No comments about Thomas Jefferson: A Character Sketch.

2 comments about Mao's Last Dancer.

1. this book is about a young man who is selected from an impovrished farm family to become a ballet dancer by a dictatorial regime in china and how he strives for success in this competitive field. i thought so much of this book, i gave it to my granddaughter (10 years old)and who loves to dance.



2. Li Cunxin accurately portrayed the differences between life in rural China and life in the United States. The difference between city life and rural life in China differs greatly. A great point in the story is when Cunxin was leaving home for the first time, and his brother gave him two Yuan that he had been saving for two months. I also enjoyed reading about Cunxin's life in America and how it greatly differed from his life in China. I was amazed by his change from being a poor farm boy to an international star. That took years of hard work and determination. The story teaches the lesson that no matter what your family background is, it is always possible to leave this path and seek a better life. Overall, this book is well written and I recommend it to people of all ages. Even though the novel does not reflect the lives of all people in China, it gives readers a perspective of rural life in China.

5 comments about Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (Jane Addams Honor Book (Awards)).

1. Ever since my days as a student at The University of Georgia, I had been hearing whispers that Mrs. Rosa Parks was not the first person to rebel against the implications and rules of the Jim Crow South. When I saw this book listed as the National Book Award Winner, I knew that I was obligated to read it! I thought it was a powerful story which has been overlooked in American History. My specific area of interest is The Civil Rights Movement, and I am embarassed to know that I had primarily accepted what little information was available inside the history books. As a result of reading Ms. Colvin's story, I feel enlightened to delve deeper into the movement, as there were so many other "Silent Soldiers" of The Civil Rights Movement, whose contributions have been overlooked against a bigger picture. I love the way that Hoose created a story around Colvin's first person accounts and the events that took place in the 1950s. This book is definitely a perfect addition to my overflowing bookshelf that I will share with generations to come!



2. At age fifteen, Claudette Colvin was the first African American in Montgomery, Alabama, to refuse to give up her seat on a bus for a white person. Arrested by the police, the NAACP and Montgomery groups worked to clear Claudette's name. Meanwhile, the Montgomery Bus Boycott took shape, led by Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education had declared that "separate is inherently unequal." Now, in 1956, Attorney Fred Gray led the case of Browder v. Gale, with four black plaintiffs, including Claudette Colvin, to end bus segregation in Montgomery. Based upon extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin, this non-fiction historical account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott emerges through the eyes of a strong black teenager and citizen; the first to stand up against segregation.



3. Everyone knows that Rosa Parks helped spark the Civil Rights movement with her refusal to give up her seat on a segregated bus for a white passenger. Her bold decision inspired the black community in Montgomery, Alabama and helped start the historic Montgomery bus boycott. Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat was a pivotal moment in history.
   
   But someone else did it first.
   
   On March 2, 1955 a fifteen-year-old girl refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus a full nine months before Rosa Parks did. Citing a little-known Montgomery bus rule, this girl stated with confidence that it was her Constitutional right to keep her seat on the bus. She was dragged to jail and charged as an adult for her refusal.
   
   At first Claudette Colvin was hailed as a celebrity and a shining example to her community. But the tides soon turned and suddenly Claudette found herself on the outside looking in at a movement that she arguably started all by herself. Her name was largely forgotten by history, supplanted by the more respectable and now iconic Rosa Parks, until now. Her story can now be found in Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (2009) by Phillip Hoose.
   
   Chances are if you follow the book awards circuit, you've heard some buzz about this book. It was a 2010 Newbery honor book. It received the 2009 National Book Award in Young People's Literature. It was a 2010 Sibert honor book (think Newbery awards but for non-fiction only). Claudette Colvin was a 2010 finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. In addition the book was selected by ALA (American Library Association) as a best book for young adults (BBYA), ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children--a division of ALA) named it a notable children's book although I can't find a link to said list. And, according to the author's site, it was on a heap of lists naming the best books of 2009. As my children's literature professor mentioned to me, you can barely see the cover for all of the awards stickers.
   
   I had thought I knew a fair bit about the civil rights movement, but I clearly wasn't reading the right books because I had never heard of Claudette Colvin. Hearing about this girl with dreams of becoming a lawyer and fighting Jim Crow laws, this girl who took a stand before many adults were willing to, was inspiring. The idea that she was shunned for standing up for her beliefs was outrageous.
   
