Although I was immensely moved by this book, and found the ideas presented thoughtful and compelling, there is a bit of Cinderella-esque fantasy involved. Most certainly Dr. Hughes illustrates the picture and the drama of the unattached child in a clear and concise manner, I would caution parents and would be parents, however, that within the confines of the foster care system, these therapeutic families and incredibly skilled therapists are not usually the norm.It would be my hope that one day every child be afforded the resources available to the fictional Katie Harrison. In the meantime, it does give foster and adoptive parents a roadmap to follow. And although there are cautionary statements throughout the book to indicate that these methods are not always successful, the hope is something to celebrate.Lastly, I hope people recognize that this child is not quite seven when she reaches her therapeutic foster placement and that with each passing year, the task in teaching children how to attach becomes greater. I highly recommend this book as a supplement to a more extensive library on attachment issues.

Dan Hughes wrote this book with me in mind. I read this book while fostering a 9 yr old girl who had attachment disorder that, without proper treatment, would have destroyed her ability to function in a normal life. There were ideas and strategies in this book that worked (no matter how strange they sound). Dan Hughes knows what he is talking about. As a professional foster parent, I appreciate the straightforward language used in this book. I would recommend this to any person dealing with an attachment disorder child. It brings a much needed awarness to this overwhelming issue in surrogate parenting.

This book was so interesting and readable, I read it from cover to cover in a day. I'm not a foster parent, I'm a teacher, but I have dealt with emotionally disturbed children in my classroom (in fact, I'm dealing with one this year). This book gave me so much insight into why these children act the way they do. Now I understand why they have such a need to be in control of everything, why they will do destructive things with seemingly no motive whatsoever (breaking their favorite toys, destroying their favorite books, etc.) Now I understand why things always get worse just as they seemed to be getting better. Most importantly, now I understand why these kids can't handle praise and rewards, and why those stupid behavior modification programs the administrators and counselors always suggest always seem to make the problem worse. Thank you Daniel A. Hughes!

Having read and admired several of Daniel Woodrell's books, I was very pleased to see that this one had been released.

As with the previous "Tomato Red", this one is well-written and wondrous in the simple, unadorned tone of the narration. However both of these books are difficult to gush over.

These are dark gems. And they lack the allure that the common reader expects.

When we are moved to feel joy or sorrow by an author, we have no trouble considering that genius is involved. With Woodrell though, the emotions are more complex. And he can stir up things which we might prefer to have left hidden and forgotten.

This is definitely genius. Especially when someone such as Woodrell accomplishes this with a subtlety that is remarkably profound.

In this book, we are given the sad story of thirteen-year-old, overweight Shug Atkins. His is about the furthest thing from an "aw shucks" coming-of-age tale you can get.

Shug and his mother Glenda live in a shack on the grounds of the cemetery they maintain. Here they are plagued by the abusive Red. Red may or may not be Shug's biological father -- he probably isn't but this has never been made clear to Shug. Despite that, Red acts the father role and displays some of the most despicable ways possible for a grown man -- he is definitely an inappropriate role model.

Glenda has always relied on her looks even though they haven't gotten her very far. She's about little more than sex and as age advances has little in her life but maintaining an anaesthetic level of drunkenness. Far from being a perfect mother, she is still Shug's most likely ally -- a relationship that has all the possibilities for the perverse one can imagine.

Shug's world is full of dysfunction. He has been exposed to drug and alcohol abuse, hardened criminality, illicit sexual behavior and all manner of wickedness. But he doesn't know any better. And in the course of this novel, things go from bad to worse. In the end, the situation is beyond help.

Where "Tomato Red" impressed me with a story of what tragedy might happen when people fail to follow society's norms, this book shows what happens to people who live by the norms and meet tragedy by tangling with people who do not play by those rules.

I felt stunned after reading this book. Honestly. I sat and thought about it and couldn't shake it. It was like having heard a bomb go off nearby -- too close to feel secure.

This is certainly a remarkable book.

