This is a great book about how a young girl takes on the responsibility of tending to her father's work of keeping a lighthouse while he is away. This isn't the easiest job, especially since there is a horrible storm going on. The young girl is new to living on this island but she uses courage a strength to climb the many stairs to light the candles. She knows how important it is to keep the candles lit during a storm. Miranda was sick, tired, hungry and cold but she never gave up and never lost hope that her father would return. This book is a great way to teach children how other their age work so hard in times that aren't easy. This young girl demonstrates mady great qualities. She loves her father and doesn't want to let him down so she uses all her strength to take care of the lighthouse.

Hemingway defined courage as "grace under pressure". Arielle North Olson doesn't bother with a cute phrase. She writes about a courageous 10-year old girl. Miranda isn't particularly graceful. She clings to a catwalk a hundred feet above the rocks in the midst of a storm, alternately wiping her nose on her sleeve and scraping ice off the lighthouse window. She doesn't brave the wind and the cold for money, fame or glory; she knows the winter before, when a lighthouse down the coast was dark, two ships went down with all hands. It's a wonderful story. It tells your children that you don't have to be a bullfighter, a paratrooper or a firefighter (or an adult, or male, for that matter) to be brave.

If Amazon can't find it for you, check it out of your library.

Photographers: note the photos, and the stark parallel images of trees versus factory stacks. They make the point of the entire book in dramatic thought-provoking images that make you want to go out and stop every smoke-producer in the world.

Christadelphians (Brothers and sisters in Christ) are barely known in the US. This is probably due to their small numbers and lack of any formal organisation. Their principal distinguishing belief is that Jesus is the Son of God, not God the Son.

The author, Charles H. Lippy, Professor of Religion, Clemson University, South Carolina is a graduate of Dickinson College, Union Theological Seminary, NY, and Princeton University.

This book (1989) remains one of only two surveys of Christadelphian history, belief and practice by a non-Christadelphian. The other is Sects and Society by Brian Wilson (1961). As the title indicates the book is heavily focussed on the 10,000 or so Christadelphians in the USA and Canada, just as Wilson's is on the 25,000 or so Christadelphians in the UK. The main difference between the two books is that Lippey does not indulge in the often questionable sociological observations recurrent in Wilson's thesis. Quote:

"I do not offer a social or economic portrait of the people who are Christadelphians. My sense is that Christadelphians in socio-economic terms are virtually indistinguishable from the bulk of the population of the United and Canada ¡ª they are essentially middle-class folk who work hard for an honest living. I have met Christadelphians who are medical specialists, social workers, college professors, corporate executives, motel owners, dentists, accountants, and homemakers. I know Christadelphians who are employed in a variety of other occupations and professions. Virtually all that distinguishes Christadelphians from other Americans is their commitment to their understanding of religious truth. And it is that truth that I seek here to explicate."

In introducing the table of contents, as follows, it is worth explaining two terms. An "Ecclesia" is the word by which most congregations describe themselves rather than church. However Lippey's use of the term "founder" relating to John Thomas M.D., while arguably the case in a historical sense, would not be used by Christadelphians themselves (due to 1 Corinthians 3:11) who tend to refer to Thomas and other early brethren only as "pioneers". Lippey, by taking a historical view inevitably overstates the relevance of Thomas, Williams, Roberts, Wilson and other early brethren to modern Christadelphians. Some of their writings hold interest, much as Luther's do to a Lutheran, or St. Augustine to a Roman Catholic, but they hold no authority beyond that of fellow Bible students.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. The Religious Ethos of the Early Nineteenth Century
2. Christadelphian Beginnings: The Life and Work of John Thomas
3. Christadelphians Since the Founder's Death.
4. Ideology: An Exposition of Beliefs That Constitute "The Truth"
5. Ideology: Relations and Links to Other Religious Traditions
6. Commitment and Cohesion: The Local Ecclesia
7. Commitment and Cohesion: Extra-Ecclesial Agencies, Organizations and Activities
8. Commitment and Cohesion: Behavior and Ethics
9. Assessing: Locating the Christadelphians on the American religious landscape
10. Assessing: Christadelphian contributions to Religion in North America.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

As to the content it is generally well written, well referenced, objective and accurate. The only reservation, inherent in the subject, is that 'the Christadelphians in North America' inevitably does not really give the reader a picture of the denomination worldwide.

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The books in the Native American Legend series combine stories of various North American tribes with factual information about the Native American cultures. Both interesting to read and full of pertinent factual info, these books combine fiction and non fiction nicely.

I found this book in City Lights ... on my own quest around sacred mountains of the world. It was fun to find Evans-Wentz had anticpated much of my route ... many years before. Cuchama is also Mt Tecate, a mountain on which young American Indians were set to spend the night, coming down with their vocation in life. Well edited by Frank Waters, with what were to me fascinating additional observations. A great intro to the phenomenon of the sacredness of mountians, from a man who lived his life by such things.

The Dancing Drum A Cherokee Legend is an excellent book to usein the classroom to teach Legends and Folktales. I particulary likethis book because it is written on a higher reading level than most of your typical legends. This book contains of of the elements characteristic of a legend. The main character is Dancing Drum, a little Indian boy who is trying to save his people from the wrath of the sun. The conclusion to this tale is a beautiful example of how many people can work to together to solve a problem. END

This book is a good review book for the novice geology fan or the most crusted old timmer. Good indepth explinations without much of the techno babble that can be associated with geology. Easy to fallow and understand. A good companion for those who do the Death Valley car tour. A must have.

A complete and thorough 453 page history of the events along the coast and inland water ways of North Carolina and Virginia during the American Civil War. Browning provides an in-depth discussion of the logistics, tactics and strategy of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which played a very important and often overlooked role during the Civil War. Its successes benefitted the efforts of the Union's Army of the Potomac and adversely affected the operations of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. There is also a succinct explanation of the campaign to capture Wilmington, North Carolina and the broader effects that campaign had on Lee's army. Eight maps, fourteen illustrations and over a hundred pages of notes and bibliography augment the text.

This book provides an excellent survey of linguistic interaction between European and North American languages over the last 450 years, as evidenced mainly by loanwords. Accessibly written and historically aware; focuses mainly on English words borrowed from northern tribes, with a secondary emphasis on Spanish and Mesoamerican languages. An excellent read for anyone interested in words for their own sake.