I hope you like this book as much as i did.IT has eghit chapters but it does not take long to read.In the story Jamie on of the charecters gets stung and dies.Have fun reading a taste of blackberries.

I read A Taste of Blackberries as required reading in a Children's Literature class in college. It's the story of a young boy and how he deals with the sudden death of his best friend due to an allergic reaction to a bee sting. My mother had died unexpectedly of a heart attack only weeks before I read it. I'm so glad our instructor chose to include this book in our curriculum! It gave me the opportunity I needed to participate in class discussions of the fears and pain associated with death. And I found I was not alone. Many among us had already lost someone dear to them. Death is a univeral experience, and yet one for which I, and many of my classmates had been totally unprepared. I wish I had been exposed more to that particular reality of life as a child and believe that A Taste of Blackberries opens the door for just such discussions between parent and child or between children and their friends. I find, because it is fiction, that it can be an easy way to broach a difficult and frightening subject with children, then encourage a sharing of feelings.

I'd like also to say that this is a fairly short book, written for children. It does not deal with all of the more complex, dark issues and feelings that can be associated with death, nor should it. As I said it's written for kids. I personally found the ending of the book to be realistic, yet uplifting and hopeful.

I came across this book in my sister's bedroom. She's only 7 and i think one of her teachers recommended it to her. Anyways, i picked it up and began reading it for no particular reason. This is a fantastic book. This will become my 2nd favorite book. I'm only in high school but this book moved me deeply. I'm not ashamed to say that i cried while i was reading it. This is such a touching story and i'm sad that jamie had to die but i liked the way that the book ending. It didn't end up really sad. ( i hate sad endings) Normally i don't like books where people die but in this book it was so pure and simple that i don't mind it. I would recommend this book to anyone it is a wonderful book that everyone needs to read. The most heartwarming part of this book is where the main character offered (silently) to be Jamie's mom's "substitue son." That part made me cry too. The most interesting part of this book is that the name of the character is never revealed. It makes the story seem so much more personal, as if the reader is actually the main character and is experiencing everything along with him. I can't tell you how many times i love this book, but i love this book! Read it or else you are missing out on one of the best books ever written! :-)

I enjoyed reading ANDERSON'S FAIRY TALES by Hans Christian Andersen. My favorite stories in this book were The Mermaid, and the story about the Dustman. I loved the vivid language and the way the stories came alive, seeming to burst like balloons from the pages of the book. I also enjoyed the way common household objects and animals were personified. I found fault with the story that had the better part of its setting in the Garden of Eden. The winds from the ends of the earth were personified well, but one of the winds dispargingly referred to Africa.

'The Snow Queen' is possibly the greatest short story I've ever read. Although its message is essentially Christian, its means of getting there is staggering, Surrealist and far from dogmatic. There is an Alice quality to the heroine's narrative as she seeks her abducted playmate, full of singing flowers, helpful crows and robber barons - the songs of the flowers are full of sexually loaded and enigmatic imagery. But the word-pictures as a whole are haunting, the blazing sheen of the snow, with the suggestive reds dotting it throughout. The final puzzle is worthy of Borges. Wow.

I believe that the path to a well-rounded child is the truth. Too often we sensationalize and sugar-coat the truth when it comes to our kids. This book is a good example of the way things are. My favorite tale from this book would have to be "The Little Mermaid", and it will be the first tale I read my children when they are born. Mr. Anderson was a firm believer in drama mixed with the hard knocks of real life.Here he has just transformed them into a fantastical story that every child needs to be told. The elements of the story are very powerful, from the loss of innocence to the loss of love,and sometimes we need a good dose of something that isn't wholesome. I recommend this book to everyone, children and adults alike.

The Gettysburg Address is one of the two most famous speeches in American history, the other being Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech." But Lincoln's speech is the most important oration in our nation's history because before these 271 words were uttered at Gettysburg the United States did not really pay attention to the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and the idea that "all men are created equal." At the dedication of the National Cemetary at Gettysburg Lincoln declared that those who died did so in defense of that proposition. From that point on, all of the advances in civil rights in this country can be tied to the Gettysburg Address. When the nation was founded "men" meant free, adult, white, male, property owners. Consider today what is meant by "men" when we talk about equality in this country and you have an idea of what Lincoln set in motion. Without Lincoln's speech and the Union winning the Civil War, King would never have given his speech.

