This collection of short stories are sweet tales about teen-agers discovering their sexuality or coming out.

This is a book i wish i had read when i was 16... and would make a great gift for any young teen - no matter what their sexuality- to teach tolerance and acceptance.

For similar type things... try Francesca Lia Block's "Weetzie Bat" books... also very sweet books that deal beautifully with homosexuality at the young adult reading level.

This book is a must read for everyone: gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual, or questioning. It is an interesting and instightful anthology of short stories that will open your eyes and mind. It includes stories, from funny to serious and happy to sad, by world renound and timeless writers such as Jaqueline Woodson and M.E. Kerr.

This book is a great collection of stories. Some are funny, some serious, but they are all about GLBT young adults. This collection is a great read for those exploring themselves or even those comfortable with their sexuality, whatever it is. It teaches us that we are all human and share all the same thoughts, gay or straight. A great book!

This is a really good book! I would recommend this to anyone who likes to read. Mrs.Gunn your the best! I've read all 12 of the Christy Miller series and they all are Great! Read them all. I don't want to tell you how it ends but the ending is the best part of the whole book! I will give you a hint it has to do with Christy and TODD! Read it and your like it.

I've loved joining Christy in this adventure and learning things along with her. What a great story to conclude the series! I haven't read all the books, but I feel that I really personally know Christy, Todd and Katie and Christy's other friends. This book finds Christy searching for the thing she is called to spend her life doing while on a mission trip in Europe. She is also realizing that her current boyfriend (if you could really call him that) belongs with another friend. So she lets him go and feels just great about her discision. However, there's something--someone, actually--Christy still can't make herself get over. Will God ever bring Todd back into her life?

Christy, I just found a little thing that totally made me think of you and a certain acquentance of yours, here it is:

If you love something very much, let it go free... If it does not return, it was not ment to be yours. If it does, love it *forever*.

Christy goes on a missions trip to Europe and has a interesting time! She's going out with Doug, but she wonders if anythings really changed from when they were just friends. She misses Todd terribly, even though she promised herself she wouldn't think of the T-word, she finds herself thinking about him constantly. Well, on this trip, she meets some very interesting peeps, including Sierra Jensen, and they become great friends. Christy realizes Doug and Tracy are the perfect couple, and when another girl on the missions trip gets hurt and is sent home, Christy, being the only one who can speak Spanish, is sent to Spain as her replacement. And boy, does she get a pleasant surprise at the train station! Let's just say she gets a dozen white carnations and her "forever" bracelet. Hmmm. . I wonder who those could be from! Read it to find out! Robin Jones Gunn, why did the Christy Miller series hafta end?! I love Chrisy Miller, although, i love sierra books too! Christy is way to undertalked about in the Sierra books. Well, anyways, all Christy Miller and Sierra Jensen books are must reads!

Gaia is sitting at the kitchen table, eating donuts with Ed, when she gets a mysterious phone call, and is told to check her e-mail. She rushes to the computer where she sees a video of Sam tied up, and he is all battered up. She then is told she must do certain tasks throughout the day, and if she succeeds, Sam will live. The kidnapper tells her to pick up a package on her front steps and she is to show it in homeroom. From then on, Gaia has to perform certain tasks(with the help of Ed) and has to be done by 10:00 that night. The tasks she has to perform are dangerous and cruel, but Gaia will do anything to save her beloved Sam. Although, Heather ends up finding out about Sam, and tries to help(though she really didn't). Heather just gets in the way so Gaia and Ed end up getting rid of her(they play a joke on her)hehe. After that Gaia moves on to other tasks as fast as she can so she can get to Sam.
The book was exciting, and it kept me on edge the entire time. If you liked the first two books, then you have to read number 3. It makes you want to read non-stop, but then when you finish, you wish there was more to read.

