Imagine your divorced parents are starting to date new people. Would it bother you so much that it would affect your grades?That's exactly what happens to Amber Brown.I enjoy all of the Amber Brown books. Her life is interesting and her problems are believable. I can't wait to read more about Amber and her family.
I recommend this book to kids that like funny, true to life stories. I think this book would be enjoyed by ages 8 to 80.

I have read alot of Amber Brown books and this is my favorite so far. She a normal girl and learns to handle things-I really like to read about her!

This is a girl named Amber. Her mom and dad are divorced. The BIG problem is that Amber's mom gets a new boyfriend! The new boyfriend's name is Max. Amber is afraid that Max is going to take her dad's place.

It was Amber's moms BIRTHDAY! Amber spent all her money. She didn't even have a cent. So she gave her mom Amberion certificates, five of them. Amberion certificates are paper with Amberion on them and the person that it's written to. Amberion certificates makes Amber do things that she does not want to. Example when she does not want to clean her room. Another example, she does not want to go out to dinner.

In the end, Amber's dad gets a new girlfriend.

But not quite. While I wouldn't say this was a terrible novel, I also wouldn't say that it was in any way memorable. Because of the wonderful dramatization on the audio cassette, I passed an afternoon at work more pleasantly, being entertained by the acting skills of the readers. However, if I'd been merely reading a text version of this story, I wouldn't have finished it because the plot did not interest me enough to deserve my full attention. The characters are too typical of a mystery novel, the prose style unremarkable, and the ending not too exciting.

This is a superlative production. Yulin doesn't merely read, he performs, and his voice matches the role. The other parts are nearly all well played, and the music never intrudes. Atmospheric and involving for 9 hours!

The book is one of MacDonald's last, and it has some of the overwrought quality that mar his later books, but this is only occasionally a distraction.

For those looking for other MacDonalds, the best are The Chill, Far Side of the Dollar, the Zebra-Striped Hearse, The Galton Case (all from 1959-65).

One of the obvious observations about Ross MacDonald's series of Lew Archer detective novels is that they are essentially the same story. Eerily MacDonald's plot lines reflect his own troubled and unsettled childhood. On the surface, this novel is about a very troubled young woman that seems to be in the wrong place at the precisely wrong times. It seems impossible that she could be innocent of anything or everything. Nevertheless, true to MacDonald's plot form, the real villains are the immature adults that compounded their original sins year by year, lie by lie. The true crime always is years in the past in Ross MacDonald's novels. The perpetrator forever spends his or her life covering up the original crime and always enmeshing his or her child into the original felony.

Ross MacDonald's prose is simply pure art. He settles you into the tacky 40's through 60's of California and then contrasts the empty lives of the rich and the destitute. He exposes his characters as being very troubled and not very innocent. Archer, his guide/protagonist is dogged as the revelation of the true perpetrator(s) slowly emerges. Terse first person narration gives this novel a stunning sense of realism.

This is a really wonderful detective novel, a form of noir that is so special. Vintage Crime/Lizard Press has reissued most of the Archer series and they remain as vital, and entertaining as when they were first printed. I recommend working through the whole series of these wonderful reprints.

However, having read them all and having read most of them several times over, this in my opinion is the best by a far measure. The best of this series is perhaps the best of all detective novels. Chandler and Hammett did not have the power of prose that Ross MacDonald so effortlessly spins.

Great general reference guide with photos by renowned insect photographer Dr. Edward Ross. A well done eighty-three page introduction covers such topics as classification, anatomy, behavior and collecting. Not for real die hards as the number of species is limited. Great though for students, naturalists, nature photographers and others interested in a good general introduction that uses top quality photography.

It would be impossible for any single book to be a total guide (and I have many!), but this book has EXCELLENT photographs - which is especially helpful with hemiptera (true bugs), since there is a shortage of identifying guides for them. I not only found photos of insects that I (and my county ag agent) had been unable to identify, this book is wonderfully keyed to indicate whether insects are beneficials, pests, neutral, etc. This "at a glance" keying (by color, symbols and single alpha's) is very helpful for gardeners since most books do not give good information on what insects eat (a predator can develop into a pest as an adult, and vice versa), etc., but rather only provide physical identification information. Organic gardeners can frequently find information only on the worst (most common) pests, and may live in areas where they have worst pests that are not indigenous elsewhere, or identification of the most common predators, that may not be universally common. The author give life histories and other valuable information frequently lacking in "identification" books. Scientific names are provided for the more serious reader - and to help in identifying similiar insects in more complete but poorly illustrated books. Because of the beautiful photos, it would be a good "beginner book" for a budding entomologist too! This book is a real bargain!

