I thought that I hadn't read this as a child, but apparently I did. The nickname Wheeze started to sound a little familiar to me, but apparently the rest wasn't memerable. It's a good little book about finding oneself and finally standing up for what you want. Personally, I thought it was good. Not amazing, but adeequate for getting the point across.
Ken Follet does it again. I haven't found anything by him that I don't like so far. I really loved the main characters in this book and they're put into some really interesting situations. I really enjoyed the book from beginning to end. Ken Follet does a wonderful job of describing the conditions of coal miners, coal haulers, strikes, and riots in the United Kingdom prior to the American Revolution. He also describes the passage of convicts to America, the life of an indentured servant on a tobacco plantation, as well as the fight for freedom. If you need something to read on a plane or on vacation it's great because it's educational without being heavy and textbookish.
The book has a lot of good information on Mussolini's life and influence on Italy. It's not an amazing book, but it's not a bad one either. Just all the essentials facts that you need.
I really enjoyed this book. Ken Follett tends to write historical fiction and this book is about events leading up to World War I. The British are in desperate need of an alliance with Russia prior to the outbreak of World War I and a Russian Revolutionary will do anything to keep that peace from happening. There's the occasional soap opera moment when everything seems to be going wrong and there's always that plot twist, I found it rather entertaining and a good depiction of how young ladies were expected to live in England during the early 20th century. Plus, the book teaches you a little about women's quest for suffrage.
I'm really glad that I decided to read this book. I've continually been given the quick and easy guide to World War II. I knew about the bombing of London, the Luftwaffe, Panzers, Blitzkrieg, Normandy, Hitler's betrayal of the German-Russian Non-Aggression act, Anne Frank, and the Holocaust. I knew that the Germans weren't happy with the Treaty of Versailles and that the German's got his hard by the depression. However, I knew little about Prussia and Otto von Bismark, Hitler's childhood, the founding of the Nazi party, how the Nazi's gained control, why Austria and Poland were so important to Hitler, that Catholics were discriminated against as well, who the major players were in Nazi Germany under Hitler's command, the Sudeten, Chamberlain's mistakes, and Charles de Gaulle's role in all of this. This book really did help by going through all the major events that took place in Nazi Germany. There's obviously plenty more to learn and the ability to go much more in depth. I also need to find a book that focuses on England, Italy, Russia, Poland, etc. during the war, rather than simply the Nazi involvement with these countries. Also, the Pacific Theater is only slightly alluded to in this book. However, I think that this was a great place to start.
This is one of the best books I've ever read. Jeremy Iversen goes undercover as a high school senior in Emerald Valley, California. While he's there, he witnesses the parties, drugs and alcohol, how students reacted to WASC, the drama that seems so important in their daily lives, suicidal thoughts, as well as how students dealt with the death of one of their own.
For those of you that grew up in the "party" crowds some of the material in this book may not seem as shocking as it was for me. While I always knew there for some kids doing drugs, and a few kids drinking, I never realized that such a large quantity of students participate in the use of drugs and/or alcohol at some point during high school. I won't even begin to explained how shocked I was that sex played as big of a role as it does. I think that anyone who teaches or has kids of their own should read this book. It's easy to believe that your kid isn't like everyone elses and you don't want to fall into that.
The book also shows the incompetancy of some of the teachers in our system and the problems with teachers acting like mature adults and not try to be their best friends, as well as teachers that need to learn to keep their hands off of their students and not sexually harass them. I can't belive some of the things that these teachers said to their students.
This was an interesting book. Mary McCarthy shows the side of Venice that you don't necessarily see as a tourist. For instance, the crazy signorina that she stays with who digs through her things and is facinated by her toiletries. I also love that she talks about Giorgione because I love his La Tempesta. There are a few parts of the book that I'm iffy on her choice of organization, but for once I actually learned something different from a survery book. I wish I could get something new out of everything I read.
I read this back in 4th or 5th grade, but I felt like reading it again. I remembered liking it when I was little, but I couldn't really remember what it was about so I decided to read it again. It's a fun and entertaining childrens book. If you have kids they might enjoy it. The story is about a boggart, a very old sprit-like creature that loves to play jokes on humans. He's quite a character and gets some kids in a lot of trouble when their parents don't believe that they're not playing all of the jokes. Remember the days when you got in trouble for something you never did?
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