Editorial Review

The long-awaited, eagerly anticipated, arguably over-hyped Read more

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Reviews (3316)

Ooops! She did it again
J.K Rowling has pulled off another stellar Harry Potter. Because the amount of time it takes to complete a 7-part series, I thought she'd run out of steam, but clearly she has not. After seeing what happened with King towards the end of the Dark Towers series, I was afraid another renowned writer might do the same. I was pleasantly disappointed. There is nothing else to say. Great book. She keeps the series rolling perfectly. Some of the goings on (people who've read the story should know what I'm talking about) I believe are front for other plans, and I was not heart broken at the end.
Harry's Daring Quest
Harry Potter and Professor Dumbledore try to research Lord Voldemort's childhood. They search through the pensieve discovering the truth about Lord Voldemort. They realize the rutheless, evil wizard splits his soul into seven pieces by murdering seven innocent people. Then he magicallyhid them into valuable objects, which Harry and Dumbledore set after for. I loved the book because the story line was thrilling and intriguing. The characters were daring, intelligent, humorous, and wise. My favorite character is Harry Potter who is a sixteen year old wizard who's parents died because Voldemort murdered them both. Harry is my favorite character because he is brave and humorous. Some related books to this one are all five of the other Harry Potter books. I think this book ranks number one in comparison to them all.

This book series stinks! And that's flattering.
One star is giving this terrible and uninteresting series a huge compliment. Especially this book, where the plot consists of little but pointless stories of the character's love lives until the end, when there is a quick bit that is actually about Good vs evil. If Harry can be called good. beyond this words cannot describe my disgust for this book and for the whole series. Hope Harry dies. Painfully. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's Audio - 9-12    2. Children's audiobooks    3. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    4. Fiction    5. Humorous Stories    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Magic    8. School & Education    9. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    10. Wizards    11. Juvenile Fiction / General   

Reviews (567)

The House on Mango Street
The House on Mango Street is a story of Esperanza Cordero.Esperanza is sharing her life in a poetic form.She writes poems to describe her life on Mango Street.She is embarrassed to point and say, "That's my house."Her mama says, "It's for the time being," papa says, "its temporary."Esperanza shares her stories of love, friendship, and the trail of life.Esperanza's friend Sally gets into lots of trouble with boys and her papa doesn't tolerate this.Working at such a young age isn't very easy, but papa doesn't want Esperanza to go to public school, he believes you'll turn out bad.Living in the ghetto of Chicago can get difficult sometimes in ways that can just confuse you, like your friend getting married when she hasn't even reached eighth grade.Sandra Cisneros will share Esperanza's feelings and descriptions about neighbors and family great.Boys, where should we start?To Esperanza, they live in separate worlds, you can really only rely on your true friends.In the end, all these moments of feelings only equal one word, Life.
this book is so weird
this books chapter titles were random as hell and so was the book. its so weird.there is no plot whatsoever. i hated it, don't buy it cuz it sucks major balls.

For ESL students
I teach a beginner writing course for ESL students preparing for college, and we use this book to help students develop that all-important voice. The stories are simple but full of feeling, and resonate deeply with my mostly Latino students. Yes, there are incomplete sentences and words that don't belong in academic writing, but I find my students understand the concept of personal vs. academic writing, and can enjoy the book on its own terms. In addition, it could easily form the basis of a reading course for students once they are beyond the very early stages of learning English. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bildungsromane    2. Chicago (Ill.)    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - General    5. General    6. Girls    7. Literary    8. Mexican Americans    9. Popular American Fiction    10. Research And Report Writing    11. Fiction / Literary    12. Modern fiction   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (466)

An interesting read
This book is rather strange. There is a very distinct writing style, and Camus paints a very vivid picture of everything that is going on.
a great read that makes you think.
this is the first piece of writing i have read from albert camus and i found it very interesting. the character meursault is a very indifferent character who seems to be very impartial when he hears of his mother's death and kind of continues to be static untill the the second half of the book. i do not want to give the book away as some of the others have, but i feel that no matter what one person does and no matter what ones perception is, it can never match the perception of others. one of my favorite lines in the story is when meursault is talking to the chaplain about seeking redemption through god because according th chaplain "it is not the human justice that matters but divine justice" and meursault's response was "it was the human justice that put me here". no matter what acts you commit, whether they be henous, incensitive or loving, one way or another you will be judged and upon that judgement will be your sentence. it was definitely an easy read that takes the readers on a ride into the thoughts of a man who accepts the one thing he can not change; his fate. "with this, i dont even have a chance to survive, not even a slim one".

