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This is a good book for 3rd through 5th graders about a girl, Amber Brown who's in fourth grade.Her parents are divorced and her best friend moved away last year.Discover how Amber survives Amber Brown is Feeling Blue!

Amber Brown is feeling blue!Her parents are divorced,and her best friend moved away! At least her "Ambersitter" is still around.She wants 1 thing in her life to stay the same. Will anything stay how she wants it to?

Amber Brown is feeling blue!Her parents are divorced,and her best friend moved away! At least her "Ambersitter" is still around.She wants 1 thing in her life to stay the same. Will anything stay how she wants it to?

The book on Amber Brown is feeling blue is written by Paula Danziger. it is a very good book. and it is about a girl who at first didn't like her name until she meet named kelly green. At first amber didn'tlike kelly green beacause she had the same colored name as amber brown. One day Kelly saw a boy barf. She ended up barfing too. Amber Brown told everyone. Then everyone started called Kelly Green, KGB. Amber Brown thought that Kelly was going to be mad but she really didn't care. Amber's parents were divorced. Then one day Amber's mom and boyfriend were going to Walla Walla, New York for the Thanksgiving holiday. At the same time her dad was coming to spend some time with her to spend the holiday in Washington with him. Amber got into all of the conflict between her parents. It was difficult for her to choose. She wanted to be with both of her parents. In the end she chose to go with her dad because he didn't have anyone to spend the holiday with so Amber chose to go with her dad. She was glad she did because they had fun. Wait! I'm not done because there are more stories out there and I won't stop until I get every book on Amber Brown until they are sold out!!

Amber Brown's mom and her mom's boyfriend Max want to go to Walla Walla for Thanksgiving, but her dad wants her to stay with him. She feels like she is in the middle of a nightmare because she wants to go with both of them. It is stressful to be in the middle. I liked this book because I felt like it could be a real story and I started to understand her problems. I recommend it because it does have a happy ending, even though reading it stresses you out a little. JG

Disguised as a union soldier, Emma would risk her life for her country. Emma Edmonds was born in Saint John, Canada in 1840. When she was sixteen years old she ran away to the United States. When she was twenty one, President Lincoln made a request for seventy five thousand men to volunteer for the Army. She decided that she wanted to be a field nurse for the Union Army but those jobs were so dangerous that they were only given to men. So she cut her hair short, dressed up like a man, and enlisted under the name Franklin Thompson. Emma was assigned to the Second Regiment of Michigan Volunteers. The next day she and all the others in her Regiment were off to training camp. Upset at hearing the news that one of her friends had died in the war, Emma went to go see a woman named Mrs. Butler who lived on the camp with the soldiers. Emma started talking and she ended up telling her secret identity. After that day, Mrs. Butler became Emma's closest friend and the only one who new here secret. One day news came to the camp that a Union spy had been killed at a rebel camp. Now they needed a new spy and Emma volunteered. So she disguised herself as a black slave named Cuff. She snuck onto a rebel camp to gather any valuable information. She found out how many weapons they had, where people were hiding, anything that would help the union defeat the rebels. Once she had gathered enough information, she snuck back to the Union camp. With this information, the union began to fight. Emma became very busy in the hospital as more and more got injured. As the union reached a river, they had to stop and make a bridge across it which would take weeks. The Union army didn't have enough information to make an attack. It was time for Emma to become a spy again. This time she dressed up as a middle aged peddler woman. In this disguise she had no trouble at all getting into the camp and she was allowed to walk around freely. She found out a lot of useful information including the fact that the rebels had an ambush waiting for the union troops. She then rode away on a one of the rebel's horses. They were so impressed with Emma's work that they made her a messenger during all the fighting. For many months Emma was sent off on spy missions and was successful on all of them. Emma returned to being a nurse as the war went on. She was then struck with malaria. She couldn't go to the hospital she worked at because then they would find out she was a girl. So she decided to leave, get the help she needed and then come back. So she left and checked herself into a hospital. Once she got her malaria under control, she saw a union poster in a window. It said that Franklin Thompson was absent without leave. He was known as a deserter. Emma was upset but she continued being a nurse under her rightful name. Later on, after she was married she petitioned the war department to review her case. She had her military rights restored and received and honorable discharge. Other troops were surprised to find out that their old friend Frank Thompson was actually Emma Edmonds. Emma lived in La Porte until her death in 1898. This is a good book full of adventure and suspense.

I thought it was cool how Emma was able to pull off so many disguises. Emma's biggest disguise was being a man. She was able to fool everyone, even her fellow soldiers who she became friends with, that she was a guy. She pulled it off without anyone ever asking questions. Also, there was her favorite disguise, the black slave named Cuff. She was again pretending to be a guy and she was able to come up with something to make her skin look dark. She was able to fool everyone in the rebel camp. Another disguise was as a peddler woman. Even though she was dressed up as a girl, no one ever thought that she actually looked like a real girl. She was even able to fool them then.

