As a child I was intrigued by a set of nested building blocks received as a gift. When I opened the box, I first saw a single large cube with colorful images of animals on all sides. As I examined it further (bringing an array of quality tools to the situation), I realized that the cube contained a number of progressively smaller blocks. The gift, it turned out, was not just one cube, but a complete set of building blocks, each with its own theme and brilliant images.

Phil Scanlan's new book, "The Dolphins Are Back (Productivity Press 1998)", is very much like those blocks. It is at first look a book about a remarkable environmental cleanup project. In 1987-88, problems of water pollution had reached a critical point, as unprecedented numbers of dead and dying bottle-nosed dolphins washed ashore along the Atlantic coast from New Jersey to Florida. During this 12-month period, 740 animals were swept ashore and died, whereas in the course of a normal beach season, about three or four dead dolphins wash up. In New Jersey, the discovery of waste, debris and pollution also led to beach closings that destroyed vacation plans and threatened shore tourism. Ten years later, the dolphins are back, and New Jersey's shore ranks as one of the cleanest in the country. How was this feat accomplished? Phil Scanlan's book presents a detailed chronology and explanation of the steps through which the quality approach was utilized to bring about this most impressive outcome.

A closer look reveals that the The Dolphins Are Back is also an excellent textbook on the quality approach. It presents a comprehensive overview and detailed case study that illustrates the theory, concepts, strategies and tools of the continuous quality improvement approach.

Beyond this, the book is a tribute -- a tribute to AT&T and the leadership role the corporation has played nationally in advancing the cause of quality, and in generously contributing expertise and insight for the public good. It is also a trib! ute to the skilled and dedicated professionals from AT&T, and colleagues from Quality New Jersey, the QNJ Environment Focus Group and New Jersey state government who contributed their time and talent to the project.

Looking still further, The Dolphins is a testament to the power of teamwork and collaborative problem solving, and an inspirational reminder of what is possible when resources and expertise from the private and public sectors are brought together to address complex and critical issues of the day.

At its core, this is also a book about a teacher, Phil Scanlan. Between the lines it tells the story of a man whose insight, dedication and generosity have made a difference -- to the ecology of the Atlantic coast, New Jersey tourism, the quality movement nationally, and to the many people and organizations he has touched through his work.

So, The Dolphins Are Back is a book to have. It's a set of building blocks, each with its own theme and brilliance.

Do you want to learn about American History? Do you want your mind and heart expanded? Do you want to be touched, to be moved to tears? Then buy a copy of this marvelous book of Lange's photographs and let your journey begin. She has the amazing ablility to reveal the very essence of her subject matter - the human spirit. Enjoy!

This is an excellent addition to the Martha's Vineyard series. I got it from the libray, which is about the only way you'll be able to get a copy because it is almost as scarce as hen's teeth. You can enjoy the series without reading the first three which are regretably out of print, but hopefully the publishers will get a clue and reprint the first three. Go to your local library and see if you can find these and then enjoy.

Jeff Jackson and the characters of Martha's Vineyard are always up to some new tricks. The good thing - there are new books coming out all the time. Keep up the good work.

After a third reading, *The Drowned City* continues to elucidate the vision I sensed in two earlier readings. If I am right, this unforgettable collection works in ways analogous to the continual (but more limited) defining of JPG images on computer screens. The silences and fragments of sensuality suggest, without over delineating, an understanding that transcends them--yet (paradoxically) is of them; they becomes clearer as one abides with them. A supremely human book that lifts a reader through true mastery: line break, silence, stanzaic order, and formal exactitude display an art as careful and deliberate as anyone writing. Never insisting on what cannot be known, *The Drowned City* effortlessly moves beyond the known and carries a reader along.

I'm sorry if this sounds too high flown or too easily paradoxical. The fault is in my explaining, not the poems.

And I will say, perhaps gratuitously, that my own sensibility is not Jennifer Atkinson's. Yet read *The Drowned City,* and a new way of being will be yours, no matter who you are.

Isn't that what one wants from a book? And seldom if ever gets?

There is not one shred of manipulating: this is absolutely authentic.

