This is a wonderful book for both children and adult. (except sort of discouraging to see little kid skating that well and doing all the hard moves, like jumping a ramp.) There are great skating maintainence section and all the basic moves.

LM Montgomery had a great ability to write stories that made us laugh, cry, and tug at our heart strings. Both Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea are books i bought, and will give to my children to read when they are old enough to appreciate them.
I never read them as a child. I wasn't even introduced to them until I was planning a vacation to Prince Edward Island three years ago, and I read the first book. I also watched the movies which were both such wonderful adaptations.
Anne of Avonlea picks up where the first one left off. Anne, who I think is the best female fictional character I've ever had the priviledge to read of, is now a teacher. She is growing up, but she still has her adventures with Diana, and her other friends.
There are a few new characters are introduced, and although you don't instantly fall in love with them like Ann, they grow you. All but Davey, this character was just so annoying. THis boy was just a bad apple.
I'm sure LM had good intentions, but I was utterly annoyed and it brought my feeling of the book down a bit.
IF you loved the first book, you will probably enjoy this as well. There is a long series of books by LM. I am currently on break from reading her.
She was a great writer, able to bring a great deal of sense of humor in her storytelling, and she is very descriptive. She really brings the characters so true to life, especially Anne.
I do recommend this despite my problem w/ davey.
Anne will always remain forever in my heart as a true heroine of classic literature. One of the best character to ever be put on paper..as she is kind, funny, good spirited, and what an imagination!

Anne is a marvellous girl with a big imagination that capt your mind. Besides, she's very impulsive and optimistic. When you start reading this book, you want to not stop. I personally read it in about one day and after that, I re-read it about 6 times without being tired or boring. Lucy Maud Montgomery made characters that are really fantastic. She's a good writer and I admire her. When I read "Anne of Avonlea", I felt myself very optimistic and happy. I advice you to buy this fantastic book. You will not regret that at all especially if you like stirring books.

Anne Shirley returns in another wonderfull book that bring us back to her little world of Avonlea Where now she teaches and also founding the organization for improoving Avonlea. The way of writting in this book cna hypnotyze you and even can make you feel like you are inside the story and you see and feel and here everything that happens in the story. everytime that i read the book I start to jelouse in the children that are anne's students just because she is their teacher Anne's character again is charming and wonderfull and easy to like from reading this book and all her others and liking her character my whole Identity designed like hers and till today she is my favorite character in literature. I'd like to get responses for what I wrote.

The Story Girl is a delightful hodgepodge of stories. The friendships and unique personalities make this a must-read for all young adults and adults. The spirit of long-ago days when life was much simpler is very appealing for today's reader. I enjoyed the characters and the settings of this book and would like to read the sequel, The Golden Road. Has anyone seen the PBS series that was based on The Story Girl and The Golden Road? I heard that The Road to Avonlea was based loosely on some of the characters from these two books. Sara, Felix, etc.

I love this book! I love all of montgomery's books and this is one of the best! After this review i'm going to read "The Golden Road" the sequel to "the Story Girl" and i just can't wait! I just wonder what going ot happen to fat Felix, timid Cecily, Snobby Felicity, Skeptical Dan, nice Sara Ray, Beverly, and The Wonderful Story Girl!

I discovered Montogomery seen years ago, when I was nine, when I begged my mother to buy me the entire "Anne" series. I own every one of Montgomery's books (except for "Pat of Silver Bush", lost at my friend's house); they occupy a special shelf. While I love all of them, a few I have read again and again. Almost every year I find my way "The Story Girl" and "The Golden Road", getting a prickly, wistful feeling that tells me to read them. I could identify with the characters because they were my age, and although I am a bit older now I don't think that I will stop reading them. Sarah Stanley and Bev were always my favorites, but I loved Cecily because she was so sweet, and Peter because he tried so hard. The few "Avolea" shows that I have seen were good, but changed too much from what Montgomery wrote. Other good books from P.E.I.: "The Blue Castle": I love this story because Valancy defies all conventions and creates a wonderful life for herself. I love the descriptions of the Canadian forests and lakes and the evolution of her relationship with Barney. "Jane of Lantern Hill": Also a good movie, this story is very modern in that it deals with separated parents. It is filled with the sweetness that pervades all of her books. "Emily of New Moon": I like her better than Anne, she's quiet and mysterious, feline and shadowy. The triad of books evolves her character realisticly, especially her friendships with Perry and Ilse and Teddy.

