I recommend this book to everyone who loves to read it is a great book.. I have been a reba fan for years and when I got her book I read it about 1000 times.. there is alot of lessons in there about life and things and alot of Uplifting stories to boot.

For anything you want to know about Reba's life, this IS the book to read. I was not fond of country music of any kind, until I read this book. Now, I am a HUGE Reba McEntire fan..one of the biggest, because I gained enormous respect for her for bringing the truth out to all her fans. This book is funny, sad, sometimes surprising...but always well written, straight from the heart. You will enjoy this book, and the audio is great too because she reads it herself! I highly reccommend it.

This book is a MUST read, even though I am a HUGE Reba fan, and somewhat partial!! It is the story of her life, and the lessons she learned while growing up in Oklahoma, as well as, her rise to fame as one of country music's leading ladies. It is the ONLY book that she has had anything to do with writing, with the exception of the upcoming, "Comfort From A Country Quilt" (I CAN'T WAIT!! :-), and therefore, is the only completely true account of her life. I loved this book...It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and I HIGHLY recommend it!!!!! It is a fantastic book!!!! "Forever Love" You Reba!!

I remember checking this book out of the library several times in the late 70's as I was a big fan of Secretariat, the greatest race horse in history. It gives a great summary of his life from birth, including the story of how his ownership was determined by the LOSS of a coin flip. It gives a great summary of all his races, especially the 1973 Triple Crown, where Secretariat battled his West Coast nemesis Sham and wiped him out with his 31-length victory in the Belmont Stakes. But what I like about the 1998 version of the book is that Mr. Woolfe updated it to discuss Secretariat's life after racing, including a review of his successful proginy. The pictures are great. If you combine this book with William Nack's book on Secretariat, you will have a very good understanding of the horse of a lifetime. A must for horse racing enthusiasts!

I, too fell in love with Secretariat and the sport of horse racing as a young, horse crazy girl. I am proud to own this one and William Nack's "The making of a Champion". The photos are beautiful, also. It gives you an up close look at the process of developing a world class athlete. This book is a great tribute. Secretariat will live on in our memories forever. I miss him.

This big beautiful book brings back the magnificence of Big Red like no other. Crammed with photos of everything form his Jockey Club ID photo as a foal (adorable) to workouts and races, grooming and bathing, and of the people around him - Penny (Tweedy) Chenery, Lucian Lauren, Eddie Sweat, Ron Turcotte and others - these alone are worth the price of admission. The photo of him and Turcotte taking off in the Preakness is as close to a flying horse as you'll ever see. The text is an engaging biography of Secretariat's earliest days at Meadow Farm, to his record shattering, history making races, ending with his retirement and success in the breeding barn - including photos and deeds of a few of his most accomplished get. It concludes with his untimely death at only 19 years. This book is also full of the history of, and interviews with, those who surrounded this awesome horse, and well known racing people who witnessed him run. As a horse loving 12 year old I watched history being made in 1973 - though it was only on TV - as Secretariat galloped seemingly effortlessly into history with those three races. I knew even in my youth and naivete that I would never see a feat that magnificent again. It's been 30 years now, and I haven't been wrong yet. This book is a must for those who love, and still love, this horse and racing. And for those who doubt - read the book. You will doubt no more.

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.

In a world where good role models are few and far between, Robin Higgins sets an extraordinary example. Because of her dual roles as wife and fellow Marine, Robin Higgins' story provides a unique insight into the psyche of both a desperate hostage family and a soldier trained to save one of her own. I was constantly amazed at the delicate mental and emotional balancing act she successfully kept up for the entire time her husband was held captive.

Robin's powerful and insightful recounting of her husband's story is extremely timely, as Col. Rich Higgins' fate in Lebanon holds lessons for the peacekeepers now in Iraq. Like the U.N. weapons inspection team in Iraq today, Rich's team sought to enforce peace in a land where war is a way of life. And like lead inspector and fellow Marine, Scott Ritter, who was recently accused by Iraq of spying, Rich was distrusted because he was an effective leader.

It was an honor and a pleasure to serve as editor of this book.

This is a story about a courageous woman torn mercilessly between her love for her hostage husband and her love and duty to her country. Above all, this is a love story and tragedy of epic proportions...involving not one American hero, but two. In her unrelenting efforts to free her husband from the bonds of terrorists, Robin Higgins went through the Halls of Power, confronting presidents and kings, winding through mazes of red tape, promises, and stone walls. At the same time, as a Marine Corps officer, loyal to her leaders and her country, she had to conduct herself with dignity and grace. Never once did she waver--even in the maddening days following the brutal murder of Colonel "Rich" Higgins. This book is her story...and his...and in gripping detail, Robin recounts this Patriot story. The reader will find it quite difficult to finish this book without anger at the feeble efforts to free the colonel, and without being in awe of the courage of Robin Higgins--a true patriot and heroine.

