If you've never been to Fez, you'll feel like you have after reading Ruth Knafo Setton's 'The Road to Fez'... She creates and successfully sustains an abstract atmosphere of tension and mystique throughout the story, all the while her descriptions of the land and its characters are so vivid and concrete they are almost tangible. The colors and the smells of a land and time so removed from ours, stick with you long after the last page is turned. Very shortly after starting her story, you'll become familiar with a way of life described so intimately, you are startled to remember that Brit, the main character, is actually not wholly of this magical place. Even Brit has to pull back from her daily experience to remember she has options to return to her former life in the US. The land and people are so real and intense that you, as a reader, will become part of it as well. If you hear the Sirens calling you to read this book, listen to them.!

"The Road To Fez" By Ruth Knafo Setton is a riveting tale written in lyrical prose and sensitivity to detail.

The novel tells the story of a young American-Jewish woman, born in Morrocco, who goes back to visit her family, but what she really has in mind is her dashing uncle (her mother's much-younger brother) .

Within the Moroccan compound where the entire clan lives, the reader experiences the sights, smells and sounds of this exotic place, and becomes a witness to both the personal intrigues and the global drama of the Jewish community.

Highly recommended both as a historical account of a minority going through change in a society where it doesn't belong, and as a fictional story of passion and its consequences.

I didn't know what to expect when a friend gave me this book but I was completely blown away by Ruth Knafo Setton's beautiful, pasionate writing. THE ROAD TO FEZ tells the story of a forbidden love affair between Gaby and Brit, two desperate, lost souls who need each other more than they realize. What the reader comes to understand, along with the lovers, is that love is a miracle that cannot be judged or limited. Gaby and Brit echo other lovers in the novel, all separated by society's rules. But these two take a chance and find a love they never dreamed of. I couldn't put this book down, and ever since I finished it, I've been dreaming of Gaby and Brit!
I was shocked to learn that this is Ruth Knafo Setton's first novel. She writes with so much power, confidence and urgency. I've never read a book like this one that is so erotic, tragic, funny and magical. I'll be on the lookout for her next book!
You've got a new fan, Ms. Setton!

I have 3 boys who dislike writing. It's frustrating to get them to think of ideas to write about even in their daily school journals. This book makes thinking of ideas fun and helps to know how to write them. I borrowed Writers Express from a friend after being told it was great. I then purchased Write Source 2000, as I was unsure of the age appropriateness. Write Source 2000 is great for 6th grade and above because it is less cartoon-like and has higher level information. Writers Express is perfect for 2nd grade and above. Much of the information is overlapping, but written age-appropriately.

This book has had a strong impact on the way I write.My dream of being a professianel writer seems so close when I read about the process of writing in this book. I really think this is a wonderful book to have, all through your life!

I am a fourth grade teacher in California. I first saw this book about 5 years ago and bought a few copies for my class to use. I was amazed at how it fascinated the students even though it was a writer's handbook. It was in constant demand during our daily sustained silent reading time. The book is colorful and inviting and contains a wealth of information besides just general writing how to's. It has maps, presidential timelines, helpful math tables, and much more. It is colorfully organized and coded for easy reference and written to appeal to kids and motivate them to write. I showed this book to my principal and other teachers and they were all so impressed that the decision was made to order the books for all of our upper grade classes 4 through 6. The Write Source books have become one of the key components of our language program. I would highly recommend this book to all parents and students. It is a resource that is as valuable as the dictionary or encyclopedia that you offer your child at home to support his/her education.

This is the best book since sliced bread

I read this when I was 10 and crazy about ninendo. I still read it again and agian. I loved how it uses nintendo characters. The story changes every time you read it. The puzzles give this book and intresting twist. They just don't write books like they used too.

There have been many books that I've read but there is none like this one. It has everything a kid could want from a book--action, plot, memorable characters with a humorous twist.

