One morning Jason wakes up to a dilemma - his runny nose feels unappreciated, and has run away entirely. Jason must follow his nose across the country all the way to Nose Island where he discovers a revolution is brewing. Can he stop it? Good reading skills will lend to appreciation of this zany adventure.

This is a book that respects a child's intelligence and understanding. The writing is funny and challenging and the pictures are moving -- these are images my son will remember! It's got a Harry Potter-like mix of scary, surprising, and cheerful moments that kept even MY interest.

Read it out loud and have fun!

My four year old has asked me to read her this book five times already, and we've had it for less than two days. The last time she did this was with Where the Wild Things Are. This is a truly fun book with wonderful art. The amazing thing is that I'VE enjoyed reading it each and every time.

An interesting, exciting book that I recommend to anyone with kids who like to laugh!

I came across this book at the Dearborn Arab-American Festival, the largest Arab festival in North America. And I'm so glad I did. Vivid illustrations, and an engrossing storyline. Heide reveals a very realistic Cairo street life, unknown to most Western adults, and here very easy for kids to relate to through the eyes of the young child, Ahmed. I smiled as I read and saw different scenes, like the rose-water man, remembering walking through Cairo and seeing those very people. The scenes are gritty- not white-washed; yet also very relationally connected, with people caring for each other and showing true hospitality- kareem- the hallmarks of Cairo life. This child isn't a terrorist; it's a young child; it's real life. When he finally reveals his secret, it's the joy of a child first learning to read, just like any Western or American child. But he's also truly Egyptian- he presents his name in Arabic.

After we read this, I and the children in the library learned to write our names in Arabic, and then we *had* to get some rosewater ice cream, in order to fully immerse ourselves in the book. If you can get ahold of it, I would highly recommend!

An especially beautiful and thought-provoking book. The story transports us to Cairo, Egypt, where we are invited to observe a day in the life of a young Egyptian boy who sells gas canisters to help his family. A must read if you are interested in learning about other cultures, and about the lives of millions of children around the world. The authors capture the culture, a sense of the language (poetic), the spirit of the people, as well as their philosophy of life. We even get some idea of the geography and history of Egypt; and all of this in a children's book. This is truly an wholistic piece of work. The illustrator does a marvelous job of capturing the sights and colors of Cairo. I have been so impressed by this book as to have recommended it to countless students and teachers in the school system where I teach. I have even been moved to write and thank the authors, who graciously responded.

I love this book because it conveys better than any book I've seen the magic of the breakthrough to literacy. The excitement of this working class boy who will now embark upon a whole new world because he has the first tool captures a precious moment in every child's life - and all this is accomplished with a text and illustrations that are bright and alive.

"The Day Of The Bomb" is the best history book i have ever read. Giving in complete detail a day by day trial of everything that had happen before the atom bomb was dropped. Always making you question yourself on; "was this the exact manner that things should have been done in?" Hear the struggles that people had to go through in order to survive the horrific tradgedy of "The Day Of The Bomb".

My mother read this book to me as a child and I had all but forgotten it, although traces remained since I tried (and failed) to make a thousand cranes for my sister when she was ill. Now aged 42, I was sitting in a hotel in Paris watching a program on Canal 5 about Japanese cartoons, of all things, and one dredged up the memory of the book and how deeply it had affected me as a child. I am not sure if there is a Manga film based on the book or if it simply had a similar theme.

I would recommend it to anyone, especially with children, and would dearly love to own a copy now, not only for myself but for my mother. I would also welcome correspondence from anyone on the subject, for example, does anyone know why this was written in Austria of all places?

Reviewer: Erin from Peoria, IL This book was one of the very few written on the Hiroshima bombing that I did not find both nauseating and horrifying. The way Mr. Bruckner used the views of characters ranging from a pair of young Japanese siblings, to the crew of the plane from which the Enola Gay bomb was dropped, was very interesting. At no time while reading this book did I find it tedious or drawn out. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes to read historical fiction, but doesn't want to be put to sleep after reading the first page.

