"On February 18, a young African-American army veteran, Jimmie Lee Jackson, was shot at a voter registration rally in nearby Marion, Alabama. He died a few days later. SCLC [The Southern Christian Leadership Conference] announced a march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery, fifty-four miles away, to protest Jackson's murder.
"On Sunday, March 7 [1965], late in the afternoon, John Lewis and SCLC's Hosea Williams led nearly six hundred marchers from the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, which leads out of Selma toward Montgomery. They could not see over the steep span until they reached the middle of the bridge. There on the other side was 'a sea of blue,' Lewis remembered: 'Alabama state troopers.' Behind them were row upon row of white civilians deputized that morning by Sheriff Clark, many of them on horseback. Lewis looked down to the muddy water one hundred feet below. 'Can you swim?' Hosea Williams asked him.
" 'No,' Lewis answered. Neither could Williams."

Lewis and Williams then knelt to pray and passed the word back for all the marchers to do the same. As history recorded--both in words and in famous, stomach-churning photos--the troopers attacked the marchers, fracturing Lewis' skull with a billy club. Two weeks later, after a federal judge had ruled that the march could proceed, a line of marchers that swelled to twenty-five thousand people made that journey to Montgomery.

As a child on Long Island, I watched the television reports and read the magazine articles about the march. The bravery of the marchers and the media's coverage of those atrocities performed by the troopers under the direction of their boss, Governor George Wallace, turned the tide of national opinion--the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law a few months later.

That young black man with the fractured skull, a disciple of Gandhi and King, had already been putting his body on the line for years prior to that Bloody Sunday thirty-seven years ago. Estranged from his family for his involvement in the Civil Rights movement, arrested more than forty times in his determination to change the way African Americans were treated in America, John Lewis eventually became US Congressman John Lewis, currently serving an Atlanta-centered district in his eighth term. Lewis has served most of those years as a deputy whip in the Democratic caucus.

In a solid, clearly-written biography for middle grade students, Christine M. Hill presents the story of this lesser-known American hero. The author relies heavily on Lewis' own autobiography (WALKING WITH THE WIND, Simon & Schuster, 1998) as well as articles by and about him. We follow Lewis' life, starting with his childhood as an Alabama sharecropper's son, his preaching his first sermon at sixteen, and his training to sit on the bus as a Freedom Rider--where he would be severely beaten for the first of many times:

"On the night before the trip started, John Lewis dined out for the first time. Growing up in Alabama and going to school in Nashville, he had never eaten in an elegant restaurant. He had never sat with blacks and whites together, conversing pleasantly over dinner. He savored the unfamiliar, but delicious Chinese food. He admired the handsome, silvery serving platters. But none of the volunteers could forget the next day's purpose. 'It was like the Last Supper,' Lewis said, 'because you didn't know what to expect, going on the Freedom Ride.' "

That ride has taken John Lewis a long distance--from a segregated school all the way to his present job as the country's highest ranking elected African American. JOHN LEWIS: FROM FREEDOM RIDER TO CONGRESSMAN is an excellent, and in-depth introduction to one of my own living heroes.

Richie Partington ...

John Quincy Adams blends history and biography in presenting a new study of the statecraft and life of John Quincy Adams, policy-maker in the early American republic. It's recommended reading for high school and college undergraduate students, as well as any non-specialist general radeing studying early American history and politics.

This book provides an easy-to-read, excellent overview of early Johnstown, NY history. The format of the book consists of many photos with three to four sentences describing the signifigance of each photo.

As a twenty-five year Johnstown resident, it was fascinating to see and read about the origins of the historical buildings and sites of the city.

While the descriptions of the photos tell you what the buildings or sites are today, few pictures from the last ten to fifteen years are contained in the book. This is the one downfall of the book.

Overall, the book allows you to obtain a quick and consise history of the city. It's an enjoyable book for any area resident to read.

This is a truly lovely book: beautifully produced in paper-back with quality materials (so a joy to handle), interesting and insightful commentaries written in styles that aren't bound up by artistic jargon, and a wonderful, comprehensive collection of images in colour, put in meaningful order. I highly recommend it.

To cite Meriwether Lewis as Editor of this and other volumes of this University of Nebraska Press edition, edited by Moulton, is an injustice to Moulton. Lewis' efforts never got beyond a pros- pectus. Further, to list Clark as merely a con- tributor, is unforgiveable.

I first read this book about 20 years ago. It is the best and most complete work on ball juggling (with chapters on rings and clubs) around. It is very slow and thorough and well worth the effort to get through. I have been juggling for more than 20 years and I still refer to my copy from time to time

This book has fun and creative craft projects for kids. There are step-by-step, easy to follow directions with pictures at every step. Rather than having photos, all the pictures are drawn with what looks like colored pencils. I think the best project is the Japanese Doll Bookmark, but examples of some other projects are how to make a paper butterfly, how to make a box out of a card, a glow lamp out of a jar and paper, and shadow puppets. The only potential drawback to the book is that the projects are mostly geared for girls. However, overall, I think it is a great book for kids.

This book is sold out but I cannot understand why you do not have a review of this book at a glance....do you not intend to sell it anymore??? It would be nice to have a review so one would know if it sparks their interest.....Please post a reveiw of the book.....Patricia POWELL Gilbert

This book is excellent. I used to hear Mark tell this story when I was a child. Now, being older, I still come back to this book and read it around Christmas time. It is a timeless story that both young and old will enjoy. Mark brings the story to life using the same techniques as he does when performing live. This story will take you to new places and use that imagination to bring characters to life. A must for all families!

The story was very well done and left the reader feeling as if they were right there as the story unfolded. Adventure, personal involvment and more, this book has it all. The characters were very believable. Mr. Lewis knows his stuff when writing of the technical parts of the story. I think Mr. Lewis should continue the good work and let us continue the Kavendrak Sage.

All in all the tale left you wanting more adventure.