Nobody Counts--Not Even Yourself
There are few opening lines in literature more famous than the ones that begin THE STRANGER: "Mamam died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from home: `Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.' That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday."These lines are spoken by Meursault, who is the protagonist and narrator.Albert Camus uses Meursault as a symbol of the nihilism that was then sweeping a Europe that was engulfed in a conflict that promised only a continuation of the death and destruction that began with the Blitzkrieg in 1939.In such times of chaos, there was a tendency for Europeans to grow used to the thought that the next breath could be their last.A corollary of that was that if you bought into that philosophy, you also insisted in living in the here and now. Tomorrow existed only as an intellectual curiosity. Yesterday existed only as a prelude for today. Meursault is the embodiment of a generation of conquered French who learned to accept without a blink even the previously emotionally shattering loss of one's mother.
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Subjects:  1. Adventure stories    2. Algeria    3. Classics    4. Fiction    5. Literary    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. Literature: Classics    8. Murder    9. Fiction / Literary    10. Modern fiction   

Editorial Review

"Is it a fact--or have I dreamt it--that, by means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great nerve, vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of time?" If you, like Nathaniel Hawthorne, are kept up at night wondering about how things work--from electricity to can openers--then you and your favorite kids shouldn't be a moment longer without David Macaulay's Read more

Reviews (24)

Amazing Book for the Inquisitive.
This was one of my favorite books as a child, and is a great deal of the reason why I have such an interest in science.The explanations are well written for anyone to understand, and the diagrams really help the reader understand the science better.If you, like me, take things apart to find out how they work, this is the book for you.

Great book
The book was a gift. It helps in the learning process.
A Work of Art
"The Way Things Work" took almost three years to create. A cute and sometimes silly "Great Wooly Mammoth" makes his appearance throughout the book. The facial expressions and animal antics are at times very amusing.
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Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Science    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. Juvenile Nonfiction    4. Popular works    5. Reference - General    6. Science & Nature - General    7. Technology    8. Technology (General)    9. Technology - How Things Work/Are Made    10. General science    11. Juvenile Nonfiction / Science & Technology / How Things Work    12. Technology & Applied Sciences   

Reviews (1)

Great, but.......
This book is fantastic; however, I got confused about the book page number. The description says it has 944 pages, but it just has 924. And I don't like the last PSAT part. I think this book should only contain SAT practice tests only. And it wastes a lot of marginal room. This edition doesn't changed a little, if any. Princeton Review should improve a little when release a new edition, not just change the cover. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12)    2. Juvenile Nonfiction    3. PSAT (Educational test)    4. SAT & PSAT    5. SAT (Educational test)    6. Study Aids - Test Preparation    7. Study Guides    8. Study Aids / SAT & PSAT (Scholastic Assessment Test & Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test)   

Reviews (13)

Great for practice tests, but the rest of the stuff is nothing new.
I bought this book along with the ACT for Dummies, and I only use this book for the practice tests. Whether you want to improve your score or just get a feel for the test, this book's 3 practice tests can't be beat. After all, they are the real ACT tests.
An Essential ACT Prep Tool
I purchased this book to prepare for the ACT.It familiarizes you with exactly what you need for the test.It's excellent for long-term preparation, but you can even use it in a crunch.I flipped through some of the pages the night before I took the ACT and had never opened up the book before, read through some things, and I ended up getting a perfect composite score of 36. You don't need any resource other than this one in preparing for the ACT.

