Discovering Monaro: A Study of Man's Impact on his Environment

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The best Vegas book in print........2005-06-08

If you really want to come to Vegas prepared, or you just must go to Vegas, Nystrom has everything you need to know.

Amazon.com

During the early 1900s, China struggled to maintain an unstable democracy as radical factions fought over territories and political titles. Many young women found themselves caught between old traditions and new notions. Xueyan, or Yanyan, is lucky. Her father is one of the few who believes in education for women. So when an opportunity arises for her to attend Cornell University in America, Yanyan takes it with her family's blessing. Her only regret is leaving behind her schoolgirl crush, Liang Boashu. Once enrolled at Cornell, Yanyan is overwhelmed by culture shock. In America, the food is heavy, the money system is difficult, and odd English phrases like "pull yourself together" are confusing. Still, Yanyan thrives at school, even when American "Big Noses" embarrass her by stereotyping her as a maid, or think she must be good at doing laundry because she is Chinese. But just when she begins to finally feel at home in her new country, Liang Boashu shows up. No longer an angry young militant, Boashu is now a polished diplomat with marriage on his mind. Will Yanyan be forced to choose between her hard-won independence and the feelings she still has for Boashu?

Lensey Namioka's story of one girl's quest for identity in a time of shifting gender roles is both charming and thought provoking. Teens will be absorbed and amused by Yanyan's attempts at American slang ("I had to pull my guts together") and witty observances of "Big Nose" culture, while commiserating with her search for self. Recommended. (Ages 10 to 14) --Jennifer Hubert

Book Description

While most 16-year-old girls are planning their weddings, Xueyan, known as Yanyan, has no interest at all in marriage. She is fascinated by medicine. In China in 1921, women rarely attend university, let alone medical school. Still, Yanyan is determined to become a doctor. But Yanyan’s feelings about marriage change when she meets Liang Baoshu.

An outstanding scholar and martial arts student, Baoshu is passionate and dangerous. He is determined to rid China of the foreigners who occupy it and restore power to the Manchu dynasty. Life with him would be an adventure. But when Yanyan realizes that being with Baoshu would also mean sacrificing her dream of becoming a doctor, she faces the most difficult decision of her life. And her choice leads to an entirely new adventure an ocean away in America—where Yanyan is the foreigner.

Customer Reviews:

Chinese Student in America.......2007-06-15

It is the nineteen-twenties, and Yanyan is living in China with her family. China is in turmoil, as it has been for years, but Yanyan's family is stable and progressive. She lives with her parents and her two older brothers. Despite the fact that she is a girl in a fairly wealthy family, Yanyan did not have her feet bound as a child. Her parents permitted her to attend the school run by American missionaries and she and her mother are encouraged to participate in conversation at the dinner table, even when arguments break out. Yanyan's father is a diplomat who has traveled to other countries and has seen how they live.

Despite the fact that she is a teenager and should be thinking about these things, Yanyan is not at all concerned with marriage. In fact, she would like to become a doctor and support herself for the rest of her life. Then she meets her brother's friend Baoshu, who is handsome and exciting. He wants her to run away with him and become a rebel, fighting the government. She thinks about his offer and the excitement that it would bring to her life, but instead decides to go to college. She enrolls in Cornell College in Ithica, New York, and travels thousands of miles away from her family to attend. College life is more difficult than she expected, and she encounters many prejudices about Chinese people. But she is determined to make it through and achieve her dream.

I liked that this story was a parallel of "Ties that Bind, Ties that Break." I liked seeing how another Chinese girl was able to make her way in the world. I liked the strength and courage of Yanyan's character. She knew what she wanted and didn't give up.

Very good .......2006-12-16

I picked up this book because I likeds the cover, I had no idea that it was going to be such a wonderful story!! I loved reading about how young girls began to make a difference in the world. This book is defently a must read!!!

Generally Good- Really About 3.8 Stars.......2004-03-05

Yanyan is a 16-year old girl living in China in 1921. She's finished with highschool, and wonders what the next stage of her life will bring. Always with an interest in medicine, Yanyan is thinking of finding a way to become a doctor. But then she meets the intriguing, charismatic Liang Boashu. He wants her to come away with him and be a part of his dangerous life, but is he more important to Yanyan than medicine? This question takes Yanyan to America, where she is faced with a drastically different life and decisions about where she belongs in it.

As stated, this book was typically a pleasant read. The biggest asset this book had was its likeable main character. Yanyan's courage, strength, spunk, and uniqueness just make readers want to root for her. Her excellent personality paves the way for her compelling choices and thoughts-both of which keep the reader just aching to know what happens next. I literally finished "An Ocean Apart, A World Away" in a day!

