For her thirteenth birthday in 1835, Lucinda Lawrence's grandmother sends her a diary. Lucinda lives in Gonzales, Texas, when the American settlers were fighting to break free of Mexico, and she writes of many historical events, including the Alamo (where she loses a brother and an uncle), Goliad (where another of her uncles is killed), the Battle of San Jacinto, and the "Runaway Scrape," when the women and children of Texas barely escaped a step ahead of the Mexicans. Lucinda's diary is another wonderful Dear America book and I highly reccomend it.

My book, A Line in the Sand,The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence by Sherry Garland, is about a family that lives in Gonzales, Texas. The year of 1836. In San Anotonio there was a war that was about to start against the Mexicans. The Mexicans wanted Texas as theirs, other then having Texas as a free country.

Gonzales, Texas took a part in this war by sending their men to help fight against the Mexicans. They also were sending them food, bullets, and other goods that they would need to help them. Lucinda's brother and uncle went and fought against the Mexicans. During the battle against Santa Anna they die in action.

I think this was a great book. I would recommend this book to people who like a page turner and also likes to read books in a form of a journal or diary.

This is a really great book! I have recomended this book over & over & every one has loved it. I was just as upset, sad & as happy as she was @ all the right parts. This book is described really nicely. Read this, you'll like it, trust me!

Calvin Morrison is a Pennsylvania State Trooper who suddenly finds himself lifted out of his (our) world, and deposited on a parallel Earth. In this other Pennsylvania he finds a small kingdom of bearded primitives who appear to be on the losing end of a war of conquest. The locals have so little gunpowder compared to their enemies because the secret of making it is controlled by a corrupt religious order, Styphon's House. Calvin, a student of military history, finds himself proclaimed Lord Kalvan, and given the job of rescuing a seemingly hopeless situation.

This book is very well written, and the action is gripping. I've already read this book three times, and it gets better each time.

As a lifelong fan of time travel and alternate timeline stories, I first read this yarn when it was serialized (as "Gunpowder God") in ANALOG in 1964. I came across it recently at a university book sale and decided it was time to reread it, and I wasn't disappointed. Calvin Morrison, a Korean War veteran and the son of a minister, is a corporal in the Pennsylvania State Police (an organization for which Piper evidently had a high regard). While preparing to rush a bad guy holed up in a farmhouse, he's sideswiped by a passing Paratime Patrol transtemporal vehicle and gets bounced into an alternate Pennsylvania countryside where the Aryans of India went east instead of west, occupying what did not become China and then crossing the Pacific. Morrison is extremely adaptable -- it apparently takes him only an hour or so to accept what's happened to him and that he's not going back to his own world -- and quickly finds himself "Lord Kalvan," chief advisor and war leader to Ptosphes, Prince of Hostigos. All in all, this is a delightful exercise in military and geopolitical fantasizing . . . though it seems odd that people who get scooped up willy-nilly and dumped in ancient Rome, or wherever, always seem to possess all the political, historical, and technical knowledge to set themselves up nicely. Of course, if the displaced person were an overweight fries-cooker at Burger King, or a Mary Kay saleswoman, there wouldn't be much of a story! This is by far the best (and longest) of Piper's Paratime stories. If you liked Sprague De Camp's _Lest Darkness Fall,_ you'll love this one!

Okay, the other reviews tell you about the story, I first read this story in 1977 before they stuck those damned UPC codes on the book covers! (at least on most books). I was completely enraged at H. Beam Piper for photocopying my fantasies, until I found out the story was written prior to my birth! What s-f fan, history buff, and other cool hobbyist have not dreamed of being whisked off to another world where he can "Win The Day"! If you are in the Society of Creative Ananchronisms you should checketh this out, if you are a muzzleloading buff, read it. If you are someone who just likes a good improbable/probable yarn, READ IT! If we could get the makers of "Lord Of The Ring" to make this a flick, FABULOUS!