Daniel Woodrell's last novel, Tomato Red, was about classism experienced by poor whites in the author's native Missouri Ozarks. Woodrell's latest, his seventh novel, The Death of Sweet Mister, has a tighter focus--more psychological, less sociological--that yields a jewel of a literary noir: Think of Oedipus Rex set in the backcountry, seasoned with a bit of James Ellroy. This is not an easy story to tell. Themes about incest among poor whites can easily lapse into the degrading stereotypes of genetic insufficiency attacked in Jim Goad's The Redneck Manifesto, and elsewhere. No, Woodrell has all the compassion for his characters that any literary master knows they need to live on the page. Although excellent, be warned, however, this is one of those "and they didn't live happily ever after" tales.

With Shuggie Akins, a obese, lonely, thirteen-year-old adrift among adult misfits, Woodrell again creates a first-person voice that convinces: The people, the place come alive wholly from inside--moreover, because of--Shuggie's language: "Our house looked as if it had been painted with jumbo crayons by a kid with wild hands who enjoyed bright colors but lost interest fast." Inventive linguistic genius of this sort goes on page after page and if at first a surfeit of these gems seems to slow the reading, don't worry: The voice creeps up on you and stays as an agreeable companion. Like a "Thunderbird (that) seemed to instantly comb the bumps from the road ahead to keep the ride always gentle," The Death of Sweet Mister reads smoothly.

At first, Shuggie's story seems about the rite of passage a teenage boy takes to manhood. But opportunities for Shuggie to bond with his petty criminal and abusive dad, Red, seem invariably to have two outcomes: stupefying disillusionment or, worse, schooling for a desperate life of crime. A fishing outing with Dad ends when Shuggie sent to wade in the river sees Red and girlfriend Patty engage in some "nasty clutching" inside the truck cab. And Shuggie's legal standing as a juvenile makes him Red's pawn for a series of burglaries to steal prescribed narcotics from the sick and doctors' offices.

Woodrell's fitting metaphorical logic for this tale of doom makes Shuggie and Mom Glenda the working caretakers of a cemetery. Shuggie steals "dope" from the sick, who later end up in his "bone orchard." With no real role models to make his transition to manhood a success, Shuggie falls into misdeeds on his own. We see character corruption, we see "the death of Sweet Mister"--Glenda's nickname for the son whose failed male bonding appears to seal his Oedipal fate.

Compared to Tomato Red, The Death of Sweet Mister is a darker tale because the characters do not dream a better life for them exists elsewhere. If the dream of escape kept characters in Tomato Red moving, for Shuggie, it's life with no exit. His only dream of another place, oddly enough, is Norway because that is where Vikings live. Certainly he was thinking of violent, berserkr Vikings, the sort that he already, in his own way, knew. When Shuggie grasps what cards life has dealt him, he lets out a primal scream for things held back. And then he goes about greeting the doom that is, at once, as inevitable as the cemetery where he and his mom live.

...and the colors on Daniel Woodrell's palette are dark ones. The characters in this novel spring to life before our mind's eye -- at once outrageous in their eccentricities and completely believable in their human frailties. Woodrell has an earlier novel that bears the subtitle 'a country noir' -- and that's a perfectly coined description for this work as well. These characters are bottom-feeders and cast-offs, doing what they can -- often out of sheer desperation -- to survive and scramble even a step or two up the perceived ladder of success. God help anyone who gets in their way.

'Sweet Mister' of the title is an overweight thirteen year-old boy. He is being raised by his continuously-drunk mother, Glenda, and her brutal, short-fused husband, Red. Red's parental connection to Sweet Mister is dubious at best -- the boy's mother alludes often and not-so-subtly to another, earlier man in her life, most likely the boy's father. She dotes on the boy -- she flaunts her overt sexuality at him in extremely inappropriate ways -- and this further aggrivates Red's feelings of jealousy toward the boy. Glenda's overly sexual posturing toward her son is most likely born out of her frustration in her relationship with Red -- a cruel man who claims her sexually when his needs arise, then tosses her aside to consort with whatever woman he fancies at the moment.

