Visit Bookviews by Alan Caruba, April 2003

Books for review should be sent to Alan Caruba, Bookviews.Com, 9 Brookside Road, Maplewood, NJ 07040. Do not send galleys or bound proofs. Bookviews.Com accepts only the finished book. Thank you.

My Picks of the Month

For those closely following events in Iraq, you will definitely want to read General Buster Glosson’s War With Iraq ($28.95, Glosson Family Foundation, c/o Carolina Gardner Inc., PO Box 4504, Greensboro, NC 27404). The retired Air Force general who designed the revolutionary air war against Iraq in 1991 has written an illuminating account of how that first war was fought and what lessons today’s commanders learned from that conflict. Need it be said that he believes, as many do, that had we stayed the course in 1991, Saddam Hussein would not be a threat today. "It’s a bitter lesson that has come back to haunt us twelve years later." This book will, of course, appeal to those who enjoy military history, but it is also a valuable contribution to understanding how wars will be fought today and in the future.

Looking beyond the war, Joseph Braude, a senior analyst for Pyramid Research and expert on Middle Eastern history, has written The New Iraq: Rebuilding the Country ($26.00, Basic Books) and it is a roadmap to the future after we rid that nation of Saddam Hussein. The author notes that civilization began in Iraq, that it can, as others have, transition from a single ruling party, and that it has the infrastructure, industries, human and natural resources to create an economy for reconstruction. However, what most Americans do not know is that Iraq is totally impoverished. The war will be the short, brutal aspect of bringing about change, but the US will have to stay the course for the rebuilding of Iraq’s economy from scratch. Its middle class has been destroyed and its people live in poverty. Written for policy makers and business leaders, it can also serve the interest of anyone who wonders what the future holds.

If you have fears about terrorism here in the US, then pick up a copy of The U.S. Armed Forces Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Survival Manual, ($14.95, Basic Books) compiled and edited for civilian use by Dick Crouch, Captain, USNR (Ret.). In plain language, it explains the techniques used by the US Armed Forces to defend against such attacks and how you can react to them should they occur.

With war the topic on everyone’s lips these days, I recommend Philip Ziegler’s Soldiers: Fighting Men’s Lives, 1901-2001 ($14.00, Plume softcover) that explores the lives of nine British enlisted men whose wartime experiences spanned the twentieth century for its look at both the similarities and the changes that occurred. Military history is also well served by Remembered Prisoners of a Forgotten War: An Oral History of Korean War POWs ($14.95, St. Martin’s Press softcover). Lewis H. Carlson’s book is published on the fiftieth anniversary of the Korean War and re-examines the experiences of more than 7,000 men who had the misfortune of being captured by North Korean or Red Chinese forces. More than forty percent of them died in captivity, a testimony to the cruelty of Communism.

There is little dispute that the quality of education in our nation’s schools has been deteriorating for years. This has especially hit low-income parents who were unable to afford private or parochial schools and whose tax dollars were going to public ones that were, in effect, cheating their children. Voucher Wars: Waging the Legal Battle Over School Choice ($20.00, Cato Institute) by Clint Bolick tells of his battle to allow parents to give parents the opportunity to move their children to better schools. It took twelve years, but the Supreme Court declared that vouchers are constitutional. The account of this effort and the battle over education freedom makes for compelling reading. It is far from over, but progress is being made.

Harvard and the Unabomber: The Education of an American Terrorist ($26.95, W.W. Norton) by Alston Chase will blow away all your perceptions of Theodore Kaczynski’s life leading up to and during his long reign of terror as the famed "Unabomber." He is now in prison for life, having maimed several victims and killed three of them. He has acknowledged responsibility for sixteen bombings between 1978 and 1995 when he has captured thanks to his brother’s decision to notify law enforcement authorities of his suspicions. Chase’s own life, in many ways, mirrored Kacsnyski’s. Both went to Harvard, both had careers in academia, and Chase even lived in Montana awhile. "Virtually everything people think they know about the Unabomber and his crimes is false," says the author. He was neither a revolutionary hero, nor an original philosopher, nor even a genuine environmentalist. His famed "manifesto" was neither brilliant, nor a symptom of mental illness. You will not want to put this book down once you begin to read it.

