QUICK REVIEW: An adequate record of the horrors of the Andersonville POW camp during the Civil War. This is not as descriptive as it could be but it still captures the story of a POW's live as a prisoner in an interesting way.

FULL REVIEW: This account of one soldier's life as a prisoner is good as a story of the events that occur during his imprisonment. However it is not a great account of life at Andersonville specifically. He is only in Andersonville for six months and spends the other half of the book telling us about the other situations he was involved in. He tells us first about life as a prisoner in Richmond, then later about his escape attempts, life in the hospital, etc. He admits, in the diary, that he is not good at writing discriptively, so there are some important details that are left out which other books on Andersonville would describe. But the events he records do reflect the conditions that existed there. It is an interesting story of a prisoner in the South during the Civil War, and is worth reading.

This book was one of the first books I read about the Civil War. I could not put the thing down! It is not only a true story about the Andersonville Prison, but also a heck of a story showing courage and will! I recommend this book HEAVILY! A MUST READ

Ransom's Andersonville is such a interesting first-hand account of the daily miseries of being a Union prisoner. Ransom mentions his stay in Richmond before being transferred to Andersonville, Georgia. He also describes his daily affairs, hardships, horrors and escapes with much detail. Due to the horrid conditions of the camp, details are captured by Ransom and are sometimes quite graphic. Ransom thought that someday his diary would reach others and certainly didn't want others not to know what hardships actually carried on daily. His vivid descriptions of camp life and his own personal battle of deteriorating health encompasses the reader in this book. His daring escape after being released from Andersonville while being shipped to another southern prison is another gripping tale that awaits the reader in this very interesting story. It's a great book about humanity and suffering. One wonders how people can inflict such burden upon prisoners, though by 1864 the supply withered Confederacy only created further havoc for those contained. This book is a graphic tale of Andersonville and an important asset to explaining Civil War History. 5 STARS!!

Rogers writes this book on what seems to be an unsure basis about his theories on human psychology which i find to be very accurate, albeit ignored theories. From Socrates, Descartes, and Sartes his theories, though accidental, seem to come from. The evolution of the human being, the mystique of free will, and the pattern of thought are all described in this book

Welcome to the world of humanistic/existential psychology. This is the book I buy as gifts for close friends, as it has forever changed me. I too am amazed that as a clincal psychology doctoral student, this book is not a Required read in our program. If you've been considering reading about humanistic psychology or Carl Rogers, this is the book to start with! Easy read, beautifully written, and incredibly insightful. Once you read his work, you'll be hooked.

Carl Rogers' life work. A classic and a must-read for anyone interested in clinical psychology or personal growth.

The book contains: (1) A clear and enjoyable introduction to Carl Rogers, by Carl Rogers; (2) Some Hypotheses Regarding the Facilitation of Personal Growth; (3) The characteristics of a helping relationship; (4) Objective and Subjective definitions of psychotherapy; (5) Some of the directions evident in therapy; (6) What it means to become a person; (7) A process conception of psychotherapy; (8) A philosophy of persons; (9) The place of research in psychotherapy; (10) The implications of the field's knowledge for living; (11) And, the future of the behavioral sciences in light of cultural and scientific movements.

I've made it a mission in my life to read as many Sunfire books as possible. I started reading them when I was in my teens, and I practically carried them everywhere! The first one I read was Josie, but Amanda is one of my all time favorites! It's too bad that I didn't collect them when I was growing up, since the books have become a big part of my childhood. If this book has interested others, I suggest reading a more "grown-up" novel titled, "Rebecca".

I have never been a romance reader, but I picked up this book because I love history, and hoped the book would be interesting. I loved the book, and feel it is a wonderful story for young women to read. It was many years ago when I read the sunfire series, but was hoping to find them so that our library could order them. The sunfire books are great stories and teach a fascinating history lesson as well!

Ever since receiving this book, I have read it four times. The intensity, excitement, romance, and adventure made this book very hard to put down. Her fairy tale story is one every girl dreams of. I highly recommend this and other books in the Sunfire Books Collection.

I am an avid fan of the Cadfael series and I enjoyed this book very much. The ending is terrific, though some people may not agree with me. Am deducting one star because of the character of Millicent Prescote. She is extremely disloyal and changeable. I truly wondered at the end if her marriage will be a happy one.

