A ninth-grade English teacher in Michigan tries to interest her students in the writing of Henry David Thoreau by dividing the class into groups and asking them to create their own Experiment in Living. The ragtag group made up of Stuart, Hollis, Beth and Rachel takes the assignment to heart. They each sign a "Henry Contract." And before you know it, they've somehow constructed a cabin in nearby Wayburn Woods. Each member of the group eventually finds a niche -- one that didn't exist before, and one that highlights heretofore unseen talents. Thus do these "invisible" personalities become known to the rest of the school. By the time Wayburn Woods is threatened by a housing development, the place has become familiar to a wider range of students and community members. We can only speculate about what the future holds for our characters and their hometown.

Robin Vaupel has crafted a wonderful YA novel that's sure to turn young people on to Henry David Thoreau. His words and philosophies are peppered throughout the plot, and each chapter begins with an inspirational quote. [I'll forgive a small error: "In WILDNESS is the preservation of the world," not "in wilderness." That's a common mistake that even finds itself painted onto the walls of nature centers.] The story unfolds from Beth's viewpoint, and I found myself wishing I could be fourteen again and could be Beth. My experience in high school libraries convinces me that teenagers of both genders will find this book a worthy read. The most environment-oriented among them may use it as motivation to see and save their own special places. The world could use such inspiration!

After finishing "My Contract with Henry," I let out a sigh. Not only did this book pull you in with a captivating plot, it also had a complete ending. I guess you could say, all the "i's" were dotted, and all the "t's" were crossed. The book gives you satisfaction of reading it. Having read many, many books in my life, I do not have a favorite all together. Sure, i have favorites per genre, but this book left me with out a doubt. This IS my favorite young adult novel. Robin Vaupel is a very accomplished writer, and I can not wait for the next of her books, "Austin's Orbit." I know hopefully that one day, this great book, "My Contract with Henry," willbe a major motion picture!

My 11 year old son read this book and wrote a review for the school newspaper. This is what he wrote. "This excellent novel, tells of a ninth grader, Beth Gardner, who is assigned an experiment that would change her life. As she lives in the woods trying to relive the life of Henry David Thoreau she learns to love the wilderness. When a building company buys the woods, Beth does not know if she can save her beloved sanctuary. Mrs. Robin Vaupel is a devoted teacher and a promising author. Her hard work and dedication, that she put into this book has paid off with fabulous results. This was the best book I have ever read and it was a privilege to be allowed to read this magnificent story before it hit the shelves. I would recommend this book and if I had the authority I would not hesitate to award it he Newberry Medal. On a scale of 1-10 I would give this book a 10."

A comprehensive view of Jewish women throughout history. I just completed a somewhat detailed course The History of Islam, and found the chapters - The Jewish Women Under Islam: The Near East, North Africa, and Spain; and A Different Voice: Jewish Women in the Lands of Islam particlarly informative. They covered aspects not covered in my course.
The entire book is scholarly, yet easy to read. I enjoyed it and would recommend it highly.

This wonderful new book fills a gap. It enables readers to put themselves into the many different worlds Jewish women occupied over time and compare our lives today to those lived in times past. I highly recommend it as a good read and a fabulous reference book.

This book was expeertly researched and beautifully written. The introduction to each era was especially informative. Though conceived as a reference book, it was so interesting that it was hard to put down.

The inaugural volume from a series loosely based on Henry Winkler's own (less than comforting) childhood as an undiagnosed dyslexic/dyscalculaic pre-1970's civil rights laws, this story introduces Hank Zipster---and subsequently implied radical educational pedagogy missing components to educational equality for students with disabilities.

Conjuring up TV images of street demonstration and angry mobs, "radical" actually means to get at the root cause of something.

Unlike the open isolation and secrecy experienced in Winkler's youth, today's students have disability rights laws on the books ensuring their equal educational access, but the same statues can only reach full potential when students with disabilities are not formally/informally stigmatized for their "difference" against non-disabled peers.

The default trying nature of such topics may potentially shock readers whose 'juvenile fiction series' reads are confined to traditionally light-hearted and easy-going fare, but the presentation arrangement is obligatory because even when appropriate services are rendered, students with disabilities leave American schools with low self-esteem engendered by classroom and cultural stigmatization as the 'bad' other to be avoided at all costs.

That this series is written by a person with a disability himself (who just happened to be a cultural mega star) is infinitely better than having a person (however well intentioned) second-hand guess what such childhood experiences are like.

Lucky that I could talk with my own parents about some of my own experiences, I also knew this option was unavailable for other people, and sometimes even I needed to network with others like myself.