Gaia Moore is just eating donuts and being normal when she gets a mysterious phone call telling her to check her e-mail. So she does. But she wasn't expecting what's in her inbox. It's a video of Sam Moon, her true love, battered, bruised, and bloody, dying while tied up to a chair. He calls her name throughout the video, while words go across the screen telling her that she will find a package on her doorstep. Within this package she finds a note, instructing her to play the tape in first period at school. It was nothing anyone would've expected (especially Heather). Then other tasks come. She is informed that if she wants Sam to live, she has to perform various cruel acts before a certain time. She has no choice. She must do all of the tasks, whether it's insulting Ed--or murder. I recommend this book for fans of the first two books, fans of Fingerprints by Melinda Metz, and older fans of Replica by Marilyn Kaye.

Gaia Moore is just eating donuts and being normal when she gets a mysterious phone call telling her to check her e-mail. So she does. But she wasn't expecting what's in her inbox. It's a video of Sam Moon, her true love, battered, bruised, and bloody, dying while tied up to a chair. He calls her name throughout the video, while words go across the screen telling her that she will find a package on her doorstep. Within this package she finds a note, instructing her to play the tape in first period at school. It was nothing anyone would've expected (especially Heather). Then other tasks come. She is informed that if she wants Sam to live, she has to perform various cruel acts before a certain time. She has no choice. She must do all of the tasks, whether it's insulting Ed--or murder. I recommend this book for fans of the first two books, fans of Fingerprints by Melinda Metz, and older fans of Replica by Marilyn Kaye.

I am not an American, and I often find that I come short when discussing history with my American friends. Therefore, I am always looking for books that can fill gaps in my knowledge. "The Children" is such a book.

This is one of the best books you can find covering the Civil Right Movement. With a journalists precision Halberstam narrates the extraordinary story of the rise of the Civil Rights movement, which in the end broke the back of the Deep South segregation. "The Children" covers the fight for racial equality, including student protests, the story of lunch-counter sit-ins, to the freedom marches. We meet Sheriff Bull Connor, Jim Crow on the one side of the fight, and the young students James Lawson, Rodney Powell, and Diana Nash amongst others on the other side.

Halberstam does an excellent job showing us what the Civil Right movement was all about, and what its supporters had to endure to end the segregation in the South. His first-hand familiarity with the conflict is evident throughout the whole book. (What most people don't think of is that, the covering the Civil Right movement was David Halberstam first "serious" story as a journalist for the Tennessean in Nashville. He was fresh out of colleague and a complete "nobody" in the world of journalism!)

"The Children" was my first reading on the Civil Right movement and it was a true eye-opener for me. I learned so much from this book. With 800 pages "The Children" is not a quick read, but I never felt that too much was included. Now, 2 years later I still refer to this book when discussing the topic.

This is one of the best books that I have ever read. "The Children" should be required reading for everyone. I couldn't recommend it higher!

David Halberstam, as always, tells the whole story of events in history of which too little is known. He brilliantly details the lives and experiences of the front-line soldiers in the civil rights movement--the men and women (actually boys and girls...hence the name of the book) who had the courage to risk their lives to attain well-deserved and historically denied rights. Prior to this work, historians focused on King and his associates. I prefer the perspective and approach of Halberstam.

The reader becomes engrossed in the lives of the people. Halberstam lets us in on their organization, their disagreements, affairs, loves, families, fears, hopes, failures and successes. Most amazingly, he contrasts the children's reaction to racism with that of their parents. The younger generation's frontal assault on the segregationist strongholds is truly amazing. The stories of the freedom riders is engrossing.

Not Halberstam's best book (that would be the Fifties) but pretty darn close.

