My first reading of Keeper of the Bees was on my grandmother's back porch in the early 60's. When I asked for the book a few years later, she had donated it to her local library. As a parent, I began searching for Gene Stratton Porter books as I traveled, because I wanted to share them with my daughters. Some were easy to find, others were quite difficult. Keeper of the Bees was the most difficult, and it was several years before I found a copy--a first edition. It was like being on my grandparent's sleeping porch all over again. I read it and then read it to my family on a long road trip. Mrs. Porter didn't write a sequel because she was killed the same year this book was released. It was in a car accident in California, where she had moved because she was involved in producing several movies of her stories. Unfortuntely, those early movies seem to have disappeared. There's a recent G. S. P. autobiography, and a PBS special on her life. I've collected all of her fiction, but her naturalist books are beyond my pocketbook... selling for $400 and up. This is an author worth pursing.

I, too, read The Keeper of the Bees as a teenager. The vivid images and reliable wisdom of this book are useful to me even now, forty years later! This is a classic, and I am delighted to see it still in circulation and well-read. The beekeeping principles that are woven into the story are authentic, as I found out a year or two after reading the book. The medical principles of healing are still being explored, but the vital role of the patient's frame of mind have been demonstrated to be important. There's a lot of truth to be learned from Ms. Stratton-Porter, and I recommend The Keeper to readers of any age, and particularly to young men.

I am the third generation in my family who fell in love with Gene Stratton-Porter!This book is about a world war 1 soldier who escapes from a rehabilitation camp in California. He finds himself helping a sick old man care for his bees. This book was so good that I felt like I was standing there, watching everything unfold. I think that you should read this book.

Fun book to peruse. I'd have liked more details about construction of props or pics of props being built. Also, more "Star Wars" than "Raiders" despite the title.

This book offers an inside look at the huge collection of the Lucasfilm Archives. Conceptual art, models, props, puppets, masks, and various other movie making elements from the original STAR WARS and INDIANA JONES trilogies are examined and the last few pages look at three or four items from other Lucasfilm projects including WILLOW and HOWARD THE DUCK. The text is more than just element descriptions and some of the information is interesting and rather fascinating. A great book for any STAR WARS and/or INDIANA JONES fan and a must for a Lucas buff.

This book is proof positive why George Lucas and Speilberg will always be superior to the Star Trek Franchise with their brand of movies. The pictures in this one are a must have for any fan of Star Wars or Indiana Jones. The complete story boards. Not just crude renderings. The masks, the designs that didn't make it into the movie. The characters in all their films are not by formula. All the Star Wars aliens and models from Return of the Jedi are in this volume. You can see how closely the story boards match what would eventually would become the movie.

Horwitz made Morgan's trek through Ohio come alive; a fine contribution to the literature for which he should be justly proud.

My son came to the house to assist me in some latent yard clean-up; last vestiges of the April 9th tornado. He opened the book, was transfixed and never found time to help his father. Testimony to the book's captivation.

Mr. Horwitz has crafted a superb account of the South's only significant incursion of the western war into the North. Not only does his book fill a void in the literature of Civil War Military history, his book is a fascinating depiction of the times. It conveys how people felt, acted, and thought during our nation's greatest conflict. This book is compelling and insightful reading about General Morgan, his officers,principal antagonists,soldiers, and civilians. Mr. Horwitz is to be commended.

The book is a classic example of narrative, or romantic, historical writing, with the sense of immersion in the period, of immediacy, that is so refreshing in an age of hype, political correctness, cant, and bad writing. Horwitz is certainly in good company; two landmark historians, Gibbon and Parkman, share his style.

It's late November, 1932, and the entire nation is feeling the effects of the Great Depression. Christmas is nearing, but for many families, it will be a joyless holiday. Eleven-year-old Minnie Swift fears that will be the case for her family. Although her father still has a job, he hasn't been making much money. Life changes for the whole family, however, when Minnie's orphaned cousin, Willie Faye, comes to live with the family. Eleven-year-old Willie Faye is the same age as Minnie, but she is very different. Having grown up in the dust bowl of Texas, she's had an even harder life than Minnie. Minnie and her older sisters, and even her pesky younger brother, welcome Willie Faye into their family. But when her father loses his job, Minnie fears that her family will soon be joining the homeless. This wonderful new Dear America book, told through Minnie's diary entries over the month from Thanksgiving to Christmas, showed how the love in a family could help make the worst of times bearable. All fans of the series will want to read this book.

