I, along with three of my fellow court reporters, have now read this book and think it's great. While you find out the outcome of the case in the legal system, it sure leaves you with a lot of "I wonder" questions in your mind that we may never know answers to. I think all of us who have read the book have had a really hard time putting it down once we got started. I put my housework on hold and read it over a weekend. I love reading about factual stories, and this is one of the best I've ever read.

I guarantee that by the time you finish this book, you'll be shaking your head wondering how people can live like such animals! I've read a lot of true crime, but I haven't encountered characters like these anywhere else: Stella and her family are just plain bad news, and you will find yourself wishing they'd all be put away. (At least get their children into loving families and away from these so-called parents.)

The author calls Stella cunning and smart. I just call her a nut.

A good book, but sometimes hard to follow. How about additional pictures in the next printing?

Stella Nickell: a South Sound skirted skinny, with pointed-rimmed black glasses, and straight long black hair. Something right out of an early 1960s yearbook. Looking like an all-American Tuesday night bowling leaguer in a working class suburb. "A bottle of bud and a shot of whiskey, please" to boot.

The cyanide random poisonings sent waves of trepidation throughout the Puget Sound. Your stop for pain relief off of a random counter can relieve everything.

To help her secure more insurance money in knocking off her husband, she put cyanide in a random bottle, placed it on a grocery store shelf, and then waited for an innocent person to die. This would take the focus off of her when she decided to rid herself of her boring tee-totaling spouse, and have authorities conclude it was the result of the random cyanide killer.

But there was one unfortunate self-derived detour for Stella. After the coroner listed Bruce's death as the result of natural causes because of his chronic poor health, she realized she could get more insurance money if his death was listed as a homicide. She contacted the police and told them of her suspicions, leading to new tests not performed on the autopsy. His death was then listed as homicide. But her push for more ended up doing herself in.

The one major mistake she made was not washing out a bowl before the mixing up the cyanide ingredients in her kitchen. Read the book for more chilling and dysfunctional details....

The first part of this book tells about three orphaned children, Erin Law, January Carr, and Mouse Gullane. They all three end up on a river raft that January has made and encounter many adventures along the river. Upon arriving at the black Black Middens, they meet Heaven Eyes and her "grampa". They stay the night and Erin and Heaven Eyes become close friends, just like sisters. Even after being threatened by Grampa, Erin refused to leave. Eventually all four children become close. Mouse becomes Grampa's little helper and they both dig in the Black Middens in search of some mysterious "saint," which is found at the end of the book. Around the same time, January Carr found newspaper clippings telling the story of Heaven Eyes' past. The next day while the "ghosts" are about to work in the deserted area that Grampa and Heaven Eyes have been living in, a mysterious occurrence appears from Grampa's body. At the end of this book, Heaven Eyes goes to live with the other orphans at Whitegates and their futures look brighter.
This is a good book; however, we feel that more explanations were needed for the character Heaven Eyes and the ending of the book could have been more intersting and detailed.

Heaven Eyes was a good book. David Almond did a fantastic job on writing this novel about orphan children who are mad at the world and think that nothing is right. It all starts when Erin Law, January, and Mouse take off from the orphanage on a raft that January made. Maureen, the social worker at Whitegates always told them that they were damaged children without hope of surviving in the world. They were going to float on the raft all the way down the river, but something terrible happened! They got stuck in the "Black Middens" where they meet Heaven Eyes. Heaven Eyes is a curious girl who thinks that Erin is her sister and Mouse and January are her brothers. She takes them to her home, which is a warehouse where magazines and newspapers used to be made, but all the kids are frightened by the way she looks. Her fingers and toes have webs between them, and she's a pale white color...>Erin played the role of a gutsy, sensitive, curious girl. Mouse played the role of a shy but fearless and stunning character, and January, was strong and very hard working.
I liked this book a lot, I would give it 4 stars ****! Anyone who enjoys adventure books or just exciting books that you can't put down because you need to know what will happen next will really enjoy this one!

I think this is one of the best books I have read ever. It is a great story and I love the way they discover the girl Heaven Eyes. This book is great and it is hard for me to imagine someone not liking it.

