Boys Books

This is an excellent book for kids and adults. The book is fully illustrated with drawings that detail how things were built and how they worked. They capture kid's attention better than "Where's Waldo?", but unlike that meaningless book, there's a lot to be learned from this little gem! Lance Greenlee

I read this book while visiting my mother in her Connecticut country home. It was the perfect place to read it as I suddenly made sense of the street names like Old Mill Road and Stoneboat Road. Eric Sloane paints an intoxicating portrait of a boy's coming of age and falling in love with the girl next door (even if next door was over the meadow and through the woods) in the earliest years of the 19th century. Life was a focus on survival, when your days were spent working your land for all the fruits that it bears to sustain you and your family. Close bonds form with neighbors and community is not only important, but a way of life. Aside from being a true (if admittedly embellished) story, it is an intense study of life at that time. How we made and used our tools; the many properties and uses of wood; how the farmer's almanac was an indispensible item in every household. You learn great little triva facts in every chapter, such as... Did you know every house was allowed only ten panes of window glass... if they had more, they would have to pay a stiff tax on each pane.

The book opens with our young protagonist lying in bed, staring out through four brand new panes of glass that his parents got him for his birthday, watching the snow fall. He is as happy as can be for having these simple panes of glass. Nintendo pales in comparison.

Read it! It's short and well-paced. The boy's slowly evolving love story with the neighbor's summer guest is an involving, if underplayed, spine.

I love this book! It is so real and life like! The drawings and all the actual entrys from his diary. I sent this book to a friend who lives in africa and HE LOVED IT!

While rumaging through an old house, Eric Sloane came across the diary of 15 year old Noah Blake. Written in 1805, the diary has short entries about Noah's life on a farm. Sloane uses these brief notations as a starting point to recreate a compelling story about farm life on the American frontier. Eric Soane's talent as an illustrator takes this book to the next level. It is one thing to read about early American life and it is another level of pleasure to see beautiful illustrations that explain the material culture in which Noah Blake lived.

The audience for this book is very large. Written at a high school freshman level, this book will be of interest to anyone interested in learning how common people lived during the Federalist Period. This book will also appeal to all those who are interested in the material culture of 19th Century America. Sloane provides beautiful illustrations of how things like a water mill worked or how a simple wooden bridge was built.

Personally, my interest in American vernacular architecture. I loved this book because Eric Sloane has done a masterful job of explaining early American building techniques. I knew that one had to be very knowledgable to survive 200 years ago and this book only reinforces my admiration for our ancestors. For those who like these types of books, check out the illustrated works of Edwin Tunis, another talented artist with an interest in material culture.

I read this book as a young adult. It was like turning back the clock one hundred and fifty years, but unlike a lot of history books, it has no political, social or moral agenda. Indeed, it paints a luminous picture of rural life, while giving more useful information in the text of the diary and in the annotated pen-and-ink illustrations than most "country living" manuals. Check out Eric Sloane's barn books as well - more masterful work!

I'm the mom of two boys (13 and 10) who usually hate to read. The only books they have devoured are Harry Potter and the Stinky Boys Club series! And the Stinky Boys Club books are amazing because I think four year olds would like them, too. My kids cannot get enough, and even FIGHT over who gets to read them in the car. My 13 year old thinks they are hilarious (he writes his own humor); my ten year old loves to read about burps and farts. These authors know kids!

Our son, age 8, is addicted to the Stinky Boys Club! He cant get enough. He re-reads each of these books...which is a huge achievement for a boy who didnt want to read. He will even sit down and read to his little sister! He loves all of the gross and cool things the stinky boys do (who wouldnt love a throw-up recipe?). Sam and MJ are so good at coming up with pranks, kids of all ages will laugh.

I am a parent of two children who loved this book. It was very fun and funny to read... and even funnier when my kids read it to me. The character descriptions are particularly cool and interesting, we loved all the characters. A really good start to what I hope is a nice, long series. I look forward to more.