The news people fear most is that of sexual predators and it always raises many questions. Predators by Dr. Anna C. Salter, Ph.D. ($26.00, Basic Books) answers the questions about pedophiles, rapists, and other sex offenders as to who they are, how they operate, and how one can protect oneself and one’s children against them. The scandal of the Catholic priests put sexual abuse in the limelight last year, but the book asserts that every year in the US 500,000 children are sexually molested. The peak age of vulnerability is 7 to 13. The author provides an in-depth look at the shocking crimes and, if this is a concern of yours, this book is the one to read.

Bibliophiles are going to love Nicholas A. Basbanes’ new book, Among the Gently Mad ($25.00, Henry Holt). It is a guide to book collecting that deals with both the traditional methods of acquisition and the electronic tools that are now available on the Internet. We have entered on an era when everything is deemed collectible, but books have long had a tradition of being collected by those who love them. To that end, the author has gathered together great tips from the professionals who cater to the mania for owning rare books. As Basbanes’ title suggests, it is an innocent form of madness and, in fact, his previous book was called A Gentle Madness and was recommended here when first published. Not only is the book filled with useful information, it is a graceful piece of reading.

A friend of mine, Bill Rayment, has written an hilarious book, How Not to Build an Addition ($16.95, iUniverse) for anyone planning to build an addition to his home. After you’ve gotten the permits and even before you have purchased materials, this is a guide to everything that can go wrong, from digging a foundation to carpentry, from electrical work to plumbing. BEFORE you take on this project, read this wonderfully entertaining book. Of course, real do-it-yourselfers will not be deterred, but if they are smart, they will purchase this book first. A visit to his website, ConservativeBookStore.Com, will also provide access to many books that will prove of interest to conservatives or anyone seeking to understand the changing American political and social scene.

April is National Poetry Month. I am a great fan of poetry anthologies and was pleased to receive Staying Alive: Real Poems for Real Times ($16.95, Miramax Books, softcover), edited by Neil Astley. These are life affirming poems by famous and lesser-known poets, past and contemporary that make for great reading. It is international in scope, offering 500 poems, some of which are guaranteed to become lifelong favorites of yours.

I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend my own, new book, Warning Signs ($15.00, Merril Press). If you’re a fan of straight talk about some of the most contentious issues of our times, you will enjoy it.

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The Subject is Science

Science is yet another area that has suffered as the US educational system is "dumbed down" and turned into a process of indoctrination. That’s why I recommend Science Literacy for the 21^st Century ($29.00, Prometheus Books) that brings together an outstanding collection of essays authored by eminent scientists and science educators who provide suggestions to improve the current situation and the general levels of science literacy. It is this lack of understanding that leaves Americans and others vulnerable to the bogus claims of individuals and groups whose true agenda is an attack on our economy. This book arrives at a time when our educational system is already suffering a shortage of science teachers. Our economy and future growth is dependent on people who enter the professions of science to insure continued innovation and discovery. For all these reasons, this is an important book worthy of wider recognition.

One of the nation’s leading purveyors of junk science is Jeremy Rifkin and he is back again with a book, The Hydrogen Economy ($24.95, Tarcher/Putnam) that is actually a polemic against the worldwide reliance on petroleum as an energy source, arguing that the Earth is running out of oil. This, in itself, is false because there are large known reservoirs of oil and new ones being found all the time. Rifkin wants our own and the world’s economy to switch to hydrogen as an energy source and even the President has urged Congress to throw another billion dollars at this premise. The problem is that separate a hydrogen molecule from others requires as much energy as it does to use it. Further, one would have to produce an entirely new infrastructure of hydrogen providers to replace the network of gas stations currently in use. Rifkin, in the past, has argued that Chinese food is dangerous to one’s health despite the fact that over a billion Chinese have thrived on it for centuries. Only the extremely naïve or ignorant would buy his premise.