This guide is awesome, pictures and illustrations are from very high quality, I found this guide comparable to those guides from Audubon.

Two illustration of insects come on left page, and on the right page you have the theorical info, so It easy to read and look at the picture at the same time. Insects are very easy to find, theyre grouped in orders, and by similitudes of course.

This is a must have for any insect enthusiast, no mether if a begginer or if an expert on this field.

It is very complete.

Richard Watkins' book on the gladiators of Rome is a welcome addition to the sparse literature on these most fascinating 'sports figures' and the 'games' they engaged in. Targeted principally for the younger readers, it is still an enjoyable read for anyone interested in the professional swordsmen of the arena. The illustrations are quite good, although a more colourful and detailed medium than graphite might have better served to capture the parade-like splendour of the events. Gladiator is an worthwhile companion to Michael Grant's harder to find (and more detailed) Gladiators (also highly recommended).

I wish Mr. Watkins would write and illustrate other books / this must have been a labour of love. The drawings are masterful!

I work as a children's librarian and I'm scared for the little ones to take this out. It's pretty irreplaceable/ unlike any other.

This book is not solely intended for the young reader. It contains numerous well illustrated aspects of gladiators in the arena as well as other Roman games.

I purchased this book after reading the previous reviews. I was really looking forward to reading it with my son. We will travel to Ireland, this summer, and I wanted to get a book so that both of us could learn something about the history and culture of Ireland. While the book is very colorful, both my son and I found it utterly confusing and disjointed. I am honestly disappointed with the purchase.

"The Story of Ireland" by Richard Brassey and Stewart Ross is told between two maps of Ireland, the first of Ireland before 1500 and the other of Ireland after 1500. It starts, in the grand tradition of Michener, millions of years ago when Ireland was part of the huge super-continent Panagae. But then we have a whirlwind tour through Irish history, which includes Noah's grandson making up Gaelic from the best bits of all the languages created when the Tower of Babel fell, Irish icons like the Limerick Treaty Stone and Guiness beer, and the Great Famine. The information comes fast and furious, aided and abetted by funny pictures and witty captions, so that the result is a book that is more informative and entertaining. This is a book that can tell you how to become an English lord and identify all of the architectural sites in Dublin. If you can claim Irish descent, like one third of American presidents, then your children will probably enjoy this book more than if they are simply assigned to find out about the Emerald Isle for a school report. Brassey and Ross have also done "The Story of Scotland," and I would expect to see "The Story of Wales" from them before they get around to "The Story of England." Just a guess on my part, but I have my reasons.

Cartoon color illustrations by Brassey pair with historical facts to make for an unusually inviting Ireland expose in the Story Of Ireland. From Irish folklore and history to social development, youngsters receive a basic view of Ireland and the Irish people.

Readers who first encounter the militant, intellectual Vallejo stumble, as must have the first patrons of Picasso's *Guernica*, into a territory where radical politics and language consciousness cannot be divided. Famous for his revulsion at the capitalist conscious (or lack of one), Vallejo's poetry--from its most profane to its most threateningly lyrical--is an hardline education in the Marxist point of view. Middle class comfort, with its notion of safety, self-destructs on contact with Vallejo's "auroral dagger"; even in translation his verse splices the "burning coals" of the lip with the deliberate confusion of syntax and the extremities of diction.

When Vallejo proclaims "my lip/will split open into a hundred sacred petals./Tilda will hold the dagger/the flower-killing and auroral dagger!" ("Burning Coals") he places the speaker under intellectual and emotional arrest. Often with Vallejo there is no where to go but into the terrible dwellings of all experience and a life that struggles toward the new--fusing politics and romance, invention and lyric. The reader, very likely the middle class reader or writer under accusation, is faced with the impossible: syntax lures the reader into suffering. Diction becomes "a pariah's neurasthenic song," a verse of the nerve ("Leaves of Ebony"). The reader is placed on the rack of what Vallejo himself calls a "multisense of sweet unbeing" ("For the Impossible Soul of My Beloved") .