One of my friends recommended The Stinky Boys Club because her two kids loved it. So I read them to my 7 and 9 year old boys and they thought the Stinky Boys were the best! They loved the characters and to hear Mom say 'poop' and 'fart', oh they thought that was the highlight. The nicest thing I can say about The Stinky Boys Club is after I was done reading, I noticed both my boys picking them back up and reading the books on their own, what more could a parent hope for! I think the stories are great fun and I highly recommend them for young readers.

I have a six year old boy and a ten year old girl. My daughter loved the full page illustrations with desriptions of kids at the school. My son was interested in the throw up recipe, but really loved being able to read the word FART. Fun reading for all.

They say that if you go to bed and aren't asleep in 30 minutes, you should go to another room and read for about 20 minutes. I would like to revise that advice by appending, "but not Brad Whittington". Whittington is the literary equivalent of potato chips -- you can't just read for 20 minutes. I started reading this on a sleepless Saturday night. I didn't nod off at church the next morning, but it was close.

"Escape from Fred" continues (and I'm crossing my fingers that it's not "concludes") the story of Mark Cloud, a Texas preacher's kid whose story starts in Welcome to Fred: A Novel and continues in Living With Fred. Having survived high school in the thriving metropolis of Fred, Texas, Mark goes on to college in this third book, which takes place in the mid-70s.

The first half of the book explores Mark's early college life, while the second half gets more personal. Not that there aren't personal elements in the first half; just that the second half dives deeper.

All three Fred books start with a present-day Mark reflecting on the life of his recently-deceased father. In this book, Mark finds a journal entry that his father made with his own definition of faith:

*** the determination to believe that which resonates in the soul, particularly when it ceases to resonate

Throughout the entire book (and to some extent, the entire series), Mark struggles to make his faith his own, not just something that he inherits from his pastor father. And Whittington goes deeper into what that means, the rubber hitting the road hard, in the second half of this book as Mark's faith is tried in ways he never dreamed.

To be honest, this stuff is occasionally raw. Not "Eddie Murphy" raw, but "filet of soul" raw (pun very much intended). Having recently been through some circumstances that have tried my faith like Mark's, I have to say that I identified very well with him. And Whittington's writing reveals that either he is the most perceptive man on the planet, or he's encountered this kind of trial himself. I am often reminded lately of Peter's words:

*** Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;

Not only are we not alone, but this is normal. (Which -- apart from God -- is a terrifying thought.)

Ya know what, though? Mark blows it. And so did I. This is where the identification really hit home.

I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that Mark eventually gets his head on straight. Not in a "... and they all lived happily ever after" kind of way; but in a real way, turning a corner, finding God there, and realizing that He was there the whole time. It's the beginning of a new phase in the journey, and at least Mark is headed in the right direction (and hopefully I am, too).

At the end of the day, this is a story. And it is quite entertaining, particularly looking back at fond and goofy memories of early college life, including the eponymous (at least to this review) "boy named Phyllis" (and you thought Johnny Cash's "Sue" had it bad). But if you come away from Escape from Fred *only* entertained, I'd worry.

"Passion." "Honesty." "Truth" with a capital "T". These are what I found in "Escape from Fred". I was looking for entertainment and I found transcendence.

When I picked it up off my dad's bookshelf, I was just looking for a pleasant story to while away a winter afternoon. What I left with, after reading it through cover-to-cover, was something unforgettable and real. If "Escape from Fred" is not nominated for some sort of major award, then there is no justice in the literary world.

In the person of Mark Cloud, Brad Whittington has created a character of depth, passion and honesty. Anyone who has struggled with issues of faith and loss will recognize the confusing mixture of hope and fear that Mark struggles through. But Mark is darned likable, too. You will genuinely care about Mark, and will, (unless you are some sort of zombie), see a little of yourself in him.

The book succeeds on several levels:

As sheer story, it is very entertaining. I literally could not put it down.

As literature, Whittington hits a homerun where few authors even dare to come to the plate. He captures the essence of what it feels like to be truly human, with all our jumbled experiences of love and loss, hope and despair, faith and doubt, but he never allows the story to become maudlin or preachy. An impressive feat, indeed.