Yet something small slightly mars this promising read. Despite all of her spirit and sparkle, Yanyan's "voice" doesn't always sound natural. A bit of dialogue is quite stiff, and at times I had a nagging sense that the novel seemed too "simple." This simplicity was a little disappointing, since this book is for a "teenage girl" audience for which middle-grade straightforwardness was not needed. Yanyan would have been an even better character if her persona was more "embellished" and she wrestled with decisions a little longer. And, I've got to say it, the last chapter and the final scene were just too rushed!

I probably seem nitpicky and cynical, but I truly enjoyed parts of this book. I loved the personality of Yanyan and felt the ideas of the books were appealing and promising. Yet I can't quite give this book a glowing review with its style problems. Read it for a usually satisfying main character, but be prepared for a few flaws.

Wow........2003-08-04

China remains in chaos after the revolution of 1911 and young Xueyan benefits by having a progressive father who encourages her to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor of medicine. Yanyan, called Sheila, attends an English school and doesn't have bound feet, and looks forward to making her own love match, instead of having an arranged marriage. When a political exile that happens to be a former school friend of her elder brother is wounded escaping from the police, it is Yanyan who bandages his injuries.
The two begin to fall in love, but soon the young woman is forced to make a choice between eloping and living a life on the lamb, or following her dream. She chooses college and goes to America where she faces discrimination as a woman, a Chinese, and an immigrant, but in spite of oppression learns to cook and begins to master physics. Through her experience and willingness to try she makes new friends, becomes self-aware and begins to make a new life for herself.
The one flaw of this historical novel is the voice. Yanyan's first person narration feels a bit wooden, and there is too much recapping and retelling to get the reader to the point where she leaves for America, and the first semester passes in a blur of setbacks and successes. In spite of her strong personality, she lacks a strong voice. Period details flesh out the story, but also show how little some things have changed in a hundred years.

Brillant Book!.......2003-07-23

I just have to say, I am now such a big fan of Lensey Namioka. I've read "Ties that Bond, and Ties that Break" a little over a year ago, and now, After reading "An Ocean Apartm A World Away" I am simply blown away. This book was a continuation of the other and I absolutey love the fact that there are so many twists in it that you really never seem to expect. While there are so turns that went the predicable way, the rest of the story made up for it! The only down part about this book for me was, it ended on a note I didn't really like, but it was still good anyway. This is such I great read, and I can promise you, its worth every second! ^_^

Dusted: Half a world away, an ocean apart, the wind is picking up particles of dust. Why is that our problem?: An article from: OnEarth

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Dusted: Half a world away, an ocean apart, the wind is picking up particles of dust. Why is that our problem?: An article from: OnEarth
Hannah Holmes
Manufacturer: Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008F4AEE
Release Date: 2005-07-30

Book Description

This digital document is an article from OnEarth, published by Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. on March 22, 2002. The length of the article is 1595 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: Dusted: Half a world away, an ocean apart, the wind is picking up particles of dust. Why is that our problem?
Author: Hannah Holmes
Publication: OnEarth (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2002
Publisher: Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
Volume: 24 Issue: 1 Page: 30(4)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

With the increasing complexity of software systems and their widespread growth into many aspects of our lives, the need to search for new models, paradigms, and ultimately, technologies, to manage this problem is evident. The way nature solves various problems through processes evolving during billions of years was always an inspiration to many computational paradigms; on the other hand, the complexity of the problems posed by the investigation of biological systems challenged the research of new tractable models. Molecular Computation Models: Unconventional Approaches is looking into new computational paradigms from both a theoretical perspective which offers a solid foundation of the models developed, as well as from a modeling angle, in order to reveal their effectiveness in modeling and simulating, especially biological systems. Tools and programming concepts and implementation issues are also discussed in the context of some experiments and comparative studies.

Molecular Computation Models: Unconventional Approaches

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Molecular Computation Models: Unconventional Approaches

Manufacturer: Cybertech Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1591403359

Book Description

Amiri Baraka - dramatist, poet, essayist, orator, and fiction writer - is one of the preeminent African-American literary figures of our time. The Leroi Jones/Amiri Baraka Reader provides the most comprehensive selection of Baraka's work to date, spanning almost 40 years of a brilliant, prolific, and controversial career, in which he has produced more than 12 books of poetry, 26 plays, eight collections of essays and speeches, and two books of fiction. This updated edition contains over 50 pages of previously unpublished work, as well as a chronology and full bibliography.

