"The Midnight Train Home" was a very good story and would be good to read along with "The Orphan Train" books. I think Erika Tamar was successful in portraying how out of place Diedre O'Rourke was when she was adopted. She also makes the reader feel happy at Diedre's happiness. This book shows how some kids were unfortunate in their new adopted homes, while other's had a better life than they had before they were adopted. The author's note in the back was very educational and informative. I just wish Tamar had included an Epilogue. Now I wish she will make a sequel or a spin-off with Rosie France. I recommend.

Deirdre and her siblings are placed on the Orphan Train and farmed out to different homes when their mother can no longer keep them; but their separation haunts Deirdre and when a passing vaudeville troupe gives her the ability to run away in search of her brother, she leaves her new home. Along the way she discovers new talents and pleasures which may change her ideas of re-forming a family in this different perspective of the Orphan Train situation. An engaging novel for young readers.

A wonderful story for all ages. Especially for gardeners. "Growing" in an urban setting is the theme. The reader becomes engaged not only in the growing things but also how people, who were at first unrelated, grow and their lives become intertwined. Thus the transformation of an entire community!

I really think this book is great. It shows a pre-teen's point of view, and I think it shows how you should never let anything come between you and a good friend.

A great read for my 3 boys -- They are 7,8 and 9 years old. They play soccer and hockey. I love soccer. Erika Tamar, the author puts real life face on what the sport has unfortunately become today,,,,
Extremely competitive. We have lots of parents, fighting on the sidelines, basically trying to live their lives through their children.

Agreat insight into the new Soccer- SOCCER MANIA!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Things I did Last Summer was much better than I thought it would be. Once I started reading I could NOT put it down!The story line is very original and I have never found a book quite like it since. When I finished it I was compleatly shocked. I highly reccomend this book, read it and you will like it *****

"The Junkyard Dog" is a book about a girl named Katie who lives with her mom and some guy that she really hated. His name was Jim Grady. One day Katie had seen a group of bays who were throwing rocks at something gaurded with a gate. Katie went to check what they were throwing rocks at. It was a dog that Katie thought was so cute. She felt so sorry for him. He must have been miserable, he had never eat, she could tell by the way he looked. His owner was a cruel man named Mr. Farrow. Katie thought that she could start feding him, and named him "Lucky." She checked to see if it was okay to feed him all of the time. So Mr. Farrow accepted it. After a while the weather was so bad. Lucky was freezing to death! So Katie asked for permission to build a doghouse for him. Mr.Farrow thought that was funny. Though he let her. Jim Grdy showed her how to build the doghouse, while he was teaching her, Katie started to like him as a father. When the dog house done, Lucky was warm, comfortable, and happy with having Katie to take care of him.

Katie is one of the main characters in this book. One day she was walking to school and she saw a dog stuck in a junkyard that was all dirty and very skinny, because the manager never feed him. She was so sad to see this dog suffer so she feed it dinner scraps every day and night and even named it Lucky. Finally she told her mom's boyfriend Jim what was going on with this dog. He wanted to help so they decided to build a dog house for Lucky. They asked the owner if they could put the dog house inside the fence? He didn't mind. They also wanted to fed him every day. Then Jim talked it over with Katie's mother and they decided to move to a country house and get Lucky to keep as part of the family.

Hi, my name is Jerrica. I just read a really great book. Do you want to know what it is. Okay I'll tell you. It is called The Junkyard Dog. If you like books that are emotional or kind of funny you would like to read this book. It is about a young girl who found a dog that was being mistreated. The dog lives in a junkyard. The dog is a skinny brown dog. Katie the girl that found the dog is taking care of him. She wants to take him home, but she can't because dogs aren't allowed in the projects where she lives. Her mom and stepdad say she can feed and take care of him, but only with her own money. And if she gets permission from the mean old junkman.It is hard enough asking the junkman if she can take care of his dog. But a brutally cold winter sets in. There's no time to lose. She named the dog Lucky. Lucky will not servive the winter without a shelter. Katie is the only one who can save him from dieing. I am not going to tell the whole story. That's all I am going to tell you. Bye Bye.