Emma was brave and took many risks during her life. One big risk was just signing up. She could have gotten into a lot of trouble if they found out that she was lying and was a girl. And being in the middle of a war is dangerous too. Another risk was when Emma disguised herself as Mr. Mayberry. She was supposed to lead a man, who was leaking union information to the rebels, into a union ambush. If anything went wrong she could've ended up dead and no one would have known. Also, when she was dressed up as a black slave woman, she could have gotten killed. She found secret rebel documents and was going to take them back to her camp. But if she was caught with them they probably would have killed her.

When ever Emma made a decision she stuck to it and didn't turn back. For example, when she decided to run away. She was only sixteen and was afraid of her dad. But she set her fears aside and made the decision to leave and she was happy about it. Another example is when she decided to volunteer for the Army. She was scared and worried that they wouldn't believe her disguise. But she made her decision and wasn't going to second guess herself. Also, when she wanted to become a spy. It was dangerous but she wanted to do it anyway. And even after Mrs. Butler tried and tried to convince her not to do it, Emma stuck to her decision.

This is a great book that will make you not want to put it down. I would recommend it to most people who like biographies and adventure story. This book may not interest everyone but overall it was good.

C. Chapman

I didn't really like this book. I didn't really like the author's writing style, it was a little hard to understand and follow. The subject wasn't very interesting to me. I think that it would have been hard to try to re-create a story about the civil war. I think that the author did good on that.

I wouldn't really recommend this book unless you are interested in things about the army. I think that it was cool though that a woman would take that kind of risk just to be in combat. Also it was cool that she was that passionate about serving her country.

My grandma forced me to read "Behind Rebel Lines". But it turned out to be an awsome and interesting book!

Emma Edmonds is a young girl from Canada, living in the North during the Civil War. She's always been outgoing and bold- never able to stay in one place at a time. So when she feels a calling to join the Union army, she does what any rebellious girl would do- cuts her hair, gets the uniform, and joins up. At first she's awkward and unsure- terrified that she'll be discovered. She sees the whole thing as a big adventure-that is, until an old love interest of hers is killed in the war. She decides to really take a stand and looks at the war in a whole different way. She fights with all her power-until she gets word that a Union spy was recently killed by the Confederates. She quickly lands the job of replacement. She goes across the rebel lines, a different disguise each time, and collects useful information which helped to save many battles.
Emma Edmonds, whom I had never heard of before reading the book, is a facinating character. How she summoned the courage to join the army I will never know. A very good book, but a little slow in places.

Behind the Lines is an adaptation of the Emma Edmonds story for young adults. Emma Edmonds was a native of Saint John New Brunswick, Canada who left for the United States several years prior to the war. She eventually found her way to Michigan where, following the outbreak of war, she under the alias Franklin Thompson enlisted with the 2nd Michigan Infantry. She served with the unit as an orderly for about a year before she volunteered herself as a spy, and during the course of the next year went on eleven assignments. Not only were her spying activities dangerous, but she always had to remain vigilant among her comrades as well, lest her identity be discovered. This is a very interesting and entertaining bit of history, one that is sure to interest even some of those who insist that history is "bo-ring".

this book is a boy name Lonnie Jackson who leaves Harlem because he got accepted to Montclair State in Indiana to play on their basketball team. In the beginning he'll have trouble fitting because he thinks that it's not the right place for him. He also has trouble with his schoolwork because he didn't because he wasn't taking things seriously before. The only thing he knows is how to play ball, while in college he is tempted to fix games with local gamblers. He has a hard time focusing until sherry comes along. She is a determined track star and she's also very independent. Which attracts Lonnie but he's also going crazy because he doesn't like that fact that has on-again, off-again relationship.

The outside shot is a good book about a young African-American male that has to leave New York City to play college basketball in the Midwest. He has to struggle to make the team, impress his coach and the girl that he likes. He has hard times in school and contemplates leaving school. He ends up getting caught in a scandal with a bookie and the NCAA. I really enjoyed the struggle aspect of this book. He had to work hard to make it. It is also really cool when he helps a troubled kid at the hospital he works at. I would definitely give this book a five out of five. I really enjoyed this book and I know you will to.

The Outside Shot is the story of Lonnie Jackson's journey through his freshman year in college. He is from Harlem and is attending the school on a basketball scholarship. As soon as he arrives at the school trouble starts. He thought because he was on scholarship he automatically was on the team. He was wrong about this because he still had to try out. At the college, he meets a girl named Sherry, who is there on a track scholarship. He is interested in her and they have an off-and-on relationship. He also develops a friendship for a boy named Eddie who is at the hospital he works. Eddie is thought to be autistic and Lonnie plays with him in the gym at the hospital. The relationship starts off slow but gets better. While he is at a pick-up game he meets a man everybody calls the "Fat Man". The Fat Man gets him in a situation where the college says Lonnie is involved in the gambling of there games. He is suspended from the team. During this time he starts to drink a lot and does not attend any of his classes. Sherry is there to comfort him but he does not seem to want to be comforted.

This author is my favorite author. His writing style is very realistic. I am also a fan of basketball so this book kept me interested from beginning to end. This is definitely a five star book. Almost any male athlete will love this book.

