This is one of the best mystery books that I have read in a long time. The characters were very believable, and the story line made me keep turning the pages. This mystery is phenomenal without a predictable ending! A must read.

A great mystery read, one that takes off with a great story line, and plot. An excellent read, and it will keep you guessing. And this story line is so great it will keep you at the end of your seat! A must read for anyone that loves mystery books. Like Mary Higgins Clark, Kathy Perry, does a great story line in the way she writes. This is a 5 star and a must read!

This is a great read. I like how the author Kathy Perry, wrote the story line. All though the book she had the turns and twists going! But, WOW! The way she made everything come together in the end was magical! This book rates 5 stars from me. I never left my seat until the entire book was read! I JUST COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN.! I hope this goes to film for this would be one best seller. I can't wait for the sequel,I hope another cliff hanger, what a plot! I am looking forward to "Brotherly Love." Thank you for this wonderful read.

This book is the best I have ever read. You can say that you will just read a chapter, but you won't. You'll just get sucked in. Throughout the book it gets more and more interesting. There is so many good things that happen that you can't list them all. You have to read Bridging Beyond if you like kids, thrill, suspence, or a good read!

Ms. Duble has a masterpiece here!! I am not a fast reader, and It only took me about 3 days to finish this book because I couldn't put it down!! I especially liked Anna. She seemed just like a regular kid. Great read. Highly recommended. FUN BOOK!!

Kathleen Duble's "Bridging Beyond" is a great find. My 12-year old read this book with me and was fascinated by the characters, plot, and the idea of genetic memory. She says "the book gives you lots of twists and turns, and the ending is not what you think it is." I wholly enjoyed this book. The setting is described extremely well, the characters are well-rounded, and Anna, the main character, is amiable, funny, and as curious as a regular teenager should be. But by far the plot is the best part. The twists and turns leave you not wanting to ever put it down. The story spins a tale of grief, self-blame, and in the end, finally, forgiveness. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 8.

REVIEW FROM ForeWord Magazine, May/June 2003:

Children love hearing true stories. They are often more surprising than fiction. In this embellished true story, a homeless chicken and a black cat meet, become friends, and find the chicken a coop.
Columbus the cat brings Henrietta the chicken home to his family-a mother and her daughter, Katy. Although Katy's mom allows the chicken to stay, they have no coop, forcing the distraught chicken to roost in the trees. "If I survive the night," Henrietta wails to the cat, "where will I lay my egg in the morning?" Columbus tells her not to worry: "In the morning, I'll show you my secret passageway, which will lead you into a new world."
Columbus shows the chicken how to use the cat door and invites her onto Katy's bed, where she lays her egg. Katy hides the eggs at first, fearing her mother's reaction, but the story twists again, concluding with Henrietta getting her very own quilted coop.
The author is an educator and animal enthusiast; this is her first children's book. The story follows the true experiences of her neighbors in Northern California who had a pet chicken that actually used the cat door and laid her eggs on the little girl's bed. Told in a casual way, the story is more believable and entertaining because it is based in reality.
The illustrator lives and works in the Scottish Highlands but captures the lush colors and landscapes of the rainy California area. Using details such as printing "Mendocino Children's Choir" on the back of Katy's pink jacket, he brings the story to life. His patchwork paintings offer a memorable picture of a family learning to include a chicken.
Animal lovers will enjoy the friendship between the cat and the hen. All readers will appreciate the creative problem-solving skills of the animals and the warm welcome Katy and her mom gave them. Sometimes true stories really are the most amazing.
Anna Stewart

Based on a true story of a girl's pet hen who would sneak into the family home through the cat door and lay an egg on the child's colored quilt, The Chicken Without A Coop by Kathleen Cameron is a charming picture book about the plucky Henrietta the Hen who, when left behind by her human family, befriends Columbus the Cat and his young owner Katy. Simple and inviting color illustrations by John Wilson add a special touch to this heartwarming story of acceptance.

I am a teacher so I am always looking for new books to add to my collection. This is my new favorite and my students too! I look for engaging stories that spur discussion, "Chicken Without a Coop" definetly foots the bill. Just the title got my students going. I think it is a classroom must for any teacher who likes books that can easily support critical thinking skills,it's great for prediction skills too.

