Chrysanthemum Review

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(More customer reviews)If you were to single out the one picture book author that most successfully puts their finger on the pulse of children's hopes and fears, the award for Greatest Long-Distance Therapist would go to none other than Kevin Henkes. I am a huge fan of "Lily's Purple Plastic Purse" and I found a great deal of enjoyment in "Owen" (though I feel it's not his strongest work). Even "Wemberly Worried" covers a lot of ground by directly confronting the fears of worrywarts everywhere. With "Chrysanthemum", Henkes discusses originality and how being different (even if you're different in name alone) can single you out in both good and bad ways. As a Henkes fan, I consider this book to be amongst his strongest.

Chrysanthemum feels that her name is absolutely perfect. She likes how it looks and she likes how it sounds and she likes that it is her name alone. Everything's going great until Chrysanthemum starts school. Suddenly everyone's making fun of her name. She has a class full of Sams and Eves and Victorias. There doesn't seem to be a place for a girl with as wildly original a name as Chrysanthemum. One student in particular, Victoria, makes it her goal to continually ridicule poor little Chrysanthemum day in and day out. Talking about it with her parents helps a little, but the next day the same thing occurs. It seems that Chrysanthemum is doomed to be unhappy until she meets the music teacher Mrs. Twinkle. Mrs. Delphinium Twinkle. And suddenly everything in Chrysanthemum's life is a whole lot better.

I liked the moral of this lesson and the way in which Chrysanthemum learns that it's okay to be original. I also liked the epilogue in this tale wherein the leader of Chrysanthemum's tormentors abruptly forgets her lines in the school play and our little heroine is vindicated. Call me shallow, but I always enjoy it when the villains in a piece "get their's". This is probably indicative of a singular shallowness on my part. Just the same, the fact that the similarly tormented Molly of the children?s book, "Molly's Pilgrim" never receives any vindication has always bothered me. So kudos to Kevin Henkes for punishing the bad guys mildly! Hear hear!

There are other less personally petty things I like about this book too. I always love a good Henkesian drawing. I love that the parents in these tales are always caring, available, and attentive to their children's needs. In this book I was especially amused by Chrysanthemum's father running to child psychology texts (like "The Inner Mouse Vol. 1: Childhood Anxiety" and "A Rose By Any Other Name...Understanding Identity") to help his daughter. I loved the extraordinarily cool Mrs. Twinkle with her hugely pregnant stomach, ballet shoes, and tail that twists into a musical staff. I loved it all.

If you have a child being teased by fellow classmates for being a little off, this may not be THE best book to offer, but it's pretty darn good. Give it a shot and see what you think. If you love Henkes, you won't be disappointed.

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Fabulosity: What It Is and How to Get It Review

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(More customer reviews)I love hip-hop music and I love shopping, but as a woman gets older, she learns that it's just not cute to have "Bootylicious" on her butt or the name brand in 15 different spots on her shirt. This is why I like Baby Phat clothes, it's hip-hop, it's sporty, but it's classy. I have more Baby Phat jeans than necessary and a few shirts too! So when I heard about her book, I just knew I'd love it. But here's the problem...I feel the same way about Kimora Lee Simmons as I do about India Arie. When I went to see India Arie at the Taste of Chicago, she kept prancing around stage singing "I'm #1." In awards shows, India said things like "I always think I'm going to win..." As much as I'm a fan of her music, I'd never buy it because her ego is out of control. Reading this book made me feel the same way about Kimora. She kept on pointing out how she could do unprofessional things (wear stilettos to work, show up late, yell, talk over people, have modeling shows with people who are not wearing your clothes and front like it's Baby Phat) but coaxing her readers into doing the exact opposite. Every time she said something contradictory, she'd say "But I can do that, because I'm the boss" or "But look at me now!" After awhile, I was rolling my eyes and looking at my stove trying to figure out how to mail her a bucketload of humble pie. I respect women who are confident, but being vain is a complete turn-off. Halfway through the book, I gave up. Maybe it ended on a down-to-earth note, but I couldn't handle it anymore.
She didn't cover how she met Russel Simmons and how they helped each other in business; only stated that she likes to beat him economically. She didn't talk about how she went about picking her staff, only talked about how young they were. She didn't talk about how she chose her clothes, only dogged the clothes that Russell and Run chose. Her idea of showing feelings was talking about how she beat somebody up for knocking her Chanel purse out of her hands or not speaking to her when she was with her husband. It was really juvenile to me--I was waiting for her to tell me something deep. I felt like she was barking orders at me through the book and finally said "Forget it." I will continue to buy her clothes because I love them, but as for this book, nah, I just can't do it.

