Where Did I Come From?

Customer Reviews:

Good way to introduce the "birds and the bees".......2007-09-01

My son and I had the best laughs reading this book; somewhat embarrasing at time but it was all out there, he was able to ask questions and it was a great way to discuss these things with him as it is with any child. I highly recommend this book for 9 or 10 year olds if your ready to discuss such things with them.

Offers too much detail in my opinion.......2007-08-23

Although I believe this book may be suitable for some kids, I do not believe it is suitable for my son and that is why I did not give it to him. Some pages from the book actually made me turn red! It is my opinion that kids do not need to know all the details provided in this book in order to get the message of where they came from. An edited version would work better for me.

Covers the embarressing areas.......2007-08-23

This book does a great job at explaining why grownups like to have sex. It describes the feelings, without getting lewd.

Where Did I Come From?.......2007-08-09

My son read this in addition to another similar book, and said that this book has less information in it.

Just the facts.......2007-07-13

Great book. I had it when I was a kid and bought it for my niece and nephew. It's just the facts. With all the sex in the media and talk on the playground I think kids deserve to know the truth.

Where I'm Calling From: Selected Stories

Average customer rating:

Nice introduction to contemporary writing
A Storytelling Poet (for the everyman)
A voice so minimal it's barely audible
Where Chekhov is calling from
Concise and Captivating

Where I'm Calling From: Selected Stories
Raymond Carver
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0679722319
Release Date: 1989-06-18

Amazon.com

The last story collection published during Carver's life (he died in 1988) contains most of his greatest hits from his earlier books, as well as seven stories that hadn't been collected up to that point. The breadth of the collection makes these 37 stories an extremely complete map of Carver territory, of a particular area of America and of the specific texture of the people Carver writes about -- their difficult attempts at survival in a world where happiness does not arrive wrapped up in neat packages but comes in far more peculiar parcels, if it comes at all.

Book Description

By the time of his early death in 1988, Raymond Carver had established himself as one of the great practitioners of the American short story, a writer who had not only found his own voice but imprinted it in the imaginations of thousands of readers. Where I'm Calling From, his last collection, encompasses classic stories from Cathedral, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, and earlier Carver volumes, along with seven new works previously unpublished in book form. Together, these 37 stories give us a superb overview of Carver's life work and show us why he was so widely imitated but never equaled.

Customer Reviews:

Nice introduction to contemporary writing.......2007-02-12

I am a hopeless lit. snob. I read only classics. When new books are presented to me, especially books with works published less than 40 years ago, I tend to be very cautious. Raymond Carver's collection may have just changed that. He's accessible to a wide array of readers, from hardcore English majors to "the working man" about whom he so often writes. Stories vary in length from a few pages to over ten, and while some seem to have impenetrable depth of thought, many are easily enjoyed without thinking TOO hard :)

Whether you aren't much of a reader or have books upon books that you've read and loved, this collection has something you can enjoy.

A Storytelling Poet (for the everyman).......2007-01-04

This ought to be called the Greatest Hits of Raymond Carver--with Bonus Tracks*. All of my own personal favorites are here: "Cathedral", "Fever", "Why Don't You Dance?". A few which appeared in previous collections are here restored to Carver's original conception. They appear more fleshed out, the characters are more developed, and oftentimes the tone is entirely changed. Some of Carver's stories will no doubt confound expectations. "Why Don't You Dance?" is told in such a sparse and poetic language that it may not be so easily accepted as a story; it seems to be more like a dance of words and images that dares its way into the heart. Carver's stories are famous for their intimacy with everyday life and everyday folk. His characters' struggles are exalted rather than belittled by the rationality of their predicaments. In "So Much Water So Close to Home" a man's absent-minded choice not to let a floating corpse interrupt his fishing trip culminates in a cosmic battle of Good and Evil between him and his wife yet right in the middle of their kitchen.

I think that many readers who express a dislike of Carver's stories are in fact favoring one Carver style over another. I can't imagine any lover of fiction with a shred of sensitivity being able to brush off "A Small, Good Thing" as a banal tale of child tragedy; the character of the baker is such a perfectly fulfilling example of the duality of human nature. However I can imagine a reader who enjoyed "A Small, Good Thing" completing the last sentence of "Fat" feeling puzzled about where to draw the conclusion between a large man gorging himself in a restaurant and a waitress's off-handed confession of rape. One story doesn't necessarily inform or justify another, and in that sense perhaps that's why this is a selection and not a "collection".

