I am a Japanese Chinese American. (Yes, we speak all three languages at home.) I like this book because
(1) it introduces people to Japanese traditions, customs, and the simple Japanese language (by English-Japanese glosses.)
(2) the drawings are excellent. They catch young readers' attention.

My mother, who is 100% Japanese, finds that some of the traditions and customs described in this book are in greater details. She says she doesn't even know some of the information listed. She still finds the book interesting, although she wouldn't recommand it to beginner readers (whom she recommands to get "1st Thousand Words Japanese" and "Let's Learn Japanese Picture Dictionary")

I am not related to the author and I love this book. I am an expat living in Tokyo and have bought several copies as gifts for my children's friends back home in the States. It gives a nice comparision of typical American living and Japanese living through the eyes of childhood friends. It is a great way to show that although there are cultural difference, we are all friends. The illustrations are wonderful giving both the Japanese and English words for the items in the pictures. Simplistic, but cute.

My name is Jennifer Reynolds, and I am the author's niece. Actually, the redheaded Katie character is based on me as a child! }:) This book is an EXCELLENT children's guide to Japanese culture...I know because I was there myself! This is a definite must-have for any young child who is either visiting or learning about Japan. The book is gorgeously illustrated w/ watercolour by my aunt, and is humourously written. This book is constantly sold out in Japan, so you'd better buy it here rite now! };)

For a fair price, Intro to Alternity provides a good introduction to sci-fi role-playing. The rules are presented in an easily followed format. Player character (hero) templates are even provided to minimize the fuss and time expended in preparing for a game session. Best of all, everything you need to play the game is included with the kit.

The point, of course, is to get players interested in investing their credits in the more advanced material provided in the Alternity players handbook and/or gamemasters handbook. However, creative types could easily have a lot of fun playing with this set for a long time.

This boxed set is even non-geeky enough to pass as an evening's entertainment among the monopoly crowd. If board gamers catch wind of this, I think there will be more folks joining the RPG tables. Overall, an enjoyable product.

As a seasoned roleplayer I tend to be wary of 'introduction to' books - most turn out to be ripoffs or poorly summarized versions of existing games. I was pleasantly surprised that this book turned out to be neither. Packaged as an introduction to the full-priced Alternity science-fiction game by the same publisher .............................., this book is excellently done.

The plot is interesting, and the characters are varied and well-thought out and come with handy templates which can be passed out to each player. The game rules are clearly explained, the tables and charts well organized, and everything required to play comes with the book. Most importantly, great care was taken to make the book accessible even to newcomers to the hobby. As a bonus, even the interior artwork is uniformly good. Altogether, a high quality product at a bargain price. A commendable effort by TSR to get more people involved with the hobby.

This is a great, even epic poem, but it can not be considered the definitive ninteenth-century work by any means. It can not be considered in any way to measure against such other epic poems, such as the classics (Homer, Vergil, Langland, Chaucer, etc.), later epics along the lines of Pope's "The Rape of The Lock" or Goethe's "Faust," and, most especially, Milton's "Paradise Lost," the great English epic poem above all others (if somewhat more esoteric to nowaday's "well-read" intellectuals). The "Aurora Leigh" has also unfortunately suffered the stigma of being a work solely concerned with feminism and social commentary. But I digress. The "Aurora Leigh" is an amazing work to explore, a true landmark, despite its flaws (of which there are honestly a few), in both the English language and ninteenth century studies. The Norton Critical Edition is wonderful, complete with well-organized and relevent supplementary literature (such as interpretive notes, essays, etc.). A great work to explore, though remain aware that this is a single interpretation of the ninteenth century, and that E.B.B., for all her gifts, was not the "shining light" of the time (there are writers just as good from the period, such as her husband Robert Browning).

E.B.B. set out to outstrip Milton and does so in an amazingly original way. Aurora Leigh is a novel in blank verse that is actually longer than Paradise Lost! She combines the genre expectations for a woman writer--the novel--with an audacious bid for poetic immortality. The book tells a good story but it also works as a formidable reminder to her contemporary poets that the novel is taking over and poets must make sure that they are writing in the spirit of the age.

I liked this book because it was very exciting. It was very suspenseful. I like mysteries beacause I like to guess the endings to the books I read and this one was fun to guess. This book is about when several bombs go off in the bus depot and the police are trying to find who is setting them off. They think that Bearie's family is setting the bomb's off. You have to find out what happens next in the book.

