A delightful collection of vignettes about Christian living that are drawn from the author's life in Middle Tennessee that is at the same time both simple and profound. Charlotte Marshall is an excellent writer and her insights into what it takes to be a follower of Christ are beautifully presented. This book can be the basis for daily meditations or for an occasional visit to a delightful place whenever the need is felt.

Seventy plus years old stage and screen superstar Charlotte Graham travels to Palm Beach to vacation with some old friends. Charlotte joins the local social scene where she meets pianist Eddie Norwood, a man she had a fling with over five decades ago. However, the gala party abruptly ends in tragedy when jewelry designer Paul Feder is found murdered on the beach. His daughter Marianne is the primary suspect since she had the means and the motive. When a close friend asks Charlotte to investigate in order to prove Marianne's innocence, the senior citizen readily agrees. Soon s he finds a link between Paul's death and a ship's bombing in 1942. However, to prove that Marianne did not do the crime seems a bit out of reach for our intrepid amateur sleuth. The eighth novel in the Charlotte Graham series is as good as all its predecessors due to the excellent characters, especially Charlotte. Stefanie Matteson's detective is one of the best protagonists in the sub-sub-ge nre of senior citizen amateur sleuthing. This is one series in which all the books are worth reading. Harriet Klausner

Charlotte Zolotow describes the friendship between two boys, John and an unnamed other, by a series of quiet statements which carry an increasing sense of the power of the relationship. The quiet incantation of the text - each page is very nearly a couplet of verse - shows how the two friends make up for each other's failings, stick up for each other when the going gets rough, and also have a sense of the separate individuality of the companion with secret fears and pleasures.

The two boys are working on a project - to construct a den and organize a midnight feast. Because this project is completed in spare moments between school and meals and homework, and is also shown in the pictures rather than the text, it conveys very clearly the privacy of the secret world which children sometimes collaborate to build.

Amanda Harvey's pictures support this by expressing strong affection untainted by sentimentality. My favourite picture is of a boy in the grip of panic and despair, probably brought on by fractions, being helped by John who radiates concern and patience. The pictures seem to be illuminated as if from behind the page - and this seems in keeping with the constancy of their relationship which shines through all the trouble, routine and fun of childhood.

This book is unlike anything I've read. It is a series of small extracts from many sources. Giving often very personal insights into the lives of colonial woman, there loves, losses and the beginnings of there families in the new place of New Zealand which at the time was vastly under developed. Often presented in letters you may as I did find yourself ingrossed in the lives of these strong woman.

Professional golfer Lee Ofsted has just landed an instructor's job assisting fellow pro Jackie Piper at a beautiful Rhode Island resort. Her job is to provide golf lessons to the employees of a marine salvage company. To Lee, this is an easy way to combine a vacation with making an easy grand a day for a week. However, the anticipated idyllic week goes sour at the fourth hole when Darlene Chappell, the spouse of the salvage company president, Stuart, is almost kidnapped. Soon afterward, Stuart is found murdered.

Lee and her friend begin to investigate the murder. To their amazement, many people had the motive to kill Stuart. However, as she gets closer to the truth, Lee literally finds herself in a sudden death game in which her life is the ultimate stake.

The third Lee Ofsted mystery novel is a fabulous who-done-it due to the brilliant characterizations of the lead protagonist, her associates, and all the duffers hooking their swing. The story line is interesting as Charlotte and Aaron Elkins scribes a fabulous amateur sleuth tale. This reviewer recommends to lovers of golf and amateur sleuth stories, all three books (the previous two are WICKED SLICE and ROTTEN LIES) because they are superb mysteries.

Harriet Klausner

I bought this book because we were considering getting a new puppy and were interested in Miniature Schnauzers. I liked this book because it gave a brief history and evolution of today's dog which helped me understand more fully the personality of the Miniature Schnauzer. It also answered my key questions about selecting a puppy, as well as, crate training and housebreaking. The book will give you a general feel for what will be needed to appropriately care for this breed. I feel that after reading this book, I can better converse with breeders and am more informed. Since I haven't read any other books specific to the Miniature Schnauzer, I cannot compare to other sources. But I have found it more than adequate for my current need - preparation for purchasing a puppy. One final comment, the book has glossy pages and has plenty of supplemental color photographs. I particulary enjoyed the photographs of a variety of dogs of this breed - it helps me tremendously in the selection process.

