What is that fine line between overcoming and understanding one's own racial or ethnic background, or staying enveloped in it throughout one's life? How can we assist those still in those situations in meaningful and respectable ways discover other available life options? This book addresses those unpredictable twists and turns as some people have experienced - and still comptemplate - both of these situations.

This book could just as well been written about a person in the rural South struggling to break out of the small-town mentality imposed upon him/her. Different obstacles exist, but still need to be negotiated. How do you learn there are other life options when others are attempting to categorize you because of your pigmentation or dialect?

This book's stories describe some of these struggles. The message received is, that hopefully, each generation gets a little bit better in effectively, compassionately dealing with these situations so the next generations will not have to, and can tackle other social problems more threatening to all life.

James Clay has captured the struggles a Black America and through each has tacked on a much needed lesson. This book is different in the sense that not every thing turns out "hunky-dorie" but as in life if you look you can see where you went wrong and take measures to correct them. This book points that out. Without being overly preached to you can take to heart its messages and use them throughout life. This book is one of the most inspirational I have read in a long time, it is well written, and easily read--you won't put it down until it is done!

As I read the Rockwood Files, I took a long walk down memory lane. Having grown up on Chicago's Westside in a neighbhorhood similiar to the one in this collection of short stories, it was hard to keep in mind that the book is fiction. The characters came alive for me, in that they reminded me so much of where I come from. The book not only re-connected me with my past, but also ushered me right into the present. I felt as though I could personally relate to the people, places and circumstances portrayed.

Each short story depicted the characters' real life encounters, their hardships and struggles along with realistic and believable conclusions. The author shared day to day activities, hopes and dreams as well as accomplishments and disappointments of the each character in a way that reminded me of life in general.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed The Rockwood Files and place it high on my list of recommended reading. Looking forward to reading this author's next publication.

This book shows anyone all aspects of things that kids can know with out knowing too much that sad things happen all the time and people are brought up to be protected from that now we must let them know

In response to the person who wrote the review titled, "Senseless Acts of Violence Against Deer Provoke Anger", you are crazy. Yes, there is some violence that the youngest of children should not see. However, even my 3 year old was able to grasp that bad things happen, and that we must learn to move on. The story of Bambi is a true to life story, and is not some exploiting of 'poor, innocent' animals at all. There are also lessons to be learned about 'Hunter-oriented values' - which are not necissarily evil. Some people hunt to eat, and to live. When hunting is done in the right spirit, and not simply for sport, it can be a very good thing. I was able to teach my daughter all of this, and she is better for it, because of it.

WHAT A GREAT BOOK !, MY 4 YEAROLD ATTENDED PRESCHOOL THIS YEAR AND THIS WAS ONE OF THE BOOKS IN THE ROOM, EVERYDAY WHEN I CAME TO PICK HER UP SHE WOULD BE LOOKING AT THE BOOK, NOT THINKING SHE MIGHT REALLY BEABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE BOOK I RENTED THE MOVIE, UPOND HER WATCHING THE MOVIE SHE NOW WANTED THE BOOK, I ASKED A FREIND TO LOAN ME THE BOOK FOR A FEW DAYS TO SEE IF SHE WOULD STILL WANT IT AT HOME AND NEEDLESS TO SSAY SHE DID, SHE WOULD BRING THE BOOK TO ME AND WELL WE ALL KNOW SHE COULDNT READ THE WORDS, BUT SHE DID TELL ME THE STORY AS SHE KNEW THE BOOK WHEN SHE WAS IN SCHOOL. I WOULD ENCOURGE EVERY PARENT TO BUY THE BOOK AND READ IT TO THE ONES THAT CANNT READ AND LET THE ONES THAT CAN READ IT FOR THEMSELFS. I'M VEERY PLEASED TO SEE THIS BOOK HERE AT AMAZON.COM. I RATE THIS BOOK WITH 5 + STARS. BELIVE ME LIFE WASNT THE SAME AFTER THE BOOK WAS GIVEN BACK TO MY FREIND, TILL I WENT TO GET MY DAUGHTER HER VERY OWN... NINA

I bought this because I want to be a romance writer, and I was looking for information that would help me in this market as well as give me writing tips. It does a good job on the first count, but it was not very useful for me, a beginner, who did not know anything about writing romances. So the title is misleading.