Ed Humes provides a superior account of the human (and inhuman) side of the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. Accolades to his reporting are justified, but Humes' advocacy of the juvenile justice system suffers a fatal mistake: he relies on secondary sources for basic facts and presents a completely backwards picture. The startling truth, clearly evident from reviewing crime statistics for Los Angeles from the state Criminal Justice Statistics Center, is that juvenile crime (especially serious crime) has been PLUMMETING DRAMATICALLY for 20 years. Teenage felony rates fell more than 40% from 1975 through 1995 (and dropped even more in 1996 and 1997), with sharp decreases in property and drug crimes and no increase in violent crime. Had Humes consulted original sources instead of relying on the inflammatory secondary commentators on juvenile justice, he would have authored a revolutionary and inspiring treatise on how -- despite the negative odds of growing poverty, more chaotic homes, and deteriorating job and education opportunity for youth of color -- Los Angeles teenagers and the stressed juvenile justice system can boast surprising successes. Instead, Humes resorts to unwarranted, inflammatory denigration of an entire generation and produces a disappointingly standard book that misses the real story.

This book, which just won the PEN Center USA West Literary Award in Research Nonfiction, is a must read for anyone who is concerned about youth, crime, and our justice system. Humes presents the incredibly complex situation in Los Angeles' juvenile courts to the reader, allowing us to feel it, see it, hear it, and at times even smell it. We see the impact of tougher laws, how they tie the hands of all involved, and we begin to understand that decisions are rarely based on what's right or even what's best. Instead no one seems satisfied with the way our juvenile courts work, certainly not the judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, families, and victims. Humes, who spent a year observing the court system and who taught creative writing to the some of the troubled youth, allows us to see just how vulnerable or horrific some of them are. You will never read the headlines in the same way again. The most engrossing book I've read in years

I read this book for my intro to sociology class my freshman year of college. I could not put the book down. Humes does an excellent job of stringing the reader along, from the details of the juvenile court system to following individual teenaged offenders around the city.

If you ever have to read a book for a Sociology or Criminology class, I highly recommend this book. It is so enchanting that it makes the reading incredibly easy

A play in three acts, a very simple setting, and only four characters who live in a small, university town in America: a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. And a "young and innocent" couple, Nick and Honey. They all meet in a room, in Martha and George's house, very late one night, for a nightcap. And then...all hell breaks lose.

The play tears apart both marriages: the middle aged couple, who seem to hate each other and in the end turn out to be much more devoted to each other as it would seem. The young, seemingly perfect couple, who turn out to have lots of problems of their own. In three heart-breaking scenes, using dialogue that cuts like a knife, Edward Albee has written a masterpiece. He manages to give a clear-cut, honest picture of the reality of marriage, the reality of love, and the fears that go hand in hand with love and intimacy. At some point, in act three, Martha talks about her husband- and it's probably one of the best pieces of literature I've read:

"...George who is out somewhere there in the dark...George who is good to me, and whom I revile; who understands me, and whom I push off; who can make me laugh, and I choke it back in my throat; who can hold me, at night, so that it's warm, and whom I will bite so there's blood; who keeps learning the games we play as quickly as I can change the rules; who can make me happy and I do not wish to be happy, and yes I do wish to be happy, George and Martha: sad, sad, sad."

What more can I say? just read the play, and if you get the chance, watch it performed in the theatre, too.

