Judging by her work, Ann M. Martin has absolutely no idea of what a teenager acts like, looks like, and says. I am one and I know that the people in her stupid babysitter books are so unrealistic it isn't even imaginable. Does she realize how much the members of the babysitters club would be teased and tormented if they actually existed in real life??

Little Miss Stonybrook ...And Dawn was okay, It wasn't thrilling, I believe that this is not one of Ann.M.Martins great, thrilling, exciting books. Even if i rate it 4 stars, I guess it was okay. Not Bad. If anyone wants to e-mail me, just copy down the e-mail address above. I have read many other BSC books. And they were all alot better than this one.

They are so great and about the only books I can read with nobad language, and they set examples. Thanks for your time. END

"The American Road" is a fascinating historical work that chronicles an event that was of monumental importance that has been most forgotten in the public consciousness. In the summer of 1919, a U.S. Army convoy left Washington, D.C., bound for San Francisco. Two months later it arrived at its destination having fought incredible obstacles and hardships along the way. In doing so, the convoy dramatically pointed out to a nation just emrging from the first World War and entering the automobile age the need for good roads.

Author Pete Davies does a decent job of resurrecting the memory of The First Transcontinental Motor Train. He describes the trip in detail and recounts the contribution of its most colorful participants, including a young lieutenant colonel named Dwight D. Eisenhower. The event was a spectacle all along the route, and even generated controversy between communities either included or left off the right of way. For most of the journey, the convoy followed the "Lincoln Highway," a privately funded project that was the first bicoastal road, but in 1919 in many places was actually little more than a line on the map.

As a work of history, "American Road" completes its mission well enough. Author Davies is a decent storyteller and he does a good job of setting the historical context and showing how the event was crucial to the development of America's national road system. The book's main drawback is that Davies chose to focus much of his attention on the relatively unintersting local political controversies along the route and not enough on the stories of individual soldiers in the convoy. Even the colorful "Ike" gets only a scant few pages of coverage in total. Also underutilized is the author's accounts of what the route looks like today, which are sprinkled in here and there without much rhyme or reason. On the plus side, the book contains a generous helping of photographs and a helpful route map on the inside covers.

Overall, a decent historical work that serves to rekindle the memory of the dawn of the American motor age.

Pete Davies has provided us with an interesting view on American history with his book American Road. I found the book interesting and engrossing, though Davies had a tendancy at times to divert off to a tangent that does not seem to be related to the topic at hand. Most of the topics he includes in the book give the reader a better understanding of how critical this transcontinental journey really was in forming modern America.

Davies' research is top-notch; he relies on primary sources including journals and newspaper accounts written at the time of the events.

The book is a great chronicle of early 20th Century Americana from a social perspective, including the trials and tribulations faced by the individuals during the cross-country journey.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the formation of modern America's motor age, but if you're only interested in understanding the Army's piece in this, you should consider skipping this book, because it doesn't do much with the military piece, despite the fact that the U.S. Army was responsible for the motorcade.

Pete Davies has done a spectacular job of capturing the enormity of this history-making undertaking. When you consider that less than 100 years ago there were less than 10 miles of paved road in the whole country and contrast that with today, it's mind-boggling what has been accomplished in such a short time.

And it's all because the automobile came along and people needed passable roads on which to drive them. The Trans-Continental Convoy held up an unavoidable magnifying glass for the citizens (and politicians) of the US so they would not need to ask, "What's wrong with our roads?" It became crystal clear. If you wanted your town and state to develop, you'd better get on the Good Roads bandwagon.

This book was particularly interesting to me because my father drove these trucks during World War One from the automotive centers in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana to Baltimore, using the Lincoln Highway. From Baltimore they were shipped overseas. In one of his letters, he remarked that it had been raining for three days straight, but they got by fairly well because most roads were gravel.

Although I'm sure the eastern most portions of the Lincoln Highway were probably in better repair than the western parts, The American Road gave me a good picture of what my father was up against.

The next time you drive down the Interstate, you can thank the foresight of some people in Detroit, the keen observation of a young Lt. Col. Dwight Eisenhower, and the sheer grit of the Convoy drivers, for showing the nation what had to be done.

While repetition certainly gets the point across about the main purposes of worship, it makes reading this book a challenge. I agree with the author on many points, especially the beauty and depth of hymns, but some of her ideas seem meant to exclude. Yes, God should be the focus of our prayers, offerings, songs, etc. Also, the author writes many times about the danger of tradition becoming stale. However, most of her conclusions point to what already is and there are very few ideas leading to a fresh approach to the next generation. Upon finishing the book, I felt glad for a sure focus for my worship life and for the depth in the Book of Common Prayer, but also felt despair at the lack of meaningful ways to involve those unaccustomed to juggling prayer books and hymnals.