Red and his slimy buddy Basil -- his partner in a series of increasingly squalid and violent petty crimes -- draw the boy into their schemes, using him more and more overtly as the plot progresses. The tension in the story builds and builds with the power and implied danger of an old neglected boiler -- something has to give, and it does.

Woodrell has done his homework. I'm not sure where he calls home, but one thing is certain -- he's spent some time around characters like these, and he has learned to endow them with incredibly authentic voices and life-patterns. He knows them well -- and he creates them with vitality and looses them into this story with respect, allowing them to act out their parts in a manner true to themselves and to their situation.

It's not a pretty story -- but it's a gripping, well-written one, and VERY hard to put down. Without resorting to cheap stereotypes, the author has created an amazingly cinematic work here. I see Angelina Jolie as a perfectly sultry Brenda, Michael Rooker as the steaming Red, and Billy Bob Thornton as the weasely Basil. Let the filming begin...I think Billy Bob's directorial touches would be nice here also.

I suggest after reading this book that you take a drive out into the countryside, find a lonely, unlit dirt road, and get out of your car. See if you don't find yourself looking over your shoulder, missing the comfort of the city lights. They don't call it 'country dark' out there for nothing...

This book explains quite a bit about the Sudbury Valley School, it is not about people who want to work at a super market checkout nor is it about people who do not know how to read. This is about a school that essentially lets you unschool. As and unschooler I found it to be interesting and inspiring. This is a book about a school where you essentially can become anything you want to become. Traditional schools are about molding people, this is a school about learning and freedom. While searching for alternative education I actually visited a school that models itself on SVS, however it was a bit of a drive to get there and it was just getting off the ground so I chose to unschool instead.

"There can be no freedom without learning and learning without freedom is always in vain"-JFK

As a college professor, I can attest to the fact that our secondary schools (both public and private) are not working. They are producing desensitized, passionless robots whose only ambitions involve participating in the vortex of the class system and increasing the wealth of corporate CEO's. Fortunately, the Sudbury Valley School offers a real alternative to all this madness.

Any serious educator who has the common sense of a slug (and that's about one percent, by the way) will tell you that the educational system as we know it is merely an indoctrination into the values of the ruling class. Much of the work that is forced on teachers is mind-numbing bookkeeping and measuring designed to further the careers of educators (and satisfy administrators) more than anyone else. What is refreshing about Sudbury is that they do away with all that and get down to the business of educating students.

Meaningful learning comes from the individual, and that's what the Sudbury model is all about. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

This book is written by one of the co-founders of a brave project called the Sudbury Valley School. It provides a look at a true, working, successful, alternative school. The kids and the staff and the parents work together, in true democratic form, to make policy decisions. There is no cirriculum, and yet they all learn to read, and to write, and they keep going in whatever endeavor makes their hearts sing. If you have kids, or are an "educator", read this book, if you want them to grow up happy. It will inspire and move you to make changes for the better!

I, as a Southern will put my two cents in here as these reviews are all by yankees who lament the slavery issue and wouldn't know a southernor if they saw one and surely will not know the true history from reading all the biased accounts they can get their hands on.

"I wrote a journal that I IMAGINED a highly literate and committed young Cavalier of the South would have kept." (emphasis mine)

Pageonelit.com: What has been your feedback from readers and book reviewers?...

Dan Bauer: Many readers have difficulty believing the journal is FICTION because it is based on so much solid historical research they believe Pettigrew really kept a journal and that I edited it. Typical would be the response of Floyd Phelps who wrote,

"Are you telling me that you spiced up the Journals or that the whole thing is fiction."

When I replied that the journal was historical fiction Phelps wrote, "Thanks Dan. I guess I was hoping for the impossible. you are a very convincing writer."

Pageonelit.com: What was the last book you read?

Dan Bauer: I just finished William Lee Miller's LINCOLN'S VIRTUES An Ethical Biography. My hats off to Mr. Miller what a great book!

