Reviews (262)

The 10 star book "Tears ofa Tiger"
This book is amazing. It really gets you to think about a lot of things. You always say well that will never happen to me, but niether did Andy. It is a story that so many kids can relate to . Sharon Draper really out did herself in this book. This is the kind of book i could read over and over and over and never get tired of reading it. It really touched me in a special place and thought me that tomorrow is not promised and never take what you have or the people in your life for granted. I give this book 10 stars.

beyond amazing.
words cant explain how good this book was. i had to read it for a school thing and i read it in an hour it was so good. and so meaningful. its one of the reasons i will never drink. im fourteen and all my friends do but i dont plan on drinking ever, and defiantly not getting drunk. i was balling my eyes out. crying SO hard over this book.
Great Read for Middle School children
This book deals very well with controversial topics such as drunk driving and suicide. Draper tells the story in a matter of fact manner that students will read and learn from. As a teacher of middle school children, I found this book very helpful and moving and well researched. Though somewhat predictable and heavyhanded, the story achieves it purpose and would be welcome in any classroom library. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12)    3. Death    4. Fiction    5. High schools    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Schools    8. Social Issues - Death & Dying    9. Social Issues - Drugs, Alcohol, & Substance Abuse    10. Social Issues - Emotions & Feelings    11. Social Issues - Suicide    12. Juvenile Fiction / Ethnic / African American   

Editorial Review

Ender Wiggin, the hero and scapegoat of mass alien destruction in Ender's Game, receives a chance at redemption in this novel. Ender, who proclaimed as a mistake his success in wiping out an alien race, wins the opportunity to cope better with a second race, discovered by Portuguese colonists on the planet Lusitania. Orson Scott Card infuses this long, ambitious tale with intellect by casting his characters in social, religious and cultural contexts. Like its predecessor, this book won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. ... Read more

Reviews (366)

3 stars relative to Ender's Game, 4 stars because . . .
Having loved Ender's Game I decided to continue on and read Speaker for the Dead. I have to admit to some mixed feelings about the book. What kept me reading it till the end, sometimes intensely so, is classic Card: His wonderful imagination (even though there's practically no action you still want to see what happens next), piercing insights into human nature and wise philosophical musings all wrapped in the easy to digest "fun" media of an escapist Sci-Fi novel. If you're an Orson Scott Card fan you won't be disappointed by Speaker for the Dead.
Context, Motivation, & Choice
It is difficult to believe this is the first "sequel" to Ender's Game, because it is so vastly different from that book.Andrew Wiggins is at a very different place & time in his life, not to mention a different place & time in the galaxy.But how many of us are the same person today that we were at age 12?You should read Ender's Game in order to fully understand Andrew in the depth that he is explored in this book, but do not read it because you expect it to be the same.They are both outstanding books, but for entirely different reasons.
A truly remarkable story
This was a fascinating, generational story of life on Lusitania, where humans have come into contact with the second sentient beings--the piggies--since the xenocide of the buggers in Ender's Game.Feeling guilty, the Starways Congress decides to allow xenologers to study these aliens and live among the Catholic colony on Lusitania.When two xenologers die at the hands of the piggies, the old calls for war ring again but instead of an armada, the Speaker of the Dead is summoned.Andrew Wiggin, Speaker of the Dead, sets off for Lusitania where he hopes to repair the lives of two of families on Lusitania and solve the mystery of the piggies.
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Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Science Fiction    3. Science Fiction    4. Science Fiction - General   

Editorial Review

The year is 1963, and self-important Byron Watson is the bane of hisyounger brother Kenny's existence. Constantly in trouble for one thing oranother, from straightening his hair into a "conk" to lighting fires to freezinghis lips to the mirror of the new family car, Byron finally pushes his familytoo far. Before this "official juvenile delinquent" can cut school or stealchange one more time, Momma and Dad finally make good on their threat to sendhim to the deep south to spend the summer with his tiny, strict grandmother.Soon the whole family is packed up, ready to make the drive from Flint,Michigan, straight into one of the most chilling moments in America's history:the burning of the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church with four little girlsinside.Read more

Reviews (557)