David Almond is by far one of the best Authors I have ever read. His books are so good and not like anything I have read before. The Story is a mostly realistic enviroment but one element is added that is not real. (that being Heaven Eyes)

It is about 2 kids that run away from where they lived, a center for 'damaged' children. This time they take a raft and float down the river until they get stuck in the Black Middens, which is a muddy part of the river. A girl with webed hands pulls them out tells them they are her brothers and sister. When she shows them to her grandpa he says they are not her brothers and sister, That they are ghosts. (which he refers to real people as) Erin Law (the main character) comes to Love Heaven Eyes as her sister and when her Grandpa dies they take her back to the place they live. Heaven learns that she was not just a creature pulled out of the mud, that she had a mum and a dad and 2 brothers too.

This is one of the best books I have ever read and I would recomend it to almost any one.

This book is possibly the stupidest book I have ever read. The stories are boring with no plot or character development. Do not read this book.

You've read his stories about bird-men in the garage, ghosts of prehistoric humans, and strange girls with webbed fingers. Now read a unique, wistful book -- half autobiography, half fictional short stories -- that goes back to David Almond's childhood in a small English mining town.

Almond goes back to Stoneygates and looks at things through the eyes of a child -- the world is a magical, mystical place, where sadness and joy lurk around every corner. He writes of a lonely old woman who keeps her dead baby in a jar, and what happens to the lost baby after her death. He writes of a tender first love with a girl at the church. He writes of a retarded woman who claims to have been visited by the Virgin Mary, of the deaths of his parents and sister, a homeless man whose voice was stolen by a fanatical headmistress, of a crisis of faith, of a tormenting bully, of a trip into a fairground "Time Machine," a kindly but strict priest who claims that to count more than a hundred stars is blasphemy, and of angels who show him what he most longs to see.

It's impossible to tell how much of this is true, and how much is imagined. But the elements woven into the story are disarmingly real. Death, life, God, faith, suffering and love are presented in a uniquely surreal manner. His descriptions are starkly evocative; he may describe an angel merely as looking like a woman, but more perfect, and the reader will understand perfectly well what he is saying. Even though it's clear he often does not agree with some of the people in this (the strict priest, for example) Almond never treats them with scorn or mockery unless they are genuinely cruel.

It's a beautiful glimpse of what went into the creation of such modern classics as "Skellig," "Kit's Wilderness" and "Heaven Eyes." A treasure.

Maybe you can remember what it was like to be a child, to come from a large family and to experience long summer days where you explore your neighbourhood, and yourself. Maybe you're still lucky enough to be in your childhood.

Either way, you are guaranteed to recognise from Almond's amazing narrative style, that he certainly is capable to capturing his own childhood experiences in a dazzling and highly spiritual way.

This collection of short stories is yet another high point in Almond's career. Coming from the man who Janni Howker calls "The Gabriel Garcia Marquez of Children's Fiction" this collection of stories will not only entertain you, they may also inspire you to explore your own past.

Once you've read these stories, read Almond's other books. Seriously, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

I was introduced to Marc Almond when I was in high school. I found him to be dark, disturbing and amazingly insightful. Beautiful Twisted Night is nothing less than I expected from someone who makes me both afraid of myself and thrilled to be alive. His poetry is forceful, brave and original. It's nice to hear a voice that inspires respect, not by pandering to the poetic mainstream, but by being exceptionally candid.

gorgeous poetry all full of lost boys and beautiful losers. marc almond turns the dirt and grease of the world into makeup and lustre....and captures on paper our dreams of love and acceptance that we think we're too jaded to want...

Marc is an amazing lyricist and poet, and this book offers the best of both. A must for any true gutterheart.

Erica Howard and Nancy Hong are best friends at school. They play and eat together. Nancy invites Erica over to her home for a playdate. Nancy Hing lives in a old townhouse over a laundry/dry cleaning shop (the author's grandparents had a laundry in the DC area many decades ago). Erica is introduced to Nancy's mother, grandmother (PoPo) and grandfather (Gung Gung). "Ni hao?", grandfather greets them. PoPo serves them almond cookies and sweet dragon well tea. Nancy shows Erica the family altar and then plays a tune on her Gu Zheng (Chinese zither). Then Gung Gung takes them to the park where they can play under his dozing gaze. The playdate ends with a walk home, but there is a reminder of the afternoon in a brown paper bag.