Very nice
I guess this book just owns everything else.
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Subjects:  1. ACT (American College Tests)    2. ACT Assessment    3. Educational Tests And Measurements (Higher Education)    4. Study Aids    5. Study Guides    6. Test Prep    7. Undergraduate Departments   

Reviews (1)

Accepted
I bought this book about a month before I took the test to go to a very competative high school. I studied the book a little bit each night and had no problem learning the material. The book helped a lot and I got into the school. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    2. Education (Young Adult)    3. General    4. Juvenile Nonfiction    5. SSAT & COOP (Secondary School Admission Test & Cooperative A    6. SSAT & COOP (Secondary School Admission Test & Cooperative Admissions Exam)    7. School & Education    8. Study Aids - Test Preparation    9. Study Guides   

Editorial Review

Reviews (189)

THE END IS NEAR! BE PREPARED!
Ahem. Has anyone noticed that one of the one-star reviews for this book burns Lemony Snicket and William Shakespeare at the same time? If I was you, L.S., be honored! "Oh, gee, you're categorizing me in the same place as one of the most revered and adored authors of all time?!! I think I'll take that as a compliment!" This book is the second best in the series so far, after The Slippery Slope.

The Penultimate Peril
The Penultimate Peril
They stole a cab!
Yep, thats what they did. The only noble person in the story, and they kicked him to the curb.
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Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Brothers and sisters    3. Children's All Ages - Fiction - General    4. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    5. Children: Grades 4-6    6. Family - Orphans & Foster Homes    7. Family - Siblings    8. Fiction    9. Hotels, motels, etc.    10. Humorous Stories    11. Juvenile Fiction    12. Orphans    13. Juvenile Fiction / Family / Orphans & Foster Homes   

Subjects:  1. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    2. Juvenile Nonfiction    3. Mathematics - Algebra   

Reviews (90)

My Favorite Book of All Time
Wow. Where do I begin?
A rich, complex and vastly entertaining read
My college-age cousin told me about this book back in the summer as I was visting during vacation. I had a few books in my car (and some I told her about), but she insisted: this was an extraordinary read. That I simply had to put everything else aside and read it.
THE BOOK THIEF
Liesel Meminger, a German girl in the 1940's, survives the vicissitudes of war through two forces: the power of love and the power of words. At her younger brother's funeral, she steals The Gravedigger's Handbook as a remembrance of him. Her foster father quells her nightmares by teaching her to read, and she soon discovers that books soothe the soul. When her family hides a Jew in their basement, the young man writes to survive, often aiming his words directly at Leisel.Ultimately, it is the strength of her relationships and the reading and writing they inspire that save her life, spiritually and literally.
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Subjects:  1. Books and reading    2. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - History    3. Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction    4. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    5. Death    6. Fiction    7. Historical - Holocaust    8. Historical - Military & Wars    9. Historical Fiction (Young Adult)    10. Juvenile Fiction    11. Law & Crime    12. Social Issues - Emotions & Feelings    13. Storytelling    14. Juvenile Fiction / Historical / Holocaust   

Editorial Review

Everyone in town thinks Meg Murry is volatile and dull-witted, and that her younger brother, Charles Wallace, is dumb. People are also saying that their physicist father has run off and left their brilliant scientist mother.Spurred on by these rumors and an unearthly stranger, the tesseract-touting Mrs Whatsit, Meg and Charles Wallace and their new friend Calvin O'Keefe embark on a perilous quest through space to find their father. In doing so, they must travel behind the shadow of an evil power that is darkening the cosmos, one planet at a time. This is no superhero tale, nor is it science fiction, although it shares elements of both. The travelers must rely on their individual and collective strengths, delving deep within themselves to find answers.Read more

Reviews (940)

Enjoyable by young and old alike!
The earth is surrounded by a sinister presence - a dark, foul fog that is the tool of an ultimate evil - whose ambition is to enslave the planet with the complete removal of free will. Three magical beings, Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who and Mrs Which - witches, angels, demigods perhaps - appear to Margaret and Charles Wallace Murry and their friend, Calvin O'Keefe, to persuade them that it is their destiny to battle this evil on its own turf and to rescue Margaret and Charles Wallace's father. Dr Murry has been missing for some months and the kids learn that he has been captured by the evil while he was "tessering", traveling time and space in the course of his scientific research.
A Wrinkle in time
At first my teacher read it. She read the first chapter to us. It had me very excited to read on. So, this book taught me a lot. It kind of keeps you in suspence to.