My son (a 4th grader) and I just finished reading this book together. He was not a very big fan of reading before, but after this book-he has discovered a new desire. This book was very exciting and captures the readers'attention from the first few pages until the very end. It has enough cliffhangers from chapter to chapter that my son couldn't wait to find out what would happen next! (We would only read a couple of chapters a night together.) I wanted to instill in him a deep love for reading and this book has certainly started him off in the right direction. I happened to pick up this book at a second hand store for 10 cents, but now I am on the look-out for more books by Terri Fields. Most of the stores I have asked told me that alot of her books are out-of-print.So, that is why I am looking here. I definitely recommend this book to any parent whose child is either needing to do a book report or may simply want a good book to read on their own!!
Terri Fields is an excellent writer and I appreciate her talent.

it's a very good book and I just read it today (4\14\00) i was great and very funny and fun to read while at the same time a mystery

This book is about a fifth grade class that suddenly starts disappearing and only one student knows it. That girl's name was Julia. She ran and told the principal's secretary. When she went to her class everyone was there. How peculiar! She was astonished. So it kept on happening.

I think the author wanted to say that even if people aren't smart they can still help others to solve things.

I liked it because the mystery was interesting and the characters are funny.

This story brings to life the history of the US; poor immigrants struggling and succeeding, raising families, towns pulling together to take care of their own, sons fulfilling the last wishes of their parents. I found this by looking for the source of one of my favorite old movies, All Mine To Give. The movie ends with the children's finding homes and the eldest going off to work in the lumber camps. The book gives more information about thier lives after that Christmas. This is a wonderful combination to use in the classroom to bring history to life for students and to help them see that history is not dates, but people like themselves.

I first heard this book read on the "Chapter a Day" program from the University of Wisconsin radio station at Madison Wisconsin 48 years ago. I was so moved by it that I HAD to get the book! Since then, it became a family tradition to read it together with the family every Christmas afternoon. As our four children grew and left home, they, too, made it a part of their Christmas tradition. Our oldest son was a pilot in the Air Force. Wherever he was stationed at Christmas he introduced the book to families with whom he shared his Christmases (in the States and overseas). Invariably I would get an S.O.S letter to PLEASE send copies of the book because others were impressed with the story, too. Our daughter taught in grade schools and made the reading of this book to her students a part of "before Christmas" tradition. She, too, requested more copies as students bought the book as presents and wanted to start the traditional reading of the book in their families. The brave children capture your heart. You cannot forget them. And... it is a true story!

You will laugh, You will feel anger, You will be filled with compassion. And you will cry. A very tender account of one family's struggle to cope under devastating and heart wrenching circumstances. This true story is very well written and deserves to be read by everyone.

With a voice that begs contemplation and makes you want to find the everyday magic in your own life, Alexie gives us a heart-filled and heart-breaking collection of tale-like poems about Amerindian life in the 20th century and beyond.
Stunning.

Sorry if that sounded gushy, but throughout the pathos and humor, I coulldn't help but marvel at this man's spirit-- and his literary skills. I've seen his interviews and featured bios on television and reading his work brings it all to life. I wish I had his ability to draw verbal pictures. Thank you for being you!

A very sad collection of pieces by Alexie, covering all manner of topics of res life. More impressive, however, is his use of style and technique in these works. Sometimes in traditional poem format, sometimes in prose writing, flirting with fiction storytelling. Around every page is a new experience. This is a great collection.

The photographs in this book are mesmerising, and the accompanying text gives you a real insight into the lives of this legendery group. Truly a book to have on display and not on the bookshelf.

A beaut! The cover and paper qualities set the tone of the content. The candid humorous posed and unposed photos are an absolute delight. I love the edge to edge photos which are complemented by the definite lack of color throughout the book, enhancing it's stylish feel. A wonderful book for anybody to enjoy the most exciting musical group we have ever known. It's a must!!

I have been a Beatles fan forever and cannot remember ever feeling as nostalgic as when I turned the pages of this beautiful book. It has become my most prized Beatles possession. Purely and simply, every Beatles fan should buy this book!

