I use to hate reading. One day I was in the bookstore I noticed the Clearwater Crossing books. I got book #1 and I didn't start reading it till i had it for over a month. I got around to reading it and I LOVED it. In the past 3 months I've read through book #5 and I'm starting on #6. Also I've got 2 friends of mine hooked on the books.

I am A freshman in High school and I find that in this book they express alot of the things that I go though in everyday life. All the characters in the book are so unique that you can relate to one of them....don't get me wrong the teenagers in this book are not perfect! I think that that is why I enjoyed the book. It's not a fairy tale book. It's actually one of the most realistic books I've ever read. The characters turn into your everyday friends. The football games, the meetings, the friendships, the relationships...They are all part of high school. I'm sure you'll really enjoy this book. You can certainly learn alot from the characters by their mistakes or by their good judgement and the out comes.

I thought this book was fantastic. The whole series is great, it deals with a lot of things we can relate to, like relationships and everything else people go through when they're in high school. And these are the only young adult books I've ever read that dealt with religion so openly.This book is probably my favorite in the series. I love all of the surprise it throws in, especially with Peter and Jenna!

Darkly poignant and sweetly done, this novel is a must-read for anyone who's ever been a teen...ANYONE. "The Bumblebee Flies Anyway" explores the deep psychologies involved in young Barney's confused and complex life, and shows what happens when life's "expectations" aren't met. As a full-fledged Robert Cormier fan (I've read some six-seven Cormier-penned tales), I can tell you that this is the one to get if you want to get a feel for Mr. Cormier's writing style and unique wordsmithing. It's the type of book to read even IF you aren't assigned it in class...even though none of my high school classes ever assigned any Cormier, I still found his stuff worthwhile reading--and still do.

Robert Cormier does it again in The Bumblebee Flies Anyway! It's a dark and sometimes confusing story (according to my mother, I understood it perfectly), with believable and complex characters and a twist you would never suspect. This is the first Cormier novel I've read, and since then I now own all his books and have read most of them. I was inspired to read it when I actually *met* Mr. Cormier at an awards convention for young writers (I had won an award for a short story I wrote based on the same quote The Bumblebee Flies Anyway was based on). I'm very glad I met such a womnderful man and a fantastic author. This book, so far, is my favourite of all his work, but if you don't know what to read next, pick up a Cormier novel. I guarantee you won't regret it.

The Bumblebee Flies Anyway by Robert Cormier is an excellent book for teen readers. While the setting and situations of an experimental medicine clinic may be unusual, teens can easily identify with the patients and how they are a society of outcasts. Barney, along with his friends Billy, Ali, and Mazzo, have become ostracized due to their illnesses and each identifies their predicament in an independent manor. The intrusion of Cassie into their society brings a sense of the real world into the Clinic. The result ends in a rather unusual ending that might confuse some readers, but the basic premise will still remain appealing. The adolescent readers of this novel will find Barney's medication and Cassie's special relationship to her twin brother Mazzo conversation worthy thus making the novel an excellent choice for middle school and high school classes in which the teacher is wanting to provoke discussion. The Bumblebee Flies Anyway is also an excellent book that any age will enjoy.

its book help me get a better view of Babe Ruth the person as well as the hero. This book showed the life of Babe Ruth outside the Baseball game and inside his personal life. Robert Creamer did a great job of showinbg the Babe in who is and telling all the legends and all the facts that surronded his life and his affect on people. This book was well written and kept me interst.

Of the 200+ baseball books I've read, "Babe: The Legend Comes to Life" is my favorite. Creamer wrote the book while some of the old-timers were still alive, and this makes his story come to life. If you want to learn about Babe Ruth, this is the definitive book to read.

This a great book for baseball fans . sportslovers of all kinds and anyone interested in American history in the 20th century. Babe Ruth the icon is made human again for all of us who missed him when he played the game. The first sports celebrity in a nation that has gone on to become obsessed with celebrity and sports heroes. Babe paved the way in an era that saw tremendous change in American life. He is portrayed here " warts and all" and emerges as a warm hearted man with a huge appetite for living who was clearly in the right place at the right time.
This is one of the finest sports biographies I've read.

As a lawyer, when I am asked about proper procedure at a meeting, my first question is: What rules do you use? Is there an applicable statute, or bylaws or rules that the organization has adopted? Nine times out of ten, the answer is: "Robert's Rules of Order." Robert's is the most widely used parliamentary manual in the United States.