It is impossible to say anything about David Halberstam's books without first saying how influential his journalism has been to an entire generation of journalists in the United States and overseas. When I was a young news clerk at The New York Times a long time ago, I read Halberstam's masterly "The Best and The Brightest," and I wrote him a note applauding his detailed research, the flow of his narrative, and the sheer sweep of his story. To my surprise, he responded promptly; it is a note that I still treasure -- just as I treasure every book he has written since. "The Children" shows Halberstam at the peak of his writing ability. He recreates the human environment of the frenetic years of the civil rights struggles, telling the extraordinary stories of some of heralded and unheralded players in a manner that is both gripping and provocative. The reader shouldn't be daunted by the length of this book (800 pages) because there isn't a single section that flags. "The Children" is certain to become a landmark book. It deepens our understanding of a traumatic period in American history, and illustrates vividly that ultimately all social forces and causes are shaped by individual men and women -- in this case people who battled racism and the ever-present antagonism of foes determined not to yield ground. "The Children" dramatizes the triumph of goodness; it is definitely a triumph of a genre that might be called histojournalism. It is a superb book by a towering writer of great sensitivity and skill.

Set during the 1800s in Cornwall, England, "Mistress of Mellyn" follows a 24-year-old woman's (Martha Leigh) adventure as a governess in a haunted mansion owned by the widowered Connan TreMellyn and his young daughter, Alvean. While struggling with her emotions over Connan and his just-as-difficult daughter, Martha must also try and uncover the mysterious death of his wife before she, too, faces the same fate Alice did.

"Mistress of Mellyn" was the first book I ever read by Victoria Holt, and it also happens to be the first book Eleanor Alice Burford Hibbert wrote under this pseudonym over 40 years ago. It was given to me by one of my aunts when I was about 11 and is still one of my favorites, even though I'm not necessarily a romance fan. But if you are--or even if you're just a reluctant gothic romance reader like I am--, then you'll more than likely enjoy this one. There's nothing offensive or racy in it, so it's appropriate for all ages, yet it's still very suspenseful. Highly recommended.

Although this romance novel was written well over 30 years ago, it still stands the test of time. It has all the essential elements of a true romance suspense novel: Sprited heroine, dark/handsome/mysterious hero and a good mystery to follow and to decipher throughout the book. For those seeking a "romance" novel, don't let the "suspense" part hold you back. The sexual tension between the 2 main character sizzles! I think this is still Victoria Holt's best novel. Very absorbing book with great atmosphere. The 1st person voice (not much used these days)adds that extra dimension that you are right there with Martha as she ponders the mysteries surrounding her and her feelings for Connan TreMellyn. You will be totally satisfied with the ending!

I first read this book in 8th grade, at a summer camp. I've lost count of how many times I've read it thus far; but I'm reading it right now and I'm 42 years old!

As others have said, this is a timeless classic that relies on a gripping story and excellent characters to hold the reader, rather than the sleazy sex scenes that fill many modern-day romance novels. I believe I have read all of Victoria Holt's books over the years (She has also written as Jean Plaidy and Phillipa Carr) and yes, they are somewhat formulaic, but they are always a good, satisfying read.

"Mistress of Mellyn" inspired my interest in all things English, from afternoon tea to English history. It vividly creates a world that completely draws you in, right up to the last page.

There are times that I think my life was or still is hard. Well, I'm a black female who grew up in a middle-class home with two teachers as parents. College was as automatic as sleeping and eating. But, for these young men in the book "The Pact", college was as uncertain as winning the lottery. I always knew that our young black boys growing up in the inner-city had it super hard, but this book allowed me to see another side of our young brothas. They all have dreams as little kids, even though they don't see anyone in their neighborhood to emulate. Somehow, someway, Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt and George Jenkins all found the determination to succeed and become doctors. Their positive story is proof that just one person can make a difference in a kid's life. Everyone needs someone to look up to; someone to follow.

We all have gifts we can share. Read this book and feel blessed that someone in your life took the time to mentor you and be there for you; not everyone has that in their lives. I am so proud of these young men! Not only are they smart and positive, but they are cute too! What a great combination! God has truly blessed them and their family.

What a refreshing book. Thanks to Tavis Smiley for recommending it on the Tom Joyner Show.

"The Pact" is an incredible book! I just finished reading the remarkable journey completed by Drs. Sam Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt. It's an easy, quick read ~250 pages.