   Except that isn't exactly the full story. (WARNING: If you believe in such a thing as a spoiler for a non-fiction book, look away.)
   
   Claudette was initially embraced by her community. Classmates thought it was, as the book notes, crazy when she stopped straightening her hair and some leaders of the movement wondered if Colvin was too young to be the figurehead of a city-wide boycott. But one of the biggest reasons for Claudette's shunning was her becoming a pregnant, unmarried, sixteen-year-old in 1955 after her arrest and trial. This is not mentioned in summary stories of Claudette's experiences (ie on the book jacket) and yet, in my view at least, the pregnancy seems like a fundamental aspect of Claudette's dismissal especially given the time.
   
   Hoose's book is clearly well-researched and filled with supporting documents and photographs, not to mention extensive reviews with Claudette Colvin herself. But on a lot of points readers only have Claudette's account of what happened. In her interviews Colvin often says none of the movement leaders called her (as on page 61 when her name is misspelled on a flyer about Rosa Parks' arrest). And it just feels weaker than it could have been with more supporting documentation.
   
   Colleen Mondor has an insightful post over at her blog Chasing Ray about her own questions about Claudette Colvin. And even if you don't think what I'm saying jives, you should give her post a look because she was a judge for the 2009 Cybils in the MG/YA nonfiction category which comes with a bit of authority.
   
   More troubling for me was how the movement impacted Claudette's life. As a child she dreamed of becoming a lawyer to help her people. Her arrest and the subsequent trial verdict made that impossible. It was frustrating to read about this bright, strong girl who stood up for what she believed in only to, basically, have it blow up in her face in a lot of ways.
   
   Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice is sure to lead to many lively discussions, not just about this little known and too obscure figure of the Civil Rights movement but also about the aspects of a good non-fiction book and finding (and using) supporting documentation.



4. Nine months before Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery Alabama, teenager Claudette Colvin also refused to give up her seat on a crowded Montgomery city bus. She was arrested and dragged off the bus. But Civil Rights Leaders thought her youth, class and somewhat volatile temperament didn't make her an ideal candidate to become the poster child for organizing a mass boycott of the Montgomery bus system. So she was left with a police record, shunned by many of her high school classmates, and a few months later ended up pregnant. Yet Colvin's story is extraordinary, and readers will appreciate the courage it took for her (a mere teenager) to take a stance against segregation.
   
   Through a series of interviews with Colvin (who now lives in the Bronx), Hoose brings her story alive and shows us what it was like to be black in the 1950's in the South. The daily humiliations that she and all blacks faced were truly despicable. It's important for young readers to understand the role that the vile Jim Crow laws played on a day-to-day basis. For example, kids weren't allowed to try on shoes in a store, instead parents would have to take a traced outline of their child's foot into the store. By understanding the climate that Claudette Colvin grew up in, we understand when she finally has had enough, and refused to leave her seat:
   
   "Rebellion was on my mind that day. All during February we had been talking about people who take stands. We had been studying the Constitution in Miss Nesbitt's class. I knew I had rights. I had paid my fare the same as white passengers. I knew the rule--that you didn't have to get up for a white person if there were no empty seats left on the bus--and there weren't. But it wasn't about that. I was thinking, Why should I have to get up just because a driver tells me to, or just because I'm black? Right then, I decided I wasn't gonna take it anymore. I hadn't planned it out, but my decision was built on a lifetime of nasty experiences." (page 30)
   
   Hoose has supplemented the engrossing text with photographs and newspaper clippings of the period. There are sidebars throughout the book, which further illuminate and enhance the story. We learn that Claudette served as one of the four plaintiffs in the Federal lawsuit Browder v. Gayle, the case that eventually abolished segregated bus seating in Alabama. And even though history forgot the role that she played in the Montgomery Bus boycott, Hoose has introduced Claudette Colbert to a new generation who will applaud her efforts. She serves as a reminder that one person can make a difference, no matter your age.



5. This is an absolute must read for any American. Few people have even heard of Claudette Colvin. Her story has been unfairly overshadowed by that of Rosa Parks. This book finally sets the record straight.
   
   Well written and very engaging. The author did a great job using first hand accounts from Claudette, newspaper clippings, Claudette's police report and great pictures. Being able to see the pictures right along side the text makes the story come to life.
   
   It is a story that should have been told long ago. Fortunately for us Phillip Hoose has told the story by writing this great book and it should be our responsibility to get the word out to younger generations of Americans.