My best advice to new readers of Carver is to give each one of these stories its own personal creative license and realize that Carver was a poet. Really. He published poems as well as stories, and sometimes the accessibility of his vocabulary and the accessibility of his themes aren't consistent. What is consistent is the pleasure of his craft which can be experienced throughout these stories albeit on shifting levels.

*referring to the seven previously unpublished (in book form) stories included at the end of the book

A voice so minimal it's barely audible.......2006-08-22

After having read `Cathedral' for an English Composition class I was teaching last semester, I bought this book in earnest and waited eagerly for its arrival. I wanted so much to like it. I wanted poignant prose and acerbic wit, evidence of a keen observer's eye. Instead, these translucently-thin slices of life left me half-filled, and wondering why the portions weren't more ample. Many of the 37 stories in this book seem to be told both by and in the exact same voice. The overwhelming majority of them revolve around domestic squabbles or silly disagreements that aren't really worth writing about, and the quality of the prose isn't high enough to offset the lack of an intriguing plot. I suppose this is what Carver fans would consider to be `beautiful banality', but for me many of these tales seemed both unfulfilling and tiresome.

The book starts off with a bang, "Nobody Said Anything", the tale of an adolescent narrator and a big fish caught with a newfound friend one afternoon. "Bicycles, Muscles, and Cigarettes" follows, a colorful vignette about a row between three boys that spills over to their fathers. There are other bright lights in the collection, but halfway through (the stories are ordered chronologically, so I read them in order) the mundanity sets in. Literally countless tales of middle-aged protagonists agonizing over the minutiae of life at 4 in the morning on sleepless nights. All of his characters are divorcees, or soon to be separated. Most are alcoholics. Most tales start in media res, but leave us there as well, ending just as arbitrarily as they begin. Fans of Carver might attempt to call this a strong point, but the majority of these stories seem more suited to short stage performance pieces than to prose. Dialogue that is Seinfeldian in its simplicity, only sans the wit. A story that ends with the paltry self-affirmation, "My life is going to change. I feel it." Lots of "we just don't feel the same way as we used to" lines shared between despondent erstwhile lovers. But when we aren't told of the origins of the rift, it's hard to feel sympathy one way or the other.

There is a lot of the author in many of these stories - indeed, one question I came up with time and time again was just how `fictional' much of this short fiction really was. But no fewer than 12 of these stories revolve around a spousal dispute and/or alcoholism. And when Carver ventures out into other territories, it seems as though he is almost lost without the security blanket of the one topic he knows all too well.

Perhaps the last story in the collection, "Errand", unwittingly sums up the author's oeuvre all too well. In it, uncharacteristically, Carver recounts the tale of the last days of the playwright Chekhov. He mentions that Tolstoy came to see Chekhov as he was nearing death, although he was no fan of the man's work. He said of it "the plays were static and lacking in any moral vision. `Where do your characters take you?' he often demanded of Chekhov, "From the sofa to the junk room and back.'" At the completion of this book, I was left wanting to ask Carver the same.

Where Chekhov is calling from .......2006-04-14

The readers of Raymond Carver's selected stories "Where I'm Calling From" is likely to spend 500 pages wondering is this writer is the American Chekhov of suburbia, and is never sure. Until the reader reaches the very last story. The first word in "Errand" is "Chekhov", and as we progress in the reading we can notice that this narrative is about the Russian writer. Then it is time all doubts are dissipated and we can only conclude that Carver's work is a sort of homage to or influence by Chekhov.

Either case, it is a good thing, since that Russian writer is one of the biggest masters of short stories. But, even being under Chekhov's spell, Carver is still a writer of his own. Actually one of the best short story writers of the XX century. Too bad he died so young, one can only imagine what he would have produced more.

In this book of selected stories, the reader can have a vast tableau of Carver's themes, style, approach, and sensibility. There are 30 texts that were previously published, and seven new stories. In these 30-plus tales, the writer is able to dissect with beauty and witty the American psyche -- or yet, soul.