General Henry M. Robert published the original "Robert's Rules" in 1875 and 1876 and, since the copyright on that edition (and the next few editions) has long since expired, there are numerous unofficial editions on the market. The third edition, published in 1893, is still marketed in paperback by more than one publisher as the "original" Robert's Rules. With the copyright expired, even the name "Robert's" has passed into the public domain, and many imitators have slapped the name "Robert's" on books of parliamentary procedure that bear minimal relation to General Robert's work (much as many dictionaries claim the name "Webster's" without any connection to Noah Webster or the Merriam-Webster brand that carries on his work). This book is the real Robert's, composed by an editorial board appointed by General Robert's heirs (including his descendants Sarah and Henry III, both eminent parliamentarians). Now in its tenth edition, published in 2000, this book "supersedes all previous editions and is intended automatically become the parliamentary authority in organizations whose bylaws prescribe 'Robert's Rules of Order' . . . or the like, without specifying a particular edition."

Robert's is not necessarily the best parliamentary manual on the market: "Modern Parliamentary Procedure" by Ray Keesey is far more logical and user-friendly, and "The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure" by Alice Sturgis (commissioned by the American Institute of Parliamentarians as a contemporary alternative to Robert's) is more readable and more rooted in modern practice. But no other book has gained as much as a toehold in Robert's dominance in the market. If you are interested in parliamentary procedure, or figuring out how most organizations work in the twenty-first-century United States, this Robert's is indispensable.

Question: Which edition of Robert's Rules is official? Aren't they all the same? Which one do professional parliamentarians refer to? Answer: The National Association of Parliamentarians, and the American Institute of Parliamentarians, only recognize one book as the current official parliamentary authority: Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised [1990 edition, Scott, Foresman] Everything else is old, or a variation. The bible of parliamentary law, it is this edition that your bylaws probably mentions, not the 1876 original text, like some publishers are selling. Be forewarned, it is literally a book of rules, and not easily absorbed. -- You may have to learn what's practical for your average meeting by a simpler beginners book. If you want simple, go elsewhere; if you want complete, this is it. No other book is ADDING things to Henry M. Robert's original classifications & rankings (it's 700+ pages!), only shortening & simplifying & rephrasing.

While there certainly are other options to understanding parliamentary procedure, "Robert's Rules of Order (Newly Revised, 10th Edition)" is a traditional key to knowing the ways things are done.

True, true... this isn't exactly the sort of book you bring to a coffeehouse on a Saturday. However, it is also true that if you are part of an organization that has organized meetings, 'Robert's Rules' is a great place to start. The liturgy of meeting procedure starts and finishes with the rules set forth in 'Robert's Rules.'

Get this book, but consider getting one of the plain English versions as well. If you are new to parliamentary procedure, you'll find both books in tandem quite helpful.

I fully recommend, "Robert's Rules of Order (Newly Revised, 10th Edition)" by Henry M. Robert III.

Anthony Trendl

This is definitely one of those books you CANNOT put down! I read the whole thing in 1 day. It is so easy to relate to everyone in this book! If you are a teenager I'd definitely recommend it... especially if you're a hopeless romantic like me! After I finished this book I immediately started reading the next in the series (Heart & Soul) and I'm already half-way through that book too! This series is definitely a great one to get hooked on!

This book had a way of bringing me together with my feelings and I was able to connect to it emotionally. It reminded me a lot of Lurlene McDaniel's books.

I just LOVE these books, these are the type of books that you just can't put down! I started reading them at the end of December and now I am on book #4! Book #2 Reality Check was probably the most 'can't put it down' book so far, this book you just have to read, read, read until the end, and especially the ending of book #2 I ran out to the store to buy #3 immediatly. I can honestly say that this book is worth every penny you pay for it!

A truly brilliant debut novel about a charasmatic yet flawed young man called Tom Iremonger.Very funny yet moving, Iremonger is a great guide to modern Dublin, and his philosophies on life - 'the rules of cool' - are hugely entertaining. Comparisons to a young Martin Amis (as stated on the reverse of the book) are flattering to Martin Amis to be honest. Read and you'll see what I mean!