This was one of the first misteries I have read.I read this sometime between 4th and 5th grade. Now, I'm in 9th and still love this book. If you love misteries these are the best ones to read. The first thing that really attracted me to this was the awesome book cover. The book covers are ususally the first thing to pull me into a book if I had not read anything about the book before. The red barn theatre is also a favorite of mine.

I found that this was a book in which I could not put down and can't wait to see what Nancy will get into next!You will love this book!Keep up the good work!

This book is just one of the best Nancy Drew books that I have ever read !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bess has gotten a job at the hottest dance club in town, the Razor Edge Dance Club. George and Nancy come to the club to see Bess. But suddenly, after the lights turn off, Nancy finds out something terrible and frightening, Bess has disappeared! Nancy notifies the owner of the club, and they all go on a search for Bess. Everyone is extremly worried, especially Bess's parents. Fortuneately, Nancy finds Bess behind a trash can, but they still don't know who kidnapped her in the first place. This case is really starting to get dangerous. When Nancy goes to the french deejay, Etianne's house, she is very surprised to find just a dead body and a wierd, unidentified message on his answering machine. Nancy, George, and Bess are really watching out because this case could come to a sudden and tragic end!-Preethi Prasad

This is one of those books where the kids version is better than the adults version! It breaks down the Bible, into sections and sub-sections. For example, it introduces the 1st 5 books of the Old Testament as the Books of the Law, explains why they are called that, the main points, the main people, an outline of what happens in each chapter- and then it goes a wonderful step further, and links in known historical information, a map of 'Where It All Happened', and other pertinent information about the world at that time. The same format is followed for each Book of the Bible. Within each book there are small illustrations & summaries of the main events in each chapter, which are surprisingly well done- not off-putting to an adult, very accessible to a child. The reference materials at the end- a good dictionary of words that one doesn't often see outside of the Bible!, Bible geography, good time lines of the Old & New Testaments, and an amazing 16 pages of good color pictures tucked away at the end make this book a must!

There are bits that are clearly written for children, and the section on 'Becoming God's Child' may or may not fit exactly with your view of things, but don't be put off by those: this is a great tool for getting to grips with a lot of information.

I've just started out in my walk with Christ so Childrens books have been VERY helpfull in my study. Out of the 10 books this is by far THE BEST!

I teach Sunday School to third graders, most of whom are more likely to associate Genesis with computer games rather than with the Bible. Our church gives every third grader a Bible -- an adult Bible, with very little study helps or annotations. This book is exactly what my third graders need to help them begin to understand and appreciate God's Word. Although it's written in language the kids can understand, it doesn't talk down to them.

My daughter, who has both the NIV and NIrV Kids' Study Bible, also loves this book.

I liked this book so much, I bought the adult version for myself. I also purchased the reproducible timelines, maps, etc. These will be a tremendous help in both my personal Bible study and my Sunday School class.

An Adventure Story From the 1930s featuring a rich American widow, a young Asian-American, & the first panda to be caught alive.

Kiefer provides an eclectic escape that covers nature, people, politics and history...and all within the confines of a true tale! I will never gawk at those cute bears the same way again, knowing the story of their "discovery" and what that story tells us of the specific times--and the general nature of people. The read is "light," yet one learns a bit along the way. This is my version of a nearly perfect summer read. A romantic "novel" for thinking persons.

This book is way cool! I am an X-phile to the extreme, I could not sleep good for at least one week, this book is wonderfully written and I would reccomend it to anyone who belives that there are places and things best left alone

I read this book a few months ago. At first, I thought it would stink, but my friend kept nagging me about how good it was, so I just borrowed it from a library, read it and did not stop reading it (And I mean I did not stop reading it, I finished it in an hour because I was so attached to it)! I highly recommend it (especially for X-Files fans). Now, I try to read it every day!!!

This book was really good. I couldn't put it down until I finished. It's only 108 pages. I hope you'll enjoy this book as much as I did. I definatly recommend it for readers who are fans of science fiction and suspense. I am not a fan of sci. fic., but I am of suspense and I really enjoyed this book.

