but I've stayed up a few nights with it, just the same.

This is one of those books that you're better off with if you can find a musty, well-loved copy. It just lends itself to that old-fashioned smell. It's a beautifully simple story about dark sorcery, good guys fighting bad guys, and improbable romance.

The characters are great, better than I expected to find in a book like this. Rhianna is a willowy girl who holds powerful magic locked within her. But instead of being a helpless damsel who erupts in fire at the last minute, she turns out to be practical, clever enough to fend for herself, and emotionally strong. I don't think she ever even gets taken hostage.

Instead, Kaedric does all the erupting in fire. Tall, dark, intimidating, brooding, Kaedric is a throwback to the days of the Wizard Kings, sorcerers so powerful they shaped the very earth to their whims. Kaedric broods so much that he seems to be more of a shadow cast across the story than an actual character half the time. But at least he doesn't brood in an annoying way. He's got a bit of a dark streak in his personality too, which lends a bit of depth to the storyline.

He's on a quest, she wants freedom from an oppressive family life. They manage to meet somewhere in the middle and (this actually is a shock) fall for each other.

In the meantime, of course, the world is being threatened by an evil wizard, and naturally it takes the both of them to stop it. Simple plot, interesting story. It's not cluttered up by plot twists or moralizing; if you're looking for those then head elsewhere. What you'll find here is good old-fashioned quests and wizardry, some nice explosions, a touch of darkness, a brooding hero and a resilient young heroine. And really, what more do you need?

Well, and maybe there're one or two twists after all.

Cheryl J. Franklin is the BEST author in reality. Her books are complex yet comprehendable. Somehow she manages to edit the possibilities and impossibilities. Reading her books allow you to leave the real world behind. Whoever put this book out of print needs a brain transplant. She takes an old topic- a noble-blooded girl with an ogreish father and a dead mother runs away from an unsatisfactory marraige and has adventures concerning the fate of all she holds dear, and finds a love along the way- and makes it original; uncontaminated. My mother bought an old copy from a library for 25 cents and gave it to me. I, at the time was reading the same Frank Herbert and Tamora Pierce(I'm 12 yrs old, but don't let that bias you) books over and over again, I was so hungry for a good book. I looked at, eventually decided that there should be some sense in the saying, "you can't judge a book by it's cover" and read it. It was amazing: the best book I have ever read (trust me, I have read a LOT of books, and none have come near to rivaling this one, although some of Franklin's other books...).Kaedric, Rhianna's love,is a hero in his own right, not just someone she beds, which is a nice change. This is a book you can read over and over, and it get's better every time.

Fire Get is a work of art, which, even now can hold a person spellbound. Franklin's descriptive use of words creates for a the reader a world so powerful and full of magic, sorcerors and adventure. Kaedric, our hero cum villain is a man who, quite frankly I would LOVE to meet, and Rhianna the heroine is a credit to the female; she has the strength to capture the love of a man so complex as Kaedric.

Like an embroiderer Franklin threads a story so compelling... combining romance, danger, fun and adventure so expertly it takes your breath away to read the result.

All hail Franklin for this masterpiece!!

No reviews yet, I can't believe it. Buy this book for it's great introduction to Autralian life in 1800s as seen by a young woman trying to achieve what she wants in life.

Young Sybilla finds herself stuck in the arid Australian Outback, talking to the pigs for intelligent conversation, in the absence of her father. From these lowly beginnings, her ambition for her 'Brilliant Career' takes her along a melodramatic path of humour and tragedy.

For all the young women of today who don't think feminism is relevant, read this and see how much you take for granted.

Also read 'My Brillian Career Goes Bung', for the real life story of the author, which is every bit as strange and fascinating as the fictional character in this book.

This book is a bit like a grown-up Little House in the Prairie but set in 19th century outback Australia rather than the Wild West of the US.

This is a story of a young, spirited woman who rebels against convention and the desire of her relatives that she marry the wealthy, and (it has to be said) highly desirable, local squatter (swoon! swoon!). Unlike Laura Ingalls, Sybilla chooses the road less travelled and refuses to marry. She follows her dreams instead.

What makes this book so remarkable is that it was written 100 years ago yet the voice of the narrator is so fresh. The book is funny and inspiring. I first read it when I was a teenager and my love for it has never diminished. If you cannot read the novel, try to see the film with Judy Davis and Sam Neill which brings the book wonderfully to life. The movie is as much of an Australian classic as the book.