The Outside Shot is a type of book that makes you want to read it more and more as you get further into the book. When you put the book down you feel like picking it back up. The Outside Shot is about a "cat" named Lonnie. He is one of the few African-Americans going to Montclare College on a basketball scholarship. He is from Harlem, New York. The college is pretty small but it has a lot to offer. Montclare could help Lonnie get into the pro's. When he arrives to college he realizes that the work is harder where as before he could easily pull of B's. This book has some good obstacles and conflicts to over come and has a variety of ways to entertain the reader.
On top of the new college, work, basketball team, Lonnie was interested in a girl named Sherry. Sherry wanted to become a track star. The two of them had a weird relationship. They went out and then broke up and did this again. This annoyed Lonnie and made him confused. Since he was from Harlem he kind of had some of his slang. This was shown when Lonnie would see Sherry and say something like hey baby. Sometime Lonnie would see her with other people and would say something to act cool as he walked by.
Overall this book gets five out of five stars from me. Do yourself a favor and read this book and see if Lonnie makes it through college, the pro's, and Sherry. If you need an interesting book that is entertaining this would have to be the book!

Ages 12 and up. The book The Outside Shot written by Walter Dean Myers is mostly about a boy named Lonnie heading off to play basketball for a mid-western college called Montclare. When going off to college Lonnie has to fit in with the others he is going to be living with. Lonnie has a scholarship for playing basketball, but Lonnie Jackson does not have the street smarts ne needs to pass those tough classes of his. He does not want his scholarship to go to waste, so he gives it all he`s got. While in class Lonnie meets an attractive girl named Sherry. Sherry, who in an athlete determined to be a track star.She keeps Lonnie in shape by telling him to give it all his best, and to try hard when it comes to his classes. Sherry`s independence attracts Lonnie,they have an on and off relationship that drives Lonnie crazy.The moral or the theme of the book "The Outside Shot" is that you can help others and at the same time you can achieve your dream.This works for Lonnie.I like that the book has Lonnie taking things easy and how he tries really hard to be the best basketball player that he really is.He does not get angry when things get bad,he just steps up his game, and shows others that he is ready to be on the basketball court.Also succeed off of it as well.

My review of some of the best and worst UFO books and related subject:

The worst:
1-CHARIOTS OF THE GODS BY ERICH VON DANIKEN: Fake! Silly men write silly books.
Shallow, pretentious and full with historical, scientific and archeological inaccuracies and scandalous mistakes.
I am not astonished, the book became an international bestseller. The world is full of stupid and naïve people, and this book was tailored made for them.

Some of the best are:
1-THE DAY AFTER ROSWELL BY PHILIP CORSO: A great book! You can trust Corso because he was a military insider, a Colonel in charge of intelligence and counter intelligence duties, he worked at the Pentagon and was fully informed on the debris of the UFO crashes. His book itemizes the scientific discoveries learned from extraterrestrials and explains the alien reverse engineering.

2-NEED TO KNOW: UFOS, THE MILITARY, AND INTELLIGENCE BY TIMOTHY GOOD: One of the most important books in a very long time. Straight to the point with valid arguments and convincing findings.

3-ANUNNAKI,UFOS,EXTRATERRESTRIALS & AFTERLIFE GREATEST INFORMATION AS REVEALED BY DE LAFAYETTE: SELECTIONS FROM HIS 50 YEARS OF STUDYING WITH ANUNNAKI ULEMA, HIS SECRET FINDINGS & HIS WRITINGS, BY MAXIMILLIEN DE LAFAYETTE: One of the greatest books on the Anunnaki and the extraterrestrials, quite unique because it discusses the issues from scientific, philosophical, religious and historical points of views.

4-THE THREAT: REVEALING THE SECRET ALIEN AGENDA BY DAVID M. JACOBS: Great. The only book that fully explains the world of hybrids and their psychological state of mind.


5-THE LOST BOOK OF ENKI: MEMOIRS AND PROPHECIES OF AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL GOD BY ZECHARIA SITCHIN: An anthropological quest of the relation between gods and men. It shows Sitchin's amazing knowledge of history, religions and mythology.

6-THE UFO MAGAZINE UFO ENCYCLOPEDIA, BY WILLIAM BIRNES: Outstanding. Plenty of useful and important information. A practical and essential guide for ufology.

Book with a question mark:

TOP SECRET/MAJIC: OPERATION MAJESTIC-12 AND THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT'S UFO COVER-UP BY STANTON T. FRIEDMAN , FOREWORD BY WHITLEY STRIEBER.
A strange book. A great story but will fail as a documentary. Extraordinary claims without solid evidence and facts. Kevin Randle and Don Scmitt laughed at Stanton Friedman. They were sure Friedman's allegation, claims and findings are FAKE! Friedman criticizes and mocks almost everybody in Ufology circle, except his close associates like Whitley Strieber and Jerome Clark who published Friedman's photo in his book. So Friedman is happy with Clark.

[hard-cover edition]: Here is one of those few books (in my experience), usually found in the "Occult" or "New Age" stacks, which is so absorbing, so thought-provoking, that it begs a companion piece detailing *how* briefing documents detailing other-worldly craft contents, including "biological entities", could possibly be faked so well.
I'm not schooled in Science Fiction, didn't watch Star Trek in it's first run; I'm aware of Arthur C. Clarke and Carl Sagan. But I'd love to know the literray mind who could come with something..so cool.
Friedman's writing style matches his TV talk-show/Documenatry personae, always engaging, and very funny.
In the latter part of his book, though, he simply lets the supposed "Eyes Only" documents speak for themselves.