Hated it.
It seems that people either love it or hate it andI belong to the latter category.How did this become a classic???Having forced myself to read to the end I'm not going to waste anymore time - just read the other 1-star reviews - poor kids forced by their teachers to read this over-rated garbage. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 9-12 - Fiction - Fantasy    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    3. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    4. Classics    5. Juvenile Fiction    6. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    7. Science fiction    8. Juvenile Fiction / Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic   

Reviews (3)

This is truly a "song" of ice and fire
How interesting that Martin's short story, written in 1980, bears minor resemblances to his grand work of today.
There's really no age group for this book
I hold Martin's Song of Ice and Frie series in high regard; the man is a talented writer.For adults.
The Ice Dragon
I got this book on Sept. 26th, 2006, in Dubuque, Iowa.George Martin was on a book signing for the release of this book, and due to this, the bookstore he was at was selling it early.
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Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    2. Children's Books/All Ages    3. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    4. Dragons    5. Fantasy    6. Fiction    7. General    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    10. Juvenile Fiction / Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic   

Editorial Review

If you have never read anything by beloved fantasy writer Terry Brooks, take your chance with Read more

Reviews (26)

*3.5 stars*
I was somewhat dissapointed by this novel, brooks stated he would 'bridge' two wonderfully seperate series-word/void and shannara.
Bridging Word/Void with Shannara
Terry Brooks revisits the world of his greatest work: The Word and the Void. That original trilogy was set in a modern day United States where there are demons working for the Void trying to turn humans to acts of evil to twist the world to be a more violent, dangerous, and lost place. John Ross, a Knight of the Word, fought daily against visions of the future that he had to try to prevent. Ross's visions were of events that could happen in his own lifetime and for all of Ross's success, all he did was delay the inevitable. Armageddon's Children is set some eighty years after Angel Fire East and the world is a ruined place and things are only fixing to get worse. Pollution is out of control, a nuclear war occurred, the humans which are "safe" live in compounds (like Seattle's Safeco Field) warded off against the outside world. Those compounds are all under siege and they are falling day by day until there will be nowhere left to run or hide. In Seattle there are gangs of children calling themselves Tribes. Adults have failed them and street children are not allowed in Compounds so they must survive by becoming their own families and looking out for each other. Humans who had been caught outside for too long and who somehow survived drinking radioactive water and eating off of the poisoned land have mutated. This is our world, only broken. This could be our future.
This is not my idea of a trilogy...
I just finished this book a few minutes ago. The story is good, but I want to express my extreme frustration with the ending. A trilogy is a story told in three parts, NOT one third of a story that just stops and the reader has to wait a year for the next chapter. The books in Tolkien's Ring trilogy did not end with cliff hangers such as this. I have read every book Brooks has written. The other Word and Void books could stand alone.I am disapointed in the handling of this story so far.
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Subjects:  1. Fantasy    2. Fantasy - General    3. Fantasy fiction    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - Fantasy    6. Science Fiction And Fantasy    7. Fiction / Fantasy / General   

Editorial Review

Here's a great big fantasy that you can pull over your head like a comfy old sweater and disappear into for a whole weekend. Christopher Paolini began

Reviews (2278)

A very good book!
I have been reading books since I was 2 years old and this is one of the best books i have read. It dosn't matter who the auther is or how old he is it just matters if you like the book. I'm 12 now and like I said this book is really, really good. The authur did A good job and that is why it is a new york times best seller!
Eragon the best
Eragon is one of the best fantasy books I've ever read so far.It has all of the qualities of a fantasy book I look for.Compared to Harry Potter it has a great story line with a quick learning character.It has battles, magic, dragons, and monstrous creatures.Christopher Paolini is one of the best authors I've heard of, because he uses great imagery, awesome descriptions, and he keeps you intrigued through the whole book.I recommend this book to any fantasy lover adult, teen, or child.I do understand that this is one of the best accomplishments among someone of young age. So if you love fantasy or you just want a classic in motion take up Eragon.

Not worthy of the hype!
I purchased and read this book just after it first came out to rave reviews and a New York Times Bestseller ranking.I was extremely dissappointed.There is a reason tha