I never really followed women's basketball until I saw a news interview on TV after Pat Summitt and the Lady Vols had lost to UConn. I decided to look up this coach on the internet and discovered that she was a legend in her on right. I was embarrassed because I knew absolutely nothing about her.

The book is easy reading and entertaining. It made me laugh, as somethings were just down right funny. I like the outline of the book as it gives short interviews of various players after most chapters. I enjoyed Pat's concise summary of her players character and her dealing with the various issues and problems they faced. She gives a vivid picture of the going on inside a basketball team. She shows an uncanny ability to mold and shape women into winners and all the while, she was willing to make adjustment in herself. Greatness may start with one person, but it can never remain great until it has a supporting cast. Pat her coaches and her players gave us a peek inside greatness and most of all a real life story that got them there.

An undefeated season, a national championship, an astoundingly talented freshman class combined with the experience and ability of the veterans -- Tennessee's '98 season is one to remember. In this book, Summitt tells us what is was like to live the season. I saw the Lady Vols play in the NCAA Tournament at Vanderbilt University, as an Illinois fan. I thought that if I heard "Rocky Top" one more time I would scream. By the end of the game, I was singing along. The "Meeks," Kellie Jolly, Ace Clement, Geter -- they bring such excitement to the women's basketball game --- it's contagious! I am a high school girl's coach and have encouraged my team to read this book, and "Reach for The Summitt". Whether you are already a fan of collegiate women's basketball, or are simply looking for a motivational and inspiring book, you will be a fan after reading this book. Women's basketball has needed the Tennessee Lady Vols to elevate the game and bring it the attention it deserves. Of course, I'm still an Illini at heart.

In her "down-home" easy to understand way Pat Summitt writes an incredible book! If you get this one you should also get "Reach for the Summitt". These two books should be required reading for women in general! If I had girls that wanted to play B-ball, they would be going to Tennessee!

Emmett Clifford has created a wonderful new character in Cody Rainwalker. He sets up a very creepy killer and keeps the reader guessing until the very end "whodunnit" with more plot twists and turns than a switchback mountain road. Good characters, wonderful setting, crisp dialogue and narration that flows makes this book a good read.

I read "Night Whispers" through in one sitting. The plot was compelling, the characters real and the dialogue natural. It kept me turning the pages, and I was unable to second-guess the plot. How do I rate the book to someone who hasn't read it? Let me put it this way, I gave my copy to my Mother to read after I finished it.

I couldn't put this book down! I was so wrapped up in the characters and what would happen next that when I had to stop reading for a while it stayed with me and kept those wheels turning trying to figure out "who dunnit". I truly enjoyed this book. I hope we get to read more about Cody, he really comes to life.

This is a wonderfully done book. I feel I've lived in "Tom's" shoes and appreciate who he was and the struggles he faced. It's a loving portrait that doesn't shy away from the honest details of the life of the young Tennessee. I hope the sequel that's to take us from the Glass Menangerie to the end of Tennessee's life comes out soon----I'll be waiting!!!

Meticulously researched and sensitively written, this book is the definitive biography of Tennessee Williams, even though it only covers the period up to the beginning of his success. I haven't found any others that can rival its quality. The depth and detail are unsurpassed in Leverich's finely crafted portrait, revealing the many facets of one of America's greatest playwrights. As a "theater person," Leverich brings a special authority to his work, infusing it with expert analysis and theatrical history. A really great read!

Lyle Leverich, a theatre artist himself, paints (with the participation of the late "Tom" himself) an intricate, sensitive and compelling portrait of the closest The United States has come to producing her own Shakespeare.

Tennessee Williams' ability to place passionate and visual poetry into the mouths of the commoner and gentry alike makes his work, in my opinion the finest ever produced by an American playwright. The towering and beautiful fragile characters of his plays combined with his devotion to the utter magic the physical theatre provides, allowed America through Tennessee Williams to finally place itself rightly next to Ibsen, Strinberg, Chekov and The Bard himself.