I discovered "The Lesson" in a candle store at the mall a couple of years ago. I gave the book as a gift to my husband and he loved it so much that we purchased ten more copies for friends. We continue to purchase copies as gifts and the recipients are always deeply touched by this wonderful short story of Robert who learns the greatest life lesson of all: How much did you love? I am an avid reader and an author - this is one of my favorite books!

The Lesson is a wonderful book for readers young and old. We follow Robert from his first day in school in Kindergarten to throughout his entire life! Robert beams with pride when the teacher first gives him a problem to solve and he solves it correctly. Yet as Robert matures, the problems keep coming, some easy and some not so easy. Some he can't wait to solve, while others he would prefer for them to go away so that he does not have to solve them. We all have had problems like that!!

Robert perseveres and continues to solve the problems that come his way and discovers that problems still need to be solved when formal school is over and the school of life takes over full time. Robert loved learning and thus he loved solving the problems that his teacher and life gave to him. Robert learns that problems cannot be ignored, as they just create bigger and more problems! Robert also learned that only he could solve his problems, and that no one else could do it for him. His family and friends supported and encouraged him and had patience with him when he would encounter a particularly "tough" problem.

As Robert matures and weathers time, he finally realizes that ALL of the lessons that he had been learning and all of the problems that he had been solving all had a common theme interwoven into them, and that life was teaching him the greatest lesson of all - how to love. Decisions based in love and not in anger or hatred are the correct decisions for Robert to make.

This book will delight all who read it and it would be a most wonderful book to incorporate into a school curriculum. This fable is short and wonderfully portrayed, and the drawings of Kathleen Peterson lend a charming quality to the book.

Highly recommended!!!

This is a sometimes joyful, sometimes sorrowful, but always hopeful tale of the most important lesson we can teach our children in life. Carol Lynn Pearson tells the tale of Robert, a little boy we meet on his first day of school. He is joyful as he solves his very first problem: One plus one equals what? As the years go by, the problems get bigger, but Robert manages to solve them and move on. The problems are no longer as much fun, but still must be solved. Sometimes Robert wants to run away from the problem and sometimes the problem makes him cry. Many times he longs for the simple problems like he had on the first day of school.

The reader spends a lifetime with Robert and sees him learn the greatest lesson of all when he realizes all his life there had only been one problem---How much do you love and who will remember you after you are gone?

A warm, feel-good book for children as well as adults, this beautifully illustrated fable is a quick, satisfying read with a lesson to last a lifetime.

The Sorcerers Crusade is a fine book, which contains everything you need to get a Renaissance game going. The Traditions and the Order of Reason are both given equal treatment. It is interesting to see the Order of Reason before they got reorganized into the Technocratic Union. This was a time when their paradigm was not as accepted as miracles and traditional D&D-style spell craft.

This book is more thorough than the second edition of Mage the Ascension. Not only does it provide a lot of examples and explanations for spells, and rituals, it also cleared up a lot of the limitations and potentials for the various spheres.

Even though there are already party lines, the rules make it possible to have both Traditional and Technocratic magi working together. It is a time of reorganization and both parties are trying to find their destinies. In fact, the reader will follow the experiences of a Celestial Chorus member and a member of the Hippocratic Circle throughout the book. The idea of same goals through different methods was stressed.

The time period seemed to be the ideal setting for Mage. Not only are their so many possibilities in terms of new ideas and beliefs, the age of exploration in the high seas, the skies, the unknown continents, as well as the Void are all available for curious magi and their associates.

This book is a must for anyone who is interested in Mage. It is a very complete work and has vital information for storytellers and players who want to use the Renaissance setting. Whether you have an interest in high artisans, explorers, knights, shamans, witches, alchemists, there is something here for you.

So as you might expect this book includes extensive research as far as magi and cabala's are concerned. The artwork is amazing, the setting is perfect and the ascension war has begun. I you want my opinion, buy it, it is surely useful in completing your storyteller skills and knowledges and will prove your wisdom to your players. Really, this book is worth it.

Mage: The Ascension is, without a doubt, my favorite RPG. It's concept about Awakened beings who *know* they can change reality because they are convinced in their paradigms is the best concept I've ever seen.