Considered by some to be Albee's masterpiece, Virginia Woolf presents all of the playwright's main themes in this tightly compressed play. In a mere three acts, Albee breeches social as well as physical masochism at its most malevolent while displaying its truth-revealing effects while exposing its subconscious motivations. As for other Albee-eque motifs, there is his presentation of truth verses reality, linguistics aerobics, and, as par, a heavy dose of black humor. Albee remains faithful as a master of literature in that he never lapses into didacticism even when his characters voice personal soliloquies. As an aside, the play does differ from the famous film in that the former takes place within the confides of George and Martha's household, thus keeping their guests, Nick and Honey, as metaphorical prisoners throughout the night. Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of the play, upon a close reading, is Albee's almost virtuoso execution of symbolism, especially Christian (comparable to Henry James). Highly recommended.

Wow. I never thought I could like a play so much. I had to read this for a class in college, so I admit that I didn't know what I was in for. I would've never thought that I would enjoy reading a play. This is a work of art with every line having meaning and significance.

A quick summary of the story without giving too much away: This is the story about an elderly couple who seem to hate each other with a passion. They're rude, loud, offensive, and insulting. When they invite a younger couple to their house, things quickly start to get out of control, while the elderly couple use their guests as sheilds and pawns in their brutal arguements and such. The story ends with a shocking resolution that will catch you off guard.

The dialogue in this play is so beautifully written. It reads like the way people actually talk. That is why I enjoyed it so much. It also enriched the characters that much more. Edward Albee did a magnificent job of weaving a tale that seems so realistic it's as if we are there at that house on that very night. There are no minor characters; everyone is important in a very significant way. It is refreshing to be able to get to know each character and the hopes, dreams, ambitions, and the conflicts that lie within.

I really enjoyed reading this wonderfully structured play. Much so that I have already read it at least seven times. It is a very easy read. And since it is mostly dialogue, it really doesn't take long to read. You could easily finish it in a day or two if you really put your heart to it. Even if you don't enjoy reading novels, maybe this is the solution. There is no lengthy descriptions of what color the characters' eyes are or what they're wearing. Just good old dialogue that will have you hooked from the very beginning. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is an outstanding play that will forever remain a true classic in American Literature.

A timeless tale of four sisters struggling their way through life during the Civil War. I have read this book more times than I can count, and I still love it. Once I pick it up I can't put it down, lost in this seemingly fantasy world, which was actually quite true more than 100 years ago.

My favorite thing about Little Women has to be the characters. Jo, the day-dreaming tomboy, Meg, pretty and proper, Beth, the quiet sweetheart, and little Amy, our artist, who always tried to grow up too fast. Then of course there's Laurie, the tall fun-loving boy-next-door, and so many other fabulous personalities (Aunt March, Fredrick Bauer, Hannah, Marmie, etc.) that I couldn't possibly name them all.

This book is one that I think everyone absolutely MUST read some time in their life, for it teaches moral values that should be used by people of all ages. I also reccommend Little Men and Jo's Boys to follow it up.

Little Women is a charming story that transports back in time and tells the story of the March family. It follows the trials and triumps of the close-knit family living in the Civil War era. The four March sisters manage, although fequently challenged, to remain close throughout time. From the very first chapter the unique character traits arise Ð pretty, proper, and mature Meg, tomboy Jo who loves to read and write, shy and caring Beth who loves music and animals, and vain Amy with an artistic talent. They are as different as sisters can be, but their strong personalities bring them closer together. The family is held together by the loving parents who are devoted and fair. The parents work to mold their daughters into responsible young women by teaching them morality and love. It is very much a coming of age story, each girl striving to become a good woman, and tying to let go of their past. Even though it was written over a hundred years ago, modern readers can still relate to the story. The girls still fight, they serch for love, they deal with loss, they struugle with poverty and fitting in. The story teaches great morals that are as important now as they were when the book was written. The book teaches the value of family, the importance of self-improvement, and the truth that love can withstand all. It is a plot that will involve the reader, a book that you will not be able to put down. By the end of the novel you will feel like you know the Marchs personally and will want to read it all over again. This story has passed the test of time and is a beloved peice of literature that brings people together. It is a tale that has touched countless generations, and will continue to do so for many more.