Prometheus Books has published a number of books on science topics that are worthy of anyone’s attention. The Science Wars ($21.00) is edited by Keith Parsons and asks "Is science our most precious possession or has our culture elevated science into a false idol? Is technology a useful servant or a malign genie?" Divided into two sections, the first deals with challenges to scientific knowledge, in particular its claims to objectivity and impartiality. This is important because, these days, science is being perverted by environmentalists and others to achieve their own economic and social agendas. Others misuse science for their ends. The second part considers current controversies over technology and the applications of science. Controlling Technology ($34) is in its second edition, edited by Eric Katz, Andrew Light, and William B. Thompson. This book asks "Do we control technology or does technology control us?" The book brings together readings that focus on the conflicting views as it relates to the quality of everyday life and to the larger problems of human survival on the planet. Anyone studying science or interested in its current controversies will welcome reading either of these books.

Two other Prometheus Books titles address some very big questions. Who Owns Life? ($26.00) is edited by David Magnus, Arthur Caplan, and Glenn McGee. With the mapping of the human genome and the development of cloning and other genetic engineering techniques, a whole maze of complex ethical and legal questions arise, such as does such science constitute "inventions" that can be patented and do scientists have the right to claim individual patents and make profits from elements of life? This book is an excellent collection of articles by scientists, ethicists, and legal experts. Genetically Modified Foods: Debating Biotechnology ($20.00) is edited by Michael Ruse and David Castle. Here, too, we find this breakthrough technology under attack despite the fact that humans have been selecting various food crop species since the beginning of agriculture to provide more food for mankind. The new science creates crops that are more resistant to drought and can resist insect predators. It allows farming that will not require reducing forested areas for more land. The opponents claim that foods produced through genetic modification will harm humans, but there is no proof of that. If this issue interests you, this is the book to read.

Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order by Steven Strogatz ($24.95, Theia, an imprint of Hyperion) will intrigue anyone with an interest in science because it looks at the way everything in the universe works in perfect coordination, such as the way the Moon orbits the Earth or how millions of neurons fire together to control our breathing. A noted mathematician, the author notes how this has fascinated the greatest minds of the twentieth century such as Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman and Norbert Wiener, to name a few. The study of synchrony could, he believes, revolutionize our understanding of everything from the origin of life to certain types of human behavior. This is no dry scientific text, but rather a cutting edge exploration of a theory that holds enormous promise.

Basic Books has long been a publisher of some of the most thought-provoking books on a whole range of topics. It has two recent ones that will intrigue science and math enthusiasts. The first is Hacking Matter: Levitating Chairs, Quantum Mirages, and the Infinite Weirdness of Programmable Atoms by Wil McCarthy ($26.00). The author explores and explains the science behind "programmable atoms", atoms that could someday be controlled by the flick of a switch or click of a mouse button. It would transform matter, turning a hard cushion into a soft one. This sounds like science fiction, but so did the Jules Verne novels about space and undersea travel in their time. I don’t pretend to be smart enough to understand this, but maybe you do? The Millennium Problems: The Seven Greatest Unsolved Mathematical Puzzles of Our Time ($26.00) by Keith Devlin is strictly for math geniuses. It relates the challenge put out by the Clay Foundation of Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a prize of one million dollars apiece to anyone able to solve them.

Finally, two softcover editions of books by and about Edward Teller, popularly known as the father of the hydrogen bomb, have been published by Perseus Books. Memoirs: A Twentieth-Century Journey in Science and Politics by Edward Teller with Judith Shoolery ($18.95) is the definitive record of his life and work. He is one of the most brilliant and controversial figures of our time who had friendships with others that included Einstein, von Neumann and Fermi, providing a wealth of information and insight to them and to the times in which he played a pivotal role in the development of new weapons, the need for strategic defense initiatives, and his vigorous campaign for the use of nuclear power. Conver-sations on the Dark Secrets of Physics ($16.00) by Teller, with Wendy Teller and Wilson Talley, tells of his fascination for the world of physics which has proceed from Pythagorus to Einstein and given us the Theory of Relativity and the Uncertainty Principle. "The main purpose of science is simplicity", says Teller and, after that, you are invited along to learn how even the complex can be understood.

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Novels, Novels, Novels!

Of novels there is no end. Here are some of the latest that have arrived.

