I read this book and it gave me great pleasure and joy and I did not want to put it down. I laughed and I cried. It is a work of sheer genius. It should receive the Newberry Award. Oprah Wilfrey should read it. She would be amazed at it. She would love it. I have a feeling that Ms. Easton had help from the Angels in the Universe.

This book, "The Life History of a Star", is a really great book, if you ask me. It is a diary, in which Kristin,14, records her thoughts and feelings about the 70's, her brother David (who she calls "the Ghost" because of his experiences in the Vietnam War.), her friends, the 70's, and everything else that goes on around her. Even though it is sad in the end, (I won't say why, because some of you reading this might not have read this book) all's well that ends well. (It also mentions The Beatles, my FAVORITE group!)

Kelly Easton is certainly set to be our next star of young female adult fiction. Her book is an absolute delight to read and digest. She captures beautifully the nuances of being a teenage girl and growing up in an uncertain world, America. Her use of language is gifted and insightful and utterly captures adolescence. It's hard to believe Ms. Easton didn't take her own diary entries from her childhood. That's how good she is!

My Little Sister Ate One Hare
By: Bill Grossman

Would you ever want to eat ten ants? Well I wouldn't. I would watch the show because this book is so good because she eats animals also because there parts and good a audience. I like the show. I also like this book because the book is a good and interesting read. Also because it's good for kids to read. I like what she does. She is a funny character. The book made me feel happy and it was funny and amazing. It's interesting to see what happens in the book. I read it. It is good. You should read it too so you can see what this girl eats!

As children lend an ear to Grossman'e counting book, they will have but one question: "What creature will that girl eat next?!" Through words and images, excitement abounds on every page as the reader witnesses the progressive feast of one ravenous little sister. Grossman's words and Hawkes' illustrations keep the audience in a state of anxious anticipation. With predictable rhythm, Grossman's lines unite with the whimsy of a song and the silliness of a cartoon: "My little sister ate three ants. She even ate their underpants." Children can easily master the repetitive wording, becoming active and eager participants in the telling of the story. Beginning with the consumption of one hare, each page build upon the former, adding more sustenance to little sister's belly. As she eats across the pages, little sister's apparel transforms, providing context for her current meal. Eating eight worms, little sister has donned a bright red chicken suit; outfitted with snorkeling gear, she reaches for seven polliwogs. On almost every page the girl's round, gaping mouth dominates, amplified by her monstrous shadow and her exposed gullet. With vibrant hues in mostly primary colors, Hawkes' illustrations extend Grossman's text. After one edge-of-their-seat journey through the pages, children will giggle with desire to hear this unimaginable tale again and again.

This book has done more to help my first and second graders learn to enjoy reading than all the books in my school put together! There isn't a week that goes by that someone doesn't beg me to read it to the class. Many of my students have actually gone out and bought their own copies (very rare for the neighborhood in which I teach). Every K-3 grader should have this book in his/her collection!

this book was wonderful . i really enjoy fantasy and this was one of the best fantasy books ive read . i could not want for the sequal it kept me handing . i love this book and ive read it 8 times !

"Sister Light, Sister Dark" and its sequel, "White Jenna," hold places of honor on my bookshelves.

The story is about Jenna, a thrice-orphaned girl of the Dales (a fictional region) being raised by followers of Great Alta, the Goddess. These women--mostly unwanted daughters of local peasants--train for years to call up their "dark sisters." Jenna, who was born with completely white hair, may be the Anna foretold in prophecy.

Stuff happens.

Interspersed among the actual narrative chapters are ballads and myths of the Dales, as well as a pretentious contemporary historian's interpretation of the events of the story. Through his impeccable application of scientific method to historical research, he manages to get just about everything completely wrong. It's hilarious.

The third volume in this trilogy, "The One-Armed Queen," was a disappointment to me. While it was a good book in its own right, to me it didn't feel related to the other two--it worked on its own, but it was not part of the series. It concerns Jenna's one-armed adopted daughter Scillia, who seemed much less interesting than Jenna. Oh, well.

I highly recommend the first two books.

With everything this book has, it leaves me dying to find the seque!!! If you read this book, be sure to read the other books by Jane Yolen, especially the Dragon's Blood series!!!