Ali
The Watsons Go To Birmingham was a story about real life things. In the beginning, Byron and Kenny are outside scraping ice off of the Brown Bomber a.k.a. the Watsons car. Then Kenny hears a noise coming from the other side of the car where Byron is. He doesn't go over there because he thinks Byron will trick him, because a few days before Byron and Buphead (Byron's best friend) played a trick on Kenny and hit him in the face with snowballs. When Kenny goes to the other side finally he sees Byron's lips stuck to the mirror. He then ran in to get the family. Daniel (their dad) started laughing because he had never seen anything like that. Daniel and Wilona (their mom) were trying to think of a way to get Byron's lips off of the mirror. Daniel decided to get water so he could pore it on Byron's lips but it just made it. Wilona tells the family to go inside then. When they were all inside Wilona pulled on Byron's lips until they came off. When Kenny was in school he got picked on by Larry Dunn because he had a lazy eye and he was a good reader. One day a new kid named Rufus came to school at Clark. Rufus started getting picked on more than Kenny because Rufus talked different (he had lived in Arkansas) and Rufus didn't have a lot of clothes. Kenny and Rufus became good friends but one day somebody said something about Rufus and Kenny laughed. Since Kenny laughed at him Rufus stopped hanging out with Kenny. They ended up fixing the problem and became friends again. When winter came, Kenny shared his gloves with Rufus for awhile but then decided to act like he had lost them so his mom gave him his other pair of leather gloves and Rufus got the old pair. Then one day, Kenny's gloves went missing and Larry Dunn had gotten a pair of leather gloves instead of cheap plastic ones. Kenny found out that Larry had stolen his gloves so Byron and Buphead beat Larry up. Kenny then got his gloves back. When Byron kept lighting matches in the house Wilona got mad at him and said if he would do it one more time she would do something to him. Then one day, Kenny saw that Byron went into the bathroom and locked the door so he went and looked through the key hole. He saw Byron in there making Kleenex's into parachutes and then lighting matches and burning the parachutes to where they would fall into the toilet. When Wilona came upstairs she smelled smoke and saw Kenny looking through the keyhole so she got Byron out of there and took him downstairs. Then Joey started crying because Mama had gotten out matches and Vaseline. She knew that Mama was going to burn some part of Byron. Joey then got scared and kept getting in front of Byron so Mama couldn't burn him. When she got Joey away she lit a match but Joey ran over and blew out every match that Mama lit. So Byron never got burned. Since their dad only paid for groceries at one time Byron and Kenny thought they were on welfare but then found out they weren't. A few days later Kenny found Byron in a tree behind the grocery store with a full bag and an empty bag of Swedish cream cookies. When Kenny realized what Byron had done it was too late because he couldn't tell on him since he had eaten some of the cookies. A few days later, Byron came home with his hair straightened and permanent red gunk in his hair. Wilona was in shock because she and Daniel had told Byron not to put that stuff in his hair. Wilona knew he had gotten the stuff from Buphead because he was the only other kid with hair like that. Daniel then shaved all Byron's hair off! A few weeks later the Watsons started packing for Birmingham. They were going to Alabama to see Wilona's family. They decided that Byron would stay with Grandma Sands for the whole summer and maybe the school year. The family drove straight through all the way to Alabama. While they were down south the kids went swimming and Kenny almost got pulled under but Byron saved him. Joey went to Sunday school with some friends she had made. Then there was a loud boom. A bomb had gone off at the church. Joey ended up being safe because she had followed Kenny home. Wilona and Daniel decided not to leave Byron in Alabama. When they went home Kenny decided to give his dinosaurs to Rufus and Cody (Rufus's little brother). The Watsons lived there lives like they had before they went to Birmingham. The bombs going off at church made them rethink about there lives and feel good that they had everyone still in their family. I thought that this book was really a good book and I would reccomend it to anyone.

The greatest book in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The book Watsons go to Birmingham 1963 is the coolest book ever.I don`t know anyone who dosen`t like this book.I love this book,it`s soooo funny,except the true part that was sooo sad.My favorite charactor is Byron he`s very funny.I love the part when Byron got his lips stuck on the window of the brown bomber.And dad was making fun of him.When I get a chance I`ll buy the book becauce it is awesome.

The greatest book in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The book Watsons go to Birmingham 1963 is the coolest book ever.I don`t know anyone who dosen`t like this book.I love this book,it`s soooo funny,except the true part that was sooo sad.My favorite charactor is Byron he`s very funny.I love the part when Byron got his lips stuck on the window of the brown bomber.And dad was making fun of him.When I get a chance I`ll buy the book becauce it is awesome. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Afro-Americans    2. Children's 9-12 - Family    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    4. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    5. Family - General    6. Family - Multigenerational    7. Family life    8. Fiction    9. Juvenile Fiction    10. People & Places - United States - African-American    11. Prejudices    12. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    13. Juvenile Fiction / Ethnic / African American   

Reviews (15)