If you grew up loving the Oz stories of L. Frank Baum, you will enjoy The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and other Stories written and illustrated by Eric Shanower ($24.95, Hungry Tiger Press, 5995 Dandridge Lane, Suite 121, San Diego, CA 92115-6575). You will recognize all your friends from the Baum books and enjoy the way Shanower has continued their adventures. He began in 1986 with a heralded series of Oz graphic novels and this book will prove a delight to Oz fans, new and old, of all ages. This book is just a pleasure in all respects.

Sitting Shiva by Elliot Feldman ($12.95, Foxrock Books) is the first of a Detroit trilogy by an author who has been a cartoonist since the 1960s. He’s been a denizen of Hollywood for the past two decades and is a senior writer for Sony Online Entertainment. One would think he would pen a light piece of humor, but he’s actually written a rather dark fictional memoir of growing up in a family with a sickly mother and a father who was a gambler and drinker. When his father dies, the main character returns for the funeral and, as the title reflects, reflect on his passing for seven days in the Jewish tradition. In the process, he sets out to find out who is estranged father was and who he is. Other than the way its time frames jump around, there is a story here that many will find intriguing.

Dutton’s editors have been busy publishing some very interesting novels. Caroline Hwang makes her debut as a novelist with In Full Bloom ($23.95, Dutton) in a heartwarming story of a Korean-American woman trying to make something of herself in New York’s fashion world while, at the same time, trying to please her traditional mother whose mission in life is to find a good Korean-American husband for her. A magazine editor and writer, the novel came from the many letters she received when she wrote about the struggles of being a daughter of immigrants. The main character, Ginger Lee, deals with these problems with equal amounts of humor and understanding, and you will be rooting for her. Also from Dutton, The Hatwearer’s Lesson ($23.95) by Yolanda Joe is the seventh novel by this talented Black American writer. It tells the story of Grandma Ollie, someone who knows how to style of hat and sees "signs" in everyday occurrences, and her granddaughter, Terri, a high-powered attorney who moved away from her hometown in Arkansas and the values her grandmother taught her. When she returns, she rediscovers what true love and family really mean. Then there’s Barbara Parker’s Suspicion of Madness ($24.95), the seventh installment in her suspense series featuring Miami’s hottest couple, attorneys Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana. When the latter is invited to spend a couple of days in a villa on a secluded island in the Keys, the offer gives him an opportunity to set a date for his marriage to Gail, but the trip turns into a nightmare of terror and death when a former client is suspected of a local murder and a tropical storm traps makes escape impossible. This one is so scary you’ll keep all the lights on.

Water Lily by Susanna Jones ($23.95, Warner Books) brings together two interesting characters, Ralph, an Englishman on his way to China to seek a new bride after the sudden death of his first wife, and Runa,a young Japanese schoolteacher who is fleeing her homeland after an affair with one of her students. Their paths cross on a ferry to Shanghai and they become lovers, but old transgressions collide with new desires. It leads to a chilling and explosive finale. The novel is enhanced by the author’s experience in Japan where she worked for several years. She currently lives in England. Her first novel, The Earthquake Bird, received critical acclaim when Mysterious Press published it last year. If you love faraway places and cultures, you will enjoy this new novel. This is true as well for The Life and Times of Ellemar Why by Vladimir Chernozemsky ($24.95, Triumvirate Publications, 497 West Avenue 44, Los Angeles, CA 90065) set in Istanbul in the late 1950s. The place is crawling with spies, terrorists, and other assorted opportunists. Into this place stumbles Ellemar Why, a young actor fleeing from Communist Bulgaria. He suffers from multiple personalities, some of which put him at significant risk. Those who enjoy the European approach to storytelling, more allegorical and convoluted, will find this a challenging story, but one that has its merits.

In January, Helon Habila’s novel, Waiting for an Angel, was published ($23.95, W.W. Norton) and one would think such a title suggests a lovely, spiritual story, but it is not. In fact, it is set in Nigeria in the 1990s, "a terrible time to be alive", says the author because of the five-year presidency of General Sabi Abacha, during which he terrorized the Nigerian people until his regime was ended in 1998. Habila’s novel tells the reader what it is like to live in such times and in such a place through the eyes of a young journalist in Lagos whose life is transformed by the violence around him. Frankly, no American can even imagine the horror the story reveals as an accurate look at the way so many on the continent of Africa live today. This book needs readers as much as Africa needs freedom.