Of course "Tom" did not develop in a vacume and what Leverich provides here in this excellent biography wrapped in the guise of a psychological thriller worthy of so great an object, is a portrait of a man often crippled by acute sensitivity who saw the writing muse as a means for survival. Leverich manages to paint the man behind the myth, bring him down into a real space and time while also managing to lift him to the angels.

This is one of the greatest biographies ever written about a theatre artist- of which Williams was a supreme being. I, and many others, eagerly await volume two.

I love true crime, but I approached this book with some misgivings after realizing the authors are close relatives of Debbie. I feared they might not be objective, might be overly emotional, and might not be very good writers. I need not have worried. Their prose is excellent and they stick to the facts of this brutal, horrifying crime. The writers do reveal the family's emotions from the time of Debbie's disappearance through the long quest for justice (just as we would wish them to do), but never with histrionics. The strongest emotions this book arouses will be those of the reader. You cannot help but feel tremendous sorrow and compassion for the victim and her family. Later, you will feel outrage as a Federal judge thwarts the administration of justice at every turn.

This is one of the best examples you will ever read of the infuriating imbalance in our justice system wherein the "rights" of convicted murderers are allowed to far outweigh the rights of their victims. Were it not for her courageous and determined family, Debbie would have been wholly depersonalized and forgotten--even as her cowardly and cruel killers were being fawned over and lavished with every excess of "rights" that our justice system can dream up. You will not be able to put this book down.

This is a story that has covered twenty-one years of a family's struggle to assure justice for the murder of a family member. If you feel comfor- table with our country's justice system and feel you, as an innocent citizen, are represented with all fairness and consideration, you really need to read this account. It is an indepth account of the planning, carringout, investigation, and trial covering the murder of Debbie Groseclose. It also covers an unbelieveable twenty year journey through our legal system.

What has happened in this case is of grave importance to each and every one of us. And, the story goes on as the men who were convicted of this murder are now being scheduled for a retrial - twenty one years later.

To read this book is to challange oneself to get involved.

The book is well written, and the facts are very sad. As in most criminal cases, by the time it goes to court, the public in general has forgotten the victims and are too caught up in the civil rights of the criminals. I read in the paper almost every day of some criminal in TN who is getting a new trial. Maybe the Federal Government needs to appoint a "special prosecutor" to handle the crooked judges in TN. It is one of the poorer states and yet they seem to have unlimited funds for new trials for murderers, and computers and on-line access. What is going on. I say after the trial and conviction, give them ONE appeal and then fry the sick SOBs. Stop draining the State funds that should go for Education, roads, buildings, and counseling for victims and their families that are left to struggle with their pain and memories while they work to make a living and care for their families. As long as there are judges on the bench like Nixon in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, none of us are safe.

How refreshing to read about REAL Families and REAL People. Families with history and values.

What a delight to find a book that focuses not only on women and their friendships, but on Christian women. This book is not preachy, but the characters interact in a way to gently lead the reader toward some basic truths about all people. I'm glad I got to know these women and wish I could join them at the next Prayer Tree.

I am a Christian book store owner. I have many customers who are fans of Annie Jones's books. The Prayer Tree is one of their favorites. It is very well written. The characters are lovable and believable. My customers ask for more books with these characters. The book speaks to their hearts.

I spent the first 30 years of my life in Knoxville, so when Mauro mentions buying something on Market Street I remember the old Market House with its smells of fresh blood at the butcher's, sawdust and lilacs by the flower stalls. In my mind I see the row of farmer's dilapidated trucks parked alongside with their wooden boxes of fruits and vegetables fresh from the mountain truck farms -- bright green spinach and crisp green beans, sunny yellow squash and crimson strawberries.

He mentions Cherokee Hills and I remember Cherokee Boulevard in Sequoyah Hills, where I grew up. At his reference to the S&W Cafeteria I think of Lois Harris playing the organ there on Thursday nights, and the Disney cartoons they showed for the children after dinner.

So this book is really two books for me. Mauro speaks of Knoxville of the 1980s and 1990s and makes me remember the Knoxville from 1940s to 1970s. So how could I not like the book?

