This is a wonderful book for children. The illustrations are whimsical and keeps their attention. It teaches children that being different can be wonderful when you feel good about yourself. My daughter is 3 and we read this book about 3 times a week.

This is a great book to use to teach kids to believe in themselves. Molly Lou has a wise and wonderful Grandma who teaches her some very important life lessons. I love this story, it makes me smile

I discovered this book in my local library and my two daughters, my husband, and I all LOVED it so much we got our own copy. It has an engaging and humorous story, wonderful illustrations, and an excellent message. It is appropriate for a wide range of ages - my 3 year old loves it but it is about a girl in first grade so older children will relate to it. The message that what is inside a person is more important than what she looks like is something I want my daughters to believe. Molly Lou Melon is such a likeable and wonderful character that we all fell in love with her. It is truly an excellent book!

During her "Scandalous Life" (1800's), Jane Digby was often written about in the press and provided foder for the tea room gossips for over 50 years. The stories seldom had more than a grain of truth but her ability to live her own life outside of the conventional standards of her day needed no embellishments. I have read other books and accounts of her life but Mary S Lovell has now set the standard that the other biographers will be judged. Her attention to details and access to the volumes of diaries and letters brought this biography its validity. She presents Jane's life without moralizing and judging her actions. Noone could make up a story with the twists and turns found in Jane's biography. After the episode with Isabel Burton(who tried to capitalize on Jane's story and her brief acquaintance with her when she thought Jane has died), must have left Jane Digby very cynical of biographers but I believe that she would have been very happy with Mary Lovell's. What greater compliment can an author garner from their subject? I will add my lament about the "out of print" status of this biography here in the states. I was thrilled to find a copy displayed casually in the biography section of a village bookstore in Ashburton,Devon, England while I was visiting the area with friends. The cover was bent and battered but it was their last copy. They told me it would take a few days until their next order arrived. The title was changed to "A Scandalous Life", The Biography of Jane Digby published by Fourth Estate,London. I bought the battered copy and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have also added Mary S.Lovell to my list of favorite biographers!.

I adore biography - especially those of the great characters of the second half of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries. I knew of Jane Digby el Mezrab from Irving Wallace's Nymphos and Other Maniacs which I read many years ago and also via several biographies of Sir Richard Burton. This is a well written, carefully and extensively researched book which benefited enormously from the author's good luck in uncovering much new, previously unseen and unpublished family material in Dorset and New Zealand. This, the author says in her acknowledgements, is more satisfying than the publication of the book itself. I agree, for this sort of discovery is palpably thrilling and the author's excitement shines through her narrative.

This biography reads like fiction and Jane Digby, firstly Lady Ellenborough, was one of those larger than life people who followed their own path, irrespective of the mores of their own time. Following Jane's life is a tour through the drawing rooms of Regency England, several European and Balkan courts to the deserts of Syria and Arabia. It is the story of a woman (thrice divorced) who eventually found happiness and fulfilment with a man of great nobility from an entirely different race, culture and religion. Jane's interest in the minutiae of life in Damascus in the mid 19th century makes fascinating reading and her wit and fondness for her adopted "tribe" in the desert is moving.

Highly recommended!

I have read this book and the only thing Scandalous about is is that the publisher has not reprinted it! The herstory of the Middle East has many intriguing women who have done remarkable things. These women like Jane Digby, loved the desert no less than many of the "heroes" we all can still read about today. Yet their travels are scarcely cited. Jane Digby's romantic trysts may have stunned her peers, but today her story is fascinating. Visiting Damascus, travelling to Palmyra, each had such a different impact knowing I was seeing what she saw over a hundred years ago. In a region where the dominance of males, Islam and the harsh desert life is well documented, it is a shame more interested readers cannot learn why a western woman would chose it as her home in the 19th century. The author stays away from judgements about Jane Digby, and presents her as honestly as she was-a rebel of the heart.

Organizing and Defending a Revolution

Leon Trotsky was a participant in the most significant class battles of the 20th century. This book collects some of Trotsky's key speeches and writings from the Russian Revolution, and his effort to defend it even when persecuted by the Stalin gang that usurped power and murdered the revolution's leaders. It is a great introduction to the Russian revolution and to Trotsky's other works. Read about how the Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies (Trotsky was the President) organized the insurrection; the revolutionary government's efforts to lead working people forward; how Stalin undermined the Soviet Union by seeking a pact with Hitler.