Prabably my all time favorite scienc fiction book. Even though I have let many of my child hood SciFi books go I continue to hang on to this one. Don't pass up a chance to read it if you can.

Lord Lucas Trask of Traskon lives on the Sword World of Gram, but is opposed to the Space Viking raids, on which numerous of the most talented Sword Worlders leave and never return. However, when his bride is killed a half-hour after their wedding, Lucas fits out a Space Viking ship and sets out for revenge. Sickened by the waste of the Space Viking life, he finds himself returning to his older convictions: that it is better to build than destroy. But, he finds that there are many who find destroying a simple and easy life, and what is the murderer of his wife up to? This is the story of one man's odyssey across the remains of the old Federation, his life, death and rebirth.

As I've said before, Mr. H. Beam Piper is probably one of the most underrated science-fiction authors ever. Here again, he produced a book with a fascinating milieu, populated by people who act consistently with their culture. I found the book to be quite gripping, proving impossible to put down as it rocketed towards the finale. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

I've been re-reading this book for 15 years and still find get something new from it each time. I judge all other sci-fi by this book and nothing has ever matched it. Jerry Pournelle once mentioned that he *attempted* to write a sequel to Space Viking but couldn't begin to match the details. The best part is that the reader never notices the acute attention to detail Mr. Piper must have paid to this . . you just enjoy the story. PS. no, I'm not related

Lois Tyson's "Critical Theory Today, A User-Friendly Guide" has profoundly changed the way I understand and experience literature. All the various lenses of current theories are lucidly and brilliantly brought into focus in a personable yet scholarly manner. An exciting must read for all those who love to read. It gives voice and consciousness to all the disparate sensibilities one has while reading. Important issues of psychology, class, gender, race, orientation among others are presented. The chapter on deconstruction made me laugh out loud with enjoyment while the feminist and African-American chapters brought into chilling focus the distance yet needed to be traveled for balance and equality. I will never be quite finished with Ms.Tyson's book for I will be referring to it for years to come as a truly user -friendly guide through literature, theater, cinema and all the cultural constructs I encounter.

This is an amazing work. Prof. Tyson brings together, in one volume, the many seemingly conflicting currents in the difficult field of critical theory and shows, more often than not, how each can complement others and deepen our reading of a work of art. This approach is brilliantly illustrated by use of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. I will certainly use this book the next time I teach a course in philosophy and literature. It is written in a style accessible to undergraduates as well as graduate students and, quite honestly, most faculty I know could benefit from reading it carefully. I recommend it unreservedly to anyone interested in this field--and that, I think, is a lot of people.

This work is true to its sub-title: "a User-Friendly Guide." Most textbooks on critical theory are exercises in jargon and (self-) mystification. Little is made clear except the notion that talk about literature is the preserve of an initiate community. Tyson's book is a refreshing break with usual practices. First, because the author knows that to understand something means that one can restate it in other terms, terms that make difficult concepts available to a large audience. Second, because the author is a superb practical critic who ends each chapter of the book with an application of the theory considered to Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY. Each interpretation is illustrative, original, and provocative. Two purposes are thereby served: (1) readers get a clear sense of how each theory under discussion "works" when theories are joined with careful, sensitive reading rather than dogmatic application (as is so often the case); (2) a larger understanding of Fitzgerald's novel is evolved and through it an understanding of how a variety of critical theories might be usefully combined. Again, this is a nice contrast to the usual practice in the profession--where most professors latch onto one theory, use it dogmatically to generate "interpretations," and then oppose their theory to other theories. Tyson's book patiently constructs another posssibility: that competence in many theories is desirable because it offers us the possibility of developing an understanding of literature that builds toward a genuine community of interpreters. I should add that a further quality of the book is the number and range of theories that Tyson presents--14. Most texts offer at best 4 or 5. The energy and work that has gone into this text is remarkable. Tyson has read widely--and sympathetically. She is never taken in by jargon or guilty of it. What we have here is a work of uncommon clarity--the best introductory text of its kind, a work suitable for a wide range of graduate and undergraduate courses in theory and its applications.