Customer Reviews:

An Awesome Artist and Philosopher.......2006-11-21

I would not take anyone's word uncritically or unexamined about anything really important. Amiri Baraka is a flawed man. At times he has sounded anti-semitic and other times in his life he has sounded homophobic.

There is plenty in his life to contradict those seemingly mean spirited expressions. However, he was friends to the end with both Allen Ginsberg and James Baldwin among others and had children with Hattie (Cohen?)Jones. And I still don't get the "20 Volume Suicide Note"...musings of somebody not really ready to go quietly into that night?

All that being said, I also find Baraka to be vigorous, rigorous, intellectually and spiritually adventuresome and brave of heart. I have learned MUCH from him. If you don't get it, maybe he isn't talking you or you are not willing to listen...

He has written some beautiful, brilliant poetry that functions through many channels of communication. His essays about African based music are seminal, required, necessary.

Baraka deserves criticism. None of the criticism here so far expresses anything of substance that I can discern.

Personally, I experienced one of my rebirths though the Black Arts Movement. Baraka was one of the leading "midwives". I am VERY thankful for his presence in this crazy, cruel, wonderous world. If you really want to know the truth of what we call "America", the stench and the free-for-all wildflowers, you need to pass by his way.

Reviewing THE BOOK, Not The Controversy Surrounding Its Author.......2006-02-07

As a native of Newark, N.J., I grew up taking Amiri Baraka for granted. It wasn't until I moved to Maryland and finally read this book that I understood who I had met all those times.

This is an EXTRAORDINARY work that details the growth and development of a significant American artist. Its editor takes much care in selecting samples that allow us to see divergent aspects of Baraka.

Especially significant among the many gems within is the text of his eulogy for James Baldwin and his essay on Jesse Jackson. Those works are required reading for those needing to understand the 20th century African-American experience, particularly those who wish to do so as writers.

This book has guided my view of the (African-)American writer's role.

A worthless book.......2003-08-29

I read this book and all I know is that Leroi Jones changed his name to Amiri Baraka.

But all he is... is a frustrated angry man. Full of hate and spite.

not deserving much attention.......2003-08-19

I think this book took me five minutes to read--a lot of talking, no ideas. Original ones, anyway.

An amazing man!.......2003-04-24

Buy this book. It's that simple. This book provides the reader with a developmental history of one of the greatest LIVING revolutionary minds this country has ever produced. He hits you in the heart without bashing you over the head. You may not agree with everything he says, or how he may have lived portions of his life, but you will be affected (in some capacity) by his wit, intelligence and the fierceness of his conventions. A must for anyone who thinks that they are " a radical" or "an activist."

Book Description

This book is a provocative and enlightening study of the fiction of LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), Ishmael Reed and Samuel R. Delany, three black American writers who are among the most gifted literary artists of the past twenty-five years. These authors, who emerged in the tumultuous period of the 1960s, when the complacencies of the previous decade were being challenged throughout the country, are examined here within the context of Afro-American literature.

The Fiction of Leroi Jones/Amiri Baraka (The Library of Black America)

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The System of Dante's Hell

The Fiction of Leroi Jones/Amiri Baraka (The Library of Black America)
Imamu Amiri Baraka , and Amiri Barake
Manufacturer: Lawrence Hill Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 155652353X

Customer Reviews:

The System of Dante's Hell.......2002-02-14

I cannot speak for this entire book, but it seems to be the only way to obtain The System of Dante's Hell these days, and this is a truly great book and a must read.

The System of Dante's Hell is a short novel in which a black soldier travels through the American south. Like Dante in hell, Jones/Baraka's tour shows you this hell from the outside, but not really from the outside. Anyway, the book is brilliant.

Average customer rating:
Conscientious Sorcerers : The Black Postmodernist Fiction of LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, Ishmael Reed, and Samuel R. Delany (Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies)
Robert Elliot Fox
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTISAQ

Book Description

Privileged access to both the Queen and Prince Philip is the key to this revealing and engrossing royal biography.

This is the first major biography of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh—both royal, both great-great-great grandchildren of Queen Victoria, but in temperament and upbringing very different people. Her childhood was loving and secure, his turbulent: the Duke's grandfather was assassinated, his father arrested, his family exiled, his parents separated by the time he was ten. For almost sixty years theirs have been among the most famous faces in the world—yet the personalities behind the image remain elusive and the nature of their marriage is an enigma.