Exposing me to the inherent inequities in the American educational system, this very same difference had also made me a target of peers (and sadly, teachers) who did not want to acknowledge me as a full and rounded person with many of the same general goals and dreams they also possessed. My place in the world was ultimately contingent upon my knowing and standing up for disability rights.

Also true to his own personality, Winkler never talks down to his audience during the adventures, instead reassuring the normalcy of wanting to fit in while being different from others in the immediate environment. The fast-paced dialog helps kids find both themselves and a voice.

Because no civil rights law can actually require a child to have self-esteem (or respect such boundaries of others) these books are important corollary to a still-relatively untouched subject. Narrowly constructed definitions of 'smart' and 'progress' continue to impede truly constructive nation-wide special education policy discussions.

Politicians from all across the political spectrum have rendered themselves hoarse pontificating on 'academic success' and 'leaving no child behind' but Winkler's efforts clearly demonstrate actual willingness providing these very tools to the audiences needing such tools the most.

If only this series were out when I was in public school.

Congratulations and thank you to Henry Winkler!!! These books are fabulous for everyone... children... parents... and a must for every teacher! The books are hysterically funny, well written and do not talk down to kids. Most important, without being heavy handed, Hank Zipzer has a universal message that every child will relate to. Buy this book! You will love it and your kids will love it!

To be quite honest, I wanted to read this book because when I was growing up, Henry Winkler was one of my favorites. Now that I have read the book, he is still on my list. This book would be an excellent classroom read aloud. The fast paced dialogue and eye for detail kept my interest. Hank Zipper, the narrator, is such a well thought out character. Anyone who has been around ADD, AHDH, or other children with learning disabilities will recognize him immediately. Winkler is right on with this book. I just hope that as a teacher, I am more like Mr. Rock than Ms. Adolph!

KINGS ROW may move you, stir you, shake you, shock you, stimulate you, reassure you, and inspire you. It is one of the few books that, like a true friend, I will return to often and never forget. It is a wonderful gift that transcends time and place.

Interspersed among the captivating narrative and rich characterizations are succint insightful meditative segments that sparkle like rare jewels and are brilliantly woven into the story.

My personal index of this book includes, in approximate order of appearance: angels, point of view, cage, science, intuition, mysticism, philosophy, struggle, vanity, *shining goal*, place in the universe, the conscious and the unconscious, multiple worlds, rivalry, piano music, control and order, discipline, *tryanny*, conformity, human nature, jealousy, things without faces, qualities, civilization, words versus voice, game, refuge, beauty, ugliness, money and power, mathematics, *design*, friendship.

Broadly and deeply erudite, astutely observant, and poetically articulate. FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, PLEASE DON'T MISS IT. And share it.

I read Kings Row about 12 years ago and became a huge fan of Henry Bellaman. Kings Row is the kind of book that lives long in your mind and heart. He breathes life into the characters and you feel as though you know them each personally and would recognize them on the street. He knows the pulse of human emotion and the author is a psychologist, a man of spiritual depth and insight, and his words sing. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in what it means to be human and how we fare in terms with the world around us and the inhabitants we come in contact with. I will never forget this marvelous book and have recommended it to many. Beautiful!

Kings Row is one of my 2 favorite books (the other is "A Tree Grows is Brooklyn"). I read it a few months ago, shortly before I turned 15. Henry Bellamann shocked me with his good characteriation of all the characters, major and minor. Everything in the book was intwined with everything else. So many things happened in this town, which is based on Fulton, MO, that I wonder what sort of things are happening in MY town. Read it. The last 10 pages are sad and suprizing. I cried at a few parts. The movie is good too, but the ending is somewhat different. Anyway, read Kings Row.

I recently completed a production of this fine play where I played Geoffrey, Duke of Aquataine. I have done a lot of play and this without a doubt is the most well written. Goldman does not waste a single word in the play.

This play about the famously disfunctional family of England's Henry II is perhaps the most devestating family drama this side of "Long Day's Journey into Night".

For those who want a real epic, it can - but doesn't have to - be read as a sequel to Jean Anoilh's "Becket". Personally I found that this adds to the tragedy.

It opens during a fictional family Christmas get together that is combined with a historical meeting between Henry and France's young King Phillip. Henry's persistent humiliation of his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, through his string of mistresses has prompted her to hurt him in the only way available to her - by systematically destroying his relationships with their sons. Now Henry - although not old yet - is no longer a young man. The fact that a potentially dangerous Phillip - who has a legitimate axe to grind with Henry - is no longer a child forces them to realize that their familial intrigues have set their boys up for both internal and external disaster upon Henry's death. They make a real effort to save both their shattered marriage and their shattered children, but it may already be too late ...