It is not difficult to be seduced by his dry style in which he doesn't try to make beautiful sentences -- but better yet, he reaches deeper depths in the soul of his characters. Carver is not after poetic moments, but he brings up some poetry from everyday life, from banal moments that are important only to those who are the main character of them.

His stories are usually short, and at the same time very efficient. The characters Carver portrays could be living in the same neighborhood, and at the same time they have very different lives. From his stories, we can realize that every life has its own beauty.

And these aspects are very close to those that made Chekhov one of the best, and we still read him, admire his work and consider his texts vanguard a hundred years later they were produced. Carver is very likely to have the same reward in the future. He does deserve it.

Concise and Captivating.......2006-03-29

Where I'm Calling From is a collected edition of Raymond Carver's short stories. Carver died from lung cancer in 1988, but before doing so he was said to have been one of the writers responsible for bringing back the glory of the short story.

Where I'm Calling From is certainly the work of an expert. The stories are nothing particularly outlandish or special in terms of subject matter, but they most definitely cut to the heart of what it means to be human and to have relationships with other humans. Carver seemed especially intent upon giving us stories about married couples who are divorced, in the process of getting divorced, or are on their way to getting a divorce.

That's not to say all of the stories found within this collection deal with such topics. Some of them deal with losing a child, some deal with reflecting on parents, and some deal with simple experiences one has in life. However, all of them are told in a concise and captivating manner where the reader can't help but finish the story in one sitting.

I recommend reading Where I'm Calling From if you are interested in studying non-traditional short stories, especially if you're a writer. I think his work may be a little too abrupt and unconventional for just the casual reader, though I feel everyone would benefit from reading this man who mastered his art.

To me, the most fascinating aspect of Raymond Carver is that as he neared his death, his stories actually got more positive. That says something.

(Visit author Scott William Foley at www.swilliamfoley.com)

Average customer rating:

Native Daughter of the Golden West
Some dreamers of the golden dream
Great-Great-Great-Great-Great
Enjoyed the book....but one passage bugged me about Yosemite Indians.
Why are you so mean, Joan?

Where I Was From
Joan Didion
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

West | Regional U.S. | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0679752862
Release Date: 2004-09-14

Book Description

In her moving and insightful new book, Joan Didion reassesses parts of her life, her work, her history and ours. A native Californian, Didion applies her scalpel-like intelligence to the state’s ethic of ruthless self-sufficiency in order to examine that ethic’s often tenuous relationship to reality.

Combining history and reportage, memoir and literary criticism, Where I Was From explores California’s romances with land and water; its unacknowledged debts to railroads, aerospace, and big government; the disjunction between its code of individualism and its fetish for prisons. Whether she is writing about her pioneer ancestors or privileged sexual predators, robber barons or writers (not excluding herself), Didion is an unparalleled observer, and her book is at once intellectually provocative and deeply personal.

Customer Reviews:

Native Daughter of the Golden West.......2007-08-22

I was born and raised in California, and one hears that more and more. "I was born here." So what? As Shakespeare (through Hamlet) said, "nature cannot choose his origin." ("So, oft it chances in particular men, that for some vicious mole of nature in them, as, in their birth--wherein they are not guilty, since nature cannot choose his origin....") So fellow California natives: let's stop patting ourselves on the back, stop the ancestor worship. We are not guilty.