I loved this book. It reminded me so much of my sisters. I want to share it with both my sisters who are in their 20's, but I really want to show it to my little niece. She will love the bright pictures and when its time for her to be a big sister she'll see how much fun it is.

This is a great book! I got one for my older daughter and my youngest was so enthralled I went back and got her her very own copy. They both love the real pictures of real girls. Does this author have other books? I'd like to see more.

The pictures clearly depict loving relationships between sisters. It warms my heart to look through the pages and be reminded of special times with my sisters. I would recommend this book to all sister siblings. I'm looking forward to a possible Big Brother, Little Brother!

Jack and Annette Simon have published an important book-- one that will open up vital dialogue between children and adults on an often avoided topic. Jack's words, full of honesty and insight, provoke as many smiles as tears, and the delightful illustrations are no less powerful for their whisical style. Hats off to Annette for allowing Jack's comments and questions to stand on their own. By not trying to provide pat answers to the mysteries of life and death, she validates the complex feelings of grief with which all of us-- children and adults-- wrestle. Keep this book on your shelf; we are all going to need it sometime in life.

Children ask many questions about death and this book explores some of the common ones that children are interested in knowing. Hard to get through without bringing a tear to your eye. Illistrations are wonderful and eye catching to a child's imagination.

This book is wonderful. We are sharing them with all of the children at our grief and loss camp and we hope it gives them comfort during such a difficult time. It is important for children to know that they are not alone in their grief and we will use this book to open up dialog so they can begin to understand. We will keep copies of the books at our hospice for all of our families to read.

Have you ever wondered what your little brother or sister was thinking? Well, if you have, then All About Sam is a good book for you.
The book is about a family told from a baby's point of view. The baby's name is Sam. He has one big sister named Anastasia. His father's name is Myron and his mom's name is Katherine.
This book is very humorous. Sam is curious about everything. He takes a smoking pipe and lighter off his dad's desk and brings it to school for Show and Tell. He also goes into his mom and dad's bathroom and gives himself a punk haircut. He goes to his older sister's room and takes her pet fish Frank and flushes him down the toilet. He expects it to rain pet fish because his mom once told him that whatever is flushed down the toilet will come down as rain a couple of days later.
I understand this book because I have two younger sisters and a younger brother . If you like to laugh, you'll enjoy what this funny baby does, and I suggest you read All About Sam.

Oh my gosh, I really can't believe how great this book was?Sam is the cutest character! Boy, I sure got a laugh out of thisgreat book. This outstanding book is mostly about a boy named Sam. It all starts out when Sam was born. We find out about how he lived in the "Pan-tree." We learn about his pet worm and his tough voyage moving out of his apartment to a new house. You will find Sam a very interesting character. Learn about him, his worm, and his sister, Anastasia! I can write forever about this excellent book! Read more to find out. And don't forget other books about Sam and his friends!

by Kristen H.

Wow! I would give this book 10 stars. ********** This book isabout a boy's life upt age six. Sam is the name of the boy. Sam doesall these funny things. Sam has an older sister and a mom and dad. A couple of things Sam did was put his mom's makeup into the toilet. He also put his sister's fish into the toilet. He cut his hair , and he had a pet worm. That is all I have to say. if you read the book you will find the rest of the funny things Sam does.

As a child I checked this book out because it was part of an collection of 3 Elizabeth Enright books(in one very large book now out of print) that was thick enough to put me first on our class reading chart (you moved up a level for every 100pgs). After 3 years and more than two dozen readings I returned it to the library. This book takes a child and thier imagination out to play with the Melendy kids and help them explore thier new house with all its secrets and adventures. Along the way it gives understanding of what it was like for American children in the WWII Era. For me this book inspired a lifelong interest in the real lives of people behind the statistics of our history. I have been looking for this book off and on for 20 years. Now I have found it and even better, my kids are old enough to go on Mona, Rush, Randy, and Oliver Melendy's adventures too. The Melendy's lives continue in the book Then There Were Five. Don't let the reasonable price fool you both books are treasures for a childs mind.