If you are a lover of fantasy, then Denise Giardina’s new novel, Fallam’s Secret, ($24.95, W.W. Norton), an historical suspense novel featuring Lydde Falcone, an adult Nancy Drew. Drawing on theories of quantam physics, she bends time to travel through a wormhole to find herself in seventeenth century England, a long way from modern day Norchester. It is difficult to describe this novel because its theme and plots are quite unlike anything one would encounter in a standard novel. Time travel, romance, mystery are all bundled together for what will prove to be a very satisfying reading experience. The author has won some prestigious awards for her previous novels.

Plume, the softcover division of Penguin Putnam, publishes a continuous stream of interesting, affordable novels. Deep in the Shade of Paradise by John Dufresne ($14.00) is a look at life in Louisiana that is filled with humor. He has filled it with a bunch of characters who gather together in the days leading up to a wedding at their ancestral home. It’s a book about finding and holding onto love. For the more literary-minded, the story will prove satisfying on many levels because it is written by a man in love with words. A very different world unfolds in Kill Your Darlings by Terence Blacker ($14.95) which explores what happens to someone deemed a promising young novelist whose promise is twenty years behind him and whose wife is cheating on him while his son has run away from home to live in a crack den. He tries to redeem his life by encouraging a student in his creative writing class. In doing so he gets himself into an even bigger jam. All of which is to say this is not a happy novel. If you’re already depressed, take a pass on it. And probably even if you are not. That leaves us with Lucky Wander Boy by D.B. Weiss ($13.00). If you are into video gaming you will no doubt enjoy this sly novel in which the main character is convinced a game he played somehow prolonged his terminally ill grandmother’s life. When the game needed repair, grandma died. Fast forward to when, as an adult, he has an opportunity to go to the highest level of the book title’s game that fashioned how he looks at the world. Sound weird? Yup, but as a story, it works.

This may be the year in which seriously weird books get published. That includes Spilling Clarence by Anne Ursu ($12.95, Hyperion softcover) in which the residents of Clarence fall under the effects of a powerful drug that unlocks their memories to the point where they can recall everything and the past comes rushing back to remind them of everything they have experienced; the good and the bad. We protect ourselves against those aspects of our lives best forgotten by letting the past be recalled with less pain it may have caused or for the happiness it provided, but without the details. Stripped of that, the residents of Clarence, in the skillful hands of the author, must recall the past without the bliss of forgetting much of it. There is nothing weird about Welcome to Fred by Brad Whittington ($12.99, Broadman & Holman Publishers, softcover), but it is another novel in which the town is a major character. In this case it’s Fred, Texas, a place most would call idyllic with its woods, dirt roads and creeks to explore, but if you are sixteen years old and the son of a Baptist preacher, life can become a challenge of sorts. A family vacation to the West Coast provides the opportunity for our young hero to expand his physical and spiritual horizons in a classic coming of age story.

Dean Burgess tells the story of Thomas Burge, whose separation from his wife, Elizabeth Bassett, in the 1600s was a major scandal in colonial New England. His book, An Unclean Act ($26.00, The Permanent Press, Sag Harbor, NY) tells of the first divorce on record in early America and what befalls Burge as he attempts to start a new life with young Lydia Gaunt. This is taken from actual history and the author is a descendent of the man at the center of this story. In its way, the novel raises questions about the issues surrounding divorce in our times as it looks at the rise of the Quaker movement and its threat to Puritan law, as well as the strained, but pivotal, relations with native American Indians. It is a story of faith, love and resilience with an interesting cast of characters.