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This book offers celebrity interest with behind the scenes from fashion shows in Milan to P. Diddy's yacht. It has been reviewed in women's magazines eg "Elle", "Marie Claire", and "Easy Living". It will appeal to Urban as well as mainstream readers. Barbie are creating a Kimora Lee Simmons doll. A lifestyle guide from one of pop culture's most inspirational, stylish, and refreshingly unconventional female power players. At thirty, beauty icon Kimora Lee Simmons is the mistress of her own empire of lifestyle brands, half of one of America's wealthiest couples, mother to two young daughters, and a glamorous staple of the social circuit. Now, in this uplifting and inspiring book, Simmons spills her secrets of how women can use their smarts to build a rich and satisfying life full of success, fun, and, yes, a bit of blinding bling, the "Fabulosity" that every woman deserves.Simmons explains how to balance feminine, stop-them-in-their-tracks glamour with sign-on-the-dotted-line business power; how to get past barriers that exist because of gender, race, or age; how to find a marriageable man who'll support your biggest dreams (while keeping other women at bay); and how to have the most fun of your life while doing it! She gives hundreds of insider tips on fashion, beauty, home decorating, and socializing and explains how she succeeded in business with little formal experience, building a $70 million business out of a T-shirt. Packed with anecdotes and first-person experiences from the catwalks of Paris to P. Diddy's parties, "Fabulosity" takes readers behind the scenes of this diva's diverse, action-packed life and offers insights on how any woman can channel her own "high-profile personality" and creative power, no matter what her own goals may be.

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Noni Says No Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm an elementary school counselor and have not seen many books like this that address being able to say no in a social situation. Lots of kids put up with bad behavior in their friendships because they are afraid if they say "no" they will hurt the other person's feelings and lose them as a friend. As we read, a student pointed out, "Well, if they don't want to be your friend anymore because of that - they weren't your true friend in the first place." Ahhh....music to my ears!
Noni can't say no to Susie because she fears there will be a confrontation or maybe it will end the friendship. Susie on the other hand has no problem saying no. In fact, maybe she needs to learn to be a little more balanced and say yes. It even gets to the point where Noni allows Susie to cut off all of her hair! I kind of appreciated the extreme example. If you don't say no, you can be putting yourself in an awful situation. But Noni finally reaches her limit and has to say no. Before I turned the page to show Susie's reaction we talked about how a good friend should respond when they are told no. So do Noni's fears come true? No, they don't. Susie simply says, "Okay." Just like a good friend should.
This will be in my personal home library as well as at school. It's important to me to raise a kind child, but I worry that in the process some kids can become pushovers. A well balanced child should be empowered to say yes and no in social situations.


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Noni can do many things: she can give her baby brother his bottle, she can help her mother in the kitchen, and she can even walk over to her friend Susie's house. But Noni just can't say "no." When she was very small, it was easy saying "no" to everybody, but now that she has a best friend, she wants to please. Noni can't say "no" to her friend, even when it means she has to hand over a precious toy, or when it means agreeing to a hideous haircut, or even giving up her bed at a sleepover. But when Noni finally finds her voice, the consequences are not what she – or the reader – expects.Heather Hartt-Sussman's story, complemented by the playful illustrations of Geneviève Côté, is a comforting exploration of friendship and of the importance of trusting one's own judgment. Many children (as well as many adults) will root for Noni as she learns that you can stand up for yourself and still be a good friend.

