finding. Victor is no longer with us but his story will speak of his and Galinas' incredible courage for many years to come. . .

Victor Herman is indead a rare individual. Victor excelled at everything he put his hand to and above all he survives. I have read many books by survivors of the Russian Gulags, and although their stories are tragic and touching you know that by definition they are not the ones who really had it bad. Those people are all dead. Victor is the exception to that rule. When he was imprisoned he was in absolute top physical condition and he was a never give up type of guy. Even with those two factors he never should have survived what he went through. It is unbeleivable that he is alive. As if that is not enouph there is his wife Galina. Would you walk hundreds of miles through siberia where it is so cold that the trees explode, while pregnant to live in a hole in the ice (literally) with practically no food just to be with your husband? She did. Victor was and is a survivor, but Galina is a woman of incredible character who is willing to make the utmost sacrifices for what she considers important in her life. If I had only read the first pages of this book I would have to say that Victor is a literary giant even though he is in no means trying to be one. His question on the first line of the book is not a rhetorical question, but truly a stuggle of epic proportions that really defines the whole book. "How can I tell you about my life?" I savor thes first few pages every time I read them and tears come to my eyes. This book never slows and is a testament to what suffering and hardship can do to and for people. What happened in Russia was in every way wrong and tragic but as in all such situations it brought out both the best and the worst in people. I have such deap respect for the people in this book that I named my daughter after Victors wife Galina and hope that she will develope the depth of character that Galina Herman displayed

Mr. Herman's story is everything that the other reviewers say it is. I want to add, however, that his book illustrates why we have something precious and worth protecting in this country. I believe Mr. Herman would not have wanted to preach to us about that, but that he wanted to let us know that freedom is worth fighting for. One does not have to be the super-patriot type to realize that our system, with all its flaws and distortions, offers people more than any other in history. Those of us who automatically assume the worst and always denigrate the U.S. do themselves an enormous disservice. One has only to read about what was done to Mr. Herman, legally in the USSR at that time, to understand this. I have been (and remain) fairly liberal in my political orientation, but this book has changed a fundamental attitude within my being. It's not an easy story to experience, but open yourself to it and you will gain a great deal!

I would recommend this book for anyone to read, young or old. I, not being a real "big reader", found this book to be very interesting and entertaining. I found the characters to be very real, and could relate to all of them. Even though the book isn't very long, Nicole Bailey-Williams writes this story's plot very well and keeps you wanting to know what's going to happen next. Once again, I really enjoyed reading this book, and I saw a piece of Sky, and some other characters, in myself.

A Little Piece of Sky tells the story of Song Byrd. Song takes a cautious look back over her life, starting with her earliest relationships and in doing so we read a story of triumph. Song deals with an emotionally unavailable mother and later she struggles with the guilt she feels as a result of her mother's death. When her mother dies, she has to live with her father and his wife and adjust to a completely new, but healthier existence. Unfortunately, the scars of the early part of her life don't just disappear and her half sister and brother are additional reminders of the life she left behind. Even as an adult, Song continues to try to heal her wounds and make a life for herself and recover her lost self esteem. The sky is an important theme in this book and it represents hope. As Song shares her story it becomes clear that just a little bit of hope is often enough to carry a person through the most difficult circumstances.

Nicole Bailey-Williams has made a grand entrance into the literary scene with this spectacular novel. She does an excellent job drawing the reader into Song's world and making them share in her experiences through the short passages of prose. While the format of this book is different from the norm, the author's mixture of literary style and prose proved to be just the right recipe for a stellar debut.

Reviewed by Stacey Seay

Song's spirit is wonderfully captivating! The author has artfully transformed the challenges of youth and hard times into the successes of Perseverance, Trust, and Hope!

