Susan & Christine Pratt, identical twins, return to their hometown for the Homecoming Celebration. The fun trip home turns into an intriguing mystery when the mayor receives a threatening note. The girls investigation is further complicated by a strange old man, a haunted house, and the mayor's daughter interferring every step of the way. Book number 12 in the series is as good as the previous eleven. Cynthia Blair tells an enchanting story that captivates children and allows them to share in the adventures of these unforgetable twins who make sure that good triumphs over evil. I highly reccomend this book and the entire series- they are timeless treasures for children.

In the introduction to _Love Chains_, Young talks about the "sharks" which inhabit her stories: difficult issues, immoral choices, even a bit of swearing. She does not write simple faith-promoting out to shock. The immorality portrayed is usually seen from the point-of-view of a character who is repulsed by what she/he sees. Young in no way glorifies the sharks, she has her characters seek for ways to defeat or at least deal with them. Victory over the sharks usually doesn't occur within the bounds of these short stories, but at least there are glimmers of hope, often found in unlikely places.

The words "love chains" refer to a motif that runs through the stories. None of her characters are lone individuals (could any such story about Mormons exist?). Chains made of powerful emotion bind people together, even long after the fraying of time or betrayal. The 1997 book is divided into four sections, "Husbands and Wives", "Brothers and Sisters", "Hermanos y Hermanas", and "Exes". Each features different kinds of love chains. Even between a divorced couple, chains of feeling and responsibility remain strong. This is particularly true when there is a child from a broken marriage. Even after love between the couple is gone, the child acts as a "love chain," forever binding them together. Most of the stories from the "Exes" section are about children torn between divorced parents, with the added complication of being torn between one

parent's apostasy and the other's faith. What's a mother to do, when she fears her child is being harmed by her father's apostasy? These are tough questions, and Young provides no easy answers. On the cover of the books is a drawing of a baby walking with the help of parents' hands on both sides. The parents are not connected directly to each other in the picture, but since both are holding on to the child, they are linked together in a chain.

Another kind of love chain in these stories is that of God between a couple, sealing and strengthening their marriage. We see this idea at the end of Young's play "Dear Stone," when the memory of his promise before God and angels in the temple helps to bring a husband back from his plans to end his marriage to a woman with MS. The idea is more comically, but still sublimely, represented in the story "God on Donahue," the climax of the "Husbands and Wives" group of stories. This is a hilarious tale about an elderly, eccentric Utah couple who appear on the Donahue show for weird reasons I won't explain. On the way to Los Angeles, the husband happens upon a vagrant at a rest stop, and feels convinced that this is God going incognito. The three of them appear on the show, and are grilled by Phil Donahue about their relationship. (By the way, the portrayal of Donahue as Lord of This World (daytime television) is brilliantly wicked). The tide begins to turn against Donahue, and the husband begins to realize his past unfairness to his wife, after this exchange:

"God," said Donahue, "and let me clarify I'm not being profane here. God, whose side are you on anyway? Joseph's or Utahna's?"

God looked over at Utahna and then at Joseph. "I'm just right here," He said.

"Between them," Phil clarified.

"Yes."

I love this story, but a lot of people won't. We see the story through the somewhat twisted POV of the Joseph, the husband. I found that intriguing, for example it made the miracle that happened at the end all the more interesting; did it really happen, or was it just Joseph's imagination? I pressed the book on my sister-in-law, and she put it down after this story. Too strange, too many sharks to be comfortable with. Okay, but if you can handle a bit of strangeness, and a good deal of sadness, to go along with the strong, faith-promoting stories offered here, I urge you to take the plunge.

Another theme in the Love Chains collection is the difficulties and strange juxtapositions which occur when the Mormon culture and faith interact with African-American and Central American (specifically Mayan) cultures. Two very painful stories concern first contact between "shiny and sassy" white Mormons, confident in their faith, and Blacks who are put off by the Mormon attitudes and history of discrimination. The three stories in the "Hermanos y hermanas" section concern Mayans in a small village in Guatemala, and their acceptance of the Mormon faith, sometimes in ways incomprehensible to the North Americans who bring that faith to them. The North Americans' inability to understand the indigenous language is symbolic of their failure to fully comprehend the souls of the locals. The stories strongly affirm, however, that despite the lack of understanding, and even conflict, between cultures, that all involved are true brothers and sisters. One story ends this way, after a shared communication through Handel's Messiah at a funeral,

"'Hermanos y hermanas,' said Jose, then spoke the language I could not understand."