Stanton Friedman: One of the very few scientists ufologists who make sense.
He researches the topic.
He provides uncontested data.
He defied the arrogant scientists.
He studied the phenomena as an honest scientist.
He spent 30 years investigation Ufos.
He knows!
He knows!
His books are the very core of Ufology.
He is the ONE!

S. Mahdi, Cairo, Egypt.

This writer is getting lots of stars and they told me he is some sort of a famous UFO hunter. OK. Good folks here at home recommended this book. I don't know what to tell you. The writer is telling us about those 12 people who became involved with a coverup about aliens. It looks legit to me but there is no juice. The good part is those secret archives he found in the national archives expose deep government coverup involving the air force and the CIA. What's new? those people in black they call them. Now I am asking myself how did he smuggle them out? I find all this fascinating and I just love the book. The folks who reviewed this book are saying Friedman got his information from people on the inside. Where are those people? Why the writer did not give us their names. You see that is the whole problem with UFO stories, they tell you all kinds of stories but there are no proofs. Always stuff about coverups and government secrets. The writer said he is a scientist so where is the scientific evidence. I am taking his word for gospel truth because he is an expert I am told but I love to see some juice here. Any way, this is a great book, yes it is. One thing I found strange it seems to me that the man who wrote this book is a very angry man. Any particular reason, I have no clues. Anyway, the book has lots of suspense. A good buy for sure. Get one.

This is a fantastic read! For those who love substantiated facts, this is it. You cannot read this, and not believe the government is hiding the truth about Roswell. Friedman is a scientist, but talks on a level easily understood and appreciated by all.

Friedman even confronts his critics, battling nasty negativity with the facts, which wins every time!

DEFINITELY A MUST READ!

this book waz just totally sweet, there were parts in this book that made me laugh and parts that made me cry!
i read it with my class the first time and in my room the second to really relate with it!
read it you won't be disappointed, i recommend it 4 chicks the most!!!

across the barricades is a fantastically written version of Romeo and Juiliet joan lingard is an excellent writer in the way that she can see true version of events from both sides without being biast and i am looking forward to reading the other stoies of sadie and kevin a story of friendship and forbidden love

17 year old girl from Belfast/N.Ireland When I first read this book I was nine and could hardly believe that a Protestant could go out with a mick. I really thought they deserved the way they were treated. Now that I'm 17 and in the same situation as the two main characters were I begin to understand...

it is a outstanding book,my class acted it out and it was really cool,now I know all about Ireland and how all the trouble started. I would like to read it again

goodbye from the Queen who loves eminem

I loved 'across the barricades'! It was really effective and it really brought out all the problems that the Irish government are having at the moment. It was also a very sad love story, like 'Romeo and Juliet',but on this story the ending was beautiful. After our class had read this story in our English lesson they were struggling for words as it was so very emotional. A very well written book,highly recomended.

This Book is about a girl name Raspberry who lived in the hood with her Mother in a 4 story building Apartment so one day her Mother had walk down the road to go see if she can find Raspberry Father so she walk and she walk so it got dark and she went back to the house and it was round 9:00 and she cook dinner and then some lady came to the house and she seen Raspberry Father out doing some drugs so she got done cooking and they ate and went to bed but there was a young girl name Shiketa who live up on the third floor who make a lot of noise so mom said just go lay down baby we want have to worry about hearing that noise for long so they went to sleep and the Raspberry went to school and mother went to work then mom do her daily rounds go and plant flowers for the hood can look at least better so night fall and she and mom calls for Raspberry to come in the house and then she came mom went and wash up and being to cook so mom had got done but it was a lil late when she got done this time so we ate and it was 11:30 so mom said time to go to bed and Raspberry said I cant they making all that fuse and mom said just lay down and I will go up there and ask them very nicely to turn it down cause I got to go to work and u got to go to school and I beg mom not to go up there cause she know that girl and her friends is crazy mom please don't go up there and mom said but u have to get your rest and I have to get minds and im just gone ask them nicely so it was round bout 12:00 when me and mom had got done talking so I went and tried to lay down and go to sleep so mom lock the door and took her key and went up the stairs to Shiketa them apartment and mom knock on the door two time and Shiketa said who is that at my door and mom said the lady who plant the flowers round and Shiketa said what do u want you old fart and I said may you please turn down your music down just a little bit please and Shiketa said jus wait a min and mom said it cant be long cause I got to go to work and Raspberry got to go to school so Shiketa said well I just don't know if I should turn down my jam let me go ask my homies so she went in the back and I peak in the house and they had all types or alcohol in thereon the table so she said yea I guess and I said think you very much and then I being to walk and go back home and then mama ain't see when Shiketa came running after her and she hit mama in the top of her head wit a metal pipe that she had in the house and said u can never run the hood Shiketa ran back to her crib and Raspberry said mama still have not came back so Raspberry ran down looking for mama and she seen mama on the second floor on the 3 stair bleeding to death so Raspberry went home and called 911 and they came and everybody came out side to see what happened and mama boyfriend came and his name was Dr.Mitchell and my best friend Zora had came so they took mom to the hospital and I had to stay with Dr,Mitchell and Zora till mama gets out but they said it gone be about a month till she get to come home so they found out that it was Shiketa that did that to mama so the judge gave her 6 months in jail and 1 year on house arrest so mama got out and we moved to a big nice house and that's the end

I usually read books before I present them to my children. I totally enjoyed this book and am sure my children will as well.