I received a call from Brendon Guy Alimo, the author of three books, who has brought two of them back to life as paperbacks and as audiobooks. One has to salute, not only his talent, but his entrepreneurial instincts. He has three novels, Cruise, Perfect Pitch and Balyut 7 ($7.95 each, BGA Stories, Inc., 3414 Forest Hills Circle, Garland, TX 75044). Balyut 7, was originally published the day of the space shuttle Columbia’s first flight in 1981. The thriller addresses the Arab-Israeli wars and a Soviet strategy to destroy Israel. In the fictional account, one of the astronauts is an Israeli called Michael Allon, a name not far removed from Ilan Ramon who died in the recent tragedy. The book predicted the difficulties that would be encountered in securing peace. Cruise is a fascinating story about the loss of a Cruise missile painted to look like a shark when it vanishes in the Pacific while being test-launched. Perfect Pitch is more lighthearted; being a tale of a man offered the opportunity to try out as a batting practice pitcher for the Texas Rangers. If you like to read about dreams that come true, you will enjoy this story. To learn more, visit www.bgastories.com.

If you enjoy a corking good courtroom story, then you will enjoy Richard H. Hicks’ The Alpha Wolf Conspiracy (Xlibris) inspired by a lawsuit on which the author worked as a young lawyer in San Francisco. I am familiar with Hick’s work by way of his previous novel, Slender Fantasies, a delightful legal satire of frivolous lawsuits. In his new novel an attorney who has been pushed out of a prestigious Los Angeles law firm finds himself pitted against his former boss in a high-stakes, no-holds-barred antitrust suit. This story reflects many of the headlines we have read about unscrupulous corporations and is filled with megalomaniac business moguls, superstar lawyers, and a panoply of characters, shady and straight, as a price-fixing conspiracy is revealed. To learn more, visit our Featured Book section. Dancing With Ice by Thornton Edwards ($18.95, Thornton Enterprises, 190 W. Continental Road, Suite 220-235, Green Valley, AZ, 85614) is a first novel that takes the reader on a journey into law enforcement through the eyes of a street cop. It reveals the fears and the sacrifices that men in blue make to protect us through its true-to-life characters, its vivid dialogue, and its gut-wrenching twists and turns. The novel reflects the author's experiences as a retired Tucson Police officer and marks the debut of a talented novelist.

Novels that provide a sense of the place in which they are set please readers by taking them to places they may never have been or will go. That’s one of the most enjoyable aspects of The Loser’s Club ($12.95, Ludlow Press) by an immensely talented novelist, Richard Perez, who takes us to New York’s East Village in the mid-1990s as Martin Sierra, an unlucky Spanish-American writer who is addicted to reading the personnel ads in quest of his dream woman. He comes into contact with Nikki who fulfils his dream, but who remains unattainable romantically, yet evolves into his friend and confident during his comic misadventures. You’re guaranteed a lot of laughs.

Fans of Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes will be happy to know that their bestseller, Full Tilt, is available in paperback from St. Martin’s ($7.99). Set in Beaumont, South Carolina, it has mint juleps, ladies who lunch, good ole boy politics, and Jamie Swift. She’s running her family’s newspaper and getting ready to marry the town’s most eligible bachelor. Then fate steps in for Jamie in the form of Max Holt who comes to town to investigate a case he’s on. They instantly tale a dislike to one another, but sparks are flying anyway. Then her fiancé shows up and so do two hitmen. That’s when the fun begins. Fans of Robert Ludlum will enjoy another St. Martin’s paperback, The Paris Option, ($7.99) with Gayle Lynds. This is spy novel that begins when a French laboratory blows up and a variety of people go looking for the research notes concerning a "molecular" computer that could revolutionize the science and give great power to those who have one. It’s another winner by the late master of this genre.

Kensington Publishing Corporation continues producing many new paperbacks each month and among their latest titles ($6.99 each) are Lisa Jackson’s The Night Before ($6.99), The Last Witness by Joel Goldman ($6.99), Halfway Home by Mary Sheldon, and a new novel by the master of "The Last Gunfighter" series, William W. Johnstone’s Rescue ($5.99). Over the years, women authors have emerged to write frightening suspense-filled novels and Jackson’s novel begins as a woman wakes with a pounding headache and covered in blood. The police want to know the details, but she cannot recall anything until a psychologist helps her unlocks her secrets. Goldman centers on trial of a local lawyer and political fixer whose been accused of murder. The trail begins to lead to someone else, a powerful individual. Mary Sheldon has written a four-handkerchief story about a character abandoned as a child by her mother who is now a famous movie star. In Johnstone’s story, gunfighter Frank Morgan has to set right a villain who is selling young girls into prostitution.

