I used this with my sixth graders when we reached the chapter on World War II. Because of the association with The Wizard of Oz and Dorothy, many of the girls in my class chose to read the book and do a report on what life was like during this time. The book provided them with an excellent and entertaining introduction to what it was like growing up in 1939.
In addition, as an off side, the book is marvelously entertaing, a very original story, wonderfully detailed. Images are excellent and allow the reader to truly envision life in 1939.

This is a very nice story. It is set in the year 1939 which I learned was the start of World War II. It is about this girl in New York City who loves Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz is going to be opening at a theatre near her home. Everyone is excited about seeing the movie. The girl enters the contest to meet Dorothy with all her friends.

Then she meets this new girl who is Jewish. Her family just escaped from Germany where the Nazis are. At first the girl is afraid to be friends with the Jewish girl because of what she has heard about the Nazis. Then the Jewish girl tells her all the horrible things that her family had to go through in Germany and how they escaped. This part is really sad and I cried a little.

There is alot, alot more stuff going on in the story and you should really read it because it is very good. I also learned alot about what was going on in America back then. This story teaches you alotof things like not to jduge people, to help everyone, to have faith in God and your family and your dreams and your friends. This story will make you laugh and cry and at the end you are very happy.

My granddaughter, age ten, brought me this book when she visited duirng her spring vacation. Not only did she love it, but I have also read it twice and recommended it to my "old lady friends" (as my graddaughter calls them) and their grandchildren. I volunteered for years at our school library and know this will win many children's interest.The author has hit upon a unique and winning combination of nostalgia, fun, history and a favorite kid's character (Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz),growing up, facing fear, making good choices, watching out for others,and a lot more. The pictures, not just drawings, actually illustrate differents parts of the story. In a world where violence and sex seem to be the norm, even for youngsters, this book is such a great change. My granddaughter learned so much about the World War II time period and what it was like to live in America at that time.We visited the website several times. I am heartily looking forward to sharing the rest of the series with my graddaughter.

THIS IS NOT JUST AN ENGLISH DICTIONARY. THIS IS AN ARTWORK ON LINGUISTIC SCIENCE! YOU WILL BE AMAZED TO SEE EACH AND EVERY WORDS WITH NATURALLY,SCIENTIFICALLY STRUCTURED EXAMPLES WITH VERY SPECIAL CARE. IT'S WELL WORTH CHECKING IT OUT AS SOON AS YOU CAN,ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER! ONCE YOU'VE FOUND WHAT'S INSIDE IT, MAN, YOU WILL LOVE IT! I BET YOU WILL PROUDLY CALL IT THE BEST ENGLISH DICTIONARY IN THE WORLD YOU'VE EVER FOUND!

I'm still trying to find any defect to this dictionary, but I couldn't yet... If you are a non-native english speaker, you have to get this one... does phrasal verbs drives you crazy??? All phr verbs are there... Usage notes of frequently used words are great as well as the illustrations!!!... the samples following the definition of the words are great to understand them... although I'm still learning, I know this book has improved my english...

This is not a "junior dictionary." This dictionary is a 100% up-to-date state of the art dictionary with a comprehensive listing of any word you might encounter as well as a key for how to use it in a sentence. With that key, students can figure out how to use the word properly in speech and composition. The dictionary itself is a learning tool because the definitions of the 60,000+ words included are limited to a 2000-word vocabulary, giving the student practice while learning new words. Additionally, the dictionary has many illustrations and diagrams which list thematic vocabulary (for example everything that is under the hood of a car or everything that is in a fully-equipped kitchen). The definitions are clear and precise: look at the definition for the word "piece." In that definition you will find a flow-chart with questions like, "Is it solid?" "Is it thin?" and so on, leading the learner to words like "drop, dash, squirt, wisp, chunk, slice, slab, segment, grain, speck...." My reading students, whose first language is English, love this book also, because the defining vocabulary is within their range. It is comprehensive enough that even teachers will find definitions of unfamiliar words (for example, I just learned that "chock" is a block of wood used to wedge under a tire). This book is the best investment a student can make. It is also an investment that every teacher should make in service to his/her students