This book is an excellent tour through history of astronomy and astronomers quest to uncover our place (and time) in the universe. Ferris goes into quite a bit of detail and does not treat his readers with kid gloves. There are many interesting anecdotes about various astronomers and Ferris sometimes gives mini biographies of the more interesting/eccentric of them. Ferris starts with the greek astonomers such has hypocratus, goes through copernicus, kepler, galileo, newton, and then onto the astronmers of the last 200 years. But in his final section, he also talks about how the geosciences, and the theory of evolution began to give us a better perspective of where we fit in the universe not just in space but in time. The last chapters are devoted to the cutting edge of science - quantum physics. Ferris reports discoveries up to the point practically that this book was published! All in all, a good read for anyone interested in science and particularly in Astronomy.

This book is an excellent tour through history of astronomy and astronomers quest to uncover our place (and time) in the universe. Ferris goes into quite a bit of detail and does not treat his readers with kid gloves. There are many interesting anecdotes about various astronomers and Ferris sometimes gives mini biographies of the more interesting/eccentric of them. Ferris starts with the greek astonomers such has hypocratus, goes through copernicus, kepler, galileo, newton, and then onto the astronmers of the last 200 years. But in his final section, he also talks about how the geosciences, and the theory of evolution began to give us a better perspective of where we fit in the universe not just in space but in time. The last chapters are devoted to the cutting edge of science - quantum physics. Ferris reports discoveries up to the point practically that this book was published! All in all, a good read for anyone interested in science and particularly in Astronomy.

One of the most enjoyable books I've read. Ferris has sparked my new-found interest in science and physics. I liked this book even better than "A Brief History of Time".

I have been involved with the markets for twenty years and read all of the classics - Elder, McMillan, Murphy, "Reminescences", the Wizard books,etc. But until I read this small, deceptively easy to read book by Mr. Harding, I was unable to answer this simple question: if there is so much information out there, and the rules of investing (buy low, sell high) are so simple, why do 80% of investors give their money to the other 20%? Mr. harding expains, from the position of an insider, what I had feared: the sources of information like CNBC and various publications are not there to serve small public investors; they are there to dissenminate fertilizer that stimulates these small investors to enter the market at a time propitious for the institutional buyers to sell to them. And when the market turns down again, the same pundits stampede the public into selling at the time suited to the institutional buyers. Then, as the cynical phrase goes, stocks "return to their rightful owners". If you want to learn how to break this cycle, read this book. It is not aimed at traders and speculators, but those investors concerned with steady progress toward retirement with relative insulation from the worst swings of the market. Highly recommended; *six* stars.

As a broker i have read many market books - this book has the most stunning insights into seasonal market behavior and risk avoidance i have ever come across. The author does not mention the cost of transactions in following his seasonal timing system - thats my only criticism. Overall its the best $11 I've ever spent. Well done Sy.

The title says it all... most books only talk about the mechanics of how to trade and read signals. This one goes into great detail about not only how the stock market works, but how investor greed and fear drive it, and how professionals profit off of it. This book makes informative reading for casual investors (401k folks and the like), as well as professionals.

I just read Michael Brown's autobiography, What color is your scarf? It is always interesting for me to read about other gay men's expierences with what life throws out at them as gay people. I had to first of all laugh at the title. Being a late bloomer myself, it took me years before I could begin to understand all the meanings of all the various colors of handerchiefs, or in this case, scarfs!! The book made me laugh. There are some very funny scenes described in this book! Like the heterosexual world, we have our differences, but I think any gay man who reads this autobiography will find Something he can relate to in his own coming out journey. I certianly found myself more then once smiling and thinking that I certainly can appriciate Michael's feelings about this or that, and, other situations that were totally different for me. The reading is so so easy, and at times it felt like Michael was sitting next to me telling me his most intiment secrets!.

The perfect road map for the mature man's journey into the gay community is Michael Brown's book "What Color is Your Scarf?" It proves to be an excellent tool for those individuals whose coming out process didn't begin with the onset of puberty, but instead after age 40. Michael Brown's book answers a lot of the questions that many may be too embarrassed to ask. It is written in an informative, yet witty style that makes one feel right at home with the subject matter. It's a book not only for the individual who is searching for love and acceptance within both gay and straight communities, but for their family, friends and loved ones. Buy it for a friend!

