I love this book so much! When I came home from school one day I picked up this book and started reading it. I didn't stop until the end-except to get a tissue. This book was so touching. I now know how much my mom is needed and how much I love her. Sunny, Diary 3 is the best book I've ever read, and I hope Ann M. Martin writes more books as touching as this one.

Have you ever lost someone you have loved? Sunny's diary shows her emotional side even though she was one to rebel. Her mom was dealing with cancer and Sunny had to go through every moment of it until the end. This book made me cry! I am not one of those people to cry at fiction but Ann M. Martin made it so realistic for me. It was like I traveled inside Sunny's mind, through her thoughts. This was one of the best books I have ever read. I would recommend it to teens around the world.

Okay what's the best thing about this book? It goes into fabulous detail with EVERYTHING which is happening in Sunny's life. Ann M. Martin did a perfect job with this book, it clearly expresses the pain Sunny is suffering. Especially when Mrs. Winslow dies (can you BELIEVE it! ). It's a must read, I say about 8/10 people will cry. This has been the most terrifically written series book I have ever read. Yall, if you don't have enough money to buy a new book. BEG. It's totally worth it. Fantastic work Ann!

Well, this book is not very SUNNY. What I mean is, not a lot of happy things happen in it to her. But Dawn, oh my god, give the girl a break, her mom is dying! If you are only gonna be able to read one book or buy one book: it's this one. IT ROCKS!

I loved this book! Sunny does lots of cool things when she's cutting school. I can see why she got mad at Dawn. But then I also read Dawn, diary 2, and I can see why Dawn is mad at Sunny. I love California Diaries, because I can always see their point of view. I liked Ducky, too, because I felt very sorry for him. I don't think Dawn should be mad at Sunny for not visiting her mom, because Dawn never really talks to or entertains Carol, her Step-mom. But I Do think Sunny should visit her mom more often, I feel really sorry for her mom.

This book totally rock. When I read it I actually felt drawn to Sunny and her denial of her life. I think that Dawn ahould have stuck by Sunny and be her friend instead of trying to be her boss. Dawn thinks that Sunny should deal with her mother but she doesn't understand the pain Sunny's in so she judges her just like everone else(except Ducky). I think that when Dawn realizes all the people that love her, she'll retaliate.

I first read this book when I was twelve years old and it affected me so much that ten years later I still have a deep and abiding love of Greek mythology. A ratty, paperback copy I found at Salvation Army still holds *the* place of honor in my Greco-Roman collection, usurping The Odyssey, The Iliad, Edith Hamilton, and Robert Graves.

What originally struck me as so fantastic (and still does) is that the D'aulaires don't write down to their audience or edit out details important to the original myth that some parents might not approve of. The end result? An all ages storybook and mythological primer that no one should be ashamed to own.

The drawings are an acquired taste, falling somewhere between Classical pottery paintings and Art Deco, but they do grow on you. My only quibble is that there's no pronunciation guide, which can really hamper you if this is your first exposure to these stories.

Buy this for for your children or even for yourself, you will never regret it.

When I was in elementary school I found this book at the library. I loved it so much that I did not want to return it. Finally, after several months of renewals, my parents bought it for me. It was one of my most treasured--and worn out--books that I owned.

What made me fall in love the book was the beautiful, large colorful pictures; the easy introduction of the many Gods (to a child with no background in the stories); and, of course, the myths themselves. They were wonderful stories and will pull in readers of all ages.

The book inspired me to read more books on Greek mythology--Edith Hamilton, for instance--and Norse myths (the D'Aularies wrote a book on Norse gods that is unfortunately still out of print) and Asian folktakes when I was still in grade school. In college, however, I learned that these myths in this book had gone through a bit of sanitization, but it is still terrific. I haven't found another chilren's book that treats Greek mythology so well.

This book is one that will keep giving even when the child becomes an adult. When I went to college and was assigned other Greek and Roman poems, plays, and essays, I would be reminded the pictures and the myths found in this book. It would bring back wonderful memories, and at the same time made reading ancient literature enjoyable and easy rather than onerous. To this day, I still remember all of the myths and gods that are in this book, and it gives me a nice referemce to my academic reading.

My parents recently bought the hardcopy edition of the book for me for Christmas. It was the best gift I have received in years!

It is simply a wonderful book!