In other words, "Escape from Fred" pulses with raw honesty, real emotion and believable "answers", (if answers can be found).

Recommended with passion and without reservation.

Without the benefit of reading the entire series, I found much to like in Mr. Whittington's Fred.

I will be reading more of Mr. Whittington's books. In Escape, he stages the struggle of father's faith vs. son's beliefs a wrestling match worthy of a front row seat.

An excellent, entertaining read. Laugh out loud funny in spots, achingly painful in others.

If you struggle with faith issues, or with understanding why painful things happen to nice people, this work of fiction may very well be a soothing escape.

Book three of the Fred trilogy. Mark Cloud escapes from Fred to enter college. He hangs out with the wrong crowd, though. Lots of shenanigans ensue - very funny scenes. Hysterical dialogue throughout. Events seem to conspire against him and he eventually takes to the road, hitchhiking, to see parts of the country and to get away from it all. Meets totally believable but wildly unique and even dangerous characters. Discovers himself along the way. Eventually finds redemption. This book has it all. It's a solid conclusion to an insightful, wildly funny series. Seriously, what more could you ask for?

This final chapter in the "Fred trilogy" brings our hero, preacher's kid Mark Cloud, full circle and all grown up. Having graduated from high school in the last book, Mark is ready to get to college and start over - escaping Fred, Texas, and all that's associated with it, including his identity as a PK (preacher's kid).

Things don't turn out quite the way he plans, however. While he initially finds fun, friendship, and even romance at college, his own mistakes and those of others soon destroy his carefully-constructed "new life." When another tragedy strikes back at Fred itself, Mark makes another escape, leaving everything behind and setting out on a road trip of self-discovery.

Through it all, Whittington carefully weaves in intriguing historical references from the 70s and earlier. The Beat Generation and their writings play a major role this time around, and the early growth of the Nation of Islam even plays a part. None of it feels forced, although at this point, alas, the similarities between my own upbringing here in Texas and Mark Cloud's come virtually to an end. I never did hardly any of the things he does in this book (though I did think about a few of them...). However, I feel I must say this, Mr. Whittington: Mark's new friend at college? The Captain? I knew that guy. Only he went to a different college and a different year. He has to be the same, though. No one else could talk quite like that...

The humor and spiritual questing as vital elements are unchanged from the previous two books, picking up on past threads and carrying them to satisfying conclusions (Jolene's wedding, for instance...). This whole trilogy is one of those excellent stories that demands multiple readings. In fact, it's ideal for reading aloud to a loved one.

There's not much more I can say than I've already said on the previous two books. If your tastes in reading ordinarily don't approach this kind of story, you're seriously missing out. Highly Recommended.

Memory is a fickle friend for me -- a vital piece of info often seems just beyond timely recall. Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge is a great antidote for that lost, wandering, out-of-control queasiness that so often visits in those moments of weak memory.

The mnemonics catalogued here are encyclopedic - a great start on specific things to remember, in a long list of 45 useful categories from astronomy to zoology. For me the most useful categories are cooking, geopolitics, math, music, religion, and time & calendars (I'm constantly using "thirty days hath September, April, June & November...). Though I won't be using the psychology aids much, they sure offer an interesting, concise glimpse into human behavior and some of its disorders!

But just as important as the catalog is the broad view of how to remember things. With the perspective from this book on the many types of mnemonic (memory-aiding) tools available, I can construct my own mnemonics for the things I will learn tomorrow, or that are discovered or invented next month. Highly recommended.

This book is by far the most comprehensive collection of mnemonic devices I've ever seen. I regularly use the spelling section and find the geography, history, and math sections quite useful. The great thing about this book is that it will be useful from first grade through grad school. Finally, the bibligraphy and the list of online sources will be useful to both teachers and students.