If you're not familiar with their story, they are 3 young, African-American men from Newark that establish a pact at 17-years old to become doctors. Over the years, they run into many obstacles (peer pressure, arrest, finances, and family issues) that tend to dissuade so many young people from pursuing their dream. With the "I got your back" support of each other, mentors they encountered throughout their journey, and God they become doctors despite how many people had presumed their future would turn out.

Dr. George Jenkins, probably the most focused in the group, knew at a very young age that he wanted to be a dentist. In high school, the three friends attend a college presentation offering full scholarships to minority students interested in the medical field. Knowing that neither he nor his friends could afford college THIS OFFER would be their ONLY way to attend college...the formation of the pact.

Surprisingly, after completing college and med school, Sam and Rameck were still unsure if they wanted to be doctors. Sam saw business/management as his future and Rameck wanted to be an actor (he'll settle on being a rapper). (If I didn't know the outcome, I would have been in suspense until the bitter end waiting to learn if they became doctors.) The death of an important person in each of their lives confirmed that medically helping others is what they were meant to do in life.

If you're in the education field or work closely with children in your community this is an excellent book to pick up when you...

- feel like what can I do to get through to this person
- need a testimony that success is not by luck but achieved through faith, perseverance, and support from others
- need a roadmap to better mentor a person in need

"The Pact" is an amazing story of inspiration and motivation to get (primarily) black teens to see beyond their environment, current situation, and look ahead with a plan for tomorrow. "The Pact" also displays the need for adults to begin mentoring children before they reach their teens. The book concludes with the doctors providing the "how-to's" to make a pact work.

This book is a must read for ALL ADOLESCENT MALES!! It is a strong testimony to the power of friendship and perseverance despite circumstances. Each young man had someone in their family who directly or indirectly motivated them to persevere. They had to make some very uncomfortable choices, but were able to keep their "eyes on the prize." Affirmative Action programs continue to serve a real purpose in our society. This book has become a mandatory read in my classes. To the one who still holds to the "...because I'm Black" statement. My question to you is "How long are you going to be Black?"

1. Sarah Darnell is a thirteen-year-old girl who used to live in Texas. When she was living there, she almost drowned in a lake nearby her house. Ever since the incident, she had been hearing whispers in her house. She later finds out that the whispers are coming from a ghost that had been following her around ever since her incident. Years later, she moves to a new state, and the ghost moves with her. Soon after she moves, she hears whispers again, only they're in Spanish. She believes that this ghost could bring her great danger...
2.I liked this book because it was exciting and it kept you guessing until the end.
3.This book is kind of related to "A Murder in the Doll House" because they both have ghosts following people around in both stories.

Mystery, excitement, and intrigue, this book has it all. It's about a teenage girl named Sara who has a life or death experience. Soon after she starts hearing noises, whispers, and odd sounds when she is alone in the house. Sara quickly separates herself from her friends after telling them her insane secret. After going to several shrinks, her parents move her to a different town so her dad can get a job. Sara and her family are often looked at strangely. They soon find out the truth behind the under priced, beautiful house. Someone was murdered in it! Her parent's forget about the strange murder but Sara finds it to odd not to investigate. Sara's just a teenager from a different town trying to unravel the secret of a mysteries murder. She turned the town upside down only to find that the true murderer is right under her noise and he's as angry as ever. Will she excape? To find out, you'll have to read " Whispers from the Dead " now showing at a library near you. I recommend it. Bye-bye.