For the reader interested in poetry that works the ideals of politic and word into dangerously parabolic axes, the place to start is *The Black Heralds*. For the Marxist Vallejo with something to teach us now, the heart's language and the mind's dialectic arc into the Peruvian's "sublime parabola of love." ("For the Impossible Soul...") Perhaps Peru's greatest Modernist has something to teach us yet about the true springs of Idealism.

Quality begins with materials, parts, components, and strong customer/supplier relationships and continues after the product is finished. This book provides new ideas, methods, and insights into achieving quality improvement initiatives for the purchasing and production functions in a step-by-step process.

Contents:

Strategy for Obtaining Quality from Suppliers Product Requirements The Price of Quality Supplier Evaluation and Selection Legal Aspects Tools for Quality Improvement Evidence of Conformance Inspection and Testing Problems and Corrective Action Working Relationships with Suppliers Alternatives and Trends

From paint and scrub technique to gold leaf, Richard Kollath covers the simple to the more involved possibilities to alter a piece of furniture. This book gives detailed instructions and plenty of pictures to help the new refinisher like myself. I find his ideas and projects interesting, uncomplicated and worth trying. I also appreciated his concern for the environment and his recommendation for a more ecologically sound paint stripper

The author of the book is the President of Rochard, a major producer of Limoges Boxes. If you want to learn about the history of the porcelein and painting techniques - read on. However, I wanted to learn more about the different artists and manufacturers. Mr. Sonking features only his "Rochard" boxes. Too slanted for my taste.

I found the book to be quite interesting, not to mention beautifully photographed. While I have to agree with some of the other reviewers that the book tends to be a bit jaded (since the author IS the President of a major Limoges distributor), it is still packed with history and facts. However, I would have preferred that it also mention current values of some of the many styles of Limoges boxes. 'Looks great sitting on the coffee table!!

If you've been looking for a collector's book on Limoges porcelain boxes for many years like I have then you'll be overjoyed to know that someone has finally done an incredible job.

The "Limoges Porcelain Box: From Snuff To Sentiments" by Richard Sonking has everything true collectors could possibly want. This is one coffee-table book that will not gather dust. The photographs are beautiful. It will provide wonderful reading, with a wealth of information and history in addition to how the boxes are designed from start to finish.

Tre's Magnifique!!!!!

Louis Mauriello, World Press Review magazine

It is always sad when I come across a biography with as many rich possibilities as Richard III and find that the author has destroyed the story by lacking the ability to write a simple story (and yes this includes a conclusion). If what you wish is a simple rendition of Richard III's basic biography please purchase and read this book. If you are looking for a richer context with which to view Richard III then please look elsewhere for satisfaction.

The bulk of the book is given over to a scholarly, detailed account of Richard's life and administration, which is what interests Ross. What does not interest Ross is whether or not Richard was a murderer. He is interested in Richard-the-man-in-the-context-of-his-times, not Richard, the man. The whole debate over the Princes in the Tower irks Ross extremely, and he begins his chapter on the subject by petulantly pitching into Ricardians for their interest in this subject; they are not even worth responding to, but since their arguments have gotten so much publicity (in scholarly terms) they must be responded to. Grudgingly. With this attitude, it's not surprising that Ross does egregiously stupid things, such as arguing that Richard must be guilty because the king always is guilty in cases of this kind, implicitly dismissing the possibility that anyone might do something differently from his or her forebears; there are, Ross says, no examples of political crimes committed without the king's knowledge--except, of course, he adds, the murder of Thomas a Becket--thus destroying his entire point, which wasn't a good argument in the first place. The rest of the chapter is up to the same standard. The book is worth getting, however, for the rest of the text and because it is considered the standard bio of Richard. The case for Richard's guilt in the disappearance of his nephews has been more convincingly argued by others, but Ricardians will find in appropriate chapter splendid material for a defence of Richard, albeit Ross did not intend it as such.

Charles Ross, one of the most respected historians of later medieval Britain, has produced a fairly standard biography of Richard III that, though more than adequate for scholars doing research, does not compare to his work on Edward IV in the Yale English Monarchs series. Ross is known to be a "traditionalist"--that is, one who views Richard III's guilt in the disappearance of the princes in the Tower as more than probable. This annoys many who sympathize with Richard III (see some of the other reviews). However, far from attempting to prove his contention, he simply states why he believes the scenario is a likely one. Anyone truly interested in the comparative study of Richard III's reputation should contrast this book with the 1956 biography by Paul Murray Kendall.