When my librarian first recommended this book to me, I was very skeptical. But after reading it, I figured out why she recommended it to me so highly. Eventhough, Cara enjoyed her first sexual experiences with these boys, she had no idea what would happen that day at the Delaney house. The guys took advantage of her and didn't think twice about it. I would not necessarily call Cara oversexed, but she certainly liked what she experienced the first time she did anything and thats what led her in to a false sense of security that day before the rape ever occurred. L.J.'s decision to stand by Scott surprised me at first but then I realized how much she loved him and it made sense as to why she did what she did. Being a young man in high school, I was skeptical about reading this book but after I did i know why it came recommended so highly. I would definitely recommend this book to other people my age.

"The Fair Game, concerning top high school atheletes 'gang raping' a mildly retarded sophomore girl." To me, this book is very interesting. It deals with high school; easily related to teen lives like you or me. The author of "Fair Game" captures the readers attention and pulls the reader along as the story and flashback unfolds. She has chosen and revealed her characters well, as well as thoughts of each main character. I fancy this book for its suspense, thoughts, and plots of the story.

Faire game demonstrates a realistic down-to-earth and yet scary view of highschool. As most people know highschool can be a terrifing expirience and this novel shows the extent of this. A mildy retarded girl longs to belong in a group of popular kids and goes to many lenghts to achieve that. Until one day she follows the boys around and as the boys already know,she will do many things to be accepted and they decide to take advantage of this. I dont want to give away what happens but the varied vew points provide an intense and detailed look at the feelings of the girl that was taken advantage of, a girlfriend to one of the boys involved and a friend to all of the boys. This book is harsh and shocking although Tamar is a great writer and can really show the terrible side of highschool. Not being able to put it down for 3 days straight I agree that this book deserves 5 stars!

Some girl gets to become a model because she has high cheekbones,and she starts forgetting about her mother and her little brother.I know this review is bad,but I read the book Yeeeeears ago.

This book was one of the better that I have read. It was about a girl named Alice, whose father had left and whose mother was always depressed. She lived in a small apartment and pretty much was a mother to her little brother Jamie. Her family had barely enough money for food. Then one day while she was helping a lady carry her grocery bags, the lady stopped her and asked her if she was interested in modeling. This was Alice's lucky day, I mean how many people get asked to be a model. This book was very easy to read. It shows that being a model is big comittment and definitely not an easy job. Alice had to make many tough decisions on weather to go to some modeling parties that she could get in big trouble for, or to keep a promise with her little bother. Ever since Alice became a model, she could never just act normal, she had to always load on the makeup and act different. Overall, this book, HIGH CHEEKBONES, was a great book for a teenage girl to read.

Well, I think the book was good because it talks about how Alice became a model. First a lady gave Alice a card for a famous modeling agency. So she took the card and she was very excited about becoming a model. She lives with her mother and brother. The family is on welfare because the mother is lazy to do any kind of work. I am not interested in modeling but the book I read was real good. Alice thought about alot of things like taking care of the house and her brother. All Alice's mom is thinking that she could take her money and spend it on herself. The point I am making is that that nobody should be thinking about themselves even when the money is not there.I also think that everybody should work together so they could save a lot of money so they could eat and buy each other things that they need.

I DON'T KNOW WHY ANYONE INCLUDING CHILDREN WOULD GIVE THIS BOOK 5 STARS. THE DRAWINGS ARE PLAIN, COMMON, UNEXCEPTIONAL. THE STORY IS THE SAME. IT'S NOT EVEN A GOOD STORY FOR SMALL CHILDREN.

This is one of my daughter's most treasured books. She loves the dream/fantasy of becoming a mermaid for the day, and thinking of all the things she would do in the sea. I took this story to her preschool and read it to the class. It absolutely enchanted the 3 and 4 year olds! The art is beautiful, and so is the prose. Highly recommended for kids (especially those who dream of being mermaids themselves)!

My four year-old daughter and I have a new favorite book! Erika Tamar's writing style is like none we've ever read. It borders on poetic, but spins a most detailed story at the same time. Her rhythm mimics the ocean's, and her descriptiveness recalls childhood memories of days at the beach. You won't just read it, you'll smell it, feel it and hear it too!

When you're done reading this beautifully illustrated book you'll think you need to shake the sand out of your shoes!

This book stinks. It was one of the worst have ever read. It got confusing and then became a sleeper. I had to read it for school and even my classmates thought the same. If I could I would have given it 0 stars.

This title was appreciated by enough students and professional librarians and teachers to make the Year 2000 list of nominees for Illinois' childrens' choice award named after the Illinois author Rebecca Caudill. This book is best for grades 4-8.