5 comments about Breaking Through.

1. A work of art all students should read. My students were begging to read this book after reading Jimenez's first book The Circuit! My 8th graders loved the story and can't get enough of Panchito and his family!



2. I am an ESL teacher who works with 7th and 8th grade, primarily male, Latino and Hmong students. We first read The Circuit which told about Francisco Jimenez's family's first years as migrant farm workers in the United States. This autobiographical account relates the struggles the family encountered during Jimenez's early years in school. The older children and the parents picked fruit, vegetables, and cotton. The family moved according to the agricultural schedule in California. Everytime Francisco would start to feel "at home" in a school, the crop would be harvested and they would have to move to the next farm, hence the name The Circuit. The story ends when La Migra comes to pick up Francisco and his older brother at school. My students were anxious to find out what happened next. Would the family be deported or would they be allowed to stay in the U.S.? To find out we then read the second book, Breaking Through, which we are about half way through now and we're still enjoying every chapter. The books have spawned a multitude of conversations that have bonded us together. The kids can relate to Jimenez's life and he is a role model to them. He shows that hard work and determination lead to success. Personally I think everyone who is interested in immigration questions should read these books.



3. This book gave me a real insight as to how our migrant children really live! Thank You!



4. I bought *Breaking Through* without realizing that it was a sequel to *The Circuit*. Nonetheless, you aren't lost if you start with *Breaking Through* I loved this memoir because it was one of the best portrayal of a migrant family.
   
   This memoir chronicled the life of Francisco Jimenez from the time that him and his family entered America from Mexico to his entrance into college.
   
   The Jimenez family saved up some money and entered into Mexico illegally. They were soon caught, after a time, and deported back. However, they were able to get papers and return. Despite living in the land of freedom and opportunities, the family has to work hard in order to survive. They worked in strawberry fields, lettuce patches and cleaned buildings.
   
   Francisco is loving school yet struggled to stay on top as he also has to work. His older brother did well in school but worked nearly as much as their often-ill father did. The mother stayed home and took care of the children. However, she often substituted in their work when needed.
   
   *Breaking Through* is a story of a family working together. It's also a story of one finding one's own identity in America. It's also a story of one trying to achieve the American dream.
   
   You'll laugh. You'll cry. If you don't understand the Mexican culture, you'll find yourself puzzled at some things. Coming from a Hispanic family, I found myself nodding and taking strolls in memory lane.
   
   Overall, it's easy reading for a great book.



5. 
   
   Book Review on Breaking Through
   
   
   Hi, this book Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez is a sad book. Why is it a sad book? A boy named Francisco struggles through life trying to keep his family together. He works and goes to school, also trying to keep his grades up. This book is a good book because of the Theme, believable charters, and a nice setting.
   
   The theme is, heart breaking. It's heart breaking since a boy and his family have to face many difficult obstacles. The obstacles are not easy for Francisco and his family. They have to pay bills but they don't have any money. So the whole family except mom and the youngest ones have to work.
   
   Besides the heart breaking theme there are nice believable charters. The charters sometimes where confused. They where confused because they didn't have money. No one to help them, and struggled to keep food on the table.
   
   There also was a very good setting. The setting took place in many different places. Like school, fields, gas company, Twitchel and Twitchel. There are many different places. So that means that the family is all over the places.
   
   So this book has a great theme. Wonderful setting that makes you feel like your there watching it all happing. Also nice believable charters that do things that you could relate to. So if you like heart breaking novels then this is the book for you.
   
   
   The End

5 comments about Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare.

1. Great educational book, not made to be as "exciting" as I thought it could have been.



2. Diane Stanley's picture book biographies are wonderful! I can think of a number of titles I have seen so often on homeschool families' shelves: Joan of Ark, Michelangelo, Peter the Great, Saladin, Charles Dickens, and more! She has a very unique and captivating way to write--and illustrate--these great historical figures' biographies!
   
   The Bard of Avon follows all that is known about William Shakespeare, his personal and professional life, the Globe Theater and the world he lived in. Many of his plays are discussed in the book as well. As with her other biographies, Stanley's language is both kind and respectful. It is also honest-- what is not known about a historical character is stated as such on the pages.
   
   This is a very good first look at the Bard's life . I just asked my 8th grader, whose next reading assignment is Romeo and Juliet , to read it: she could not put it down!