A sort of homecoming tells the facinating story of Tom Iremonger. It deals with his homecoming at Christmas and finds that while he was away everything has changed. Friends, hangouts, and family have all are different than when Tom left, and all pose a threat to Tom's percieved existance. Many problems seem to come from Tom's on-again off-again romance with Mainie Doyle. This book is a great read for anyone who has left their hometown and comes home to find everything has changed . . . or maybe they have changed and the city has stayed the same. It is a great blend of wit, humor, and life lesson.

Unlike most books of this genre (you know, rich pretty people too old to be coming of age), this one is actually well-written. Sure, the lead, Tom Iremonger, is totally annoying, but he knows it, and, thankfully, does very little to redeem himself. Cremins does not go for the cheap ending, which I applaud him for. It kept this book fresh and surprising till the end. And, as an added bonus, each chapter is like a short story, which is good for those of us with short attention spans.

The mystery is awful. The book is predictable and formulaic. And I couldn't care much for the stupid characters who insist on making stupid mistakes. Jean's head is full of air since she can't see anything strait, and can't figure out the secret before we do. Stay away from this awful book.

The Callender Papers by Cynthia Voigt is a mystery novel about a young, adopted girl, Jean. She lives with her foster mother or "aunt", Miss Constance Wainwright, in Cambridge. Miss Constance is the owner of an all girls academy there. One day Mr. Thiel, who supports and gives money to the Academy, asks Jean to work for him in Marlborough, where he lives, over the summer. If she accepts, her job will be to sort papers that belong to his wife's family, the Callenders. Jean agrees and takes a trip to Marlborough, where she meets Mrs. Bywall, Mr. Thiel's servant and Mac, the son of the local doctor. Afterwards, she makes acquaintances with Enoch Callender, Mr. Thiel's brother-in-law, whom Mr. Thiel extremely dislikes. Enoch Callender invites Jean to dinner at his house and she accepts the offer. After dinner, Mr. Callender and Jean walk over to a place she finds is quite beautiful. Enoch Callender shows her a wooden board that he and his sister, Irene, used to cross the falls.

Every Sunday after that day, she goes to the Callender's house for lunch. One Sunday, Jean gets very sick and everybody in the house including the doctor, Mac's dad, suspects that she was poisoned.
Later, Jean finds Mr. Thiel's late father-in-law's will in the Callender papers she had been sorting through. She learns that Mr. Thiel and Irene Thiel, his wife that died ten years ago and Miss Constance's friend, had a child who suddenly disappeared after she died. She also learns that her favorite spot, the waterfall, is the place where Irene Thiel died. When Jean's visit to Marlborough is almost over, Mr. Thiel forbids her to visit Enoch Callender because he thinks that she was poisoned by him. She runs away to the falls and meets Enoch Callender there. He pulls the wooden board out from its hiding place and... which leaves Jean with a very important decision.
The main characters of The Callender Papers are Jean, Miss Constance, Mr. Thiel, Enoch Callender, and Mac. My favorite character is Enoch Callender because he has all kinds of different personalities. He's sly, mischievous, and not to be trusted, yet he has grace and wit, and he's good-looking. He often acts like he hasn't grown up, and he wants everything to be perfect. Enoch Callender is treacherous to cross. I, like Jean, have felt like I wanted to trust a person, but deep down I knew I couldn't. About a year ago, I found out a huge secret, my pretty reliable brother wanted to know what it was, and I wanted to tell him because I would've enjoyed having somebody to talk to about it, but I thought that he might tell. Also, resembling Jean, when there is some big event about to happen and I wasn't told of it, I feel like I know nothing about what is going on and want desperately to find out. Just as Mr. Thiel overly protects Jean, I have felt that my parents were being much too overprotective of me and I wanted to have a little more freedom to do what I want. I can relate to this narrative and I believe other kids will be able to also.
The Callender Papers is a vibrant, exciting, wonderful novel that I couldn't put down until I had finished the last sentence. My favorite part is when Jean finally starts to figure out what happened to Irene Thiel, Irene's child, and the child's nurse. I don't really have a least favorite part and I don't think I would change anything at all because the story is perfect the way it is. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone because it is mysterious and it keeps giving hints about what truly happened, though no one can really understand the clues until the very end. Also, it grows scary as it nears the end of the book. My brothers and I usually enjoy spooky and frightening books and I believe many other kids do too. Someone who likes mystery, secretiveness, and happy endings would take pleasure in reading this tale of a girl and the secrecy behind her life.

I've read this book twice and both times it was extremely interesting. It's about a girl who is employed by Mr. Thiel to catalogue his wife's family papers. After a while she became interested in knowing about Mr. Thiel's missing daughter and the death of his wife.

