This is an enjoyable Hardy Boys Casefile book, complete with arson, murder, and computer animation.

The Hardys have gone to space academy, but it ends up being less fun than they hoped. This is a good book for kids with plenty of action and a little education.

I'm a big fan of this book, with one reservation (see below).

It's best for use with an experienced Khmer teacher. However, working with it alone, it's extremely comprehensive in sequentially introducing Khmer grammar, useful vocabulary and common structures.

It has a lot of repetitive drills which reinforce each grammar point and I really like the organisation, where it introduces vocab throughout a set of dialogues, then follows up with exercises to help it sink in and with specific grammar notes - which you can use if you're interested in or ignore if you just want to learn the key phrases and vocab.

The book also has a pretty comprehensive set of indices for English and Khmer vocab (glossary) and for the key words and grammar points.

The one real downside for me is the choice of transliteration (I think that's what you call it!). Huffman uses some transliteration which looks a bit like Internaitonal Phonetic Alphabet, but isn't. I have searched the book for a table or reference to how each symbol (and combination thereof) should be pronounced. I thought once I found a reference to another book where they are explained, but now I cannot find it again. Perhaps I imagined it! The result is, when you work with a teacher who knows the book well, you can learn the pronunciation by repetition. But when you go back to the book yourself to practise, it's very difficult to reconstruct the pronunciation. One example is the use of an 'i' chracter with a line through it. On page 44, min and tiw (both with lines through the i that I can't reproduce here) are clearly pronounced differently in Khmer and are different vowels in Khmer script. Even my Khmer teacher says he has to stop and think sometimes, what word is being used in the book.

The book by David Smyth is much better at guiding you through the sounds, though it also simplifies a fair bit and describes different vowels as having the same pronunciation.

In summary, if you want to comprehensively learn Khmer and understand its grammar, AND you have a teacher or other guide to pronunciation, this book is great. If you're working alone and wnat to go out each day and speak to Khmers, perhaps David Smyth's book (with tapes) is better.

This was Hardy Boys book brought the classic group of guests who didn't know one another, but were all suspected of a crime. I have read several Hardy Boys Books, and this was the first I have read which used this in the plot. I thought it was one of the better Digests, at a time where several were aching for good plots. I recommend this as a first Hardy Boys Book for new fans!!

This was a VERY good book. I have always liked the casefiles better than the regular series, but this was one of the better ones. It wasn't very difficult to figure out who did it, but it WAS hard to figure out why. It also didn't feature Chet in a very promenent role which gets tiring however Biff and Tony (my favorite of the supporting people) didn't have large roles. Still it did gain 4 stars. I will close by saying this is a must for Hardy Boys fans!

The group of men who wrote the constitution of the United States comprised the greatest collection of political geniuses the world has ever seen. With incredible insight into the weaknesses of human political structures, the checks and balances in the constitution provide a system of counterweights that make up a very stable government. While not generally considered among the leading tier of the founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin was present at the creation and made significant contributions.
In many ways he is also a model for the American ideal of the self-made man. He rose from poverty to become a writer, editor, publisher, inventor, scientist and diplomat. He charmed many of the leading figures of France so much that it entered the war of independence on the side of the colonies. Granted that there were many reasons for France to come to the aid of America in its war with Britain. However, it is quite possible that it would not have happened without the expert diplomacy of Franklin.
This book is the result of a search through his private correspondence. Therefore, it is a description of his personality as he communicates with friends, business and diplomatic colleagues; relatives and acquaintances. It appears that Franklin was quite a ladies man as well. There are hints that he had numerous affairs, although given the style of his letters, it is possible that his high degree of politeness could be mistaken for something deeper. The results depict a man very much of the world, one where life was slower and personal relationships were more significant.
It is unfortunate that political rivalries and geopolitical realities combined to lower his standing after the military victory that led to independence. Disputes arose with George Washington and John Adams that were no doubt political in origin. Franklin had both the domestic and international prestige to be considered presidential material, with only his advanced age as a hindrance.
The real problems were the geopolitical and geosocial realities. America was an offshoot of British culture, so once the severance was complete the natural affinity reasserted itself. Britain was also the supreme maritime power and America was a small nation consisting mostly of seacoast and the Canadian colony was on the northern border. Therefore, friendship with Britain was essential to the survival of the new nation. Franklin represented an alliance that was no longer critical, so as the political wind shifted, he found himself pushed aside. Until I read this book, I was unaware of the animosities that existed between Franklin and some of the other founders of the new nation.
Benjamin Franklin is the American model of the Renaissance man and his contributions to the success of the revolution are not to be underestimated. In reading the summaries of his personal correspondence, I found it clear that he is a person that you would have liked very much to converse with and would have considered yourself graced to have been his friend.

I recommend this book to all kids. It goes along at a great pace. Before the Hardys even accept the case they're being threatened by the badguys!

This is a wonderful mystery for kids! It goes at a quick pace and is exciting from the very first page. It also teaches the reader a little bit about falconry.

I really liked this book. the only reason i gave it 4 stars waz because i wanted to know what happened to a few characters that weren't mention in these books. But all in all, i liked this book and would reccomend it to all kids between the ages of 8 and 14.

This was such an excellent effort to uncover the astronomy underlying game boards of all kinds. It read well, informal, newsy and thoroughly articulate. It was a find! I haven't read anything that was this good in such a specific subject area. You will enjoy it if you can find it and it's worth the search.