Little Women, being one of the classics of American literature, is not surprising to be said one of the best books I have ever read. The story revolves around the home life of four close sisters and two strong, moral parents. As Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy grow up, their adventures and mishaps provide examples for any reader of all ages. As they grow up, they struggle with many ideas. First, they are constantly troubled by the necessity of being good, even when they want to be bad. Second, as they grow up, they confront different types of relationships with boys. Friendship turns into love and vice versa, making a strong theme of gender relations. The girls also struggle with the ideas of motherhood, sisterhood, pride, education, and marraige. Finally, two of the most important ideas in the novel are dreams and work. The girls spend their childhoods and adult lives trying to balance the two and fulfill both necessities. Also, throughout the book, society is explained, the harsh winters are described, and the profound work ethic of the people is portrayed to give the reader a strong sense of what it was like to be living during the 19th century. The book gives the reader some mportant guidance to people in similar circumstances in their adolescent years. The novel motivates positive decision making, looks past materialism, teaches morales, and shows us the importance of real happiness.

I read this when I was in elementary school. (I'm 23 now.) I didn't enjoy reading at all until college. But of the few books I bothered with I remember loving this one. It was just so bizarre and sinister to a kid. Edward Gorey's illustrations creeped me out. (check out his own books.) If you want a book that will enthrall your child with its eerieness, choose this one.

I grew up to love books like The Third Policeman, movies like Eyes Wide Shut, TV shows like Twin Peaks, composers like Berlioz, and painters like Magritte. Do your kids a favor and weird 'em out!

This book was the cooest book that I had ever read. I thought that it was full of adventure and the book was vary exciting The book did end like I thought it would. But I didn't expect it to be so exciting. I really enjoyed this book and I would reccommend it to people of all ages.

Evaristus Sloane invented a robot that was like a pitching machine a long time ago. But Johnny's grandpa didn't want it because he didn't like the way it's eyes look. Now, crazy Sloane is going to get back at him and he is going to use Johnny to do it!!!!

Crusader by Edward Bloor is an exciting and interesting book. It starts of with Roberta Ritter working at her uncle's failing arcade called Arcane. A series of hate crimes break out in the mall and she eventually finds out the cause of them. But Roberta has a dark secret hiding inside her. Her mother was murdered and she wants to find out who did it. She eventually finds out who killed her mother that one dark day and it affects her life forever. She will never be the same. Full of detailed descriptions, and clever twists Edward Bloor takes this novel to the next level.

The book was great. I liked it because you never knew what was going to happen next. It started out with a girl named Roberta whose mother was murdered seven years ago. She is out to find who murdered her mother. While she is trying to find her information, she ends up helping out at the family arcade. The story takes place in Miami, Florida. Most of the action is at a mall. Many different things happen which make the story exciting. I also read Edward Bloor's other book, Tangerine, which I also liked. This book was better than Tangerine!

This book was a brutally honest look into the underworld of drugs, racism and the corruption of virtual reality. As the Crusader statue looks on, Roberta Ritter finds the courage in herself to become her own crusader. I thought this book was extremly realistic. Most books that cover topics like this avoid racial slurs and swearing, but somtimes that is exactly what makes things more real. But because of this, like other reviewers, I think this book is definatly for people 10 and up. Notice I said people; this book should be read by both adults and children.

This book contains very disturbing scenes of violence between family members. Kids like books that deal with sibling problems, because most kids experience those problems themselves. They may identify with the younger brother in this book, and then be horrified by the physical torture and permanent damage his brother inflicts on him. This book gave me nightmares.