Mr. Bauer and the rest of you should know:

On March 2, 1861, the U.S. Senate passed a proposed Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution (which passed the House of Representatives on February 28) that would have prohibited the federal government from ever interfering with slavery in the Southern states. (See U.S. House of Representatives, 106th Congress, 2nd Session, The Constitution of the United States of America: Unratified Amendments, Document No. 106-214, presented by Congressman Henry Hyde (Washington, D.C. U.S. Government Printing Office, January 31, 2000). The proposed amendment read as follows:......

Two days later, in his First Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln promised to support the amendment even though he believed that the Constitution already prohibited the federal government from interfering with Southern slavery. As he stated:

This of course was consistent with one of the opening statements of the First Inaugural, where Lincoln quoted himself as saying: "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so."

That's what Lincoln said his invasion of the Southern states was not about. In an August 22, 1862, letter to New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley he explained to the world what the war was about:

"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union."

Of course, many Americans at the time, North and South, believed that a military invasion of the Southern states would destroy the union by destroying its voluntary nature. To Lincoln, "saving the Union" meant destroying the secession movement and with it the Jeffersonian political tradition of states' rights as a check on the tyrannical proclivities of the central government. His war might have "saved" the union geographically, but it destroyed it philosophically as the country became a consolidated empire as opposed to a constitutional republic of sovereign states.

On July 22, 1861, the US Congress issued a "Joint Resolution on the War" that echoed Lincoln's reasons for the invasion of the Southern states:

"Resolved: . . . That this war is not being prosecuted upon our part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those states, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and all laws made in pursuance thereof and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality and rights of the several states unimpaired; and that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease."

By "the established institutions of those states" the Congress was referring to slavery. As with Lincoln, destroying the secession movement took precedence over doing anything about slavery.

On March 2, 1861 - the same day the "first Thirteenth Amendment" passed the U.S. Senate - another constitutional amendment was proposed that would have outlawed secession (See H. Newcomb Morse, "The Foundations and Meaning of Secession," Stetson Law Review, vol. 15, 1986, pp. 419-36). This is very telling, for it proves that Congress believed that secession was in fact constitutional under the Tenth Amendment. It would not have proposed an amendment outlawing secession if the Constitution already prohibited it.

Nor would the Republican Party, which enjoyed a political monopoly after the war, have insisted that the Southern states rewrite their state constitutions to outlaw secession as a condition of being readmitted to the Union. If secession was really unconstitutional there would have been no need to do so.

The book to read is Thomas J. DiLorenzo is the author of the LRC #1 bestseller, "The Real Lincoln": A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War (Forum/Random House, 2002) and professor of economics at Loyola College in Maryland.

I really, really, really enjoyed this book! I am not really a history buff but I read this book in a matter of a few days.
Having lived in Illinois all my life I never really understood
the Southern perspective.
I think this would be a great book for teachers to use with
students for it is extremely well researched. Written in Journal
foremat it would be easy for students to follow. I work for a public school system so is readily apparent to me.
Following General Pettigrew from pre-civil days in Charleston, South Carolina to Gettysburg, Pennslyvania was a wonderful reading experience. For example, When the Charleston
Courrier woman correspondent meets General Pettigrew and he is
astonished at her blommers I could only wonder what a gentleman of the 1860's thought. He was probably as perplexed as many men are over some of the attritire of todays women. The journal entry
dealing with the slave Jupiter and his story of the death of
Mom Lizzy still has me laughing.
Once again, this is a wonderful book, but don't take my word for it, read it yourself and enjoy!!

For much of the 20th Century, the American Civil War has been a popular favorite and familiar epic theme in American Literature and Culture. The struggle and conflict between the North and South, with its mythical ideals of sacrifice, bravery, & honor have long overshadowed the horror and reality of the conflict - the lost lives, the destruction, the pillage and carnage that a society at war with itself can inflict in such a short time. Whether or not the War Between the States was fought to put an end to slavery and emancipate the slaves - or to preserve the Union and thereby create a forward looking, nationalistic, military-industrial state is one of those American History final exam-type questions that will continue to be debated for decades.