My sister and I have loved this book since we we were children. Some 30 years ago. Now my daughter age 12 and I read it every summer. It is one of the best books written

The phrasing and descriptions may be from another era, but the charm remains forever! The idea that children and adults can work together with respect and politeness is, I fear, completely foreign to today's society. It has become an "us" vs. "them" proposition. Won't you do your children a favor and read this book, or another of Goudge's, aloud to them one night?

I have yet to find any "contemporary" books that can compare to the innocent spirit and adventure of this, and other, Elizabeth Goudge books. It is a tragedy that they are so difficult to find today--I had to do an inter-library loan to get a copy to read.

Delightful escape from the brutal reality of our lifestyle of today, do yourself a favor and try to track down a copy. It will lift your spirits and make your day brighter every time you read it.

I have been reading and re-reading this book for some 20 years now. Every time I read it I find it more mystical and enthralling. I look forward to reading it to my children and watching them get the same joy I experience every time I pick up this book. I would love to find a hardcover copy of this if anyone knows of one available as my paperback is becoming more and more used looking

Having been the first Susan Branch book I've used, The Summer Book will always be my favorite. She reminds us of the little things in life that we should enjoy and cherish. Enjoyable for all ages (I'm only 23), you will yern for a more peaceful and sweet summer after all the craziness in our modern lives. More than just a cookbook, she shares her delightful thoughts on a summer garden to her personal summer memories. But of course, I must mention that the recipes in this book are absolutely delicious! She makes every moment fun and enjoyable.

Susan Branch's art gives "The Summer Book from Heart of the Home" a fabulous quality. It's a book you won't be able to put down. The illustrations are so great you just keep looking at them, discovering new things each time around. The recipes cover a wide spectrum, and this is a cookbook for people who want their recipes presented with true style. This book would make a great gift for anyone who appreciates all the best in life.

My absolute favorite cookbook! I bought this a few years ago and my copy is dog-eared and splotched from so much use in the kitchen! Our favorite recipe is the roasted vegetables...so easy and healthy. And, when you get the winter blahs...just take out your copy of this book and your heart will be warmed and you'll look forward to summer with all of Susan Branch's illustrations; wonderful ideas for your home and life; and the recipes. It makes you want to take a trip to Martha's Vineyard. A must have...a great gift!

Caryn Edwards came to Marble Island to get some peace and quiet. She has been through quite an ordeal with her failed marrige. She was also looking forward to a break from school. She taught Home Ec. She decided to take her friends up on the offer to rent their summer home while they were away. What she didn't count on is having a housemate.

Logan Prescott was getting away for some peace from a shock that changed his life. He was renting his friends summer home on Marble Island, but was surpised to find a beautiful woman would be sharing the home with him.

Summer Magic is actually one of my favorite stories by Ms. Alers. This is a true romance. You actually watch the characters fall in love right before your eyes. Yes, they both have issues, but they find solace in each other. They then realize they can work through things together.

Ms. Alers stories are always wonderful. No matter what the topic is, she does a marvelous job. Even her novellas are wonderful. I have all Ms. Alers published works. She is very well known for her Hideaway Legacy Series. Summer Magic, Home Sweet Home are two of my favorite stories outside the Hideaway Legacy Series. Get them !!

This was my very first book by Alers and it was off the chain. "Summer Magic" is my second favorite book of all times. It was all of that. The plot for the story was great along with the setting. And the characters!! Logan is very close to being ever woman's dream, talk about dreamy!! I tell you that Caryn was a very lucky lady to have a man like Logan's attention on her only. I loved thier story! It would be great to hear an update on Caryn and Logan along with Cynthia and Ham in other book! Much love Alwe!