This book is an excellent must read for all worship leaders and pastors. It goes beyond style taste and gets in to the theology of worship and how few in the church understand the true issues at stake. By the way this review is being written by a drummer in a contemporary praise band. I am not anti contemporary and neither is the author by the way. However I believe that contemporary worship needs reform. So many lyrics focus on we the worshiper and our promises to God rather than declaring who God is in His magnificent glory and His promises to us. Worship is not first and foremost about reaching out to the unbeliever but, is to be the believers praise and thanksgiving for who God is and what He has done. When we boldly and scripturally worship God unbelievers will be drawn but, that is a by product not the goal. The author unlike a reviewer stated above speaks out against dead traditionalism as well and is not entirely against contemporary worship but, is calling for needed reform. As for the idea that teens in the church will never except older hymns that is not true. Many teens are apparently looking for more substance in worship than their parents are. We need hymns as well as the creeds to root the contemporary church to the historic church.

Marva J. Dawn, a Lutheran theologian at Regent College in Vancouver, throws in her views on the current "worship wars" being waged in churches across America. Taking a firmly traditional stance, though not in an unconditional and close-minded way, she details how churches have become captive to today's therapeutic, TV-addicted, and narcissistic culture. Churches have unthinkingly adopted the standards of the secular culture by singing songs that have more to do with our feelings than God, preaching sermons that are motivational speeches rather than exegeses of the Word, and encouraging church atmospheres which pretend to intimacy but replicate the alienation of our age. Dawn, citing figures as diverse as social critics Neil Postman and Jacques Ellul to theologians Walter Brueggeman and David Wells, shows how American Christianity got that way, and details some positive corrective steps. Worship is about God, and worship should form the character of the Christian, she insists, and anything less than that is unworthy of the Lord.

The book's clarion denunciation of the easygoing, narcissitic "gospel" is a real eye-opener and a prophetic challenge to the contemporary church. Though somewhat repetitive, her points are made clearly and with good support from both Scripture and theological tradition. The passion in her critique stems from what's at stake, which is the very life and death of God's people today. Her case for the traditional liturgy is particularly compelling in how she describes its effect on children and newcomers to the church. Having a set, repeated, and Scripture-rich liturgy following the church calendar will do much more to shape the worshiper's character than most of today's informal services. Dawn is also a classically trained musician and choir director, and it shows in her preference for older church music and especially in the chart presenting the difference between "high" and "pop" culture productions; it is such sections that have led some to accuse her of elitism. The criticism is unwarranted, in my judgment. The issue is not aesthetic taste, but whether the content of both the lyrics and the music are focused on God and will last over time. It's a mistake to think that people will be turned off by substance and depth, and prefer what they hear and see in the outside culture; thoughtful people come to church looking for something different. The church imitates the outside culture at its own peril--the final warning in her book, about the church being its own worst enemy, is a striking warning to churches who think otherwise. They may be, in fact, be captive to "principalities and powers" that guide our broken ways of life, and may be committing slow spiritual suicide in the end. Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down needs to be read by everyone, especially church and worship leaders, concerned with the way they are evangelizing their neighbors. From the Old Testament we learn that the Holy God cares a great deal about the structure and content of our worship, and if the situation is as bad as Dawn thinks it is, we dare not let that state continue for long. Souls are at stake.

Though the pictures and layout are indeed beautiful it is unlikely that anyone but the most skilled and well-equipped person would be able to reproduce the parties shown in the photographs. Most people won't have the supplies necessary for the tablesettings or even the activities, and will not want to spend the money necessary to acquire them. Recipes are not practical or tasty. Suggestions are not detailed enough to truly employ in any kind of meaningful manner. Text is filled with fluff and flowery sweetness and leaves the reader wishing the authors had spent more time with truly detailed instructions for the preparation of a tea party.

My daughter and I had many fun hours planning and hosting several parties for some other small homeschooled friends. We mixed a few recipes and substituted some games to suit a diverse age group. Our guests were very complimentary and we received many hugs in thanks.

My daughter and I had many fun hours planning and hostingseveral parties for some other small homeschooled friends. We mixed afew recipes and substituted some games to suit a diverse age group. Our guests were very complimentary and we received many hugs in thanks.

How did Dawn change her mind so fast? In California girls, at the end she learned to like carol and said she wouludn't mind if she married her dad, but in this book, she had a problem with it and she booked her own flight back to connecticut. That was very sneaky of her and it does sound like something rebellious a teengar would do for sure. In fact, I liked that part the best even though I don't agree with what she did. I didn't care for the rest of the book.