"Patriot Dreams" is the most gripping true story I have ever read, and I am a voracious reader. From the opening page, you will vicariously enter the inner world of Robin Higgins, and experience the tragic death of a true American hero.

Rich Higgins was a Marine lieutenant-colonel who saw himself as a peacekeeper and a protector of the nation he loved. His duties in Lebanon required him to be unarmed, and he accepted those conditions as part of the job.

Unfortunately, the Hezbollah did not respect his show of good faith. What happened to Rich and his ever-faithful wife, Robin, will give you the deepest understanding of the contemporary Middle East and the ineffectiveness of our government in protecting its citizens in that area.

"Patriot Dreams" is written with an understated passion that sweeps the reader along; I was unable to put the book down until I finished the last word.

Robin Higgins is an extraordinarly powerful writer. Her work combines the best features of a novel with a strong dose of reality therapy. You will be both wiser and better informed as a result of this read.

The author was a student at North Shore High School when I taught there, and I can, without qualification, vouch for her good character and loyalty. When she introduced me to her husband, Rich Higgins in 1982, he was a major, and she was a captain. You would, as I did, recognize that he was a product of the best of our culture--strong but humane, highly intelligent without conceit, loyal without fanaticism.

Rich Higgins will be mourned, but he must never be forgotten.

Rats in the Grain is a tale of corporate criminals from Asia, Europe, and the U.S. whose price fixing conspiracy was finally exposed by a government witness working undercover for the FBI for over two and half years. The FBI tapes and documents sow ADM was involved in fixing prices, technology theft, prostitution, systematic campaign voilations and the transfer of corporate funds without the proper signatures to senior executives' overseas bank accounts to avoid taxes. ADM paid a $100 million fine and was allowed to keep the USDA business worth $85 million, which was unprecededented for a corporation who pled guilty to a criminal felony. THe second conspiracy involved ADM, the Department of Justice and ADM's lawyers working together with the media to paint a picture of Mark Whitacre, the government witness, as the real criminal. Whitacre who worked undercover for the FBI was also receiving illegal bonuses. Records show ADM was aware of this, yet the government and ADM claimed that no one except those around Whitacre were involved. The FBI agents with whom Whitacre worked while recording the crimes at ADM turned their backs on him. All the departments of government in place to administer justice for the people were administering the wishes of ADM's chairman Dwayne Andreas. ADM and the Andreases have spent millions in donations over the years. Adding that to the millions spent on lawyers clearly showed that justice was for sale. Part IV of the book the cover-up is a real eye-opener. It tells of people who sold their souls aiding and abetting in the obstruction of justice which included sending the government witness to jail at the request of ADM. Lieber's book serves notice that all is not well in the heartland and conditions are even worse in Washington.

Lieber writes about a company that taught its employees to fix prices, steal technology, dispose of waste by mixing it with feed, hire prostitutes for corporate espionage, use shareholder money for illegal campaign donations and other crimes.

Mark Whitacre, president of the bioproducts division, was a very good student and also the FBI's cooperating witness for two and half years. During this period Whitacre was also helping himself to illegal bonuses. Lieber shows the company was aware of the bonuses, yet they denied any knowledge or involvement. Whitacre underestimated the power of ADM's Chairman Dwayne Andreas and landed in federal prison for 10 years. Dwayne Andreas got immunity for himself and other executives for the above mentioned crimes, except his son Michael Andreas and Terrance Wilson who were indicted on one count each of price fixing. They received only 3 years in federal prison camp after bilking ADM's customers out of $100s of millions over the years while the FBI witness got 10 years.

Lieber shows how the government and the powerful Washington law firm of Williams & Connolly worked together to hide all the crimes and make an example out of the FBI witness so no one will ever think about standing up against ADM in the future.

Every American should read this book to realize it is the corporate criminals who operate with impunity and immunity that are the real threat to democracy, yet we are loading our prisons with the young who have made minor mistakes compared to the enormity of ADM' crimes.

"Rats in the grain" is a powerful story of how publicly traded ADM was controlled by the Andreas family and its iron fisted chairman Dwayne. He showed that being white, well connected and greasing politicians for decades was very helpful when he got in trouble.

