Having read many romance novels, I usually find them predictable. Not this one. Valerie Sherwood writes a story of romance and adventure. She also includes an author's note which briefly describes the era that this book takes place. Several incidents are based on fact.

Her heroine, Carolina Lightfoot, is a young woman that is reckless, romantic, and fearless. She travels abroad, has a love affair, and follows her heart.

It is a long book (526 pages), but you will not want to put it down. I enjoyed it so much I ordered the 2 books that follow it; Windsong and Nightsong!

It is always difficult to decide which of O'Connor's CDs is the better one, it is all so personal but he has outdone himself this time. All the tracks are so eloquent, touches one's soul but 1, 3 and 8 are truly remarkable.

I searched recently, as I had not seen anything in a while, and am so disappointed to find nothing new. Please write another!

A fun read...very likable characters. Set in 1700's England. One comes to love Viveca, a street urchin who overcomes loss & disappointment to find success and the love of dashing Byrne St. James. Some characters appear in following books...Smart, funny at times and enjoyable.

Mordant's Wish is a wonderful story about a mole who wishes for a friend. What follows Mordant's wish is an interesting chain of events, that will suprise and delight. What I liked best about this book is that Valerie Coursen did a superb job of following the rule "show 'em, don't tell 'em." Beyond the beautiful illustrations, and beyond the interesting chain of events, there is a message of greater proportions: that we are all connected in some way and that the universe, one way or another, answers our wishes. To the children reading this book, they'll see that sometimes we can get what we wish for, when we're patient! A light-hearted story, Mordant's Wish is one that all children can relate to and enjoy.

Mordant is a mole who blows on a dandelion puff and his wish comes true. He wishes that the turtle-like cloud in the sky would become real and befriend him. This all starts a very amusing chain of events begining with the bicycle rider who stops to buy a snow cone, and ending with the turtle climbing up the hill to greet Mordant. What happens inbetween I will leave to your surprise, but I promise you that it will be entertaining!!

This is a great book for those who are beginning to experiment with literature circles in the classroom. From start to finish this book gives ideal situations, practices and real examples. It also recognizes that literature circles often have many problems and frustrations and walks the reader through scenarios step by step. There are mini strategy lessons as well as reproducibles that are very helpful. I love this book and have already recommended it to many of my colleagues.

First, I am one the authors' sisters. That said, these are the comments made by my daughter's teacher after getting this book as a gift.

"Where did you find out about this book? It is great, I love it."

I got to read bits of it as it was being written, and have since read the whole thing. It is helpful in assisting students to read to comprehend books, rather than just reading to write a book report or fill in the blank type tests.

I read this book about a month and a half ago and I know it was good because I still think about it occasionally. The plot twists added an interesting element to an already wonderful love story. By the end I was really rooting for Charlotte and Stoneleigh to work it out. I do agree with the previous reveiwer that Selena's character was not necessary to the book but I also didn't think she detracted from or cluttered up the story in any way. I would definitely recomend this book to anyone interested in Regency fiction. It is a prime example of the genre at its best.

I must say that I was pleased with the heroine of this book. I loved that she was a strong-willed woman who put stoneleigh in his place. For once the female character did not succumb to the will of the man merely because he held her close. I loved that charlotte had spunk and did not change from an independent spirit, to a shy, demure woman.

I did not really see a need for selena's character. She had nothing to do with story. In the end, this knight character whom she was to end up with was not even explored in the book. All of a sudden this character was introduced and not heard about until the end. Selena did not play an important role in the book. But that aside, I loved the book. I was not disappointed at all. It met every one of my expectations. I was also glad to see that the father did not suddenly become a saint because of one good act. I mean he was found innocent of thaxted's schemes, but he was not suddenly absolved of deceiving elizabeth and playing with her fragile mind. I find that novels tend to make the ending too perfect, but this book ended on a sweet yet tart note. I loved it.

The exciting tale of the Norman Conquest of 1066 is once more brought back to life. This book begins where "Gildenford" by Valerie Anand, an incredible author, left off. It is just as engrossing as her first novel in this trilogy.