Gulf, by Robert Westall, is an amazing, amazing book. I read it recently during the war against Iraq. It was the seventh time I have read the book.
Gulf is about Figgis, a strange child who does abnormal things. In the book, they are called his Things. He will see something, hear something, read something, or discover a piece of information and immediately connect with it.
He will obsess over the Thing for days until it is simply over. Then he'll find a new Thing.
One of his most peculiar things happened when he saw an article in the newspaper. On the front page was a picture of a man. There was no caption underneath the picture with his name. Figgis suddenly wanted to write to the man. His parents managed to find out where the man lived, but they didn't know his name. Figgis wrote the man a letter. He began it, "Dear Charlie." When Figgis received a letter from the man, it was signed Charlie. It was addressed "Dear Andy", Figgis' real name. But the odd thing was that Figgis had signed the letter to Charlie "Figgis."
Then one night, Figgis' brother finds Andy muttering in a strange language. When Figgis awakes, he doesn't remember ever doing it and he can't speak the language. After that, it happens more and more. Every night, Figgis becomes someone else. He doesn't know Tom, his own brother. He climbs to the rooftop one night and sits there, speaking in the strange, harsh language, muttering to himself.
After a while, you find out what has happened to Figgis. He is speaking Arabic. He is experiencing what a soldier in the Gulf War is.
Figgis is taken to a mental hospital. There he speaks the language to himself, wears Army clothing, builds bunkers around himself, and uses a gun that the hospital staff found him. The Arabic soldier has taken Figgis over. Figgis not only experiences the soldier's life at night, now he IS the soldier the entire day.
Everything is made worse by everything else. Figgis no longer exists. It is like some terrible disease has taken him away from his family and friends. His dad, a true patriot, is always screaming at the television and watching in glee as more enemy soldiers are killed. Now his son is one.
This book is a somber, scientific read. It's definitely not for everyone. Also, true patriots who think that their country is always in the right shouldn't read this book. Some of it has to do with whether war is ever right. It points out that the soldiers on the other side are just as real as we are. They think that their view is more right than ours and they are also willing to die for it.
Later on in the hospital, when Figgis returns to himself for a few brief moments, he says to Tom that maybe his position is to make up for all the people out there who don't give a damn about who's going to die, and who is going to be wounded. Maybe Figgis' terrible state is because no one in his family except Tom really cares about the other side of the war. His father just wants to see as many dead men from the other side as he can. Tom's mother is sympathetic, but perhaps not enough. Maybe Figgis must suffer because NO ONE except those actually fighting wars seems to care about them. I have to admit that I didn't even know what the Gulf War was until I read this book.
Gulf is an amazing title because it's not only about the Gulf War, it's about the Gulf between us and everyone dying out there, it's about the Gulf between happy if not normal kids and kids who are soldiers. It's also about the Gulf between the real Figgis and the soldier he becomes.
This book might change your life. But if you're stuck in your own point of view and you can't handle all the horrible, maybe even possible things that happen to Figgis, don't read this book. Everyone else, give this amazing, thought-provoking, life-changing, better-than-any-book-I've-ever-read-and-that's-saying-something-because-I-read-EVERYTHING book a chance.

The book starts out with Andy's (Figgis) brother, Tom, talking about Figgis's strange dreams he has. He says about Figgis knowing almost the entire life story of both a medicine man and an Ethiopian woman. Then one day, Tom finds his brother trapped inside of an Iraqi soliders body, and no way of getting out. This book is really good for someone who likes war novels with a little mystery in it. Two thumbs up!!

This book is cool. It starts out in England talking about a kid named Andy whose nickname is Figgis. His older brother tells the story. Figgis is a little different. He seems to feel things more than other kids and always asks questions no one else seems to. He also feels differently than other kids. When he sees something on tv about kids starving he stops eating too.
The Gulf War begins. Everyone in his class is excited and hoping that the allies win. All except Figgis who begins to speak in Arabic and starts talking about the Gulf War as though he can really see what it is like. Soon his parents have to take him to the hospital because he goes into trances.
I don't want to give away the ending. I really reccomend this book. It was Coooooooooooooool!!!