Elizabeth Enright(what a great name for an author!)wrote quite a few wonderful books which have been mostly out of print until recently-so if you're looking for great, real, imaginative stories, I'd suggest buying all of them. "The Four Story Mistake", as other reviewers have noted, is just a wonderful slice of life, with the Melendy children growing up, adjusting to life in "the country". When I read it 30 years ago, it made me desperate to live in a ramshackle victorian house(great escapism for urban kids)! Although the story is set almost 50 years ago, it really doesn't "date" at all. Read it and see!

This is a book about the Melendy children-Mona, Rush, Randy and Oliver-who have lived in the city all their lives. Now they must move to an old mansion in the countryside, "The Four-Story Mistake." The house got its name because when built it was meant to be four stories, but was only built three stories high. The owners of the house built a cupola on top to make up for the missing fourth story. The house is full of places to hide and more adventures than anyone could imagine. I found the Melendy children very entertaining and their adventures quite humorous. I enjoyed this book a lot, and think it would be a very good book for other fifth-grade girls.

I have read much of Lessing's work and and enjoy her writing a great deal. I have found some of her writing impenetrable and thankfully, this is not one of them. Briefing for a Descent into Hell was very difficult. Anyway, I liked the story in this book and felt for the 2 main characters. These 2, Mara and Dann, have many adventures and difficulties. Lessing is strongest, I think, in the way she explores complex relationships between people, particularly ones in extreme circumstances, and this book exposes these children to some of the worst. At the same time, she manages to make real the type of existence that must be true for many in the poorer areas of earth now. For that reason, it can be very sad. In general, though, the book is optimistic because of the optimism of the main characters.

Doris Lessing is a tremendously accomplished writer, and this novel is one of her best, as well as one of her most accessible. The story is compelling, the characters are carefully developed, and the setting is remarkably vivid. For months after finishing Mara and Dann, scenes from it were still playing through my mind and the title characters continued to haunt me.

Lessing is not a great stylist; she uses language as a means to an end. And yet she creates a unique effect with her rather plain sentences because she is a brilliant observer of life and humanity -- her choice of details rarely fails to render a scene whole and convincing in the reader's mind. With a novel like this, which takes place during a future ice age in Africa, such details are vital to the success of the tale.

There are slow spots in the story, so it's not exactly a page-turner, but for the most part this is a book which carries the reader along rather effortlessly -- we want to know what becomes of Mara and Dann, we want to continue to explore this strange terrain, we yearn to see how Lessing will illuminate our lives with her imaginative leaps. The only book I can think of which compares to Mara and Dann is Walter Miller's A Canticle for Liebowitz; but Lessing's novel is even richer, even more profound, even more stunning by the end.

I finished reading "Mara and Dann" weeks ago but still think of it daily! Doris Lessing has produced a book of many layers including the obvious almost epic adventure story. Her characters are real people with whom her readers can identify and empathize. What struck me most about this novel, however, was her exploration of who we are, when stripped of everything. Characters often experienced similar drastic events leading to near starvation and thirst but who they were as individuals came through as their values were reflected in their actions. Also the will to survive, despite all odds, was a dramatic part of the novel, culminating in an ending in which humanity is victorious. It is a great novel by a great author and should be enjoyed by many.

This is one of Diana Wynne-Jones's early books, and you can tell. The prose is a bit plain and not very descriptive, but the plot and the sparkling characters are, as always, absolutely stunning. It's a weird little mystery involving wizards, writers, and spaceships.

Howard Sykes comes home one day to discover that an enormous Goon (small brain, big feet, limited vocabulary) is sitting in his kitchen, claiming that unless his dad Quentin produces two thousand words to "Archer," they will be in serious trouble. Turns out that Quentin promised a mysterious man two thousand words every three months, in exchange for no more writers' block. And the problem is, when the Goon shows up again and announces that the words didn't get through. Quentin swears he won't write another word, and the Goon remains in their house (he's not supposed to leave without the words).

Things immediately go haywire: Howard and his sister Awful soon discover that Archer is one of seven very pushy, devious wizards that "farm" the town they live in -- there's criminal Shine, tantrum-throwing Torquil, sewer-ruling Erskine, and a bunch of others. If Archer gets the two thousand words, he'll rule the world (or "farm" it, as they say it), but if he doesn't then any of his siblings could. What do they need the words for? And how can a pair of kids defeat a bunch of very determined wizards -- especially when some people aren't quite who they seem?