This is a sweet book. The author actually corresponded with my Kindergarten class (when i was Miss Klee)many years ago and came and had a tea party with them. She is a nice lady and I encourage you to buy her book!

a great book about life as a jewish immigrant, it is very interesting even for a young adult.

The family moves to England after pogroms in Russia, their lives and the lives of their children are a must read for those who want to know what Jews are all about, their work ethics and customs.It's like Fiddler on the Roof , part two.

I have just returned from Sicily where I visited Maria's shop and saw the convent where her childhood was spent. I wish I would have read the book before my visit. The smell of almond pastries led me right up the narrow street and to the pastries and candies in her shop, and they are marvelous. The convent is just a short walk up the street from her shop, in the square. The recipes she shares in the book are uncomplicated and simply delicious. Her story is not embellished. There is no polished prose. It is as she saw it and lived it and has told it with her unique Sicilian expression. I enjoyed reading it and I will continue to enjoy her recipes.

I believe this is one of the most underrated cookbooks in terms of awards (Child, Beard, etc.) and public attention. I LOVED the story, and I feel like I was allowed to have something very personal, special and unique in the recipes which are exquisite. Had I not known a wonderful Italian lady (Carmel Anthony) and tasted her special cookies, however, I may not have known enough to get this book. You'll love it!

This anthology of Fr Bodo's writing over the passed 20 years gives the reader a thirst for discovering more of his writing. I have searched (in vain) for a title of his which is now out of print. The Almond Tree Speaks is a thought provoking piece of work, almost an autobiography, which displays Fr Murray's talents as a writer of prose and poetry

Despite the statement in the Editorial Review that this book "uses the internal evidence of Scripture as its greatest source of documentation", the reality is that the authors rely heavily on extra-Biblical Jewish writings as the basis for their theories. A major portion of the book develops the idea that when Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, they were given a branch from the Tree of Life. This branch was passed down through the generations to Abraham and then Moses, and finally to King David, who planted the branch on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. This branch grew into the very tree on which Jesus was crucified! While it makes for an interesting story, there is no way to use the Scriptures as the greatest source of documentation for this theory! On the other hand, how could you disprove it? This is just one example of numerous fables which the authors try to pass off as fact. There are some good parts of the book, particularly the analysis of the events surrounding Jesus' crucifixion. But this book is filled with so much chaff that the valuable grains are almost lost. The Apostle Paul's advice in Titus 1:14 seems appropriate regarding this book: "...pay no attention to Jewish myths..."

All believers in Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah, Lord, and God-incarnate would benefit in their spiritual walk by reading this book. A great debate sparker (the Michas's have often been accused of "heresy" by so-called "fundamentalist" Christians) as it walks the reader through the fallacy of many pagan-based Christian traditions, pointing out an accurate timeline of events in of the events leading up to the Crucifixion using information contemporary to the time and culture of Yeshua (Jesus). Before you plan a pilgriamge to Jerusalem, read this book - it'll save you money, time, and make your trip a spiritual eye-opener.

Though often accused of giving too much credence to non-biblical writings the authors only use non-Scriptual sources (Midrash, Talmud, etc.) which support Scripture. Christians, do yourself a favour, read this book.

You can not read this book through to the end and not see the truth that the Auther is trying to convey. With all his points backed up by scripture, and his credible education, the reader can rely on this book as a source of truth. I particularly enjoyed the part on Passover and the time table of Jesus death and reserection. Growing up in a home where we understood that Easter had peagan roots starting with the very name, I always thought that it didn't make sence that Christians did not celebrate Passover. In this book, I saw how the Catholic Easter is off on it's time table of Jesus last days and how passover has more to do with the death and reserection then the holiday Easter could ever have. I feel that Christians have been cheated out of their Heritage in the Jewish roots. Every Christian should read this book, and books like it that depict true Christian history, and what God's plan is for his people.