I'm not exactly sure, but I think that MF wrote this book when she was still fairly young (16 or 17), and it sends shivers down my spine to think of a young girl with such energy and pride so long ago. This is a story about a girl in Australia end of the 19th century, and what happens to her when she visits other families and places and the decisions she makes. Some of the decisions she makes seem to be fairly self-destructive, and it's interesting to think about why she made them - too young to know better, too scared, not able to compromise. The heroine is a very strong character, flawed but understandable. I really, really like this book (incidentally, my ex-boyfriend found it almost unreadable). I think of it as relating to feminism; but that's just my bias. It's actually just a good yarn.

Hmm. Australian women have their own history. Is this interesting to anyone other than myself?

I've only read the first fifty or so Casefiles, but this one was the best. Frank and Joe discover a company that specializes in helping criminals disappear from the police. There are some great thrills and cliffhanger chapters in this one, plus a lot of suspense as the Hardy Boys slowly uncover the scope of the operation.

So, were back to another Hardy Boy Mystery. Full of the usual bombs, guns, and brains. The hardys get involved in a crime cruse in which if a criminal needs an escape. Here's where they go. Skipping from part to part Frank and Joe manage to uncover a crime ring. This ring of crime is different from the rest though, instead of commiting the crimes, this ring helps criminals to get out of the country! The leader of this travle ring, will stop at nothing to get the hardye out of his way! For once, I actually engoyed a Hardy Boy mystery. I didn't just read it to laugh at. This is Franklin W. Dixon at his best.

Absolutely loved this one - Frank & Joe tangle with plenty of high profile international criminals when they try to infiltrate a criminal getaway service. Great camradrie between Frank & Joe..not the least bit kiddish.

We have read this over and over! My son loves Franklin and wehave been able to use this book to help him understand the importanceof taking care of his room.

Like all the Franklin books, I found "Franklin is Messy" a delight to read with my young son. The pictures are lively and the story is one many children can relate to in their own lives. Another important feature is the use of cardboard swords as opposed to toy guns, which Franklin and his friends played with. The swords were used against imaginary dragons and not against each other. I would like to thank the authors for that. Children will play these sorts of games, but in this case the friends aren't directing any violence towards each other.

The first time I read this book to my son, almost 5 years old, he quietly sat and thought about it for a while afterwards. It actually motivated him to clean up and keep up (well,for a while at least!) his room. It gives a child great motivation to clean up by showing what treasures they might have lost that might turn up. My almost three year old daughter carries it around with her all the time. A wonderful, sweet and funny book!

I turned to Roy Nichols' work because truthfully there isn't much of a Franklin Pierce bibliography. Nichols' work dates back to 1931, an era of different writing styles and certainly different interpretations of American political life.

When I refer to this work as a "Plodder," I intend no disrespect. Nichols work is, for the most part, a straightforward biography of a New Hampshire politician who became an unlikely compromise candidate for the presidency in 1852. To borrow a sports analogy, one has to be in a position to win in order to win, and the author painstakingly traces the steps of this methodical politician that put him in lightning's way.

Nichols leaves the reader with ample evidence to believe that Franklin Pierce owed at least something of his steady rise through local offices to the reputation of his father, General Benjamin Pierce, a Revolutionary war hero and governor of New Hampshire in his own right. Franklin graduated from Bowdoin and began his lawn practice precisely at the heydey of his father's own success. A late twentieth century biographer most certainly would have delved into the psychodynamics between father and son.

In the style of the day, Nichols hints at, but does not detail, several critical factors in Pierce's life. His marriage to Jane Appleton smacks of Lincoln's trials with Mary Todd. His drinking was problematic. His absence of commitment to one of the proper religious denominations of the day was noted then by those who charted such things. He seemed to have been unduly shaken early in his congressional career when John Calhoun denounced him on the floor over a ludicruously insignificant matter. Later The reader is left to surmise the impact of a horrific family tragedy upon Pierce's state of mind as he prepared to take the presidential oath in 1853.