The slightest figment of hope, even when totally fabricated, may spell relief in an otherwise hopeless situation. Survivors of shipwrecks and other disasters have often proved the power of hope. Mourning their lost comrades who died in dispair, survivors recount how they continued to support themselves with fantasies of being rescued. Sometimes optimism, even if irrational, has greater value than more realistic approximations to truth.

Recently I was fortunate to read a book which helped me to experience this paradox in a novel way. Weeping Willow (Farrar Stroux) is a book I ordinarily would not have read. Working so much with the printed word, reading fiction is not something I usually choose for my leisure time. Moreover, this particular book was written primarily for teenage girls. It's the sort of book they'd love, detailing a young woman's coming of age within a poor family in the Virginia mountains, struggling to emerge from the last years of high school out into a larger world. I read the book out of respect for the author, Ruth White, who is one of A.R.E.'s librarians. It is her second book. I recall browsing through her first, Sweet Creek Holler, which won an American Library Association award as a Notable Children's Book. I had put it down because of the subject matter and presumed adolescent audience, but was haunted later by its deceptively simple style of writing and the mood the mountain dialect evoked. When Ruth gave me a copy of her new book, I immediately sat down and read it. As I was nearing the end of the story, I began to cry. I didn't know why I was responding this way to a "kids book" and felt somewhat embarrased with myself. By the end of the book, however, there was no holding back my uncontrollable tears and I was heaving sobs of release. Later that day I found myself blurting out to people feelings I would normally keep to myself. I could not deny that the book had exerted a powerful, if mysterious, effect on me. It remained on my mind for over a week as I pondered its meaning.

The tale is about a girl named Tiny whose prospects for the future are grim. Poverty, being needed around the home, and a lack of expectations in the community narrow her chances of stepping out. Her meager pickings are further sullied by the specter of incest by a step-father. The book handles this topic very gracefully but we can feel the depressing, life draining effects it has on Tiny. There is a happy ending, however. What turns things around? The book begins with a vignette showing how an unsympathetic school teacher forces a young Tiny to disavow her imaginary playmate, "Willa." Periodically through the story she tries to call Willa back, but to no avail. Only when she is in deep dispair over her encounters with her stepfather does Willa return to comfort her. Just as in many documented cases of real life victims of childhood abuse who find their companionable imagination and inner voices to have paranormal ablities, so does Tiny find Willa providing some special guidance that saves the day in a critical moment. By responding to her inner guidance, Tiny is able to face an important challenge and graduates from survival into the larger world of success.

I now know why the book affected me so profoundly. Several times in my life I have known hopelessness, whether through addictions, depression, or interpersonal tangles. I was saved from my first encounter with hopelessness almost magically. The second time around, however, I had to participate more actively in my own rescue. Through successive encounters I was learning, as has every wounded healer, Cayce's secret of transforming crisis to creativity. I discovered that I have an imaginary companion who has a special magic. The companion doesn't usually appear as a vision of a superior being, or as a fairy god mother, or even as a fairy. It usually comes first simply as "The One Who Listens." This friendly ear appears as I become willing to listen to myself. If I have to resort to basics, I get my journal and write how I feel and have an imaginary good listener write out, without judgment or interpretation, simply a "receipt" for what I said ("What I hear you saying is..."). The "One Who Listens" becomes the hint of a special companion. Receiving the gift of listening calms me, my feelings begin to unravel, and a natural intelligence appears. What was at first mere listening now becomes a gateway to wisdom, a companion with guidance. The acceptance of my feelings begins a process of recovery of the ability to hope.

Throughout most of the book, Tiny's attitude toward her life has a special quality. Even if only by dint of the author's use of a first person style, Tiny can acknowledge her feelings. Her breakout to success isn't all to Willa's credit. At a critical moment Tiny herself takes action. Hers is an act of listening. She listens to herself and she hears a clue her little sister's been giving her. Then she gets her mother to listen. These little acts of listening bring about significant change.