Dan Bauer's book, The Long Lost Journal of Confederate General James Johnson Pettigrew, doesn't really try to answer any of these lofty and important questions. What it does - is to give the reader some fantastic insights into the thoughts and actions of a Southern gentleman, a Charleston lawyer, who risked and lost everything for The Cause in which he believed. As you might expect, Pettigrew's Long Lost Journal, is written from the perspective of James Johnson Pettigrew, a single, thirty-something lawyer, who decided to keep a journal as the events of the Fall, 1860 Presidential election began to unfold. His chronicles of the next three years' events include a great deal of historical fact, intertwined with a good deal of "camp humor", personal anecdotes, and most importantly, many reflective insights into that one question that pre-occupied and seemingly perplexed Pettigrew - "What is it that is so wrong about slavery"?

There are several other themes developed from Pettigrew's Long Lost Journal that are worth noting and speak volumes of Dan Bauer's craft and talent as a writer, researcher and historian. His descriptions of many of the battle scenes are horrifically realistic - you'll stop at the end of a passage realizing that your heart is pounding and your pulse racing from the din of battle. Yet, it's Pettigrew's descriptions of Confederate Army camp life that provide the truer picture of 19th Century soldiering and the ironic fact that many fine soldiers died of sickness and disease without ever experiencing the "glory of battle". In chronicling Pettigrew's campaigns, his organization and leadership of the Charleston militia prior to Fort Sumter, his "enlistment" as a private [just to see some action], his near fatal injury, capture and ultimate exchange as a prisoner of war, leading finally to his promotion to Brigadier General, Dan Bauer has accomplished the difficult task of painting a realistic picture of the Civil War without either boring the reader to death or compromising the truth of Pettigrew's service.

Dan Bauer has done a great job portraying The Conflict through Pettigrew's eyes, but that is far from all this book offers. Pettigrew's Long Lost Journal also enables the reader a glimpse into the heart and soul of a brave and noble, yet tragically flawed human being. General Pettigrew, like so many of his Southern contemporaries, was unable to comprehend the inherent evil that slavery posed. Though genuinely appalled by the many horrors, atrocities and physical abuses inflicted upon black slaves at the hands of their white masters, Pettigrew could not bring himself to do more than wonder about what the South might be like without slavery. He willingly died for The Cause, without ever questioning or considering that the institution of slavery for which he fought was so inherently evil and wrong. No amount of paternalistic rationalizing over the plight of freed slaves could ever justify the South's inhumanity toward and oppression of the slaves.

If there could be but one reason why the Civil War was fought, Pettigrew's Long Lost Journal certainly suggests an answer. It is so remarkably apparent, after reading this wonderful rendition by Dan Bauer, that the only way to purge the evil of slavery from the South, was by the blood and sacrifice of so many brave and noble men, men such as General James Johnson Pettigrew, who unquestionably believed in the "rightness" of The Cause for which they willingly fought and nobly died. While we may admire their bravery, courage, and unwavering loyalty, we should not forget that these Confederate Rebels, these noble Southern citizens were just, plain, wrong about slavery.

The passages of Pettigrew's Long Lost Journal that explain his thoughts about slavery and describe some of the events he witnessed, will make many readers of this book uncomfortable. That is good! It is all too easy for 21st Century Americans to take a four hour trip back in time and "experience" the Civil War through any number of romantic, epic tales portrayed on the silver screen. Thank you Dan Bauer for a wonderful history lesson from The Long Lost Journal of Confederate General James Johnson Pettigrew.

Gary L. Luhman Browntown, Wisconsin

This book was clearly assembled by people who never watched tv show and were working from only the most cursory descriptions of the characters and mood of the show. The show is all about subtlety and understatement and there is none of either in this book. Blech. Blech I say.

WD40 for the Soul, on the other hand, is definitely true to the spirit of the show and I do recommend that one.

(the 2nd star is for the centerfold of John Redcorn)

This book was funny as they come. They really hit the nail on the head when they created this Hank Hill character. It blends in perfectly with the show - which I watch religiously - and was so good I shared it with my own father. He had a bigger laugh than I did.

I loved this book! I'm almost 23, but I'm definitely giving it to dad this June. It's about 120 pages of pure Hank-mania. Hats off to the author!