Michael delivers an honest and courageous tale of a gay man acknowledging his sexual identity late in life. He is a talented writer who infuses humor with mixed emotions to illustrate the joys and pitfalls in an unaccepting, non-conformist world. I recommend this book as a must read for gay, straight, whatever!

Heartland is a farm where Amy and her family care for horses and teach them trust people again. Amy learned from her mother how to listen to horses and understand what they need. Heartland is located in the hills of Virginia. When Amy and her mother try to save a horse and get into an accident, they are sent to a hospital. When Amy wakes up, she asked where her mother was. They said she didn't make it. Now Amy tries to continue Heartland, and she has to truly believe that miracles can happen at Heartland.

I relished this book. It teaches you that when something bad happens, you need to move on. There is more in life than grieving for a loved one. You have to use what you learned to go on in life. You can't hold on to everything. This author is excellent.

My favorite part was when Amy read the article in the newspaper about them. It said that the "horse lady" works magic at Heartland. She helps rescue horses, ponies, and donkeys. By having this article in the newspaper, more people might be tempted to come and bring thier horses. It said that horses were healed there. This book was fantastic!

A Book for Horse Lovers
By Jennifer Jobe

The book Coming Home by Lauren Brooke contains many feelings. This is the first book in the series Heartland Healing horses, healing hearts. Amy lives at a place where her Mom helps horses that have been hurt emotionally, mentally and physically. Amy has the same ability to listen and understand what horses need as her Mom but everything changes after a dreadful accident.
Coming Home is a great book that keeps you reading and not putting it down. If you like horses and action, then you will like this book. Coming Home will keep you on the edge of your seat and keep you reading. The emotions are unbelievable including excitement, sorrow, trust, wonder, anger, hopelessness, feeling scared, worried, and many, many others.
Some book reviews tell what authors have done well. With my own experience with horses, I know that Lauren Brooke either works with horses and knows a lot about horses or she did a lot of research. The words that Ms. Brooke uses paint a great picture in my mind so I can see the places described clearly.
I would recommend this book to horse lovers and someone looking for an easy read. Coming Home is short- only 140 pages and is at the fifth grade reading level. The book does rush trough the story a little but over all, the story is great.

Hi. my name is Kim and I'm 11yrs old. I think if you are not sure if you want to buy it. buy it! It is a wonderfull book! (There are 8 books and the 9th one is coming out soon!)If you are thinking you have to like horses to read this book you are wrong! I don't like horses that much and I love this book!(but I think after you read it you will love horses and if you love them already you will love them even more.) It is about a girl named Amy. She is very good with horses and loves them very much. She has a sister Lou who never comes to vist from NY! But when the accedent happenes everything changes. Amy becomes very emational and sometimes it seems the only thing that Amy came come to is the horses. You will never stop reading! but in the end you will see everything will be OK! So you should get this book! It is sad at times but it is such a good book that you sould buy it anyway! you with not regret it!

As a student of philosophy I have become aware of the various implications and often unstated underpinnings of self-help theories. I have never come across a philosophy that so clearly and thoroughly outlines the steps to completely healthy relationships as is contained in Dr. Warner's book. The depth and truth contained in this work is amazing and, in my opinion, it sits among the great works that humanity has produced. I recommend this book to everyone as a must read. You may never again encounter such depth in a book that is so easy to read and understand. It is nothing short of life-changing.

This book is, with out a doubt, the singular most important book to be read, studied and applied to one's life there is available in the wide market of "self-help" books. I have a very much used and cherished copy of his manuscript that this book was based on and Terry has delivered so much more with this book than was even promised in "Bonds of Anguish, Bonds of Love". Buy it, read it and share it. There are but a few moments in life as precious and sacred as those where what we read moves us to the next level of understanding, wholeness, connectedness and love. This book has brought several of these moments to me.

I would like to give this book to everyone I care about. All the books I've read throughout my life have changed me in some way or another. A helpful bit of information, a new perspective, maybe even changed a paradigm. None even remotely come close to the power that a fundamental change of heart can produce. If you're serious about improving your relationships and you're open to the idea that you might be the problem then you will not be the same person after reading this book. I also recomend " Leadership and Self Deception" by the Arbinger Institute. Both books deal with the common condition we all suffer from. Self deception.