Four centuries after the nuclear holocaust the United States are no longer united. What exists now are separate feudal countries who sporadically wage war against one another. Ruled by the ascetic doctrines of the Holy Murcan Church, society is deprived of technology, held in thrall by ignorance and fear. The holocaust still claims its victims with the high incidence of genetic mutations ("mues"), which must be killed on sight. The lack of hygiene and decent medical care also makes people susceptible to disease.

Red-headed Davy was born into this world and describes his life over the years, growing up as an ill-educated orphan, forced by the welfare system to work as a bond servant, until he runs away at 14, spending the next few years travelling with an assortment of wandering minstrels. Davy writes his account from an island in the Azores. He's one of a group of exiles who dared to question the teachings of the Church. Despite the improvement in his education, Davy's spirited writing is still riddled with slang.

Davy's world is so convincingly backward there were times when I forgot this book was set in the future. Another story people may be interested in is John Wyndham's novel "The Chrysalids" (1955). There are certain similarities between that book and "Davy". Like "Davy", "The Chrysalids" takes place in a post-holocaust world centuries hence, where life is strictly governed by the Church and mutants are treated as the spawn of the devil. The story is set around eastern Canada, not that far from the places mentioned in "Davy". Even the narrator's name is similar. (His name is David.) Although the character is not so preoccupied with sex and has less adventures than Davy, "The Chrysalids" is my personal preference; a book I read when I was 14. A lot of school kids hate it.

Overall, "Davy" is a light, easy read. I bought my copy second-hand, a 1976 edition, printed the year Edgar Pangborn died.

wonderful, awe-inspiring...I could go on and on. I read this novel when I was about 13; it is still one of my favorite books all these years later. Although a "science fiction" novel, it transcends the genre. Pangborn was a fine writer who just happened to write science fiction. Set in a post-Apocalyptic world who knows how many years hence, it is the coming-of-age story of a young man, Davy, who is part Tom Jones and part Huck Finn. The word "unique" is not inappropriate to apply to this book. I've never read anything like it, and wish there were others similiar to it.

In the pages of DAVY, the wonderful writer Edgar Pangborn created a world that he also made use of in the novels THE JUDGEMENT OF EVE and THE COMPANY OF GLORY and in numerous short stories. In those tales, a world-wide war and plague has decimated humanity and thrown the world back into a new dark age. Taking place within the limited confines of what had been the northeastern U.S., DAVY tells the story (in the leading character's own words with additional comments by his lover and his best friend) of his growth from birth to middle age under the questionable sanctions of "the Holy Murcan Church," a completely American (American/Murcan...get it?) outgrowth of the type of fundamentalist religious movements that are found in every contemporary country.

Containing elements of the same wonder found in HUCKLEBERRY FINN, TOM JONES, and THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, DAVY's finely-rendered characters, peoetic writing, and sense of time and place make for a novel well worth reading and re-reading. In the 36 years since its first publication, it has lost none of its timeliness.

The fact that such a wonderful book is not currently in print should be a matter of shame to St. Martin's Press, the original publishers of Edgar Pangborn's masterpiece. The fact that the works of Edgar Pangborn (who died in 1976) are not universally revered shames us all.

Gerold Frank's biography is probably the single most comprehensive book written concerning Judy Garland: meticulously researched, debunking many myths, and richly detailed, it is certainly a standard for any one seriously interested in Garland. Even so, I have several issues with the book.

My single greatest complaint about the book is that Frank often seems to include detail for the sake of detail, and at times these details don't seem to make any cohesive statement. That aside, while Frank places Garland under a microscope, he never really quite delivers any sense of the world in which she moved; consequently, we never really have any background against which we may judge her. There is no context.

