This is another in the American Girls Short Stories series about Felicity Merriman, a nine-year-old girl living in the America of 1774. In this book, Felicity wants to escape the drudgery of her responsibilities, and when her family is offered a trip to her grandfather's plantation, she urges their acceptance. However, her mother is nearing her due date, and is a little wary of traveling. Felicity soon learns a lesson in responsibility.

The final chapter of this book contains a highly informative chapter on children and childbirth in 1774 America, and contains instructions on making pincushion (a early-American gift). This is another very good American Girls book. Not as gritty as some others, it is nonetheless highly informative, and a good read.

Great length for beginning readers and easy to read through to pre-readers. Has most of the same characters as the Felicity American Girl series which are wonderfully interesting characters. Not as well written as "Felicity's Dancing Shoes", but still a fun read. Good for all ages - even adults who want a quick 15-20 minute read!

This book is a better length than most of the American Girlbook series. My 8 year old read it in about 1/2 hour. It's nice tohave a book she can finish in one sitting that is still interesting to someone at her level.

The subject matter is based on the US colonial era (1774). Seems historically accurate and gives some insight into life of a 9 year old colonial girl. However, the story seems too typically sitcom like -- unrealistic problem quickly solved in 30 minutes of reading. END

Overall, I would characterize Charles Tripp's book as a chronological monologue that tells the story of what happened, starting from the beginning and going along in chronological order with meticulous attention paid to dates, and names of political figures. Reading this book often became a monotonous affair, as the author explained the names and dates of yet another coup d'état or of yet another rebellion in Kurdistan, each coup and ethnic rebellion not significantly different from the one before it. In terms of clarity of presentation that this book achieves, I would say that while it is very good at describing what happened, it is much less clear at explaining why things happened. It often presupposes that the reader possesses background knowledge of Middle Eastern politics or of other disciplines. For example, the book talks extensively about the war between Iraq and Iran, but fails to explain the nature of the Iranian revolution, and how such a revolution would affect the Shi`a in Iraq. The book talks about the Gulf War, but does not explain that the reason for US intervention was largely economic. Perhaps these questions do not pertain directly to Iraq, but I think that providing some background information about other countries' interests and situations (when these countries came in contact with Iraq) is necessary in order to understand what was going on. Another thing I found frustrating is that the book did not explain what the real difference between Sunnis and Shi'a is about, and why the Sunnis have always been in control of the Iraqi state, even during Ottoman times. Another issue that I found particularly bothersome is the lack of emphasis in the book on explaining why Great Britain chose to define the borders of Iraq to be the way they ended up being. Why was Kuwait separated from Basra? At no point does the author address this question. Overall, I would have appreciated this book more if the author spent less time talking about what, who, and when, and more time explaining why.

In terms of assessing the pedagogical value of the book, I would say that because this book doesn't make connections between histories of various developing nations, does not define general themes and trends, the book itself becomes much more meaningful when read in conjunction with another book on Third World Development, Howard Handelman's The Challenge of Third World Development, for example. When read in this way, Charles Tripp's "History of Iraq" becomes a colorful and clear illustration of the many issues that concern developing nations. From legacies of colonialism (national borders, rulers, elites, etc), to the use of patronage by third world countries' governments, to the impacts of agricultural reform, to ethnic and religious conflict, and the involvement of the military in the political affairs, this book serves as a real world illustration of the many themes that pertain to Third World development.

A solid history of modern Iraq. Good background for specialists and non-specialists alike.

The previous review is grossly unfair. The book is supposed to be a concise history, not an exhaustive analysis of every single issue and event in Iraq. There is an excellent list of suggested sources should the reader wish to engage in further research on any topic. The book is erudite and well-written. It does not assume that the reader has an extensive knowledge of the Middle East. Two friends borrowed this book for coursework and I had a hard time getting it back, actually.

This is another in the American Girls Short Stories series about Felicity Merriman, a nine-year-old girl living in the America of 1774. In this book, Felicity and her family go off to see the wonders of the fair, but when she takes a dare that she knows she shouldn't, trouble finds her. The final chapter of this book is a fascinating look at Publick Times in old Virginia, when the highest court met, and there were fairs and public gatherings. Plus there are some nice instructions for setting up a game of quoits (ring toss), just like Felicity might have played!

This is another very good Felicity book, one with a nice story and a good lesson. And also, Dan Andreasen's illustrations make a wonderful addition to the story. My daughter and I both enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it to you.

I have been reading the American Grils Collection books since I was nine, and am now 18. To be honest with you, Felicity Takes a Dare is just like the other American Girls Short Stories. Not bad, but not as good as the Longer, original American Girls Collection Books. In this book, Felicity takes a dare to feed the horses at the carnival during Williamsburg's Public Times, and the dare goes terribly wrong. Felicity learns a lesson in this book, and I gave it four stars for the attempt to make this book good. But I would recommend the original six Felicity books instead of this one. I bought it only because it was from Pleasant Company.

