This is a superb book that will be of enormous use to those who must counsel families of troubled teens. These teens are a group of individuals who need acceptance,love, inspiration, and guidance. This book gives the counselor practical tools that are time tested to help families gently and wisely direct their teens onto a path of hope and success. The reading is fast and easy, filled with practical case studies that hold the reader's attention. It will also be useful for families of troubled youth to read, particularly if they are not already in counseling. I recommend this book without reservation.

"Weaver and his colleagues have produced another winner for clergy: a casebook which covers most of the difficult situations in which pastors are called upon to be a first, and sometimes primary, support and helper. Each case presentation is followed by critical issues to be aware of, relevant information, including community and national resources. Most pastors will be grateful for this book a number of times each year. Sections in the first chapter on the child's personality development and on effective parenting will be appreciated by most parents." --David K. Switzer, Emeritus Professor of Pastoral Care, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University

Andrew Davis is a craftsman in both poetry and woodworking. The 64 sonnets that make up this book are linked by the story of his coming into his own in both constructive activities, his learning of his craft. The word "craft" implies for him both skill and cunning in the making of things and poems, but happily escapes implications of the lofty attiudinizing that has too often become associated with the self-proclaimed "Poet" on the theme of his life as an "Artist." Emerson claims that words are signs of natural facts and that natural facts are signs of spritiual facts. Davis makes us realize that Emerson leaves out man-made facts and their spirit, most especially here tools and their products. Davis asks most generally, "What is the relation between words and things?" His answers are most often serious and stimulating while maintaining a workman's good-humored mixture of pride and modesty in the face of the difference between his artifact and how it might have been still better. In his last sonnet he imagines God's being stimlated in just this way when he looked upon the world and found in good, not perfect. He eyed it with his head cocked on one shoulder;/ Then realized that he'd fallen in a trap/ Tempted by a blaze of preconceptions,/ And dazzled by the image of his mind,/ He'd sacrificed the perfection of inexistence/ For a compromised incursion into time./ This sestet provides a fair example of the poet's prosody--loosely and sometimes tightly iambic, generally pentametric, with (sometimes) rhymes, near-rhymes, or off-rhymees at the end to polish up the production.

Reading the poems in CRAFT, I could not help but think of the WTO protests and those regarding China's entry into that organization. Loss of jobs and manufacturing bases, national security, child labor, pay priority: all valid concerns. But nowhere did I hear discussions of the nature of work, of making stuff, of using one's hands and what of that might be lost. Somewhere people will continue ro make things, and where that happens there will be a community of hand and mind--and, I think, community. At such a site will be Andrew Davis, pen and chisel at hand.

Andrew LeCompte has written an extremely valuable guide to improving relationships through increased empathy. Well written, well organized and clear, it has the premise that we are spiritual beings who have been programmed to be judgmental. He shows us how to overcome judgmentalism, search for our own and others' feelings and hopes, communicate them and let go of anger and resentment. There are exercises in the book that aid in increasing self awareness and improving our communication with others.

I picked up this work walking along a table in a nationally known book chain. A plain looking cover, so unlike all the plethora of self-help books out there with a figure plastered on the front. The content is also different. Unlike books that proclaim "The Ten Best Ways to..." or "The Ten Stupid Things that...", this book offer practical and real help! In this incredible tome, LeCompte pulls together 25 years of study and research into why we behave the way we do, and what we can do about it. His premise is much of our daily actions and reactions are a result of our unconscious, based on our often inaccurate judgments of the event. He manages to cover the work of Freud, and the latest research in unconscious programing in a simple, easy to understand, and practical way! Don't be fooled by the books title; I found this book helped ME out so much personally, and how I began to deal with the complexities in the relationships around me. I am a better person for this work, and you will be as well.

If you want a really good understanding of the criminal justice system, our system of laws and how they came about and what works and doesn't work with the criminal justice system, then READ THIS BOOK. EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT!!!

Mr. Thomas has taken a step by step description of crime control through the prisons, the police, and the courts not only to show how they are not working; but also to show realistic changes that should be made if our society is to continue to exist. In light of the Littleton, Colorado tragedy, this books shows solutions that are light years ahead of anything I've seen coming from the experts shown on tv. 5 stars or more to Mr. Thomas, and he should run for President or at least have his book placed in every school and home where it should be read and enjoyed as much as I have enjoyed reading it.