Do you like books taking place in history with a fun story to it? If you do this would be a great book for you!This takes place in 1932 during the Great Depression in Indianapolis,Indiana.
This is about a family who gets a new member, their cousin, Willie Faye, from Texas. She is very different from all of the family, except for Minnie who is the same age. This book explains how many people loose thier jobs, and Minnies father was one of them. Suddenly something happened; someone was missing but you'll have to read the book to find out!
This book has a lot of surprises, and the characters are always coming up with exciting ideas. For example,Minnie and Willie Faye don't have any money, so they make their Christmas gifts. Now you'll never belive what they use to decorate the gifts, but chicken feathers from their very own live chickens! There are many more exciting events through out the book!
I think this author was trying to give the message that no matter how poor, or how rich you are you still have the love in your heart that somehow everyone will get a chance to live the life they deserve.

This is a great book. There are lots of funny twists to it. Like, for example, their servant, Jackie, goes to lots of funerals and takes pictures of the bodies in the caskets to show everybody back home. Another funny twist is when a chicken they bought from some friends gets frozen to the trash can and the parents pour ale over it to get the ice to melt. The chicken has one leg that turns black and falls off, and hopped around on one leg, falling face-down wherever it hopped, so Jackie killed it for dinner. The best part is that my town, Greenfield, is a suburb of Indianapolis!

I am a 12 year old girl. I thought this book was perfect. IT is about a young boy who moves to the woods to work at the limberlost. THere, he meets a girl. He enjoys being around her a lot. But a bad gang comes and tries to steal trees. Freckles must stop them. With a little help, he can! Read this book anyone my age would love it. It's one of those really good ones you can get into!

Suffering from the "unfairness of life" a young man makes choices. Abandoned at birth with only one arm, Freckles chooses to love....and love He does! He finds the world about him the object of his intense love. He finds the people about him worthy of love. Finally, he finds himself not worthy to love one special girl and is surprised in the end with her response. We are led into a magical world where love is not yet tarnished with selfishness. A joy to read again and again and a very special foundation to preteen and teen training in love.

This is the best book I have ever read! I am 13 years old, and have read the book twice. Gene Stratton Porter is a great writer, and has wonderful concepts. Freckles is a great roll model for boys and girls alike, and is so humble! He will not let the "Swamp Angel" marry him, because he has only one hand, is an orphan, and has no knowledge of "honerable birth" which he thinks is very important. I think anyone who has read this book will agree with me, that this is a wonderful book. If you liked this book, you will also like "A Girl of the Limberlost" the sequel to "Freckles". From 1 to 10, I give this book an 11!

This was the fourth Indy book by MacGregor I've read.
Like the rest, I found it well-written but dry at times.
There tends to be less action than the movies but, in it's
defense, his charactization of Indy is pretty close.
On the most positive note,this book kept more with the movies than the previous ones did, as there is a race to gain a Biblical artifact; and some religious issues were touched on between the opposing sides.
Personally, the most negative point I found was Indy spends most of book either captured or getting beat up and THEN captured.
Granted, I know we're talking about a younger Indy here and he
doesn't have his later experience but, he's still Indiana Jones.
Let's bust a few heads already. We're four books in now and the
action is still lacking.

This was the first Indiana Jones novel I had ever read, it won't be the last. I really enjoyed it and found the book to be just as exciting as the movies. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of Turkey and the many twists and turns of the plot! By the time the book was over I was ready to read another. I just ordered three more and plan to read them all. Good for readers of all ages. A thrilling respite from "heavy" reading and a pure joy for those adventurous of spirit!

This is an action packed adventure with Indiana Jones searching for Noah's Ark! After fighting off to Russian twins through the whole book, Indiana Jones tries two find the Ark on top of a mountain where it landed hundreds of years ago. Can Indy survive the dangerous trail to the top?, or will the Russians find him first? Great Book! A+!

I am a twenty-four year old husband, and father, and I've just recently began to really enjoy reading. Although most of the books that I've read have been either action adventures, or romantic adventures, I must say that I now understand why my wife so enjoys love stories. When I first picked up the book to read, I really didn't know what to expect, but within only a few pages I was allready falling in love with Callie Anne. As I read farther into the book, I found my eyes reading every word, while my mind went on a wonderful adventure in rural Indiana. This book brought back memories of my childhood growing up out in the country, and of my young loves. Sometimes I find myself not loving my Wife the way that she needs to be loved, and reading this book really helped me to understand how beautiful she is and that life is too short to take her for granted. Callie Anne also reminds me of how I imagine my little girl to be when she grows up some more. Marjorie Reynolds is a wonderful Author, And I'm looking forward to reading more of her books.