Lieber also writes about shareholder activists who decided to expose what the media was afraid to write about. They published the ADM shareholders watch letters that infuriated ADM and its Washington law firm Williams & Connolly. They were relentless in there pursuit of justice, and for that they paid a price.

This powerful book is also a must-read for anyone who feels they would like to become a government witness. You just might change your mind after you read what happened to a top executive who got ten years in prison for playing that role. It is beyond belief how the FBI agents who handled the witness could stand by and do nothing to help him after he worked with them for two and half years. He exposed the largest price fixing cartel in the history of the United States, and then was sold down the river.

About Corruption, Greed, Cowards and Courage. Worth reading.

This fascinating book outlines privacy rights in the United States through a review of case law. Covering citizens' privacy rights with respect to police encounters, the media, and one's own body, the book reveals how far the law has evolved, and how much room there is for further protection. My personal reaction was shock at how many areas that I thought were protected, in fact are not, or are still under contention.

Although the word "privacy" does not appear in the United States Constitution, most Americans believe that their right to privacy is not just legally protected but fundamental to their lives, their way of living, and this country's democratic system. Abstract and difficult to define, privacy is nonetheless perceived as one of our most basic and coveted rights.

But is it? How well are we protected? And what, exactly, are we protected from?

Through a seamless interweaving of landmark cases, lesser - known but equally important trial decisions, and dozens of anecdotal narratives, Ellen Alderman and Caroline Kennedy, authors of the best - selling In Our Defense, make an urgent and complicated issue more absorbing and accessible than ever before. In thier hands, we can finally see the law translated into relevant human experience.

The Right to Privacy delves into six general areas: Privacy versus Law Enforcement, Privacy and Your Self, Privacy versus The Press, Privacy versus The Voyeur, Privacy in the Workplace, and Privacy and Information. Can you refuse to comply when a police officer asks to look through your luggage? Is there anything you can do to prevent all those computerized data banks from filling up with more and more personal information about you? Can television cameras follow a breaking news story right into your home? Does your boss have a right to know that you are homosexual? a smoker? dating a co - worker? Who is entitled to make life - or - death decisions for someone who is no longer able to do so? Legally,the answer to each of these questions revolves around the right to privacy.

We live in a society in which our right to privacy is much discussed, misunderstood, and, in many cases, seriously threatened. The Right to Privacy will enrich the discussion, shed light on many of the misunderstandings, and illuminate the real - life, everyday impact of one of the most important issues of our time.

This book should be read by anyone who is concerned about the issues that surround our rights to privacy. Alderman and Kennedy review real-life court cases to show the audience how our laws come to be. The subjects that are focused on, are the police strip-search cases, school search cases, right to die cases, right to contraception cases, and privacy in the workplace to name a few. There is also a little segment on the issues of technology (the world wide web) and privacy. Kennedy is a very qualified person to write this book, because she grew up in the media glare having very little privacy herself, and understands firsthand what it is like to have a basic fundamental right violated. The right to privacy is a very serious issue in the United States. Alderman and Kennedy do a very fine job explaining how easily our basic fundamental right to privacy can be violated. I highly recommend this book as it is very easy to read and understand.

My daughter, age 9 and I both read The Saturdays over the past few months along with Four-Story Mistake. We loved this family and found each character fun. I loved their adventures and wish I had read these books as a child. I recommend this book to anyone who values their child's mind and wants to protect them from the abundance of nonsense in some children's literature.

My original review was written 14 July 1998. This is an addition for readers (and potential readers) who are (or would be) as puzzled as I once was when the book said the Melendy children played a noisy game of "Dumb Crambo". Over 20 years after I first read THE SATURDAYS, I was lucky enough to get a copy of VICTORIAN PARLOUR GAMES by Patrick Beaver that includes it.

To paraphrase, in Dumb Crambo, the players are split evenly into two teams. One team leaves the room while the remaining team chooses a verb. When the first team comes back in, the second team tells them another verb that rhymes with the first verb. The first team must guess the secret verb by acting it out. For example [not the one given], if the secret verb is "fly", the first team might be told "try". If they guess it's "spy", they act out someone spying on someone else. If they're wrong, the second team hisses them. The first team keeps trying until they act out the right verb.

It's called "dumb crambo" because it's a variation of a game called "crambo." In the original, only one person leaves the room and any kind of word may be chosen. The guesser is still told a word that rhymes with the secret word. The trick is that you have to ask questions that might get you the secret word WITHOUT naming the word you're guessing. For instance, if you think the secret word is "bus", you might ask "Is it a big ground vehicle that carries a lot of passengers?"