In the Mage timeline, though, there was a crucial event which splitted history in two: Renaissance. It was then that the whole world started believing in science and it's apparent limitless capacities. It was then when people started removing some attributes which made the world turn from God, and it was then when the church started the most brutal prosecution against "pagans": Inquisition.

This is a book about the clash between 3 forces: Faith, Science and Magick. And as the Mage storyline goes, it's the perfect moment to play a Mage.

The book is excellent. It brings back memories of the old movie Thunder Road. It is an exceptional account of a family that is in the moonshine business. I started reading and couldn't put it down. It's one of the few books I wouldn't mind my children reading so that they would have a better understanding of a former way of life.

This is one of those rare books that the more you read the more you want to read. Ms. Day has done an excellent job in portraying life in the southern mountains. The characters become real to life and the theme holds your interest. I recommend this as a must read especially in helping one to understanding the southern rural lifestyle.

Kathleen Day has transformed the presence of bootlegging into real terms that capture not only the factual history, but the impact such a living has on family and family values. She succeeds in taking the reader through very intimate and detailed images of life in a small mountain town and lifes changes, through a time many of us cannot begin to understand! There is an interest for readers young and old. The character set is quite diverse and interesting to follow. The story has numerous angles that are nicely branched together. Scores of unpredictable events keep this one moving quickly. Kudos to the author -- this was a one-sitting read on New Year's Day.

Reading Kathleen Sullivan's RECURRING DREAMS was so satisfying. She courageously uses her specific and recurring dreams to understand, on many levels, what is going on in her life. This is a fascinating, colorful and creative process. She lets us know that the unconscious can be accessible through dreams and once brought out into the open, is a useful tool to help understand out present day realities.

Each chapter begins with interesting information about dreams in general. This is then followed up by an insightful quote relevant to the presented material. From page l67, on a chapter titled "Imperfection", by Joan Borysenko,Ph.D.: "It takes a lot of nerve to believe that we can or should be able to outwit natural laws, but perfectionism requires just that. As a strategy evolved to ensure love and approval, (perfectionism) is rooted deep in the fears and longings of childhood, making it an emotional need, not an intellectual choice."

I found RECURRING DREAMS to be not only satsifying but exciting as well. Through dreams, we can get to know ourselves from the inside out. How intimate and how necessary!

The above reviews say a lot of what I would say. So I'll just add that it's refreshing to read an author who is candid about her own challenges and lessons.This book is really two in one. First a fascinating story and then practical, clear directions for doing your own dreamwork. It's a must for those who want to discover their own truth and guidance. (offered up into consciousness through the dream) This author walks her talk. The proof is in the transformation she's achieved in her life.

I've been in a dream group for the past 3 years and have read numerous books on dreams. Yet, when I stumbled across Recurring Dreams: a Journey to Wholeness a few months ago, I felt that it illuminated dreamwork for me in a whole new way -- perhaps because I hadn't learned a lot about recurring dreams and their meanings until now. I was mesmerized with Kathleen's transformation out of a life of struggle and pain -- and into the authentic and passionate life she is now living. Her life gradually transformed from cocoon to butterfly as a result of working with a recurring dream character who came to her in different scenarios over a span of 35 years, showing her what she needed to work on in her conscious life. Her courage to take a hard look at herself and make healthier choices as a result of the dream character's messages was both inspiring and motivating. Her story really made me look at my own journey and commit to my own dreamwork on a much deeper level. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

This book is about two girls that really think they know each other, but they're not sure. Then one girl goes to a place in the library and finds out that they were sisters long ago. So the sisters meet at the restaurant and tell each other, but the other thinks she's crazy. So she wants to stop thinking about it, but she can't.
I love this book so much that my mom had to drag me to bed. The book was the first thing that popped into my head. I know that I'm bragging, but this book is great! I think it's the best book I've ever read. If you think you've read the best, then take that back and read Sisters, Long Ago.

Sisters, Long Ago is a wonderful novel by Peg Kehret. Willow, a teenager with a sister struggling through lukemia, has strange dreams of her past self and begins to take them seriously. Sisters, Long Ago kept me interested until the very end and I recommend it to readers of all age. The story is much deeper than reincarnation; it's about accepting people for who they are, learning and growing up, and much much more. You don't know how good it is until you read it!