We love this book. It has all the right things for thebeginning reader. There is good repetition and also longer words totackle. It is a favorite with us.

i found this book very interesting and exciting and it filled my sprit

This is the sequel to Island Tribe, and follows the adventures of tribal leader Kori, and her husband the dreamer, Uroh. Twelve years have passed since Kori lead the survivors of the Island tribe away from their remote island community and the superstitions of her people. Kori now has two children, elder son Feroh and younger daughter Meiri. While she enjoys the respect and esteem of her people, other things in Kori's life are not going so well. Kori's handsome husband Uroh, has become emotionally distant, and her son Feroh, has become a trouble-maker.

The sudden arrival of a tall handsome stranger, Werror, exacerbates relations with her husband and son, and causes her question her abilities as chieftainess. Would Werror make a better chief? Overcome with doubts, Kori becomes victim to a cruel betrayal. Can Kori overcome her enemies to save her people?

I really liked Ocean tribe, perhaps even better than Island tribe. Kori is a strong capable woman, and a believable leader. In the sequel, we see her struggle with the issues power brings. Can she be a leader and a parent to? Will her husband understand the sacrifices leadership demands? I particularly like the character of Uroh, her husband. It is rare to find a pacifistic dreamer hero in this type of genre. I like how he is supportive of Kori, even when times are hard. This is a great book. Well worth the investment! I look forward to the sequel.

"Oral Interpretation" was a standard textbook for so long because it does a superb job of combining theory and practice. Authors Charlotte I. Lee and Timothy Gura begin by talking about the importance of choosing a selection for oral interpretation by basing your selection on the key touchstones of universality, individuality, and suggestion. At the heart of this approach is the advice actor Spencer Tracy always gave to his colleagues, which was "to know your lines." Of course, there are layers of meaning to Tracy's simple dictum, and it is uncovering all those layers that Lee and Gura try to impress upon their students.

In addition to choosing a selection, the Basic Principles section of the textbook deals with Analyzing the Selection, Voice Development for Oral Interpretation, and The Use of the Body in Oral Intepretation. Consequently, the mind which analyses the selection is as crucial as the voice and body that interpret it for the listening audience. You will be impressed with the vareity of selections that are includes for analysis and oral interpretation. For example, in the Voice Development chapter you have selections as diverse as Garrison Keillor's "Lake Wobegon Days," Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky," Mathew Arnold's "Dover Beach," and a Navajo Ceremonial Chant.

"Oral Interpretation" then looks in turn as the major genres of writing that can be interpreted: Prose, Drama, and Poetry. There is also a chapter devoted to Group Performance, which tends to cut across the other three areas. The approach of Lee and Gura is to break down each form into specific elements that can be addressed in interpreting the text. This means speech phrases, balancing sentences, and tone color for prose; scenography, embodying characters, and physical focus for drama; and allusions, figures of speech, and sensory appeals for poetry. There are also appendixes offering Some Notes on Directing the Group Performance, Building and Presenting a Program, and a Brief History of Theories of Interpretation. The goal, as with the main part of the textbook, is to prepare teachers and students of oral interpretation for all eventualities.

"Oral Interpretation" was the textbook I used when teaching this particular class because of its comprehensiveness and its emphasis on practical advise. For me the key part was always the critical understanding of the selection, taking the piece apart so that you understood how it worked and could put it back together in performance and breath life into the words. Students always appreciated the specificity of the examples, where a paragraph could be devoted to taking apart a single sentence or appreciating the particular combinations of vowels and consonants that appear in a particular line of rhyme. Even those students who feel that they their voices are unsuited to oral intepretation, can appreciate the critical approach to understanding literature that they learn from this volume.