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Princess Briana Review

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(More customer reviews)For one-and-a-half years, I've facilitated a book club of African-American girls. We read two picture books by black authors each month. Among our selections have been award-winners and titles that have made recommended reading lists. Never has a book stimulated such discussion as Yaba Baker's Princess Briana.
The girls, many of whom attend predominantly white schools, could see themselves in what Princess Briana was going through. They talked about what it felt like to be one of the few girls of color. They cheered at the story's triumphant ending. After discussing the themes, they decorated foam crowns and wrote about the quality they love best about themselves.
We celebrated the lesson of the story in a princess parade. The girls strutted their stuff for their moms and then one by one shared their poems. It was beautiful to see them talk about the beauty of their brown skin, richness of their heritage and keenness of their minds. It was one of our best meetings yet.

Princess Briana is a special story. In a world that still struggles to embrace diverse standards of beauty, this book is like balm to the soul.

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The Princess Briana book is a fun, exciting, and inspiring fairytale that touches young girls like no other princess story. Princess Briana is selected to attend a summer camp at a highly-rated school for princesses. Upon her arrival Briana realizes she is different from the other princesses. She begins making drastic physical changes in an effort to attain acceptance from her peers. The engaging story offers up simple truths about self-image, self-esteem, and beauty for all children. Princess Briana gives an encouraging message to young ladies about loving themselves in an entertaining style that will surely make this story your child's favorite.--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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The Playdate Kids: The I Like Me Dance (Book & CD) (Playdate Kids Musical) Review

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(More customer reviews)Colorfully illustrated by W. M. Edwards in a cartoon style that is perfect for children ages 3 to 6, "The I Like Me Dance" by Tim Friedlander is the latest title in the Playdate Kids Publisher series of picturebook titles showcasing the behavioral and psychological skills kids need to grow up into healthy and well-adjusted adults. "The I Like Me Dance" focuses upon the quality of self-esteem and is enhanced with the inclusion of an accompanying DVD. The story is set in an extraordinary zoo where Cosmos, Chloe, Danny and Dakota encounter memorable animals and unforgettable characters. The result is four happy kids who learn to uninhibitedly and non-judgementally dance in their own distinctive styles -- and in the process come to value both themselves and each other. Also highly recommended for preschool, daycare center, elementary school, and community library collections are the other titles in this outstanding Playdate Kids Publishing series: "Island :Potty Party" about potty training; and "Booger Boogie" about using a tissue to blow one's nose.

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Part zoo adventure, part songbook and part early confidence builder, this musical journey boosts a young child's self-esteem through its encouraging text and self-assured tone. Through the rhyme, children can appreciate their individuality and have loads of fun along the way. The included CD and sheet music mean kids can do their own I Like Me Dance at home. Reading level 4-8.

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Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent Review

