What a lovely book! I would recommend this to those who have enjoyed the Gail Carson Levine Princess Tales books, as well as anyone who like a story with a little adventure, a little humor, and a good ending. The author's descriptions of the luscious melidrop made me long for them to be real!

This pleasant little volume shouldn't knock your socks off with inspiration if you've been a Christian for any length of time; but it's full of practical advice, great stories, and well-grounded encouragement for believers. I found it encouraging, witty, and thoughtful. Wiersbe has been a wonderful pastor and Bible teacher for a long time, and it shows in his writing. The whole book comes across as an enjoyable sermon from a fatherly man who loves you and wants you to succeed.

The theme of the book, "learning to slow down and live," may be the thing you need to hear most as a modern believer. Don't let your job, the television, or your neighbors set the pace of your life. Slow down. Be patient, because God isn't in a hurry to accomplish His plans. He wants you to enjoy Him, glorify Him, and rest in Him through normal Christian living. Of course, Wiersbe describes what "normal" is. Here are just a few of his insights:
1. "We're prone to walk by sight, not by faith."
2. "In whatever man does without God, he must either fail miserably or succeed more miserably."
3. Four fallacies about God's Will are that it is dangerous, difficult to discover, distant, and divided.
4. We must be open-minded enough to consider other thoughts which may conflict with our own without feeling the need to "correct" them.
5. The File-Card Mentality: Avoid "categorizing everything" so that you no longer think about it.

In short, this is good, solid teaching which could be valuable to a young Christian and help guard him against heresy. Enjoy!

Rich's poetry is really very intense. It tends to undulate between being ethereal and straight-forward. The first poem really impressed me... especially the line "Two women sleeping together have more than sleep to defend." I really recommend this book. It was my first of Rich's work and I've since gotten 3 of her other books and plan on getting more when I finish reading them.

Not Either An Experimental Doll, edited by Shula Marks details the relationship between an Englishwoman, Dr. Mabel Palmer, and a young Xhosa girl, Lily Moya, who requests her help.

The story itself, told through letters between Lily and Mabel, show the complexities of racial relations in South Africa at the time. The question of paternalism and white sponsorship arises when assessing the character of Mabel Palmer, an older woman who advanced the cause of education for black South Africans. Mabel was being very altruistic in helping Lily, she went without a winter coat so she could help pay her school fees. However, the divide in culture and race plays prominently in Mabel's relationship with Lily. Lily, a young orphan desperately looking for a mother figure, reaches out to Mabel, but is rebuffed by a woman who is still very much governed by the dictates of racial relationships and propriety within South Africa.

However, one cannot condemn Mabel and laud Lily as Shula Marks does in the introduction of her book. Reading the letters themselves, will reveal a disturbed and anxious young girl who the reader will come to pity and at the same time want to strangle. Lily herself, is a set of contradictions. She appeals to the reader's sympathy while at the same time repulsing the reader with her lack of gratitude and her attempt to adjust to her new situations.

What comes from reading the letters between these two women, is an appreciation for the complexities, misunderstandings, and the divide in understanding between two women of very different cultures. And that is what I reccomend. Skip the introduction and read the letters between Lily and Mabel first. Shula Marks, while giving a general history of the letters, also forces her own opinions on the reader which causes one to enter the narrative with preconceived notions of who is good and who is bad within this relationship. Also, one will see that Marks gives a ridiculous amount of importance to the third woman, Sibusisiwe Makhanya, a social worker. Her inclusion in the introduction serves as more of a literary addition to develop the ideal of three separate worlds. However, one can see the minimal role she plays within the context of Lily's and Mabel's relationship.

Read the letters and then go back and read the introduction and the epilogue. One must remember in reading this book to let the voices of Mabel and Lily stand for themselves, and they are strong voices echoing the history of a particular time period. Unfortunately, Shula Marks in editing this book imposes views on the reader which does not allow for an unbiased reading of the letters between these two extraordinary women themselves.

This book is a testament to the emotional and political jumble of the time between blacks and whites in South Africa. The reader should allow the letters of the two women to speak about this time and draw their own conclusions as to the political, social and cultural climate within South Africa at that time.