I don't know about all of you, but Greek Mythology is something I just can't live without! I pondered long and hard over many other volumes that were of the same material, but VERY longwinded. I don't have a lot of time on my hands, but I was just dying to learn of the famous Zues, Hera, Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, and all of the other gods and goddesses who governed the world high atop Mount Olympus. Also of Cronus, Rhea, Gaea, Uranus, and other gods and goddesses I never knew about. Then I found this book, this treasure amongst literature. The artwork alone is enthralling and the detail in which the stories are told is absolutly mesmerizing. The book is one of the best and one would certainly advise a friend to read it if one is streched for time yet has an incredible lust for Greek Mythology. The stories are easy to understand and yet so graphical that even the simplest child could lose themselves in the stories of Eos, Hercules, or Heracles as he is called in the book, Persephone, Demeter, and Phaethon. If you love Greek Myths, this book is an absolute must

I know #131 seems kind of depressing, but I hope there are more books like "The Fire at Mary Anne's House" and this isn't just a fluke.

For the first time, you see the teens in the story step outside of the BSC and take a look at real life. The story was very true to heart and the book made me cry.

I read the next two books in the "Friends Forever" series, and I was amazed. The books aren't like California Diaries or the BSC. There JUST PLAIN GOOD! Not too depressing, but not overly happy either. I loved BSC #131, "Everything Changes" and Friends Forever #1! Keep going Ann! Your readers are coming back!

I've been reading the BSC series for about seven years now. While I like California Diaries, I always knew Ann M. Martin would put some life into the BSC plots again. AND SHE HAS! The Fire at Mary Anne's House was even better then Dawn, Diary Three! In the last book of the BSC series, Mary Anne's house burns down. She has nowhere to live and feels so sad. Even her friends rallying around her doesn't help. Poor Mary Anne! This book made me cry, especially the ending (which I won't give away) Just read the book! I'm telling you that this is better then all of Ann's books combined! I'm pretty sad that this is the last book of the Baby-sitters' Club series. But I'm looking forward to new more young adult changes in the Baby-sitters' Club: Friends Forever series. Who knows? Now we may like both California Diaries AND the BSC. I know I sure do!

The Fire at Mary Anne's House can be summarized in one word: Wow. It's the most moving book I've probably ever read in my whole life. It's amazing how your life can change in one second, and Ann (or her editors) portrayed Mary Anne's overnight life alter extremely well. When you finish reading this book, you will almost definitely look around your atmosphere and feel a warm, fuzzy feeling- LoL. Anyway, read this book- it's like no other BSC book, and it's the last one. Can't wait for the new series, but I'll miss the old one. At least there are 131 books to read over!

This is a great book. Maggie is still battling her eating disorder, and Amalia is trying to help her cope with it. The author really brings on strong points about anorexia and things that some may not know about. Amalia & Maggie's friendship reaches it's max. in this book, which is another reason why it is so good. Meanwhile, Amalia is also developing a romance with a certain new guy named Brendan. To find out what happens between the two, read this book and get ready to read it over again about 10 times, just because it's so good!

I have read all of the books in this series and I really enjoy all of them. They deal with real life problems that many teens have. In this book Amalia is trying to help her friend Maggie, over come her eating disorder. Amalia also has problems of her own, trying to be free of James, her controling ex-boyfriend. This book kind of left me haning, and I think the author does that because she will end up coming out with more of them, which I hope she does!

This book is excellent. Ann M. Martin is great at expressing problems that you can relate to. I would definately recommend this whole series for someone who is going through a tough time. I myself own all of the Cal. Diaries. I like books that don't always show you the bright side of life. I guess now I'm only wondering these things: 1. Is James going to leave Amalia alone finally? 2. Is Sunny's mom going to die, or recover? 3. Will MAGGIE recover? 4. Will Dawn ever make up with Sunny? 5. Is the California Diaries series going to be as long as the ever-growing Baby-Sitters Club? I hope Ann M. Martin reads this and answers some of these questions in her future books. Sincerely, Jaime Pfisthner

I love physics, but I used to think that it was difficult. Most authors of physics books are too smart to explain it to other people. Feynman is one of the few who realized that not every student is brilliant and that some of us never paid attention during calculus classes - my observation is that people who really like physics don't like mathematics. He takes his time explaining calculus and he pays attention to the smaller steps that in other books are neglected since the author seems to think that readers can do these steps by themselves. We don't, we are stupid!

Feynman's famous three-volume set is an edited set based on his lectures to the introductory physics classes at Caltech, which are widely considered to be among the best lecture series ever published. Feynman takes a different approach from the typical introductory physics textbook. His point of departure perhaps assumes a higher level of mathematical sophistication than most introductory or survey texts. Also, his choice of topics is not as broad and comprehensive as many modern surveys of introductory physics. What makes Feynman's work remarkable is the his manner of explaining physical principles underlying a topic, instead of simply presenting the traditional expression of a rule and its formal mathematical expression. When one completes reading a section of Feynman's lecture, if one has the mathematical sophistication one will obtain a "feel" for how the topic fits in the broad context of physics as a whole. As a note of caution: most introductory physics surveys do not present material with use of matrix mathematics. Feynman assumes familiarity with the basics of matrix algebra, and this fact makes his presentation challenging to many students. In various sources I have read that his lectures were well attended by students in the upper division portion of their education and many graduate students and faculty, while the freshman audience intended may have been poor. That reflects the series as being a high-level conceptual overview reflecting the unified structure of physics. Perhaps not suitable for introductory physics instruction to any but the most advanced students.