The four volumes of the Raj Quartet overlap and complement one another, while at the same time forwarding the main storyline of the slow twilight of the British ascendancy in India, always with the rape of a white girl by Indian men as the central lodestone everpresent in the background, the nightmare which is seldom mentioned but which none can drive from their minds. Events occur, are discussed, witnessed as newspaper reports, court documents, interviews, vague recollections from years later, or perceived directly by the main characters. Then the next volume will take two or three steps back into previous events, and these same events will be perceived from another angle, perhaps only as a vague report heard far away across the Indian plain, or witnessed directly by another character, or discussed in detail long after their occurrence over drinks on a verandah. This may at times seem like rehashing, indeed as one reads the four volumes one will be subjected to the account of the rape in the Bibighar Gardens many times over; but what will also become apparent is that additional details, sometimes minor variations in interpretation and sometimes crucial facts, are being added slowly to the events discussed, as though the window to the past were being progressively wiped cleaner and cleaner with successive strokes of Scott's pen. In this way he draws the picture of the last days of the Raj not in a conventional linear fashion, but recursively, and from multiple angles. One gets the clear impression of life in India during the first half of the 20th century as similar in nature: Fragmented, multifaceted, largely dependent upon perspective and experience and never perceived whole or all at once.

Book 2 introduces what is going to be the main storyline of the tetralogy, although the rape in the Bibighar Gardens will remain in the back of everyone's mind, and sometimes at the front, throughout. First of all there is Mohammed Ali Kasim, a respected Indian Congressman arrested by the British as a matter of course when Congress finalizes its "Quit India" resolution; and his son Ahmed, the dissolute intellectual who spends his time in one of the remaining Princely States of India. Second, the Layton family is introduced, a typical example of the British military in India. Sarah Layton, the elder of the two daughters, is exquisitely rendered and will become one of the series' most familiar and constant characters. Ronald Merrick, the police officer who victimized Hari Kumar during the Bibighar Gardens affair, slouches back into the story as the best man at Susan Layton's wedding, only to be made into an unlikely hero and martyr at the end of the novel.

I thought that this was an excellent sequel to "The Jewel in the Crown", continuing Scott's dissection of the dying days of the British Raj. As World War II rolls on, tensions within Britain's Indian Empire increase.

The repercussions of the rape of Daphne Manners in the Bibighar Gardens continues to have their effect on various people, and not just on those who were involved directly in the aftermath of that incident. Scott begins to let his characters slowly unravel the truth behind the rape, but also examines the attitudes of both the British and the Indians towards the demise of the Raj and forthcoming Indian independence.

The British characters exhibit a deep ambiguity and unease (even guilt) towards their rôle in India - the current (and past) raison d'être of the Raj is unclear. Just why were they there and what legacy will they leave? More pertinently, what does the future hold for them, especially in Britain itself - if they return home, will they be fish-out-of-water, anachronisms?

The Indian characters see the Raj as moribund, but are uncertain about what to replace it with. Do they owe the British their loyalty and cooperation in the face of imminent invasion by the Japanese, or should they throw in their lot with the Japanese to get rid of the British? What kind of India will rise from the ashes of the Raj when religious and racial tensions seem so deeply entrenched?

Scott's view of this period seemed to me to be that the end of the Raj was a stumbling forward into history rather than a managed withdrawal from empire - a messy affair for both sides. A thoroughly interesting and stimulating read.

THE DAY OF THE SCORPION continues Paul Scott's very long story (total of 2000 pages) of the last days of British colonial rule in India. SCORPION is book 2 in the so-called Raj Quartet. These books are not about the external events per se as much as they are about the effects of these external events on the lives of several individuals, most prominently, Hari Kumar, Sarah Layton, and later in book 4 Guy Perron. In SCORPION, several new characters are introduced to the series, including members of the Layton and Kasim families.

In book 1, JEWEL IN THE CROWN, Hari Kumar was wrongfully jailed by the wicked Ronald Merrick for the rape of Daphne Manners Hari's secret love. When Daphne refused to press charges Hari was detained as a political prisoner. In JEWEL, the story of Hari's life was told from the court proceedings and other second hand accounts. JEWEL covers a period of about fifty years.