Among the Free
Luke, a third child wanted the population law gone. It was that, because of droughts that nobody was allowed more than 2 children. When he figures out the population police were overthrown he goes to check it out.
Disappointing Ending to a Good Series
Among the Free should have been the exciting climax to a well-done series about illegal third children fighting the Population Police.Instead, it is rushed and unbelievable, with Luke, our hero from the first few books, still unsure of himself and still being led by the voice of his friend Jen instead of thinking things through for himself.
Thrilling end to gripping series
I've been reading this series since the first book. It never dissapoints. Each book is a pageturner, that I can't put down, and this one was the same. It focuses on Luke the boy who we were first introduced to on the first page of "Among the Hidden". It follows Luke through a fast paced adventure, exploring the nature of people, government, and righteousness. If you liked the other books, you will not be dissapointed by the thrilling finale to this seriously. I literally squealed as I read it and surprsing twists continued to be thrown. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    3. Children: Grades 4-6    4. Conduct of life    5. Fiction    6. Freedom    7. Juvenile Fiction    8. Juvenile Science Fiction / Fantasy    9. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    10. Science fiction    11. Juvenile Fiction / Action & Adventure   

Editorial Review

Anne Elliot, heroine of Austen's last novel, did something we can all relate to: Long ago, she let the love of her life get away. In this case, she had allowed herself to be persuaded by a trusted family friend that the young man she loved wasn't an adequate match, social stationwise, and that Anne could do better. The novel opens some seven years after Anne sent her beau packing, and she's still alone. But then the guy she never stopped loving comes back from the sea. As always, Austen's storytelling is so confident, you can't help but allow yourself to be taken on the enjoyable journey. ... Read more

Reviews (100)

"Pesuasion" Can Refer To The Heart As Well As The Head
Those who read PERSUASION by Jane Austen tend to view it as a book primarily concerned with marriage in the typical Austen romantic comedy sense of young ladies seeking to marry upward and young men also seeking partners--but not necessarily to each other.While much of Austen's novel deals with precisely that, to view this solitary strand of thought as Austen's most telling point is surely to miss that point totally.In PERSUASION, Austen took her earlier PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and sought to show that her view on how single women relate to their families, their friends, their proposed husbands and to society at large underwent a significant change from the latter to the former.
If only she had lived and written more like this one!
Jane Austen's *Persuasion* was her last book before she suddenly, unfairly died, and it is profoundly different than her earlier works.
A Good Summer Read
I have read all of Austen's novels except Northanger Abbey, and I found this one to be in the top three, along with EMMA and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (my personal favorite).This book is very unique compared to her other masterpieces.
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Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literature - Classics / Criticism    3. Literature: Classics    4. Fiction / Classics   

Editorial Review

On the heels of her acclaimed contemporary teen novel Read more

Reviews (259)

Fever 1793
Fever 1793
Fever 1793
Fever 1793
Wonderful.
This is wonderful and is historically acurate it is set at the time of the fever in philidalphia and goes through robbers, deaths, and life in the 1700's.
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Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    3. Children: Grades 4-6    4. Epidemics    5. Fiction    6. Health & Daily Living - Diseases    7. Historical - United States - Colonial    8. Juvenile Nonfiction    9. Pennsylvania    10. Philadelphia    11. Survival    12. Yellow fever    13. Juvenile Nonfiction / Health / Diseases   

Editorial Review

"The Baudelaire orphans looked out the grimy window of the train and gazed at the gloomy blackness of the Finite Forest, wondering if their lives would ever get better," begins Read more

Reviews (163)

Series of Unfortunate Events The MIserable Mill
In this book there are three very smart children who have been trying to get away for this guy named Count Olaf.Count Olaf is a very mean person who is always in disguise and trying to get closer to the orphans to steal their fortune.At the beginning of the book the children are forced to work at the Mill.Then Klaus fell and broke his glasses so then he had to go to the eye doctor to get a new pair.He didn't come back for a long time and Violet and Sunny were getting worried. He came back acting all weird and they new that Count Olaf was near. I really like this book because its not like the rest of the books it has a great ending.