This book was what I call a hesitation buy--I hesitated to buy it because I didn't think I was going to like it. Having just finished two of the Hideaway series books, I'd gotten used to spellbinding action combined with romance from Ms. Alers.

However, Summer Magic turned out to be one of the best purchases I've made this year1 i absolutely adored Caryn and Logan, and I agree with a previous reader who would like to see more of their story. The small-town setting in no way diminished the passion and romance that I've come to expect from Ms. Alers. Summer Magic lived up to its title and more than met my expectations. From the first page to the last of Caryn's journal entries, I was completely drawn into this story and hated to see it end. Good job, Ms. Alers.

In third grade my third grade teacher decided to read us the beginning of "Harriet the Spy." While she got as far as when Janie tells Harriet about dancing school, she had the sequel, "The Long Secret", in the book corner of our classroom, and only one person knew about it: me. Since that day in third grade when I noticed the copy, I've read it a hundred times if not more. Who can't resist the rough and tumble Jenkins family or Zeeney or Wallace ("Hup!"). Or Bunny or Agatha or Harriet or Beth Ellen? Your life will be changed after reading it. Trust me.

I got this book when I was a child and I thought it was a scream! I actually laughed so hard it hurt!

Beth-Ellen, Harriet's shy and retiring friend is the perfect foil to the outspoken, brash, wonderfully assertive Harriet of Harriet the Spy fame. Both girls have summer homes in Water Mill, Long Island, their families' retreat from Manhattan when school gets out. Beth-Ellen lives with her kindly grandmother, who has some rather neanderthal ideas about imparting information concerning puberty, but who is a nice sort after all.

Harriet has not put down her pen and notebook. Seems that somebody else has taken up writing that summer. Quotes from the Bible and parodies of Scripture are seen throughout the Water Mill community. Naturally suspicion turns to a summer girl named Jessie who aspires to be a preacher when she grows up. Chock full of Biblical knowledge, Jessie has a morbidly obese mother and twin brother and a cute preschool sister. There is no mention of a father.

Beth-Ellen, on the other hand becomes reacquainted with her mother. Seems that Beth-Ellen's mother was a society lady, preferring parties and travel to raising a child. Beth-Ellen's natural father left some years earlier.

The reunion is a bust. Beth-Ellen's mother, Zeeney, is just as flighty and superficial as ever. Her stepfather just says "hup" and loves martinis. They try to make Beth-Ellen over, straightening her hair and choosing her clothes and insisting that she leave her grandmother and come with them. Beth-Ellen refuses, wins her case and Harriet cracks THE case -- the identity of the Secret Writer!

This book is a riot!

Some years ago, I sought this book at the mall. The cover instantly got my attention, because my Harriet The Spy book featured the same art as this one. Once I realized it was a sequel to Harriet The Spy, I didn't even hesitate, I bought it right away. This book blew me away. I've never heard of a sequel being so extrodinary before, but it was. After I finished, I was upset, because I didn't want it to end! I've read it over and over several times. This book is well worth 5 stars! I would recommend it to Harriet fans of all ages.

Summer with the bears is by far the best book I've ever read. If you don't have it or haven't read it do so now. It will change your life in some way I'm sure. I first read about it in the Reader's Digest and put my copy on order for the moment it came out. Little bit and all of the other bears touched my heart so much it's hard ot describe. I felt like I was there with them as events were happening. Jack and Patti you are so lucky to have had this special time in your lives and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your sharing it with us. Just goes to show that all animals are not as we always imagine them to be, yet we know at the same time they are not all created equal. There are those that possess a special trait and willingness to be different, that was little bit. Your book was written from your heart, and the pictures helped us to be there too. I laughed and I cried along with you. so few of us will experience what you did interacting with the bears on the level that you did. I attribute your book to helping me find a hidden talent I did not know existed in me. I started sketching, and yes mostly bears. I did one of you and Patti with little bit, if you'd ever like them all you need to do is ask and they are yours. You touched my life in such a special way that in turn I'd like to touch your lives too. Hope there will be more books and I wish you all the best in your lives. Thank You for sharing your special lives with the world.