Some dreamers of the golden dream.......2006-10-01

"A good deal about California does not, on its own preferred terms, add up." This sentence, which opens Didion's third chapter in Where I Was From, is characteristic of the sort of pummeling understatement and reserve that characterizes all of Didion's work - humble, free of ostentation, profound in implication. No, the California Didion presents does not add up - a place defined by a jettisoning pioneer spirit "destroyed" by its own sense of development, a place defined equally by class as it is by people who say sentences like "we don't discuss class here," a place , Didion's Sacramento specifically, both defined by and existing in spite of its geography. Her contradictions of place and identity take Didion from one heavily scrutinized example to another - the Spur Posse, Boeing, Douglas, pioneers on the Sierra Nevadas, prisons, insane asylums - and if Didion's argument of conflicted identity doesn't always connect in thinking later about her specifics, the reading is as fluid, as full-bodied in argument and fact, as merciless an investigation as anything she's ever written. Didion has long been defined by her identity to California, something that comes up in all of her writings, whether in New York or El Salvador, so to see her tackle it so specifically - at one point even deconstructing (with fascinating effect) her own first novel, Run River - is a thrill. What will be of most fascination, undoubtedly, will be the 4th section of the book, the short, devastating section detailing the death of Didion's mother, yet what makes this piece so compelling is the grand scale of Didion's research and work - her California becomes a grand exercise in characterization. Her description in this section is some of the most agonizingly evoked, rich, and understated work of her career, and if the sections preceding it - highly descriptive, full of research often much fuller and drier than expected - can seem aimless when thinking about them, the finest compliment I can give Where I Was From is that, in the effortless and moving reading of the book, it evokes exactly what Didion wants of California, of her, and of her mother, and no more.

Great-Great-Great-Great-Great.......2006-07-23

This book of essays by Joan Didion, entitled "Where I Was From," gained my attention from the start, and later also gained my respect. Loved all the detail, the overlapping, the apparent extensive amount of research--the compulsive force of it all. Much like one of her ancester, the one who stitched (and over-stitched) the quilt amidst all the turmoil while crossing the Sierra Nevada. Didion writes with an intensity of meaning, her prose also seems to have a rhythm behind all the words. In my opinion, she truly is a masterful writer, who seems to allude towards a type of idealism; a discourse on the way California could or should be but is not. Then there is the deadpan prose, the insight with an edge, which adds to the overall context of her subject. Her perception in this book is exceptional; this women truly is an artist. (And as an artist, she is not a historian, nor an anthropologist or scientist).

The insight she provides here in this book on her native California, its past and fairly recent history, had an affect on me personally like no other writing on the subject. She incorporates writers from the past, such as Jack London and Frank Norris (among others), along with more recent writers such as Jane Hollister, with Poets, Politicians, Bohemians, Artists, Farmers, Professors, and the Spur Posse, the motel people, the "fake" middle class.... in order to paint a picture of California and its history, with its changing ideals, while alluding to the ambiquity, to the role of the Federal Government and Aerospace industry, to the elusive ideas and dreams of its people, to the physical beauty, and overall to the allure of the place. This is not, in my opinion, a negative account of California, there is more truth than negativity in this book.

Enjoyed the book....but one passage bugged me about Yosemite Indians........2006-07-03

I always enjoy reading Joan Didion, but this observation about Thomas Kinkade kinda bugged me:

"This "Kinkade Glow" could be seen as derived in spirit from the "lustrous, pearly mist" that Mark Twain had derided in the Bierstadt paintings, and, the level of execution to one side, there are certain unsettling similarities between the two painters. "After completing my recent plein air study of Yosemite Valley, the mountains' majesty refused to leave me," Kinkade wrote in June 2000 on his web site. "When my family wandered through the national park visitor center, I discovered a key to my fantasy-a recreation of a Miwok Indian Village. When I returned to my studio, I began work on The Mountains Declare His Glory, a poetic expression of what I felt at that transforming moment of inspiration. As a final touch, I even added a Miwok Indian Camp along the river as an affirmation that man has his place, even in a setting touched by God's glory."

Affirming that man has his place in the Sierra Nevada by reproducing the Yosemite National Park Visitor Center's recreation of a Miwok Indian Village is identifiable as a doubtful enterprise on many levels (not the least of which being that the Yosemite Miwok were forcibly run onto a reservation near Fresno during the Gold Rush...."

Sorry, but the original Indians of Yosemite were actually Paiutes and not Miwoks. It is one of those big injustices in the world. You see the Miwoks were the ones who were the scouts and guides for the Mariposa Battalion who ran down and captured the original Yosemite Indians. Those were Mono Paiutes.

[...]

You can see by reading this book by Bunnell. It is very great book. But I always enjoy reading Joan's work.

Why are you so mean, Joan?.......2006-03-19

So much of this book was just a cut and paste from her previous articles.