These are serious flaws, and while the book is certainly readable and enjoyable, I do not think it is one to which the average reader would return, nor would I particularly recommend it to any but the toughest of hard-core Garland fans.

Gerold Frank has taken a subject of innumerable facets, a larger-than-life personality, and an almost indescribable talent and has put the history of her life to words as no writer before or since has been able to accomplish. Judy Garland, one of the silver screen's most beloved stars, is accurately and honestly conveyed in this biography. Frank's style is unique: when he tells of the tradgedies or failures of the star, he is not incriminating against the subject. Frank's book is one as written by an observer, sometimes voyueristically so. His thorough research bring Garland through in all her glory: as the vaudeville headliner, the little girl on the rise to stardom, the MGM superstar, loving wife and mother, and the sometimes self-destructive woman, taken from this earth too soon by the disease brought on by a lifetime of pills, but most of all, the woman trying to find her place in the world and the love she always craved and needed. Judy Garland is a human being, not a media figure, in this book. Gerold Frank is to be well commended for his excellent portrayal of Judy Garland, and readers will also be delighted or surprised by the informative tidbits along this Yellow Brick Road into the life of the great Judy Garland.

This is a very well written book. There is a lot of interesting and detailed information that I have not heard about before. This book sets the facts straight through primary sources. Gerold Frank spoke to Judy's children, husbands, friends, fellow cast members, and even to her doctors. He is the only author that Judy's family and friends completely cooperated with. This was very informative; and it is a real page-turner, unlike so many biographies that merely present fact after fact, or promote fictitious legends. This book sorts through all of this. It is, I believe, one of the best biographies yet written about Judy Garland. A definite must have:)

Very cute story about a little boy whose Christmas Tree angel comes to life to sing sweet songs to him. Gorgeous artwork brings the story to life with brilliance. I loved that the story repeated itself once the little boy grew up and had a son of his own who hears the angels music.

This is one of the most beautifully illustrated, delightful stories I have had the good fortune to encouter. Alabaster, the spirited little angel, touches the life a boy with positive results. The message in this gentle story is that when good is done, pass it on. It is so lovely, so moving that it might make one misty eyed. This book is a real treasure. Max Lucado and the illustrator have used their talents to enrich the lives of others.

This is a fabulous book that brings to mind the wonder of Christmas through a child's eyes. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is timeless and unforgettable! I read this story to my children, ages 11, 8, and 4, each year around Christmas. I even read it to my MOPS group as a Christmas reading last year. Thank you, Max Lucado, for another wonderful children's book!

Dinner At Magritte's by Michael Garland is a cool book and will evoke questions from any curious youngster. The story is simple: a bored young boy goes next door to his neighbors and the neighbors happen to be Mr. and Mrs. Rene Magritte. Salvador Dali shows up and the four spend the day together culminating in dinner and charades. However, the world the story takes place in is the surreal world of Dali's and Magritte's paintings. All the illustrations in the story except the first have surrealistic elements in them. Even after the story has been read over and over again, the pictures themselves will continue to provoke the young reader's mind. The book is a fun fantasy and a suprisingly good introduction to surrealism. I had the advantage of having parents who took me to art museums in every city we ever visited and I know that this exposure to a wide variety of art styles helped with the development of this science teacher's mind. Get this book and fire up your child's imagination.

Dinner with Magritte engages the reader at many levels. It is a visually stimulating book with a story that imagines a child's visit to his neighbor Magritte for dinner. Through the childs's eyes you are introduced to the strange & wonderful world of the artist. Many of the illustrations are variations on actual Magritte paintings delightfully interwoven into the plot of the story. You will recognize the bowler hat, blue sky with clouds and the walk through the woods from his actual works. I use the book as part of my volunteer artist awareness class. The book enchants the children from 1st grade through 6th. What a dissappointment to find it out of stock - I was going to buy two as gifts!

