Plastic Man was an odd character for his time. At his conception, the genre of the super hero was still in its infancy, with very few of the super hero icons established. The "big three," Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, were already here. Plastic Man broke strange new ground. He was perhaps the first (and most durable; he's still around in the pages of JLA) parody of the super hero. His powers themselves are a recipe for wackiness. He had and still has one of the strangest costumes in comics. He was, as far as I know, the first comics character to have the overused "fell into a vat of chemicals" origin that has also given us characters such as the Joker and Mr. Freeze. The strangest and most unique part of him in my eyes is his paradoxical beginnings and his resulting secret identity. Eel O'Brien was a ruthless criminal. He had the accident that turned him into Plastic Man. Upon discovering his powers, he immediately reevaluated his station in life and resovled to use his new powers to make ammends for his past wrongdoings. It was that simple. But he has the stranges secret identity in comicdom. In those days, he retained his Eel O'Brien identity and acted as a spy on the mob. So, he's still constantly on the run for police; conversely, Plastic Man is a badge carrying member of the police force. His exploits are surprising for one who knows him in current DC comics continuity. These days, although he has been handled very well, he is mostly used for comic relief (as was probably Jack Cole's intention). But during the Golden Age, he had a much darker side. He is, at times, actually quite violent, and transforms himself into bizarre torutre devices to torment his enemies. This book also sees the introduction of one of the most absurd sidekicks in comics: Woozy Winks, a man who nature will not allow to be harmed. His origin is funny, however. Upon recieving his super powers, he initially decides to use them for evil at the flip of the coin. Overall, this is a very fun book for those who know the Plastic Man of today and want to see more of him.

Jack Cole was one of the true geniuses of the comic book art form. Here we have some great examples of his masterwork, Plastic Man. Plastic Man and his sidekick Woozy Winks are two of the greatest characters of the Golden Age of comics. Jack Cole's odd outlook on life, and his sometimes dark sense of humor, make these among the best of the superhero comics of the era. Highly recommended to superhero fans, especially those who don't them too seriously.

Jack Cole was one of the greatest cartoonists in the history of comics and his creation PLASTIC MAN is excellent. The character has been around for over 40 years in books, comics and TV shows. DC presents masterpiece Archive editions that reprint all the PLAS stories. Each collection is plasterific!!

Sarah Phillips allows readers to gain insight into the black middle class, and the rituals and contradictions that the exposure to an integrated society can create. Considering the time frame in which the story is set, it is, at times, disturbing.

The bad news is: Sarah Phillips was ahead of its time when it was published in 1984, and beyond the literary critics who praised Andrea Lee's elegantly unvarnished look at the upper reaches of black society, it did not receive much attention. The good news is: with the post-Waiting-To-Exhale realization by the white publishing world that there is no one black way of life, and that the way of life that appeared in Phillips' luminous book very much exists, Sarah Phillips may now get the attention it deserves.

Far from a catalogue of I-gots that exemplifies some of the newer fiction by African Americans who are glibly portraying a non-ghetto way of life (see--I'm upper class! I have a Rolex! A Mercedes! I wear [designer of your choice here]), Lee's novel goes back to the incestuous world of interconnected black families from the Eastern Seaboard, parts of the South and Midwest, whose hallowed folkways reflect both racial pride and the ironic need to ape their white counterparts a parallel societal world. And whose foibles are as avidly watched and relayed, sotto voce, as any characters' in a nighttime soap opera.

Sarah Phillips explores what happens when post-Civil Rights progeny--children who had to be Ten Times Better Than the whites against whom they compete (and by whom they are judged, usually more harshly) to a wider world where race is noted, but does not serve as the invisible force-field it did for their parents. Sarah, with the confidence of her family history, is able to be both detached from her background and amused by it, even as she keeps it in reserve, if necessary, to shield herself from the glib snobbism of the Europeans among whom she's chosen to live.

Lee does not sugar coat Sarah's wish to be the Only One--the only black person--during her sojurn in Europe. But she makes Sarah three-dimensional enough that the reader understands well enough the urge behind the odd wish to be exotique in a foreign setting.

Readers who are revolted by the current urge of some black writers to trumpet their socially important connections will be refreshed by Lee's chronicle of this snippy, edgy young woman.
This is very much the real thing.

I cannot understand why it is that this brilliant piece of work is virtually unheard of. Andrea Lee's collection of stories about one central figure, Sarah Phillips, is masterful and universal in its exploration of the journey from girlhood to womanhood. These stories approach adolescence with a rare grace and subtlety that deserves a wide audience, one of all races and ages. Please read this book!

This book is funny and touching and cute and everything else you want in a book. The only reason I didn't rate it a 5 is because some of the writers to it too seriously and some didn't take it seriously enough. A must-read for girls 12-16.

I bought this at Christmas for my younger sisters to share around. They are newly 13 and 16. I thumbed through it before wrapping and, although I found myself (31) really enjoying it, I was afraid they might find it preachy or silly. Well, the younger sister started reading it immediately - in between opening other gifts - and didn't stop until well past bedtime. I think she finished it the next day. The older sister has since had a chance to look through it as well, and says it's interesting and not dumb. High enough praise.
So I recommend this for any teenage or nearly-teenage girl, and maybe for older girls as well. It's chock full of good advice and written in very friendly tones all around. No patronizing allowed.

PS I have since ordered and looked through the 1st volume, "33 Things Every Girl Should Know". While it is also full of great information, I prefer this volume. I'll post a review for that book once I hear from my sisters on it. Right now If I could only have one, I would choose this book.

I started reading this book in school and then I ordered it. It is a very good book, it shows things in different persepectives and it is from a teenagers view. It shows us teens that whats happening in our life isn't that uncommon. It shows the consquesnces when people chose that certain lifestyle. You should really read this.

As a high school English teacher, I am always pleasantly surprised by how receptive my students are to the essays in "Starting With I." This book is an excellent tool for teachers to demonstrate how powerful writing can be as a form of expression. When students learn that these essays were written by people their age, on issues that they value, they are not only anxious to read/hear more, they are also moved to write personal essays of their own. What's more, this is a powerful tool for encouraging revision and peer editing as the teen authors in the book discuss this process in a positive light. I have used this book with students in grades 9-12 and have always gotten positive results.

Andrea Gaudiano, utilizing up-to-date ethnohistorical research and interviews with leading Aztec scholars presents a dramatic account of the birth, growth, romance, daily life of two Aztec people (male and female) just before and during the Conquest of Tenochtitlan. The book is appropriate for junior high to adult readers and uses innovative drawing techniques and perspectives on human action, emotion and religious ideas. One of the best publications to come out of the unique exhibition "Aztec: The World of Moctezuma" held at the Denver Museum of Natural History in 1993.

this is very helpful in dealing with the rape of a close friend. I recommend it to others in my situation.

This story takes place in 1886 in Providence, Rhode Island. This is when girls and women are of little value and men are more important. This is a story of a girl living through her tough life. Her family very poor because of her fathers bad gambling addiction, they have very little food, a one room house, and only cots to sleep on. In this day young girls are expected to wed at a young age. Her mother has sold her to a very nice man. She is still unhappy because she has to leave her family. In the end she leads a happy life with her new family.

The keepers and the crows was a very interesting book. The writer was very good at explaining how and what was going on in the book. In some places in the book the writer got carried away, for an example where the boy turned into a fish just to hear some secrets about his aunt and what was going on with the crows. Although the writer explained so clear how the main character moved through the water. this book was alright but I would not chose this for a favorite.