This is by far, one of the best books that I have ever read. From the moment the first chapter turns the clock back to the summer of 1956, I lived out the remainder of the story through Callie Ann's eyes. Marjorie Reynolds paints a clear and vivid picture of the little white house where Callie Ann lives, and the drive in across the grass that stays open all summer. As I absorbed chapter after chapter, all of my senses shifted into overdrive. It was easy to picture the brightly printed shirtwaister dresses that Callie Ann's mother wears, the hot gravel that lines the parking lot and the dreamy romantic entanglements that play themselves out on the big screen as well as below it. This book puts the reader in touch with the all of the wonderful elements of summer while focusing on the heartache of being twelve years old and not really knowing who to turn to when things get rough. I was even able to put faces on the characters, and would love to see this story made into a movie one day. A beautiful first novel!

has the two ingrediants of a first rate read- a wonderful story, wonderfully told in prose. when i read this book i could smell the popcorn, feel the sweat of teenage hunger, and remember ripping out the speaker (by accident) when leaving. i loved this book, and look forward to reynolds next book with fingers crossed hoping she at least matches the starlite drive-i

This is the third Indy book I've read so far, and it is by far the best. The opening sequence is a thrilling introduction to the novel, and the addition of the crystal skull to the plot is a great bonus. At first I was disapointed by the world of Indy novels, finding Rob MacGregor's books a bit bland. Now that I have read McCoy's work, though, my faith has been restored. Keep 'em coming!

This was the first Indy novel that I've read out of two. This book was awsome, all of the action, romance, and suspence were pretty much balanced out equaly. I think that Max McCoy is the best Indy author based on my experience and what I have read by other people. I like how Max brings out the thoughts and feelings of Indy, it's as if he were standing write there in front of you! My favorite part wwas probably how Sarducci died. I was never expecting anything like it!

I could not believe how fabulous this book was! I was truly amazed! Max Mycoy is a FABULOUS author, and catches all the great aspects of Indy and even Marcus Brody and Sallah. I loved the character Alecia, she was the perfect character to go along with Indy. The villian, Sarducci, reminded me of a cross between Belloq and the man in black from Raiders, EVIL! Mycoy also was able to add that humor in parts where it wasn't expected, which made it seem as if Ford was jumping from the pages I really enjoyed this book, It's a hands down MUST buy! The Prolouge was SOOOOO amazing, that that alone will URGE you to read on, believe me...this book is AMAZING!

A year in the life of a number of teams from all over the state of Indiana. This book profiles the last year of one class basketball--"as it should be."

Who will win Mr. Basketball--The best player in the state or the one with the best publicity machine? Does race matter?

While the writing style is easy to read, it's almost like reading newspaper accounts and this is the only thing keeping this book from 5 stars.

This book reminds me of listening to 1190 AM WOWO and the crazy call in shows where scores are reported from all over the state with brief summaries. You hit all the big games for the top stars for the year. And of course there still lives the dream of the small school David conquering the Goliath of New Castle Chrysler etc...

Truly a three point basket!

Having watched Mr Gildea's interview on Booknotes with Brian Lamb (CSPAN), I was immediately interested in the subject matter. Being a hoosier heightened my interest.

Mr Gildea takes the reader on a magical journey through what was Hoosier Hysteria at tournament time. He captured the true spirit of Indiana High School basketball with his vivid descriptions of the gymnasiums and people, past and present, that are Indiana ledgond.

A thoroughly delightfull read. My only dissappointment, and it is minor at best, is that he didn't focus on any of my town's schools and their brushes with the coveted championship. I say this tongue in cheek of course. I wouldn't be a true hoosier otherwise.

Thank you Mr Gildea!!!

I LOVED this book! I thought it was one of the best basketball books ever written. It's especially different for me to read because I am from Florida and like my mom says, "bball just isn't the same down here as it is up there". It sounds much more exciting and the fans actually get into it. I'm a diehard Hoosier fan and this book helped alot! I really LOVED the pictures of Luke Recker!

We have been teased with 3 Max McCoy's books, when does the next Indiana Jones book come out? I just don't like it when a hero forgets his adventures. Overall, McCoy does a fine job with the spirit of adventure that is Indiana Jones.

Max McCoy didn't write a good book with Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs, but this new book is more action-packed, exciting, and hard to put down once you get into it. Max is an intelligent author and knows how to write a good Indy adventure featuring humor, suspense and exciting situation (maybe not as exciting as the movies, but those are hard to convey on paper... "Indy is chased by a huge boulder..." See what I mean?) All in all, a book worth buying if you are into Indy adventure novels. Carlos DaSilv

Max McCoy is the best author yet for Indiana Jones. When I read one of his books I feel like I'm watching the movie. This book has a lot of action and a wonderful plot. I especially like the part in Edda's shaft. With the warriors and..... If you like Indiana Jones stories read this book to find out what happens!