a delitful miserable story
The Baudelaire children are on a new adventure, going to yet a new house with another new caretaker. For every time they have to run from Count Loaf's mischievous plans. Count Loaf is a horrible man with horrible assistants and horrible disguises. He is after the Baudelaire orphans left owner money from their parents' fatal accident. In Lemony Snicket's Series of unfortunate Events, The Miserable Mill, these children Claus the reader, sunny the biter & Violet the inventor have to work at a miserable mill to line. Their new caretaker does not care much for them and makes them work very hard. In return for their work, he will protect them form that Mischievous count Loaf.
A Scary Book
You really feel sorry for the children. Life in the mill is just miserable. You can't put the book down... you just gotta find out what happens next. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Brothers and sisters    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    4. Children: Grades 4-6    5. Family - Orphans & Foster Homes    6. Family - Siblings    7. Fiction    8. Humorous Stories    9. Juvenile Fiction    10. Orphans    11. Juvenile Fiction / Family / Orphans & Foster Homes   

Reviews (18)

Loved it,
I'm a big fan of long drawn out novles. I've always been a fan of Dickens. This book has on eof my favorite stories by his pen: Great Expectations. His style is very personal I found it a lot like Tolkien. His ability to tell a good tale is clear as the reader becomes part of the story. Very nice volume and worth the time and money in my opinion.

Lousy Binding
I've read all but "A Christmas Carol" in this edition. I've found several typos. Moreover, the binding is becoming unglued. I estimate by the time I finish "A Christmas Carol" the binding will be totally exposed. I value permanent books (otherwise I would buy paperbacks). I suggest anyone who enjoys Dickens buy a better edition.

Dickens Classics
I am a teacher building a classroom library for my students to use. This collection of classics are a must have. I like the way the book is put together and the classic look and feel that it has. The book looks as though it could have come from a private library of a weathly book collector. Great buy! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 18th century    2. 19th century    3. Classics    4. England    5. Fiction    6. History    7. London (England)    8. Paris (France)    9. Revolution, 1789-1799    10. Sale Adult - Literature - Classics & Contemporary    11. Social life and customs    12. 19th century fiction    13. Fiction / Classics    14. Sale Books   

Editorial Review

"Wake up, sir. We're here." It's a simple enough opening line--althoughnot many would have guessed back in 1991 thatthis would lead to one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comics of the second half of the century. Read more

Reviews (101)

Hour 5: The Flies Get Restless
Intermittently, between the films that I watch and the video games I shamelessly play, I do enjoy reading a good graphic novel here and there.Why not taste all the facets of pop culture when I have the opportunity?Neil Gaiman is the author that re-introduced me to the world of graphic novel.Through his fantastic novel (meaning a story that you could read more than one time) entitled "American Gods", I found this fantastical writer's ability to draw upon the strength of other pop culture ideas as well as nearly blend fantasy and fiction together with the greatest of ease.It was right after my reading of "American Gods" that I decided to pick up the first in his ever-popular "Sandman" series entitled Preludes & Nocturnes.From the opening frames of a miscalculated capture, through the inevitable adventures to recover lost/stolen items, to the hauntingly original final scenes where our main character, Sandman, introduces us to his family and builds a stronger, more poetic beginning to the next chapter, The Doll's House.
You know all about this
Any comic fan, avid or casual, knows the list of essential comic reading that proves that comics aren't just for kids.Of course there's Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, Maus, Preacher, and more, and of course also on that list is Neil Gaiman's celebrated Sandman series.Preludes and Nocturnes is the beginning of one of the most revered adult series in comics history, as Gaiman weaves a tale in which Dream of the Endless seeks to reclaim the realm he lost when he was imprisoned some seventy years before.He sets forth on a mission to regain the tools of his that were lost and seek revenge on those responsible, and on the way he comes across many of DC/Vertigo's icons, including John Constantine and the Martian Manhunter, and travels to the depths of Hell to face down Lucifer Morningstar himself.Frequently chilling and startlingly poignant, this first volume in the Sandman saga is essential reading, and believe it or not, it only gets better with each passing volume.

It Is What It Is
This is, for all intents and purposes, Neil Gaiman's first real piece of work.Granted, he'd been a journalist, and he'd written a couple of other graphic novels, but nothing on this scale, nothing with this distribution, and nothing as significant.
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Subjects:  1. Anthologies    2. Comics & Graphic Novels    3. Fantasy    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - Fantasy    6. Graphic Novels    7. Graphic Novels - Fantasy    8. Horror    9. Science Fiction And Fantasy    10. Fiction / Graphic Novels   

Editorial Review

Collected together in one volume, Read more

Reviews (31)

Jane Austen, The Complete Novels
If you love Jane Austen, you will love every story in this book. I have the hardback, and while I love it, the print is very small.