What I truly love about this book is the comprehensiveness. It covers more than two dozen subjects, including large sections on math and spelling. The spelling section contains about 1000 mnemonics for the 1000 most frequently misspelled English words(200 more mnemonics than the classic book "Demonic Mnemonic"- which is also excellent).
From a teacher's standpoint, the math, history, geography, and spelling sections will be of great value for any student. What is more, some of the material is sophisticated enough for the Miller Analogies Test (MAT), a graduate admission test of vocabulary and cultural literacy.
It was amazing how quickly I warmed up to this book, and I am not surprised that it's been endorsed by not only two Scrabble champs, but also Brad Rutter (the guy who beat Ken Jennings and everybody else in Jeopardy's Ultimate Tournament of Champions).
Heaps of praise go to Rod Evans, and because the book is both entertaining and inexpensive, I see it making a great gift book as well.

What a great book! Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (The Book of Mnemonic Devices) will come in very handy in my 7th grade classroom. I always try to find new ways to help my students with their study skills - this book will be tremendously helpful with that task. I especially find the Spelling section to be an excellent array of mnemonics to assist them with the difficult task of remembering how to correctly spell the most common misspelled words - myself included. Thank You Dr. Evans!

Dawn L. Clark
Midlothian, VA

I have spent hours meandering through this maze of mnemonic devices, and yet I find a new and clever one each time I look. There is something for everyone to enable us to remember things we never thought we would.

The section on Spanish verbs will surely come in handy. I particularly like the mathematical and technical sections. After Dr. Evans's book, how can one remain content recalling the speed of light so imprecisely as 300 megameters per second?!

I consume with relish every one of this prolific author's books that I can get my hands on, and I encourage others to do the same. This book contains gems for persons of every age group, occupation, and avocation.

When I first heard of my uncle James Going to jail over this car scam thing I truly didnt believe it was so big. James and Robert were great friends, but Robert always brought him down in alot of ways. Robert was a crook from the start but its funny to know just how they wrote a book about him and Robert and they"ll be on Cnbc 3/26/2008 at 9pmPT on the show American greed. I even rode in one of the cars in high school not knowing it was bought with criminal money. James came from a great family and a nice neighborhood unlike the Bulls%$t they're writing my uncle was a great football player and an excellent student he also wanted to be a cop. This sucks. I feel sorry the person who Charles Mansion's family member but I still love my uncle and I truly believe that he made a bad decision by being friends with such a loser like Robert Gomez. Steve V. Nichols, Jr. his nephew.

Truth really is stranger than fiction. An amazing story that was very well written.

Everyone should read this book. It is well written and a real page turner that is based on fact. I was surprised that the religious people had such a hard time accepting and admitting that they had been taken. Like God was going to protect them from crooks. It was a fasinating read. You will enjoy it. I did.

Americans' obsession with the automobile makes it the ideal object for a scam. Invoke divine approval and success is guaranteed. Yet the two young perpetrators could scarcely have imagined that the "miracle cars", which they promised to deliver to a Los Angeles church congregation, would eventually yield 21 million dollars nationwide. They were certainly incongruous partners: Robert "Buddha" Gomez, a brash, extravagant gambler and James Nichols, a serious, seemingly conservative church goer whose fellow worshippers provided the first victims. It was Nichols who was the "executor" of a vast estate, charged with the liquidation of an ever growing fleet of luxury vehicles at bargain prices. Even James' mother, a church deaconess, believing that she might serve God's purpose to provide deserving people with better transportation, was persuaded to help with the collection of money.
Throughout the five years that the fraud flourished, not a single car was delivered and the only visible evidence of the purported fleet was a distant view of some completely unrelated vehicles. As some of the original buyers became impatient, the operation became a Ponzi scheme, with newly collected funds being used to reimburse them. This had the effect of adding a false sense of good intentions to the scheme, thus prolonging it.
Phillips maintains a remarkably even tone in describing events that sometimes verge on the farcical. Judging by his reported conversations with both the primary and secondary players, the reader is left with the impression that they came to believe in the reality of their own deception. Only with the arrests did some admit to the fraud. Yet Gomez, true to character, would even then insist that he knew nothing of the source for the millions he had wagered.
The particulars of this account may be unusual but the general outline is all too familiar: greed combined with gullibility inevitably lead to disaster