She is an awsome author!! She keeps you guessing all the way through this book! the ending was great! Young Readers like me will not be disappointed!

Erica is a typical teen girl. She sticks up for her boyfriend, even when she starts to doubt him. She lies to her parents about their relationship, but it all comes out in the end, as all secrets do. Since I teach eighth grade, I felt the need to share this book with my students. I always tell them to not get hooked on one person,to look around, and not become too serious. This book shows exactly what could happen to anyone.

I have read almost all of the True to Life series books and I have enjoyed every one. It tells the stories of a young girls choice to stick up for her boyfriend and lie to her parents. This book also tells the effects rape has on it's victums. This, as well as all True to Life Series Books, is a sure read for teenagers growing up in the changing world around them.

This book proves to be excellent source material for many of the power groups of TSR/Wizard's Forgotten Realms campaign world. In fact,if the upcoming 3rd edition sourcebook proves anywhere near as insightful, it should enhance the Realms' potential as a complete and true alternative to the current "Greyhawk-centric" layout of most the 3E materials currently being published. The book proves to be insightful, especially for DMs who run a Realms campaign, and it will spoil some storyline if you are more of a player than the game referee. Despite high praise, there are some aspects that may not please all fans. But first, let me state the excellent parts. What this entails is the efforts to develop details and story growth for some the Realms most famous and infamous groups. This material should prove good to developing and expanding a FR game adventure with new plotlines and activities. For several factors, this is important for game play and development. First, in recent years we have seen the campaign world material focus on geography and history, while casually or only briefly discussing many of these groups within. This left many a GM in the lurch, forced to come up with solutions that may not have been detailed or ideal for their campaign. By adding more details, and often a framework of villains, the book improves the group structure for adventures and encounters. Groups like the Rundeen and The Iron Throne(now of Baldur's Gate computer game fame)are given a deeper explanation and motivation than slavers or evil merchants, explanations that were casually tossed in to add flavor. Second, it adds much needed storyline to more familiar groups in FR adventures, like the Zhentarim and the Harpers. While I don't agree with all the new plots, these more-familiar and popular organizations were in need of an infusion of new dynamics, either to make them more realistic villains to fight or more interesting as heroic allies. Those players who have been involved as Harpers should be thrilled at the new adventures, while foes of the Zhents will find them more powerful and crafty to deal with than previous material had conveyed. The other added plus is that the more generic or marginal organizations mentioned in novels or modules have gotten some detail as well. Here, the book shines by giving attention that fleshes them out moreso than before. The Shadow Theives, The Westlake criminal society(plus city layout); The Unseen, and even a secret society of evil elves(if you read the Dungeon Crawl modules, you know where this going) all come into focus more. This information provides many a gamemaster with an alternate source of material than just encounters with the more famous groups(i.e. Harpers, etc) of the Realms, especially if your players have grown bored of them. While all this makes for great source material to GMs, and plot stories to fans of the Realms, the book isn't without some flaws. Let's start with the fact that you really must be versed in the Forgotten Realms; this isn't material that translates well into a generic campaign. Without trying to say too much, the plots involving Manshoon and the Zhentarim are very complex and could create confusion if you aren't familiar with the villains' histories and details. While some explanations are added for help, there is an intention to leave enough left unanswered to further future gaming. However, this convultion isn't always helpful to game structure and some may find it be too much. In fact, some may find that the storylines are too much change to add to a campaign involing those groups. Also, the excellent detailing found in this book is not evenly distributed. Some groups have more material, perhaps too much that can bog down your interest, and others very basic information or blurbs. For example, the Men of Bailisk or the Cloak Societies are briefly mentioned, and associated with other entries, usually a broad one like the Zhentarim or the Knights of the Shield. This doesn't really add to the possible areas of devlopment for adventures the DM could flesh out. To sum it up, CLOAK & DAGGER does a great job developing and revealing the power groups of the Forgotten Realms. The materials sticks close to its source, developing the mystery, manipulation and detailed intrigue lots of gamers associate with this game world's high adventure. Some, however, may find the changes too confusing to use in their gaming campaigns without careful application. You'll find it good and creative, but not as complete as one would like in some parts.