Ellis Peters is in a class by herself. Before her death at the age of 82 in 1995, she wrote a series of 20 mysteries set in England and Wales during the 12th Century. (She also wrote many other books under her real name, Edith Pargeter.) In the Cadfael mysteries, her "detective" is a former Crusader who has decided to spend his last years as a monk in a monastery in Shrewsbury. I have found the Brother Cadfael in the books to be far more interesting than the Brother Cadfael of the television series. Many of the books in the Cadfael series are as much (or more) historical romances as they are mysteries. Don't start any book in this series unless you enjoy a strong dose of romance and medieval English history mixed with mystery. The Cadfael series (like most good series) is more enjoyable if the books are read in sequence. Dead Man's Ransom is the ninth book in the series.

In Dead Man's Ransom, Brother Cadfael is called upon to solve the murder of the Sheriff of Shropshire, Gilbert Prescote. Suspicion falls on a Welsh captive and on others who have a grudge against the stern sheriff. Cadfael's investigation is hampered by Welsh raids along the border and by continued strife within England.

In the tenth installment of the ever-so-popular Brother Cadfael series, author Ellis Peters proves a winner once again with "Dead Man's Ransom."

Set in the year 1141, civil war runs amok in Britain between King Stephen and the Empress Maud, and it appears that the end of the twelve year old struggle is in sight. The war has taken its toll in many areas, as civil wars do, and the people are quite weary of it all. Maud's forces, however, now have captured the king himself. The sheriff of Shropshire, too, has been taken captive. This means, in those days, that in all likelihood an exchange of prisoners will take place.

Alas, one of the captives is now dead and it is our Brother Cadfael who senses that, indeed, it is murder, and, just as naturally as Peters would have it, it is he who is given the responsibility to solve the case and to try to bring about the release of the king.

Brother Cadfael is the former crusader now a Benedictine monk, who specializes in herbal medicines, solving murders, and compassion. Peters (Edith Pargeter) has developed her Cadfael through this series of medieval whodunits into a man of the cloth easily admired and respected. He is a man of firm, and devout, principles; a man who seems to carry the weight of the shire on his own Welch-born shoulders!

Peters has made grand the area of Shropshire, and especially the town of Shrewsbury there on the Welch borders. She has also created an exciting family of literary characters to complement Cadfael: Hugh Beringar (deputy sheriff of the shire and Cadfael's closest friend) and his wife Aline, Abbot Radulfus (the venerable patriarch of the abbey, and other members of the abbey. It is not essential that this series be read from the start (with "A Morbid Taste for Bones"), as this book could easily be read first and it would still hold up as a book on its own; however, readers generally will want to read them in order, as the presentation of character, of historical events, of character-interaction does show development in the series' genealogy. Peters died a few years ago and apparently there are no more Cadfael episodes aside from the twenty or so published, but each of the books extant bring the reader a treasure of reading adventures.

Billyjhobbs@tyler.net

In my eyes, this is a very good book. I suggest you spend a week or two to read it. You will feel better after you read is. It makes me wonder my this wasnt a hit instead of Dune. They are both outstanding books and this book gets my gratitude.

I feel that people everywhere should read the Pandora series. It mixes action, love, literature, and culture into an action packed yet down to earth book. I feel that Frank herbert, and Bill Ransom have created a marvelous Series that shows how people are nto what they seem.

Unlike Dune, this series has been out of print for some time. Shame! No one does it better than Herbert but Dune-Mania has left too much of his best work unread and unknown. Dune was a masterpiece, no question. But the series devolved into action novels - the work of creating his universe did not have to be re-done so the rest was just what happens next (and as Brian continues the series, what happened before. The Voidship series is different. Beginning with Destination: Void, which establishes the premise, each novel must reestablish the world in which it is set. Each set of characters has very new hurdles and new forms of intelligent life(? at least self-awareness) to deal with, each with their own world view. A good marketing bet would be to reintroduce these novels in paperback, capitalizing on the popularity of the Dune series. Let the new generation of sf readers discover the other worlds of Frank Herbert.

Louie Dolores strides over Chicago like the skyscrapers he builds. While he has built a formidable array of enemies by his law-skirting tactics and his lack of regard for the architectural history of his city, he has also built a fortune--some of he is using to bring in a set of ancient mummies from Chili which he plans to show in one of his own buildings. The protests outside don't bother Dolores--he'll use them for publicity. When the mummies inside seem to be coming to life, Dolores is quick to bring that to the newspapers as well. But is he too smart for his own good? When Dolores ends up murdered, a two-thousand-year-old mummy is the only suspect.

Police Detective Jeremy Ransom, along with his friend the elderly Miss Emily Charters is called to look into death threats against Dolores--threats that become horribly real. The two sleuths find that Dolores hadn't just made enemies, a whole range of people hated him and wanted him dead. Yet hatred isn't enough. Someone had to actually kill--and neither believe that one of the museum mummies really came back to life.