As one of the prosecutors in the case, my review may be on the biased side, but I think John Phillips did a great job on this book. Somehow he made it accurate and entertaining at the same time. Having read John's articles in Car and Driver long before I ever met him, I always enjoyed his humorous writing style. After meeting him during the trial and afterwards, I appreciated both his writing and his humor even more. It was a very interesting case to investigate and try in court, but the book was entertaining even to me. Some of our witnesses opened up to him with more information after the trial was over. I hope anyone who reads this book will have an appreciation of the inside view of what seems like an incredible fraud scheme but is actually "sad but true." I know anyone who reads it will be entertained.
Dan Stewart

I knew of Tommy Leonard when I bought this book through friends who had met him and known him through a lot of years. I was in Chez Jay's many times when Tommy called over the years to find out what was happening on the West coast. It is a good read about a good man, an ordinary man who made a positive difference in a lot of lives. I wish the author had known more about the Tommy away from "running", those stories are very funny and would have fleshed out the book more. Tommy was and is a good boy and I was delighted that someone thought to put him down on paper. This is a story about one man making a difference in a unique way. It leaves you feeling upbeat and happy and with the realization that one good person can do so much to make the world around him or her a better place. Buy the book and enjoy it. Some of the proceeds go to Tommy's retirement fund.

Genre: Non Fiction/Biography
Title: If This is Heaven, I Am Going to Be a Good Boy.
The Tommy Leonard Story
AUTHOR: Kathleen Cleary

Tommy Leonard was and still is an outstanding character, well know by many. He began life in a poor family. His parents finally had to send he and his sister to Shurtleff Mission, a home with the sole purpose helping children of destitute families while teaching the gospel. Tommy was determined to leave the mission, but each time he ran away, he was caught, returned and punished. He was finally freed of his mission experience and lived with several different families during his youth. As he grew into his teens and young adulthood, he became known for drinking and partying and having a way with the girls but Tommy was also a runner. He loved to run and after a stint in the Marine Corp, he continued running in marathons, becoming known for his promotion of health and fitness. He founded the Falmouth Road Race.
Kathleen Cleary has captured the personality and warmth of this man. He is truly loved by so many. Even those who have never had the pleasure of making his acquaintance, can sit back and chuckle at many of the events of Tommy's life, or share in the heartfelt love that Tommy has for his fellow man. The reader will also find a selection of pictures dating back to his life in the mission and forward to 2004 where he is seen with Edie Doyle in front of the Boston Red Sox World Series trophy. So many years with so much to tell, and Kathleen Cleary has been able to share these years, giving us a view of an extraordinary man.



Reviewer: Elaine Fuhr, Allbooks Reviews

I am not an avid runner. Nor have I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Leonard. Readers may not know the people or recognize the local names in this book, but the Kathleen Cleary's message is unmistakably universal: Tommy Leonard touched the lives of many and made his and our world a better place. Read this book and learn how and why he did it. The title alone is worth the price of admission into Leonard's remarkable life.
Mike Considine, Lenox, MA

This book is a true delight from start to finish. In this day and age where we hear so many stories of people doing bad things, it is so uplifting to read about a man who is such a good person through and through. Kathleen Cleary has captured the spirit of Tommy Leonard for everyone. I highly recommend this book and I promise it will bring tears to your eyes, a smile to your face and probably quite a few belly laughs. Enjoy!

Joe Concannon, Boston Globe sportswriter and chronicler of the Boston Marathon, tabbed Tommy "The Guru" as every runner of note made their way to the Eliot Lounge, from all corners of the planet so that they could counsel with the great one: Thomas Francis Leonard!

Read this book and find out why, or read this book and feel all warm & fuzzy like. The man has had quite a life.

The quotable Tommy:

". . . Tommy Leonard, the running guru at the Eliot Lounge talking in a TV interview about the particular appeal of the Boston Marathon: "It's better than sex."

Tommy got some strange looks from folk's after that one.