My granddaughter loved the book, she's begging for more books,by the same author. You can't go wrong on this purchase.

The book Begging for Change is a wonderful book based on the struggles of living on the streets. It talks about the heart ache, the pain , and the struggles that Raspberry Hill went through . Her dad left her when she was a little girl. When she finally became a teenager, her dad showed up at here door asking for help.

The author Sharon G. Flake is a very powerful writer. She has written many books like Money Hungry, The Skin I'm In, and Bang. Sharon G. Flake has won many awards like, Best Books for Young Adult Readers, Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, the New York Public Library, and Top Ten Books for the Teen Age.

The book Begging For Change is a good book for boys and girls and for all teenage and adult ages. It shows that even when there are times when you would want to leave and quit there is always a way out. This is a wonderful book that reflects on a life that we usually do not see. Hope you read it soon.

Raspberry is certain...something's got to change. Raspberry Hill is a teenager who is going through some hardships in her life. Her mother was taken to the hospital after being attacked by a wisecracking teenage neighbor. As a result, Raspberry goes to stay with her friend Zora and her dad, Dr. Mitchell. While staying there, Raspberry steals from Zora's purse, while at a restaurant. Once her mom is well again, Raspberry moves back with her mom, but her crack-headed father returns and steals her money. With this, Raspberry apologizes to Zora and understands what it is like to have something be taken without permission. I recommend this book to all teenagers and their friends.

For one, it includes real life situations. Like when her father steals her money out of her room. Also the book shows how many parents are struggling and trying to pay the bills. In addition it describes what it is like to live in Section 8 or not have a caring father. Begging for change does an excellent job making the reader get emotionally feelings for the characters in the book.

Next, you could relate to the characters and their actions. For example, I could sense Zora's anger after Raspberry steals from her. In addition, I could experience Raspberry's joy once her mother comes home from the hospital. Also, I felt Raspberry's rue after stealing from Zora. While reading this book, I could put myself in their positions and see what I would have done.

Begging for Change has a wonderful moral for all people to understand. For instance, no matter how jealous you are, you should never steal from your friends like Raspberry did. In addition, when you steal from someone, it has an impact on your whole family and friends. After Raspberry's family and friends found out that she had stolen from Zora, no one wanted to talk to her or be her friend. Last, the best choice that you can make is to come clean about the problem no matter how much trouble you get into. Once Raspberry told Zora the truth, they became the best of friends.

This book can teach you a lot in life. It was easy to read and comprehend what was going on. If you like to read books that you can relate to then you should read Begging for Change. Remember, it's not how you make a mistake, it is what you do after it takes place.

W. Claiborne

The twins land a coveted internship at a national fashion magazine, and the fun begins! Jessica is thrilled to be working in the world of high fashion, and eager to be discovered as a model. More serious sister Elizabeth is thrilled to be working in the world of magazine publishing, and eager to do some real editorial work. Both find the world of fashion publishing to be more difficult than they had imagined! If you love the Wakefield twins, you'll love this adventure in high fashion.

Put This One on the Front Cover

Book: Cover Girls
Author: Kate Williams
Number of Pages: 196
Publisher and Publication Date: Bantam Books/ March 1997
ISBN:0-553-57063-3

Would you like to be a cover girl for a magazine? How would you like to meet a famous model? Well these things sound very cool don't they? I hope when I get in High school that we do internships and I get a cool internship like Jessica and Elizabeth did.
In addition the main characters in Cover Girls was Elizabeth Wakefield and Jessica Wakefield. They are twins and for their school they have to work at an internship. So their internship was to work at flair but while they are working at Flair magazine they both run into some problems on the way. Will Jessica and Elizabeth make it through these problems?
As a result the book Cover Girls was awesome. One of the reasons I liked Cover Girls is because it was dealing with two teenage girls and their friends. I like to read about people my age. Another reason I liked this book is because I think it is cool that they get to work for this big magazine called Flair. This book was also really interesting.
For instance reading Cover Girls reminded myself of me because I would like to work for a magazine like Jessica and Elizabeth. This is a very realistic story and it could happen to anyone. There is a series of Sweet Valley High on ABC Family and they are a lot like the books. I have watched the series on ABC Family and it ties in with the book because the books and the TV series usually have the same theme. Also there is a series of books dealing with Jessica and Elizabeth called Sweet Valley Middle School.
Therefore this book over all was good. People that should read this book should be girls about twelve years and up. This book wouldn't be a good book for guys because it deals with two girls and the problems they go through. If you like reading non-fiction books then this would be a good book for you.
In conclusion if you want to find out what the problems were that happened to Jessica and Elizabeth and you want to see if they made it through these problems than you need to read Cover Girls.