The main tragedy, of course, is what Henry and Eleanor have done to their children. Richard is admirably brave but has had much of his compassion beaten out of him and replaced with brutality. Geoffrey's great sense of humor has been blasted in the bud, and his fustrated capability of love makes a weapon of an intelligence that would have been an asset to anyone who would have shown him the slightest affection in return (it's worth noting for those who don't know the family's subsequent history that given the condensed time of the play, Geoffrey would presumably have died in a fatal tournament accident soon after the action of the play - making him even more poignant). John, the youngest son of Robin Hood fame, is somewhat mishandled - his failure had much to do with Richard's prior mismanagement and lousy historical timing rather than his own faults, and the ruthless streak that doomed Geoffrey's son Arthur (who isn't in the play) as well as his general competence in many instances (he would later rescue Eleanor from a siege in a manner that would have done Richard proud) doesn't really come across - but in an otherwise excellent play Goldman can be forgiven for bowing to popular opinion in one case.

An accurate depiction of the dynamics of the Plantagenet family, "The Lion in Winter" is also a timeless study of what constitutes a healthy family.

I have to say Iam in love with this book. I know every line by heart. I saw the movie frist. Also a A+++++ movie. I don't know, something about it.It somehow just gets under your skin. Anyone who loves history. Or just just great works of writing should have this little book.

A wonderful insight to the lives of the Du Ponts revealed in an easy to read format

Kudo to Maggie Lidz

I just got my copy and am already seduced by the rich collection of photographs of my favorite Dupont family. Maggie Lidz obviously knows her Dupont family history and is amazing me with details that I had never read before anywhere else. I can't wait to read the rest. This book has definately made me want to go back to visit the Winterthur chateau with a whole new perspective. The whole family and place really comes to life with this book.

Life at Winterthur is a compound of anecdote, symphony and nightmare. Its mechanics resemble those of a dream that has freed the author from the necessities of common logic and has enabled her to compress all periods of history, all phases of individual and economic development, into a circular design, of which every part is beginning, middle and end.

When I was asked to review this book, I didn't give it a second thought. I myself have a personal connection with this subject. When my daughter was almost 3 years old, after being pregnant for the first time since she was born, I had a miscarriage.

There are so many questions surrounding the reasons for miscarriages - what causes them; can they be prevented; is there a way to lower the risks of having another...? Answers to these and other compelling questions are best discussed in the book, "Miscarriage: Why It Happens and How Best to Reduce Your Risks," by Henry M. Lerner, M.D. I thought I had known all there was to know about miscarriages, but this book truly opened my eyes and gave me much more information.

Miscarriages are a common occurrence, happening in 1 out of 5 pregnancies, and for a number of reasons. Some of what this book discusses: what exactly is a miscarriage; reasons miscarriages occur; the role of infections and the environment in causing miscarriages. It discusses past and current research studies and its results, and even answered a few myths I had believed to be true (see pg 53 for timing sex for a boy or girl; and pg 120 for microwave oven exposure).

MyParenTime highly recommends this book -- besides personally answering some questions I had about my own miscarriage, this informative book touched upon so many areas and explained the topic of miscarriage in terms we can all understand. To anyone who has experienced the devastation of a miscarriage, and to those just looking for information...this book has it all.

Even if there is no need for emergency surgery afterward, a miscarriage leaves behind quite a bundle of mostly negative feelings on the part of the mother and even that of the father. Most people when hearing of a miscarriage react with sympathy towards the parents. However, the parents, especially the mother, guiltily wonders if something she did caused this traumatic event. The mother and to a lesser degree the father is the target that author Dr. henry G. Lerner wants to help. He responds to the self-incriminating questions often asked such as what did I do wrong? Dr. Lerner with contributions by Dr. Domar provide practical advice on how to reduce the odds of preventing a miscarriage from happening again and how to cope with the depression that is sure to come if a miscarriage occurred.

This book is lucid and well written for a wannabe parent to understand yet treats mothers and fathers as intelligent people just lacking information on a "taboo" subject that no one wants to talk about. Dr. Lerner provides insightful information on avoidance and as important how to deal with the deep guilt that will follow if a miscarriage happens. The key to this enlightening nonfiction work is the advice provided to both parents for the forgotten father will feel doubt, depression, and lack of confidence as to what to do for his ailing spouse and his own psyche. MISCARRIAGE: WHY IT HAPPENS AND HOW BEST TO REDUCE YOUR RISKS--A DOCTOR'S GUIDE TO THE FACTS is a strong insightful guidebook.