Unlike my fellow reviewer above (below?) I *have* a PhD in physics, yet these books taught me more basic physics than I ever learnt in 4 years of undergrad. The quantum mechanics book is especially clear...I honestly wish my first 1st year phyics lecturer had of simply said 'read Feymnam'..I would have learnt so much more than I ever did in lectures/other texts. Give these books to a child starting science/maths and let them grow up using it and learning from it...there could be no better gift.

I can't recommend this book more highly. I have only been Web Developing for 8 months after falling into the job with a fluke departmental transfer. I trained on the job with the Allaire CD that came with the CF Application Server and read manuals. This is the first CF book that I didn't have to strain to understand. It made difficult concepts simple to a newbie like myself. I ended up not only passing the exam, but also made an 82% that now brings me to Advanced ColdFusion Certified status!!! It was a change they made last month where scores of 80% and above get extra recognition. This book not only was the reason I scored so high, but also was instrumental in pointing out fixes to a host of CF problems I was having in my daily coding. There were practice questions at the end of these chapters that were actually on the test with slight wording changes. I will say that there were about 3 questions on the test that were not covered at all in the book. So I would suggest supplemental study if you want to make a 90% or something.

Now it is time for me to go negotiate that raise!

Mike Arms

Advanced ColdFusion Professional

(P.S. I like the sound of that. You will too after your own name. So get this book, read once with a high lighter, read it again, then outline the chapters you are hazy on.)

I just completed and passed the ColdFusion certification exam on June 23rd. I have been a CF developer for about 1.5 years. I have a pretty strong knowledge of the basics, but realized CF is very broad and that I definitely needed some sort of extra prep for the exam. So, I bought this book several weeks ago. However, I am an unrepentant procrastinator -- I waited till the day before the exam to start studying Ben's book. No matter. The text is so well written, that I could easily skim the material I was familiar with and focus on sections were my skills were weak. The end-of-chapter practice quizzes are challenging and are an excellent gauge of how you will perform on the real certification exam. My scores ended up being exactly the same -- 84!! It certainly helped me pass the exam and I'm sure it will remain handy as a quick reference guide. I highly recommend this book.

Disclaimer: My brother is one of the co-authors. Having said that, I can also say that I've been developing with CF for four years, and have read most of the books on the topic.

I don't have a need for the exam .. nor do I ever intend to take it, but I found this book to be a very thorough, detailed review of ColdFusion. It is certainly not a beginner's guide, as some familiarity with CF is assumed, but it gives better insight into advanced functions of CF (Structures, Associative arrays, etc) than I've read elsewhere, and differences between versions of CF (4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1) are better documented than in Allaire's own documentation.

This book is therefore for the intermediate to advanced CF programmer who is looking to build a deep, complete understanding of ColdFusion beyond the tutorial level of many of Ben Forta's other books.

This book was very good. It most commonly would appeal to teens. I enjoyed this book and read it very quickly. I was so interested to see what would happen next. I especially enjoyed this book because I could somewhat relate. One of my close friends moved away and we kept in touch to some extent. My parents also seperated and I know how much of a strain that can be on the children involved. I'm sure that this book could relate to others who may have experienced something similar to these two girls' experiences. I would definitely recommend this book to any young girl who enjoys reading.

Love it, go grab it and read it! Rate it 5 great giganticstars! Wonderful, fantastic, magnificent book! By two great authors,Paula Danziger & Ann M. Martin. If you like writing letters, you shall love this book. This whole book is written in letters, which is amazing. If you're into friendship you'll love this book as well. That's because this book is about these two girls named Elizabeth and Tara* Starr who are best friends but Tara* Starr had to move because their parents say they needed to move for a reason. However they are totally different. Elizabeth is shy adn quiet, hates being the center of attention, and lives in a house in which possesstions are more important than feelings. Tara* Starr wears glitter and sequins, loves to be the center of attention, and is the only child of the young parents aho are takinga long time to grow up. But even through they are different; their frienship is really good. So now they have to communicate by letter because long-distances calls are too expensive. While Tara* Starr's family settles down in a good position, Elizabeth's family fall apart. But can they still stay friends forever or will the distance between them tear them apart and away from each other? After you read the book you'll want to know more. This book can be a never-enging written letter story response between two girls. This book is an active and charming story written through a letter layout. It's letter to letter back and forth talking to each other but not by meeting each other. The letters have feeling and emotion written in it. The events and action happens inside the letters. This book gets thrilling and more exciting by the moment you read it. You'll want to keep reading till you finish the book. This book is a wonderful, emotional, touching, and a sad book at the same time. I say after you read this book you'll love it and it'll inspire you to love writing letters and be a true friend. Just like it inspired me to do that.