I think it shows something of the personalities and intelligence of the Melendy children that they would enjoy Dumb Crambo.

I've loved The Saturdays since I was about 8, when I read it for the first time. It wasn't until I was older that I realized: these children had to figure out things for fun, because they didn't have TELEVISION! What a concept! Just look what awesome things they find to do. I'm delighted to share this book, and that added idea, with my son.

Awesome and amazing! Need I say more! This book is fabulous as was Volume One! The pictures are incredible and the information is extremely helpful. This author did a fantastic job creating this price guide for all the Shirley fans in the world who just can't get enough! It has been quite a while since an author has done a new Shirley price guide and it was much needed. But this Author's version was much different than the other price guides as it shows everything and anything that is out there...old and new! Shows us Shirley fans that there is still a high demand for our loved Shirley and her memorbilia. Highly recommend! A++++++

This is a wonderful identification guide to collecting Shirley Temple items and dolls for the new or advanced collector.The large color photos and descriptions keep me coming back to the book for enjoyment and reference. Not only that, but the author has a refreshing way with words that give the book personality.A teacher one told me years ago " Books are our Friends".In this case its true. Again, I give the book Shirley Temple Identification And Price Guide by Suzanne Kraus-Mancuso 5 Stars!

I am a collectibles junkee and this book is great! The book is very easy to identify items and the pictures are outstanding. I wish that other collectibles authors would make their books this simple. The author's attention to detail and layout make it easy for anyone to find what they are looking for. I am thoroughly enjoying this book.

Goldsmith has done a real service with this book. It is more or less the history of the 19th-century women's suffrage movement, with special emphasis on the influence of Spiritualism and on the life of Victoria Woodhull (of whom I had never before heard, even though I regard myself as fairly well-versed in American history).

The book is full of fascinating characters and events, most of which are given unconscionably short shrift in our educational system. Goldsmith fleshes out the stories and personalities of many people who were previously just vague images in my mind, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Henry Ward Beecher. It seems from this book that female suffrage could have occurred as much as 50 years earlier than it did, if it hadn't been for a couple of missteps on the part of the supporters of suffrage. For one thing, there was a bitter division among the suffragettes about whether the female right to vote should be part of the movement for enfranchising the recently freed slaves. Sadly, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, despite her many wonderful and even heroic contributions to the movement, comes across as an out-and-out racist on this issue, and probably damaged the very cause to which she devoted her life. Secondly, some of the foremost spokespeople for female suffrage got caught up in unrelated, controversial issues, and even in personal sexual scandals.

If you have an interest in American history, you may very well have the same reaction I did while reading this book. Almost every other page, I found myself exclaiming, "Hey, I didn't know that! How come that's not in any of the history books?"

The only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is that I think the organization and focus could be a little better. The book isn't organized strictly chronologically, and it jumps from one character to another without apparent reason.

But there's just too much really good stuff here to give anything less than four stars, and I have no quarrel with those who have given it five. You won't often pick up a book written for a general audience and learn so many interesting facts that you probably didn't know.

This book is huge at 560 pgs; of course, i guess that's nothing compared to these past couple Harry Potters so perhaps i should just say, "substantial." It covers literally Woodhull's entire life (and a good deal of her sister's, Tennessee Claflin), as well as offering am in-depth view of the political and social climate at the time. It devotes a particular amount of time to the changing nuances of her "free love" doctrine and other participants in that movement (one which was, most certainly, ahead of its time--we don't generally think of Victorian times and Free Love in the same boat these days), and the Beecher-Tilton adultery trial.

I found the book to be facinating from a suffrage-history POV, contrasting events depicted/documented within with my memories of the "women's movement" from history classes. Goldsmith isn't afraid to throw stones (mostly by quoting their own less than tolerant words) at suffrage icons Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B Anthony, and others, in the course of depicting an unbiased view of the debate that raged for both women's and black men's suffrage at the time. She is both sympathetic to Victoria and Tennessee (she does a very good job in depicting the bizarre, abusive, nomadic carnival-like nature of their childhoods and family life while growing up), and willing to point out their flaws and transgressions (both women engaged in prostitution, blackmail, and other acts of "questionable ethics").

There's not as much focus on the Spiritualism movement, though the overview is thorough and the author depicts in great detail the ways in which Victoria and Tennessee were involved in it as trance speakers and predictors of the future, both from a very young age. She presents the oracles and visions and claims of spiritualists without passing judgement on them, though it's hard not to do so onesself as a modern skeptic reader--the descriptions of Victoria's frequent "possession" by spirit guides, particularly when speaking in public and in other stressful situations, coupled with her traumatic childhood, are reminiscent of depictions of modern dissociative identity disorders.