The story begins with Harold's eventual rise to fame, glory, and finally, later on, tragedy. Ringed with a traitor and a brother for friends, who needs enemies, right? Well, Brand Woodcutter, from the first novel ends up being one of Harold's staunchest friends, while his brother Tostig becomes the greatest betrayer of all. Then, we have Duke William of Normandy, who has his sights on the crown of England at any and all costs.

From history, we know that William succeeds, but the circumstances and events that lead up to it were incredible to believe, but true nonetheless. This is an extraordinary adventure into what life must have been like for these amazing figures from the past that still haunt the present day. If you enjoy this historical period you won't want to miss reading the first of the trilogy, "Gildenford" followed by this book "The Norman Pretender," and ending with "The Disputed Crown." Sadly, yes, they are all out-of-print, but very well worth finding!

Though the title refers to William of Normandy, this book revolves around Harold of England. The author really brings the characters to life and also creates some fictional ones as well. This is an easy-to-read, in-depth book that anyone would enjoy.

I bought this book out of my interest in Indian literature, but found that it resonated as deeply with my non-Indian womaness. Simple and clear, the writings take you all over the place and bring you back to yourself. Thanks to my Indian sisters.

I teach Native American literature. Since the publication of this book I have been unable to exclude it from my syllabus. Students almost unanimously have endorsed this choice, even when they had to shell out the money for the hardcover. Now that it is in paperback, no one should exclude it.

I only regret that an anthology of similar quality of organization, focus, and selection does not exist for male and female Native writers.

This is another one of the American Girls Short Stories series about Josefina Montoya, a nine-year-old girl living in the New Mexico of 1824. In this book, when the family goes searching for pine nuts, Josefina's father offers a reward for the one who gathers the most, and Josefina can't wait to collect the most and impress her aunt Dolores. But, when she is ordered to stay at camp and watch her nephews, Josefina is crushed. She refuses to give in though, and seeks a way to do both what she is told, and what she wants to do!

The final chapter of this book looks at rancho life in 1824, and gives directions for making a pastel (a spicy pie that includes pine nuts). As always, Jean-Paul Tibbles has produced some excellent illustrations that add a great deal to this already excellent book. My daughter and I both highly enjoyed this book, and we recommend it to you.

"A Reward for Josefina" is the first Josefina short story that was published. It is set in the Fall shortly after Tia Dolores's arrival to Josefina's family, possibly putting it shortly before or during the time period in "Josefina Learns a Lesson". Tia Dolores is a new adult in the family, and Josefina desparately wants her to think of Josefina as being special. The family and their hired hands go out to gather pinon nuts (pine nuts from a Pinon tree), and as a motivator, a reward is offered to the one who gathers the most. Josefina hopes it will be her, until she is left behind to tend to her oldest sister's two young sons. Josefina and her three year old nephew, Juan, find a way to gather the biggest treasure of nuts without leaving their camp site. Somehow, the reward, a cone of sugar, has run off with a squirrel (in exchange for the nuts?), but Josefina finds the reward that she is looking for.

One of the fairly resilient "myths" of the early Middle Ages is that of a young, weak Church with a largely ignorant leadership that was unable or unwilling to resist the influx of Pagan and other non-Christian superstitions and beliefs and was forced to absorb these into its structure. Church leaders were unable to recognize Pagan superstition for what it was as it exerted its influence on the Church. In addition, as weak as it was, the Church was simply unable to resist these ideas and the pressure to adopt them that was exerted by the masses in the early Medieval period.

In this volume, Valerie Flint attempts to show that, for the most part, the Church's assimilation of Pagan elements was voluntary and only permitted after careful consideration by Church leadership. She argues that various Church fathers, including Augustine, Gregory the Great and even Hincmar of Rheims, consciously adopted certain superstitions into the early Medieval Church.

Flint begins by describing the status of the Church during the later Roman Empire. She notes that there is considerable denunciation of magic by the Empire, most notably by Pliny in his _Natural History_ and that magic is characterized as unhealthy at best and maliciously evil at worst. Virgil, Lucan, Apuleius and others are enthusiastic in condemning magical practices and practitioners. This was the legacy that the Church inherited.

