This is a good book for kids who like dogs and who want to read longer books. I read this book to my little brother and our dog and we all loved it! We have a dog just like Blue. His name is Spofford. If you like dogs and books, you'll love True Blue!!

"True Blue" is a wonderful book for children and parents alike. Readers of all ages will get caught up in the story and run the emotional gamut with J.D., her dog, Blue, and Blue's best canine buddy, Molasses. The book leaves readers satisfied, yet wanting more stories about J.D. and Blue. Highly reccommended!

This is an unlifting story of a dog's devotion and intelligence. Great for young readers and excellently illustrated. I'm buying extra copies for my nieces and nephews.

who read the following review by Connie Wasem which appeared in The El Paso Times:

The media pummel us with stories of violent youth. It's tempting to believe the future grows dimmer with each new generation. A recently published book, "Lessons from Our Children) offers an antidote to those portents of gloom. This collection will reconfirm your hope in today's children and remind you that young people do exhibit kindness, strength, and even wisdom. A handful of celebrities contribute excerpts from their already published books on parenting. The book's strongest appeal lies in the rest of the essays by writers and regular folk from across America.

The title is a little misleading as probably 90% of Ryan's text is concerned with gymnastics. The new edition includes a few new photographs of figure skaters Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski, but there isn't anything new about these skaters in the text. The book isn't particularly well written; Ryan cites the same examples over and over, and there's some awkward prose here that an editor might have tidied up, especially for a second edition. Ryan discusses gymnasts who were seriously injured, suffered from severe eating disorders or became suicidal-- and because she doesn't give much space to gymnasts who have not been destroyed by the sport, it's easy to dismiss this as a sensational, tabloid-style account. For instance, Ryan mentions that Mary Lou Retton could "laugh off" comments about her weight while other girls were devastated and driven to eating disorders-- but she didn't interview Retton or anyone else who was satisfied with her experiences (with the possible exception of Betty Okino). Allowing both sides to express their views could have made for a more balanced, interesting and credible book.

I started taking gymnastics at the young age of five because I liked the sport; I think my mom, however, enrolled me so I would quit flipping off of and jumping on the furniture at home! Even as a kid in those classes, I noticed there were two groups: those who did it for fun (like me), and those kids (and parents) who had visions for Olympic gold medals dancing before their eyes. Ryan's book focuses on the latter, the darker sides of professional gymnastics and figure skating, along with the image these sports push on society: the image of perfectly thin, little, beautiful young girls.

This book is a interesting, if harrowing read. Ryan documents the terrible accident that resulted in up-and-coming Julissa Gomez' death and spends a good portion of the book devoted to Christy Heinrich and eating disorders, along with other gymnast's bouts with this terrible disease. In addition, she reports about abusive coaches (those who sexually molested or verbally abused gymnasts), along with stories about the famous gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi. There's even a report about a coach who killed a gymnast by bashing her head into the balance beam! Ryan devotes a chapter to those parents who push their children into these sports and then try to live through the child's victories and Olympic hopes. While figure skating doesn't get much time devoted to in the book, it does give in detail the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan saga, along with Nancy's strive to improve her "marketability" by having her teeth capped. Such interesting stories that we, as the American society, have never heard of, but need to.

I really don't think that Joan Ryan was trying to cash in on the Olympics by releasing the book again. I think as a seasoned journalist who knows her stuff, she's concered about the future of these two sports, along with the effects of American sociey's expectations on little girls. It's sad to say, despite this great read, that the truth behind the magic and victory isn't always pretty.

A friend gave me this book & I could not put it down. As a mother of a teenage girl that is involved in equestrian sports, I could see many parallels with pushy, over bearing parents living through their daughters. The coaches (trainers)for the hunter/jumper horse-world are as destructive to these girls as Karoli, Nunno & Wang.

If you have a child that participates in any sport (not just for fun) but are on travel teams, elite teams, A circuits, medium to high levels...this book is a must read. I, for one, will make certain that I will not make the same mistakes w/ my daughter that many of these parents did. After all, they are the ones that are ultimately responsible. It just isn't worth it.

This book is a fast-paced, terrific expose.