I was given this book by a friend and was surprised at the well-balanced combination of story, locale and apt descriptions of riding events.

Buck Jones: a rodeo cowboy who becomes seriously ill and must get rid of his beloved horse. I liked Buck a lot, and so did his friends in the story. He raised Old Black from a colt and only became a rodeo star after Old Black came on the scene as his roping horse. The day he got rid of his beloved pal was a heart-rending scene.

Small things impressed me. The arrival at the Bradley's farm with Jim's new horse -- he so wanted to show him off to the old black couple down the lane, but he had to wait. Things to do on the farm. Getting on the horse took some imagination for 10-year-old Jim Bradley, but he solved THAT! Then got an extension for his stirrup. Small things, but so important to the story.

Jim's first real horse show was an adventure for me. The hospitality suite he and his mother came upon, and got acquainted with the Robertsons and their daughters. Jim's performance in that western riding class was beautiful, as written.

I adored little Alexandra Meridith, her father. Her grandparents, Oscar and Ruby, were fine old people, and dearly loved by that little boy.

The series of chapters dealing with the rescue of the sheriff out in the woods was as stirring and exciting as could be. And it reeked of realism. That long episode was brought to a perfect conclusion, even if some concerns still were left dangling. But they were wrapped up later.

The funeral of a black lady was a fine piece of descriptive writing, touching.

The ending of the story was purely satisfying. The indignant lady in the stands was a good, good touch. How she finally came around to applaud Old Black after accusing him of hurting her daughters chances in the class. The unlikely but understandable award to Old Black. Then, something I can't tell because it would ruin the ending for readers, but it was just exactly what should have happened. Even if it caught be completely by surprise.

A great story.

Old Black is the most wholesome, absorbing, exciting, touching book I have ever read! And that's going back through a lot of books! Everything in the world that should be in it is there. Old Black the horse was as wonderful as his master, Jim Bradley.

I loved the old black couple, the Jacksons, who lived on the lane to the Bradley's little weekend ranch, and was truly touched by the genuine friendship between that couple and the Bradley family. All of the characters in the story, and there are quite a few, come vividly to life. You never have to think back and ask yourself, "Now just who is this walking on stage?" You know every one of them as if you had known them a long time.

The chapters involving the visit of Jim's Aunt Hazel and Uncle Harry are precious. Aunt Hazel has Alzheimer's disease and Uncle Harry is allowing her condition to get to him. It took the intuitive therapeutic interaction of a boy with compassion for his ailing aunt to show Uncle Har! ry, by examples, how to mitigate her suffering, how to lift her spirits. There was hilarity galore in those chapters, much of it at Aunt Hazel's expense, but it was never once in bad taste.

The rescue of Sheriff Martinez in the woods by Jim and Old Black, which consumed several chapters, was an endless stream of excitement that continued to escalate right up to the very last page of chapter 24. It was a tough job for both the boy and his horse that almost proved to be impossible, but every bit of it was entirely credible.

Old Black is a beautiful piece of creative writing. The story moved. It had a start, a middle, and definitely an ending, an ending that swept along through several chapters in such a rewarding way for the reader. Briggs never takes the writer's easy way out of a single scene or event, but works his plot with fascinating detail and excellent execution. The story was a fine blend of happiness, sadness, tragedy, and humor. Every aspect of the ending was perf! ect -- all the little loose ends that had collected along t! he way were neatly tied up in the most satisfying ways one could imagine -- even better than I ever imagined.

Without giving away the REAL treat at the very end, I will say I loved the way the jealousy toward Jim by the boy on the flashy horse was disposed of. That scene was a magnificent stroke! Then there is a very nice vignette involving that same boy at the very end that had best be left for the joy of reading it first hand. At that last horse show in the Astroarena, I swear I could hear the bawling, cackli! ng, mooing, crowing, grunting . . . of the animals, I was aware of the constant announcements over the loudspeakers, I smelled every aroma of the place, saw and heard the hay carts buzzing around, felt the presence of the activity going on all about -- I was THERE!