But the Church, being an agent of the supernatural, is itself a magical organization. At the very least, Christ's conception and resurrection are outside the realm of natural events and the Eucharist with the transmutation of the host is a highly magical event. Augustine is the first to address this in any depth, most fully in _The City of God_. He allows for prophecy, and for magical properties inherent in certain forms of stone, wood, etc.

Flint's thesis proceeds from this starting point rather logically. She discusses what magical beliefs and practices were prominent among the people of the 5th through 7th centuries and which of these the Church chose to condemn and, in many cases, the penalties for continued practice. She discusses the process by which Gregory the Great and others decide which beliefs should be allowed to become part of the fabric of the Church and which should not.

Flint follows this with a discussion of what magical practices were actually encouraged and how both categories were justified through Biblical references, particularly to Ham. She also discusses the magical battle between Simon Magus and Peter and the ramifications this had on how magicians were viewed during the period.

The substition of Christian icons, particularly crosses and churches at non-Christian magical places is discussed at some length. The eventual approval of the Church of various forms of divination, astrology, magical usage in medicine, relics, and "sanctioned" love magic all receive considerable attention.

I found this book to be very informative. Flint's arguments are clear and she follows a very logical progression in her attempts to justify them. But there are a few problems. She often reaches conclusions based on (IMO) very sparse evidence. Some of this is in favor of, and some even against her thesis. For example, she argues that the extensive use of wooden and stone crosses reflects on the power people saw in these two materials but, as I read this, I asked myself, "What else would you make them out of? Formica?" Several times she begins a phrase with, "It can at least be argued that . . ." As I progressed through this book this became a red flag, telling me that she was about to state something that she believed but for which she had little or no evidence.

This is not to say that she doesn't consult sources. She footnotes copiously and these are often to original sources such as the Anglo-Saxon _Lacugna_ and, of course, writings of the early Church.

There are a few other areas in which this work could have been improved. I often wonder why Medieval Historians have such an aversion to charts. A listing of condemned and approved magical practices, either in the text or as appendices, would have been helpful. She extensively cites Burchard of Worms' _Decretum_, written in the early 11th century, for penalties proscribed for practicing condemned magic, and a chart listing the practices and the respective penalties would also have made this section easier to follow.

And while she does frequently refer to approved Christian magic, she has little to say on the Priest as magician, and how his use of sanctioned magic may have contributed to how he (and by inference the Church) was viewed by the people of his parish. She also largely ignores the disparity between how magic and practitioners of magic were viewed and treated by the Church during the early Medieval as opposed to the Late Medieval/Early Modern periods. I'm not certain that this last _should_ be in this work, (it may be outside its scope) just that I would have liked to have seen it.

In spite of these flaws, I found this to be an excellent book. It is not, however, an easy read. Some of her arguments are complex and require serious thought (at least by me) to accept or reject them. But there is a wealth of information between the covers, and the discussion of the use of magic in medicine alone (one of the best sections IMO) made it worthwhile for me.

Taking a very close look at a wide variety of documents, the author demonstrates how magical practices - especially healing and divination techniques - were present all through the early middle ages. It is fascinating to see the constant attempts of Christian churchmen to appropriate part of these practices for their own purposes - so to say to "baptise" them by cutting them off from the roots of the pagan world views they were based on. One also comes to realize that the information that became available from Arab sources from the 11th century on met with a fertile ground - and with well-practised reception routines to adapt it to the Christian environment. These findings have nothing to do with the widespread legends about "surviving witch cults". Pointing to the contrasting frameworks into which identical practices - e.g. healing by laying on hands while saying an incantation / prayer and / or using specific herbs - could be put, one still gets an idea of what the traditions of modern-day esotericism (the antecedents of which usually only become visible centuries later) probably looked like. Hence the book would not only be of interest to historians, but also to anyone interested in magic / esotericism and its historical dimensions. Even though fairly technical at times, the book is never dull, and I'm glad to say I learned a lot from it.