I now own 24-Carat Commericals for kids, and Magnificent Monologues for kids and I am one happy acting teacher! For the past 15 years I have been in the acting business doing commercials, movies, theatre etc. Everytime I took an acting class there were always plenty of scenes and monologues to choose from. But when I started teaching children this past spring I began to realize that good contemporary material for kids was hard to come by. I made a few purchases from Amazon.com and Manificent Monoluges for Kids was one of them. Needless to say the kids waited in line to use this book to select a monolgue rather than use the others. I have my own children (ages 6 & 9) and just reading through some of the dialogue I realized that Chambers Stevens knew how to connect with kids. When I received the commercial book I knew within 10 minutes that it was a winner. Chambers is making my job as a teacher easier and much more fun!

When my mother gave me this book I was bummed. But when I read it I was happy! It was funny and very helpful. I followed it and got an agent. And then I got a Pepsi commercial. I think 24 CARAT COMMERCIALS is great!

I absoultely loved it! It is a classic play by a classic author.

Each and every page I turn, I feel a sudden death,
for every time I read a phrase or line, Chambers steals away a breath.
His expertise and brilliance is amoung the best upon the shelf...reading his book it seems that you are receiving a private acting lesson in reality from Mr. Stevens himself.

I am in seventh grade and I like this book because it helps kids who want to become actors or actresses. The monologues are easy to read and fun to act out. My favorite monologue is "Craig." It is about a boy who goes to summer camp and his parents have deserted him. Maybe that will be your favorite monologue but you have to buy the book first.

Magnificant monologues for kids is a REALLY good way to learn how to act! The monologues are great for kids between the ages of 8 to 14! I love this book! It helped ME become an actress!!

I've looked for a gold-mine like this for years. MAGNIFICENT MONOLOGUES provides kids a source book of incredibly unforgettable monologues that actually grow with them as they gain skill and maturity. It's a parent's dream! A drama teacher's fantasy come true! And best of all, it's fun and easy to use. The author really seems to know kids-how they talk, how they think through things. All the monologues are great. A wide range of emotions, too.

My niece used one of these MAGNIFICENT MONOLOGUES and signed with a manager immediately! It really is kid friendly. There's a section for boys and one for girls. The bibliography is great too because it lists monologues as dramatic or comedic. There's even some for animals!

The section on Need-to-Know Hollywood words and definitions is really helpful. And the straight talk about acting basics is right-on-the-money. I've been an actress for 20+ years and have seen and performed my share of monologues. So I know that the motivated child star will out-shine his or her competition when using any one of the monologues in this book. BUY IT!

Unlike lawyers Grisham, Turow, and Scottoline, turned writers, Steve Martini is a journalism graduate and writer who went on to become a lawyer! (Seems there ought to be a good joke in there somehow!) He must be doing fine, as his booklist now numbers eight (five of which comprise the defense attorney Paul Madriani series), with a ninth hardback due out late this year. Let's get real here folks -- this is his first book, and we thought, not bad at all.

In a very complex plot, almost shades of Clancy, we're quickly engrossed into the hunt for possible survivors of a 1942 blimp crash; a search for 16th century documents, possibly the journal of the explorer/pirate Francis Drake; the murder of the partner (and former {?} love interest) of the leading man, lawyer Sam Bogardus; and some other crimes and problems too numerous to recount. There's really not much lawyering happening, and sure, some of this winds up a little silly and improbable, but hey, it's mystery fiction. We thought the goings-on, climaxed by a very neat wrapping up of all the puzzles and murders, plus one totally unexpected revelation in the epilogue, were indeed quite entertaining. And the huge surprise ending left us aghast -- we cannot imagine many at all will be the slightest bit prepared for this icing on the cake!

In sum, a fine plot with quite a neat ending, with good story telling hurt somewhat by a few weak characters and/or some improbable action, gives Martini's first effort a passing grade, leaving us anxious to try his second outing and first of the Madriani set. Why not!

Some of the other reviews considered this to be a pretty poorly written book, but I found it to be very entertaining and the ending was a real surprise. The Simeon Chamber is not on the level of a Grisham or Turow novel, but I'd put it right there with a writer like William Bernhardt. It's a quick read and it is a page-turner. You may also learn a little about Sir Francis Drake that you didn't learn in high school or college. Give it a try.

Uh - what was that? One of the weirdest stories I've ever read, that's what. If you want a farcical story stringing together Sir Francis Drake, German Nazis, Chinatown, William Randolph Hearst, and a bunch of adventurous lawyers, then this book is for you. The ending was unexpected, and caused me to exclaim, "oh come on" out loud as I discovered who killed our hero's partner. For Martini fans, this one has none of the courtroom drama, but does weave in a lot of adventure. The story was well paced, but too incredible.