This book is full of practical suggestions for ways to think about, discuss, and reflect upon one's spirituality. As a bereavement coordinator at Hospice I will use these exercises to assist families as they grieve the death of a loved one and I will also use the exercises as training tools for those learning to care for the seriously ill and the bereaved.

With a wealth of archival sources previously unavailable, this first study of eighteenth-century Russian Freemasonry to appear in English examines the Masonic lodges and their meaning for the men who were drawn to them. As some of the earliest organizations in Russia to open membership beyond social class, the lodges offered the opportunity for social interaction, personal discipline, and a free exchange of ideas. Teaching new standards of civility and politeness, they helped to prepare the way for the birth of a civil society in Russia. WORKING THE ROUGH STONE reveals the private world of Masonic lodges and the significance of the brothers' rituals and practices. By "working the rough stone" of their inner thoughts and feelings, the social and intellectual leaders who belonged to the lodges sought to distinguish themselves as champions of moral enlightenment. As men of conscience and superior moral worth, many envisioned a future of social action that could bring about change without challenging the social and political precepts on which Russia's stability depended. In addition to exploring the inner workings of the Masonic lodges, WORKING THE ROUGH STONE shows how Freemasonry became part of a larger social transformation that saw the development of salons, literary circles, and learned societies. As quiet shelters for men of learning and conscience, these institutions offered a social alternative to life at the tsarist court. The lodges thus played an important role in fashioning personal and social identities at a time when questions of identity were widely debated in Russia. During the reign of Catherine the Great, the lodges were perceived as havens for democratic ideas dangerous to the aristocracy, and many of them were forced to close their doors. Freemasonry would eventually flourish again in Russia, although the lodges' fortunes have fluctuated with history's upheavals. For Smith, Freemasonry is a prism through which to view changes in Russian society Anyone interested in Russia, Europe during the Enlightenment, and the history of Freemasonry will find WORKING THE ROUGH STONE rich with insight into the hidden social nexuses that created cultural politics in the 18th century.

From detailed reviews of the top one hundred web sites devoted to World War II facts and history to five-star content ratings, and tips on how to locate the use the best information, World War II On The Web is a specific title which may hold a relatively short shelf life as an internet reference, but which soundly imparts the basics on how to search out and analyze a web-based history site for maximum results. Highly recommended!

I read this book twice while I was in school, and now that I'm a History major, I've come to appreciate it even more. The story is descriptive, satisfying, and faithful to the memories of Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, and Sir William Wallace.

While not perfect historically, it is much closer to what actually occurred than the events as shown in Mel Gibson's BRAVEHEART. Perhaps someone should use SCOTTISH CHIEFS as a basis.

"The Scottish Chiefs" is a classic adventure tale, told in the style of Sir Walter Scott's "Rob Roy." The National Hero of Scotland, William Wallace, gets his story told with a heavy emphasis on romance and drama.

Those seeking a book version of "Braveheart" may be disappointed, as the story is quite different. The William Wallace of "The Scottish Chiefs," like the historical William Wallace, is a castle dwelling nobleman who surrenders his fortunes to fight for Scotland. The writing style is thick, and should be familiar to readers of this genre. "The Scottish Chiefs" is a huge, heavy book with a plot that unfolds at a patient pace.

This edition of "The Scottish Chiefs" contains illustrations by N.C. Wyeth, and acclaimed illustrator of Children's books and the father of artist Andrew Wyeth. The paintings are all direct scenes from the book, and capture the spirit of the adventure in fine detail.

This book remains one of my all time favorites right up there with Les Miseables and the Forsythe Saga; my 1883 edition published by John Wurtele Lovell in New York has 652 pages of very small print but it will be well worth a third reading. The historical detail in the footnotes is as interesting as the main story; e.g., referring to a shattered tower of the castle of Lammington a footnote reads, "The ruins of this tower are still visible; and near to them the people of this country point out the place where Wallace encamped his brave army". I had difficulty relating the movie, "Braveheart", with Jane Porter's account of Wallace and Bruce, and favor Porter's version of the relationship between Wallace and Bruce. During the second reading I was more aware of all the embracing and weeping by the cast of characters as portrayed by Porter; it seemed a little unreal and overdone, but she calls her novel a "romance" so she is forgiven. I have shared this book with many of my friends and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone from 9 yrs of age to 90.