Author Fred Hunter uses a light touch to deal with a deadly subject. Hunter does a fine job depicting the destruction associated with murder--ruins of marriages, careers, and even sanity that extend far beyond the victim and perp.

I felt a little cheated by the end of the novel--which came too quickly to deliver the full impact of the solution but otherwise found THE MUMMY'S RANSOM to be quite enjoyable

The Chicago Dolores Towers sponsors the first American showing of pre-BC Chilean Chichorro mummies. The exhibits brings protests from native Chileans who were already upset that archeologists dug the grave sites of their ancestors, but find this sideshow to be as deep an outrage. Sponsor Louis Dolores feels the publicity of his support to a historical exhibit will help him with his latest plan to raze a historical site.

Police detective Jeremy Ransom feels confident nothing will go wrong at the exhibit because his friend, senior citizen Emily Charters, a magnet for homicides, is not attending the gala opening. However, he is sent to look into death threats and a breech of security that Louis would prefer to ignore. However, Louis should never have disregarded the threat because someone kills him. Jeremy investigates a wide range of suspects that include a sighted mummy running loose at night, an angry personal assistant, the Chilean protesters, and the Chilean museum curator with doubts about the exhibit- among other suspects.

THE MUMMY'S RANSOM is an exciting police procedural that leaves the reader guessing whether it is a supernatural murderer or a more earthly killer. The story line succeeds because the cast feels real and Fred Hunter insures the audience understands the motives of the key secondary characters. Fans of the series will relish the return of Jeremy and his "extended family" in this engaging who-done-it.

Harriet Klausner

The Ransom of Mercy Carter was the best book I have read in a long time. It is about an 11 year old girl who lives in Deerfield, Massachusetts. She lives there with her stepmama and her father. Also with her siblings Benny, Marah, Tommy, John, and Sam. They are an English family living in this small village with many other families hiding from Indian raids. Then one night the indians come and take all the children that they can and many of the adults. Mercy's father is away buying things needed for the family. The indian's take almost every item belonging to the many families and burn all the buildings. Then they take the children and parents on a 3 hundred mile trek to Canada. Along the way many people become ill or hurt and die. Many are murdered out of pure hatred of the indians. Mercy and her family are spared all but her stepmama and Marah who are too weak and cry too much and have their lives taken by the indians. Then the indians take the children they want to adopt and go to their villages that they live in. The Carter family is completely seperated. Then it tells what happens to them in their lives and how they live. Mercy is torn between wanting to be ransomed and staying with the indians. I really enjoyed this because it told about indian life in the villages and how life was in the early 1700s. I deeply encourage you to read this book.This is the first book I have read by Caroline B. Cooney and I am looking forward to reading many, many more. ;)

Deerfield, Massachusetts ; a home to 300, and a target for Indians in the year 1704. One night, Mercy Carter, an 11 year old girl hears the Indians coming. She knows they will attack, and she knows the men of Deerfield will not survive. Mercy is right, and as soon as she knows it, she and 200 other former citizens of Deerfield are on a 300 mile trek to Canada. When the prisoners finally arrive to their final destination in Canada, Mercy is adopted in to Mohawk Indian family. Mercy starts to adapt to her new life, and when a ransom is offered for the prisoners to go home, Mercy must make a decision.I thought this book was a great read. Cooney's writing really brings the readers attention towards the characters, and how they feel about whatever the situation was in the book. After reading this book, I would recommend it for kids in grades 6-12. I think that readers in this age group would appreciate a good historical fiction book, and if they want one I suggest that they pick up a copy of The Ransom of Mercy Carter, by Caroline B. Cooney.

Some people may know that I am a Caroline B. Cooney nut. I believe this is the twelfth book I have read by her. I have loved each and every book I have read by her, but somehow, the Ransom of Mercy Carter seems to stand out. It's different from her other novels, deeper, almost. The Ransom of Mercy Carter tells the story of, well, Mercy Carter, an eleven year old girl whose town (Deerfield, Massachusetts) is destroyed by Indians in 1704. She and many other children from Deerfield are forced to march to Canada on their own foot power. Mercy, at the tender age of eleven, saw terrible hardships- scalpings, murder, kidnap, her life being pulled from her in an instant.

Mercy hated to see this happen, but she was one of the first children to begin to accept the Indian culture. She was among the first to be given a Mohawk name, and among the first to learn the Mohawk language. When Mercy is brought into a Mohawk town in Canada, she begins to accept the culture. And the question is- if ransom ever comes, will Mercy accept it?

