Street

What an incredible find this book is for anyone who is in love with San Francisco. Harriet Levy was born in The City in 1867 and lived at 920 O'Farrell Street until about 1904. Those readers who are familiar with the sights and sounds of San Francisco will be equally pleased with the unfamiliar: "Near the corner of Polk Street stood the cow barn of old man Waller, to which the anemic children of the neighborhood, glass in hand, hurried in the early morning hours to receive warm milk fresh from the cow." (3) About one-third of the chapters are named for rooms of her house. The rooms are described in great detail only to flow into some memory of an event that occurred there. For instance, before reminiscing about her sister Addie's beautiful singing voice and the songs she sang, Levy describes the room itself: "...the ceiling of the music room a lattice of bamboo intertwined with garlands of tea roses and autumn leaves, and burnished birds of copper ! and blue winging their flight..." (106) Levy's vivid description puts you right there, eyelids drooping. Familiar names also pop up, like Alice Toklas who was a friend and neighbor. This book is an absolute treasure!

I ordered this street map book for my daughter, as she heads off to college, so she can drive to her grandparent's home in New Carrollton, MD. Unlike the wide open spaces of the Mojave Desert where we live, Eastern cities are a bit more complicated and require decent maps with which to navigate. We were extemely impressed to find the ADC street map easily usable, and it clearly showed the three (3) house street on which her grandparent's live. It doesn't get any better than that!

I love ADC maps, and buy one any time I intend to spend any significant amount of time somewhere.

This is by far the most used map for the entire Washington DC metro area. You won't need to bother with any others. You'll find exactly what you need from this map series.

My daughter loves this book, maybe even more than her beloved, tattered "Are You My Mother" board book. I bet we have read this one a hundred times since Xmas!! The illustrations are wonderful and the alphabet "rhymes" are hilarious. I am in the process of purchasing all of PD Eastmans board books for her-I enjoy them as much as she does!

Mary Roberts Rinehart Rocks!!!!

An amazing mystery writer whose work has long been overlooked!

This collection of books rectifies this omission. Mary Roberts Rinehart has been called the American Agatha Cristie -- and it is really true. Her novels have that well-mannered atmosphere of an Agath Cristie story combined with novel plot twists.

However, what gives Rinehart an edge is the true feeling you have for her characters- they are so life-like and well drawn that they seem fresh and contemporary even if the story settings are from the 1920's.

I highly recommend all of the novels in The Essential Rinehart collection. There are often two and sometimes three novels all published in one book- a good value and an interesting selection since each book has a shared theme with the others.

America Street is one of the best multicultural anthologies I've ever read. It shows how the variety in our society can enrich the lives of young people, and it also shows that even with the cultural differences, there are some things that rermain the same for youth everywhere. I would recommend this book for anyone, but especially adolescents and secondary teachers

As a (former) Bay Area gang officer, I find that my personal experience validates Dr. Klein's research, surmises, and experience. I appreciate his moderate stance based on research rather than ideology. I have reread the work several times, and reference it constantly while performing any level of public education. I hope that the assertions on reducing cohesiveness are considered in forming community responses, and that Dr. Klein's thoughtful methodology becomes the norm, and not a threat to institutions.

Angel Mae is a touching story. It gives me the opportunity to talk about many issues with my 3 year old : jelousy, anger, anxiety, excitment, happiness. Yet the story is natural, funny, and definately not soppy. The illustrations are excellent.

At the age of seventeen, Brooklyn born Silvano Iurata was forced to go on the run after completing a mission for his grandfather Dominic, a high ranking Mafia official. After he left his cousin Little Don believed he killed his father and had an affair with his sister who was sent to the convent in disgrace. Little Don vows to torture then kill Silvano when he next steps foot in New York City but that proves difficult to do because his cousin works for the government and has no permanent address.

Years later Silvano returns to Brooklyn to learn what happened to his kind-hearted, mentally impaired brother who disappeared without a trace. He finds out whom his brother worked for and hung around with. In the course of his inquiries he meets a woman that he falls for. However, Little Don knows that his cousin is in town and salivates to get his hands on the relative he hates with a passion.

This is a dark and grimy urban noir thriller that focuses on those who, like the protagonist, live on the outskirts of society. The year is 1972 and the power of the Mafia remains intact so that Silvano steps carefully around relatives in the "family" and works overtime not to touch off a mob war that could hurt the people he cares about. He is still recovering from his year in Vietnam and readers will credit him for trying to do the right thing and stepping away from the violent culture he was raised in. THE ANGEL OF MONTAGUE STREET is no angel but he is quite a man.

Harriet Klausner