P.S. Longer Letter Later is a great book for young teenage girls who like reading about life and its problems with friendship. The book is about two girls named Elizabeth and Tara*Starr, both best friends. One Day Tara*Starr moves away and the only way to communicate is to write latters to each other. Soon after that they learn how hard it is to have a long distance friendship. My favorite thing that the author did in this book was the way she writes the letters. They sound as if you're write there listening to them read their letters with such expression. The letters are so expressive because Paula Danziger wrote it with her best friend Ann M. Martin. If girls are having trouble with friendship, they should read this book beacause it teaches girls how to handle situations having to do with friendship.

I loved this book, as well as the other California Diaries, because the girls' lives (like mine, me being 11) are so real. Their problems seem MUCH more real to me than the girls' problems in the BSC. The only thing I don't like about the California Diaries are 2 of the girls sound sooooo depressed (Sunny & Maggie). Amalia & Dawn seem to be the more up-beat, less depressed half of the group. This book covers the subject of abuse, which I don't think should be left alone. My mom used to run a safe-house before we moved& then I was about 7 when i realized what an important issue it was. I'm glad this book covered that subject.

In the California Diaries book that I read was Amalia's Diary. It was a very interesting book it was so good that I did not want to stop reading and I normally do not like to read but I enjoyed reading this one. To tell you a little about the it was about a girl named Amalia and her boyfriend James. They were going through some tough things like fighting,and arguing a lot mostly wondering even if there boyfriend/girlfriend. James,he is sixteen and Amalia she is only thirteen that is a big age difference. Amalia discovers that she likes hanging out with her sister a lot more when she got involved with a volunteer activity it was a Women's Homeless Home. It is as if you were there witnessing the wholr thing,Amalia's little doodles she draws throughout the book helps a lot more. If you want to find out more about the book you will have to read it for yourself. I guarantee that you will like it. I give it five stars.

This was an EXCELLENT book! Amalia is my 2nd fave diary. (Maggie is my first!) Although I wouldn't be caught dead reading a baby-sitters club book, I LOVE California Diaries! They're much more realistic then the BSC. I loved Maggie, because of her sneaking off, and I loved all the songs she wrote in it! I can't wait for Maggie #2 to come out, and it would be AWESOME if Amalia had a 2nd diary too!

WOW!!

I just finished readin an advance copy of this book (thanks to Coosin Al- a definite Hero). The setting of the book flips between a fantasy setting, and a harsh look at the future of humans on Earth. Both settings were blandly generic though a few original twists and ideas have been thrown in.

The compelling points of the book did not involve the setting. However the characters have been carefully formed and well rounded, and more importantly- realistic. Even the supporting characters have a suprising depth to them, with their own beliefs, desires and plots.

"Heroes Die" (listed here in Amazon as "Caine") is a masterfully built book. A story within a story, independant plots and intrigues are woven together for a believable resolution. Romance, grim humor, blood and death thread themselves through the story, creating a complex pattern that will delight and enthrall the Reader.

Matthew Woodring Stover has brought us a book with something for everyone. The story is compelling, and the characters will hook themselves into your heart as you find yourself fighting with the main character against all odds.

If you want to read an epic adventure that leaves you wanting more, give this masterpiece by Stover a try. This is the first novel I have read by Stover, and I am now planning on going back and reading his prior novels, "Iron Dawn" and "Jericho Moon."

WOW!... I read the novel and was totally blown away from the very beginning and it just got better and better! Hari Michaelson is an actor of the future who is transported along with a few other actors, including his wife, to another world and or dimension called OVERWORLD. Here in this fantasy-filled world the actors go on ADVENTURES that are followed back on earth by the populace by virtual reality-based technology. The whole book reminded me of the Matrix but in a fantasy set world. This would make a blockbuster movie idea by the way since this is a mix of sci-fi and fantasy with a writer who has written an excellent and thought-provoking idea that readers will love due to its great characters both good and bad, (and inbetween). The god emperor MA'EL-KOTH, the giant who rules in this fantasy land is a very interesting character and you just can't wait to see what he will do next. Hari Michaelson aka Caine in Overworld is such a rich and engaging character in both worlds is just a plus in this extravaganza of a novel. This si definately a one of a kind, ground-breaking read in both the sci-fi and or fantasy realm. Please do yourself a favor and get this book to read - you won't be sorry!

Not as well known as many other authors, but this book is the best fantasy book I've read in a long time. If you want an interesting new world, intense action, sunspense and a great character, this book is the one for you. Probably the best combat descriptions ever.