After months of anticipation, "Cloak & Dagger" has arrived. This work reveals, for the DM of course, some startling events in the lands of Faerun. This source book is filled with a myriad of realms lore and information, as well as hooks for bringing these nefarious organizations to play in your realms campaign. For many of us, this is what we've been waiting for, and calling to the powers-that-be about. Finally, these intrigue riddled organizations are made flesh for the cunning game master: The Shadow Thieves, The Knghts of the Shield, The Iron Throne, and the Night Masks to name only a few. But more importantly, it reveals a great shift in the balance. What is it? I won't ruin it, but I'll tell you it has to do with the Zhentarim, and Manshoon himself! If you're a Forgotten Realms DM, and you want to spice up the intrigue in your campaign, even if you don't like using power groups in your games, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. You will not be sorry!

If you are looking for an easy, non pretentious book that will show you the basics of creative writing, this is it. Many books on writing are so scholarly that they either confuse of bore the reader to tears. Others are back pating "yes you can books" that give the reader plenty of insprarion but no techniques. Creative writing is very direct and simple. It shows all of the various forms of creative writng. It gives you an exapmle of the writing and then shows you how to do it. Very simple. I found this book to be extremely usefull whenver I am looking to explore a new from of writing and I want a basic understanding on how to do it. A good buy for novice writers.

'Creative Writing - Forms and Techniques' is a really great book! It helps you learn how to write in many different types of ways! It's the BEST!

Namkhai Norbu is an amazing teacher: clear and precise. In this translation of the Longde Series of Dzogchen Teachings, Garab Dorje (Ancient Dzogchen Big-Wig)shows how to maintain contemplation Day and Night. Wonderful introduction, excellent translation of the Text, amazing commentary to follow; Norbu makes the Evening, Night, and Morning practices simple and easy to understand. This text is a kind of Dream-Yoga/Daily-Yoga cream center. It gives you ways to smooth the edges of your Dzogchen practice. I found it easy to read and informative: a real Boon!

In this work, Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, an eminent Dzogchen master of modern times, gives a direct way how to practice the Essence of Tibetan Yogic Practice called "Dzogchen" - "the Great Perfection". Please bare in mind that the openness of the teacher's style - with no unclear mystics - is a gift rare to find nowadays. Good luck in your journey to Self-Realization!

If you are a Whitman poetry lover (or aspire to be), this is an interesting book. The author explores the manifold influences on Whitman's writing, from Opera to Phrenology (and all the other letters of the alphabet), and uses snippets of poetry to prove his points.

I had not explored Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" before reading this book, and was looking for a portrait of Whitman and his times, not a compilation of "influences," A to Z. In short, I found it dull. The author's writing style doesn't help either, which is straightforward at best, pedantic at worst ("No other biographer has noted...").

If you love Whitman's poetry, by all means buy and read this book. However, if you are looking for a more straightforward biography or a picture of America in the age of Whitman, you might look elswhere. Please, tell me what you find!

I found this work extremely entertaining. It was like being back in mid-19th century America. It seemed to make the era come alive with real personalities and real historical character. To understand the complexities of this genious and his time, this book is a must. It seemed to be refreshingly candid and forth-right without the usual bias one expects on the subject. There was much more to the man and his times than his sexuality. This book reveals the other sides of Walt Whitman. You can feel his pain with him as you share in his America

Reynolds' Walt Whitman is a fellow who absorbed his culture, tried to save it, but finally sold himself to it. The other Whitman biographies I've read always had a scholarly ax to grind; this one seems, not to cut away Walt Whitman to a one dimensional person, but to find Walt Whitman living a multi-dimensional life in an urbanizing, industrializing, upwardly literate American society. I thorougly enjoyed the chapters on mid-century American Culture; but was looking for an itinerary of hospital visits that Whitman made. It appears that the author appropriately limited himself to what Whitman reported of his own activity as a hospital nurse and to what few recollections of patients.

Contrary to a previous review, there *is* a sequel to this book. _Witch Water_ is the second of a trilogy of witch books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, the first being _Witch's Sister_ and the third being _The Witch Herself_. Years later this series was continued in a second trilogy (_The Witch's Eye_, _Witch Weed_ and _The Witch Returns_), which was still good, but the first 3 are better.

This book is a really good story but the end leaves you in total suspense and there is not a sequel. Otherwise it is a very good book.

For years, I tried to get my hands on the first three books in this series. I read them when I was in the fifth grade in one weekend, driving my parents nuts because I didn't want to eat or sleep. I now teach fifth grade and often read the first book in the series, "The Witch's Sister", to my class. The only copy of this second book mysteriously disappered a couple of years ago, leaving my class to skip over to the final book in the first trilogy. I sincerely hope this book is released again so my students can enjoy the true nature of the set!