This book gives the other side to the Rhodesia conflict namely that of former Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith who is probably one of the most unfairly despised individuals in the world. Far from being an uncouth racist as much of the world's press would classify him as, Smith shows himself to have been a model statesmen and ardent patriot to his beloved Rhodesia. Clearly the book reads like a Greek tragedy in which tiny Rhodesia is betrayed by its mother country (Britain) and even its friends (South Africa) in its long struggle against terrorist organizations in which it racked up an impressive military record. For all interested in that little country that once was, this is a definate necessary read. After finishing the tome, one can see why Ian Smith so richly deserved the praise he received from his fellow Rhodesians and anti-communist well-wishers around the world. God bless you, Ian Smith, for your valiant fight.

Ian Smith was so right about the UDI and he must be so heartbroken to see what is happening now to Zimbabwe. Once the breadbasket of Africa. But looking at the other countries in Africa, it is just a repeat. On the brink of starvation and again the NGO's are pleading for Aid. While, when country was called Rhodesia, these same NGO's were helping the so-called guerillas with aid.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ian Smith 5 times.
I admire him how he never had a bodyguard and mixed with people of all races. How he drove his old 1965 Peugot 404 himself and stopped at stoplights.
Today when President Mugabe moves through town with 20 Mercedes Benzes, motorbikes, sirenes, armed soldiers, ready to shoot anyone who doesn't get off the road and stops, what a difference.

It is still amazing how much the people in the West have been indoctrinated by the Press and have a wrong opinion about him.
Also how the people in the West have hailed Mugabe and now don't want to talk about it anymore.
Neither Ian Smith nor Robert Mugabe have changed.
Mugabe always kept his promise to destroy and rob Zimbabwe for his own benefit.
Smith always had the welfare of all the people at heart only he wanted to bring the African people slowly into political power by evolution not by revolution and to create a middle class.
But Democracy is alien to Africa and many change of governments was caused by coups.

Having lived in the Rhodesia and in Zimbabwe as an immigrant, I have met many great and good people of all races. I despise the Leftwing good-doers, who caused a lot of damage to the country.
The last thing Ian Smith wanted to say is "I told you so".

Ian Smith is so right about his quote, which was taken out of constest. He said that together with the Chiefs, we/they can rule the country. Them, meaning the African Nationalists, couldn't run the country in a thousand years. Which is now, to my deep sorrow, true. In the sixties, nowhere in Africa, was there any example for Rhodesia to look at. Only corruption, mismanagement, genocides, famine, war, so what should Smith have done! Turn it over to tugs! Now after the Cold War is over, noone gives a damm what happens to Zimbabwe and its people, but the Western Politcy have a lot to answer for. Meanwhile American and European Nationalists are seen as enemies but African nationalists where hailed by the same people.That Zimbabwe still have some economy left and still is working dispite the thieving rulers, is because of the UDI. Which gave Zimbabwe 15 years more of stable development, then countries like Zambia that had Independence since 1964. Zimbabwe is now on the edge of famine, created not by Ian Smith and the Rhodesian Front, but by Robert Mugabe and the ZANU PF.

Nietzsche's attempt to trace the roots of the greatest works of art: how the Dioynisean impulse, with its corollaries of intoxication, excess, self-destruction and bacchanalian joy, is combined with the Appolline, which is characterised by harmony, restraint, form and is a sort of "dream" of beauty. Nietzsche explains that great art is created through Apollo's harnessing of Dionysos, or, in other words, through reason subordinating the animal in man. The book is a splendid display of erudition and helps us to understand the extent of Nietzsche's admiration of the Greeks. One of his key formulations is how tragedy enabled the Greeks to nevertheless see life, in spite of the suffering entailed in it, as indestructibly powerful and joyous. Art for them was a veil, a means of escaping the melancholy and Hamlet-like loathing of world, which accompanies all knowledge. In his attempt to define tragedy, one can see that Nietzsche was still indebted, in his conceptual approach, to the metaphysics of his master, Schopenhauer, even though the book was intended as a break from Schopenhauer. The decadence of Greek tragedy, Nietzsche argues, occured with the advent of Euripides and Socratic rationalism. Instead of the merging of Apollo and Dionysos, tragedy became characterised by superficiality, optimism and rationalistic, paradoxical thought. It began to encourage a narrow, utilitarian view of life. It is only music, in Nietzsche's opinion, that has the potential of being purely Dionysean, and, in this, he makes an excursus onto his mentor and friend at the time, Richard Wagner. He champions Wagner (to whom his book is dedicated) as a wonderfully Dionysean artist, whose music would succeed in ennobling the German people by making them great through suffering. Not surprisingly, and as soon as Nietzsche managed to come to his own, he broke also with Wagner, whose nationalism and anti-Semitism he could no longer tolerate. "The Birth of Tragedy" is Nietzsche's first book; it is inspired, but flawed and the arguments tend to be occasionally quite reckless. Some of his formulations are quite farfetched, as well and the work, on the whole, is a fairly horrible example of purple prose.