After two decades of research, Colin Andrews, the world's foremost authority on crop circles, has written what may be the most comprehensive book on the subject. Starting with his early years of research Andrews recounts some of his first crop circle encounters. Readers will learn about the characteristics of the phenomenon before complex patterns began to appear in the late 80's.
This is one of the few crop circle books to adequately explore the connection of crop circles with nature and global environmental conditions. Andrews continuously reminds us how crop circles serve to raise our awareness of the planet.
Throughout the book, Andrews clearly wrestles with the reality of human circle-making activity. Coming from someone who previously disregarded the significance of this aspect of crop circles, he still refers to it as "hoaxing," implying a certain degree of recklessness and irresponsiblity on the part of the human circle-makers. He also tacitly recognizes their role in the evolution of the patterns.
Personally, I think it is unfair to call these human-made patterns "counterfeits" given their beauty and genuinely weird effects on our cameras and other equipment. As far as I know, there is no evidence to suggest that any of the complex patterns made since the late 80's in England are created by anyone or anything else than human circle-makers. Nonetheless, Andrew's book bridges many different points of view and leaves us with a mystery rather than a closed case. As a bonus, the book contains a catalogue of every circle to appear in England since the 1980's. It is quite a sight to see all these patterns together. There are also detailed discussions of Project Blackbird and the Oliver's Castle video.
This book is recommended for anyone with a passing or strong interest in crop circles. You may not agree with Andrews on every point but you are certain to come away with a greater appreciation of the phenomenon and the mysteries that surround it.
(Dr. Simeon Hein is the author of Opening Minds: A Journey of Extraordinary Encounters, Crop Circles, and Resonance (2002, Mount Baldy Press, Inc.)

I knew that Colin Andrews was the technical advisor for the movie Signs and had seen him in a variety of Crop Circle documentaries, I think on the Discovery Channel (it seems he's in every doc. every made on crop circles)! Now I know why he's always on them -- This is an excellent book, even (especially) for non-"woo woo" people who really want to know about crop circles. Are they real? Where do they come from? How do we know? Colin Anderes has done a fantastic job. And the four color photo insert is spectacular.

Very engaging reading about foreign students lives prior to their education here. It's a revealing look at what they brought with them in life experience compared to what they saw in the average American student. They contend with the clash between the beliefs and values of their upbringing and the shallow nature of the sheltered American student. A very well written, thoughful response to the blending of their prior experience, their expectations of study in the U.S. and the self discovery that results.

Enlighteningly refreshing look at American and specifically Ivy Legue culture. International students reflect on their lives abroad and their experiences in Dartmouth College and the surrounding New England community. The students and alumni that have contributed their short autobiographies to this compilation contemplate their diverse backgrounds and grapple with the American culture, to which they are compelled. Some of the stories are hilarious. Some are heartbreaking. But all are profound. The students take good aim at social and philosophical questions imposed by their new community and search for their identities in a place that canonizes monotony and conformity. This book can not be put down until it's finished.

A companion book to the award-winning PBS series "Cruising American Waterways," The Erie Canal by Debbie Daino Stack (PBS Project Coordinator for the "Cruising American Waterways" television series) and Captain Ronald S. Marquisee (Producer of "Cruising America's Waterways"), is a quality travelogue showcasing the history and beauty of the famous Erie Canal, a still active waterway used for recreation, flood control, irrigation, and power generation. Lavish color photographs of this historic canal fill The Erie Canal from cover to cover, and the insightful text offers a wealth of cultural lore. A superbly gorgeous coffee-table book and enhanced with a foreword by Andrew Cuomo, The Erie Canal is a true pleasure to read and enjoy and highly recommended for armchair travelers and community library American History collections.

This book is filled with color photographs that capture the beauty and historic charm of this waterway. The text is comprehensive -- touching on everything from history to Canal utilization. It let's you see what all of New York's canals have to offer - as a boater, cruise ship tourist, or automotive traveller. The Canals are fully functional and waiting for tourists. This book let's you understand the "New York State Canal System" and all that it has to offer. As the text points out... (rough quote)...if we had not inherited this legacy resource; costs, environmental concerns, and political considerations would not allow its construction today. This is a superior book on the world's most famous canal.