I bought this book when it was first published, and it served as my first real exposure to reincarnation. The book is very intriguing and covers the topic in a realistic way: reincarnation workshops, skeptics, dreams, etc. The sub plots also keep you reading until the last page. This book literally opened up new worlds to me, and I hope it does the same for you!

Sex education teachers O'Grady and Wansbrough have produced an ideal gift for young girls preparing to bloom into womanhood, a book that is as entertaining as it is informative.

Sweet Secrets is about menstruation. Your cycle, your period, your curse, your monthly visitor, your Aunt Flo...whatever phrase you use, you know what it is and unless with few medical exceptions, every girl is going to get it whether she likes it or not. Sweet Secrets could be considered a technical manual for a girl growing up: basic terminology is introduced, and behaviors such as PMS are explained.

What endeared me to this title, however, was the positive approach O'Grady and Wansbrough take to the monthly event that annoys me when it arrives and worries me when it doesn't. First menstruation is a "sweet secret" because it is a girl's own private advancement into adulthood, a rite of passage celebrated in many cultures. An accompanying mini-anthology of essays by women and teenagers emphasizes the poignancy of growing into womanhood while offering sympathy and encouragement.

If you have daughter fast approaching her teens and feel apphrensive about explaining to her the facts of life, let this book be a guide for the both of you, a "sweet secret" to share.

Sweet Secrets: Stories of Menstruation is the brainchild of Canadians Kathleen O'Grady and Paula Wansbrough. Sweet Secrets laces facts with short stories by various authors about girls having their first periods. The facts are straightforward...Best of all, though, the short stories that form the bulk of Sweet Secrets give girls multiple perspectives on the event - from that of a girl who is flat on her back in a body cast when she gets her first period to that of a girl who has ten minutes between the national anthem and homeroom announcements to cope with her first period alone - so that *whatever* happens when the young reader gets hers, it falls within the spectrum of normal.

-excerpt, by Karen Houppert, reporter for the Village Voice and author of _The Curse: Confronting the Last Unmentionable Taboo: Menstruation.

Addressed to adolescent readers, Sweet Secrets is a charming anthology of personal and fictional stories of menarche (first menstruation) told by women aged 16 to 93, from diverse cultural backgrounds.

The authors present factual information on the physical and emotional changes of puberty in a candid, anecdotal style. This handsome, readable book also features observations on menstruation's cultural and religious significance in ancient and aboriginal societies....

These uplifting tales of women's celebrations, unusual in a puberty education piece, set a new standard for progressive and enlightened learning.

The unique and sensitive approach to menstruation offered in Sweet Secrets guarantees its place as a valuable resource for those seeking help in discussing menstruation with preteen girls.

--Besty Harvie

I am a new gardener in the process of relandscaping my front yard. I want a large variety of plants for this shady area, so I bought this book. I found the Plant Selection Guide section very helpful in finding plants for specific areas or conditions, like shade. The Encyclopedia section is good for identifying plants & lists many varieties for each.

Some drawbacks are that it doesn't always give specifics on care & pruning, or the hardiness of the plants, important in areas with frost. It also gives just a drawing of the plants, not always helpful for plants I know nothing about. I have found Sunset's "Gardening with Shade" a good supplement to this book.

However, the "Western Garden Book" has been an invaluable resource for this first-timer.

Very good short descriptions with genus and species listed. Thorough and informative. It is helpful for the novice and experienced gardener alike. Plant pictures are not photographs, but are realistic graphic depictions. Textural descriptions are very good in identification. I recommend this to all gardeners in my retail setting.

I purchased this book after browsing around in a local store, and it turned out to be a great purchase. I'm a beginning gardener, and I wanted something that would not only explain the basics to me, but help me out with more advanced decisions.

The beginning is a breakdown of Sunset's climate zones, with wonderful maps showing just where you stand when it comes to the growing season. Then there is a section that helps you find a plant by certain categories such as fragrant blooms, decorative ivy, blossoms by season, and even such obscure classes as arid, windy, and humid climates.

The meat of the book consists of an encyclopedia of sorts, with hundreds of entries for different plants that grow in the west, complete with scientific names, growing habits, and helpful hints.

The last portion of the book is a quick reference for everything from watering styles to proper composting techniques.

I recommend this book to anyone, beginner to advanced.