The Lakewood scandal was already covered by her in 1995's New Yorker Magazine.

She has page long quotes from her previous novels "Run River"...which were good; but "Where I Was From" was supposed to be all new material.

She skewers much of California life and society. Unfortunately the people she picks on are the least worthy. Little Leaguers, middle-class, fans of Thomas Kincade....

In a book about California, why didn't she go after the show biz industry, or Politicians......they are the one making the big bucks....not suburbia.

She is a good writer, and I'd read more of her....but not too soon. She comes off as angry, and she isn't someone you want to spend everyday with.

Hers is the kind of writing that is good for every now and then.

In all fairness, maybe with her latest "The Year Of Magical Thinking" .......she's not so angry.

But this one is very insulting, and feels very phoned-in what with all the pages and pages of endless quotes from other/old material.

Where's Mom Now That I Need Her?: Surviving Away from Home

Average customer rating:

Great for any age!
Perfect graduation present
Where's Mom Now that I need her.
A great book !!!
Where's Mom...book review

Where's Mom Now That I Need Her?: Surviving Away from Home
Kent P. Frandsen
Manufacturer: Aspen West Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Quick & Easy | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Personal Transformation | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0961539011
Release Date: 2004-03-30

Product Description

This books is full of hints about nutrition, grocery shopping, laundry and clothing care, first aid, recipes for quick, easy meals, and lots more.

Also available in a Vinyl 3-Ring Binder version. (ISBN 0-9615390-03)

Customer Reviews:

Great for any age!.......2007-10-02

This is meant to be a survival guide for living on your own for the first time, but I assure you that it is much, much more. This book is useful for people of any age, even if you've been paying the rent for more years than you'd like to admit.

Everything from the expected info on nutrition and cooking (including microwaving real meals), shopping tips, getting stains out of laundry and a how-to on car repair thrown in for good measure.

I don't know about you, but Mom sure never told me how to recognize the symptoms of STD's, but it's in here, along with millions of other cool and useful things.

Buy it!

Perfect graduation present.......2007-05-29

This is a must have for high school graduates going off to college or moving away from home. We have given away a dozen copies since we gave our daughters a copy when they went off to college. Every one loved it and our girls still use theirs even though they are now married.

Where's Mom Now that I need her........2007-05-12

I wanted to purchase this book for my son who just finished his first year of college and will be in his own apartment at school next year. A friend had this book that was given to her 20 years ago. I love the updated version, and the fact that the book is in a 3 ring binder is great for adding your own ideas. I also purchased a copy for me and when my daughter goes off to college in 6 years I hope to purchase another one.
GREAT IDEA MOM.

A great book !!!.......2007-04-12

I bought this cookbook for my son, who is away at college and on his own. Not only does it have fast and easy recipes, (now that he is cooking himself...)but it also has grocery shopping tips, first aid, car and home repairs. I heard about this book from a friend and saw how many things it had for information for some one just getting to be on their own. A great reference book for any one!
Check it out. You will be glad you did.

Where's Mom...book review.......2007-01-05

This book is really great from all aspects...I like the helpful hints as well as the recipes...it all applies as we have our young people starting lives of their own out in the world of wonders.

I just happened to just give it to my son yesterday. He is in college several hours from home and moved into an apartment on his own. It was such a bonding moment when I handed it to him...what was his reply? "Mom...you really don't think you can be replaced by a book, do you?" Wow...what a profound moment! Well...as he's learning the lessons of life, this is an excellent resource tool for him to use. I plan on ordering three more for my daughters when they head out on their own as well!

Living the Maximized Life: How to Win No Matter Where You're Starting From

Average customer rating:

(RAW Rating: 4.5) - Making the Most of Life
Great Book

Living the Maximized Life: How to Win No Matter Where You're Starting From
I.V. Hilliard
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Success | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1599510154

Book Description

This book teaches how God has designed us to live a maximized life. Unfortunately, many Christians do not know their true potential. It shows us how to acheive maximized living by overcoming mental hindrances with correct thinking. Quality of life is mostly a matter of choice. A maximizer plays with the hand he is dealt and chooses to win with that hand.
Maximizers are those who possess the strength of character that enables them to keep believing, keep planning keep thinking and keep working to experience their full potential in the face of less-than-optimal conditions. Written in a practical, direct and encouraging manner, Dr. Hilliard walks the reader through the seven laws of living a maximized life. The laws of Perspective; Passion; Priority; Petition; Pattern; Profession and Progression. The reader will learn to live a life of inner peace, financial success, and personal happiness.