Thomas D

Dairy Queen Days is the southern tale of Joe Pike Mosley and his son Trout who both are struggling to find themselves. Joe Pike Mosley comes from Mosley, Georgia, named after his family. As an adult he became a minister and fled the ways of Mosley Georgia and had a life with his wife Irene and son Trout. When the novel begins, Irene has been sent of to an institution in Atlanta, and Joe Pike and Trout are fending for themselves.

Circumstances arise, causing Joe Pike and Trout to return to Mosley, where they both begin a search for truth in life. The novel is a coming of age story for both father and son, and their small town life. The book did have me craving Dairy Queen and there are a lot of funny, laugh out loud moments. The ending did leave me somewhat unsatisfied, with some abrubt endings and loose ends. I would have liked to understand the characters and why they did certain things a bit better.

When I was a teen-ager, attempts to reduce the number of calories in my diet were often devilishly derailed by soft-serve ice cream from The Dairy Queen.

Robert Inman's new book "Dairy Queen Days" is as tempting a read and as deliciously satisfying.

Joe Pike Moseley is a Methodist minister who is falling from the church's grace as his son, Trout, watches. After Joe Pike leaves his congregation during the Sunday service and roars away on his motorcycle, the bishop sends him to the small church in his hometown. Both the church and the town were built by his grandfather. In Moseley, Ga., Joe Pike is forced to confront the demons of his past. Trout, too, struggles, as he fights to be his own person while constantly being reminded to "remember who you are."

Readers will laugh out loud when Joe Pike Moseley stuns his congregation by comparing Jesus to Elvis Presley, and sympathize with the son, who learns the difficulties of living in a town that bears one's last name.

It's a coming of age story, for both father and son. Joe Pike Moseley must stop running from his past; Trout Moseley must piece together the family puzzle pieces to understand it.

Both father and son find solace in the Dairy Queen, in the forms of chili dogs, ice cream, large chocolate shakes and a summer job.

Readers who enjoy the Southern genre will savor this delicious summer treat.

"Yea, verily," as Joe Pike would say.

Robert Inman combines two classic genres in his delightful novel, "Dairy Queen Days": the coming of age story [young Tout Mosely, 16 years old in 1979 Georgia], and southern storytelling [a las Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers, etc.].

There is a saying that "In the southern we are proud of our eccentrics. We don't ask, 'Is anyone in your family crazy?" We ask, 'Which side are they on?'" This novel has enough eccentrics [Trout's father, Joe Pike, for one] to keep you chuckling. But you will recognize these people, and the dilemmas they face:growing up; facing mid-life crises; coping with change in society, loss of jobs; death and loss of loved ones; asking "What is my place in my world?"

Robert Inman, a columnist for the Charlotte Observer, has the talent for observation and detail which makes the mill community of Moseley and its inhabitants come alive. You will be entertained and provoked; you will laugh, and you will contemplate these same questions.

THE KING'S SWIFT RIDER
Mollie Hunter

Have you ever thought of being in the army in the medieval times, fighting for the Bruce, King of all Scott's? Well this is what happened to a boy named Martin. This book is about Martin fighting for the Bruce.

I liked this book because I like knights and battles. I also like history about main events. One main event in the story is when the Scots killed thousands of English soldiers in one single castle!

The moral to this story is to believe in yourself, have trust and do things for reasons, not just for fun. One example is being mean to somebody or something for no good reason. That is what the English did to the Scots. I think people who like history and war should read this book.

The book, The King's Swift Rider, is one of the best books I have ever read to date. I like to read books on historical fiction because you learn of the past and use it in the present to help you make decisions of things you go though. You also learn of things that you never knew took place. The main character, Martin Crawford, a young Scottish person, joined the alliance with the Robert the Bruce, king of scots, in 1290's. The Bruce is at war with King Edward, who is known as Longshanks. Martin's mother sends his brother, Sean, and him off to fight with the Bruce. Martin is not a fighting person, but he is a very clever lad, so the Bruce made him his page. As time goes on, the Bruce wins many battles and Longshanks dies. Martin's mother also dies in the book. After his mother's death, the king makes Martin his swift rider. Martin goes though many adventures and many more battles to come in the book.

This is a young adult book regarding the history of Robert the Bruce who fought the English at the Battle of Bannockburn. It is very well written and really gives a good look at "The Bruce". I got to know him much better, how he and the troops prayed before the battle, the fierce loyalty and love his men had for him and the mercy he demanded be given the enemy if asked for. Don't let the fact that it was written for teenage readers keep you from enjoying this tale if you are older. Anyone can read this and learn from it!