Unfortunately, this book deals mainly with the business-end of romance writing. While that's fine, it shouldn't be marketed as a writing book. It does have some tips for a beginner, but mostly you'll find advice for marketing, promotion, and other non-writing topics.

I was honestly surprised by how much I liked this book. Of all the different "how to" books I've read about writing genre fiction, this one was the most helpful and informative on issues of marketing, publicity, and self presentation as an author.

No, this book does not take you by the hand and explain how to plot a story, how to develop a character, or how to format your manuscript. There are, however, many others that do, as a quick search for "writing reference" will show you. This book credits the reader with a certain amount of experience and know how. You do not need to be a succesful writer to enjoy this, simply an observant reader.

Not to give anyone the wrong idea, the book also contains a lovely chapter by Jude Deveraux about the common mistakes new writers make - complete with advice on how to avoid them. There are chapters that discuss the structure of a romance, what the audience expects from heroine and hero, how to do (and then incorporate) research for historical romances, writing the regency romance, long vs. short form, including the paranormal (time travel, magic, etc), and the evolution romance writing has gone through over the years.

I highly recommend this book, not only to romance writers, but to all aspiring writers. After all, many mysteries, westerns, and science fiction stories do have a touch of romance in them, and vice versa.

Zany's NYC Apartment Guide 2000 gives readers a solid grounding in how and where to find an apartment in The City. While the information is in general good and appears accurate, given the time constraints the authors no doubt faced, Zany's suffers from some editorial and content problems.

The beginning section of the book contains brief background information on such general topics as Brokers & Fees, Doormen, Loft Living, and Roommates. While these short explanations are helpful, the writing appears rushed, and does not go into enough detail in most cases.

The intro sections are also not well integrated with the bulk of Zany's, namely its profiles of NYC neighborhoods (emphasis on Manhattan). Each neighborhood profile contains a brief history, rental information, demographic statistics, and so forth. These profiles are quite useful, but lack sufficient differentiation, especially in the "Final Words" section, which makes every Manhattan neighborhood sound prohibitively expensive and not quite what one is looking for.

Everyone already knows that NYC costs a lot and has quirky neighborhoods, but Zany's needs to do a better job than just repeating the obvious. Still, this guide is a helpful reference for NYC apartment hunters.

This is a great place to start your New York apartment search -- especially if you're new to the area and don't know much about the neighborhoods. But be careful, because some of the statistics are inaccurate or outdated. For example, if you can find a 2-bedroom apartment in Astoria, Queens, for anywhere near $875 per month (the average price, according to the guide), you are a far better apartment hunter than I. Also, there are several popular neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens that Zany's leaves out entirely.

This book was instrumental in helping us find a beautiful sublet for the summer. The sections of the book that were of particular interest to my family were the descriptions of how children would fit into the neighborhoods including places to play, parks, and statistics.

Overall, I think that The Clay Marble is a great novel, and I recommend it to all age groups young and old. Excitement wise, I think that the book had its ups and downs.But I think the most tragic, exciting, breahtaking, and the best part of te story, was when one of Daras newly aquired and most beloved friend, Jantu was shot by a member of Surans own squad. Then after much awaitment and procrastination sh finally dies.And for this I give the book a Rating of Five stars.

Personally I like the book because it had relationships,war and a monkey, therefore i think it was a great book and it had a great ending. My favorite part of the book was when Jantu made a clay mobile ,but after that a character named Chnay came and smashed the mobile. So thats why I give it 4 thumbs up..... I mean 4 stars.
Bob B. Bobobson

AT first I was reluctant to read it but once I got into it I really enjoyed it. I feel that this book is about hardships and what it takes to survive, I would recommend it to anyone who asked! I would also like to thank my teacher for showing me this book!

I never used Illustrator before buying this book, although I'm very familiar with Photoshop and other grapics packages. This book is more a reference manual than a "hands on" type of book. There are some simple exercises, which help to learn some things, but much of the book talks about features of Illustrator without in-depth examples for the reader to draw or create to really learn Illustrator well. If you are looking for a relatively inexpensive book on Illustrator that is less than 1200 pages that will introduce you to the program, you might want to give this a shot, but there has got to be a much better book out there on Illustrator.