This story touched my heart in many ways. It was another Cooney masterpiece, well-written and suspenseful. But this book was somehow different. It wasn't the typical mystery of Cooney, it was something more. It was a heartfelt yet historic story, and it has me thirsty for more information about Mercy Carter and the children of Deerfield. I would reccommend this book to anyone, boy or girl, young or old or anywhere in between, who is looking for a great novel that will have you thinking for days.

Although I enjoyed the reading about the history of Texas and the exotic places in the book (they are some of my favorites too), this book was just too predictable and syrupy sweet for my tastes. It was an easy, light read and the characters at least weren't so hard headed you wanted to kick them, but things just wrapped up too nicely at the end. I guess , I've been reading too many mysteries and romantic suspense novels to appreciate this book. The only thing I wish she would have explained(being a Texan myself), is how Luke Prescott went to the Alamo and survived? Maybe that was explained in the first novel , "A Wedding Raffle", which I haven't read.

Geralyn Dawson's The Wedding Ransom is truely heart warming story. "Gentleman" Rafe Malone is a fantastic hero and at one time he was the slickest theif in Texas. I've never seen anyone with four grandfathers and each one has a personality of their own. This book is heart warming, lovely, and with some funny scenes added into make a light hearted read that you won't want to put down.

Gentleman Rafe Malone comes from the pages of "The Wedding Raffle" as the sexy, quirky former thieving friend of Luke Prescotts and starts his own brand of heat when he meets Mary Margaret St. John in this wonderful sequel to "Raffle". And yes, Luke, Honor and the funny Luella return in "Ransom".

I believe the author, Geralyn Dawson, is going to keep weaving her magic until she's in the top ten list of romance writers. She just gets better and better!

I read this book when it was first published, which was soon after Bob Ballard had discovered the Titanic's resting place. "Nicole" sparked a fascination with the Titanic that I still have today (don't get me started on the movie). I was a big fan of the Sunfire series (I guess I still am :D), and I felt Candice Ransom's books were usually the best of the bunch. However, I think "Nicole" was the only book where I so completely disagreed with the heroine's final choice of beaus! Not that there was anything wrong with Karl, but...Price was witty, insightful, charming, intelligent, cute, wealthy; he had a brave, adventurous spirit (a baronet running away from home!) - who could resist that?! (Not I, which is why I gave this only 4 stars!)

I hope Scholastic (or whoever now owns the Sunfire rights) reprints these titles. These books are what sparked my love of American history. I hope they do the same for millions of young women.

This is an excellent story. I really like the historical accuracy that the author captured regarding the events and people on the Titanic. Every character is unique and proves his or her strength throughout the journey to survive.

I liked it a lot, I think I liked it so much because it was about the Titanic. I love SUNFIRE books, don't get me wrong, but this one was special. I also liked Amanda because it was based on a real thing. This book is about a girl whos mother is a snob and pretends that she's Nicoles sister and wants her to marry a rich guy but Nicole fell in love with Karl the handsome immigrant who has a bratty sister who hates Nicole, but later on Nicole and her become friends. Then the Titanic is sinking! What will happen? Read it and see!

By the time I received this book, I had already done all my research from the internet. This book is really very basic. It's helpful for the ULTIMATE beginner to homeschooling. But for anyone who knows anything beyond the mere basics, I wouldn't really recommend it.

One useful occupier of my homeschooling resource bookshelf.

Upside: Explains briefly for those who can't take a lot of time the whys and wherefores of homeschooling. Finding the right philisophy and approach(es) to use, how to locate support groups and resources, it's all there. Not preachy, academic or laden down with long-winded interviews or religious baggage.

Downside: Some illustrations and one recurring character logo in particular are a bit off-putting. Nonwhite people are drawn with wierd slash-penstroke skin shading, and the cartoonish faces often seem exaggerated and inappropriate. This guide may be aimed (tongue-in-cheek) at "Complete Idiots", but I found the presentation to grow tiresome, bordering on annoying.

IMO the subject, homeschooling, needs to be treated a little more respectfully. One hopes that the cartoons and flash of the "Complete Idiots" format might be toned down in subsequent editions, and that the publishers would find another illustrator and/or editor.

That said, this is a good, accessible resource for prospective homeschooling parents.

I am just starting my learning adventure with homeschooling and this book has really helped with my confidence and understanding. It is very detail on the different learning styles, and "teaching" styles. I would recommend this book to any one who mentioned homeschooling, whether just starting out or beginning to "burnout" this book can be of great help.