If the first three of the five sections establish Ms. Atkinson's authority and superiority in craft and carry one along on the surface of joyously sensual (look at the luxury and balances in "St. Veronica's Day"), the remaining two, without abandoning the immediate appeal of the first three, will challenge every reader to deny that this immersion in density can lead anywhere but where the poems say. Read "Still Life with Angel"; "Jack and Jill" will be transformed: more frightening and freighted, with a significance that you never thought of, but that having been shown you will find inevitable.

The poem below seems to me supreme and so characteristic in its tropes, its sounds, its formal precision, its embrasivess that I cannot excerpt, nor do I want to (please ignore the three periods between stanzas; without them the computer program will not recognize stanza breaks):

Letter from the Drowned City (III)

...

Jonah lodged three days behind the ocean's baleen gate

--unnoticed, unswallowed, undrowned,

buried alive under the sod of abreaking wave.

Until death discovered him there forgotten.

...

The floodwaters have all but withdrawn to the sea.

Love, love, the world revealed in the world

we were taught to pray for, saying

*Give,* overhead and underfoot another day.

...

Everything I own I've stolen. There's no

giving it back--not the shiver of wind

over olive trees, the touch of your tongue, or

the pitch of my mother's voice raised in anger.

...

He woke with pearls in his mouth like cherry stones,

like ballast. Terns and swallows dragged their shadows

back and forth to weave an awning, back and forth

before the sun. How else to repair the damage?

...

How else? Duty, my love, is delusion. There is none.

And yet like a dutiful daughter, I chose myself

the dress and the ring and the vows, determined

just the same to love the fetched-up stranger beside me.

...

This is a high point, but there are more such in *The Drowned City.*

This book and the corresponding PBS television documentary offer an incredible look at the sacrifices of this family. Whatever one's personal feelings are in regards to the politics of Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi, one cannot help but to recognize the incredible sacrifices made by this family. Covering 4 generations of the family, the book details the virtues and mistakes of this political dynasty. What the book addresses best is that despite the fact that the family is called a "dynasty," it faced great political opposition, which ended the lives of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi. The succesive family members did not merely inherit the post of Prime Minister like it was their birthright. They had to fight for it, and both Indira and Rajiv lost elections and were thrown out of office, forcing them to make comebacks. However the book has a flaw that it shares with many others. It is oudated. Despite being a recent publication, it fails to cover one important aspect that leaves informed readers hanging. In January 1998, Rajiv's widow Sonia began to actively campaigning for the party in which her family was such an active force. In March, Sonia Gandhi became the Congress Party Presidentwhich continues this so called "dynasty."

I began using this curriculum not long after the beginning of this school year for my daughter who is homeschooled. The program we were using wasn't working, and she was doing terrible in grammar. I switched to Easy Grammar and at the end of the school year she is extremely improved in grammar, and I'm amazed. I never thought she would be doing this well. I'm so glad I bought this book. I can't wait to see how she does on the state tests. THANKS WANDA!!!

I am a 5th grade teacher who walked in to a system with very little emphasis on grammar. I received the book from a friend who was homeschooling her children. I found the book very easy to understand, both for me and for my students. It is a wonderful supplement to what our district has chosen for language arts. The students are understanding grammar very well for the first time, and are able to identify nearly every part of speech with confidence by the time they finish 5th grade. This book could also be title "Grammar for Dummies" because everything is that clear. Anyone teaching 4th - 12th could use these exercises to supplement the language arts program already in place in his or her district.

My Rogers City High School students were able to completely understand the parts of a PC because of Laplante's book. They even dismantled and rebuilt some old machines by the end of the semester! Needs a 3rd edition!

This book is a must for future teachers! I found it to be an easy read. It is full of information needed to understand the disabilities that children in your classroom may have. Current procedures in assessment and evaluation of children as well as laws regarding disablities and education can be found here.

Marilyn Monroe, baseball, youthful brothers-in-law and the difficulty of approaching esteemed poets in the streets - these Bagatelles are telling, charmed, staged yet innocent. Delmore is the man.