Product Description
This digital document is an article from Science World, published by Thomson Gale on November 13, 2006. The length of the article is 818 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: An eye for detail: an artist brings science to life with picture-perfect illustrations.(Utako Kikutani)
Author: Andrea Thompson
Publication: Science World (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 13, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 63Issue: 5-6Page: 14(3)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Girls' Life, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2007. The length of the article is 957 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Spring's hot new hair.(hair styles)
Author: Katie Abbondanza
Publication: Girls' Life (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 13Issue: 5Page: 66(4)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Stress Management for Teachers: Increasing Dialogue presents a comprehensive view of the impact that teacher stress has on student achievement. Eastland Middle plunged into a second year of school improvement mainly because teacher stress was not addressed. During the first school improvement year, Principal Smith incorporated a targeted intervention program without first acknowledging and addressing the stressors that resided within the school environment. The school paid a price because stressed teachers were unable to properly implement new strategies. Join Eastland's teachers as they participate in stress management training from a holistic standpoint: A holistic approach in which active problem-solving is used to address stress entails reducing isolation by bringing teachers together for sharing and strategizing; restoring perspective and balance; increasing self-awareness; and identifying the next step(Sparks, 1983). ... Read more

Product Description
Forgiven but not forgotten: Mabel's JourneyBeloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. (Romans 12:19)Is it possible to forgive and forget when others intentionally hurt us?The author posits that it's possible to forgive and forget if God is at the center of the rebuilding process ....and the following steps are practiced....• Praying for the ability to recognize perpetrators' motives.• Acknowledging that perpetrators have issues with jealousy, envy, sense of entitlement, or whatever in your God-given wisdom you determined their problem to be.• Asking God to renew a right spirit within perpetrators, as well as ensuring that you do not possess similar characteristic.• Dialoguing with offenders to increase awareness of the painfulness of their actions. In praying, through God you are able to forgive.....realizing that the battle is not yours...but the Lord's.• Accepting apologies, and praying with perpetrators immediately thereafter to remove the yoke of unforgiveness.Mabel is a young girl, whose parents' reckless decisions dealt her a cruel blow in life. She embarked on a journey, trying desperately to escape a dysfunctional and abusive home, but the journey took her through ill-treatment and neglect. It was only through others that she learned to bask in droplets of mercies and at times showers of blessings. Mabel practiced the art of forgiving, so as to lessen the crippling weight and burden of unforgiveness, but just as she thought she would triumph and master the art of forgiving and forgetting, disaster struck. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Motivating
Forgiven But Not Forgotten is very motivating. This book is well written and gives hope and inspiration to those who have experienced traumatic experiences, negative life circumstances or any ordeal that was difficult to to recover from.

Unless we are truly able to forgive one another, our lives, our life choices and close relationships may be negatively impacted; causing us to live in the past failing to reach our full potential.

Reading this book has been a blessing to me and I am sure it will be the same for you!! ... Read more

Product Description
Based on the renowned "Renzulli Method," which has been adopted in schools all over the country, LIGHT UP YOUR CHILD'S MIND presents a practical program to help children fire up a love of learning to last a lifetime. World-renowned experts Drs. Renzulli and Reis illustrate the crucial role parents can play in their children's development and address how they can work with teachers to enhance their children's education. They uncover the hidden potential of daydreamers, rebels, and one-track minds, arguing that gifted behavior--basic smarts, high levels of task commitment, and creativity--can be fostered in bright children, even unmotivated ones. Step by step, LIGHT UP YOUR CHILD'S MIND will show parents how to set their kids on the path to a rewarding future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Every Chapter Has Great Parenting Advice
I know it's a cliché to find people declaring "every parent should read this!" However, this is one of those books Light Up Your Child's Mind: Finding a Unique Pathway to Happiness and SuccessI think every parents should read during their child's early years.This book has practical, accessible advice for every parent to bring out the best in every child.

Personally I think it is dangerous to label children as remedial , gifted, average or whatever for many reasons. But I couldn't agree more with the approach they have taken here. What is exiting about this book is that it is something that parents can use to connect with their children to enhance the child's interests or gifts immediately. Best of all it's based on the child so it didn't seem forced or manipulated.