_The Birth of Tragedy_, Nietzsche's controversial philological work, deals with the origins of tragedy and its decline in Greek culture, as well as a subsequent section on its restoration among the Germans, including Richard Wagner. Nietzsche contends that an opposition existed among the Greeks between the Apollinian, the restrained and ordered, and the Dionysian, the irrational and destructive force out of which arose tragedy. Nietzsche suggests that the pessimism responsible for the creation of tragedy is a sign of vitality, under the influence of Schopenhauer. Nietzsche contends that tragedy entered into a decline with the arrival of Socrates and that the Socratic is in fundamental opposition to tragedy. In Plato's _Republic_, Socrates remarks that tragic poets are not to be tolerated in his ideal republic. The Socratic with its emphasis on rationality, and arising from it the subsequent development of modern science, is thus placed in opposition to the absurdity of tragedy, which allows for the affirmation of life despite its suffering and hardship. It is for this reason that tragedy died and was replaced by a naive optimism, which is present in the modern world. The book originally ended at this point, but subsequently Nietzsche added a second half which attempted to explicate the rebirth of tragedy among the Germans. Nietzsche was under the influence of Wagner at this point and would later come to criticize this portion of the book in his "Attempt at Self_Criticism".

_The Case of Wagner_, which is included in this book for contrast, is a witty polemic against what Nietzsche considers to be the decadence of Wagner's art. This book is important mostly for understanding the complex relation that existed between Nietzsche and Wagner and their subsequent fall-out.