Gyles Brandreth has met all the principal players in the story; he quotes no anonymous sources; he has known the Duke of Edinburgh for twenty-five years and has interviewed him. This is a unique and revealing portrait of a remarkable partnership, told with candor and authority, and illustrated with Prince Philip's family photographs and pictures from the Queen's royal collection. 40 pages of illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

A Look at a Royal Marriage.......2007-06-08

This is not just a book about the marriage of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip-it is a story of their lives both before and after their marriage in-in sections.

First Section: details about their early lives and details surrounding their parents and grandparents.

First was Elizabeth growining up in England-with her parents the Duke and Duchess of York and then after Edward VIII abdicated King George VI and Queen Elizabeth

Second was Philip born a Greek and Danish Prince but shortly after his birth his family was forced to move to France to live near his uncle George and Aunt Marie.

Second Section: Details their lives as teenagers around the time of WWII
Elizabeth was forced to live apart from her parents and was sent to live with her sister outside of London. After the war the family was reunited and at 13 Elizabeth met Philip for the first time

Philip lived in France for several years before his mother was institutionalized and his father ran off with his mistress. His sisters help raise him and then sent him to schools in Germany, and England. During the War he was a Navey Man where at 18 he met 13 year old Elizabeth.

The Next several Sections detail their courtship, marriage, becomeing first time parents to Charles and Anne, becoming Queen and Consort and then having Andrew and Edward afterward.

An interesting book with interviews from Prince Philip, Elizabeth's cousin and others that give a detailed account of two interesting people.

beautiful one.......2006-11-04

one of the most beautiful biographies i have ever read . it reavels the humaneterian side of queen elizabith and prince philip . they are like us they love and hate like every ordinary person . mr brandreth is great .do not miss this book

Another Royal Book?.......2006-06-06

Having read a lot of books about the royals, I didn't know if I wanted to read another. I'm very glad I read this one. Enjoyed how it was written. Very witty remarks, a lot of them in parenthesis. Having the book notes at the bottom of the various pages was a great help. One can't help but read them. There was alot of info that I had read before, but Mr Brandreth gave a more balanced view. It was a fun read!

Interesting reading.......2006-05-13

This book is well written and enjoyable, but at times quite disengenous. While the author personally knows the prince and has met the queen, his writing ignores some obvious observations by equally believable authors. In fact, as to the princes' errant love life, he interviews Sarah Bradford as an author to be believed, because of her scholarly detail and investigation. When she asserts that Philip has had "lovers" emanting from the very upper crust set who know how to keep their mouths shut, he interviews the Duchess of Abercorn who says "she and the prince would walk and in hand on the beach, but were not physical lovers". She does say she cannot talk for the rest. Brandeth then leaps to the conclusion that the prince's dalliances are just intellectual. One could laugh, as he should have skipped it, as come to this silly conclusion. At any rate, some of the stuff is first rate and as he is a familair with the prince, whom I think he sees justly, as a man with a job to do and does it whatever the cost. It is worthwhile reading, if skewed to one side. That is okay, for as in politics, all of this stuff is skewed to one side or another.

Prince Philip was born on a kitchen table on the island of Corfu.......2006-04-13

And other irrisistable tidbits make this book an honest and enchanting look at the British Royal family. For me, it has been a real page turner. I cannot put this book down. Yes, as one other reviewer pointed out, the book has many "footnotes" but they are packed with even more interesting information, and are not a problem to read. The stories Brandreth includes about the young Princess Elizabeth are charming as well. Scenes of her pulling her grandfather, King George V, by his beard, so that she could play "horse and groom" are priceless. "Lillibet", as he called her, was the apple of his eye, and he got down on all fours to play with her. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in British history and the current Royal Family.

Customer Reviews:

The Definitive Resource for the PBY.......2002-03-20

The author, Captain W.E. Scarborough is a retired naval aviator with 1700 hours of PBY flight time. The book is an 11-by-8.25 inch 50-page paperback filled with photos, plan drawings, and detailed descriptions of the many variants of the Catalina flying boat, along with historical notes on their development, usage, and combat records. It's an excellent resource for the study and appreciation of the PBY, written first-hand by one of its pilots.

Average customer rating:

limited

NO WONDER DETROIT DECLINED.

Great message but..

Who Killed Detroit? Other Cities Beware!

So relevant for Detroit today!