The only real shortcoming of "Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln: The Story of the Gettysbug Address" by Jean Fritz is that it fails to address the significance of the oration beyond the idea that it was a speech to remember. Fritz focuses on the story, both in general terms of the Civil War and the importance of the Battle of Gettysburg, and the specifics of the occasion for the speech, including the sickness of Lincoln's son Tad and the lengthy oration by Edward Everett. The complete text of the speech is provided at the back of the book, which is a Level 3 All Aboard Reading book aimed at grades 2-3. The illustrations are mostly watercolors by Charles Robinson although there are also some historic photographs of Lincoln and his son. The important thing is that here is a book that tells the story of a great American speech and at least introduces to young students the idea that words can make a difference in the history of a nation.

This is a fun book that should help your youngster develop an interest in American History. It is easy to read an has great illustratiions. You will not be disappointed with this purchase. Look for others by the same author.

This was a very good book. I think that it teaches you important history you needd to know.

This book is unlike most first-person accounts of sea duty during WWII. It includes aspects of seamanship and detail that don't ordinarily make it to the page. It expresses the exuberance and wonder of a young naval officer, despite having been written from the vantage of maturity. Perhaps this is because it was written from the author's contemporaneous ships' logs, but may be intended to relate experiences together with original feelings and attitudes. This has charm. It's self-effacing rather than self-important. One listens more closely, as to a youngster. The book deals with the Allied occupation of Japan; this is unusual, too. Also, the author's preference for Spruance over Halsey, shared by many, but expressed by few. The author served on one ship throughout the war. His theme comes through clearly: Many more served than saw action. The greater threat was boredom, not terror. Well written, though its language is a bit stiff; interesting; useful for young officers, as a guide to getting along. Demonstrates "can do" attitude of those who served on destroyers, including reservists.

C. Snelling Robinson, 200,000 Miles Aboard the USS Cotten (Kent State University Press, 2000) The Cotten was a Fletcher-class destroyer, built in 1943 for the express purpose of protecting America1s new fleet carriers from Japanese aircraft, submarines, and surface vessels during the final years of the greatest naval war in history. Indeed, it would be this hard-hitting combination of ships -- the fast carrier task forces commanded alternately by Admirals Marc Mitscher and "Slew" McCain with their supporting cast of battleships, cruisers and destroyers -- that would prove decisive in the Pacific War. The carriers captured the glory, but their success was greatly facilitated by the largely unsung "small boys," the hard-working, hard-riding destroyers. Snell Robinson1s superb account of his three years aboard one of the most ubiquitous of these destroyers is therefore a welcome new arrival among the body of literature of the savage fighting in the Central Pacific. Robinson came of age as a junior officer among the 300-member crew of USS Cotten (DD 669). He served principally as the ship's navigator, qualified as officer-of-the-deck underway, and stood his General Quarters post in "Sky One," the exposed gun director at the highest point in the ship. By fate, Robinson and his ship survived some of the greatest and bloodiest naval battles in history -- the forcible amphibious assault landings at Tarawa, Saipan, and Iwo Jima, and the enormous fleet engagements in the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf. The vast scale of this sea war is reflected in the record of this one small destroyer, needle-thin with its maximum beam of 39 feet, steaming the equivalent of eight circumnavigations of the earth in its endless screening missions to protect the precious carriers. Robinson describes life aboard Cotten in its alternating monotony and terrifying action with a navigator1s attention to time and space and an honest appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of himself and his shipmates. Few authentic veterans have ever done a better job portraying life at sea on a small man-of-war. His narrative is crisp, informative, authoritative. Robinson describes the difficulty of his gunners trying to shoot down a night-raiding Japanese bomber by aiming at the exhaust flair -- "like shooting at the white tail of a running deer." He admits his awe at observing Task Force 58, now some 95 ships strong, sortie from Majuro Atoll in the Marshalls, heading west towards Saipan. He admits his fear -- everyone's fear -- at the report that the Japanese Mobile Fleet, including the two largest battleships in the world, had erupted into the Philippine Sea in search of Mitscher1s carriers. He describes how a destroyer at flank speed tends to squat by the stern; a sailor standing on the fantail would actually have to look up to see the surface of the ocean. And he informs us that the greater danger in the suicidal Japanese kamikaze attacks actually came from "friendly fire" as the entire fleet blazed away at the low-flying intruders. Nicely illustrated with maps by cartographer Mary C. Hoffman, this book is a hand-crafted jewel. I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in an unblinking account of the great sea war of the 1940s.