Nichols' Pierce was himself a plodder who for the most part achieved political offices the old fashioned way: he earned it, and particularly by his services within the Democratic Party. Pierce enforced party discipline with a ruthlessness that served him well early in his career, but his intractibility was a serious handicap in the 1850's as America saw multiple realignments of political families. Nichols recounts the presidential years in straightforward fashion, but he deftly questions the wisdom of trying to build national unity through a "representative" cabinet of such diverse characters as Jefferson Davis and William Marcy. The upshot of such a strategy was a not unexpected rearguard action from within the executive branch that stymied the few genuine executive initiatives from the presidential desk.

Much to his credit, Nichols reminds his readers that the Pierce Presidency was more than Bleeding Kansas. In fact, one is left with the impression that Pierce never had the full picture of the Kansas situation. The years 1853-1857 were times of Indian wars in the northwest, railroad dealings and wheelings north and south, filibustering in central America, the emergence of the Know-Nothings, and a variety of midrange diplomatic problems with England and Spain in particular. Some of Pierce's diplomats--Pierre Soule and Dan Sickles, for example--did not represent him well. There is surprisingly little information about reaction to the Fugitive Slave Law; Pierce never waivered in his belief that the growing vocal reaction against slavery was nothing more than the annoyance of a few malcontents, an impression formed in New Hampshire in the 1830's when Pierce was laboring to build party unity.

The absence of a psychological vocabulary hinders Nichols when he attempts to describe the dissolution of Pierce after his presidency. As the Civil War unfolds, Pierce's inability to either understand its forces or accept the new national order becomes eery. In the structured world of Franklin Pierce, the abolitionists are the villains, true anarchists, and their sin is disruption of the Democratic Party. The moral component of both "causes," north and south, totally escaped him...

I had always been somewhat intrigued by Franklin Pierce, perhaps our most obscure president. I would wonder why he was almost neglected by history while other presidents got much more press. As I eventually learned - and as this book reaffirms - there is a reason he is almost completely ignored. Pierce represented the nadir of the Presidency, a period that by historical circumstances and Pierce's own lack of ability made presidential power as weak as it ever would be.

Nichols's book describes the early life of Pierce. The son of a Revolutionary War veteran, Pierce used his family connections and his own gifts of intelligence and oratory to rise in the local political community, first on a state level and then eventually into both houses of Congress. While adept enough to get these positions, he never really sparkled at any of them; his period as a general in the Mexican War is similarly unimpressive.

The Democratic Party, desperate to find a nominee in 1852, eventually settled on Pierce, not because he was a great candidate, but - as a Northerner with distinctly pro-Southern views - he was the only candidate with wide geographical appeal. Attaining the Presidency, he did little to calm the growing North-South rift and, in fact, left things in a sadder state than when he left.

Nichols portrays Pierce sympathetically enough as a man beset by poor health, a hard-to-live-with wife and a series of family tragedies, culminating with seeing the death of his last child in an accident just prior to his inauguration. Pierce, however, was also a politician with little political awareness, oblivious to the growing conflict over slavery and with sympathies in complete contrast to that of his New Hampshire neighbors. Compared with most of his fellow Presidents, Pierce wound up dying in ignonimy.

This is a good book, very detailed and with a high level of objectivity, and can be considered probably the best book on Pierce. Originally written in the 1930s, Nichols occasionally uses language that may seem quaint to modern eyes, but this is still quite readable. If you want to learn about Franklin Pierce (and the era leading up to the Civil War), this is a good place to start.

625 pages, 76 chapters, 10 illustrations. Comprehensive, scholarly, thoroughly researched biography of an underrated President who was a victim of his times and of the tragedies of his own life. Many important American historical events, which the author puts in context, occurred during the Pierce administration. Events leading to, and immediately following, the Civil War were paramount. Preface to first edition was written in 1931. Second editon was published 27 years later and was "completely revised." Difficult but fascinating reading.

This is a good book and he sermons read well. But while this is not bad on paper, this might be better as an audio book or on CD. Havign heard Rev. Franklin's sermons on the radio as a child (including some of the ones included in this book), I could testify that you would be better off hearing this.