Joseph Renzulli and Sally Reis have nearly 60 years combined experience in gifted education at the University of Connecticut, but I really think a person can miss the point if "GIFTED" is what you're focusing on.In their work they've really developed a broader way of thinking about gifts or abilities that will bring out more of the best from each child. Some of this is accomplished in noticeable ways like thinking of a "work product" or the "contribution" a child can make further developing the idea by identifying the audience for the product, how it's delivered and how it is received by that audience.It becomes tangible and the child learns contribute their work product for others to learn from, benefit from or simply enjoy.Real world application of art and arithmetic, what a concept? Some of the broader thinking is brought up in more subtle ways, like the chapter on twice exceptional children, dealing with exceptional learning and learning disabilities within the same child.

You may wonder how you would identify your child's "gifts." They've laid out an entire questionnaire to analyze and help enhance your child's gifts and help you and the child understanding what to do next. They have "Interest-a-Lyzers" for grade school, adolescent and teenage children. Sometimes; most times, gifts don't show up in academics, in classic ways or a gift may come and go like a phase. They demonstrate that most gifts ebb and flow and show up in atypical areas. Light Up Your Child's Mind is great resource for understanding and moving forward no matter what "phase" the child is in.

A good deal of what I took away from Renzulli and Reis's work is how I would like to see EDUCATION REFORM moving.With more individual learning plans, incorporating subject matter into the child's interests and real world application and audiences. Children are naturally curious learning machines and if we learn to harness their interests into worthwhile purists it solves many, many problems.I fear we will never see education reform in my young children's school years, but as parents we can easily diminish the effects of "teaching to tests" and "fashionable underachievement".

I highly recommend this book to any parent looking to really enhance the overall success and happiness of their child.

*****

phenomenal book
This book was recommended by the headmaster of our children's school.Like a lot of good books, I almost constantly found myself thinking "Oh, that's why that kids do that" or "Ohhh, that's why that doesn't work."It just made so much common sense.I wish every parent and educator would read this book.We're so quick to lump kids into a couple of categories - smart, average, or heaven forbid, stupid.This book reminds us that we all have strengths and weaknesses and teaches how to reach even the kids who have been shoved into the "stupid" category.Highly recommend it.

Light Up Your Child's MInd
This book is broken down into 3 parts:

1.What Is This Thing Called Giftedness?
2.Practical Paths To Developing Your Child's Gifts And Talents.
3. Special Considerations.


The listings in the Appendix's/ Renzulli's Best Resources,
are extremely detailed.

Light Up Your Child's Mind, is filled with practical information, written for the average reader.
There are "Questionnaires", "Management Plans", and "Product Suggestions".

I would highly recommend this book, to anyone
(parent, grandparents, teachers)
who has, or deals with children...
especially those with exceptionalities!


I wish that I had had this book while my children were growing up.
I truly believe that it would have been a real help to my husband and I...
and to our children - many of whom were classified as gifted.
All of our children were very bright, but a few had learning
disabilities, and I feel that they did not always get the support and
guidance that they needed...from us or from their teachers.


Light Up Your Child's Mind gets a big 2 thumbs up from me!
(First reviewed at Libby's Library News [...] ... Read more

Product Description
A fresh, honest, and practical guide to living with bipolar disorder.

Paul Jones, a stand-up comedian and workshop leader who suffers from bipolar disorder, uses humor, honesty, and hard-won practical advice to dispel the stigma surrounding mental illnesses and shed light on the challenges of living with bipolar disorder.

Offering an intimate view of life with bipolar disorder—including the most common mistakes bipolar individuals make and how to avoid them— and covering every aspect from diagnosis, social life, home life, and career, this is an accessible and engaging guide from someone who’s been there and can help readers cope and thrive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Straight talk and upbeat.An excellent read.
Paul Jones strikes an excellent balance of medical information and true life experiences."The Up and Down Life" is straight talk about discerning choices bipolars need to make and offers examples of the pitfalls to watch out for.It's encouraging, eye-opening, inspiring.