To read the book as a modern woman is somewhat horrific; one can't help but think along the lines of "what would I have done back then," when Anthony Comstock was arresting people for even discussing contraception and women were considered the property of their husbands. Goldsmith investigates a lot of related issues, giving brief synopses of cases of abortionists, midwives, spinsters-by-choice, servant-class mothers of illegitimate children who were imprisoned for "infanticide" when their babies died in childbirth...ugh. Horrible reading, but important.

All in all a facinating overview of activism, alternative spirituality, and the tumultuous political climate of post-civil-war America, centered around the life story of the country's first female Presidential candidate.

What an absolute joy of a book. Goldsmith seems to have found the perfect centerof the femininist storm in Victoria Woodhull, an outspoken advocate of women's rights, free love, and spiritualism. The telling of her tale (and this book reads like a plotted novel) involves the inclusion of tales and talk from Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Henry Ward Beecher, President Ulysses S. Grant, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, and cameo appearances from a host of others (including the prudish New York City "in"fighter, Anthony Comstock). Much of the telling involves the infamous Tilton-Beecher scandal, a story whose recitation touches on much of the post-Civil War atmosphere of spiritualism,financial skullduggery, the new religious practices of revised Calvinism, and, of course, equal rights for women. This is a fascinating read and wonderfully written. You don't need to be a history buff to pick this up.

Do you remember being told as a child that some relatives (whom you didn't really recall) were coming to visit? If so, this book will evoke all of the trepidition and excitement of those days . . . not to mention the scattered inconveniences you experienced, that were quickly forgotten in oceans of warm acceptance.

The strength of the book is in its illustrations, which warmly capture emotional closeness, like being tucked into bed by your Mom after a wonderful but tiring day. For those illustrations, The Relatives Came won a Caldecott Honor Award in 1986 that is well deserved.

The images are very happy, soft and fuzzy all at the same time. The illustrations look as though they were produced with pastel pencils using very fine points, constantly sharpened. With rounded faces and bodies, everyone seems very open and comfortable in hospitable surroundings. I have rarely seen a book that sets a better illustrated tone for a friendly family gathering. It caused me to recall my favorite family reunions.

The story is not as strong as the illustrations, but is more than adequate. One part of the family lives in Virginia and is leaving before the grapes are ready to be picked. They get up at 4 a.m. and drive straight through in a food and luggage packed station wagon. They leave the same way, weeks later, after having spent a happy summer camping inside the relative's house they visit. The initial nervousness and homesickness give way to missing their relatives, based on the happy times they share together that summer. The solution? Do it again next summer!

The story is designed to pick up on the physical aspects of closeness, and use those to convey a connection to emotional closeness. For people who are kinesthetically oriented, this story will be gripping and realistic. For people who are visual, the story's illustrations will provide happy connections and experiences. For those who are auditory, the sound of breathing is described to extend the senses in that direction.

The story's strength is in drawing on happy memories of having been in the middle of such family visits. For children without such experiences, the book will seem abstract and disconnected. I suggest telling a story about experiences in your family that are like the one here. That will help your child make the connection to the themes expressed here.

Perhaps the best way to enjoy the story is to act out the physical actions and sounds with your child. You can take turns being one or the other part of the family.

Does your family have opportunities for extended closeness with relataives? If you don't, hopefully this book will cause you to consider making that happen. That will be one of the finest inheritances you can provide your children, a connection to deep wells of extended family love and acceptance.

Hug your family whenever you can!

This children's book is a joyous and hilarious visit by a very large family to relatives in another State. Although everything gets very hectic, when the relatives finally leave, everyone seems to miss the visitors right away and already are looking forward to the next visit. I think that every family can relate to this story. The book was illustrated by Stephen Gammell and it was a 1986 Caldecott Honor book (that is, a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustrations in a book for children.

This book was selected to be included on a banned book list. While taking Children's Literature at West Virginia State College I was given the opportunity from Mr. Samples to explore the possible reasons why this book was challenged. After unlimited amount of time researching this book I never found a concrete answer why. Also, I did not find who had selected the book to be on the list. I did however have my own opinion of the possible reason. One of the illustrations in the book showed two cousins sleeping together, each were of the opposite sex. This would be the only "flaw" this book would have, overall this is a great book. I would highly recommend using this book with your students in a classroom. This book celebrates the meaning of family with hugs and more hugs. Please enjoy reading and re-reading The Relatives Came.