Zachary Kent picks a very interesting episode to begin his juvenile biography of Grover Cleveland for the Encyclopedia of Presidents series. Cleveland had been a cigar smoker all his life and in 1893 a cancerous tumor was removed from his mouth, along with a large segment of his upper jawbone. Eventually Cleveland was fitted with an artificial rubber jaw. Surprisingly, the public never found out about the operation until nine years after Cleveland died. Perhaps it is the idea that a President of the United States got away with keeping a deep dark secret from the press and the public, but as fascinating as this little story is, Kent's biography gets much more interesting.

Grover Cleveland has always been something of a political oddity because he is the only President to serve non-consecutive terms in the White House. He was also one of the few men ever to win the popular vote but lose in the electoral college (gee, that sounds SO familiar). However, by the time students reading this volume they will probably have a greater appreciation for Cleveland and judge him to be an above-average President. Kent focuses on Cleveland's political career as a Veto Politician who rose quickly from Mayor of Buffalo to Governor of New York and then President of the United States. While the opening chapter focuses on an obvious case of deception, Cleveland's honesty was his hallmark. Kent characterizes Cleveland as the Veto President, although most of his record number of vetoes had to do with small pension bills sent up by Congress. One of the strengths of this book was how Kent focuses on the years between Cleveland's two terms, which usually gets glossed over in these short political biographies.

Actually, I am sort of surprised that Kent did not play up the President's marriage during his first term to the twenty-one year old Frances Folsom, by far the youngest First Lady in American History. Most students might know little about Cleveland's political views, but they probably know even less about his wife, who turns out to be one of the most fascinating women ever to live in the White House. The production values on the Encyclopedia of Presidents are not as snazzy as you will find in other similar series, but few juvenile histories of the Presidents provide this much information. The book is illustrated with historic black & white photographs, engravings, and political cartoons, which usually given students a better feel for the times than anything else.

If you have an interest in Hopi Katsina dolls, this is the book for
you ... at a price everyone can afford. Having been in contact with
the author several months prior to the book's publication, it was
eagerly anticipated. The "finished product" does not
disappoint. As a collector, judge at several major juried shows and
owner of a Native American Trading Company, Kent McManis knows his
stuff! I have only one complaint ... I wish the book were at least
TWICE it's size. At 56 pages .... I hope the author will consider a
second book on the subject as he has with Zuni fetishes.This is the
first book I have found which traces the katsina cycle and includes
the doll on the SAME page where it is discussed. This aspect alone
makes the book a "keeper". Robin Stancliff is to be
commended for 70 beautiful photographs of both contemporary / action
pieces and historic / traditional katsinam as well. If you have never
seen the work of MASTER carvers like Brian and Ronald Honyouti, Cecil
Calnimptewa, Ros George, Loren Phillips and Dennis Tewa ... add this
book to your library. I'm looking forward to VOLUME II, Mr
McManis. Thank you for sharing such a valuable resource with your
readers.

The Harps of God is a poignant tale of a disaster which befell a crew of seal fishermen in 1914 off the coast of Newfoundland. The story, told in the form of a play, is much more than a disaster story though. It is a story of family relationships, a story of friends, a story of death, and most of all, a story of survival.
Kent Stetson is a wonderfully lyrical storyteller. I was held by the same icy wind which held the sealers in its grip, and I simply could not put the book down.
Included are the Authour's Acknowledgements, Preface, and Introduction, Author's Afterwords, and excerpts from the ships logs on the days in question. All this history and personal information, including how the play was performed in the open air on a beach in Newfoundland, under a rainy sky, helps the reader to feel uniquely involved in the story, and to feel the irony and the great loss of life.
The one criticism I have is that Mr. Stetson did not include a list of names of all those who lost their life on the ice.
Wonderful, powerful, lyrical, moving. Well worth 5 stars.

Pastor Hughes has written a wonderfully readable and edifying expositions of one of the most challenging books in the Bible. Your appreciation and understanding of this profound portion of God's Word will multiply with every page you turn. A must read for all students of the Truth.

I used this book to do some research about early mormon families. It acurately and pictorially follows the early history from beginning to present.

Every other page is a map or chart with a brief overview on the other page.

If you want the facts and nice illustrations of them this is the book for you. Only 150 pages.

This book is one of my favorites. It presents the history of the Jewish people in a interesting and readable manner. I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the Old Testament, especially people who are studying the Old Testament for the first time. It really helps put things in a proper historical perspective.