Old Black is a fairly long book --387 pages of text -- but I flew through it way too fast to suit me. We should be able to give an extra star to special books for appearances. This one is a beauty, with a nice oil painting for the cover, a pretty full-color map of "Old Black Territory" on the front and back endpapers, and at least five dozen gorgeous illutrations, which is why I presume the book was printed on such fine paper.

When you buy Old Black, you may as well buy two and get it over with. You'll just HAVE to let certain friends read it, and you'll sure not want to part with your own special copy.

(This review was provided by the reader, who does not have a computer, to the publisher for sending on to amazon.com.)

A wonderful story, and told in just the right voice. When I began the book I thought it was only a contemporary boy-and-his-horse story. But unlike most of the genre, it is much, much more. The boy and his horse are the cornerstone, but the story expands way beyond them to involve an interesting variety of people. This is not a children's book, but my 11-year-old daughter was soon captivated and sailed through it in good time. ("Is Old Black going to die?" she asked, teary-eyed. "Read on," I said.) One does not need an interest in horses to love this book. Readers with a keen eye will savor the precious little clues planted along the way, like Easter eggs hidden for the purpose of being discovered. The dozens of illustrations are simply marvelous. Early in the story, Old Black, the horse, is being readied to go off to his new life with the boy Jim Bradley. The part where the cowboy Buck Jones (I just loved him!) is stoically, silently bidding farewell to his dear, longtime friend, the horse displaying his own feelings about their parting, is as touching as any scene I've ever read. It was some minutes before I could go on. You will not miss the absence of profanity, sex, or unnecessary violence here, although that long, dreadful scene in the woods ends with violence aplenty. I found it completely called for and applauded when the criminals got what they deserved. I was drained at the end of the ordeal in the woods, and Aunt Hazel and Uncle Harry strolled onto the scene just when I needed an uplift. I still laugh when I replay that scene in the bathroom: a furious, hissing snake, two grown men and a boy "overcome by the most sustained and idiotic laughter Norma had ever heard." Like another reader, I felt that the scenes arising from Aunt Hazel's Alzheimer's disease were handled with sensitivity and good taste. My grandmother had the disease and I really believe I could have applied some of Jim Bradley's instinctive strategies to bring her some happiness if I had read OLD BLACK while she was still alive. Uncle Harry's exasperation with his wife's condition, his inability to deal with it effectively until Jim showed him the way, was sadly familiar. I feel sure that the author has experienced the anguish of being close to someone with Alzheimer's, to write about it with such delicate insight. The scene at Richter's store where likable old Walter Mehlmann gleefully rehearses how he will waltz through his theoretical last days was a fine piece of humor. Walter's influence on the other men present was hilariously realistic. So realistic, in fact, that after reading that part I found myself rummaging the kitchen for junk food, the more cholesterol laden and otherwise unhealthy the better! I wish I knew where to get some real country cracklings. Fat ones, Reinhard. I like FAT ones! Every character in the book played an essential role. They were so well developed that I could clearly see them in my mind as they came onstage, always true to their distinct characters in actions and speech. Old Black was not a superhorse, as so many fictional horses are. He had limitations and faults, which only made him more "human". OLD BLACK breathes with vibrant life, and did so even while I cried during that sorrowful part with the death and the funeral. It was an experience that gave Jim Bradley (and me too) a better, if bitter, understanding of life. The story is uplifting, happy, dreadfully sad and hilarious, and the ending is just perfect. Throughout, this intricate novel is entirely credible. I agreed to some extent with one critic below - that the book suffered a little in organization. But that defect was overwhelmed by a superb plot, clearly drawn characters, vivid action scenes, settings (I was right there in every scene: seeing, smelling, feeling), and the author's often touching insight into people and horses, especially that lovable Old Black. This is the kind of literature (I call this book literature) that can put a teeny edge on the reader's good side. It is the kind of story (too rare, today) that can open the eyes of young people to the reality that being good, responsible kids can be rewarding, and they can still have fun. This story is much too special to be confined to adult fiction. I would love to see an edition of OLD BLACK written especially for young readers.