Customer Reviews:

(RAW Rating: 4.5) - Making the Most of Life.......2007-05-02

LIVING THE MAXIMIZED LIFE is a book meant to inspire and it accomplishes this goal by outlining very human issues about life. Dr. Hilliard begins by sharing his belief that God wants each of us to live happy, prosperous lives. He speaks on the tendency Christians often have to sit around waiting for God to perform a transformation in their lives without taking steps to make changes themselves, then highlights how God wants us to take an active role in our successes. From the basics, like the importance of being organized, using to do lists, researching, and planning, to more difficult issues like the power of our thoughts, maximizing our failures, and pushing ahead despite criticism from others, Dr. Hilliard presents a virtual toolbox that will assist readers in their journey to live life to the fullest.

Dr. Hilliard has put together a well-organized book full of ideas and tools that can make life easier and more pleasant. He provides scriptural support for most of the main ideas and carefully laces the life experiences of others, including himself, throughout. The life examples not only help illustrate his points, but they also inspire. The conversational tone of Dr. Hilliard's writing makes LIVING THE MAXIMIZED LIFE enjoyable and truly a pleasure to read.

Reviewed by Stacey Seay
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Great Book.......2007-02-19

True to his style of teaching, Dr. I.V. Hilliard offers principles and precepts that will help you achieve in all aspects life. Great book for those who have made a serious committment to become students of the Word of God.

Going Where I'm Coming from: Memoirs of American Youth (Emoirs of American Youth)

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Going Where I'm Coming from: Memoirs of American Youth (Emoirs of American Youth)

Manufacturer: Persea Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0892552069

Book Description

14 short memoirs about growing up in America's diverse society: Power, L. Rodriguez, Ruff, Moss, Mehta, Soto, Yamamoto, et. al.

The Problem With Here is That it's Where I'm From (Dear Dumb Diary #7)

Average customer rating:

The Most Amazing Most Spectacular Book Ever To Be Read In History By: KC from North Beoulevard School
very funny

The Problem With Here is That it's Where I'm From (Dear Dumb Diary #7)
Jim Benton
Manufacturer: Scholastic Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Humorous | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0439825962

Book Description

The wedding Dear Dumb Diary readers have been anxiously anticipating is about to become a reality: Jamie's aunt and Angeline's uncle joined together until death do they part -- or until the divorce Jamie has been feverishly wishing for since they started dating finally happens. Now, three of Jamie's most dreaded nightmares are about to be combined into one unbearable event:

1) Very VERY poofy brown dresses

2) Wedding clogs

3) A lifetime of being related to Angeline, a.k.a. Blondewad

Jamie has just one word for this kind of horror:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

PRAISE FOR JIM BENTON AND DEAR DUMB DIARY:

"What's new, what's cool: 'Dear Dumb Diary.' You'll laugh out loud at what this girl has to say." -- Knight Ridder Tribune

"This book's witty and satiric sense of humor is sure to resonate with kids and make these books a must-have." -- BIG BLUE DOT Trend Update

"Told in knee-slapping diary entries...Jim Benton delivers a wonderfully silly series that combines his knack for knowing what kids love to read with fun illustrations. Young audiences will eat up Jamie's diary descriptions...while parents are sure to see their kids beg for more Dumb Diary books." -- The Barnes & Noble Review

Customer Reviews:

The Most Amazing Most Spectacular Book Ever To Be Read In History By: KC from North Beoulevard School.......2006-12-22