This book helped me get a good start in my Accounting college courses. It lays out the fundamental principles of Accounting simply and clearly. Its emphasis on the process leading to, creation of, and analysis of financial statements, would be very helpful to anyone who may need to understand just what a company's financial statements really mean

This is an easy book to follow. Lots of exercises for practice and the answers are in the text so you can check and see if you got it or if you need to study more.

This book is written in a lean manner. It is simple, common and easy to read. It describes ordinary things and ideas very clearly and with one purpose. This book provides all the roadmap, tools and insight needed to allow plants to achieve excellence. The authors take great pains to address common failures issues. They provide a single source handbook that any plant can understand and use, a source with example metrics and tools, with logic and simple ideas to prevent and overcome the daily issues faced by the team that implements Lean.

This is not a book that deals much about soft issues. It is not a fuzzy warm feeling book about the people side, nor is it a motivational "you can do it" book. It is a frank easy to read book about simple steps and simple ideas that make plants great. It explains the people issues and the fact that unless working teams make the decisions and changes Lean will not happen. It is a long book, more of handbook length, but much easier to read.

Lean Manufacturing: A Plant Floor Guide fills the space between a detailed "How To" text and an overview. It provides coverage of every key issue in moving to Lean Manufacturing, offering rationale, plans and encouragement.

From understanding your customers needs, metrics, building a solid business case and launching a methodical process, this book has all the tools necessary for a sound lean transition.
Perhaps most importantly, it offers reliable advice on overcoming resistance and building an effective team.

Salzberg and Robinson do a fine job of detailing ten of the worst teams in baseball history. They do a fine job of covering both minor details and the larger picture, with humor and intelligence. I doubt this would intrigue non-baseball fans but fans of the game should enjoy it. Hopefully in 2 years the authors will update it with a worst team of the 90s entry.

As a lifelong baseball fan, I've read many baseball books, usually inspiring, entertaining stories about stars or great winning moments, but this one is a rare, funny and informative book about the other side. The side-bar stories about some of the charactors that "contributed" to these teams are interesting in themselves. Most people have worked for a company that went through hard times, or maybe even were associated with an inept group somewhere along the line, and this book makes you laugh and smile as you think back on your own experiences.

This book takes place during WWII. The main character Yuki and her family are placed in a concentration camp in Utah. They are longingly hoping to get out of the camp and to go home to Berkeley, California. When they were relocated to the concentration camp they had to sell their house. Finally after a year or more they get to go home, but not to their old house. While at camp, they decided they would stay at their old Japanese Church along with other displaced families until they could find work and a place of their own.
This book was good, I guess. It was sort of boring at parts! Which, it lost my interest. Who wants to read about a girl named Yuki? Other than those reasons, it was good. It told what it might have been in the 1940's during WWII.

The book I read was very exciting.The book was about
a girl named Yuki,her family was one of the families that got
out of Topaz where the concentration camps are.Now she was leaving in a apartment in Salt Lake City.She left behind
some freinds in Topaz.She later got out of the apartment and
went home.

They stayed at a japenese chapel.They were later rejoined by
their freinds that they left some of them were alive.Yuki
and her family made more freinds that helped them get through
the stuff times and the good.Her brother that were in the army had come back to them.He was having some trouble over the lost of
his freind.On Thanksgiving Day they all seem tocome together.