3. I feel like I could start any review for a Diane Stanley biography like this: ________ is the perfect introduction for any child interested in learning about ___________! That said...
   
   Bard of Avon is an excellent introduction to the biography of William Shakespeare. It gives you basic facts without getting too involved in theory. My favorite new fact is a list of words Shakespeare invented by writing them into his plays. In addition to "eyeball," which I already knew, he also made up: majestic, countless, hint, hurry, reliance, leapfrog, gust, excellent, and gloomy. Awesome! Diane Stanley hits it out of the park every time, truly. I'm a huge fan.



4. Stanley does a masterful job of bringing Shakespeare to life in this short biography. Full of wit, the workings of the theater and a few of the details behind some of Shakespeare's more popular works, older children will greatly enjoy this book. A must-have for homeschoolers beginning a study of the Bard of Avon!



5. This author was new to us and we will be looking for her from now on. The pictures are sooo wonderful they transport you. The information is well done and clear, yet not watered done. This is someone that REALLY understands writing books for children that adults can enjoy using as teachers or parents. I recently bought alot of books on Shakespeare, for use in the school room this year and we have found 4 authors that made the grade on this subject! This is a keeper!

5 comments about Parallel Journeys.

1. My daughter was assigned this for her 6th grade Language Arts class. I read it then as well. I plan on saving it and suggesting that she read it again as an adult. It was powerful and moving and real.



2. This book was so interesting! Looking at the same world happenings from two different effects was fascinating. There is a lot of literature about concentration camp survivor stories but to parallel that with the story of a Nazi youth brought it into a whole different light. Loved it!



3. This book..drew me in like a book had been incapable of doing for a while. I read it for a book report, because I enjoy reading about history. I have never had such an easier time recaling facts from a work before...I found myself becoming so thouroughly entwined with the story in my report on it, that I was near tears, and my voice was shaking. Just through telling the story, the whole room was silent. I would highly reccomend this book to anyone with a mind who is willing to use it.
   
   -W's daughter



4. Although this was a book about great sorrow and despair, the strength of the human spirit shines through in the heart and mind of Helen Waterford. What was also astounding was the thoughts and emotions of Alfons Heck. What a horrific time--more than the mind can comprehend...and what a truly amazing journey of the souls that brought these two people together.
   
   I highly recommend this book to everyone. I just finished reading it and passed it along to my daughter.



5. The world must never forget the holocaust. Today some people espouse a theory that the nearly 12,000,000 deaths (6,000,000 of them Jews) at the hands of the Nazi party never happened. This sad, but honest, tale traces the lives of two persons who lived through that era. Helen Waterford was a Jew who experienced the atrocities first hand. Alfons Heck was a high ranking member of Hitler's youth. Both lived to tell their tales. Both met each other after the war. Both told their tales together. This book alternates chapters between the two principle characters so the reader can witness this period through eyes on both sides of the ideological conflict. This is really two books in one. Either story will challenge the mind and heart. Either one of the stories is an important read, but both placed together in this manner makes for a 5-star book. Our local middle school uses this classic in some of the literature classes. You will be richer for having read this book.

5 comments about Mary, Bloody Mary: A Young Royals Book.

1. How would it feel if you were a princess beloved by your father one day and then a servant to your half sister another? In Meyer's Mary, Bloody Mary, the reader finds out. Meyer is excellent at transforming people from history into characters that are real and interesting. The reader's heart breaks as Mary struggles to understand what her place is in the kingdom when she is banished away from her place in the palace. Things seem to get worse and worse as the story continues, but Mary's spirit does not break. This is a wonderful book about courage, strength, and overcoming hardships. I recommend girls to read this type of novel so that they can find a role model that is worth looking up to. The narrative ends before Mary becomes queen, which probably is better because the reader doesn't lose the connection with the character, as Mary's character in the book is much different than what happens when she becomes queen.



2. As a teacher and writer of historical fiction, I am always thrilled to find well-researched novels for young readers that are both educational and entertaining. "Mary, Bloody Mary" is such a book, and I enthusiastically recommend it for all lovers of history. Even the title can't fail to captivate, as it did me!
   
   Meyer does not glamorize the lives of royal families, but rather shows in vivid detail the realities of those lives. The horror and heartbreak that accompanied Princess Mary nearly every day of her life is depicted eloquently. The strength she found to endure despite the powerlessness she must have felt should be both enlightening and inspiring for readers of all ages.
   