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(More customer reviews)The endpapers of Lauren Child's remarkably droll masterpiece hints at "Chutes and Ladders," the venerable kids' board game where players jump ahead by landing on squares with ladders, and fall behind by landing on those with chutes. It's a subtle metaphor for the overarching class mobility theme that suffuses this superbly written and illustrated tale of riches won, lost, and found again.
The Bobton-Trents are upper class British to their very marrow, and spend their time lavishly entertaining other upper class hyphenates; to wit, the Elfington-Learies, their "next-door-but-one neighbors, the Davenport-Martines," and the Butterworth-Trotters. (Sure, these are easy jokes, but Child's collage drawings and tone are so inventive and "spot-on" that they seem fresh.) Their baby, Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent (aka "H.") enters this rarified social sphere, and, early on displays prodigal skills in speaking, telephoning his parents (a necessity when you live in a huge mansion, and swimming. While his parents fritter away their time, and, more importantly to the story, their money, "H." and his best friend Stanton Harcourt Saint Bernard, III have fun at their home laboratory, learn obscure Japanese words, and practice table tennis. Lauren Child's madcap interior design encapsulates their idiosyncratic, topsy-turvy lives: The mansion is all squiggly-lined opulence, andthe parents wear wild, textured clothing that matches the wallpaper, and the artsy, modernistic fixtures and decorative look like they might succumb to gravity--or good taste--at any minute. This wealth of artifice, along with the somewhat distant parent -child relationship hint at imminent decline, and that's exactly what happens: The Bobton-Trents spend more than they bring in, and all their servants except the loyal Grimson resign, and even Grimson's loyalty extends only to the next morning. When Stanton Harcourt informs Hubert that the only way out is to sell the manor, Lauren Childs poses the melodramatic questions like the narrator midway through a Rocky and Bullwinkle episode (to which the entire book owes a certain resemblance).
"His parents loved their beautiful mansion. How would they ever cope if they ever found out they were no longer frightfully, frightfully rich?"
"What would happen to Grimshaw?"
"And in any case, where would he put his table-tennis table?"
There's a temporary reprieve when the sporty Bobson-Trents parents every Chinese checker, Scrabble, and Boggle contest they enter, but these good-natured twittish couple soon part with their money. In a too-rapid denouement, the whole family moves to a very tall and much cheaper house right in the city. The parents find more practical ways of enjoying their eccentricities, and Hubert is relieved when he discovers that his parents can live without a fortune, and that he can actually walk to the now-closer parents' room without his cocoa getting cold. Fortunately, `Bobson-Trent' doesn't ask that you take the plot too serious--it's more about style than content--and so the swift resolution is acceptable.
Perhaps in lesser hands, the dry humor, as well as the various fonts, exaggerated perspectives, the mixture of 50's and 60's illustrative styles with Jules Pfeiffer-like rapid line drawings, would seem contrived or gimmicky. However, Lauren Child's wildly satirical tale has a confidence that never looks back. Simply stated, it is one of the most original kids' books I've seen in years, and Child's story and daring illustrations are deeply satisfying. Most elementary- or middle school-aged children will enjoy this slightly askew family, and adults weaned on screwball comedies and the sensibilities of "Bullwinkle" and "Fractured Flickers" comedy will adore this. The book is probably too long for a one-sitting reading, but there are enough episodic breaks that teachers and adults can read it over a few days. Winner of the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal, Lauren Child has written over twenty books, and I'm eagerly looking forward to reading them.

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Andiamo, Weasel Review

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(More customer reviews)In the rolling Tuscan countryside a piccola crow goes into business with a wily weasel. And therein begins the story of Andiamo, Weasel! by Rose Marie Grant and illustrated by Jon Goodell, ($15.95 Alfred A. Knopf.)
This charmingly illustrated children's book is perfect for youngsters of all ages, meaning the grown-ups who read it to the children will enjoy the tale and the telling as much as the little ones. Grown ups reading aloud may even break in to the song "Funiculi, funicula!" more than once!
Youngsters accustomed to hearing parents and grandparents split their speech with words from the old country will feel right at home in this fable. Consider that all the speaking parts in this fable belong to the animals, and they all live in Italy, of course, they'll sprinkle their exchanges with a bit of Italian. (Won't the grown ups delight in translating for the little ones!)
Even the rooster, who only has one word says it in Italian, "Chicchirichi!" Frankly, we've never heard a rooster crow in another language, but if they did, we're sure this is how they'd sound in Italian. (It's that willing-suspension-of-disbelief-thing, we ARE talking about a fable here!) But the best part of that rooster's cameo word is hearing Mom or Dad or a grandparent bringing the word to life, or life to the word and lighting up a child's face.
As the glossary at end of Andiamo, Weasel! explains, piccola is small. So the crow is small and needs the help of the weasel, who ends up being prodded by the title (Andiamo, Weasel!) and rarely succumbs to work after the corn crop is sown while they merrily sing "Funiculi, funicula!"
This fable works on many levels, one of which for the children reading it is to learn that hard work will be rewarded, and that even though they might be small, or piccola, they probably are much stronger than they realize and should stand up for what's right.
As interesting and fun as is the story, I could see reading this aloud and pausing to point out the rich detail capturing the Tuscan farm country. The piccolo crow wears a flower in her straw hat; the weasel wears a neckerchief (as if he could just as easily hold up the next stage coach!) that he later wears around his broken leg when there is work to be done. In the menacing rain corn husks like vipers whirl in the wind under dark clouds.
The piccolo crow enlists the help of a wolf to frighten the weasel into doing the right thing. The wolf could have been drawn to be more scary and imposing a figure - but let's not upset the friends of the wolves in the world. And the tenor frightened off the bandstand by the piccolo crow - why was he a fat, balding man with a handlebar mustache? Ooh fah!
But these minor points are no reason that you shouldn't run out now and buy a copy of Andiamo, Weasel! for every tot you know, from 1 to 101 years old. It's the stuff of which memories are made.