I love everything by Jane Austen!
As the title suggests this book contains the complete novels of Jane Austen, but also the unfinished novels The Watsons and Sanditon.
There's a different edition that's better value
There's a new edition of Jane Austen's complete novels that's better value than this one, you might want to take a look at it - the ISBN number is:
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Subjects:  1. Bargain Books    2. Classics    3. England    4. Fiction    5. Love stories, English    6. Sale Adult - Literature - Classics & Contemporary    7. Social life and customs    8. 19th century fiction    9. Classic fiction    10. Fiction / Classics    11. Fiction anthologies & collections    12. Sale Books   

Editorial Review

Orson Scott Card's Read more

Reviews (193)

Card drops it
Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead are good, but Xenocide disappoints; in fact, Card could've ended on Speaker.Instead he takes the worn path of Lusitania for his setting again.In Xenocide, Ender must deal with numerous impossible tasks such as solving faster than light travel, averting the destruction of Lusitania by Starways Congress, stopping a war between the humans, piggies and formics, and saving the life of an electrically based lifeform, all the while contending with his messed up adopted family of geniuses.
Disappointing creation of a wonderful author
I have just finished reading Ender's Shadow, the first of the Bean quartet novels and I enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed the original book. There's something about the way Card presents characters that captures you into reading the book non-stop. So you can imagine my disappointment when I started reading Xenocide.
Pretty Good!
Orson Scott Card has brilliant way of telling many stories within one story. Meaning, in Xenocide there is lots of depth. I really enjoyed the book. There were MANY times when all the philosophical talk got on my nerves.But by the end of the book I was satisfied.Execllent Story. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Science Fiction    3. Science Fiction    4. Science Fiction - General   

Editorial Review

There is no one in contemporary literature quite like BarbaraKingsolver. Her dialogue sparkles with sassy wit and earthy poetry; herdescriptions are rooted in daily life but are also on familiar terms with theeternal. With Read more

Reviews (409)

Couldn't stand it
This is the first book I have tried to read by Kingsolver, and I couldn't finish it.The first 100 pages (as far as I could get) read like a romance novel, with all the smelling of pheromones and aching pubic bones.I just couldn't stand it.This is a character driven novel, and I did not like any of the characters.For a story about a woman's sense of place (and insects, for that matter), I liked Margaret Drabble's "The Peppered Moth" a whole lot better.

Another true delight from a master writer.
In Prodigal Summer Barbara Kingsolver tackles in the novel format many of the topics she typically hashes out in her essays, issues relating to the damage we as humans seem intent on inflicting on our environment.The tactic of using an ideological underpinning as the basis for a novel often is a story killer but Kingsolver is such a master writer that she, for the most part, manages to pull things off.
Make sure you get the audio book, too!
I read Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver as required reading in school. I am definitely not the type who enjoys reading, however, I truly enjoyed Prodigal Summer.
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Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. General    5. Fiction / General   

Reviews (182)

Great vision, holes in the follow through
Interesting SciFi is never really about science, but about society.
Saw movie first, then read book
Generally, the movie (Bladerunner) is much better.I am surprised that they got that much of a movie out of the book.The book is darker and less exciting.The story is quite different, though, and the book explains some things you see in the movie that go without explanation.Overall, I am glad I read it.

A great book, but probably mainly for Sci-fi fans.
I gave it a 5, cause its one of the best sci-fi books i've ever read. It's a great book i would reccomend to everyone who likes sci-fi, or want to get into the genre. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction - Science Fiction    2. Science Fiction    3. Science Fiction - General    4. Fiction / Science Fiction / General   

Reviews (154)

Howlingly good
A fantastically funny tale of witches, wizards, demons and magic, all rolled up into an entertaining book for all ages.If you've seen the movie of the same name, you should note that there were many changes in the story on the way to animation, but the book remains the better version.
A charming tale of fantasy and adventure
Like many others I first watched the animated movie of Howl's Moving Castle and was immediately inspired to seek out the book.Although the book is a bit different from the movie I did like both of them equally well.
"I think we should live happily ever after."
I loved this book!It is full of humor, memorable characters, magic spells and fire demons.Not many authors can pull off a novel with the two main characters being a 90-year-old woman and a self-centered and vain wizard.Diana Wynne Jones pulls it off with panache, and leaves readers with a thoroughly contented feeling at the finish.
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Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - Fantasy    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. Fantasy fiction    4. Humorous Stories    5. Juvenile Fiction    6. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    7. Juvenile Fiction / Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic   

Reviews (91)

The Various Elements
While I must agree with some of the other people here who said that the main plotline of whether Sam and David were going to have sex or not was boring, there was more to the book than just that.In particular, I had a soft spot for Harold and Lucy's budding relationship, as well as the plotline of Sam's job at the video store.Also interesting to me