This book is well written, easy to read, and exceptionally insightful. Taylor's discussion of the "reflective Christian" who finds good and bad both in the secular world and the Church is excellent. Both the human secular world and the Church as a human and divine institution share shortcomings, blind spots and prejudices. Taylor wraps up discussion of all this in this wonderful little book. I recommend it to Christians and non-Christians alike. It certainly helped strengthen my faith.

A fascinating, thought-provoking, intellectually honest apologetic for the Christian faith. While clearly elucidating the finitude of the human being and the subsequent impossibility of obtaining certainty, it nevertheless does not epouse the paraylsis of inaction. Probably the best written and interesting explaination that I have read, of the truism that for belief to be belief, it cannot contain absolute knowledge (i.e. certainty). It is comforting to find other Christians who realize that this lack of certainty does not impair or prevent faith in God, but is instead a fundamental part of faith, and even vital and strengthening to it.

The Myth of Certainty also does an excellent job of showing how the questioning intellectual Christian often finds himself or herself at odds, both with the conservative church for the very act of questioning, and with the secular, intellectual world of ideas for trying to incorporate into itself, a personal faith (which it incorrectly and illogically presumes to be contradictory); the reflective Christian, a starling with no place to call home.

Perhaps its most encouraging element, however, is a balm for the many Christians out there who have been attacked and deeply wounded by the Church or fellow Christians (often, all the more deep a wound because it came from the one place you would not expect it, however naive this may be). The author, clearly having been wounded himself, as have many of us, myself included (especially?), offers a compassionate empathy, while humbly and clear-sightedly reminding us that the Church is comprised merely of humans, with the same struggles, short-comings, and blindspots that each of us undeniably has. In light of this, he urges us not to give up on the Church, but to strive to contribute to it, to help improve it, to make it more of a source of healing and less of a cause for hurt.

I deeply enjoyed this book because it helped ease the sense of isolation that I think many reflective Christians feel ("Does anyone in this world understand me?"). While appealing to my sense of intellectual honesty (and perhaps intellectual elitism) on the one hand, it simultaneously humbles me and reminds me that I am just as much a fallen and wretched creature as anyone is, and that inaction is simply not a viable choice. I would suggest this book to anyone that is serious about reflecting deeply and honestly on his or her faith. Attempting to understand that one can believe faith to be absolutely true, without incorrectly claiming to possess this knowledge with certainty.

"The Myth of Certainty" by Daniel Taylor encourages the reflective Christian, the one whose faith is such that he is willing to ask the hard questions. Like C. S. Lewis', "A Grief Observed," Taylor is free to acknowledge sometimes he has doubts in the midst of his faith. This paradox, says Taylor, is an indication of great faith, and through this questioning, the Christian can become strong, and more capable of serving God. The reflective Christian, with a tested faith, has a more honest witness.

To start the book, Taylor asks 16 questions. Reader of Mark Noll's "The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind," will resonate with many of them, like #4, "Have you ever felt intellectually embarrassed to admit you were a Christian?"

Taylor is a literary man, citing writers as far ranging as Hopkins, Eliot, Pascal, and even Lenny Bruce ("People are leaving churches and returning to God"). I suspect his intention was to broaden and challenge readers who might be in accord with the quote, but not the one quoted.

He introduces Alex Adamson, a fictitious man who exists to establish anecdotes and parables quite effectively. As Luci Shaw is quoted in a back cover blurb, "I recognize myself on every page." Alex struggles with existentialism, moral choices, and all kinds of philosophical dilemmas common to our modern generation.

Taylor is critical of both liberal Christianity's allowal of the secular world to determine their agenda, and of conservative Christianity's too often denial of free thinking. Also, the secular world, he contends, only allows Christianity so long as it doesn't affect your judgments. He dashes off no easy answers, but enters into a compelling dialogue with the reader.

Taylor's message in "The Myth of Certainty," is like Mark Twain's in "The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg" that our personal and corporate faith as a Christian needs to be challenged, that it must be reflective, and never arrogantly complacent, lest it be built on sandy soil. The risk of asking -- even as a mature Christian believer -- "What is Truth?" is far less than the risk of ignoring the depth found in discovering truth.