Who Killed Detroit?: Other Cities Beware!
Diane Holloway Ph.D. , and Johannes F Spreen
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Made in Detroit

Detroit Divided

Detroit, I Do Mind Dying: A Study in Urban Revolution (Classics Series)

The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit (Princeton Studies in American Politics)

Detroit Then and Now (Then & Now)

ASIN: 0595357989

Book Description

Who Killed Detroit explains how the automobile industry, migration of blacks, housing segregation, riot of 1967, rise of radical groups, and the resulting reactions since then have left this great city in shambles. No other American city has offered so much to so many in the first half of the twentieth century. And no other city has collapsed as completely as Detroit in the second half of the twentieth century. Who Killed Detroit explores what can be learned to prevent a similar fate in other cities. Former Detroit Police Commissioner Spreen reveals secret documents that explain the operations of groups that killed Detroit. Blame is laid at the feet of politicians, the press, pressure groups, the police and the people. Rumors that have floated about for 40 years are put to rest. Spreen and Holloway shed light on the forces and psychological factors that bring a city down. They examine problems that still exist and threaten the survival and progress of the city. They also list preventive actions that cities can take to avoid a similar fate.

Customer Reviews:

limited.......2006-05-20

This book is a poor substitute for Thomas Sugrue's "Origins of the Urban Crisis." More sensational and less objective, Holloway's weak prose add very little to the important discourse on the fall of Detroit. At best, this book should be considered a supplement (with its unique sources) to more rigorous and thoughtful writings.

NO WONDER DETROIT DECLINED........2006-04-29

No wonder Detroit declined if this book and Made in Detroit by Clemens are the best one can come up with for an explanation of Detroit's demise. I went to Detroit Labor Day of 2004 and thought it looked liked it had been hit by a neutron bomb. I have yet to find a book that gives a truly thoughtful analysis of what happened to Detroit.
This book is unimaginably poorly written and disorganized. Is the author dyslexic?. Chock full of "more on this later" and "which I discussed earlier". But this book has some amazing facts on the Republic of New African and Aretha Franklin's pastor dad's collusion with black militants. So it is the better of the two books for insights.
Despite the bad writing I would have given it 3 stars for the amazing facts except it peters out badly near the end as the author, a former chief of the Detroit P.D., dwells on his definitions of good policing.

Great message but.........2005-11-03

I enjoyed alot of the facts in this book and I really enjoyed the excerpts from FBI files and such, but I did not enjoy the main author. This book has some real valid and promising advice, but the author injects himself into the book far too much. This book seems less like advice and more like a publicity campaign for the author. Co-authored by Diane Holloway Ph.D., who did alot of the research and I believe is responsible for the excerpts I did enjoy. If you're a die-hard Detroit fan, then I say go ahead and get this book but be warned the author has a pretty crummy current view of the city that's unfair and biased especially since he doesn't live here anymore!

Who Killed Detroit? Other Cities Beware!.......2005-10-26

An interesting book written by the former Police Commissioner of Detroit after the 1967 Riots. He offers his opinion on what it took to bring down the city including: police, citizens, media, politcs, etc. He relys on everything from Playboy Magazine to Sidney Fine (author of Violence in the Model City) to prove his point; that it takes a criminal and a victim to bring down a city. His style of writing is one that doesnt drone on and on for 200 pages, which, of course is very helpful.

So relevant for Detroit today!.......2005-06-30

This former Detroit police commissioner had personal knowledge and documents of the groups that have brought Detroit down, and he tells all in this book. Let's hope the leaders of Detroit pay attention and try to turn things around.

Book Description

Joyce K. Berry is former director of Career-Long Education, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University. She also served as assistant professor, Forest Sciences Department, Colorado State University.

John C. Gordon is Pinchot Professor of Forestry and Environmental Studies, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University.

Customer Reviews:

Skim this title but don't write off Island Press.......2004-02-20

From Island Press in 1993, this collection of essays lacks the insight and inspiration needed to jolt a new generation of environmental leaders. Emphasis in this book is on vague "environmental leadership" rather than leadership skills that can boost the laggard enviro-nonprofit sector to look for opportunites to impliment innovation and reinvent itself to create true social, economic, and environmental change. The essaysist here tend to come out of conservation science and the product is thus technical in nature and content. I fear the tendency for budding enviro-leaders would be to come directly to this text but there is much more for them in the general nonprofit sector leadership books from Drucker, Nanus/Dobbs, et al. I respect Island Press and hope that it will produce the text that will truely inform and inspire that new generation of leaders. Island is the one that is wise enough to do it right next time.

Valuable for industrialists, activists, and regulators.......1997-07-14

This book consists of a series of essays by people with experience or expertise in a certain field or certain type of job. The essays are of varying quality, and not all of them will be relevant to everyone, but it is a valuable book on a subject that isn't well-covered elsewhere

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