I haven't finished the book because I just got it. But so far its really good!! I love all of Francine's books. The only reason I rated it three stars was because I hadn't finished it yet. But the Sweet Valley books are great. If your a fan of Francine Pscal's SweetValley series, and scary stories, you should read the three part miniseries: The beast is watching you, The Beast must die, If I die before I wake, and one other one I didn't read. The last one, if I Die Before I Wake is the best of the three, I think. You really should read it!

When i finished this book i couldnt wait to read the sequal! But to bad for me i havent read it yet! This book is really fun to read, even if it isnt exactly like the real thing! For all u other modle-wannabes please please PLEASE dont end up like Simone! She was really unbelievable! Todd in really let Liz down. I thought he would be able to see through her phoneyness and take her for who she really was! I feel bad for Jess because of what she has to go through with Quienten Berge and Camron. This book is great!

Having read the full mini-series I won't give anything away in this review but, I will say that the plot does bear more than a passing reference to the film Working Girl. Jess has a hard time adjusting to the fact that she's not the centre of attention anymore at Flair due to the super skinny and super obnoxious model Simone. Liz, on the other hand, tries a new 'image' and ends up improving herself but only for her ambitions to be shot down by Leona. Todd ends up becoming a model and becomes smitten with super skinny Simone, much to Lizzie's displeasure. Definitely worth reading - SV at it's cattiest!

Me Llamo María Isabel (My Name Is Maria Isabel) tells the story of a young girl who moved from Puerto Rico to New York City and how she seeks to adapt to her new society while retaining her cultural identity. On her first day of school, because there are already two girls named Maria in the class, María's teacher introduces the new girl as Mary Lopez. María Isabel, however, does not like the sound of the Anglo name, which sounds strange to her. María Isabel Salazar López is proud of her appellation, as she was named after much admired members of her family. She knows that the teacher means no harm, but does not know how to tell her what she wants. While reading Charlotte's Web, María Isabel realizes how her spider heroine conveyed her message and finds an ingenious way to tell her teacher and everyone else how she really feels.

Alma Flor Ada tells a beautiful story about dignity without preaching. My only criticism is that, with other Latino and Latina students in her class, she could not have asked them to translate her desire to the teacher, or why María Isabel was not in a bilingual class. The story's central theme, though, is very real. Overall, this story is a gem; if you are looking for a great way to brush up on one's Spanish, try that version, titled "Me Llamo Maria Isabel."

I bought this book to share with my third grade students. Our topic for the month was social issues, and Maria Isabel was the perfect book. We were able to talk about her feelings and compare them to our own. Wonderful read. Highly recommend to anyone!!

Whiny main character - oh no, she doesn't get a part in the play! Not a likable character at all. An excerpt is in our class anthology - students were bored and uninterested.

Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada was a joyful book. It made me think of my sister. Maria Isabel has a hard time at school because the teacher called her a new name because her name was too long. I liked the book because it was a delightful book and it always had adventures. I would recommend this book to girls because they would love this book.

Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada was a joyful book. It made me think of my sister. Maria Isabel has a hard time as school because the teacher called her a new name because her name was too long. I liked the book because it was a delightful book and it always had adventures. I would recommend this book to girls because she they would love this book.

i dealth with this back in 1991-92 while in high school. my high school sweet heart thought he'd use me as a way to prove he wasn't gay. i felt i was the only woman on earth that had gone through this and turns out that i'm not. TSUTATDL (acronym for the title) is a must read for all women. this episode in my life prompted me to write Blind Temptations the Seduction of Sex, Lies & Betrayal. At one point i was Chante so i know how it feels to find yourself in this painful situation.

i love the begining where there were DL profiles and telling us what to look for. the terms they use with the meaning was another helpful bit of advice. Although, due to my experience i can spot a man on the DL a mile away. i still learned a lot from this book and didn't know it all when it comes to the DL like i thought. i met these women at the BEA and they gave me this book for free. i wished it was out when i needed it back in the early 90's but everything has it's season and this is book couldn't have come at a better time!

i hope women take heed of this invaluable info and stop going on looks alone. you have to look deep before you leap as Judge Mabeline would say; especially, if your man was on lock down for any extended amnount of time. you never know if he became someone's piece or made someone his, because he's not telling simply because he feels his manhood will be challenged. trust and believe he didn't stay behind bars all that time and didn't engage. Get tested ladies make him get tested time his foot touch the land of freedom and even then still make him wear protection until at least 6 months of negative testing has gone by.

We have heard the calling for empathy from brothers on the down-low. Many of these men agonize over their lifestyle choices. Some down-low exposes that share similar points of views, while enlightening, have left something to be desired. This book shatters the polished shield of the down-low lifestyle.

Easily read in one sitting, The Straight-Up Truth provides eye opening details from the dl mans perspective. This book gives real life examples of statements made in their own environment and cracks the codes amongst the jargon.

What about the women? Will no one tell their story? Will no one understand their pain and tough decisions they are forced to make? The Straight-Up Truth gives these women, who have been betrayed, a voice. Life experiences are shared by several women as they deal with denial, depression and desperation once finding out the truth.