DAWN ROCKS. She is AWESOME, COOL, and ADMIRABLE for getting on her own flight. That's POSSIBLE. Perhaps sneaking away from problems and stealing from her dad wasn't so good...but every interesting novel has to do with a character making mistakes! Dawn is NOT vain or vapid or self centered or ANYTHING negative AT ALL. She IS THE BEST!!!!! She would NOT make a good target because NO ONE WOULD THROW DARTS AT HER UNLESS THEY WERE SOFT!!! Everyone loves Dawn. I WIN; YOU LOSE. I AM THE ETERNAL VICTOR. DAWN IS ALSO AN ETERNAL VICTOR. END OF STORY.

Get your dart throwing arms, ready to throw some sharp darts at Dawn. She is a crybaby and a snotty brat to boot. I don't like the way Kristy jumps on the crybaby train by bellyaching about not having fame and TV coverage like the BSC's West Coast counterpart. Kristy, for all her bravado is a big crybaby too.

I don't like Dawn. I think she is sneaky and self centered. Stealing her dad's credit card and booking a cross country flight was just too cowardly and irresponsible for words. I was glad she got put on the next plane back to California and was made to pay for the two plane tickets. Serves her right. I think she'd make a good bull's eye in the dart board.

In 1898 the United States went to war with Spain under the slogan "Remember the Maine". While most history textbooks tell us that it was over the Maine that we went to war, in "Empire by Default: The Spanish-American War and the Dawn of the American Century", Ivan Musicant contends that war with Spain was in actuality a fait accompli.

This is the most significant aspect of Musicant's work. He positions the war as being fought, not because of geopolitical concerns or souring foreign relations, but because of domestic political considerations in both Spain and the United States. Neither side could back down from what was an avoidable war because, which ever government blinked first would have been brought down in its turn.

Beyond this though there isn't much to recommend "Empire by Default" relating to new scholarship on the war. Musicant spouts the consensus line that the war brought America out of its isolationist shell and into the world of international politics. This actually may be true for the post-Civil War period; but, excepting this period and that following World War I, the United States was not an isolationist country. We were as involved in international affairs then as we are now. The prime difference between then and now is that now we typically control the international stage whereas before we were just a member of the cast.

Musicant also is a bit misleading with his title. A book called "Empire by Default" leads me to believe that it will have quite a bit to do with the effects of the war, primarily our acquisition of Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Instead Musicant only briefly mentions the struggles we faced following the immediate acquisition of the Philippines and this only in relation to the scandals that the War Department faced in early 1899. On Puerto Rico Musicant is entirely silent.

The majority of the book deals with the operations on the battlefield and the preparations the United States government made for the war. This is interesting history but not very informative. History for history's sake is fine; but, I like to at least try to glean some important information from everything that I read. In this, "Empire by Default" comes up short.

A wonderful military book. This book details the Spanish America war and its environs. it details the important figures like Mahan, Dewey, Roosevelt. It details the rise of guerrilla warfare in Cuba and the Phillipines. Nevertheless I felt it did not eleborate on the importance of the conflict internationally. It iverestimated the Americans as showsing the war to be won before it was fought. The reality of the conflict, the first defeat of a European power by a non-european power(the Russo-Japanese war was in 1905). Although one passage relates the newspaper jingoism detailing the first shots of the rugged americans against the sparkling halmets of the Spanish soldiers, it underestimates the impact of this war in which the Americans whiped european colonism off the face of the American continent.

It takes some skill to hold a reader's attention for 658 pages. Musicant generally succeeds in his narrative of the Spanish-American war. A specialist in naval history, Musicant gives particularly close attention to the naval battles at Manila and Santiago de Cuba. His description of the gallant but hopeless attempt by the Spanish fleet to escape from Santiago is gripping. Other striking sections describe the chaos of the American embarkation at Tampa and the suffering of American troops investing Santiago. In other parts of the book, the detailed accounts of military politics and preparations may lead many readers to skip ahead. The most disappointing part of the book is the last chapter titled "Empire," a very abbreviated commentary on "the dawn of the American century." The book is reasonably well served by its few maps and its black and white photographs.

I was very disappointed in this book. The information can be found in lots of magazines - nothing new.

Thank you for helping me to advance professionally in my career as an
Administrative Assistant. I have been searching for a way to gain respect
from my Directors. I have tried many things to gain respect I became more
organized, learned to improve my communication style and to act more
professional. However, something was still missing. It was the way I
dressed and I did not realize it until I had the opportunity to speak with
Dawn and read her book.