In SCORPION, Hari tells the story of his life up to 1942. A large section of this 500 page volume reads like a court proceeding since Hari shares his story with Captain Rowan, who has been ordered by the Governor to interview Kumar in prison.

Lady Manners, Daphne aunt, is a secret witness to the interview. It is Lady Manners who has persuaded the British authorities to revisit the reasons for Hari's imprisonment. During the proceedings, Hari is told Daphne is dead. "Twin rivulets gleamed on his prison cheeks, and then the image became blurred and she felt a corresponding wetness on her own..."

I think it would be extremely hard to follow this book without having first read JEWEL IN THE CROWN. A large part of SCORPION is used to elaborate and further the plot introduced in JEWEL. Dipping into SCORPION without having first read JEWEL would be like trying to watch a serial after missing a few critical episodes.

In addition, the introduction of the Laytons and the Kasims might also seem disjointed unless one knows SCORPION is not a "stand alone" novel. In spite of these limitations, SCORPION is a wonderful book, and thus I have given it 5 stars.

In SCORPION, Sarah Layton takes on the central role. Sarah is the only Layton to have had contact with Lady Manners and be concerned about the events in Mayapore. Sarah has two long exchanges with Ronald Merrick, Hari Kumar's nemesis. Sarah meets Captain Rowan Hari's liberator. Sarah is struggling with her own issues surrounding the lives of the English in India. Sarah is the one to watch. And Sarah is an Aries. Her sister Susan is the Scorpio.

Guido Mina di Sospiro is an original voice, a skilled practitioner of linguistic alchemy. In this mysteriously entertaining novel, di Sospiro blends ancient wisdom with modern storytelling technique to create an enlightened vision of human potential. At the core of this engaging novel are two souls, the beloved Joan, a rock and roll critic in quest of musical truth and Jimmi, an Irish troubadour, in quest of Joan - two parts of a whole in search of each other. Steady and self-assured, di Sospiro makes us think, feel, experience, on many levels, from the ridiculous to the sublime. Most contemporary authors pay heed mostly to the sound of money. Di Sospiro has tried to attune himself to the music of the spheres. He's not afraid to let God speak in his story, or to bring his characters to life in a dance of destiny. Ultimately, this is a book about attaining perfection, what it means to be an artist in life and living. Spend a few wondrous "Days In Heaven" and explore infinite possibilities. You won't be disappointed.

My stepfather, Wayne (who wrote a smashing review here, as well) sent me Days in Heaven for my 21st birthday. It was a beautiful book to read; I read it twice and know I will read it again (and again...). Days in Heaven is a book of hope and inspiration. It shows us that life is not always what we anticipate, that it is full of surprises, miracles, and remarkable connections of different parts of our lives. The characters in this book are well rounded and charming-especially Jimmi and even more especially, Martha. I hope I meet someone like each of them someday. The plot is original and intricately interwoven-and as my step-dad pointed out-no foul language. Guido Mina di Sospiro has a fine repertoire to express anything and everything in his novel. Thank you, sir, for that, and thanks, Wayne, for a great birthday present!

I've just finished reading DinH for the 3rd time. The only other book I've ever repeatedly reread was a Hemingway novel for a whole summer. If you like good writing, read DinH; when you get to the last page, try starting over immediately on page 1. You will find new things, slowly at first then faster and faster.

I read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I received this book for Christmas and read it cover to cover by the next day. It gives the reader a large variety of social work careers, beyond the stereotypical case worker. It is incredibly well written and easy to read. A must for anyone thinking of pursuing a social work career!!!

This is a must-read for anyone exploring a career in social work. It features stories from professionals in a wide range of fields. Seeing it from their perspective gives you an inside look into the different aspects of social work that you will probably not find anywhere else short of actually talking with a social worker. Many tell of the joys and stresses of their jobs. I was hoping to see more entry-level work featured. However, this book gave me some excellent ideas of possible fields to explore should I decide to venture into this rewarding career.