I was on my way to pick up my parents at the train station when I turned on National Public Radio and caught this reading of "Masque of the Red Death." I was instantly mesmerized (remarkable for a station surfer such as myself). In fact, I immediately called my husband on the cell phone and made him turn it on at home. And, when my parents finally made it to the car, I shushed them and we all listened to it, with rapt attention, on the way back to my house. I can't remember the last time radio has caught my attention in such a fashion. I am going to buy several of these to play for my daughter when she gets older.

the book was awesome! I have a question to anyone out there who will answer it. In the story certain words are capitalized that really shouldn't be. Such as Time and Beauty. WHY? If anyone knows, drop me a line. NIKKICELLO@excite.com

I love Edgar Allan Poe's work, but this would have to be the best because of all the symbols he uses in his style of writing. Most of his work deals with the dark-side of reality and fiction, and I love it.

I was so pleased to find this book! As a teacher, I found it compliments our study of Jamestown and the infancy of what would, in almost two hundred more years, become the United States perfectly. Although a fictional account of one of the boys who did, in fact, come over with the first three ships, it includes actual events faced by actual historical figures...Smith, Archer, Newport, Radcliffe, Pocahontas, and more. The book is well-researched and engaging, with lively dialogue that hints of old-style conversation, excellent detail, action, and adventure. My seventh grade students found the story fascinating as we read it over a period of two weeks. They were as interested in this as much they would be any well-told tale. They learned about the hardships, the struggles and occasional friendships the English forged with the Native Americans, the reasons for the English settlement and the fear of the Spanish, the terrible death of Archer and the wounding of Smith, the sickness and starvation in the "Starving Time", the desperation of the settlers -- all true events -- while feeling an empathy for teenaged Nat and his efforts to become a man in a foreign, difficult world. Some of my students even asked if there was a sequel to this book, so I directed them to history books that picked up after 1609, and they dove right in! What a way to get kids hooked on history! I highly recommend this for teachers of early American history or students who are looking for an teen adventure set in American history!

I live in Yorktown and am in middle school and my favorite books to read are historical novels. This one is about Virginia history but also American history. It is about two boys who come to Jamestown in 1607 and settle with the other men like John Smith. Nathaniel, the main guy who was an orphan in England, likes to be left alone. He is strong and brave when terrible things happen to him and to the colony. John Smith, who he likes at first, really gets on his nerves but I won't say why because you need to find that out yourself. Nat learns a lot of things and even falls in love when a new ship comes in 1609 and a new girl arrives. The author makes everything seem really real and I think anyone would like this book, and all ages.

The area of Williamsburg is large that if you are planning a weekend trip or a week's vacation, it's imperative to get a "lay of the land" before you go! This book allows you to do that!

This book helps you decide where to spend your time in this wonderful city: Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, Busch Gardens, Golf and Golf galore, not to mention the tons of shopping and restaurant choices to make!

A lot of people get fooled thinking that there isn't much to do in and around this town.....this book showcases all the different activities (and when the busy times are at each) as well as giving you a glimpse of what to do and not to do with the kiddos.

I highly recommend visiting this area .....and buying this book before you go!

this is a wounderful and helpful book. It will make your vacation more fun than work. It has tons of great tips along with great prices. You can pick from hundreds of fun parks and musams right down to were you eat dinner. Whether you are a person that likes to have the whole trip planed before you leave or are very spontanouis you will love this very helpfule guild book.

Red Chief, the red haired, freckle faced, 7 year old, is really a good kid. So he sets cats on fire and shoots arrows through the postman's hat. So he through Becky in the lake, he just wanted to get her clean. But why does everyone in Summit, Alambama (the flattest little town in the south)run when he comes out to play? And what happens when he is kidnapped by the two slick, charming, and unusually kind con-men Sam and Bill Driscoll? Red Chief (or Johnny Dorset by true name) adores them both, which is more than is to be said about their feelings toward him. Bill gets hit by Hurricane Red Chief the hardest. But what happens when they try to collect the ransom leaves them both on the short side of
"The Ransom of Red Chief"!!!!

I had to read this last year for my English class, and thought that it was going to be just another lame story like all the other "classics" the public schools make us read. But when I got into it I was pleasently surprized. I couldn't stop laughing. The story is about two men who kidnap the local millionare's heir. But get more than they bargoned for. Instead of a well behaved rich kid they get a wild, red-haired hellion, that insists on playing Indians, and sacres one of his kidnappers so much that they finnally take him back to his father, thinking that they'll just get rid of him then and there. Well, instead of a reward the kid's father says that if they pay him a hundred or so dollars he'll keep his son back for a while and he won't tell the neighbors that they brought him back until nightfall. What happens next will surprize you and make you laugh. It was so much fun to read, I would suggest it to anyone that wants to read something really funny, it'll just make your day.