I just loved this book. Hated to come to the end. A marvelous and touching story about animals, love and trust and nature. Almost too amazing to be true but with wonderful photos to prove it! I will lie awake at night and dream of Jack and Patti and their bears. Thank you, Becklunds!

If you love animals, nature, the great outdoors, and reading about people who love all those things too, please get this book, sit down with a box of tissues, and enjoy! You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll shake your head in wonderment. The author Jack Becklund and his wife Patti, move deep into the Minnesota forests. Their property is home to deer gamboling on the lawn, chipmunks and hand-fed squirrels munching seeds on the porch,wild mallard ducks swimming and splashing in the creek below, and a colorful array of native birds. But the real heart of the story is Little Bit, the black bear cub who toddles onto the back deck one day, and stays for the next six summers as a welcome, loving, and deeply loved guest of the couple. She is a magical spirit, a living, breathing gift from God, sent to bring great joy to their lives. We are honored to meet Little Bit's cubs, her mates, and numerous other black bears who live in the area, and come to trust the Becklunds. The story itself is incredible, but between the lines, we watch the couple come to love and appreciate the power of this sacred trust they've been given...the joy of the relationship they share with these magnificent animals.This is a book for all time...a classic in every sense of the word. The photos are magnificent, and bring the personalities of the animals into beautiful focus.

I was sixteen,and just finished my grade school exams ( I belong to Bengal, in India) when I came across this exceptional book-I had read 'Shibumi', and 'The Main',both of which just bowled me over, and I had fallen in love with the style of Trevanian, a maestro de su genero, on every grounds! I fell in love with Katya, too--perhaps a little more than Jean Marc, who;s ideology made him a lovable character by his own rights--but my world became transmuted to darkness, in the oppressive summer afternoon, when I finished reading---I had grown up, and I was in love------the name Hortense, the name Katya----became the very centre of my being , at least for some time to come. A book exceptional in its poignancy, a must read for all lovers and madmen.

The Summer of Katya is an exquisitely crafted literary masterpiece that in numerous ways is more poetry than prose. This is what writing as an art is all about!

Set in the summer of 1914, between, what the author Trevanian calls, "the age of grace and the era of efficiency," the young Basque doctor Jean-Marc Montjean falls in love with Katya Treville, a young Parisian woman. His brief and heartbreaking relationship in what he calls the "Summer of Katya" ultimately devastates him in life.

In this short story(about 280 pages), Trevanian has brilliantly encapsulated the unfathomable intensity of love and youth. Set in the Basque region of Southwestern France, the novel is a pristine example of the author's artistic and lyrical writing talent. It is a novel that is not only read but is "experienced." It leaves the reader with a profound sense of melancholy that only a writer of Trevanian's calibre and genius can deliver.

For those sick of the mainstream nauseating happily ever after love stories, "The Summer of Katya" is written for you...an expertly weaved tragic romance that is unforgettable! Trevanian has truly shown that there is poetry and beauty in sadness. You will shed a bucket of intellectual tears!!!!

The Summer of Katya was given me to read by my tenth grade Honors English teacher. She told our class that she was probably in a minority of teachers in giving this book to a tenth grade class to read, but that we would read many books of mature content and sometimes controversial nature... throughout the year we read The Catcher in the Rye, The Lord of the Flies, and Hamlet, among other diverse works, but The Summer of Katya remained one of my favorites... indeed, Katya is right up there with Holden Caulfield as a literary character, though perhaps not so widely known. It will remain one of the most astoundingly psychological books I have read for many years to come, and I hope to purchase a copy if one is to be found.