I fully recommend this as both personal reading, and in a small group book study context.

Anthony Trendl

At Animal Ark, Mandy Hope helps her parents treat animals of all shapes and sizes. Even outside the clinic, Mandy can't resist helping any animal in need. A film crew arrives in town, and Mandy gets the chance to look after some of the animal stars. But the most important animal, Charley the Labrador, suddenly disappears. Can Mandy and her Friend James find the dog befor something terrible happens?

I loved this book so much. It is one of my favorites in the Animal Ark book series. In the book Mandy and her best friend James have to find a missing animal star named Charley. You'll have to find out what happens in the book by reading it.

Puppies in the Pantry was the best book in the Animal Ark series I've read so far! It was so good! I loved Charley the dog. This one was so good that I'm going to collect them all!

Robert Nifkin, socially awkward son of eccentric immigrants, finds himself an inmate in a god-awful Chicago high school staffed by incompetent, bigoted, intolerant teachers. With the help of fellow free-thinking oddballs, Robert discovers 1950s Chicago bohemia and the benefits of self education. Great digs at vapid consumer culture and intellectual conformity are made along the way.
Though arguably Pinkwater's best written and best paced work to date, I couldn't help feeling I'd read most of this before. Nifkin's Chicago will be very familiar territory to fans of _The Snarkout Boys_ books and Pinkwater's autobiographical essay collections.
The most serious problem with _The Education of Robert Nifkin_ is it's length. It ended far too soon, darn it!
Uptight parents offended by the idea of a teenager cutting classes and smoking cigars should buy this one for their kids anyway and lighten up a bit.
--Stefan Jones

I finished reading this book not but half an hour ago, and it's one of the most amazing things i've ever read. Pinkwater at his very best, but a great deal more than that -- invites favorable comparison the the works of Saki and the early Vonnegut. A witty, astute, hedonistic critique of American culture and education. Buy it right now.

This is a must read for everyone even if they have never been to high school yet...ESPECIALLY if they have never been to high school yet. Daniel is a Mad Genius and I seriously reccomend this book.

No matter what else may be said about him...this man does know his craft.

If you read Pinkwater before then this is for you. if not then start with Lizard Music and read every book he has written until your eyes bug out and your head spins. Then pick this up and read it.

Although sponsored by Upside, the text was disappointing. Mr. Janal does not seem to have a grasp on Internet technology. The text has several errors and misleading statements. Most of the text is a simple presentation of well known Internet related problems from 1994-early 1997 organized into several chapters that superficially address the issues raised. In addition, Mr. Jamal clearly insinuates in the business related chapters that many of the problems of the Internet can be addressed by Public Relations types. Unfortunately, this is a very reactive rather than proactive attitude. The evidence presented is anecdotal. The intent of the book can be summarized as: use comon sense and prudence.

Mr. Janal states in the Preface the intended audience for the book. In his defense, the book is not intended to be a "how to" or "how not to" text for the technically proficient. Rather, it is intended to provide informatioin to general users, managers, and other peripheral Internet users. While this is commendable, I doubt that people from his intended audience who read the text will feel comfortable using the Internet any longer. This is where the dated material is a liability for the book. Mr. Janal goes to great lengths to identify anecdotes and incidents that occurred several years ago during the Internet infancy. This is not to state that the Internet does not have current problems, but many of the anecdotes presented have been addressed by the Internet community and current problems have not been addressed. Mr. Janal simply propogates the urban legends and fear mongering surrounding the Internet and offers little current information to his audience.

On page 257, Mr. Janal states: "Why is it that the Internet spawns rumors -- and that people believe these writings of people with no last names ... when they don't believe reporters or government officials? Yet, the content of his text answers this question: Mr. Jamal, an alleged specialist in Internet issues (according to the dust jacket), delivers a text that is inaccurate and dated. The assumption that government officials and reporters have credibility above common people is, therefore, doubtful.