Sometimes we can feel too helpless to initiate change and, as Tiny and I both know, self-hatred may seem to be the only thing we can still assert. You may find, however, as we both did by listening even to our self-hate, that there is something good inside, a core untouched by life's wounds, that welcomes us home like the prodigal child returned to awareness. Accompanied by sweet and sour tears, sadness now recognized at a new level of acceptance becomes sadness now open to hope.

A book of fiction for children turns out to be not fiction at all, and not for children only. A simple truth, well told--I wish all my non-fiction reading were as valuable.

To read Henry's essays on other interesting books in the field of consciousness, spirituality, dreams

Too melodramatic, people have said. Yes, and we all know rape is, in real life, just a lovely stroll through the park, right? This is the best book I've ever read, and I'm not just saying that. If you like Weeping Willow, check out "When She Hollers and Kivrin

I love this book so much. I have read it four times. The way that the author let's you get to know the main charachter TIny Lambert so well is amazing. You feel like you know her yourself. The author does well in relating this story to teenagers and what sort of problems we face through high school (boys, friends, popularity, not fitting in, and even problems at home) I definetly reccomend this book for all of you to read. You can not put it down! A must read!

This is a great book. It's about a man who owns a dog kennel. He loves the dogs more than life itself. But, he gets heart disese. He may have to give up the kennel. This is a drama that kept me interested. I don't usually read this type of book, so it had to be very good to interest me. I hope you like it.

My eight year old son has a passion for the Iditarod, and is just starting to read chapter books. This book was perfect for him, and he finished it crying he was so attached to Cookie, the main dog. Paulsen writes beautifully about dogs, appealing to all ages. This is a wonderful book, beautifully illustrated, for all ages of dog lovers.

Paulsen has written one of the funniest books we've ever read, about preparing for and racing in the Iditarod. Like all the best humorists, his humor comes from the heart. This book is much more serious but it still comes from the heart and succeeds for that reason.

Here he is writing about his dogs and in particular a dog named Cookie, a female who served as his lead dog in the Iditarod and also was mother to many of his other dogs. He starts with the birth of her last litter of pups and goes on from there. Some of the most striking anecdotes show just how intelligent and sensitive these animals are: one of the other dogs teaching the puppies how to get all of the meat out of the skull, and Cookie herself seemingly forcing a pack of dogs to go back and help her owner when he has to let all of them go in order to extricate himself from a predicament.

In the end, they both have to give up running, and of course humans live longer than dogs, so we know how it ends: sadly but poignantly, as the author says goodbye to someone he obviously considers a friend.

Paulsen writes about seasons in his hometown being determined by types of fish caught down by the dam, under the Ninth street bridge, or in frozen lakes, and not by dates on calendars. When fishing ends, hunting is the obsession for Paulsen and friends he calls "orphans of the woods." He explains, "When we were in the woods or fishing the rivers and lakes our lives didn't hurt."

This book is a nature lover's choice. Paulsen writes of growing up in a small Minnesota town and he intertwines this town's life with stories of adventurous boys. Two of my favorite essays are "Running the River" and "Bow Hunting." The first is a hilarious tale of an overplanned camping trip gone wrong when the boat, full of supplies and boys, sinks, forcing the boys to walk back to town. "Bow Hunting" is a coming of age essay in which a boy, after killing his first doe, poignantly describes his realization that while his life will continue, hers will not.

This book truly brings nature to your fingertips. As a reader, I felt as if I was out in the wild, experiencing everything of which Paulsen wrote. With the descriptive settings and easy-to-relate-to tales, Paulsen makes the reader feel as if they have entered the woods along with the characters in the story. The essays on fishing and hunting in the northern woods are definitely his best work yet! This book is easy to follow, yet has very deep and interesting accounts.
I recommend this illustration to anyone who enjoys the great outdoors. If you want to learn about cold, winter morning fishing excursions, or hot, summer days in the woods, this is the perfect book to help fulfill your curiosity. Father Water Mother Woods is worth your time of reading and is definitely a classic.

This is an excellent book. The book is written in such detail that it is easy to imagine yourself being there. This is a great book for those of any age. It will bring back some good memories of your childhood.