   Sarah Bruce Kelly
   Author of THE RED PRIEST'S ANNINA



3. I believe that "Mary, Bloody Mary" is and accurate depiction of Mary Tudor's teen years. The book is also narrated by Mary. It recalls her trials and tribulations of having to deal with her father, King Henry VIII, divorcing her mother, the queen, and courting Anne Boleyn.
   I liked the "new spin" the author put on Mary. Everyone seems to remember her as the terrible, barbaric queen of England. But she was actually just misunderstood. Another positive point about this book is that it is actually a completely true story about Mary Tudor's life.
   I didn't like the way the book jumped from year to year. It made it kind of confusing to figure out how old Mary was when an event happened. I also thought the tone of the story was kind of boring. I would have liked it better if there were more descriptions and dialogue. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to learn about the early years of English monarchs.



4. Queen Mary of England, often called "Bloody Mary" for some of the brutality exhibited while she reigned, had reasons for being the way she was. This book is the story of the things that happened while she was young, before she finally took the throne.
   
   Mary was the daughter of Henry VIII, king of England in the fifteen-hundreds. As a child she adored her father, but he was never quite satisfied that she wasn't a son. He didn't think a woman could rule England. His wife Catherine, though, couldn't have any more children, so he was stuck with Mary as his single heir. Halfway through his life, Henry decides that isn't enough. He begins an affair with a coldhearted woman named Anne, and begins trying to get a divorce from Catherine. At that time England was largely governed by the Catholic church, which forbade divorce. Henry persists, though, and meanwhile exiles Mary to a remote palace where he separates her from her mother, reduces her allowances, and ignores her for most of her teenage years. If Henry is allowed his divorce, Mary will be humiliated, named illegitimate and unfit to take the throne.
   
   When Anne finally gives birth to a daughter, things get even worse for Mary, who is brought back to the palace as a servant for her young half-sister. Anne does whatever she can to make Mary feel unsafe and unwanted, even as she tries to hold onto her tenuous position with Henry. As another wife who is unable to produce a son for him, she is just as useless as Catherine had been. And as Henry grows more and more crazy, her fate might be even worse than his first wife's.
   
   I liked reading something about history that was presented in such an interesting way. I liked reading about the possible bad side of being a member of a royal family.



5. In the book Mary Bloody Mary, a princess (Mary) thinks she is the star of attention. When Mary's fauther King Henery VIII started having an affair with another woman mary starts geting un invited to balls and banquets. After a couple of weeks King Henery VIII tries to get a divorce with her mother, Mary's mother obliges knowing if she divorced the King she will be killed.the King sends Mary and her mom out of the kingdom. Mary gets sent to a dark, smelly room with out contact with her mother. Anne (the person Mary's father had an affair with) gets pregnet and Mary is forced to be a slave to Anne and her daughter. what will Mary do?

1 comments about Morning Star of the Reformation.

1. I recommend this book for students ages 10-13 who are studying Martin Luther and the Reformation. (I actually read it with my 9 year old, who is pretty bright. But I don't think it will hold the attention of most 9 year olds.) The book gives you a real good feel for how it was for the clergy in this time period and the tension that existed, and continued to be a problem, in a revolutionary time period for Christianity. I did not really understand the historical difference between Protestantism and Catholicism until I read this book, which is historical fiction. It is a great supplement to your textbook reading, which doesn't really give you a feel for how things were for individuals entering the clergy and sympathetic to the reformers' cause. I give it 3 stars because it took a little while to get into the story, but it is worth it, and it isn't too long to get through it. It will also explain the important role John Wycliffe played in this time period.

4 comments about A Summer Life.

1. The book was required reading for my daughter, and it was shipped immediately and in the condition that we expected.



2. I read Gary Soto's "A Summer Life" while I was writing my first book in order to educate myself in the creation of vibrant, evocative scenes that come out of ordinary, every day experiences. For example, in Soto's essay, "The Shirt," he shows how the tragic, post-Korean War existence of Uncle Shorty seemed magical and special to a young Soto who covets his uncle's shirt: "I used to slip it on when he was asleep, and at the age of five I knew the smell of a man who went and came back from war....It was the shape of muscle, the anger of a tattoo panther hiding behind cotton, the hair in the collar, the small hole where a bullet could have entered and exited without his dying." Or, with the simple first line of "The Weather," Soto can set the stage for the mysteries of climate: "January doesn't show its true face until you can scratch a cold window with a finger." This little book will make you smile (and sometimes wince) as it brings back your own personal memories of growing up. This is a wonderful collection that offers everyone, including new writers, a chance to enjoy and learn from beautifully crafted essays.



