This guide is a great companion for anyone seeking unique and clever discoveries in the mid-atlantic region. The book dives into nature, history, unique facts and unknown charms that most travel guides hardly touch.

Wetlands and Urbanization: Implications for the Future Edited by Amanda L. Azous, Richard R. Horner* Lewis Publishers, 2000, 338 pages, $89.95 at Amazon.com. Reviewed by Helen Engle, National Audubon Society, Washington Environmental Council, WA Native Plant Society, People For Puget Sound; the urban lovers of wetlands.

Wetlands, as every schoolchild knows, are those wondrous places of important resources like frogs and tadpoles and cattail spears and yucky channels to muck about in with boots and little boats.

Wetlands, as the editors of this important compilation of wetlands research and monitoring data point out, are the absolute basic building blocks of a healthy ecosystem -- from flood storage and pollutant trapping to groundwater recharge and discharge, shoreline stabilization, food chain support and critically important habitat in the lives of fish and wildlife of uncountable species.

Scientists Amanda Azous and Richard Horner recognize the value their encyclopedic collection of charts, tables, and citations to the citizen organizations' highest environmental priority campaigns. And so, as 'citizen scientists' we turn to this good work for the references we need as we work with agencies and consultants and as we educate the public -- young and old -- about the vital functions of wetlands. Not to mention our role in educating land managers and authorities who set regulations and restrictions.

The book includes descriptive ecology of freshwater wetlands in the Puget Sound Basin; and separate chapters deal with your favorite creatures among macroinvertebrates, amphibians, birds, and mammals. And how these populations are impacted by development's impacts on water quality, soil quality, and hydrology. Human values are included -- as our wonderful swamps and marshes turned to sumps for industrial and highway runoff, it seeped into our consciousness that we actually valued the beauty of those wetland places. Not to mention the excitement of birding, botanizing, herpetologizing and whatever. . . .

The book points out that the decades of intensive studies of upland birds -- of the forests and fields -- had no counterpart in the species-rich wetlands. Our nearby urban wetlands provide resting, feeding, breeding habitat for a wide diversity of birds --including of course waterfowl -- and provide high quality passive recreation in densely populated urban areas. The data collected and referenced here is invaluable.

This book is a treasure trove -- even if you only read one chapter. If you can't buy it, ask your library to put it on the shelves. Its timely values for us in the age of "Restore the Salmon" are the comprehensive guidelines for wetlands management, not only for urban managers but for the home gardener, farmer, and ephemeral-flowing-ditch-watcher. The native and recommended non-invasive plant species, for instance, is a beautiful list. A comprehensive source of support material, definitions and glossary, and guides of all kinds make this the book for our organizations to use.

Visit some of our favorite wetlands (we have field guides to them), and see if you don't fall in love with what some people still think of as just yucky mosquito factories.

* Besides Amanda Azous and Richard Horner, the Puget Sound Wetlands and Stormwater Management Research Program Team also included Klaus O. Richter, Lorin E. Reinelt, and Sarah S. Cooke. Other authors include Marion Valentine, Ken Ludwa, Brian Taylor, and Nancy Chinn. Numerous federal, state and local agencies, academic institutions and other local interests participated in the research program.

This book is perhaps the most frightening and yet enlightening thing I have experienced in reading a true crime account that I can remember.

The author, in an attempt to help parents gain clear insight into the mind and methods of a child predator, uses the predator himself to tell you what he has in mind for children, literally documenting his life of seeking out, molesting, and even killing children.

I was surprised that it wasn't a story form, there are no embellishments to make it frighten the reader, it did not need any, just to know what was on Westley Dodd's mind will scare you to death!

The author comments from time to time, just enough to make you think about what you are about to encounter, never enough to distract you.

It is chilling and thought provoking. I will never again leave my children unattended for a second after reading this book,even though has Dodd been executed, I now know that there are many more just like him lurking out there.

If that is all the author intended, it is enough for me. I recommend any parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, etc...that love the children in their family to read this book and pass it on. I feel empowered by this book, it has changed my perspective and isn't that the purpose in reading?

Compiled by child psychiatrist Robert Coles, When They Were Young is a wonderfully presented showcase of retrospective black-and-white photographs drawn from the Library of Congress, and which highlight the memories and images of American childhood and what it was like to grow up in a yesteryear American culture. Many of the images hail from the late 19th century or the first half of the 20th century, and are accompanied by a thoughtful commentary adding background and depth to this memorable and visual treasure trove showcasing an impressive and memorable retrospective of American childhood.

A charming glimpse of 18th century Mount Vernon through the eyes of a fictitious cat named Liberty. Captivating for children and adults.

Yoon's words and pictures tell of a time when people were interned for the way they looked and their ancenstry. She allows the reader to be drawn in by the helplessness that must have been felt by Japanese Americans during WWII. Her descriptions are haunting and will never let you forget the words of those that were interned. She has a way of writing that conveys her deep feelings for those who were imprisoned and pulls the reader in emotionally. This book expresses feelings that I hope will never be felt again.

By the time I got to page three, I knew I would be up all night, every night, till I read this book to the end. An arresting plot twists around characters so real you fight to catch your breath with them on a rollercoaster ride of conspiracy, betrayal, and murder. These are real people with ideals, hopes, nightmares, and regrets which are tried by fire in the crucible that is White Flame. No one, not even the reader, is left unchanged by the end. Jim Grady's insider knowledge of Washington politics lends a chilling reality to it all. This story is so plausible, you almost expect to read about it in your morning paper. I won't give away any of the plot; you must experience that for yourself. If you like John Grisham, Tom Clancy, or any other writers in the genre, you'll LOVE White Flame. I read one of Grady's previous books, Thunder, when it was first released. If that was thunder, this is lightning!

This is an excellent book to use with young children (5-10). The simple text gives a brief description of the White House. It explains the history, symbols and the various rooms. My third grade students found it very informative and readable. I know I learned a lot! I highly recommend this book and series.

This juvenile history of the White House begins with John and Abigail Adams moving into the unfinished building in 1800, with the President's wife hanging laundry in the empty East Room. Deborah Kent tells how the grand plans created by French surveyor and architect Charles Pierre L'Enfant for the Presidential Palace and the glorious federal city he envisioned was toned down considerably. Instead, it was young James Hoban who won the $500 commission for designing the three-story house fronted by a graceful columned portico.

This volume tells not only the famous story of Dolly Madison rescuing Gilbert Stuart's painting of George Washington from the British army that burned the White House, but the rowdy party that greeted Andrew Jackson when he moved in, the funeral of Abraham Lincoln, and the television tour hosted by Jacqueline Kennedy (which is, I think, the oldest thing I remember seeing on television). Kent pays particular attention to the changes and renovations of the building, such as the West Wing added under Theodore Roosevelt (which is when it officially was renamed the White House) and the swimming pool built for Franklin Roosevelt. Certainly there is little in American History textbooks about the executive mansion and Kent provides young readers with a fascinating story. This Cornerstones of Freedom volume is illustrated with early drawings of the White House, black & white photography from various restoration projects, and some color shots of several rooms in their full glory. "The White House" is an excellent first place for students to look for a research assignment.

If you ever wanted to see the Presidents bedroom or the First Lady's dressing room....get this book - a truly WONDERFUL treat!