This book is GREAT. If you know Rene Magritte's work, you will be absolutely delighted. A MUST for true art lovers!

This is the fisrt time that I read this book and is't a very good book, I m on the last chapter and so far I love it. Sherry Garland did a great job on this book! I love the way she had Alyssa not talking and her plot!

This book is about a young girl Alyssa who after her fathers death stops talking. "Don't say another word until I get back ok?" Those were the words her father had said to her. She had kept her promise but her father had never returned so her promise still lives on and she never talks again and no one knows why. I'ts bad enough she has to deal with her bratty cousin. But a big storm hits the Island and her granfather will not live without her help. But to save his life she needs to talk. Will she keep her fathers promise in hope someday he'll return or will she finally grasp the reality that he is dead and talk to save her grandfathers life? this book is one of the best books I have ever read!

It was an exiting book! At first it seemed a little boring because there wasn't much action. But then when Alyssa and her brother get stuck on that one shrip boat, that made it intresting enough to encourage me to read more. I thought that it was sad when Alyssa found her grandpa laying by the wrecked jeep because he was looking for Alyssa out in the hurricane. It was the BEST book I ever read! I want to buy the book for myself to read whenever I want!

Theodore Sturgeon was a great writer and this is one of his best books. Expanded from the novella "Baby Is Three," which makes up the second of the novel's three parts, it tells the story of the evolution of _homo gestalt_ -- thereby introducing a "group mind" theme that is also taken up in the work of one of Sturgeon's biggest fans, Spider Robinson.

It is not, by the way, an accident that Spider is both a Sturgeon fan _and_ a more or less unreconstructed hippie. Some readers of this book may not know how profound an effect SF had on the ideals of the 1960s -- and may, for example, be surprised to learn that the introduction to _Baby Is Three_ (Volume 6 of Sturgeon's collected works) was written by none other than David Crosby. (Another volume -- the fifth, I think -- is introduced by Kurt Vonnegut, who based Kilgore Trout loosely on Sturgeon.)

But in fact this is one of two SF books you _must_ read if you want to understand what motivated (and still motivates) those ideals. The other is Robert Heinlein's _Stranger In A Strange Land_. It wouldn't be too much to describe the entire '60s "counterculture" phenomenon as an attempt to do some grokking and bleshing on an unprecedented scale.

For "grokking," see the Heinlein book. "Bleshing" -- blending and meshing -- is what individual humans do when they make up a single "gestalt" being. They don't lose individuality; they just combine to make a whole greater than the separate sum of the parts. You know, like a '60s rock band . . . (My own favorite example is David Crosby's own _If I Could Only Remember My Name_, but his recent work with CPR bleshes pretty darn fine too.)

Anyway, for my money, this volume is one of Sturgeon's finest works (not that any of it was _bad_). If you like it, check out Crosby's aforementioned introduction to Volume 6, and you might also like Spider Robinson's _Time Pressure_ (now available only in the combo volume _Deathkiller_, which also includes _Mindkiller_, the book to which _Time Pressure_ was the first sequel).

This book is deserving of the absolute highest praise. The Washington Post said that More than Human "marked a quantum leap in the development of science fiction as an art," and they are absolutely correct. This book, as well as all of Sturgeon's works, has a strong, involved plot which alone is enough to read the book. However, also true of all of Sturgeon's works, the focus of this story is on the characters. Deep, sensitive, intelligent, hurt, scarred, wonderful characters which you will without a doubt see some part of yourself in. This is not a great science-fiction novel, it is one of the most powerful novels of this century.

I remember my first reading of this great book as a young adult and how it changed my thinking about science fiction. Previously, I thought that the genre was for fans only. Afterward, I realized that at least one author could surpass the classification of "science fiction". More than Human is great fiction that happens to also be speculative. I recommend it regularly to friends whether or not they normally read science fiction. I always have at least two copies--one for safe-keeping and a hard-bound copy to lend.