A great book to enjoy over the Holidays!

Relentless, depressing, more carefully delineated than anything in Dreiser, this semi-autobiographical novel grabs you on the first page and swings you around like a dead cat till you hit the end.

What makes this more than a simple juv-prison tale is the period detail of the Los Angeles area in the 1940s. It's very much like what you find in cheap movies and film noir of the period, except that in the movies the authentic setting is there by happenstance, whereas in Bunker's novel it is put there with conscious purpose as vital background to the plot.

I had only read Edward Bunker's 1st novel before I was arrested for armed robbery and I had this book sent in to me when I was in Snohomish County Jail awaiting sentencing and it gave me a strange courage when I read it. Edward Bunker is the real deal.
Nobody can touch him in terms of understandng and experience. Prison is like war; you can never understand it unless you've experienced it firsthand.Most people will never have to endure what Eddie Bunker(and me) have had to endure but because Bunker is so talented, they can get a little taste by picking up any one of his books; I've read them all and they're uniformly awesome. My first book STONE HOTEL was strongly influenced by him. I think he's the greatest.

I have read all of Bunkers books and love this one . A story of a boy and the cycle of a life of crime , and desperation... if youve been there you know already. So there is hope out there a way out of the darkness.. Read all his books.. real gritty gangsta ..

California in the post WWII era was as bad as it was in the early 1990's. Unemployment, drugs, juvenile crime, sex offenders, you name it. It was all there, and there was no protection for anyone, children or adults. Read this book and you'll feel sorry for anyone who grew up in that era. Anyone who talks of the good old days has false memory syndrome!

All I can say is that "Little Boy Blue" is a blueprint for how a troubled boy can be transformed into an adult sociopath. Ironically, the system that is supposed to reform him is the culprit in pushing him toward further hopelessness and delinquency. Alex Hammond is basically a good kid with good instincts who is battered by authority until he lashes out and becomes submerged in hatred. There are many instances when he can choose between obedience and rebellion, and even though he inevitably decides to rebel, he often seems to have little choice. Frustration with a dictatorship of adults who have little patience or tolerance for the special needs of this disturbed boy sends him hurtling on a collision course with tragedy. Especially troubling is the scene where Alex is placed with relatives who are inflexible in their method of discipline--he seems to be making slight progress when a fabricated lie shoves him back down the mudslide. Here Alex actually shows a hint of conscience--or has he simply gained dominance over the aggressor? The harrowing course of his life is told in uncompromising, brutally-honest terms. Every professional involved in rehabilitating children should own a copy of this book. It chronicles the downfall of innocence, introducing a doomed child whose life is always threatened by an undercurrent of depression.

This was a very interesting and exciting biography of Greg Laurie. To see how God had brought him so far from his younger days. Greg has allowed God to use him in a wonderful way.

Anyone growing up during the 60s will relate to this personal story, especially if they did "the scene" during this time. See how Greg Laurie was "experienced" and not only survived, but came to know and share His saving grace!

Years ago I reviewed another book Greg Laurie wrote called "The Great Compromise". I noted that Greg is an honest and engaging writer and speaker, one who does not water down the word of God, but delivers it straight. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to discover how God worked through Pastor Greg, from his early, sad life, through the transforming power of Jesus Christ and onto to what he is today; a man of God who reaches thousands for Christ. And how he came to be that honest, Godly teacher.

The book has a picture of Pastor Greg at one of his Harvest Crusades and the caption reads, "many people experience, when Greg speaks, he is talking just to them." That is how this book read for me. I felt so badly for the child who was pulled to and fro, through a life of instability, and I was astonished at the complete transformation once Jesus gold ahold of this young man. I felt like he was sitting next to me telling me his story. A very personal experience.

I read this book in 24 hours, I simply could not put it down. It's a heartfelt journey. So many times I found myself near tears in gratitude for the restoration of his life. You know, there is just no limit what God can do with a heart that gives itself over to His leading. And Pastor Greg is a living example.