If this book does nothing else it teaches women to use and trust their intuition. This book also implores women to use their right to make their own choice while begging them to be informed about the choice they decide to make. This is not just another book about the down-low lifestyle. What you don't know can kill you. Every woman needs to read this book so that they can be educated. This book does not bash, it does not judge, it simply educates.

Reviewed by:
Nikkea Smithers
RWA Book Club President
www.myspace.com/rwabookclub

You have finally met Mr. Right. He's everything you dreamed of: handsome, sexy, charming, intelligent, articulate, and financially successful. He even portrays the role of an excellent father. He does not smoke, drink, or use drugs and he has a decent credit history. You marry him and buy your dream house in the suburbs. Your children attend the best schools and you live in a wonderful neighborhood. You're finally living the American dream as the perfect family, but one day you wake up and realize that your Prince Charming is really a lying Queen.

THE STRAIGHT-UP TRUTH ABOUT THE DOWN-LOW provided insight to the down-low phenomenon that was never provided before. I was amazed at how some of the relationships in this book started off like any other normal "dating" relationship and at how quickly the relationships took a turn for the worst after marriage. I read the book by J.L. King, but that book didn't touch upon what this book brought to the table. This book is very insightful and provides warning signs and coping mechanisms to deal with the betrayal of a husband who secretly sleeps with men. I was also very moved by some of the stories shared.

THE STRAIGHT-UP TRUTH ABOUT THE DOWN-LOW was very well-written and it takes you through steps on what do to when you finally discover the secret, how to cope with what you know and includes actual interviews with down-low men. I personally know of some men (and women) who start off desiring the company of the opposite sex only to switch up the game during critical times in a relationship because they are confused as to who they really are. I loved how the women in the book dealt with their decisions to either stay in the marriage/relationship or leave.

Kudos to Joy Marie and those who contributed to putting this book together. I think all women who find themselves in these similar situations will really find the answers to all of the questions they couldn't find before. THE STRAIGHT-UP TRUTH ABOUT THE DOWN-LOW is an excellent read!

Reviewed by Cheryl Dublin
for The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

While reading this book I was spreading the word to my sister-friends about it. Although I was aware of this type of man; the book brought many warning signs to the table and I was pleasantly surprised at how candied everyone was who was asked to participate in this book.

Women who have any sort of suspicions about their significant other might find some useful information in this book.
Single or married this is "need to know" information that might end up saving your life!!
Please don't be afraid to educate yourself on this subject and apply the knowledge.
So open your mind and pick up a copy of the book!!

Locksie

ARC Book Club Inc.
Star Rating 5.0*****

This book penned by two women who had their own personal experience with down low men is an EXCELLENT resource. Instead of just telling their story they sought out all the pertinent information on this `taboo' subject. This book houses a collection of personal stories told by those who lived them, actual online profiles of men on the DL, a list of warning signs, two interviews with real life men on the DL and much more. I was surprised at how informative and `straight-up' this read was. Many people shy away from subjects such as this but the truth is - it is reality, and the more you know the more you can protect yourself from falling victim.

The purpose of this book is to bring the issue of the down low man to the forefront of the minds of women as it is often swept under the rug. There are several books out there claiming to bare all about the DL, but I have not come across one as informative, straight forward, or realistic as this. I cannot stress enough how much more effective this book is than ANY fiction book re-telling a story about this subject. Realistic, cut and dry - between the covers of this book lays an abundance of real information. Kudos Joy Marie! This is truly essential reading.

Englishruler
ARC Book Club Inc.
Star Rating: 5 Stars

The Woodlanders is said to be one of Hardy's more descriptive novels and Hardy is also said to have a love for this part of the country. I thought this was a beautiful passage:

"From the other window all she could see were more trees, jacketed with lichen and stockinged with moss. At their roots were stemless yellow fungi like lemons and apricots, and tall fungi with more stem than stool. Next were more trees close together, wrestling for existence, their branches disfigured with wounds resulting from their mutual rubbings and blows. It was the struggle between these neighbors that she had heard in the night. Beneath them were the rotting stumps of those of the group that had been vanquished long ago, rising from their mossy setting like decayed teeth from green gums. Farther on were other tufts of moss in islands divided by the shed leaves--variety upon variety, dark green and pale green; moss-like little fir-trees, like plush, like malachite stars, like nothing on earth except moss."

And this description of Winterborne as a wood-god really stood out for me:

"He rose upon her memory as the fruit-god and the wood-god in alternation; sometimes leafy, and smeared with green lichen, as she had seen him among the sappy boughs of the plantations; sometimes cider-stained, and with apple-pips in the hair of his arms, as she had met him on his return from cider-making in White Hart Vale, with his vats and presses beside him."

It is said that Winterborne was a creation derived from Hardy's own father.