Forget Wagner, whose disgruntled cacophony posing as music is nicely dispatched by Oscar Wilde in one of his plays with a comparative quip when somebody rings an old and disturbingly noisy doorbell. Forget Wagner because The Birth of Tragedy is the greatest work of art criticism ever written. It is also, despite being in print for a century, an underexplored gold mine for artists and intellectuals. This is Nietzsche's first book: it contains en ovo the thoughts of this great writer and thinker who had a formative influence on Heidegger and through him Derrida, the two greatest post-Nietzschean philosophers. Nietzsche's great theme is the infinite possibility opened up by Greek culture in 6th century B.C., in the time of Heraclitus and the birth of tragedy-the culture that spawned not only democracy and science but which, like a brood of many eggs only some of which have hatched (or quantum possibility before measurement "collapses" the wave function into reality)-much more besides--the culture beside whose tragedic productions (by Aeschylus and Sophocles, not Euripedes, whom Nietzsche shows lost touch with the essence of tragedy) modern cultural productions not only do not measure up, but often seem at best, as Nietzsche says, like a "caricature." The loss of art traced by Nietzsche is itself-well, not tragic, no-less than tragic: sad let us say. Not only a highly creative artist-like philosopher, but a multilingual philologist who read ancient Greek in the original, Nietzsche beams his laser-like analysis with astounding clarity into this lost realm of possibility. It is as if he stuck a bookmark into the Tome of Time, showing us the very best part of an otherwise often dry and rather bad (and perhaps overly long!) book of which we collectively are the author, called Culture. What is crucial to emphasize in B of T is Nietzsche's conclusion (or assumption) that (in its most famous line) "existence is only justified as an aesthetic phenomenon." Thus ancient Greek tragedy is not just a random subject, or one art form among others. It is the aesthetic experience par excellence, the greatest overcoming of the perils of existence into a worthy production of art humans ever developed. Nietzsche links the success of Aeschylean and Sophoclean tragedy to the brief fruitful intercourse (like that between men and women, which keeps new people coming despite often-fractious sexual relationships) between two aesthetic strains. One he identifies with the Greek messenger god of the sun, Apollo, the other with the dismembered god of wine, Dionysos. Dionysos also is not one god among others. Rather, it was to him that all the (originally religious) tragedies were devoted and, Nietzsche tells us, when other actors appeared on the sacred precursor to the Greek stage they were not to be taken as realistic but as avatars, idealized other versions, of Dionysos. Now the most crucial thing to realize about Dionysos is that "he" is split into pieces and his split pieces represent the fundamental, and contradictory, fact of the universe: that although all is one (to borrow a philosophical truism) this One is split into many. This primordial splitting (cf. Heidegger's distinction between individual beings and Being) is, according to Nietzsche, regarded by the ancient Greeks as itself the ur-source of human suffering. From Dionysos's tears came mankind, from his smile the gods. Now Nietzsche says that the Apollinian aesthetic strain manifests in the clarity of dreams-which show discrete-although ultimately illusory-images. These images are similar to those that appear before the chorus (crucial to tragedy but dispensed with by Euripedes), and before the spectators, in the form of the actors of the tragic spectacle. Thus the tragical spectacle displayed shows itself to be a dreamlike illusion of the culture, not a representation of reality per se. Just as, after we stare at the sun, we see spots before our eyes so, Nietzsche says, after we stare into the abyss we see the tragedy with its chorus and ideal human characters. The Dionysian element Nietzsche identifies with drunkenness and dissolution, the opposite of the clarity of dream imagery, made public on the Greek stage. The Dionysian in a sense represents the One, or the movement from the individual (seen a la Schopenhauer and Vedic metaphysics as a mayan illusion of universe that "I"s itself) back to the One; the Apollinian the illusory clarity of the skin-encapsulated individual. (Nietzsche's own individuality, and brain, were compromised by Treponema spirochetes, real Dionysian avatars of the syphilis that eventually killed him.) One of the most fascinating things about Nietzsche's exquisitely crafted analysis is the way it shows science, no less than Euripides, to be motivated by Socrates' false humility and dreams of total knowledge. "Who is this demigod?" Nietzsche asks of Socrates-whose reign of reasonableness, passed on to Plato, Aristotle, and the Church scholastics-defines much of the modern world. Socrates created the secular tradition, raising knowledge over aesthetics and giving mysticism a bad name. Nietzsche points out that Plato burnt his plays after coming into contact with his teacher-and that the compromise, the Platonic dialogues, were in fact the prototype of a new, Socratized art form-the novel. Thus, startlingly Nietzsche suggests the novel itself is a debased form of art-a Euripideanized, Socratized attempt to make the primal aesthetic experience more representative, reasonable, and realistic. Euripedes (he later recanted, but his influence went on) dispensed with the tragic core of stagecraft, and today we accept that drama is about individual characters in all their oddity and imperfections-rammed at us unremittingly with the hegemony of plot and wordy deus ex machina explanations in the aesthetically poisonous, hyperrationalistic aftermath of Euripides's Socratic capitulations. In sum, today we have all but forgotten the Dionysian origins of acting-more real than realism-which originally was centered around not fleeting emotions and empathy, but the central cosmological fact of the individuals tragic separation from the All. Highly recommended.

On The Geneology of Morals -- This work is clearest when read as a sequel to Beyond Good & Evil. I don't suggest starting here. The prose is more straightforward than BG&E, he is attemting polemic in essay form. Yet still, it is still a voice in your head, consipring with you, coaxing you toward understanding. Here, the prose style of BG&E becomes apparent.

Ecce Homo -- This would seem like a very pretentious work. It is not. He comes off almost modestly here. This too, clears the air of all that is rotten about what has been said about him. It is as if he had guessed what evil things would be said about him.

Especially if this is your first Nietzsche book, I suggest, instead of buying this, buying the Basic Writings of Nietzsche which contains these two books, as well as three others (Beyond Good & Evil, which is a better place to start anyway; The Birth of Tragedy, and The Case of Wagner), by the same translator, and which costs only a few dollars more now that it's out in paperback.

Undoubtedly Nietzsche's most penetrating and philosophical work, the "Genealogy of Morals" is a shattering indictment of science, Judaeo-Christian morality and modern Western values such as liberalism, socialism and feminism. It identifies these phenomena with the reactive, self-preserving "ascetic ideal" - the oppressive "will to truth" - that aims to constrain and deny life. In opposition, Nietzsche propounds art and culture as a counteragent and champions the "Diyonisan tragic artist" who will affirm and celebrate life. - Also a pioneering text for poststructuralist critical-historical analysis, as represented by the likes of Deleuze and Foucault, and deconstruction, the maverick textual methodology of Jacques Derrida.