US Navy intelligence officer Alan Craik and friend NCIS Special Agent Mike Dukas recover from a shoot-out with traitor George Shreed. Craik lost two fingers and was shot in the collarbone, which has led to his driving his wife navy pilot Rose crazy, as he is a terrible patient.

Not fully recuperated, Craik persuades his superiors to send him to Jakarta to evaluate a plan involving Chinese agents. However, Agent Jerry Piat is also part of the assessment and he wants revenge for what Craik did to his idol, Shreed. Piat firmly gives credence to someone as heroic as his mentor who had to be innocent and thus set up by Craik. The Chinese agents see this as an opportunity also for what Craik did to one of them, Colonel Chen. Suddenly Craik is caught in the crosshairs of the CIA erasing evidence of Shreed's treason and a Chinese espionage team communicating with submarines off the American Pacific Northwest that could lead to a terrorist strike against an American aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean.

If this novel sounds complex it is because HOSTILE CONTACT is a multi-layered tale that comes together as few can. The key to the return of Craik is the combining of modern techno spying with pre IT espionage smoothly consolidated into an action packed thriller that never slows down until the final convergence. The cast is strong and real whether they are heroes, counteragents, or even tertiary players. Gordon Kent provides the espionage thriller crowd with a superb the spy who returned to the cold tale that should turn Craik novels (see TOP HOOK and PEACE MAKER) into bestsellers.

Harriet Klausner

If you were going to buy one book that can turn your life around, I would recommend this one. Many self-help books deal with specific areas of life fulfillment, but "How to Be Happy, Healthy, Wealthy and Wise" is a veritable one-stop shop. Kent McArthur touches all the bases from physical to mental to spiritual well-being and then some. Once you put this book down, you will have a lasting blueprint for success and happiness.

Mr. McArthur, in very down-to-earth, practical terms, shows us how to conquer the demons of self-doubt, procrastination and the other usual suspects that generally hold us back from reaching our full potential. He also shows us how to understand who we really are and even provides a valuable computerized self-assessment tool along with the book that will give us instant feedback on our own personality. He asserts that each of us has a life purpose or passion that must be identified and acted upon to turn your life around. I really didn't understand this critical missing element for me, but now I get it.

This book is for everyone from harried executives to multi-tasked moms. However, if your life is in balance, if you have meaningful goals that support your own individuality, if you have no fears and have a plan to know exactly where you are going in life, this book is probably not for you. If you are like most of us, however, the tips and strategies you get here will last you a lifetime. McArthur tells us we must start treating ourselves better. I would recommend you begin that process by purchasing this book. You, too, can finally be happy, healthy, wealthy and wise. You just have to know what to do.

Rick McNeely, in Youthworker Journal (March/April 2003), said this about the book HOW TO GET YOUR TEEN TO TALK TO YOU:

There've been a couple of times when a book ends up on my desk that goes far beyond its intended good, reaching past its target audience and opening a door to a fuller life with deeper relationships. This is such a book. Its intent is to speak to parents, to help them get their kids to talk to them instead of them talking at their teenagers. The book ends up being a lesson in communication, about taking care of yourself in order to take care of others . . . oh, and about parents and how they can get their teens to talk to them. Really good resource to have in your library.

Bailey presents the next logical step in our understanding of human nature and psychology. Building on the works of E. O. Wilson (sociobiology) and others, he outlines the idea of a continuum of deep seated evolutionary rules. These rules have evolved over eons of primate, and then human, development. These rules have been integrated into our genes because they increased our adaptability to our environment and thus, individuals with these rules were preferentially selected. Bailey points out that most of our recent development as Homo sapiens has been in a primitive survival mode - a hunter gatherer type of setting. It stands to reason that many of the rules involve aggressive behaviours. The "holdover" of these ancient rules continues in our natural responses - in the way we see and respond to the world and they therefore continue to influence our behaviour today. Thus, all of the adaptive rules selected over millions of years of evolution are still lurking within us. In the last blink of our evolution, man has created culture and societal norms and rules. Our higher cognitive functions allow us to rise above our animal heritage and to develop cognitive, volitional control of our behaviour. Today, the individual has to juggle various opposing forces, both from within and from external sources. We have to control and direct many of the lower impulses in the face of our new and largely foreign cultural and societal demands. Most of the time, socialization wins, but as Bailey describes, sometimes we regress to our lower templates and instincts. The result of regression is usually pathology and mayhem. A wonderful book indeed.