Krutch Park didn't exist when I lived there, but I was born on Clinch Avenue at Fort Sanders Hospital. He mentions Highland Avenue and I remember that James Agee lived there even before my time and in the 1960s Hollywood came to town to make a movie of his book, DEATH IN THE FAMILY, starring Robert Preston.

I think this is the first time I've ever seen a book I could barely read for the memories it prompts. I'm amused by the story of a young couple haunted by questions about a past they could never know -- 1952. It was that year and near that place when my date and I were returning to the parking lot from a movie at the Tennessee Theater one warm summer night and heard a woman scream. Could it have been...???

The World's Fair, the YMCA, the Bijou Theater, Gay and State Streets -- places in these stories that revive more memories from the Knoxville I knew.

Needless to say, reading this delightful look at contemporary Knoxville was not only a joy from the average reader's point of view, it was a trip into nostalgia. Mauro captures the new city and yet is able, at the same time, to retrieve the old for those who knew it.

Like Jack Mauro, my husband was born in New Jersey and fell in love with Knoxville when he came there as a young graduate student at UT. There is something magic about that place, and Mauro has done a fine job of putting some of that magic on the page.

Ruth Fulton Tiedemann

Jack Mauro's writing style is always a pleasure. It's smooth and consistent, his stories are engaging, and his characters are a delight. I highly recommend this one and, after reading "Gay Street", I'm now looking forward to sinking into "Spite Hall".

As a fellow northerner who has made the south home, I was curious to read about Knoxville and it's inhabitants. The 14 stories of Gay Street are a masterful introduction to the town and its characters. Mr.Mauro has keen eyes and ears: from architectural detail to roommate's banter, each tale delights with lives and loves sharply observed. This book includes my new favorite Christmas story, "Holiday on High." It had me laughing and reading passages to friends.

This novel is one of the best I have read. Alex Haley and Stevens express a kind of compassion from a grandmother/mother that no one could do better. It's a very emotional book, and touches everyone that has ever experienced a good book. Once you start it, you can't put it down!

Reading this book is like cozying up with a warm blanket. The authors provide so much detail that you feel like YOUR grandmother is sitting in front of you, recounting the tales. The book spans the decades, from the early 1900s to the late 1970s and throws in a bit of history/current events to place the family's hostory in context. Great book!

This book made you feel apart of it. I loved it! I loved the history, the story, the emotions and how it wove a story of a loving family working their way through life. This is a must read.

Rosey Dow adeptly wove truth and fiction together in this extemely interesting and informative novel, Reaping the Whirlwind. While the mystery keeps the reader engrossed in the plot, he is learning historical truth as well as seeing the tragic consequences of embracing the lie of evolution. I would probably not have chosen to read an account of the Scopes trial, although this would be an important thing to do. Rosey made it 'easy' for me to gather truth I needed to know while thoroughly enjoying a gripping plot I could not solve!

Rosey Dow has successfully blended historical fact with a mystery that reads like part of the Scopes trial in "Reaping the Whirlwind". The who-dunnit portion of Ms. Dow's latest effort is so well done, I defy anyone to guess the criminal's identity. Her accurate, painstaking research is clearly reflected in the clear and informative presentation of the Scopes "monkey" trial details. For entertainment, this is tops. For historical accuracy, it can't be bettered. I would recommend this for anyone who has an interest in mysteries or historical fiction. But be warned...don't start reading until you have time to finish...you won't want to put it down!

This book is so well written, so riveting, and so historically significant, it is truly one of the rare books for all seasons and all literary tastes.

Rosey has managed to bury the villian and expose the facts about the Scopes Trial-of-the-century so masterfully that the reader will surely misjudge the outcome and gain an invaluable history lesson without even being aware this could be a textbook. In fact, were I an American history teacher, it would most certainly be on my list of required reading.

It really should be on yours.

Mark Curriden and Leroy Phillips, Jr. in Contempt of Court look at the case of Ed Johnson, a black man given a stay of exection by Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan after he was tried and convicted for rape in a misguided and injudicial trial. The Supreme Court was ignored and the poor man was lynched which provoked the Supreme Court to the unusual action of becoming involved. This is a well written and exciting telling of the events and will carry the reader along on a wave of outrage. It is sure to be turned into an exciting film. It does not, unfortunately, tell the whole story of lynching, nor is to trying to. This one action by the Supreme Court belies the inactivity of the court and the justice system to stem the tide of lynching and racial injustice. But that story is told in other books and the reader will find this particular book a fascinating footnote on legal and racial history in America, both good and bad.