I found a lot to be learned from this collection of talks, reports and declarations by this leader of the Russian Revolution, given in wildly different settings to different audiences, over decades of revolutionary working class struggle.

Above all, you see Trotsky appealing to, educating, and inspiring workers and peasants with an understanding of the challenges they faced and a confidence in their ability to take on unprecedented historical tasks.

His speech in a Czarist court defending the workers councils (Soviets) of the 1905 Russian revolution is of the same spirit as Nelson Mandela or Fidel Castro when they in turn were on trial by their oppressors. Read the messages and transcripts of speeches given during the whirlwind of the October Revolution in Russia-- a working class leader in day-by-day action.

And especially worth studying, Trotsky's talks to gatherings of workers, soldiers, and party members analyzing the changing relations between the major world powers and between the toiling and exploiting classes of those nations, and the different policies pursued by the new Soviet government as these circumstances changed-- you'll learn a lot about how society works and what it takes to really change it.

Trotsky was a great orator, a great writer, but above all he was impassioned by his faith in the power of working people to change the world, a vision he never lost. This is where the power of these great speeches comes from. Read them and learn how to harness that power for today's fights. The speeches here don't appeal to cheap emotion, nor do they appeal to fancy phraseology, they appeal to reason, they appeal to history, they appeal to the power of working people to change the world. Read these speeches not for history, but for how their ideas can be used to fight our way out of the disaster modern capitalism has left the world in, and to find a way out for the peoples in the former Stalinized countries.

Glenville Lovell's remarkable and interesting way of plotting the story line in each chapter seemed to open up a new thought process as I read. This book captured my attention in numerous ways. Having the experience myself of growing up in a small village, I enjoyed and seemed familiar with the description of some of the places mentioned in the book. Mr. Lovell's skillful and poetic use of language is very refreshing, and I was even more captivated with the use and mix of the dialect, that at times seemed to have taken me back in time to my childhood days. The use of magic and myth, combined with love/love-making, fear, history, insight and triumph indeed revealed a skillfully written story of two young lovers and an entire community whose journey leads to precious insights that connected them to their displaced ancestors to achieved new awakenings and complacency. To fully appreciate and experience this insightful journey - READ FIRE IN THE CANES! Extra-ordinary and brilliant!

Mr. Lovell is an excellent writer and very creative. I love books that takes me to another level, books that make you get into the characters. He took me back to my childhood days sitting on the stoop of my grandmother's house in Sturges watching the monkeys eating the bananas. I also went into Harrison's Cave before it was discovered. I saw the beauty of Monkey Road tenantry.

With this supernatural tale of island magic,love, and history, novelist Glenville Lovell makes a stunning debut in FIRE IN THE CANES. I read this book recently and could not put it down! The author's quiet humor, sharp wit, and ear for language made this story of a young woman's quest for love and identity a memorable experience. Set in an undisclosed Carribean island in the not so distant past, Lovell skillfully weaves the story of a community and how it re-claimed its cultural roots after a young man is mysteriously murdered - leaving magical seeds behind him. Lovell shows the marks of a true craftsman, quietly leading his readers through the heart's rugged terrain, leaving them invigorated, by the novel's end, with a renewed sense of passion and hope. If you enjoy a little history in your fiction, a bit of the supernatural with your "realism," and humor when examining human relationships, then you will enjoy Glenville Lovell's FIRE IN THE CANES.

I'm an avid Monterey Area scuba diver who was on the verge of thinking I knew something about Monterey marine life. That was before I read this book. Despite my many hundreds of dives and many hours of time spent studying the things I'd seen this book opened my eyes to all sorts of things I'd never noticed before. Anybody interested in west coast marine life simply must have this book.

One of it's best features is the novel organization. It's broken up into habitat areas rather than by Phylum/Genus/Species etc. This really helps the reader understand the relationships between the various organisms. Also the photographs are truly exceptional.

Overall a real gem.