perfect title, perfect book
If you are bipolar or suspect you might be, or if you live with someone that fits the bipolar "profile"; then reading this book will be a great help. I know it helped me. I have spent most of my life having mixed feelings about the condition. Sometimes I'd be convinced that I had the disorder; other times, I laughed at the notion. It's so typical of the bipolar person to be in denial when everything is going okay. And there are plenty of times when you think all is well... but it doesn't last for too long.Eventually I would go from feeling okay to feeling totally awesome! Now I realize those were the times to be most alert because inevitably they would be followed by horrible downs. So yeah, it is an up and down life. I finally went to a qualified physician who confirmed my suspicions, and also prescribed the combination of meds that has made the difference. No, I am not "cured". But I'm in better shape than I ever was. Now I understand what some of the stuff in my past was all about. Too bad it took me so long to admit it to myself. The book was the eye-opener I needed to point me in the right direction. I know a lot of people hate taking medications for psycho-emotional problems; they prefer to go to counseling or tough it out. But for the bipolar person there's just as much need for medication as for the diabetic. And unfortunately suffering from bipolar disorder can also be a matter of life and death.

Basic, glib and not too informative
First, let me say that I do not wish to criticize any individual's account of his mental illness and experience.Mr. Jones relays his experience with bipolar disorder in great detail. This is perhaps the most redeeming feature of this book. The book works best when Mr. Jones sticks to his personal experience with the ups and downs and his own personal experience with treatment.

Far too often, though, his tone comes across as preachy and pedantic. This is not recommended for someone who has already done extensive research on bipolar disorder and read several personal accounts of living with this illness. Ultimately, I suppose, this is the bottom line for this book: it may be helpful for the reader with little-to-no knowledge of BPD but even in that case I believe there must be better introductions.

Mr. Jones emphasizes that people with BPD should not define themselves by their illness.He consistently, however, refers to "we bipolars" and reduces his audience to exactly what he suggests avoiding -- complete identification with the disease. Granted, the book is about BPD and the language is geared toward those in the BPD community, so there is a degree of collective identification necessary.The tone, however, including Mr. Jones' own identity as "Bipolar Boy," casts an unfunny overemphasis on the diagnosis as identity. Moreover, his references to "bipolar boy" and "bipolar Paul" actually come across as self-promotion and there is an uncomfortable suggestion that this book is too self-aware and dips sometimes into marketing.

Very enlightening
The price and shipping were great, the author was wonderful, really shed a lot of insight

The truest book written on the subject
I read this book and it was like watching a movie of my life.I am bipolar as well as Paul is.I thought I was the only one like this.Nobody in my family or freinds understood it.I was so happy to find out I was not alone in my struggles.Most books just tell you what the symptoms are.This book tells you what it is really like from someone who lives with it.I recommend it for anyone that is bipolar or is close to someone with this illness.It will help you to understand somewhat of what they are dealing with and how you can help and support them.People without the illness are quick to dismiss it as real. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by University of Oklahoma on January 1, 2002. The length of the article is 527 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Margaret Cezair-Thompson: The True History of Paradise.
Author: Andrea Shaw
Publication: World Literature Today (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2002
Publisher: University of Oklahoma
Volume: 76Issue: 1Page: 124(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Midnight Louie, that beloved, jet-black feline sleuth with a nose for the notorious, is on the prowl once again--and the beat he walks is as dangerous as ever.

At the Blue Dahlia, the forties-style music club where hard-boiled homicide lieutenant Carmen Molina moonlights secretly as a torch singer, things are not as easygoing as they seem. When her gig ends, she can't miss the dead body lying next to her car on the moonlit asphalt of the parking lot, with the words "she left" spray-painted nearby. Soon, another anonymous woman found in a parking lot across town joins the unidentified woman in death.

Is a serial killer at work in Molina's backyard? And will the tough lieutenant have to bite her tongue and resort to the despised help of amateur sleuth Temple Barr to crack the case? Maybe the wily police lieutenant has more devious plans in mind. Certainly neither of Temple's two love interests, hotline counselor Matt Devine and the magician-cum-undercover man Max Kinsella, is far from committing crimes of the heart--or of homicide--as the double murder case unfolds.