Candace

When Molly finds herself in a corner, she tries to get out of it. Do you think sewing is easy? Well Molly thinks it's easy until she tries to sew, but she can't do it. So Molly thinks of an idea. This story is probably set in the 1940's, like in World War 2. When you read this book you will probably like it. You will figure out what Molly does to save her friends. I would not think a 14 year old boy would like it, but an 8 year old girl would probably like it a lot. It's pretty good when you get into it!

This is another in the American Girls series about Molly McIntire, a ten-year-old girl living on the home front during World War 2. Molly's school is having a "Lend-a-Hand Contest" to help the war effort, and to teach the children about working together. But, when one girl volunteers the third grade girls to knit socks, Molly cringes-she knows how hard it is to knit a sock, and she wants out. So, grabbing hold of two friends, Molly abandons the project and sets out on her own. In this book, Molly learns a lesson about working together...but in a completely different way than her teacher imagined!

As with the other Molly stories, this one is great! The story is very entertaining, and gently teaches an important lesson. My 11-year-old daughter is a big fan of Molly, and so am I. We both highly recommend this book to you!

Samantha is a Victorian girl. She is an orphan who's Grandmother takes her in. Eventually, she moves to New York, where her Aunt and Uncle adopt her. While she is with her Grandmother, she makes new friends, plays tricks on the spoiled neighbor, and goes on lots of exciting adventures. I read the first book in her series last year. I completely fell in love with character! I decided to save my money and buy the Samantha doll from pleasant company. Over all, The Samantha books were great, and I reccomend them to readers ages 8 to 12.

These books will let young girls take a look back in time

For a travel book this is very well organized with all the phone numbers and major costs given. Good maps and pictures. Nice commentaries also. You almost get a sense of being there just by reading little paragraphs.

"Cambios para Josefina" is just as good as it's English counterpart. Josefina and her sisters are planning a fandango. It'll be the first time Josefina plays the piano during a fandango, and she's looking forward to it. While she plays the song, Josefina's father asks Tia Dolores to dance. The next day, Tia Dolores announces that she wants to leave the rancho and go to Santa Fe to live with her parents. Josefina and her sisters are determined to find a way to get Tia Dolores to stay. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the American Girls Collection and can read Josefina's stories in Spanish as well.

We count British authors Dick Francis [mostly Americanized now], Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, and P.D. James among our numerous favorite writers. Somehow the settings in England, the dialogue, the names of things, being mostly the same but slightly different occasionally appeal in much the same way Yankees like visiting the South (or vice versa) for a different taste of America, where of course the differences in fact are indeed few. We just happenstanced upon this story by Brit Miles Tripp and gave it a try.

What unfolded in this fairly short (under 200 pages) but classic mystery was a compelling tale - one as much about suspicion between husband and wife as about the murder in question. When her husband Rodney Best all too conveniently stumbles across a dead woman while walking the dog while she waited in the car, wife Stella begins to wonder why he chose to drive, why he chose the route he did, why he stopped where he did to walk the dog. She hid these concerns from the police, who her husband was reluctant to call. Over the next few weeks, the interest he took in the case, followed by her detective work, drove wedges of distrust between them, to the point where Rodney finally confessed he was covering for someone else. This totally surprising twist to the plot merely set the stage for a wonderful story within the story about this someone else and their relationship with the dead woman. Near the end, a few more twists and turns reveal all. The permanent effect on the Best's otherwise still intact marriage gave us as much food for thought as the entertaining outcome to the whodunit per se.

While maybe the book only took a couple of hours to read, author Tripp surely was skillful enough to craft a clever plot sufficient to maintain suspense until virtually the final page. Possibly more impressive is that he also was insightful enough to write his reflections on family relationships, intimacy, extracurricular affairs, and the like in such a way to fuel thought and introspection on the part of the reader. For a short little British mystery, not bad !

This is another in the American Girls Short Stories series about Felicity Merriman, a nine-year-old girl living in the America of 1774. In this book, Felicity's romping and playing causes trouble when she soils the washing of Mrs. Burnie, the crabbiest woman in town. Felicity know that it is up to her to make restitution for what she did, so she volunteers to clean the clothes she muddied. But working with Mrs. Burnie presents Felicity with something of a mystery; Mrs. Burnie is hiding something, and Felicity accidentally finds out what.

The final chapter of this book contains an interesting look at the history of eyeglasses, and has a project to make lorgnettes. This is another good Felicity story. My daughter and I value Felicity's honesty and helpfulness. We both liked this story and recommend it to you.

This book is by far better than its English counterpart, as is the case with all the Josefina books. The Spanish one tells a story similar to the English one: Josefina's birthday is coming up, the blanket weaving on the rancho is doing good, Josefina adopts Sombrita ("Little shadow") as a pet, and meets longtime friend Mariana as well. Josefina hopes to become a curandera some day like her godmother Tia Magdalena, until Josefina does somthing that makes her loose hope. It isn't until Josefina is "tested" that she gains that hope back. I recommend both versions of the book--the English and the Spanish--as both are very good and very well written.