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Books for Younger Readers

The Wedding Dress Mess by Beatrice Masini and illustrated by Anna Laura Cantone ($15.95, Watson-Guptill) is an hilarious love story between an Italian seamstress and Filippo, the mechanic who finally works up the courage to ask her to marry him. She wants to create the most fabulous wedding dress for herself. She learns that it’s not what you wear that counts so much as who loves you. The illustrations are highly sophisticated and the story is wonderfully entertaining. From Italy we move onto Japan with a superb book, The Invisible Seam, by Andy William Frew, beautifully illustrated by Jun Natsuoka ($15.95, Moon Mountain.) Set in Japan at the beginning of the 20^th century, it tells the story of young Michi, an apprentice to Mistress Shinyo, an aging kimono maker. She soon demonstrates a gift for needlework, causing the other apprentices to "lose face" and, in retaliation, they sabotage her work, but she triumphs through values one too often doesn’t find promoted, self-discipline, dedication to duty, and hard work. Both books are ideal for children 6-10, grades 1-5.

Little boys like big machines and two books from Kids Can Press continue Don Kilby’s "Wheels at Work" series. At a Construction Site ($16.95) and On the Road ($19.95) provide lots of insight as to the trucks and other machinery used to build structures or move a variety of goods. Well illustrated, the text is easy to understand. These books introduce young readers to the real world.

From Unique Expressions of Chicago comes a book that is part of the "Fuzzy-Feeling Children’s Book Series by Kim L. Dulaney. It is I Can Fly: The R. Kelly Story ($12.95). With young Blacks, ages 7 to 10, as its audience, the series is designed to motivate and inspire them to believe that, like the famed popular singer, they too can achieve their dreams. The problem here is that R. Kelly is facing charges of pedophilia and pornography, and the author has picked a very bad role model! Other titles include My Best ($8.95) about what it means to do one’s best in school and Kool…Kool…Kool ($9.95) that says you can be "kool" and a responsible person at the same time. You can learn more about this publisher’s line of young reader’s books at www.readme4.com.

There is some magic affinity between young girls and horses. For those in middle grades, there’s the Starlight series of books published by Raven Publishing (PO Box 2885, Norris, MT 59745) that includes Miranda and Starlight, Starlight’s Courage, and Starlight, Star Bright by Janet Muirhead Hill. The series begins when Miranda Stevens takes a dare from the school bully to ride horses grazing in a field just beyond the schoolyard fence. Therein begins her adventures as she saves a beautiful stallion from death and it becomes part of her life. Miranda matures through a variety of experiences, gets into dangerous situations, resolves family problems, and mends relationship. It really doesn’t describe it to call it a "horse book", but that is the theme that keeps these stories moving forward. I think this series is going to make a lot of young ladies very happy.

National Geographic continues to publish excellent books for young readers. Coming next month is Climbing Everest by Audrey Salked ($21.00) which tells the story of how, for eighty years, teams of climbers have sought to get to the top and how, on occasion, have paid with their lives for the honor. As is the case of all NG books, it is beautifully illustrated with a text well suited to those ages 8-12.

In a similar fashion, Who Came First: New Clues to Prehistoric Americans by Patricia Lauber ($18.95) explores the theory that the earliest Americans crossed a land bridge from Siberia to Alaska about 14,000 years ago. The book looks at evidence of other human beings in the Americas, comparing the evidence in a way that will excite any budding anthropologist. NG has a series, "Mysteries in Our National Parks" to which is added Buried Alive by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson ($15.95). Imagine being abandoned in the wilds of Alaska’s National Park and, if you aren’t found soon, you will freeze to death? And then you hear the sound of an avalanche? This story and others in the series will lure young readers away from the TV and into the world of reading.

That’s it for April! Visit our "Featured Books" pages to learn about some very interesting books.

Authors, publishers, publicists take notice! Now your book can be a Featured Book on this site where it will enjoy an entire page of its own and a link to Amazon.Com. This is a great way to let the many visitors to Bookviews.Com learn about your book. It is very affordable. For more information, click here.

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