Meanwhile, Louie reluctantly finds himself walking on the wild side in partnership with his feisty if disapproving daughter, Midnight Louise, when a glamorous feline client seeks his help in finding her missing boyfriend. Can both Midnight and Temple reconcile themselves to working with others soon enough to solve their respective cases--and keep themselves from ending up the same way? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Cats rule okay?
Any thought that humans are top species on this planet must go out of the window with this excellent series of cat-assisted crime novels. Without the felines, where would the humans be? Carole Nelson Douglas' writing is very witty. Characterisation is fascinating and I love the way there is a running thread of mystery all the way through this series. I hope that all will be revealed when we finally reach Z and Temple sorts her love life out!

my 2¢ worth
I'm a cat lover to bgin with, so this might come out sounding more than a touch biased. My first exposure to ML was Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit. I enthusiastically reccomend it, it's got the King, it's got Las Vegas, it's a mystery and most of all it's got Midnight Louie! I have since gone on to read Catnap, Pussyfoot, Cat on a Blue Monday and Cat in a Flamingo Fedora, which is notable for the climactic abduction and forced vasectomy of our hero ML. A damn shame that, since in her debut in Cat on a Blue Monday, Louie's long-lost daughter Midnight Louise alias Caviar, revealed her lack of desire for motherhood and breeding. If only the family line could be contiuned! we all need more such cats as Midnight Louie, to say nothing of Temble Barr's need aswell as that of Las Vegas in general. My basic point, do yourself a big favor and start collecting the ML series today!! Talk about being worth every penny. I'd gladly grab up every title myself if I ever hit the Lotto jackpot!

my 2¢ worth
I'm a cat lover to begin with, so this might come out sounding more than a touch biased. My first exposure to ML was Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit. I enthusiastically recommend it, it's got the King, it's got Las Vegas, it's a mystery and most of all it's got Midnight Louie! I have since gone on to read Catnap, Pussyfoot, Cat on a Blue Monday and Cat in a Flamingo Fedora, which is notable for the climactic abduction and forced vasectomy of our hero ML. A damn shame that, since in her debut in Cat on a Blue Monday, Louie's long-lost daughter Midnight Louise alias Caviar, revealed her lack of desire for motherhood and breeding. If only the family line could be continued! we all need more such cats as Midnight Louie, to say nothing of Temple Barr's need aswell as that of Las Vegas in general. My basic point, do yourself a big favor and start collecting the ML series today!! Talk about being worth every penny. I'd gladly grab up every title myself if I ever hit the Lotto jackpot!

Cute, and confusing.
If you read mystery stories, as I do, to provide logic in an often illogical world, Cat in an Indigo Mood isn't going to meet that demand. Douglas' books are clever and quirky, fun and fantastic--but never filledwith logic and deduction in the traditional 'mystery novel' sense. Thecharacters themselves are an odd mixture of strange traits and exoticbehaviors. Many of them don't really fit into the plot line, and have noreason for being in the novel, other than being delightfully flamboyant andunusual. The reader must accept this and admire them for what they are inand of themselves.But don't expect these creatures to further the plot,or even reappear again in this novel.And expect some of the characters tobe dogs and cats who are smarter and more believable than their humancounterparts.When I am in Las Vegas, I am always aware that the cityI see is a total amusement, builtfor that reason only.There aregondolas through shopping malls and volcanos atop buildings, garnished withneon and feather exotica.The Midnight Louie mystery series is a lot likethat: a lot of enjoyable fuss and floss, an amusement that defies reality.

Tenth book juggles complicated plot expertly!
Three murders with 3 different, yet interconnected victims, a more humanizing look at Det. Molina, an exciting and fresh detour for Matt, and a new beguiling addition to the cast help this latest Midnite Louie outing succeed where the preceding book felt off-kilter. The mystery itself isengrossing and kept me guessing as to whodunit. I'm tempted to recommend itto the beginner in the series because it is such a well-rounded story, butone should probably still stick with starting at the beginning tounderstand character backgrounds, etc.Good to see Temple and Matt workingtogether as friends to solve the mystery, and Molina soliciting Max's help(on the romantic side, one wonders exactly who is going to end up withwhom?) One element I *really* appreciated was that, by this 10th book,Molina 'gets' and even appreciates the feline detecting connection! ... Read more

Product Description
A new adventure for Midnight Louie, feline detective, and his human partner, Temple Barr, finds our protagonists involved in an mysterious case involving death threats, ghosts and the King himself: Elvis. Simultaneous. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Love the series, but this is the weakest link
The author substituted Elvis trivia for character development and made EVERY major character spout said trivia at the drop of a hat.Maybe having one avid fan pop in with some tidbits now and again would have been bearable, but this felt almost like a lecture with a few murders thrown in.The lack of susbtance shows.