3. A Summer Life explores a young boys life as he grows up in Fresno, California. In a three partbook, broken into thirteen short chapters in each part, Gary Soto covers everything from "TheColors", to "The Chicks", to "The Computer Date". (names of chapters). Mischeivness wasdefinitely a part of this boys life, just as it is for most young boys. In just the first chapter, "TheBuddha", the boy killed ants with his Buddha toy, and ran underneath a moving semi-truck. The boy would do such silly things as taking old bicycle handle bars and imagining that they would slow him down and keep him from reaching a high, uncontrollable speed. He would also put bottle caps on the bottom of his shoes, then he would kick the cement to make an "engine of sparks" come from beneath his feet. Throughout the story the boy has a few problems with his siblings. When his sister chewed Bazooka bubble gum and saved the proof of purchases to send in and get a locket, he wanted her to get the binoculars instead. As the boy has these experiences with his family and his surrounding, he matures from age five to seventeen, and is confronted with events that teach him lessons about life. Gary Soto definitely shows his poet style of writing in A Summer Life. There is rarely a detail missed. This was truly a great book and I recommend it to readers who enjoy real life situations, a sly sense of humor, and a realist style of writing. I would give "A Summer Life" three thumbs up if I had another hand! -RmP



4. This book was first read to me when I was in fifth grade. Years later I can still remember being in California with the characters in the book - smelling, seeing, touching everything that they smelled, saw and touched. Wow.

5 comments about It's a Jungle Out There (The Rani Adventures; Bk. 1) (The Rani Adventures Series : Vol 1).

1. This is the first "Jungle" book about a boy named Ronny or "Rani" as he is called in the jungle and his adventures out in the amazon jungle. He has one brother and later in the book two sisters. His parents are missionaries in the amazon jungle to spread the word of god to the Machiguanga tribe abbreviated "Machi".
   
   
   Well what can I say, this is one of the best books ever written. The type of adventures he has are so unbelievable. From nearly getting sucked down a whirlpool to having Malaria and much more, you will never put down this book. The writing is very sarcastic and funny. I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a funny and adventurous book.



2. A mixture of the hilarious and the poignant, "It's a Jungle Out There" is a thoroughly enjoyable read. His insights into a totally different culture and the total lack of consumerism that was a part of the culture they grew up in was refreshing. His observation that he and his siblings hated to leave the jungle to come to "civilization" was a good commentary...maybe our "civilization" isn't so civil after all.
   
   If you've wondered what it would be like to be a Missionary's Kid, this book will give you a good idea. Sit down and enjoy! Let it take you back to being a kid too!



3. Our entire family read this outloud and we laughed hard and long. I'm afraid to let my kids cross the street, wait until you read about this family living in the jungle and what they let their kids do! True story. Helped my kids have a sense of what brave is and enabled them, in turn, to take courage! We liked everything in the series that we read.



4. I have to say, I thought I'd really enjoy this book. It seemed to have a lot of the kind of stories I like, about exotic countries and adventures. The stories themselves were very good, I can't say believable, because they weren't, but they are all true. It is organized roughly chronilogically, but in places it tends to bounce around a little.
   
   I thought his descriptions of life in the book were excellent, and often hilarious. Especially about the car trip, (hark to all kids who have mother's who love to grip handles when the fathers speed)! However, for some reason, I couldn't get into this book. It took me over a month, in between reading about 10 other books, to finish it! Maybe it is because it is divided into about 16 unrelated stories and I tend to like books that flow, rather than short stories. Anyway, it's a good read if you like this sort of thing, and worth a try to anyone!



5. As a father of MKs (missionary kids) I raised my children in a setting which was more similar to than different from the Peruvian jungle where Ron Snell grew up. We are back in the United States now, and are having a blast reading It's A Jungle Out There! as a family. The stories may seem outlandish to someone who never lived in a tribal setting, but we can believe it all!

   Snell's humour is irresistable, his descriptions vivid enough to leave lasting impressions, and his love of life contagious. All of that makes the book valuable, but woven through the stories are important lessons about life too. I recommend this book highly. It surely would be an important addition to any child's bookshelf (if the child could keep it away from his/her parents!).