An exceptional book. Those tar spots on the beach, those yucky lumps of rotting kelp, those minor shellfish will all become fascinating interacting worlds for you. Beautiful photos that excite and succinct explanations that educate in a package that could well be an excellent coffee table book. We should all hope that this is what all nature books would become. I recommend this book to anyone interested in ocean life (not just Monterey Bay).

I am giving this book out as gifts to friends and relatives.

This book provides many many photographs of marine organisms found in Monterey Bay (California coast). The photographs are clear, well-reproduced, and organisms are identified by common and Latin name. This alone would be a good reason to buy the book. However, the authors went beyond excellent photography into detailed marine biology. For every organism, they provide fascinating details from the biology of the organism, often supplemented with additional photographs illustrating the phenomenon being described. I have taught chemistry, biology, and marine biology at the high school level, as well as being a SCUBA diver; I found this book to be full of new and fascinating information, well presented and carefully documented, with scientific sources cited (but not obnoxiously). I loaned this book to two high school students, one fascinated with marine biology, one not so fascinated, and they were both enthralled: "that book is so cool!" "did you know anemones fight?" One of the best books on the ocean environment I've ever seen; clearly a labor of love on the part of the authors.

A necessity for a resident interested in Peds Ortho. Full of information -- clearly written, easily read and absorbed.

This is the classic orthopaedic pediatric text, with updates to reflect the latest advances. It's very easy to read and would be extremely helpful for a junior or senior resident on an orthopaedic pediatric rotation.

(by E.M. Singer, author of "Mother Flies Hurricanes")This well-written, thoroughly researched biography of Amelia Earhart focuses more on her life than on her death, which is what she would have wanted anyway. It debunks certain time-held assumptions about Earhart's personal and professional life, and sheds new light on her character and relationships. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Lovell holds that Amelia's husband, George Putnam, was not a manipulative, self-aggrandizing promoter who drove her to her death. There was genuine affection and mutual respect in their marriage. Though their relationship was not free from tension and cross-purposes, Amelia drew inspiration and support from him to realize her dreams. A good chunk of Lovell's book is a biography of George himself, and don't skip it-he's a fascinating person in his own right. The Sound of Wings also presents a fascinating picture of Amelia's early years: her half-idyllic, half-traumatic childhood, and her desperate seeking for inner peace and a place in the world. The author expounds unsparingly, yet tenderly, on Amelia's flaws, demons, and scars. She also gives a clear-sighted and balanced assessment of the various theories for Earhart's disappearance, yet does not allow it to overshadow her life. For more recommendations on books about women pilots, visit the motherflieshurricanes[...] website.

This well researched and intelligent book on Amelia Earhart makes a first class biography

I PURCHASED THIS BOOK AND ADDED IT TO MY GREAT COLLECTION OF NOVELS BY BLACK AUTHORS.WHEN I OPENED THE PAGES I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN.I LOVE THIS STORY,IMIDIATELY I MOVED MYSELF INTO THAT VILLAGE I LIVED THERE FOR THREE DAYS WHILE I READ THIS STORY.
CYAN(A FIREHOUSE OF PASSION)OF COURSE WAS MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER.I IDENTIFIED SO MUCH WITH HER,I FELT HER PAIN AND HER PASSION FOR LIFE.I CRIED AND I WAS ALSO FILL WITH LAUGHTER,SHE WAS SO STRONG AND YET SO VULNERABLE.ALL OF THE CHARACTERS WERE SO REALISTIC .
MR LOVELL SHOWS US A SIDE OF BARBADOS THAT WE ALL NEED TO TAKE A MORE SERIOUS LOOK INTO .THIS BOOK SHOULD BE ON THE SHELF OF EVERY PUBLIC SERVANT IN BARBADOS MOST OF ALL THE PRIME MINISTER.
THANK YOU GLENVILLE LOVELL KEEP TELLING YOUR STORIES WE NEED TO HEAR MORE.