What a wonderful book! The exchange of letters is nothing less than fascinating. By reading these letters not only does one get a sense of the racial and economic divisions between the writers, but a glimpse is gained into what would be a peculiar exchange of correspondence even now: a seventy-something woman of well-intentioned but often misguided motives and a teenaged girl perplexed with all the rampant emotions and self-absorbtions of her age.

I cannot stress how inportant I feel it is to read the introduction by Shula Marks AFTER reading the letter exchange. Anyone who has even a fundamental knowledge of South Africa during this time would do better not to read the intro first. It's better to get caught up in the flow of the letters--and let their story unfold unadulterated. There is an almost voyeuristic aspect to them as they come to their conclusion. I highly recommend this book, and not only to those with an interest in South Africa or Womens' History either.

My son learned to read using Johanna Hurwitz's marvelous Russell/Riverside Kids series, and so we were very excited to begin Pee Wee's Tale. We were not disappointed! The animal story is a nice diversion from Hurwitz's more realistic fiction, but still has all of her markings as an author: humor, empathy and strong characterization. Yes, my son was concerned about the guinea pig's plight, and yes, the release of the guinea pig into the park raised an eyebrow...but it also incited some wonderful discussion about caring for pets and how animals adapt in the wild. Besides being an exciting and provocative chapter book for emergent readers, I think this would make a great classroom read-aloud, and I am giving it as a gift to my son's teacher! Also, don't miss Lexi's Tale, the sequel from a squirrely point of view!

"Share this with me. You'll like it. It's very sweet." are the last three sentences of this lovely chapter book for young readers, and I hope that many children and their parents will do just that.

It's a story of friendship between a naive housepet and a street-wise Central Park(New York City) rodent, exceptionally well written, with fun forays into poetry and sayings. Who could resist a squirrel with the philosophy, "a nut in the jaw is worth two in the paw?"

Add this to the CHARLOTTE'S WEB type of books children of all ages take into their hearts and share it with a child you love soon.

When an author sits down to write a book, she/he uses many elements: fact, memory and imagination. My book about PeeWee began with fact. I read an article in the New York Times telling of 45 guinea pigs set loose in Central Park because their owner faced eviction by his landlord. A few days later, a second story told that most were captured, sent to an animal shelter, and put up for adoption. Starting with that fact, I began to imagine what would happen to a single guinea pig that was not found. Memory came to play because I recalled the parents of two of my own children's friends. Both released pet kittens onto the city streets when their children were not home because they felt stressed and unable to continue the responsibility of pet ownership. As the owner of two pet cats myself, I was shocked when I heard what these parents had done. And finally, when I sat down to write about that little guinea pig, my imagination took over. Suddenly, the little guinea pig was looking at the newspaper scraps in his cage and discovering the mystery of the printer letter. His wise mother, who grew up in a first grade classroom, teaches him how to read. His reading skills together with his friendship with a street smart squirrel named Lexi helpt she hero of the fantasy survive.

Here is another news story that I have not written about: a few years ago, a crate of tropical parrots broken open at Kennedy Airport. The small green birds flew free and everyone predicted that they would soon die in the cold and hostile climate of the New York area. But as recently as a week ago, a cousin of mine who lives in Connecticut saw two dozen of these parrots in a local park. Somehow, they have adapted and continued to live and reproduce despite cold weather, snow, different vegetation and new enemies. Like human immigrants before them, they are learning to live and thrive here. It's my favorite kind of story - one with a happy ending.

This book is a combination of a locked-room mystery and a Romeo-Juliet style romance. As a mystery, it introduced a new usage of a common household equipment, and a least suspected murderer, who is also the most unpleasant person in the book. Readers surely won't be quite disappointed.

A weakness in many of Carr's novels is that Carr cannot well connect the criminal and his/her mechanism. (This also presents in the book "Nine and Death Makes Ten", which I recently reviewed.) Detective story seems just a media for Carr to present his various tricks. The trick itself can be done by anyone. After revealing the trick, Carr then presents some observation, which easily leads to a very obvious conclusion, to identify the criminal. Unlike in Sherlock Holmes, or even Poirot, each observation leads to many possiblities, among which only some partially contribute to the final conclusion, the greatness of the detective is that only he can logically indentify the useful deductions and piece them together. Thus, detective stroy readers would naturally question: why bother to find out how it was done when it easily know who did it.