This book sat on my dresser for a long time and it even traveled to Georgia with me without being read. I just couldn't get into it. Finally, when I had nothing else to read I pushed past the first 100 pages and boy am I glad I did. It turned into a really good read!

It does take a while to get into the characters and to get the actual plot moving -- 3 women discover they are married to the same man who has disappeared with their money and they decide to follow him to the Yukon where he is joining the gold rush. It did take me a while to identify with the women and I found them to be annoying at first. But I grew to admire their tenacity and perseverance. More importantly, they made me laugh. This book contains one (okay two) of the funniest love scenes I've read. And, I found it very, very interesting to read about the Yukon gold rush and what people had to go through to get there. As a matter of fact, I found a web site that has some good pics and maps to show where the characters in this book travel .

I would recommend this book and it is worth the read for the last third of the book.

So now the book is sitting on my sister's dresser...

Jean Jacques Villette travels the West Coast hitting small towns in California, Oregon, and Washington where he finds lonely wealthy spinsters to seduce, marry, rob, and desert. In California, he hit on Juliette March who for nine months believed in his love and that he would return until she followed his trail to Oregon, where she finds victim number two, Clara Klaus. Together they head to Washington where they are joined by dupe number three Zoe Wilder. He married all three of them.

The wives decide to confront and perhaps kill the scoundrel. His trail takes them to Alaska where Villette has a surprise in store for his three spouses. Meanwhile each woman meets a handsome man who falls in love with her. However, once burned, Juliette, Clara, and Zoe find it difficult to give away their respective hearts again.

Readers will enjoy Maggie Osborne's Americana romance that brings to life the last decade of the nineteenth century. The story line is entertaining due to the powerful depiction of the ensemble. The audience will understand why the women married Villette. The charming cad includes a compassionate side that makes him into a complete character and not just a totally evil villain. I DO3 is an intriguing historical romance that will provide enjoyment to fans of Americana.

Harriet Klausner

What a wonderful premise! Three very different women -- Juliette, Clara and Zoe -- discover by accident that they are all married to the same man and, once the shock has abated, set out to the Yukon to find him. This makes for a delightful, fast-paced "on-the-road" novel filled with love and adventure. Inevitably, each of the women grows and changes and finds her own true love. But the course of those relationships can't possibly run smoothly, especially when the intrepid ladies are married to someone else.

Ms. Osborne's characters are always well-drawn and a treat to read. Her plots are intriguingly different and set up complex problems for the characters to resolve. This is another fabulous book in her repetoire. I loved it.

I just recieved this book today. I opened it and I was amazed by the beauty of the layout. This book is stunning. I could flip through the pages all day long. I was happy to see flyers in the book from Detroit. This book is an inspiration to me, considering I would like to start the design process of the rave flyer. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates the overall beauty of the rave party. This book truly captivates its visual delite! I wish I had another book so I could tear out the pages and hang them up all over my bedroom walls.

The book reminds you of the posters of the 60's. Remarkable change from the early 90's to the last print dated in 1998. The flyers are even better since then. Hope to see volume 2 soon. Keep your rave and techno posters tucked away in a safe place because they'll be worth alot someday! Buy this book (it's priced right)- a great reference piece.

It's like a completed coloring book for grown-ups. This is the most colorful book I have seen. I am tempted to cut out all of the pages and pin them on my wall as a huge collage. For now, it sits on my coffee table and almost everyone that stops by, picks it up, pages through it, and strikes up a conversation about their fondest rave memories, "Yeah, remember that fresh Japanimation flyer when so and so was spinnin'...that was a super-dope party." It was also cool to see some flyers from Colorado events. Although the graphics are great, one aspect that would have enhanced the overall book is to have had comments and interviews from the promoters, designers, DJs, and ravers about each bass-filled underground gathering. I like the fact that it is well organized and lists the name of the party, the location, the promoter, and the designer. The contact info is a great resource. I'm looking forward to an international edition. It's definitely a worthwhile purchase. Enjoy!