If you like mystery, soccer, and sibling rivalry, then Tangerine by Edward Bloor, is the book for you. Paul Fisher is legally blind and he has to wear "bottle-thick, bug-eyed glasses." Even though he is blind, he has an amazing ability to see people for what they really are. When Paul's family moved to Tangerine County, Florida, he got a chance to start over. Paul has grown up in the shadow of his self-obsorbed, football playing brother. His dad worships Paul's brother and never pays attention to him. Paul grows through his experiences at new schools, making friends, playing soccer, and tending a tangerine grove. This book is like many other books I have read. It is very straight forward and easy to understand. Bloor does an amazing job of drawing his reader's in. He hits that there is a secret in the Fisher family and you really want to read on to find out what it is. I read this entire 294 page book in a week. I couldn't put it down. This book was also appealing to me because I play soccer. It was very easy for me to relate to the stresses that come along with playing a sport. I could relate when Paul didn't make a starting position. I have always had to work to make the team. If you don't like soccer this book may not be for you. Soccer isn't the main point of the story, but it is something that Paul identifies with and it is something that he can really relate too. There is also a great deal of soccer "lingo" that may be hard to understand if you don't know about the sport. "Henry D. lifted a beautiful corner kick to Victor, who leaped and headed it into the goal." This would be confusing to anyone who doesn't know much about soccer. Tangerine has some great description in it. "The air had a gray tint to it, and a damp, foul smell like an ashtray." It was very easy to see this newly developed town. It was a great comparison of how Paul's family moving into a new house also represented a new beginning for Paul. It was his chance to make a name for himself. The way Bloor developed Paul was the best aspect of the story. He did a great job of showing how Paul changed through the story. Paul was nothing but the little brother of a great football player at the beginning of the story. But when Paul faced his fear, he learned how to be himself. "When disaster struck, we all had to do something. In a way, we all had to become something." By the end of the story, Paul had become someone. Anyone could read this book, but I recommend it to younger readers. It is not a very challenging plot. It was not too difficult or confusing and it was easy to understand. If you really like exciting plots and plots that make you think about hidden meanings, this book is not for you. Tangerine explains everything out very well and it's easy to follow. I recommend this book because it makes you realize that you need to make the most of your life. That you have to face your fears before you can become who you really want to be.

I have the honor that mrs. bloor is my teacher. At lakeview we try to read this book in class. It is an awesome novel by Edward Bloor who is also the author of The Crusader. If I could I would give it 100 stars. I have not yet finished the book yet but oh is it getting better! Mr. Bloor has inspired me to write.
What Is the Secret You Ask? You Will Find out

In modern terms, E.M. Forster's "A Room with a View" is a romantic comedy, and as such, it follows the typical formula of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl. This basic plot is, of course, embellished with a lot of comical characters, exotic settings, and convenient misunderstandings, but none of this mollifies my opinion that the novel, although well-written, is not very interesting.

Two fussy English women, the nubile Lucy Honeychurch and her older cousin Charlotte Bartlett, are staying in a small hotel (a pension) in Florence, Italy. There they meet the Emersons, a father and son, who do not seem to have much money and are hinted to be "Socialists," which reflects a prejudice on the part of the allegers and doesn't even really mean anything within the novel's scope. Lucy has a brief romance with the son, George, even though she knows he is not quite suitable for her social status. A few other characters also are introduced in Florence, including two clergymen, Mr. Beebe and Mr. Eager, and a romance novelist named Miss Lavish.

The action shifts back to England, where we meet Lucy's doting mother and frivolous, immature brother Freddy, who could be a progenitor for P.G. Wodehouse's aristocratic loafers. Lucy is courted by a snobbish young man named Cecil Vyse whom she has known for a few years and accepts his proposal for marriage. Trouble arises when George Emerson and his father show up as tenants in a nearby cottage, and Lucy must decide whether she is going to submit to social convention and marry Cecil or follow her heart and go with George. Care to take a wild guess about the outcome?

Forster obviously intended this novel to be a comedy, but his humor is stilted and contrived. There are subtle jokes about English class distinction, blatantly symbolic surnames that sound like they came from the board game "Clue," juxtaposed sentences that purposely contradict each other for the sake of painfully overt irony, and satirical snippets that affect Oscar Wilde-style wittiness. The novel's humoristic tour de force is a scene in which Cecil remains oblivious to the fact that Lucy and George had a fling in Italy, even though he reads a direct account of it in a novel penned by Miss Lavish, who fortunately has disguised the names of her hero and heroine. Simply put, the book is as funny as burnt toast.