Cyan (also known as Night) grew up in a small seaside village on the island of Barbados with her father, mother and sister. At a very early stage in her life, she is faced with some very unsettling events that re-arranges the family structure and in the process, Cyan is forced to make decisions and deal with issues seemingly far beyond her years. Her character becomes strong-willed and very independent in her thinking and actions. The book is set in Barbados, and has a unique Caribbean flavor - the story is fascinating, that seems to unmistakably transcends the people, culture and politics of the island. It's a cleverly written story that to me reflects the circle of life, decisions and resulting consequences. Song of Night captures this and more! Another excellent read by Glenville Lovell!

Mr. Lovell brings out the real life of a young girl growing up in beautiful Barbados. I felt as thought I knew Cyan personally, she was sassy and real during all of her traumatic adventures. All of the characters were phenomenal. This book made me a laugh and it made me cry. Mr. Lovell also did an excellent job in presenting the facts about Barbados and its problems. I'm waiting for a sequel.

An incredibly well-written and well-paced account of one of the most dramatic moments in the history of the U.S. Space Program. As opposed to the dry (although factually accurate) "13: The Flight that Failed" by Henry S.F. Cooper, it lets us peer into the very human side of the people who flew and guided this mission. But in addition it gives startling and often humorous insights into the very early days of the space program, when Mercury was still underway and Lovell was recruited into the fledgling Gemini program.

I found two other books enhanced my appreciation of everything that went into the Apollo 13 mission. One is "Apollo: The Race for the Moon", another behind-the-scenes history told from the point of view of the engineers who worked on the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. The authors are Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox. Another book is "Chariots for Apollo: The Making of the Lunar Module," by Charles R. Pellegrino and Joshua Stoff. When you read about everything Grumman did to create the lunar module, you understand just why it fit so well its role of life boat during the Apollo 13 mission.

With the launch of the initial International Space Station components next year, the world will enter a new phase of space exploration -- a time where cooperation, not competition, is the by-word. At such a time, looking back on how we got to where we are now -- our space program roots, as it were -- is vitally important. "Lost Moon" does the job with grace and flair.

Sure, you have seen movies, read books, and heard about Apollo 13, the lunar landing flight that was aborted and placed the lives of three men in severe danger. But you have never read anything like this, the true story. This story was written by the commander of, "the succesful faliure", Jim Lovell(who is a veteran of four flights:Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, and Apollo 13) and his wonderful helper, Jeffrey Klugger. This story doesn't just tell you about what happened, it brings you inside Apollo 13. It doesn't just tell you what everyone on the ground was hoping for, it tells you what really happened out there, in the lunar module AQUARIUS and the command module ODDYSEY. It doesn't just tell you what everyone on earth was wishing for during reentry, it takes you inside reentry. There were fuel cell explosions, oxygen tank explosions, power and carbon dioxide problems, and all of this gave astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert(command module pilot), and Fred Haise(lunar module pilot)extreme danger.Read this book and find out what really happened out there, on,"the succesful failure", on Apollo 13.

Lovell writes a gripping account of the space mission that almost made him a permanent fixture in the heavens.

Apollo 13 grabbed the attention of the world and brought back to a confident nation the danger and great risk associated with exploration. On its way to the moon, a tank blew out, causing a partial systems failure and raising the possibility that the three man crew might not be able to return safely to earth -- or even intercept our planet to try a reentry. (they faced the very real possibility of skipping off of the earth's atmosphere and traveling forever through the cosmos).

Although filled with technical talk, this book is very much a human story. It is filled with heros: the astornauts, the men at Mission Control who guided them safely back and the wives who very publicly waited to see if their husbands might be martyred to our scientific ambitions. Lovell puts this all very much into perspective. He gives excellent background of his preparation as well as the planning for the mission. The critical days aboard the spacecraft and at Mission Control as all of the problems associated with bringing him back alive are solved are as fascinating and as absorbing as any Tom Clancy novel.

Lovell tells a great story in a superb manner

I have been a fan of Jack Olsen for years, starting way back when he wrote brilliant pieces for "Sports Illustrated." He has the gift of taking non-fiction and bringing it to life on the printed page. I am convinced he could write about an old grocery list and make it interesting.

Lovell, WY, a small insular, highly religious farm community was ripped apart when one of the leading citizens, Dr. John Story, was accused of sexual harassment and rape going back twenty years. He was a general practitioner with OB/GYN a large part of his practice. By the time he came to trial, more than 100 former patients admitted they felt they had been mistreated or raped under the guise of a pelvic examination.