This short book details the first year of the excavations made to try to find the site of the original James Fort, the first permanent English settlement in Virginia. This book, which is the first in a continuing series of publications highlighting the discoveries, is richly illustrated with pictures of the various objects recovered which include armor, crockery and items of daily life. It is enhanced by the inclusion of paintings from the period that illustrate identical or very similar objects. There is a bibliography and informative endnotes that include accession numbers and measurements of the artifacts.

This book is written for the lay person and would be appropriate for older children. I highly recommend it!

"Wartime and postwar generations alike will find "A Hometown Went to War" compelling reading. In straightforward, delightfully uninhibited language, 28 World War II veterans from one small town - Jamestown, New York - have shared with author Kidder and the rest of us their wartime memories: the duties and risks of daily existence; moments of humor; the fears, heartaches and dramas of battle; and the ironies of luck and survival. A helpful reference with maps, endnotes, a bibliography and a good index, the book is an amazing story of ordinary young people doing extraordinary things in every corner of the world and the war. Skillfully and interestingly, Kidder weaves commentary on events, weapons and personalities around the stories to place each man and woman in the broader perspective of the overall war effort. An underlying theme of the book is that individual wartime sacrifice at home and abroad was made with an incredible commitment to common purpose, an intense spirit of national unity, and an overwhelming sense of loyalty to comrades and cause. The author expresses for the veterans the hope that the lessons of World War II will help younger generations face the challenges that inevitably lie ahead."

This book is a great example of historical fiction for children. An enormous amount of facts are packed into an engaging story line. It opens as a young colonial family reads the journal of the grandfather, who came to America on the Susan Constant. Insight into everyday colonial life, its practicalities and adversities, is prevelant in each journal entry. This book brought Jamestown to life for my son.

My daughter and I really liked this book because the main character, Samantha(Sam)Byrd, is an adventurous girl who loves the outdoors and wears boys clothes more often than dresses. The story has lots of action from the very beginning and it moves quickly to tell the story of how Sam, her brothers, and cousin become involved in the American Revolution in Virginia. My daughter is 8 1/2 years old and related to Sam's adventure because it showed that girls could have exciting experiences and show courage and strength. Because of this book, our family recently went to Lexington and Concord to learn more about the revolution!

I am almost in 6th grade and it is great for-girls book. Boys can read it to. I had to go to three schools until I came on the inter net and bought it. It is my all favorite book.

Taking place in 1609, Elizabeth Barker, a 9 year old immagrint from England writes about her suffering life in Jamestown, Virginia. After Captain Smith and her old friend, Jessie Bolton return to England, she lives in missery until she meets Mary, a fourteen year-old girl. Everyone is starving terribly. A few have even died. Men are sent out of their town to find food, some do not return... Elizabeth has even caught her mother eating worms!

Life is harsh... Soon Elizabeth's mother dies and almost everyone grows ill, even Elizabeth her self! Many families leave the town and travel into the wild, hoping for more luck. Now, only a few families remain. Soon, Her brother Caleb will come on the supply ship in Spring. Many pray they will survive until then... I recommend this book to any one who enjoys history and adventure!...

I read the book to my mom. It was interesting. I really liked it and I think alot of other peolple would too. I learned alot about Jamestown but I don't think Elizabeth had a very good childhood.

I thought this short story was very good! It is about a man(with an unknown name) that is sent to the spanish inquisistion and is stuck there for many nights. One night he later awakes and is awoken by a swinging pendulum coming down to slice him. The only way out is through a never ending pit or to be killed by a spiked pendulum...which way will he choose...read it and you will find out!

I really enjoy very much Poe's short stories, mainly those where he gives us only a glimpse in some part of his main character's life.

"The pit and the pendulum" has almost no begginig and no end. It's the story of a man condemned to death by the Inquisiton. This death is not a simple one, since he is thrown in a dungeon with no light and lots of dangers.

This short story is full of anguish and told in an almost hysterical way. The reader discovers the horrors of the dungeon together with the main character. We don't know his name, we don't know what he did to be condemned, we don't know where he came from, we don't know nothing at all about him. And yet we keep turning the pages to see whet's going to happen next.

Poe had a dark style of writing; he could toy with his reader's minds as well as with his character's minds, and that's what makes him a master of romantic-gothic storytelling.

Read with the lights on.

Grade 9.6/10

I think that this was a very exciting book. It's one of those books where you need to keep reading to find out what happns next and it's like you can't stop. The narrator is stuck in the Spanish inquisition and he discovers a pit--no one knows whats down there, but you can guess by context clues. Then he awakens to a pendulum swinging over him, that comes down so slow. Will he be cunning enough to escape? Read and find out!