In this collection of sermons and a narrative of a life, delivered to Jeff Todd Titon by the Reverend Franklin himself, the language and performance ability of a gifted preacher are presented carefully and revealingly. We learn how Franklin interpreted his conversion to the ministry, what it means to give a good sermon, and how Franklin's life history affected his religous work. The sermons themselves are presented with effective ethnopoetics which reveal the rhythms and pacing of Franklin's sermons. Yet, the texts of the sermons fail to reveal how the congregation responded to Franklin's sermons, and that audience response is integral to understanding the way Franklin spoke and paced and performed his sermons. I would also be interested in some analysis of the sermons, though I like that their presentation is in fact privileged, and absent of the editor's voice. Overall, an important and affective work that should be read by anyone who's interested in African American sermonic discourse, music, or religous traditions.

To begin with some background on Rev. Franklin: he was born in that hotbed of Afro-American culture, the Mississippi Delta; was a prodigy like his daughter Aretha, in that he was called to preach at fifteen; and was one of the ministers who backed Dr. King whenever the civil rights movement needed funds. Rev. Franklin became nationally known in the black community for the beauty, the literacy, the poetry of his song sermons. Besides his church work, he became a recording artist and toured with Aretha. His song sermons are divided into a prose development of his theme, which are studded with home truths about human nature and find deep and original insights in even the most well-worked veins of Biblical interpretation, and then break into the "whooping" of black preachers, which is rendered in the book as poetry. Finally he often turns to outright song. It is hard to exaggerate the important of Rev. Franklin as an artist. His is a God of kindness, power and patience; his is a vision that sees hardship as the teacher of wisdom, and his poetry are parables which lift each piece into a realm of exaltation. Several of the sermons recorded in the mid-1950's are uncanny predictions of the upcoming civil rights movment, when Afro-Americans took matters into their own hands and faced their oppressors by appealing to their better natures.

And if I say this book soars with the music of Mozart, do not say I exaggerate; and if I say this book is as wise as the wisdom of Solomon, do not say I am foolish; and if I say this book touches with the beauty of the Good Samaritian, do not say I chase dreams; for we are better than we think we are.

Well, they published a series of bland stories with bland characters and cliched plots, might as well bank on that with a book that tells you how to be that bland and predictable. Actually, The Hardy Boys Detective Handbook is an interesting read and if you ever wanted an up-to-date manual on how criminal investigations were conducted 30 years ago then this is the book for you. For nostalgia freaks this book will be a bonanza of delight and all those who are in close proximity when they have this book in their possession may be in for a contact high. Fans of the series will definitely enjoy this one as Frank W. Dixon, a pseudonymn for about a thousand ghostwriters, and a retired FBI agent (I forget his name) give you tips on how to be just like those nice, clean cut boys who somehow manage to get involved in criminal investigations.

I already own this, & I like it. It very useful.

This book is great for any kids who want to be detectives. It is one of the greatest books I ever read.

You should consider reading this book. It's got action that won't let you stop reading the book. It is about a hi-jacking of a plane and leads to many close calls and death defying moments. The book has everything you could want in a good book: action, betrayal, and a whole lot of thrill. If you want to read a good book, read this.

I love this book! In it a planeload of people are hijacked by real terrorists at an anti-terrorism seminar. Frank and Joe go undercover and infiltrate the terrorists, in search of their leader. This is a great Casefile. Any fan should read it! IT SHOULDN'T BE OUT OF PRINT!!!!

This book has to be one of the best Casefiles ever written. It mixes a blend of tension and action and keeps a firm grip on the reader, encouraging them to continue. It is written in a film style and leaves the reader a very easy job in picturing the events.

Although it could be argued that the plot (an aeroplane hijacking, and the Hardys' efforts to end it)is difficult to believe, this does not matter as the result is explosively enthralling. It is easy to feel the frustration and jubilation of both the main characters as they move from one scene to the next, having infiltrated the evil terrorist group.

There is a spectacular finale, but if you want to find out what it is, then get this book. It is difficult to get much better than this.

For those interested in the current state of liberal arts and the performing arts among institutions of higher learning, this is a book worth adding to one's library.The section of the book dealing with the political and corporate influence on higher education during the post WWII period make intere4sting reading, although one may question the conclusions the author has drawn. The author is an excellent writer and has important things to say. The book, however, is highly derivative and thus it is difficult to separate his voice from all the quotes and references. Dr. Himes' views could provide an important contribution ti the refining and improvement of the Performing Arts curriculum of US colleges and universities. .

