This book is like having a local tour guide in your car. The text is conversational as it points out places to stop and historic trivia about the towns. Organized into twelve regions around the state, the detailed driving directions navigate you through the towns on local roads. Road names and route numbers are used as well as landmarks. Each chapter begins and ends with directions to the main highways. We were able to plan a trip that pleased adults, pre-teens and young children. It gives you the places to eat, sleep or shop that usually only locals know about.

In Sorenson's retelling of the coming of Ragnarok, the author treats the Norse Gods in much the same manner as Homer treated the Greek Deities--less like divinities and more like a large, noisy, and oftentimes dysfunctional family.

Everyone in Asgard has a personality and a private agenda. Odin is very much the distant father who, at the same time, aches because his duties simply will not permit him to have a closer relationship with his family. Loki, while certainly a trickster character, does possess flashes of regret for things as they come to pass with Ragnarok. Balder is just trying to get others to be decent to one another. Thor, while portrayed as a bit of a "redneck", is one of the most interesting characters. You can't help but admire his tenacity, especially over the retelling of his fishing expedition against the Great Serpent.

Another plus with this book is the author's afterword about why he chose to end the book with Ragnarok, and not to write about the paradisical remaking of the world.

Definitely worth keeping!

With so much of the sordid history of slavery in the United States behind us, many of the major wounds have been healed. However, that does not mean that we should forget what it did to people. Slavery turned otherwise kindly people into beasts. Eventually, it was the wedge that drove two segments of the U.S. into overt warfare.
Frederick Douglass was one of the most articulate voices opposed to slavery among free blacks. A natural writer, he describes his life in slavery and how dehumanizing it was. The time he spent in slavery was a microcosm of most of the contradictions of slavery. Taken from his mother at a young age, he knew nothing about his white father. A slave was property to their owner, somewhat on a par with a horse or cattle. And yet, many slaveholders fathered children with their female slaves. Many slaves were severely beaten or killed for disobedience. Chivalrous gentleman who would not tolerate a man beating a horse would speak approval of similar actions being performed on a defenseless slave. Douglass was beaten many times, even to the point of possible permanent injury, for actions that were simply human. Finally, there was the bizarre spectacle of slaves and free blacks living in the same areas, sometimes even being relatives by blood or marriage. The woman who eventually became his wife was a free woman while he was a slave, joining him after he escaped to freedom.
It does us all good to be reminded how destructive slavery was to the structure of American society. Douglass lived on both sides of the issue and his story of the slave years are a powerful tale of human destruction. Written for older children, this book should be required reading for graduation from high school.

This book instills the reality that when women are strong, courageous and great leaders, they are not acting like men, they are acting like.... women! Did you know that a woman did just what Paul Revere did? Also, it points out the enormous contribution of running households, farms and schools, and manufacturing textiles, food supplies, etc. to the creation of our country. I had my teenage daughter read it over the summer and she enjoyed it. Recommended for boys or girls.

Once you have read Johnny Tremain, you will realize that it is a name that will always be with you, for your whole life, no matter where you go, or how you live your life.

You see, Johnny Tremain is not just a regular, common name, but the name of an amazing person, full of bravery, courage, fear, love, confusion, knowledge, and understanding. Despite being a fictional character, he is the kind of person you can just fall in love with by just reading about everything about him that makes him special and unique.

The mystery and magic about Johnny is hypnotic and indulging. You can't not fall in love with him, anticipating his next adventures, feeling his emotions, laughing along with jokes, and just feeling satisfied when you close the book. That is what a classical and historical book is and this book is truly classical and historical.

Johnny Tremain is about an adolesant boy growing up in Colonial Boston, Massachusets. After a terrible accident he is forced to leave his comfortable life style and make it on his own. On the way he encounters many unforgetable adventures and the book ends with a touching resolution in his personal life. I highly recomend Johnny Tremain to anybody who enjoys reading good books. This is a truely a good book.

Starting with the beginning of school in the fall, this wonderful book based on the life of the author's grandmother, take us through a rural family preparing for the celebration of Christmas in simple ways - making presents from scraps of fabric and sheep's wool saved through the year; rehearsal for the Christmas play with homemade costumes, and a surprise gift for the daughter who is so enthralled with the new cast iron stove in the kitchen. My girls (3 and 5) ask to have this read year-round. In an age of such materialism, this is a welcome story of a simpler life. The woodcut prints are just the right accompaniment to this story.

if you like woodcuts (I do) you will love this excellent collection of black and white woodcuts. Themes are wilderness scenes and wildlife, including moose, mice and cats.

This book contains fascinating written information about many members of the deer family, both living and extinct. It is well written and entertaining throughout. Petersen does a masterful job, not only of informing us about the development and uses of antlers on various animals, but about man's fascination with those antlers.

The book is filled with information, yes, but also with interesting and often funny and always thought-provoking anecdote. There are intriguing stories of deer and elk that have grown extraordinarily large or notable sets of antlers.

Once you read Racks, it is doubtful you will ever look at an antlered animal in the same way again.

This is an unusually handsome children's book with exquisite illustrations depicting life in the nineteenth century throughout the four seasons.

The author does a very good job in describing the trials, traditions and events of this time period while explaining the origins of 24 different quilt block patterns. It is a beautiful and informative book.

I would have to disagree with the rating of this book at a reading level of ages 4-8. It would indeed be a precocious 4 year old that would be able to sit and listen to this book much less read it themselves. It does not have a "story book" kind of story line but is full of interesting information and stunning illustrations for 2nd through 4th graders.

I'm anxious to see this new animated '90s Tarzan on the big screen. You gotta have this book if you own the soundtrack. I'm immediately buying it when it comes out.