The book I read is called Dear Dumb Diary. The book was written by Jim Benton. I am going to give this book five stars because it was about a girls life and how she goes to school and the boy she likes, and the girl who thinks that she is perfect in every way. Anyway, the girl in this story Jamie who tells about what is happening in school and her life. Some of the characters in the story are Angelina, Sparky, the lunch lady, Henry, and Isabelle. Angelina is the popular girl who likes the same guy Jamie does. And boy does that make Jamie MAD!!! Angelina is very bossy and likes to torment Jamie in any way she can. Sparky is Jamie's dog. She tells him everything that happens in her life. The lunch lady is the lady who serves disgusting lunches, in the cafeteria. Henry is the guy I was telling you about. He's the guy who both Jamie and Angelina like! And last but not least Isabelle. Isabelle is the Jamie's best friend in the whole wide world. They do everything together. And in the story Jamie likes to call people names in her diary. She talk about them and what they look like and what she plans on doing to them in the future. And one off the parts is when Angelina get her........................oops!! Can't tell you! You have to read the book to find out.

very funny.......2006-11-22

My 10 year old daughter loves these books-- and absolutely laughs out loud when she reads them! They're not deep literature or a difficult read, but the author has a very funny way with words and really seems to know the pre-teen mind.

Where Do I Go from Here?: Getting a Life after High School

Average customer rating:

Very Helpful

Where Do I Go from Here?: Getting a Life after High School
Esther Drill , Heather McDonald , and Rebecca Odes
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Creativity | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Motivational | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

College Guides | Education | Reference | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0142002143
Release Date: 2004-02-03

Book Description

Colorfully exploring the paths people take and the decisions they make in their postÂ-high school years, Where Do I Go from Here is designed to complement the big college reference books. This resource will present the human side of college life by offering inside advice and inspiration to girls facing an important crossroads.

Customer Reviews:

Very Helpful.......2007-03-19

Oh man this book is great. It has answers to every possible concern that you may think about when wondering what to do after high school. I highly recommend this book. It helped me narrow down my options and make a choice that I do not regret.

Where I'm From (Writers' & Young Writers' Series #2) (Writers & Young Writers Series, #2)

Average customer rating:

Support for budding poets!
Good for teachers
Clear, inspiring, usable book for writers and teachers.

Where I'm From (Writers' & Young Writers' Series #2) (Writers & Young Writers Series, #2)
George Ella Lyon
Manufacturer: Absey & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Poetry | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1888842121

Book Description

Geroge Ella Lyon, poet, author and story teller, gives insight into the poetic process. Number two in the Auhors and Young Author's Series. Listed as one of the Best Books for Teenage, New York Public Library, 2000. It was short listed for the 2000 Howard Prinz award from American Library Association.

Customer Reviews:

Support for budding poets!.......2007-06-13

George Ella Lyon's, "Where I'm From," is a wonderful gem for giving teachers of young poets an accessible link to how a writer thinks, imagines, and prepares to write a poem. The collection is perfect for teachers that want to launch a new year with an opportunity for students to do some writing. The signature poem, "Where I'm From," can be used to model student writing that invites everyone to share something about themselves and begin the process of building community in the classroom. Ms. Lyons has a very down-to-earth way of expressing her encouragement to budding writers. There is a poet in all of us, and this book will help students find their writing "voice."

Good for teachers.......2005-09-30

This book teaches about writing poetry and is suggestive of things teachers could do with their students.

Clear, inspiring, usable book for writers and teachers........1999-10-31

George Ella Lyon has been inspiring writers and teachers for years. Her writing exercises and her lyrical way of talking about writing keep her in demand as a workshop leader and speaker at schools. At last we have this book! I have used her exercises for years in my writing workshops, always with results that far exceed the writing that students have have done up to that point. Those same exercises have led me into writing poems I didn't know were waiting to be written. No one is better at evoking the voices of real people or helping a new writer really see what she is trying to get on paper than Lyon. The exercises in this book are wonderful, but a close reading of Lyon's poems is perhaps the most rewarding part of Where I'm From for writers and teachers alike. Highly recommended.

Where Do I Go From Here?: A Simone Dickerson Novel: No. 2

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Where Do I Go From Here?: A Simone Dickerson Novel: No. 2
Stephanie 'Stevie' Williams
Manufacturer: BookSurge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Product Description

In this second Simone Dickerson novel she decided that she has had her share of heartache, but is determined to not let it get the best of her. She has reunited with her first "real" love, Ricky Ray, and they will take it one day at a time.

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