Undoubtedly Nietzsche's most penetrating and philosophical work, the "Genealogy of Morals" is a shattering indictment of science, Judaeo-Christian morality and modern Western values such as liberalism, socialism and feminism. It identifies these phenomena with the reactive, self-preservative "ascetic ideal" - the oppressive "will to truth" - that aims to constrain and deny life. In opposition, Nietzsche propounds art and culture as a counteragent and champions the "Diyonisan tragic artist" who will affirm and celebrate life. - Also a pioneering text for deconstruction and poststructuralism in its analysis of historicism and interpretation.

But it wasn't exactly a great read, either. My mother bought this book for me when I was about seven years old. Back then, I thought it was rather boring and hard to get into. Fifteen years later, I picked it up again, and my first impression remains the same. The author spends a great deal of time telling you how unusual, engaging, and unique her heroine is, but throughout the book, Rebecca's actions never back up the author's assessment. I felt this book was dry and flat. Who wants to read a book in which the climax revolves around children selling soap?
I found it all too similar to L.M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables," in story and characters, except the "Anne" books are so much better!! Anne is the heroine who is unusual, engaging, and truly unique.

No review could do this marvelous book justice, but I will attempt it. My mother bought the book for me some years ago because she thought it would be good for me to read classics. Thinking that it would be boring, I didn't read it for a long time. But a couple of days ago I was bored and picked it up. Soon, I fell under the same spell Rebecca cast over nearly every person she met. Around the age of 10 or 11, she was forced to leave her home, Sunnybrook Farm, to live in a brick house with her spinster aunts in Riverboro. Her aunts Jane and Miranda weren't used to young people, but they let Rebecca stay with them in order to help out her poor widowed mother who had 6 other children to care for. Rebecca charmed nearly all the citizens of Riverboro, Aunt Jane, and, in time, her strict, austere Aunt Miranda.

There were many things to love about the story. In fact, it has become one of my favorite books of all time. (and I am a voracious reader) The characters were all realistically and richly delineated. Rebecca especially came alive for me. She was such a talented, imaginative, caring girl. She was the kind of person that anyone would love to have as a friend. Actually, I would want to be her. I didn't want to stop reading about her adventures. The events played before my mind's eye like a movie. I traveled back in time, to 100 years ago. This is considered a children's book, but it has truths and insights that people of all ages can learn from. Several of the passages, the literary allusions, and Rebecca's poems were so beautiful that I had to reread them. The language was eloquent. As another reviewer said, the vocabulary wasn't "dumbed down" like the vocabularies of modern children's books, and there was a protagonist one could love.

The only part about the novel that I didn't like was that there isn't a sequel. I would love to find out what Rebecca's career turns out to be. I believe that she marries Mr. Ladd (a.k.a. "Mr. Aladdin"), but I wish we could know for sure.

Overall, I highly reccomend this book to readers of all ages. If you like books with wonderful supporting characters and an unusual, loveable heroine, treat yourself to "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm".

When Rebeccca is sent to live with aunt Jane and aunt Miranda ,Rebecca realizes that the Brick House is not the same as Sunnybrook Farm.Rebecca likes aunt Jane and dislikes aunt Miranda. but when aunt Miranda dies ,Rebecca understands that aunt Mirada was not trying to hurt her. I loved the book so much that Iam rereading it over and over. what I liked best is that Rebecca and everyone else in the story are so real that I will never forget them.

I also had to read this book for school, during summer. I can respect the fact that it was a classic but it just was not a book that I enjoyed. It had many unneeded parts and tended to repeat itself. It was especially boring when Jane landed at Moor House. If you are a hopeless romantic then go for it, but I prefer exciting books. The other book I had to read was Lord of the Flies and I liked it much better. So....there^^;

I became a reader in college. I fell in love with this book during my senior year of High School. My report got a standing ovation and I've yet to recommend it to anyone that did not enjoy it.

Charolette has a refreshing style. She includes just enough scenic and psychological detail. I love it when the author writes to me during parts of the story. The characters are interesting. The plot twists. Good read!