This well-written book by Dan Janal is a "must read" book for people interested in protecting themselves and their businesses from Internet scams and fraud. We often recommend it to the subscribers of Internet ScamBusters (the number one electronic newsletter on Internet fraud). Dan provides a very realistic assessment of what to watch out for online - and unfortunately, there are lots of issues. But fortunately, it's not too hard to protect yourself when you know what to look for.

Dr. Audri G. Lanford, editor Internet ScamBusters

The Internet has made possible the sharing of a tremendous amount of information. People go online for business, fun, or pleasure. Unfortunately there has also been a great deal of mischief taking place online as well. By now we have all heard of serious threats that exist in cyberspace. Children and adults alike have been exposed to sexually explicit materials, hackers have stolen information and caused damage to Websites, and people have been maliciously slandered by the dissemination of false or inaccurate information. The online business community faces many of the same threats. Daniel S. Janal has written "Risky Business" to offer the online business community sound advice about operating their businesses in light of the complex issues they face today.

Janal, author of "101 Successful Businesses You Can Start on the Internet", has placed in this book a gold mine of information that members of the online business community cannot afford to work without. The book, sub-titled, "Protect Your Business from Being Stalked, Conned, or Blackmailed on the Web", uncovers many of the crimes and misdeeds that take place online. Janal offers actual accounts of online fraud, piracy, copyright and trademark infringement, spamming, domain name use and misuse, fan sites, court cases, and other actual occurances we should know about. We should be prepared to face and intelligently deal them ourselves.

The heart of the book is the attention given to offering preventative measures, tips, and remedies no business can take for granted. How should a company handle its e-mail? Should a company have software and Internet access policies? How do we handle disgruntled customers? Should we contact an attorney at the first sign of any trouble? Should we fire off strongly worded demand letters? How do we approach these and other problems that may arise? Janal assembled a number of business and legal professionals and posed these and other questions to them. They of! fer their own comments and advice. According to Janal and his panel of experts there are a number of ways to handle situations that arise. They offer readers a variety of concrete solutions they can consider according to their specific circumstances.

"Risky Business" presents business people with the insight they need to operate online in a world where unprincipled persons continue to cause deliberate harm to others. This book serves as a wake-up call to let business people know what actually takes place online and offers them assistance in minimizing the probelms they may encounter. Add the contents of this great book to your business defense strategy today!

One of the best written textbooks in any area of chemistry. Here is a measure of the quality of this book. When I was graduate school, most of our research group owned a copy of Harris and we kept it on our shelves for handy reference. We had all purchased it as undergraduates but kept it because we LIKED it and found it so darn useful. It is an excellent general reference for anybody whose work involves chemical analysis. The tables of acid dissociation constants and redox half-potentials are some of the most extensive you will find any textbook.

When I first started teaching, I used Skoog & West on the basis of my predecessor's recommendation. However, during my first semester, I found myself constantly referring to Harris because of its clear explainations and good examples. In the second semester, I conducted a head-to-head competition with students reading a chapter on the same material from both Harris and from Skoog. The overwhelming student preference was for Harris and I have used it in my classes ever since. Readers who don't like Harris aren't going to be happy with any analytical chemistry textbook.

I respect all reviews, but in my opinion, is very important the teacher in order one student can feel comfortable in a class, for this reason I think some customer reviews of this book (before 17-august-2000) are biased. In my opinion this book is very good, one of the best among several analytical chem. books, even though its CD could be improved a lot. However, if anybody wants to learn about Analytical chemistry in general, this book is an excellent reference.

Jeez, I can't believe some people don't like this text! It's always been one of my faves, and ditto for my colleagues! In all the years I was in school, I never ran across a text that was written with such a friendly tone, and simultaneously discussed difficult concepts so clearly. Harris' discussions of acid/base and complexometric chemistry is particularly nice, and he even goes out of his way to discuss the preparation of around 30 a/b indicator solutions. Not something you'd find in every text! The problems given at the end of each chapter were great and usually very fun to do (as opposed to Pchem problems, which always made me want to shoot myself). The new edition (1998) was a nice expansion of the previous ones, and I can't recommend it highly enough. BRAVO, Daniel!