As a newcommer to Illustrator, as well as to drawing programs in general, I found this book helpful. It covered the entire program at a basic level. It gave me everything I needed to go further and become a polished user of Illustrator.

I wish all book-courses were this easy to understand and had lessons that were as hastle free(the files were all there as stated in the text)as this book.

I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to start out on the right foot and build a good foundation learning Illustrator.

The book is great -- thorough without being repetitive and it has lessons that make this not-so-easy-to-learn application seem a bit more user-friendly. The cover lists the skill-level as "All". I'd recommend it for beginners only. Hopefully, Clay Andres will make updated versions of this book for the newer releases of Illustrator.

Rosa Parks is best remembered as the Black woman who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a White person. However, she was much more that that. She was raised by grandparents because her mother taught school in another city. Her grandfather was the child of a slave owner and a slave. Rosa was determined to make a difference for her people. She and her husband took part in supporting the Scottsboro boys, Black youth who were accused of crimes they did not commit. Rosa became secretary of the NAACP and contributed greatly to her people, eventually receiving the Congressional Gold Metal award.

This book is a great read for a young child...maybe K-2nd grade. It was good at laying out for the reader the life of Rosa Parks.

This book is about a girl that had to give her seat up in a bus for a white person. She did not get up so they called the police.The police arrested her for not getting up.Then when Rosa got out of jail she made a statement saying, " Why do black people have to give up for white people?" They compromised and the black people do not have to give up there seat anymore. I liked this story because if Rosa Parks did not say anything we will be still separated from black people.

This book is not for the first time jewelry-maker. Some of the projects require power tools and have long materials lists. On the positive side, there are step-by-step instructions with pictures. Also, a wide variety of jewelry techniques and types of beads are shown. The "Treasures for Free" section is a good idea that I haven't seen in any other jewelry-making book. So, the benefit of this book will depend upon how experienced you are and how well-equiped your workshop is. Therefore, I think this book is best as a secondary source for most people.

I'm Elise Mann, you can see in the back of this book that I designed and made six of the big projects - I also did several of the little quick ideas. Just to say if anyone has questions about anything in my work, they can contact me.

There aren't a ton of recipes, and you have to have a certain type of pot to cook certain meals. While it is ambitous, it's not the best general clay pot cooking book out there

The recipes collected are representative of ancient cooking from many cultures. Traditional clay-pots from each culture are described. Each recipe has detailed, clear instructions. This is not a throw-the-ingredients-in-the-pot book. A number of the recipes are time consuming and require several cooking steps prior to adding all the ingredients to the clay-pot. Most clay-pot dishes bring to mind homey, comfort foods. These dishes have a fresh, lively nature. I think the secret to this is two-fold: the use of fresh ingredients and a lower cooking temperature than is called for in the classic clay-pot cookbooks. The food photography deserves praise too.

I have tried two recipes from this book and liked the results of neither. The Asian Stir-Fry Stew was no substitute for a stir fried dish and a waste of good scallops. The Hearty Corn Chowder with Peas looked nothing like the accompanying photo and tasted so bad, that it went from the crock pot directly to the garbage disposal. The book has many beautiful illustrations but I am reluctant to waste good ingredients (and money) on a book that is long on promise, touting itself as the 'ultimate', but short on results. For people wanting to create a delicious meal with a short preparation time, 'Crock-It' is a better choice. For those of you who have the time to create more gourmet meals with your slow cooker, 'The Slow Cooker Ready and Waiting Cookbook'is an excellent resource.

I bought this cookbook locally and I got it very cheaply. It is worth that, but I would not buy it full price. It has some good recipies in it, but many that are either very invovled, call for obscure ingredients, or aren't appetizing at all. but there are some that are a little different, and a good variety of more up-to-date recipies for slow cooker meals.

I borrowed this book from a friend and loved it. I totally disagree with a previous reviewer who said these meals were involved, contained ingredients that were hard to find and not very appetising. I stay at home with two very young children (both under 4), so trying to do anything complicated in the kitchen is out of the question. Thank God for crock pots. So far I have made the Meatball/Bow Tie Pasta soup, the Chicken Stroganoff, the Chicken Casserole with Swiss Cheese and the Cheese Tortellini soup and they have all been hits. Based on how well I liked this book, I'm going to buy Munson's pressure cooker cookbook.