This Book was Terrific!!!!! It was REALLY good!!! It was the third book i have ever read of Joan Lowery Nixon's books. I say it was probably the second best!!!! (my favorite was "The Other Side Of Dark" so far, check it out, it is the BEST) This book contains some scary parts so if you get scared easily, please don't read this book (unless you can concer not being scared).
This book is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Sarah. When coming close to death in the water, she believes some sort of shadow is following her. The docter says that it is a "hauted feeling" and that she needs to concer her fear (in this case of drowning). But, for Sarah this isn't easy. But, finally the feeling starts to wear off and one day she thinks it is gone. Her father has been given a promotion that involves them having to move to Houston, Texas. When looking for a house he was for some reason giving a low payment on a big one. So, they move into that house. As soon as Sarah sets foot in the door, she knows something is weird about this house.Pretty soon she hears a voice saying "help me" in Spanish. Sarah's father comes home one day and tells them why they had gotten this house for such a low price...two years ago a murder had taken place in the very house they are living in. Read on as Sarah unravels the mystery about what REALLY happened at the house that day of the murder. But, will history repeat itself, this time involving Sarah as the next victim?
This book is REALLY GOOD, and I suggest that you read it and find out what happens. It is full of suspense, and keeps you on your toes.

This book served me well through high school, college, my first job as a newspaper reporter, and also as a content writer for an Internet integrator. Highly recommended. I believe all schools should do what my high school did with this book: but a copy for every student to keep forever. It is an invaluable resource, with the right approach, and a little attitude.

Fun, witty, smart, direct, and simply the best reference book I've ever owned, Writer's Inc. is exceptional not only for its utility, but also its content. Writer's Inc. is not only a grammar guide and reference, but addresses the THINKING and LEARNING processes in a way that most schools fail to do directly.

Read this book. Keep it on your shelf all through school, college, a career, and the rest of your life after this and you will have a richer mind for it.

This is the writing resource that I wish I had been introduced to back in high school when writing essays and term papers. It is accessible for high school students but can also provide guidance for those out of school.

With writing becoming increasingly important in high school (the SAT is about to add a writing section), this is an invaluable pedagogical resource for the teacher and student. High school and college student with superior writing skills will always differentiate themselves from their peers. By using this book, the student will improve organization and construction of essays and term papers as well as improve analytical reasoning and thinking. There is even a section of appropriate language for business writing. Teachers will find the most improvement in student's revising skills, a step that most high school students skip over in the writing process.

It is more useful as a writing resource than as an authority on grammar. For a grammar resource, I recommend Dianne Hacker's Writer's Reference. Another useful writing resource for those out of school is Peter Elbow's Writing Without Teachers. Elbow's book is quoted several times in Writer's Inc. for providing suggestions for lifelong improvement of writing out of school. Another perennial favorite is E.B. White's Elements of Style.

More parents, students, and educators should be made aware of this book. It is a good investment.

This is my all-time favorite writing guide. I had a copy in high school. I bought another copy last year and have recommended the book to everyone I know. Writers Inc. contains a wealth of information. You won't regret purchasing a copy. It is excellent.

I have just recently read this book for my lit class and I enjoyed it alot. I will have to say that this is one of the best R.L. Stine books that I have read! If you like horror books then you should read this book.

The parts of this book that I liked the most is when Joanna, Dex, and Pete were at the Promontory. The reason I like this is because this is one of the scariest parts I think. There are alot of scary parts in this book but, this is one of the most scariest.

If you have not read this book I would recomend that you read it. This is just what I think about this book but, you know that there are alot of people out there that woul disagree with me!

The Boyfriend is one of my favorite books.I like it because the auther(R.L.Stine)how the characters when they do things.I also like how he describes the characters.In this book Joanna wanted to dump Dex because she liked Shep better.She liked him because he was kind and funnny but Dex wasn't really funny.She liked him because he had a good smell and looked good.Now if you want to know the rest of the story you have to read it.
At first I thought this book would be bad but it wasn't.When you read this book it feels like you can't put it down because you need to find the end.This book is for people that like romance and scarey books.I would give this book five stars.I hope you like the book and give it five stars.

I read this story when I was in high school. My sister bought it and read it, and though I seldom read YA novels, I did pick this one up and finished it in a couple of hours. It was really very good, the best YA book I had read to date. Because I liked it, I read a lot of R. L. Stine novels after that. "The Boyfriend" was the best of them.