Despite the deep chasm of differences, the commonalities between peoples gives us hope.

A third theme which pops up often in Young's work is caring for the sick and elderly, and the toll that physical decay takes on both the afflicted and the care givers.

So, what we have here is a writer with literary skills of such excellence that she has won several awards and has been published by a

university press. She writes meaningfully about us, in ways that ultimately, I believe, serve to strengthen our faith. What are you waiting for?

This is one of the greatest books ever written! A must read for every leader no matter what age or occupation. Superbly written with real life stories that will make you laugh and cry and when you do put down the book it will cause you to think about your life and what it is that you are living for!

This book includes 3 screenplays by Ingmar Bergman: "Scenes From a Marriage", "Face to Face" and "Autumn Sonata". They are translated from Swedish by Alan Blair. The book includes black & white still photos from the three films.

These translations are much better than the subtitles used in most versions of the Bergman films themselves, and they don't leave anything out (unlike subtitles)!

The Homecoming dance is just around the corner and the only thing the twins have on their minds are boys. The only problem is they have no idea what actually makes boys tick. Susan decides that Christine should dress up as a boy and find out what boys really think and do when girls aren't around. So Christine invents "Charlie Pratt", and says that he is the girls' cousin who is visiting the Pratt twins and going to school with Susan while Christine is out sick. This is a hilarious book that is timeless in its theme. Any young child would love Susan and Christine's adventure in what exactly drives boys.

My kids all love this book. I love the vibrant and imaginatively drawn pictures, and we are all big Blair Drawson fans. Sometimes when we go for walks in the part we pretend to be trees, just like Mary Margaret! This would be a very good book for teachers to read their children in the spring time.

He leído un comentario en Financial Times Telecoms/21, Thu 18Mar99. Me ha llamado la atención el título del trabajo de Alvin Toffler: "Shocks, Waves and Power in the Digital Age", (que integra conceptos de sus tres obras famosas). Todavía no le he recibido. Lo espero con interés.

This book, first published in 1977, was the first (as far as I know) serious attempt to analyze the psychology of Star Trek. Karin Blair, herself a Jungian, takes up the question of how characters in The Original Series (TOS) represent various Jungian archetypes in the human psyche. Using specific episodes as examples, she explores authority, masculinity and femininity, inner dualities, outer opposites of good and evil, mind versus emotion, etc. Leonard Nimoy said of this book that it is "thorough, intelligent, and meaningful" (cover blurb.) According to Gene Roddenberry's biography ("Star Trek Creator"), the Great Bird was very impressed with it also -- which is what led me to track down a copy for myself.

Especially interesting to me was Karin's analysis of the Kirk-Spock-McCoy triad as representing past (McCoy), present (Kirk), and future (Spock.) Although my own analysis differs considerably from hers (mine is based more on kabbalah than Jung), her thesis is carefully thought out and well-presented. For many early Trek fans, Karin's POV became the lens through which they viewed the triad relationships, and it remains so for many Classic Trekkers today.

Non-Jungians and modern feminists may balk at some of Karin's comments about the symbolism of women in classic Trek, especially the "Monstrous Mother" and "Disposeable Female" chapters. But before you throw the book across the room, keep in mind that these are basic themes that occur in many classic mythologies around the world. Star Trek, in turn, drew inspiration from these mythologies for many of its TOS episodes. At the very least, Karin's analysis helps explain where some of these early Trek themes came from, and why they have such wide popularity. (The section on the sex appeal of Spock among women will raise a few eyebrows!) Dated or not, this book was a groundbreaking work in its time, and should be in the library of every serious Star Trek fan.

I have used this book since it first came out. I also have "Country Cakes" and it is just fabulous. I understand the author plans to reprint, due to popular demand, and the books will be available in early November. Two cookbooks worth having in your collection!

The catchy title of Mind Munchies immediately got my attention. The book is full of creative thoughts in bite-size morsels. Some of the Munchies are helpful, some are insightful, and some are downright brilliant. Mind Munchies is a great source of direction-setting content.