Weakest entry in the series
I've read all the Louie mysteries up through this one (awaiting my copy of "Kiwi Con") and this one was, as another reader said, much more of a chore to finish than the others.

IMO, all the Elvis trivia and the sheer amount of time spent on the Elvis con/competition/hotel opening was filler for what was a thin plot to begin with. I normally enjoy spending a few hours with Temple, Louie, Matt, et al, but this time there was none of the internal dialogue or the conversations that really make each of these people "spark".Temple seemed to be there just to help move point A to point B or ask the pertinent question that would let the Elvis information pour forth.Matt was much too one note; his sole purpose seemed to be to show up, wonder about being a local media star for a few moments and then disappear again.It was like reading a book where all the main characters were reduced to cameo appearances by an unwieldy, boring plot that forced its way to center stage like a 300 pound diva.

One of the things I've really enjoyed about the series is the way Douglas lets us into Matt's, Temple's and C.R. Molina's minds. It makes them much more well-rounded as characters and I feel I "know" them.This book was incredibly short on that aspect as compared to the other novels in the series.

I'm also very tired of Max/Matt/Temple triangle.I suppose the main reason is I don't care for the Mundane Max very much.I find him more a convenient plot point than anything else.Need something that might be a little extralegal?Max shows up!Need to remind everyone there's a romantic triangle?Max pops up out of nowhere!*yawn*I find him to be the weakest character in the series because I have very little to base him on in my mind.I don't know whether it's Douglas' intention to make him appear mysterious or what, but one or two glimpses into what Max is thinking other than "Kinsella thought that he had the upper hand" type stuff or appearing to be jealous when Temple seems to have Matt foremost on the mind would go a long way towards filling him out as a character and making him seem more like a real person than simply someone invented for those times when you need someone with extralegal access to the info needed to move the plot along.The background she gives him doesn't ring very true to me for several reasons too long to go into here.I will say that it just ended up feeling like another smokescreen.I generally end up skimming the Max chapters for the necessary info and then jumping back into the story.

All in all, I enjoy the Louie series immensely. They may not be entirely logical at times or gritty and real, but they're (for the most part) well-written, fun, full of people with very individual voices (including Louie), and I think Douglas has done a fantastic job with the character of Matt and showing what it might be like for someone to try and become part of a world that he never really knew.But after such great previous novels, I found "Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit" to be below the standard of the other Louie books.

Least favorite in the series
I have read all the books in the Midnite Louie series, and this one was definitely my least favorite.Maybe because I was never an Elvis fan, but I just didn't find all the Elvis trivia and impersonator stuff interesting. Like several other readers, finishing the book was a chore, not really a pleasure like usual. I hope the next book gets back on track.

Louie, Temple and Carole Forever!
I returned home from a recent trip to Memphis, where we toured Graceland, to find "Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit" in the mail awaiting my arrival. The coincidence was amazing. Finished reading it last night andthink it is one of the best books I have ever read. The author's thoughtprocess gets deeper with each book and her exploration of the never-endingElvis mystique casts an accurate eye on the sociology of the 50's and 60'sand the perception of those times having been so innocent. Having been ateenager in the 1950's, I could also totally relate to the Electracharacter.The author's use of words gets cleverer and funnier with eachbook. As with any "whodunit," you have to keep reading to findout who was the perp, but you finish the book with sadness because therewill be no more show-stoppers on each page.Thank you, Carole, so much forTemple and Louie and Chatter and all the rest of them!

Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit
Great book for Louie lovers & Elvis fans. And for those who aren't Elvis fans or too young, there's something to be learned. Another fun adventure for Louie, Temple & you. ... Read more

Product Description
The ninth novel in the popular series. Back in Las Vegas after a trip to the Big Apple, Midnight Louie, the black tomcat detective with a nose for the notorious, witnesses death on the Nile when the battling Egyptian barges outside the Oasis Hotel force a dead body to the surface. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Cat charisma at work in Las Vegas
Although this was my first sampling, this is the ninth book in the "Midnight Louie" mystery series.Looking for some steamy purple prose to keep you company on a cold winter's night?Grab a glass of wine and snuggle up with this book.Charismatic mystery man on the run Max Kinsella and earnest but no less appealing Matt Devine are both wrestling with demons of their past and both are attracted to the petite, feminineheroine, Ms. Temple Barr, a reluctant epicenter of criminal mayhem.

The story is more of a female oriented action thriller than a detective novel.The plot picks up the threads of previous books in the series, and leaves plenty of open-ended questions for the future. The real star of the series is Temple's big black tom cat, Midnight Louie.Chapters narrated from his viewpoint are in a distinctive sans serif typeface.He is perfect for the Las Vegas setting:Savvy, street-wise, and and unpretentiously superior,strutting his way around the Oasis and Cleopatra's Barge at Caesar's Palace. At times I found myself impatient with the human story and eager to get back to Midnight Louie's take on the events.

This book will lift you out of the doldrums. I'll definitely seek out earlier titles in the series for those times that I need something light to cheerme up.

Love the series
Once again Carole Nelson Douglas has written another wonderful continuation for the Midnight Louie series. I have loved this series from the first time I read Catnap and It gets better with each book. I'm sure we all feel for Mister Matt Devine now that Temple Barr is back together with the "Mystifying Max". and poor Louie!!! He has some luck with the ladies of the feline purrsuasion. All I have to say is, Carole Nelson Douglas, Keep up the AWESOME work.

Everything but the kitchen sink
I've read all books in the series (which I'm normally fond of), but this one was just a little too overloaded with characters, plots, and angst. I didn't really care about the too out-there Shangri-la villianess or her cat, and I was annoyed with the heroine Temple (who actually seemed to bemore in the background). I think Ms. Douglas does a much better jobjuggling a complicated storyline in the next book, Cat in an Indigo Mood.

Life is too short to waste it on a book like this.
I simply did not understand the story.I had to force myself to continue to read and when I was finally finished - I could hardly believe it.I felt cheated and betrayed.I could hardly understand what had happened and could not figure out the ending.Was the mystery solved?Who was thekiller?I could only guess. So I visited this site to read otherpeople's review and was stunned to find to find that the average rate was 5stars!They must be loyal to the author or be crazy about anything thathas to do with cats. Or I must be from Mars. I love books and I lovemysteries - but this is the worst mystery I have ever read.Perhaps theauthor should consider another genre of writing.I feel bad giving a badreview but want to warn others not to read this book.

One of the best series ever!
I've read all of the first nine books, except for the first and they are absolutley incredible!.I just ordered the first one and I'm getting ready to order the tenth one INDIGO MOOD.The books are fast paced and veryexciting, I read 8 of the books in just two weeks, I couldn't put themdown! Cat on a Hycanith Hunt was one of my favorites in the series.Ifyou're looking for a good read, these are definitly it! ... Read more

Product Description
A blazingly original new novel from the undisputed dean of American crime fiction, featuringa sharp, tough, sexy new P.I., Sunny Randall.

"Robert B. Parker has always been a master of razor-sharp and witty dialogue, hard-driving suspense and memorable characterization," says the Houston Chronicle. With both the classic Spenser series and the more recent Jesse Stone novels, Parker's spare prose and tight storytelling have earned him critical praise and popular success in equal measure. In Family Honor, he creates an entirely new character--young, smart, and, for the first time, female.

Her name is Sunny Randall, a Boston P.I. and former cop, a college graduate, an aspiring painter, a divorcee, and the owner of a miniature bullterrier named Rosie. Hired by a wealthy family to locate their teenage daughter, Sunny is tested by the parents' preconceived notion of what a detective should be. With the help of underworld contacts she tracks down the runaway Millicent, who has turned to prostitution, rescues her from her pimp, and finds herself, at thirty-four, the unlikely custodian of a difficult teenager when the girl refuses to return to her family.

