This book was purchased for my 8 year old daughter as a Black History month present. She has read the entire book and has as enjoyed looking at the pictures. It held her attendtion and got her more interested in Africa--which made me extremely happy. The way the book was layed out allowed her to get a better understanding of what was going on. Using actual photographs with the cartoons really gave her a different approach to reading. She was allowed to see the actual events and dress of Africa in certain areas. That's what drew me to the book in the first place. If an individual is teaching or introducing a child to Africa, this is a good book to do so with.

I read this book for a book report in class. I enjoyed reading it. It starts off a bit boring, but then at about the2nd chapter it gets interesting. It stays really good until about the 25th chapter when its gets very exciting. I would reccomend this for kids 12 and up, unless you are a very good 10 year old reader.

Not just for children, adults, too, will find the secret world of the White House fun, disguised education. Learn how a president personally communicates from the phone operators, calligraphers, special stationary, to how he signs so many letters. There's sections on how the President entertains that is a must for those who like to host elegant parties, includes menu cards. There's lots of fun first-family trivia that history buffs enjoy. For the sports enthusiast, learn how a president keeps fit and trim. Naturally there's a chapter on guarding the First Family. A great reference book to be enjoyed again and again.

"In The Odd Women there is not a single major character whose life is not ruined either by having too little money, or by getting it too late in life, or by the pressure of social conventions which are obviously absurd but which cannot be questioned." --George Orwell

George Gissing was a very odd man himself. Despite the fact that all his novels deal with social issues of the day, notably women, money, and class relations, he was neither a socialist nor a social reformer. He simply described in novels what he knew of degredation, misery, and the tortures "respectable" English society inflicted upon its outcasts and marginal figures. In The Odd Women Gissing chose to focus on the predicament of the extra females of Britain's disproporionate population ratio. These were the "odd" women who would never be matched with a man. Gissing's Madden sisters endured a representative sampling of the a dreary employment opportunities available for genteel but impoverished women in the 1890s. Of the two eldest Madden sisters, Alice was a governess until her health broke down; Virginia was lady's companion (poorly-paid drudge to an elderly tyrant) who has suffered from "mental lassitude" and taken to secret drinking. Another sister, a luckless "hard-featured" girl, is dead before the story begins; she taught in a girl's school until she committed suicide in despair. Monica, the youngest and only good-looking sister, spends twelve to sixteen hours a day on her feet in a large dry-goods shop and lives in an unsanitary dormitory with other shopgirls, some of whom supplement their wages by prostitution. Her sisters fear that Monica's health will also break down under this regime, and that she will lose her looks and her chance of marriage.

Enter Miss Rhoda Nunn and Miss Elinor Barfoot, two enterprising women who have founded a school to teach "odd" women business skills to enable them to compete economically, or at least rise above the general level of ill-paid drudgery. Barfoot and Nunn are early feminists; they wish to live and teach other women to live without feeling diminished by their unmarried status. Monica Madden considers enrolling in their school, but she has managed to meet and attract a man, a middle-aged bachelor named Widdowson, whom she marries instead. The substance of the novel involves the wreck of Monica's life following her disastrous marriage, and Rhoda Nunn's struggle to deal with her relationship with a man she is attracted to, but whom she cannot marry or live with without suffering diminishment and the loss of her role as a teacher and leader.

Gissing's book is a serious and sympathetic treatment of the much-discussed "woman question," and written from a point of view somewhat in advance of his time. The Odd Women has been mostly out of print for the last hundred years, and it is to be hoped that the recent appearance of three new editions heralds a long-delayed recognition of its merits.

I am very impressed by what I have read. The stories the mother tells are very interesting, a strange mixture of happy and melancholy, but then this is so true of the whole book. I find the image of the mother and her children in their little house very vivid, and strangely sad. It feels very real, I think because there is such a range of emotion there. If it were just a happy little gang of kids being told stories by their doting mother it wouldn't be the same. But the tensions between them all, the sense of impending trouble, is very evocative.

I'm curious Gertrude, is this your childhood, or your mother's, or a bit of both ? It seems too detailed, too personal, to be entirely based on your mother's recollections of her own childhood. Either way, I think it's an excellent book, and I'm very impressed by it. -Simon

I have used The Pioneers Go West as a literature set in my 5th grade classroom for two years now and will continue to do so. The students like the realism and adventure of the story. It was also a good supplement to our study of the Westward Movement. I recommend it to any teacher or student of history!

Excellent overview of Black Middle-Class Queens, New York....I know because I lived it. Nelson depicts the music world and the people in it vividly, you feel like you've been there and know them. Kudos, to Nelson for the happy ending, I hope Derek & Candi stay together "Till death do them part."

This book is truly a sourcebook for those who have young children and at times feel as if they don't know what to do next with them. Maxim's book is designed for childcare workers so there are a lot of group activities but the one on one activities serve it's purpose for the only child.

The book is quite comprehensive but has indexes for items by age as well as skills. The price tag made me hesitate but only for a split second. This was a purchase that I do not regret and look forward to sharing.

I found this book very interesting.It shows the sciences behind mine (and many other kids) favorite sports. I recomend u buy it.

I enjoyed this book; the author has a way of creating interesting, memorable teen characters with more unique characteristics than the average teen novel. Steppie is open to new experiences, learning, & growth - good thing, since it's forced upon her early in the novel. It's fun to experience her embarrassment & mortification...as well as take pleasure in her honest maturity. Charming book!