Joanna, the main character, is a rich girl who has a thing for wild boys. Dex, the "boyfriend", is a talented boy, an actor, who lives with his aunt on the wrong side of town, and he's Joanna's type...at first. But the differences between them, that they move about in different social circles, doesn't sit well with Joanna and she gets bored with Dex and stands him up a lot. She has her eyes on Shep, a boy from a well-to-do family.

In the middle of the night, after being stood up again, Dex persuades Joanna to go for a ride to the canyon accompanied by his friend Pete. Once at the Promontory, Dex starts goofing off like he always does, playing around on the edge of the cliff...and slips. Joanna hears Dex's body break as it hits the ground below. And in a rush of terror and confusion, she drives away from the scene and gets into a car accident.

Joanna winds up in the hospital with minor injuries but Pete tells her that Dex didn't make it. 'Dex is dead, Joanna,' Pete says, 'and you RAN away!' Joanna feels bad, tells Pete she was going for help. He doesn't believe her and leaves angry. She is sad to hear that Dex is dead, but strangely feels relieved too.

But Dex comes back from the grave to torment Joanna for abandoning him.

The characterizations are among R. L. Stine's strongest and in the end the reader is still uncertain as to what really happened to Dex that night at the Promontory. I won't let the cat out of bag, but after finishing the book, you'll understand what I mean.

I recommend this story highly.

Was Tyrus Cobb as good as you imagined? Better.

Did Tyrus Cobb innovate the game? Absolutely.

Did a worse human being play the game? Maybe not.

Al Stump focused on the first and especially the third question above. Being a sports writer, Stump knows that a healthy legend and juicy scandel sells books. In this book Stump gives excellent descriptions of some of the most famous incidents in baseball- mostly from the mouth of Cobb with whom Stump spent parts of a year interviewing. Perhaps that time tainted Stump. For example, Stump repeatedly mentions the 'extreme cruelty' Charlotte Cobb used as grounds for divorce. He fails to mention that Mrs. Cobb stressed that it was mental and never physical abuse. Why? Perhaps Stump intended to paint Cobb as completly vile. Perhaps Cobb deserved it. But this important information for a book of nearly 500 pages to fail to mention. Stump keeps a highly negative focus on Cobb the man while building up Cobb the player.

I finished this book disliking Cobb the man, convinced Cobb the player would have dominated ANY era, and wanting to know more- so I read Alexander's book. Charles Alexander's "Ty Cobb" provides a more complete, less biased view of Cobb in about half the pages. The Stump book is more colorful however.

This book documents the life and times of one of the most complex, violent, angry, and racist men to ever play the game of baseball. It takes the reader from his growing up in rural Georgia to going to Detroit to play for the Tigers and finally to his later years in California and his death of prostate cancer in 1959. But along with these personality defects, Cobb had incredible talent to go with his competitiveness----and he was competitive both on and off the field. Anyone interested in baseball's history would undoubtedly enjoy reading this biography of one of the game's most colorful characters.

This book is a quick read for baseball fans, and an interesting look at the psychosis of an American icon for non-baseball fans. Al Stump went through a living hell while writing Ty Cobb's ghost-written autobiography and thirty years later he tells Cobb's true story. The story of Cobb's obnoxious, cruel behavior is told in detail, with Stump's vicious pen tearing at the soul of the legend. It is rare in biographies to see a writer tear at the subject, but Stump does it as a reconciliation with his soul. In between the lines, Stump comes to terms with his own demons, and it brings the book to life. Every one of Cobb's misgivings and psychotic rampages is shown, and his one truly great asset, that of being the greatest baseball player of all time, is also given full credit. An amazing work for its balance between the two worlds of writing the truth and writing what our legends want us to see is covered. Al Stump wrote the story of an American legend in everyday life in Cobb, and leaves the reader one possible conclusion, Cobb isn't the man we want our children to emulate.