I say that this book has an interesting way of explaining the history of Japanese Amaricans.It is one of the best books I've read.

In Home Before Dark, by Sue Ellen Bridgers, the main character Stella, is a fourteen-year-old, is looking for some roots to hold onto. Stella's family has been living out of their battered station wagon. Her family has a very difficult life; they are migrant workers. Stella's father, James Earl, decides to go to his childhood home. Stella and her father are very happy about this, but her mother, Mae, isn't. When they get to the family farm, James Earl tells everyone to stay in the car because his brother, Newton, does not know that James Earl is coming to visit, let alone live with him for a while. Finally Stella has a place she can call home, somewhere she can explore all the exciting things going on in her life, like boys and friends. Stella's excitement turns to confusion when she finds herself between two very different boys, Toby, the farmhand, and Rodney, the awkward rich boy. Meanwhile Stella's mother dies, and Stella takes this hard. After a while, James Earl decides to get married again. Stella does not want to move again, after finally getting some roots established. I thought that this book was great. I really do not like to read that much, but this book really kept my attention This book was very well written and had a great plot. I thought that the story did not seem like much like a real story. I can almost picture Stella going through this time in her life. While I was reading the book, I felt that Stella was my friend, and we were going through this time together. I think that I will read more of Sue Ellen Bridgers's books in the future.

This novel is a heart warming tale about the importance of putting down roots and finding acceptance. Stella has lived the difficult life of a migrant worker but when her family returns to her father's boyhood home, she is anxious to start living a "normal" life. She weathers the anguish of losing her mother through the support of her newly extended family and the friends she has made in her new home town. When her father decides to remarry, she is upset. She does not want to leave the first real home she has had to move into the new house her stepmother is providing. Although it takes Stella some time, she eventually realizes that the most important roots of all do not belong to places but to the people who love you. This book was very well written and highly entertaining.

I first discovered this author over 10 years ago in graduate course in Appalachian children's literature. Ms. Bridgers is wonderful. This book captures so many emotions and evokes such realistic images. She truly writes of her region and deserves more praise than she recieves. In fact, I was so engrossed in this work, I wrote my master's thesis on her novels.

This book combines the images of the strong southern family, family secrets, and the tragedies of poverty in a wonderful way

This was one of the first books I read about the Holocaust, and as I re-read just a few days ago, I can certainly see why I loved it so much. "Journey To America" is the story of Lisa Platt, who, along with her mother and sisters, escapes form 1938 Berlin to Switzerland to escape persecuction of the Jews. Not only is she torn from her familiar home, she and her mother and sisters are without Lisa's father, who went to America and had them wait in Switzerland until he could send for them. The thing that makes this book memorable are the very believable emotions that Lisa and her family have...saying good-bye to their beloved housekeeper, leaving treasured belongings behind, and living with terrible uncertainty and little money in Switzerland. It is all told though first-person perspective by Lisa, and it brings a "personal" touch to the Holocaust. "Journey To America" shows us another heart-wrenching journey to the "land of the free" far different than the that of Pilgrims.

Summary-Told through Lisa Platt's Perspective
The Platt family is anticipating the troubles and possible dangers that Adolph Hitler and the Nazis may cause. In thought for their safety Mr. Platt moves to America to start a basis for a new life for him and his family. The Mrs. Platt and the girls move to Switzerland bringing their most treasured possessions and critical necessities including the maximum amount of money a Jew can travel with over the border with. When Mrs. Platt becomes very sick the girls are sent foster housings. Finally after struggles Mr. Platt sends money and the forms to be filled out for their passage to America.

This book is about A girl named Lisa who lives in Germany. She is Jewish as well of the rest of her family. It was a dangerous time for the jews so her dad went to America hoping to find a better future for his family. During that time her, her 2 sisters, and her mother went to Switzerland to wait for their dad to send for them. During that time they have to make many sacrifices of leaving their belongings in Germany and starting a new life. In Switzerland they also have troubles with money. When will their dad send for them? Read this book and find out! This book helped me learn more about the jews and their persecutions as a jew.