But Millicent's problems are rooted in much larger crimes than running away, and Sunny, now playing the role of bodyguard, is caught in a shooting war with some very serious mobsters. She turns for help to her ex-husband, Richie, himself the son of a mob family, and to her dearest friend, Spike, a flamboyant and dangerous gay man. Heading this unlikely alliance, Sunny must solve at least one murder, resolve a criminal conspiracy that reaches to the top of state government, and bring Millicent back into functional young womanhood.Amazon.com Review
Let's get this settled right away: Sunny Randall is nothinglike Spenser. True, she's a private eye in Boston with goodconnections to the cops, and she also knows a lot of bad guys. Andyes, she happens to have a trusty sidekick named Spike, and a closefriend who could easily be related to Susan Silverman, (Spenser'slong-term companion). Oh, did I mention the cute dog? Aside from that,though, there's absolutely no similarity between this new series fromRobertB. Parker and his long-running Spenser books. Just because thecase Sunny is working on--finding a missing 15-year-old girl who hasrun away from her very rich parents--sounds similar to the Spenserfavorite ThinAir doesn't mean Parker is repeating himself here. Think of itas more like a homage, the kind of thing the author took on when heagreed to finish Raymond Chandler's Poodle Springs. Only inthis case it's a homage to himself--but what the hell.

Writtenspecifically with Parker's good friend actress Helen Hunt in mind,Family Honor is all in good fun. At one point, a no-nonsensenun looks down at Sunny's bull terrier, who is lying on her backbegging for a tummy rub. "What's wrong with this dog?" Sistersaid. "It is a dog, isn't it?"

Parker is so good that with onehand tied behind his back he can create characters that are morememorable than most writers can even when pounding away with bothfists. In just a few short pages, he tells us all about Sunny's careeras a painter--and about the complicated relationship between her coolpoliceman father and her irritating pseudo-feminist mother. Parkereven makes a direct dig at Spenser (who, before turning to privateinvestigating, had a short and fairly unsuccessful career in theboxing world). When the runaway girl questions Sunny's ability toprotect her from dangerous criminals--"you're a girl like me, forcrissake, what are you going to do?"--Sunny replies, "It would be niceif I weighed two hundred pounds and used to be a boxer. But I'm not,so we find other ways." Exactly. --Dick Adler ... Read more

Customer Reviews (113)

Spenser in drag?
Really, this is Parker's male persona stuffed into a petite female form. It was like reading Spenser as a weird female impersonator. This may have been my own limitation as a reader, after enjoying so many "Spenser" novels -- but it was frankly unsettling and unsavory. Yuck.

Robert B. Parker
My daughter recommended this book since she knows I like to read mysteries, especially with women slueths. I loved the characters and the fast pace. The title, "Family Honor" was right on. So far I read #'s 1,2, & 3 in the Sunny Randall Series and liked them all. Robert B. Parker is now one of my favorite authors.

Excellent
I haven't read the book as yet - but it is wonderful being able to order used books from Amazon and know that I am going to get something in good condition.I have never been dissatisfied.

Parker's new charge...
Being a huge Spenser fan I am of course a Robert B. Parker fan.Sunny Randall makes her debut in this yarn of sex, deceit and extortion.Not his best but getting his feet wet with this new female perspective, he makes more than a solid effort. (he gets the ball rolling in following tales)I'm grateful to Mr. Parker and his pen (figuratively???) If you are a fan...don't miss it.If you're not...WHY not???!!!!

"You Wouldn't Understand," she said - Rachel Wallace.This novel is Spenser's Reply.
FAMILY HONOR lived up to its title as the pilot for this delightful series which felt at first like Spenser was toning himself into a female roar heard round the literary arena, while extending his slant on gangster Vs cop family backgrounds (in which neither is all bad or all good) in this Juliet and Romeo romance.

I hadn't thought I'd be able to get into a female private eye series by Parker, especially after having become addicted to his 34 Spenser novels.But FAMILY HONOR was a perfect appetizer with appealing percolation.I don't doubt that Parker can carry both his new series (see my review of NIGHT PASSAGE, Jesse Stone # 1).