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Artichoke's Heart Review

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(More customer reviews)Rosemary Goode is smart, funny, and sassy, but no one seems to notice. All anyone sees is her weight - all 200 pounds of it. She doesn't fit in at school, she finds herself getting made fun of by the popular Bluebirds, and the only boyfriend she'll ever have is Mr. Hershey, or Mr. M&M.
At the start of a new year, Rosemary finds herself disappointed. Santa just brought her an unwanted treadmill for Christmas and her Aunt Mary gave her tickets to a "Healing the Fat Girl Within" Conference. On top of that, Rosemary's mother has sneakily set up counseling sessions for weight loss.
After a meltdown at her mother's gossipy salon, Rosemary decides she is going to lose the weight - on her terms. Rosemary tries various methods to lose weight, but it's a slow process. When Rosemary's mother is diagnosed with cancer, the distance between them grows even more and Rosemary tries to keep from turning back to food. Things start to look up when Kyle Cox, the school's newest football star, starts to take a notice in Rosemary. But how can popular, good-looking Kyle ever like a girl like Rosemary? And how will Rosemary bridge the ever-growing gap between her and her mother?
ARTICHOKE'S HEART is one of those books I wanted to stay in bed on a rainy day with and never stop reading. The cover and storyline may make you think this is light chick-lit, but the plot digs much deeper and carries a wide range of emotions that are great for any mood.
Rosemary is a fantastic character and her growth throughout the book is realistic. I was cheering her on the whole way through and felt as though I was on the journey with her. I also have to admit I had a bit of a crush on Kyle while reading this book! Author Suzanne Supplee put so much into her characters; they felt real and I didn't want to leave them. The Southern setting added an extra dose of charm to the story. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author in the future!
Reviewed by: Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen

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Just Another Day in My Insanely Real Life Review

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(More customer reviews)I am a 9 1/2 year old girl and I simply can't live without a good book like Just Another Day in My Insanely Real Life. I could not put the book down. The main character had the burden of keeping her family's life together. She expressed her feelings about this by writing stories in her English journal. She has a mean English teacher and her friends are not true friends. Her life gets scrambled and gushed all together at the same time. Barbara Dee writes this fantastic story of life. I can relate to it. I too write stories that help me with my feelings. I also ease my burdens by reading books like this. Two thumbs up and a hip-hip hooray for the book of the day!

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The Little Engine That Could: Deluxe Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)I read this book as a child. As a result, I grew up with the realization that if I tried hard enough and kept at it long enough, almost anything was possible! I also came away from this book realizing that it was good to help others. I believe that it is the SINGULAR most important book that a child 1-5 can have read to them!
Having said that, over the years I have given this story to many children and adults. You DO NOT WANT TO GIVE A PAPERBACK OF THIS STORY!!! Because it is the kind of tale that DESERVES being in a child's life for a long, long time. It is the kind of story that DESERVES to be passed down from generation to generation.
This book is WORTHY of that distinction. And believe it or not, I can recall that even last year I had a difficult time finding a hardback edition of The Little Engine... that was in print.
I can honestly say that this is the NICEST edition of The Little Engine That Could that I have seen. It is surrounded by red foil paper on the edges and on the back! And the pictures are reproduced from the ORIGINAL deluxe editions and are just GORGEOUS.
Does this cost a little more than the paperback? Yes. But it is a book that hopefully your child will even pick up when he is a teenager or a young adult....just to remind himself that yes...he really CAN accomplish a formidable task.

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Just Grace and the Terrible Tutu Review

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(More customer reviews)Just Grace is back in JUST GRACE AND THE TERRIBLE TUTU and I hope she never goes away. Charise Mericle Harper knows young girls and it shows beautifully. Mimi, Grace's best friend is going to be getting a sister. Lily, a 4 year-old moves in next door and immediately takes to Grace but is shy around Mimi. Grace comes up with a plan to get Lily to like Mimi. Grace is a strong personality and I would have liked her as my friend growing up. This is a wonderful read for young girls and it will be made part of my library collection.