I sincerely like this book. I first picked it up mainly out of a curiosity over what was meant by the " massacre of genius." I discovered that the author defines genius as a special wisdom that we all have but because of the dominance of Western objectivism, it is rarely explored. The fact that the Dramatic Arts were used as the model for Hime's theories was also interesting. I have heard college and university theatre students complain about many of the very things he explains in this book. For example, the writer brings out the fact that university theatre needs to be a laboratory where students are told that their mistakes are merely a part of their growth and not a reflection on their ability and that the Dramatic Arts must become a course of study where students are led to discover the extent of their abilities and desire as well as receive a general education through, what he calls, "layered instruction." Because this kind of training is rarely, if ever, being done, the full intellectual and creative potential of the vast majority of students is being "massacred." What I found particularly interesting was the author's dual emphasis upon student and faculty self-discovery and interdisciplinary collaboration. I liked the way he used established scholars to substantiate his theories, which if he had not, much of the surprising information he has uncovered would be hard to believe. I am amazed at why it's so difficult for dedicated educators to put into effect student-centered programs. It was frustrating at first when I found that I had to read this book slowly, a little bit at a time, in order to digest the information. The author doesn't present his concepts in a simple fashion which makes this book a challenge to read. But, the author states that a paradigm is suppose to stimulate thought and not dictate solutions. And so, I had to form my own beliefs about what I was reading. It reminded me of the book, HOW WE THINK by John Dewey. In my opinion, the writer of THE JANUS PARADIGM has a similar enigmatic style and thought provoking outlook about the development of higher education since 1950 and where it's heading in the next century as Dewey did about the twentieth century. Dan Beutner, professional educator

This book kicks butt! Finally somebody wrote a book who understands what students are going through. Dr. Himes writes about the things that too many professors are afraid to discuss. He even brings out that fact-- explains why, and offers solutions about how the faculty and administration can improvethe current situation and lack of understanding. This guy recognizes the fact that we are paying a lot more for our education and so deserve more attention and time from professors. We are not paying all this money to support their research-we want to learn directly from them and we want them to give us the time we are paying for instead of spending most of it on their own publications for advancement. There's a lot of real great ideas in this book that people who run colleges and work in them should pay attention to and even give them a try. I recommend this book to college students too! It's helped me realize what to look for in a class or professor and know more about what is right and wrong with how I am being given the grades that will affect my whole life. The book could be used as an awesome discussion focus between students and teachers. What's also cool, I thought, is that it's written like a reference book so I could read about I was interested in at the time and not have to read everything to get the important stuff. We need more books like this one.

I decided to look up the Amazon site for Spencie Love's book "One Blood," because I recently wrote a review of Phillip Roth's "The Human Stain, where I point out the erroneous information provided by a character about the death of Dr. Charles Drew. The character claimed that Drew bled to death because he was refused admission to a Caucasian hospital due to his race. Lo and behold I look up this Amazon site and read the Ingram review of "One Blood," only to discover that it too, has erroneous information. The review claims that Drew was refused admission to one hospital, then treated in the emergency room of a segregated hospital, after which he bled to death. Apparently, the reviewer didn't read Love's book either. That's not what she describes as happening. Drew was IMMEDIATELY admitted to the emergency room of Allamance County Hospital in Allamance County, North Carolina, where doctors couldn't save him because he was entirely too injured to be saved. Love makes this VERY CLEAR in the book. The Ingram review implies that first Drew was taken to one hospital and refused admission, then taken to a "segregated" facility where he was treated, but couldn't be saved. No!!! This is not what Love says happened. In the book she describes how it was JUST ONE HOSPITAL ALL ALONG where Drew was taken and treated. Part of the point of her book is to correct the long held fallacy that Drew bled to death due to the refusal of a hospital to admit him. Please someone at Amazon, GET THE BOOK. Then read what she wrote. Then post my review of Roth's novel, where I express my dismay that Roth got away with furthering a myth that is still well entrenched among those who should research such matters before commenting about them (or having characters comment about them).

Spencie Love has written one of the few genuinely biracial explorations of the history of black-white relations in the United States. She uses the story of Charles Drew to illustrate the ways in which white Americans have misunderstood and distorted the contributions of black Americans to their shared culture--whether science, politics, education, medicine, or daily life. THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW called this a "superb book" and their review was spot on.

This wonderful book not only includes accurate, scholarly historical research, it tells a gripping story of two fine black families and their experience with health care for African-Americans in our society. Very readable.