This book was okay. It was broken into two sections, obviously on patience and humility. I do believe it got across the fundamental message that spiritual growth can only happen once we empty ourselves of pride and self-love. However, I felt it was a little disjointed in its approach--perhaps if it were more direct in offering suggestions on how to grow in these virtues as well giving examples of how famous people grew in these virtues, I would have found more meaning in it overall. Still, though, a good book for meditating on two important and hard-to-achieve virtues.

Charles Yost titles his book "Patience Worth: A Psychic Mystery", but doesn't do much in the way of analysis. What makes this book interesting is the writings of Patience Worth herself. However, as with my review of "A Sorry Tale" by Patience Worth, one must be prepared to spend some time with it as her outdated version of English presents some difficulty. Yost attemps to break her writings down into prose and poetry, then discuss issues such as immortality and religion. All the time he uses Worth's own words. This book represents more of a compilation of Worth's communications then an analysis. As a book designed to discuss the psychic nature of the communications, it doesn't go far enough. But as a book designed for one who wants to read more of those communications, it serves a purpose. For those interested in this phenomenon, I recommend this book. For those interested in a scientific analysis of the phenomenon circa 1916, be aware of its shortcomings

I must say I do appreciate Miss Fairchild's novels but this one is really just dull...The dumb heroine is in love with the hero all the time and he doesn't notice her. There wasn't any tension at all and I was glad when the book was over. Highly NOT recommended. You better spend you money on another book.

The plot really was a good idea and the hero of the story was wonderful, BUT (you knew a but was coming) I really did not like the fact that Patience was totally obsessed with another man until the last few pages of the book. I would have loved to have seen Patience and Richard's relationship develop, but I was left with the feeling that the end of the book was only the barest of beginnings of their romance. Most of the time I was reading this book, I was longing to hit Patience over the head for ignoring the man who was so desperately in love with her.

The last straw for me was the scene (which was a tad much for a regency romance) where Patience came close to losing her virginity to her childhood crush, Pip. It was too detailed, if you get what I mean, and it was close to the end of the book, which made it worse some how.

This book gets one star for poor Richard. Elisabeth Fairchild has written much better...

Patience Ballard has been in love with Pip since she was a young child. Now she's an adult, ready for her season, but Pip is already engaged to another. She resolves to find some way to win Pip's attention, to give herself a chance before Pip is snatched from her forever. The adult Pip is beautiful, purely sexy, and attacks life with a joy that makes everything a game. Still, does Patience really want everything to be a game, especially love? Patience's other childhood friend, Richard, is everything that Pip is not--steady, dependable, and thoughtful. Yet, Patience learns that Richard is also secretly in love--apparently with a married woman. What is a girl to do?

Author Elisabeth Fairchild does a wonderful job depicting that odd moment in history known as the Regency Period. Aristocrats party while the masses go hungry and everyone is concerned about reputation and the risk of being ruined. Patience begins as a flighty aristocrat but gradually sees beneath the surface of society, becoming a more complete person--and a person capable of an adult relationship. Still, can she learn the difference between passion and love--before it is too late?

I origanly thought that this book was part of Stphen Kings Dark Tower series that delt with Roland the last Gunslinger, which by the way is my absolute favorite series of books which I think everyone should read! Anyway, this book just sucks, the plot is horrible, and as I said the name is deciving. JUST A WARNING, you could have saved a little starving ethiopian for pennies a day, than buy this garbage they call a book!

When I saw the first review that was posted, I thought a little correction was in order. This is a reprint of a book that first appeared before Stephen King had even begun to publish. The title has nothing to do with Stephen King and there is no reason anyone should think it does. This is, in fact, one of the most innovative novels of its time, and we are lucky to have it back in print. In you are at all interested in complex narratives about musicians, this is the novel for you. Heck, I bet even Stephen King would enjoy this book. William Melvin Kelley is among the most important African-American novelists of the post-World War II era, and this book ranks among his finest.