Great book. Probably liked it most because it mirrored a life I'm personally familiar with. It's an easy read, with humor and sadness.

I enjoyed this autobiographical sketch of Greg Laurie, a Christian Pastor, especially well-known for his stadium Harvest Crusades in Southern California. One thing I learned about him was his passion for drawing cartoons and how this talent served the first church he attended. Easy- heartwarming read describes his difficult childhood abusive background, yet culminated in a complete character change as he came to understand Biblical teaching. He could have been lost to addiction, etc. This story was especially meaningful to me because of a recent tragedy in Greg Laurie's life (not covered in this book). He lost his boy, his adult, married son in an automobile accident this summer of 2008. His response to this grief is an inspiration to all of us who have or will lose someone we love. I bought this book so I could know the background of this man, Greg Laurie, who is modeling courage along with his tears.

This storyline takes yet another interesting turn. Ben finds and meets Laura. Lucas' dirty little secret comes out. Between Lucas and her parents transgressions, Zoey is about to snap completely. Book 8 is going to be classic

I love these books, and the way they make someone feel like they are that person, for even in the story lines.They always keep me thinking what's gonna happen next.And some times when the people in the book start to drive you up the wall because you dislike them so much! But I find most of the people in these books are put there for a reason. But these books make you feel,make you wonder. You began to think will this happen in my life? But the thing I can think of is that in the end Zoey will find the truth. And things might end up not so happly ever after. But these books got me hooked! So keep writing Katherine Applegate!

This book was REALLY, REALLY GOOD. Couples break up, secrets come out and new characters are introduced (like Ben and Zoey's demented half sister Lara). Can Claire and Jake stay together? And what do Lucas and Claire get up to in her father's Mercedes? READ IT!!!!!!

This was an awesome book!! There were so many dilemma's. At the end Lucas seems like he is fighting for his life. Why? You'll just have to read the book but, I can tell you this much, you won't regret reading it (unless you haven't read the other 6). Katherine Applegate did an excellent job with this series. There are so many cliff hangers. I really suggest you read this series.

Zoey's parents got separated, mainly because Mrs. Passmore was cheating with Jake's dad. Also, Benjamin and Zoey learn that they have a half sister. Zoey and Jake comfort each other, while Lucas and Claire become suspicious and go for a little drive. Hmmmm... Aisha tries desperatley to keep Christopher from ruining his life. Benjamin and Nina do detective work to track down Lara, his deranged half sister. TWO THUMBS UP!!! This is a definate Making Out classic.Next book: Aisha Goes Wild.

The sticker concept is a great idea. Although the stickers aren't brightly colored and glossy my two year old still jumps up and down with glee when I give him one.
Hey, kids love the simplest things and this is a great aid for a child going through the potty training process. Definitly recommended.

I bought this book for my boyfriend who had an "incident" recently. It was perhaps one of the funniest things I have ever seen, watching him open up the box. Oh man I would not trade it for anything!

This book was a big hit for my 2 year old. Stickers make it so much fun. He looked forward to going. We were going in all day trying to get the next sticker. We completed potty training in less than 4 days and I truly can thank the author of this book! You will not be disapointed. I even use it for my two year old neice and nephew when they are over, they look forward to using my potty! ;-)

This is wonderful! At first I thought, the stickers were kind of dull,but my son loves them. We are on our way to diaper free days & nights! (with the help of a few other books) This just helps out alot!!!!!!! It hangs in the bathroom for everyone to see!My son shows it to everyone!

I agree with others - the stickers could be of better quality but nevertheless they are cute. I believe using this book was key in our potty-training success story. My 4 year old had NO interest in training. We got this book and hung it on the wall by the potty so every time he successfully used the potty or even tried, he would pick out his own sticker and put it on the circle of his choice. It was part of the routine - go to the potty, put a sticker in the book and what child doesn't love stickers. Before the book was filled with stickers, we have dry days AND nights, no more training pants and no accidents in months. SUCCESS! And now I'm buying a SECOND book for my 2 year old son who is now showing signs of interest in training too! Here we go again!