Prior to reading the book, I would look through clothing catalogs and find
really cute clothes. They may have been cute to me but they were not
professional. I was so thrilled and excited about the tips you gave me to
"professionalize" my wardrobe because of the upbeat and positive way you
presented the information. Immediately, I began to change the way I
dressed and soon I began to reap the results I wanted. The Directors
began to listen to me, I was handed high profile projects and people took
notice of me and have complimented me on my new look. Even more important,
I feel more positive at work and can concentrate on getting my job done no
matter what the world hands me that day.

I am transitioning my career and was at a loss on how to present myself in my new career direction. This book provided me with the information I needed to be me and present myself professionally. That's what unique about this book compared to others - Dawn show's you how to be your own person. Thank You!

The writing and story is actually very good, but because I believe that the authors underlying biblical views are in error, that it looses it's relevance.

A gripping and enjoyable account of possible world events surrounding the future invasion of Israel prophesied in the Book Of Ezekiel.

In this account Russian and Arab forces invade Israel amid the spectre of a nuclear holocaust, intent upon the eradication of the Jewish State.

Very timely and appropriate in view of current world events and very readable.

A pre-cursor to the follow-up entitled 'Spear Of Tyranny', which is based around events following the above invasion and the rise of the Anti-Christ and his one-world government/religion.

Both books are very enjoyable and will hold your attention from cover to cover.

By Dawn's Early Light is a wonderful read, convincing a panel of judges to award it the 2000 Christy award for excellence in Christian fiction in the end-times category. (BTW, I, for one, am tired of seeing inane reviews where someone who obviously hasn't not read the book trashes it just so he can praise WE ALL FALL DOWN.) By Dawn's Early LIght is a fast-paced, sensitive portrayal of end times--truly a winner! I love prophetic novels, have read several, and this is one of the best!

I read this on the way to Seattle and I thought it was okay. I didn't know Tarantino would write something like this. It was very unusual. I didn't care for the movie at all. I really think Robert Rodriguez is a good director and very creative. I just didn't think this one was all that great.

You'd better hope you don't cross paths with the infamous Gecko brothers Richie and Seth. They're fond of banks robbing them, that is. They're tough. Cool. Notorious. In From Dusk Till Dawn, we follow them as they tear a path through the heartland of America on their way to the border. It is there, near El Paso, that they will meet up with their Mexican partners-in-crime to divvy up the loot they've acquired.

Along the way, though, an innocent family will enter their lives an ex-Baptist preacher, his teenage son, and sexy daugh ter. We watch as Richie and Seth enlist the family's help in get ting them safely across the border in the family's Winnebago. When they arrive at their dreamed-about world south of the border, they are met with a terrifying twist.

Move over Dracula, there is a new vampire king.

since i saw your movie i said to my self i need a titty twister my dreams have come true titty twister in bangkok,thailand.a go a go bar will open on 31 oct, wish me luck i am going to display all your poster got few from states i need one of yours were can i find one.Tell cheech want to stop by Thanks n regards santos

Colin wilson has always tackled the most enigmatic mysteries of the world during most of his non-fiction books. He is one of the genius 20th century profilic researchers and writers. In this much interesting, albeit hard to fully digest, book, Wilson goes deeply into this riddle stating that it is the of our new generation unresolved mystery. It is so because, according to his view, the aliens have developed a more evolved mental capabilitie than ours. In addition, unlike other studies in the respect, he, having read more that 200 books about UFOs, comes to the conclusion that they are a kind of energy with the strange ability to change form and appear from nothing. This statement I have found the vaguest since it fails to explain the ability of this energy to abduct people and have leaves no energic effects behind them. However, as with his other books,Wilson is so cautious not to show his full scientific opinion for probably the fear that coming up with controversial conclusions without sound clues or bases may bring about the opposite hoped-for expectations that encounteted other writers. All in all, it is full of essential information that anyone can find useful, especially that last breathtaking chapter when he talks historicaaly about science and physics.

As with all of the books by this author that i have read donot let the title fool you. It may seem sensationalist but the core, as always, is not the enigma itself but our perception of it and how it relates to world in which we live. Backed by a truly enormous bibliography as in other reveiws the last chapter is indeed as always the best, however to grasp the meaning you have to read the rest.

Colin Wilson has to be one of the most interesting writers of our time. His latest book looks into the Alien/UFO question. It is not your typical UFO book. It covers the subject in a psychological format that will have you thinking about UFOs in a different light. The final chapter which is titled; "The Way Outside" is mind-blowing and worth the price of the book all by itself. This book is not to be missed!