I received this book for a gift when I was twelve and found it incredibly boring. I am now eighteen and for lack of any other books to read picked it up again. To my suprise I could not put it down! The character of Jane Eyre was both inspiring and identifiable. Charlotte Bronte's best novel no doubt, the plot was excellently well crafted. Although a few parts are obvious, this classic romantic novel kept me turning pages furiously!

I had alreay read Maguire's CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER when I read WICKED (very contrary to my otherwise anal, everything-must-go-in-order personality), and I was greatly looking forward to it. Maguire again takes a relatively familiar storyline and turns it on its ear--and the readers along with it! We oftentimes think we know who and what is evil and sometimes even why. Maguire tampers with the "why" moreso than the who/what, really challenging the idea of the stereotypes and preconceived notions we all have. The "Wicked Witch of the West" from THE WIZARD OF OZ seems hardly the same girl, Elphaba, that we encounter in Maguire's book. In fact, she is the same, but our preconceived notions have clouded Maguire's "reality." I found the whole geographic aspects fascinating. How can she be the WW of the West, when she is really from the East? How can Glinda be the Good Witch of the North, when she is really from the East, too? Why does the Witch want those foolish shoes anyway? Why has Glinda given them to Dorothy? Where is Dorothy? Maguire doesn't even bring her into the story until it is very nearly over. Dorothy is more of an afterthought than the pivotal role she plays in the movie, and Maguire doesn't paint her kindly. . . . Maguire has invented a whole new world with his Oz, complete with detailed map, political strife and corruption, family histories, and fantastic elements. I can't wait to see THE WIZARD OF OZ now and watch it from Maguire's alternative perspective. It must be even better than Pink Floyd's DARK SIDE OF THE MOON experiment!

The only times he lost me at all were when he stayed in that fantasy realm too long. I struggled momentarily with the lack of human beings and "reality" (whatever that is), unlike UGLY STEPSISTER, which has real people and real places throughout. That is hardly his fault, but that's why I gave UGLY STEPSISTER five stars and WICKED only four. Maguire is Tolkein meets C. S. Lewis meets L'Engle meets Jakob Grimm meets Ray Bradbury. . . . I don't know if he can continue this torrid pace of writing specatacularly creative, inventive, challenging, unique, and heady books, but I can't wait to find out!! (New one's out!!)

I loved the Wizard of Oz as a child. This book is a great book to read as an adult. It is a prequel to the Wizard of Oz, but written with the Wicked Witch of the West as the heroine instead of as a villain. We get to know Elphaba as an intelligent but lonely girl who is trying to change the world for the better. We are reminded that there are always two sides to every story.
It is a quick read, which is good because I became so engrossed I could barely put it down.

The only complaint I had about the book was that there were a couple of scenes that were a little more explicit secually than they needed to be. The author could have easily gotten the same point across without quite as much detail. Unfortunately, one scene was so descriptive that I didn't feel comfortable buying copies for all of my friends and family last Christmas. If you can get past those few pages, the rest of the book is fantastic!

I picked up this book after Amazon recommended it to me this summer. I was a little hesitant to read it ~ as I am not a big fan of fantasy, and I didn't know if a re-write of a classic could be gracefully pulled off.
Now that I have finished it, I am so glad that I went through with the purchase!
In Wicked, Gregory Maguire paints a picture of Oz that will change your view of this story forever. The characters are so rich and believable, that it almost reads like a "VH1 - Behind the Music."
The good-guys are the bad guys, Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West are school chums, and torrid love triangles can be found around every corner.
It takes us around Oz through the eyes of Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West's given name). We learn of her horrific birth defects (green skin and a "deadly" allergy to water), her odd upbringing (a preacher's daughter?) and her excellence in animal husbandry (so that's where she got those flying monkeys!). We learn the truth about the ruby slippers, and of the cruelty of the Wizard. I would tell more, but I don't want to give it away.
Maguire takes a heavily-trodden theme (the outsider seeking acceptance and peace) and breathes into it a sense of newness and wonder. You will find yourself talking about this book for months to come - it sweeps you up in its drama, and doesn't let go through the very end.
I highly recommend using the Readers' Guide in the back of the book as well. It does a great job of helping you analyze some of the heavier themes in the book.
In closing, I'd say that the only thing missing is a theme-song. - Perhaps "Its not easy being green?" :o)