The book also has the typical Hardy realism and tragedy based on innocence and wrong choices, the unfair position of women, mere chance, or should I say Chance, in keeping with the way Hardy uses it. For me, somehow, the more descriptive nature of the book, while not that descriptive--Hardy is a realist not a romantic, gave the book a hazy, almost somnolent quality that almost distracted from the clarity and meaning of the book. Maybe it was Hardy's intention to have the woods form a kind of shadowy hold over the characters, the readers--there's the strange effect a single tree had on Winterborne's father, and another on Grace. But Hardy's description of the moors in Return of the Native had more power for me. Also, the characters seemed undeveloped to me, especially Grace, who was a main character. Marty seemed more real, though maybe that was intentional as the book ends with her, and poor Grace floated un-fixedly in the non-place between two classes.

I love Hardy's novels and poetry otherwise I may have given it 3 stars. I just read it--it may be I need to ruminate on it for awhile.

The Woodlanders is the eleventh novel by Thomas Hardy. Hardy takes us to an obscure village in his mythical Wessex. The novel portrays the beautiful Grace Melbury a nubile young miss coddled by her parents; eager for glamour and disdainful of bucolic boredom. Grace is courted by Giles Winterbourne a local rustic but cast him off to wed Dr. Edred Fitzpiers the local doctor. The marriage is a disaster for Fitzper lusts for Madame Charmond. He also has a fling with Suke a local girl.
Fitzpiers flees to the Continent while Grace seeks reconciliation with
Winterborne. The couple hope to wed under a newly passed Parliamentary
law dealing with the right of women to obtain a divorce.
All goes wrong. Accidents occur as chance and fortune always play a part in the Hardy world. The novel does end happily which is rare for Hardy.
Hardy knew the English countryside as it moved from spring to winter.
His description of nature is beautifully written. Hardy also knew the south of England as it was moving from the rural nineteenth century to the modern world of the coming twentieth century.
The Woodlanders is one of the lesser known Hardy novels that is well worth your attention. The story is well told with many interesting and exciting plot developments which will hold the attention. Well recommended.

The Woodlanders (1887) is one of Thomas Hardy's finest novels, which deals with doomed love in a gloomy rural "partly real and partly dream" country of Wessex.

It is one of Hardy's favorite and if Hardy liked it, I do to, especially since I have never read this novel....I liked The Return of the Native...

THE BIG 6

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD -1874
THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE - 1878
THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE - 1886
THE WOODLANDERS - 1887
TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES - 1891
JUDE THE OBSCURE - 1895

"It would have made a beautiful story," Thomas Hardy said about this novel, "if I could have carried out my idea of it; but somehow I come so far short of my intention."

"I wish you had never thought of educating me," Thomas Hardy's protagonist tells her father at one point in this novel, "because cultivation has only brought me inconveniences and troubles" (pp. 232-33). Hardy (1840-1928) wrote his eleventh novel in 1887, before his better-known masterpieces, TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES (1891) and JUDE THE OBSCURE (1895), and a year after THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE (1886). Set in the "partly real and partly dream country" of Hardy's Wessex, in the "sequestered" forest community of Little Hintock (located "outside the gates of the world," p. 6), a place where "loneliness is not so very lonely after a while" (p. 83), THE WOODLANDERS is about doomed love, betrayal, and social restraints, and like Hardy's other work, it succeeds as a satisfying story of a romantic disaster in Hardy's cruel universe. The novel tells the sad tale of a woman, Grace Melbury, forced to choose marriage between two suitors of different social statures, Giles Winterborne, a local woodlander with a gentle, virtuous nature, and Edred Fitzpiers, an ambitious doctor and a scoundrel. Influenced by her well-intentioned though meddling father, Mr. Melbury, who only wants his daughter to "marry well" (p. 89), Grace's decision ultimately leads to disastrous consequences and, in the end, to a lonely woman worshipping at a dead man's grave. Once again, we discover the course of love is never happy in Hardy's universe.

Rather gloomy for a Victorian romance novel? Well, yes. But reading Victorian fiction does not get any better than reading Thomas Hardy's extraordinary novels. Returning to Hardy's brooding, melancholy fiction after my first encounter with his novels more than twenty five years ago, I am re-discovering Hardy's brilliant ability to convey familiar, primordial truths through his fiction, making him worth reading again and again.

G. Merritt

Hardy classified THE WOODLANDERS with his Novels of Character and Ingenuity, which category included his very best novels (TESS, THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE, THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE). This 1887 novel is so bizarre, however, that you might feel it belongs more properly with his Romances and Fantasies. In the secluded rustic community of Little Hintock all manner of things are a-brewing: simple Marty South has a thing for cider-merchant Giles Winterbourne, who has been promised for years to marry well-educated Grace Melbury, but Grace's father marries her off instead to philandering Edred Fitzpiers, who has a thing for local wealthy widow Felice Charmond. In this circle of desire all manner of things can go wrong--and, this being Hardy, of course they do. Some of his wildest plot contrivances (including two bizarre scenes wherein the Widow Charmond must convey crucial information to Grace, and Fitzpiers even more crucial information to Grace's father) occur without the redeeming Shakespearean scope of a novel like THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE which allows you to overlook the wackiness. Still, even if this is lesser Hardy, it's still Hardy, so the novel has such poetically gorgeous evocations of landscape and character as to make everything worthwhile in the end.