Colorful but predictable and simplistic, "A Room with a View" may have been an important Edwardian novel, but it seems innocuous compared to the hard realism and bold sexuality of D.H. Lawrence's imminent works. Even the author himself acknowledges the novel's fabrications when he allows Mr. Beebe to state, "It is odd how we of that Pension, who seemed such a fortuitous collection, have been working into one another's lives." Funny, I was thinking the same thing.

The romance of this book was beautiful...you can't really describe it. Young Emerson being unexperienced falling in love with Lucy was hinted a bit with every chapter, it was never really bluntly spoke of that he loved her...Forster didn't take the easy road, but beated around the bush which made Lucy and George's relationship much more interesting and fascinating to look at.

From the scene where Lucy wakes up and finds herself in the arms of George is probably the biggest hint of his love for her...even though all he really did was hold her. In the end their struggles to get ignore their parents and society itself gives them the reins to control their own lives.

I'm not sure but there was just something about this book that makes me just aghasted...I can't describe it...I feel so overcomed with emotions, just like when I read Tess of the Durbervilles. But in this case, there's a happy ending

A Room with a View is a prominent novel about a man and a woman, class, and societal expectations and pressures. Lucy and her cousin Charlotte are offered rooms with a view of Florence, Italy by Mr. Emerson and his son, who are willing to exchange for them. The strict and drained Miss Bartlett does not wish to have an obligation to the Emersons, who are deemed less than polite society will condone. Their rector, Mr. Beebe, tells them he believes the exchange is proper and the ladies get their view of Florence. It becomes clear that Lucy herself wants a view of life and later confesses to her fiancé, a priggish intellectual, that she imagines him always in a room with no windows, with no view. The novel's love story is compelling, but the secondary themes of class and society structures are equally strong, with the truly noble characters emerging in the end with great strength.

A Room with a View has everything a reader could ask for. Not only does it contain a beautiful and romantic love story that will capture your heart, but it contains the most simplistic comic relief, that it forms the perfect balance. Just as the story starts to get involved in deep romance, Foster will roll in a statement that will lighten the whole picture, and leave the mind simply happy.

Foster writes in a way so calm and gentle that you want to fall in love with the book itself. He makes every word seem like it has such a great importance, that without it, the story will fall apart. One can tell this novel was written with a passion for life and love and with the force of a sensitive and empathetic mind.

However, this gentleness leads to an extremely slow moving plot that sometimes winds up dragging along the reader. At some points, I found myself getting swallowed by the words and not really fully digesting them the first time. The key to aptly appreciate this novel is to have patience, knowing that the conclusion is well worth pacing the plot.

Foster also created such a basic and easy plot that some chapters seemed to drag on until the idea was pulled through. Nevertheless, since there was not a complicated plot scheme to follow, the reader was able to concentrate on the language and characters illustrated in the novel. This way, it was also so easy to make yourself a character in the book and put your feet right in the room or scene to get the full effect of the atmosphere.

Another aspect that was interesting to follow along with is how the novel conveyed very differently each level of society was looked at and thought of. Even though these thoughts on society may not have been the primary theme, they were definitely prominent throughout the novel. The lesson that can be learned from this aspect of the novel is that the entrenched morals of society should be thrown away in favor of passion and the natural instinct.

The greatest fallback would have to be the British language used by Foster. I am not a big reader of British literature and I found the wording at little times to be a slight bit clumsy and awkward to follow. Although this stood in the way of the greater aspects of Foster's novel, it was definitely not a reason I would give for not recommending this astounding novel.

This would have to be one of the greatest novels I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Anyone who believes they have the patience to appreciate this accomplished writer's work, will be utterly satisfied. The book is at every facet entertaining, no matter what genre of novels you're partial to.