It didn't take more than a few chapters for Sunny to split off from the long-wrought, well-writ Spenser mystique and into her own, as a full character... maybe with Spenser speaking into her ear as an angel from an alternate reality, for a while.I enjoyed the slips connecting to Spenser, i.e., how Sunny might deal with a particular hairy situation if she were a 200 pound, male boxer.In humorous yet realistic contrast to Spenser and Hawk types, Parker dramatized what a small female can do to compensate for not being a testy, taut, towering gorilla-with-gonads, in a plot which will had me smiling.I'm excited about this series; I enjoyed the upbeat feeling of this first offering in it.I relished hearing Randall use Spenser's trademark words in dialogue, like "some more" and "eek."

Reading the first few chapters of FAMILY HONOR I kept seeing Spenser in high heels, noting how uncomfortable they were, and wondering where/how to effectively house a big enough gun on a 115 lb, 5'4" body... as he seemed to be having great fun adapting to this recent female incarnation, shaking out the form and personality.Of course, that image alone got me grinning.By the time the intense ending called up, I was liking Sunny Randall every bit as much as Kinsey Millhone (Sue Grafton's P. I.).

For this unique pilot, Parker designed a stylish, italicized prologue in third person observation of Sunny and Rosie, accomplishing an artistic, literary feel, giving a light-touch, sensitive contrast to chapter one opening into a first person narrative style with Sunny telling her own story in the classic private eye genre mode.

The included cultural icons of cooking, dress, habits, and thinking were precisely on target with the copyright date of 1999, when the Great Chefs TV episodes were running hot and heavy, with their long-handled saute pans being shook (contents were no longer stirred on TV) above gas-lit burners on commercial grade stoves, featuring Spike, Sunny's gay, tough-guy chef friend.

The plot here gave hints of EARLY AUTUMN (# 7 Spenser) and CEREMONY (# 9 Spenser) as Sunny took in a young teen, Millicent Patton, runaway, hooking daughter of her clients.Enlightening entertainment was easily obtained through Sunny's ways of dealing with and drawing out this young human lost in the sump and shrug of a lack of love.

A few quirky questions came to mind as I began reading this novel:

What might Rachel Wallace (# 6 SPENSER, Looking for Rachel Wallace) say about Spenser's (Parker's) ability to understand being female, if she were to read FAMILY HONOR.And what would she think about macho if she had read all 34 Spenser novels.Can novels help us understand that which we would have to stretch outside our bodies and into another form to get?I'd say they can, especially if penned by Parker.

Rachel Wallace may have to give the gauntlet on this one.Spenser understands.

Yet... can testosterone ever fully comprehend powerlessness...

Maybe any person who has ever been depressed, grieved loss of a loved one, or desperately wanted something he couldn't have, for whatever reason, has the capacity to comprehend the initial feeling of hopelessness which sometimes comes at those times of leached strength and slow coming answers.We each have a spirit, though, which seems to believe that morning comes daily.Parker has made a good case that sunny weather can dog the footsteps of storms.

Linda Shelnutt ... Read more

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Talia Winters is a fictional character appearing on the science fiction television show Babylon 5 during its first and second seasons. She was portrayed by actress Andrea Thompson.Ms. Winters was a licensed, commercial telepath from Earth and a member of the Psi Corps organization. She was assigned to the Earth space station Babylon 5 in the year 2258 to serve as its second resident commercial telepath. Like all Psi Corps members, Winters' telepathic ability was numbered according to ability; Winters was classified as a P5, the level of most commercial telepaths. Typically, commercial telepaths were assigned to help two or more business parties broker deals, by monitoring their honesty during business negotiations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Epic Fail
I have just looked over two pages of books consisting of rehashed Wikipedia content with, it would appear, no external fact checking, issued in paperback, and dramatically overpriced.Why?

Profoundly Disappointing
It is profoundly disappointing that Amazon.com would sell books from Lambert M. Surhone, Miriam T. Timpledon, and Susan F. Marseken. Surhone, Timpledon, and Marseken's books consist entirely of information copied from loosely related Wikipedia articles without consent or credit. These alleged editors have 18,247 books credited to them. It strains credibility that anyone could edit so many books while maintaining any semblance of quality. Amazon.com should immediately withdraw these books from sale. Avoid these books.

No original content
This book is unauthorized and was produced without consent of the show's creator.It's just a printout of Wikipedia articles, actually so save your money.
... Read more