Diana Wynne-Jones is one of the best fantasy authors out there (well, she bumped into Lewis and Tolkien -- that has to be a sign!), and while "Archer's Goon" is not her best, it's pretty high on the list. It's funny, cute, and seems very simple at first, but rapidly becomes very, very complex. The biggest problem is that in this book -- especially in the opening chapters, the writing is very stark and undescriptive, although it becomes much more descriptive later in the book. But the dialogue is still that great humorous Brit style, especially whenever someone talks to the Goon.

Howard is a nice (slightly bland) hero, very like a real adolescent boy in that he botches things and isn't sure what to do when his parents fight. Awful seems that way at first, but behind the insane shrieking she has a brain. The Goon is the biggest triumph of this book -- he initially seems like a simple lunkhead troll-type, but he's really a nice guy. The wizards are almost as good -- some are faking, and some are honest, and heaven help you if you try to figure it out.

Fans of good fantasy (adults and kids alike) will enjoy "Archer's Goon," especially as the simple plot rapidly starts spinning off into greater complexity. Very cute, funny, and occasionally chilling.

Before I tell you anything about this book, I think you should know that this book is kind of hard and a bit confusing. You will need a good vocabulary and a smart head to understand Archer's Goon.

Imagine coming home one day and meeting a gigantic Goon taking up all the room in your kitchen. This is what twelve-year-old Howard Skykes comes home to after a long, tiring day of school. This Goon claims that Howard's dad, Quentin Skykes, has to give two thousand words to Archer or, he promises very, very bad things will happen. Soon the treat begins to come true: The power goes out, marching bands play outside their house, a big ditch being dug outside their house, even their car won`t start.

Soon Howard and his little sister, Awful, find out that seven crazy wizards are really running his little English town. Also the other six wizards have decided that they want their share of Quentin words. Puzzled, Howard tries to visit each wizard and find out why they want the words, what the words do and how the words work!

I liked this book because it had the perfect combination of down-to-earth stuff and witchcraft and wizardry. The main idea of the story is riveting and anybody who really likes to read and enjoys wizarding stories will be whisked away in Howard's adventures. Howard is very adventurous and exciting, the perfect character for this well written novel. In this book, all the characters play all sorts of very important roles. Like Howard's dad, for example: he is the one who writes the words in the first place. The mysterious words. What do they do? How do they work?

I would give Archer's Goon four out of five stars because the ending was a bit confusing and hard to understand. My recommended age category for this book is ten to thirty years old because it has a little bit of foul language and uses a few big words. Hope you enjoy reading Archer's Goon!

I have recently read Archer's Goon, and it is one of the best books by Diana Wynne Jones you will EVER read! It's sadly out of print, which amazes me because I doubt it ever got the publicity it deserves. It truly is an amazing book, it's lively, readable and unpredictable. I would say it's for readers of 11 and upwards.

Divine Mercy in My Soul by Blessed Sister Faustina Kowalska is elegantly simple. It is the spontaneous diary of a young woman who wanted nothing more than Jesus. It is her diaries, written at the behest of her superior, and chronicles the trials and consolations of life in a Polish convent in the 1930's. Bl. Faustina's poor health leads to her early death, but before she dies, she leaves the beautiful diary to help everyone who reads it reach a new, richer understanding of the Mercy of God. You won't read it just once. Keep it with your Bible.

St. Faustina uses brilliant words, and reveals how close her soul is to her Divine Spouse. This work is truly one of the best spiritual books out there, with quotes of things Jesus told St. Faustina to write down. He commanded her to write the diary, telling her that it would save many souls. I recommend this book for all souls aspiring perfect sanctity as well as those devoted to the Chaplet of Divine Mery.

The Diary of Saint Faustina is a most beautiful collection of words from our dear Savior to humanity.The message of Divine Mercy is Christ's plea to mankind. This book helps one to find practical ways of showing mercy to one's neighbor.As Christ told Saint Faustina, "The soul which will trust in My mercy is most fortunate, because I Myself take care of it." This book will show you how to love Christ with all of one's heart, soul and strength.