My first thought was how could this have been so widespread and gone on for so long without anyone knowing, complaining, or accusing? The answer is the nature of Lovell itself. The majority of the citizenry belonged to the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) or to a very strict fundamentalist church of which Dr. Story was a founding member. Particularly with the LDS women, there is a strong bias in favor of male superiority. They are taught that men (and only men) can become priests of their church and give absolution; rarely is male authority questioned. Along with this background is an incredible innocence and ignorance about sexual functions. It wasn't until a leading church member started asking hard questions after her more enlightened daughters complained to her, that the scope of this crime emerged. The women thought two to three hour examinations were normal and all had taken for granted these examinations took place without the presence of a nurse.

It made very painful reading to see how difficult it was for these women to be taken seriously. The Medical Registry of Wyoming was hostile toward their efforts, but finally gave them a hearing. The leaders of the church, who did not want the church to formally be involved in the issue, did not support them. It took the dedication and incredible hard work of a local sheriff and District Attorney for the county to finally bring Dr. Story to trial. The town split in two along religious lines. The fundamentalist group said it was a "Mormon conspiracy." People who had been friends and neighbors for years were now bitter enemies.

Mr. Olsen has created a page-turner with his balanced narrative that includes many direct interviews with the leading participants. I felt pity for Dr. Story's devoted wife and for many of his well-meaning followers and patients. However, what stands out most in my mind is the bravery and endurance shown by his victims and their willingness to stand by their beliefs and principles.

Another dangerous sexual predator is free, practically in my own community. I don't live in Lovell, but I live in the Big Horn Basin. As a kid when this happened, I never really had a grasp of the depth of John Story's deviant acts until I read this book! This is not about the Mormon church versus the rest of the world as some people in Lovell still argue to anyone who will listen to this day; no, this is about a man who took advantage of his power and position as a trusted family doctor as an opportunity to rape women. This is about woman who, for whatever reasons, were conditioned as children to serve their fathers and to respect males. Young newlywed women who automatically knew to obey their husbands and believed they were nothing without their men. Women who never questioned a male's right to absolute authority. Sadly, these are also woman who never knew the extent of their own ignorance until it was too late.

The events were shocking in the 1980's when they ripped apart Lovell to the point that the wound still has not healed 20 years later. But it was the release on parole of a monster, of the so-called "doctor," that prompted me to finally read this book.

I now know and work with the attorneys in this book which made reading it all that much more exciting--the Honorable Gary Hartman, Scott Kath, the late Honorable John Dixon, Charles Kepler, and William Simpson and I know of Loretta Kepler, Kathy Karpan, and Terry Tharp. The author took some liberties with a few things; for example, Mr. Kepler is not a burly man nor is he a large man, Ms. Kepler is a charming and beautiful woman despite the plain-jane description to the contrary, Judge Hartman did not have a pistol under his robe when the jury verdict was delivered, and, really, Scott Kath is a much more interesting character than Olsen makes him out to be in the book. Furthermore, some of the nasty and degrading descriptions of town people were gross overstatements whereas some of the nicer descriptions were clever understatements of the true problems in Lovell--domestic abuse, alcohol, and to this day men with multiple "wives" and dozens of children.

However, having said that, those did not detract from this very well written book.

As a closing note for those who have read this, remember the exam table? Last year John Story's wife, Marilyn, picked up the "table" from the evidence room at the Big Horn County Courthouse. The table was a key factor in facilitating John Story's rape of literally hundreds of women during so called pelvic examinations. However, John Story no longer has a medical license nor can he ever hold a medical license again as a convicted felon. What does this man, who will surely be classified as a high risk registered sex offender, need with a fancy examination table when he does not have a medical license? Does he think he can sell it on eBay? Or is he starting a home based business?

I guess, this may only be the first story in a series of events yet to happen.......

I read this book back in 1990 but let someone borrow it and never got it back. It is an awesome story. I could not believe that people would let religion lead them to believe everything a doctor tells them. This book keeps your attention and I believe every woman should read it so that they might not get caught up in something like this.