The cover is misleading. Many of the stories in the collection are not "Sport" at all. These are views into dangerous activities, which range from essays on rescue workers off the coast of Northern California to introspective musings on the chainsaw. Others are indeed sports, though not the type you view on ESPN; these are stories of individuals who have concocted their own unique flavor of excitement: from storm kayaking in the Pacific to leaping off high bridges. Todhunter is fascinated by risk and danger and the people who engage in these activities.

Whether climbing vertical ice or diving beneath frozen lakes, Todhunter delivers crisp, clean, first-hand insight, with a full shot of adrenaline in the mix. An experienced diver and climber, Todhunter plays at times neophyte, apprentice, novice, and savvy traveler (in measure with his experience) all with equal grace. He shares his far-flung interests in high-adrenaline experiences with a literary style that inspires rapt, hypnotic, page-turning awe.

Whether or not you are an ice climber, a diver for wrecks, or someone who explores the depths of caves, all of which the writer is, Todhunter can make you feel you've been there,often with amazing descriptions, sometimes beautiful, sometimes chilling. Cases in point, a couple of brief samples from the chapter called "Beneath the ice."

"Far above the triangle [cut through the ice of a Sierra lake]is aglow in the dimly translucent field of ice. Our lines stretch upward, vanishing. I give a firm tug: "Okay." A tug comes back fom my tender. "Acknowledged." The trail of air bubbles works its way to the surface, rumbling faintly. I take a deep breath and expel it with one quick contraction of the diaphragm. The body of air breaks into three spheres that flatten into mushrooms the diammeter of dinner plates, expanding as they climb. Surrounded by a host of smaller bubbles, 100 silver dollars, 1,000 dimes--twirling in their wake, the three upturned bowls of air catch the sun as they near the surface, gleam like mirrors, and disappear."

And its ending [as they come up]:"On the other side of the ice, our tenders set off like sled dogs on the run. The lines go aut and we begin to move, gaining speed. Howling through our regulators, we ski upside down across the ice.The wedge of blue sky suddenly appears, hurtling toward us. As I dive headfirst through the triangle I'm blinded. I look straight down into the sun."

This is a rerally good book if you don't have anyhting to do in study hall, or if you are just plain bored!

As an avid V.C. Andrews fan (I have all her books) this novelis among my favorites. Dark Angel is the best of the Casteel series,a series that far surpasses the others. Heaven remains a true heroine in this sequel which tells of her strange journey through adolesence and her struggles to fit in with her new Boston surroundings as opposed to her West Virginia childhood. This novel shows her determination to make an impression on society and follow her dreams. V.C. Andrews outdid herself with this one, and would probably be made sick by the sugar-coated sappiness of her ghostwriter.

I havent had the pleasure of reading the 1st in this series witch is probably why i was so stresed out when heaven was stuck in the mountains with logan and unable to contact her beloved troy! I wanted so much for logan to be out of the picture and Troy not to be her uncle.....its not fair!! I also think it was good that he ended up riding a horse into the sea to his aparent death so heaven could lead a normal life with a man who wouldnt give her "DEVIL CHILDREN" as they say in the other books. Atleast Heaven thoght he was gone and not depressed thinking of her somewhere so that is a small consilation.........until you read the next.....

Dark Angel follows up where Heaven left off in such a unique turn of events that the reader is swept up in the story. In this book, we are introduced to a cleverly crafted new set of characters and even more cleverly invented closet full of skeletons that threaten to ruin Heaven's new found happiness. The only thing that I would say against this boook is that if you're a seasoned V.C. Andrews reader, a lot of the themes are recurring from some of her other work. However, that does not deter the reader from being caught up in the story. However, should you read the Casteel series, be sure to also devour Web of Dreams, the story of HEaven's mother Leigh. It explains Leigh's past more thoroughly and gives one a better insight into the whole saga. All in all a good read, but as always with V.C. Andrews, be prepared to cry a little.