Harriet Klausner

This is an excellent guide to preventing, coping with, and surviving miscarriage. Dr. Lerner covers all of the important information, and even includes a chapter on the emotional repercussions of miscarriage. I would recommend it for anyone who has had a miscarriage.

This is a wonderful book for anyone at any age. I have read it four or fives times since may father gave me his copy in 1957. His grandfather gave it to him in 1931, so the book has become somewhat of an heirloom. It is the view of a childhood that is quite a contrast to the video gaming, televison oriented life in which children grow up today. It may even make you wish you grew up with Henry Shute.

I was given a copy of this book when I was 11. I somehow lost my copy over the years. On my 60th. birthday, my sister gave me a copy that had a 1909 publishing date. After I broke out in tears, I vowed I wouldn't lose track of this one.

My grandmother had this book and it was the first book I had ever read in one sitting (at the age of ten!) My mother, sister and I would laugh about the misadventures of the characters as if they were our own friends.Now that both my grandmother and my mother are gone, my copy of the book sits in the bookcase with scrapbooks and picture albums. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

This is a terrific "off the beaten path" type tour guide. These tours take you to areas that other tourists just pass through on their way to the Eifel Tower and Louvre. With this book you experience the real Paris, not the tourist's Paris.

At the beginning of each tour (allow one per day), find a bench in one of the many small parks and read the introduction to the tour. While you take in the sights, smells and sounds of the area, you'll learn a bit of history to set the stage for the tour. The walks are slow and intend for you to really look at your surroundings as you read about the history, architecture and people. I wish there were guides like this for every city!

I've taken this book to Paris three times. Our local library discarded the book and I was so upset. It's wonderful to use in Paris or to remember my trips. I was so excited to find in newly published. I have already got one, which I passed on to a friend going to Paris, now I'm ordering another.

The Pariswalks audiotape is an immensely entertaining and educational way to wander through Paris neighborhoods. You can, for a change, SEE what the guidebooks are talking about WITHOUT having your nose in the book the whole time. The narration is humorous as well as informative. Because this Pariswalks audiotape is so good,I have given theLondonwalks audiotape on faith for Christmas to someone about to head for London. I will never travel to Europe again without first checking to learn whether an audiotape is available for my destination city.

Jimmy Answell is summoned for an audience with Avory Hume. The two men are later discovered after witnesses break into Hume's study - a room with bolted steel shutters and a heavy door locked on the inside. Answell is found lying unconscious and Hume stabbed to death with an arrow. How can young Answell but be guilty? How could Sir Henry Merrivale (H.M.!) be foolhardy enough to undertake his defence at the Old Bailey? And what is the 'Judas Window' to which H.M. keeps alluding?

This is John Dickson Carr (aka Carter Dickson), the acknowledged master of the locked room mystery, in top form. The quality of the puzzle in The Judas Window is superior to that in The Three Coffins (popularly regarded as Carr's best book and the most famous locked room murder mystery). The case unfolds through the medium of a riveting courtroom drama that simply ought to have been filmed. The comic touches provided by H.M. as defence counsel are terrific. And the modus operandi of the crime is stunning in its simplicity and the conviction it carries. Less convincing however (and this is what makes the book stop just short of perfection) is the murderer's motive. But this flaw makes only a ripple in the overall masterly construction of the mystery.

Don't miss it!

Carter Dickson (also known as John Dickson Carr) created another wonderful golden age locked room mystery in his novel, The Judas Window. Sir Henry Marrivale is the sleuth and he is, as always, a dependable joy. The author has surrounded him with an able cast of supporting characters to help nudge the story along. The triumph, of course, and the reason for this book's existence is the locked room crime. Carter Dickson knows how to tease the mystery and drama out of this glorious cliche, making it seem fresh and new. This is a classic from a thrilling time in mystery writing by a true master of the form. Not to be missed.

Dickson and John Dickson Carr are the same. He specialized in Locked Room mysteries. In various polls in mystery mags he always ends up at the top of locked room mysteries. I like this the best of his novels, but the Hollw Man (under Carr) is usually considered the best. His short story "The House in Goblin Wood" is I think even better -- simply the best locked room story ever.

Other writers to look for in locked rooms: Clayton Rawson, Ellery Queen (sometimes a locked room).

Ishould point out that as a novel aside from the puzzle its not very interesting. You read these things for the mystery and the detective!