Contempt of Court presents a history of a long-ago legal proceeding, an important one now nearly forgotten. Curriden and Phillips keep it engaging from start to finish. They've done a wonderful job of recreating the passions and pressures of a southern city in the Jim Crow era. Readers get more than an understanding of the law. They get to know the people who participated in a landmark case -- from Noah Parden, a black lawyer who battled overwhelming odds to take a poor man's case to the Supreme Court, to Sheriff Joseph Schipp, who let a lynch mob subvert the rule of law. The book offers many well-drawn scenes, such as the crime against Nevada Taylor, Parden's audience with Justice John Marshall Harlan and the lynching itself. All are sketched in great detail. And there's the jail-house prayer service the African-American community held for Ed Johnson, an innocent man, who facing death, found dignity and faith in God. Contempt of Court proves that American law isn't only about legal arguments. It's also abou living, breathing human beings, with their capacities for heroism and evil.

Black man accused of raping a white woman. Shakey identification. All white judge, jury, police, sheriff, and all lawyers on both sides. A death penalty case. A jury in the midst of trial jumps up and threatens to rip the defendant's heart out on the spot. He is found guilty. From date of crime to guilty verdict--one week. Defendant advised by his own lawyers after trial: you have two choices, waive appeal and let the State execute you, or appeal and let the mob lynch you.

Then two Black lawyers take up the case. The Supreme Court is horrified at the gross miscarriage of justice, and issues a stay. But the mob, with the Sheriff's apparent approval, decides the legal process is just taking too long, and lynches the defendant.

Contempt of Court tells this story in great detail, bringing all of the characters to life. A fascinating history of the role racism played in the courts at the turn of the century.

But the heart of the book is what followed the lynching. Unlike most cases which were quickly forgotten, the Supreme Court itself instituted contempt charges against the Sheriff for failing to carry out its stay of execution. This is the one and only contempt proceeding ever tried in the Supreme Court itself. It also marked the first time the federal courts had ever sought to review a state court criminal proceeding--setting the stage for such well known rules as "Miranda" and the exclusionary rule.

I completely agree with the blurb on the book's cover. This volume belongs on the shelf next to Simple Justice and Gideon's Trumpet.

When Rachel's parents die in a fire, she is sent to live in the mountains with her family. She struggles to fit in, she meets old Granny Sharp. Granny Sharp teaches her medicine and doctoring skills to help the mountain folk. With the Civil War flaring, her grandfather makes his farm take no side. Not North. Not South. The reason for his action is that part of the their family is fighting for the North and part for the South. Rachel is working on the farm tending to wounded soldiers from both sides when a young military captain by the name of Ben is found hurt outside the farmhouse. Rachel cares for him and they soon fall in love. Rachel can't marry him because she has important duties at home, and it's a mountain tradition to follow the man to his home after marriage. She can't go to Pennsylvania with him because everyone tells her she is needed where she is as a doctor. I am upset that the publisher stop printing this book. I do not have a copy but got it out from a local library. Although I would like to buy a paper back because it is much cheaper I would also buy it in hardcover if that was the only format. If you enjoyed this book, you will also like Time Enough for Drums which will be out in paper back in May.

Like some other people in these reviews I first read this book because it had my name in it. It turned out to be one of the best books I have ever read and am only sorry that it is out of print becauses I do not have a copy. I would recomend this book to anyone looking for romance, adventure, drama, and excitement.

I bought this book back in the second grade at the school bookfair simply because it had my name in the title. About a year ago I found it and read it. I loved it. Its got family life, friends, healing, and it strongly emphasizes the importance of love in a young girl's life. Though I am 15 and bought the book when I was 7, I still think its a wonderful story. I even read it for inspiration. I've read it numerous times, and its still an adventure every time.