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You Are Special (Max Lucado's Wemmicks) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book shows how true freedom for us comes by not being enslaved to the opinions of others. Max Lucado tells the story to communicate to children (and most DEFINITELY to adults as well) that by taking time to experience and remember God's love for us, we can have a deep joy that isn't contingent upon whether people bestow praise (represented by gold stars) or insults (grey dots) upon us. This is a book that I think everyone should read every morning before we start our day, because this simple story illustrates a truth that is essential to our peace, yet so hard for us to keep ahold of. Thank you Max, for reminding us of our infinite and unchanging worth.

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Five Flavors of Dumb Review

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(More customer reviews)Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker.
After mouthing off to her high school's "it" band Dumb, Piper is stuck being their manager and has one month to get them a paying gig. She doesn't want to do it, but her parents raided her college fund to pay for an operation for her sister and Piper needs money. However, it's going to take a lot of work to turn Dumb into a commercial band. Between recruiting new members (one of whom lacks any talent), keeping the five flavors of Dumb from killing each other, pulling some cunning tricks to get Dumb places, fighting and making up with her family, and learning what music's all about, Piper has a lot on her plate. She can handle it. Well, she can if people will stop using her deafness as an excuse why she can't handle it.
I have heard nothing but praise for this book and was dying to get my paws on it and read it. That praise? Yeah, it is all deserved. This book is so good that it gave me the strong urge to cut my hair and dye it Atomic Pink.
It's not everyday you see characterization this strong in a young adult novel anymore. Get this: For once, the characters are deeper than puddles! Piper, as our heroine, is not perfect. She isn't always nice, she tricks people many times, and she provokes people more than once. She's also cunning, good at finding loopholes, and comes to see the band as more than a way to make money. Instead of her deafness characterizing her and being a disability, it's just another part of her. In fact, the abilities of lip-reading and signing that she gained because of her "disability" turn out to be valuable assets that help Dumb get ahead. She is deaf, but deaf is not her.
But the real star of this novel? That would be Kallie Sims, the "perfect girl" deconstructed. Initially, Piper dislikes her for being so perfect and as the novel goes on, the reader discovers that Kallie isn't perfect; she's a girl just like Piper. Kallie has a not-so-ideal home life, her fashionable clothes (that are bought with her mother's employee discount) get made fun of by her "friends" for being last season, and while she loves music with all her heart and connects with it in a way few people do, she can't play an instrument to save her life. This perfect girl is as imperfect as everyone else and even when she takes center stage late in the novel, she is still just a girl. I love Kallie. I'd love to see a sequel one day through her point of view.
Other characters, like angry green-haired guitarist Tash and Piper's music-loving brother/translator Finn, get their touches of depth too. Even Piper's parents get some depth! How often are the parents more than just background characters like this? The scenes where Piper fought with her dad or exhibited jealousy towards her baby sister Grace genuinely tugged at my heart strings. In fact, this had to be one of the most "real" novels I've ever read. Everything about it, from Piper's discovery of what music is about and who she is to the fight she has with her family to the fight the band has among themselves, felt so real to me.
Five Flavors of Dumb also gave me the worst case of novel whiplash I've ever had. On one page, I would be laughing so hard (my favorite quote came off page two and to preserve the magic, I will not speak of it) that I was given strange looks by other people if I was reading in public; in a few more pages, I would be ready to bawl like a baby because of any particular scene I found heart-wrenching. My poor Mom thought I was having mood swings! And keep in mind, of course, that I'm not an emotional reader. If I weren't so lazy, I would make a "made me cry" and "made me laugh" tag so people could see just how rare it gets.
Five Flavors of Dumb is now one of my favorite books of all time and I don't slap that label on books lightly. Only four other books have that title and this one right here is number five. I recommend this book to absolutely anyone. As long as you don't hate music (especially rock music), I think you'll enjoy Five Flavors of Dumb.

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Jersey Tomatoes are the Best Review

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(More customer reviews)JERSEY TOMATOES ARE THE BEST is a deceptively light contemporary story that delves into the darker side of sports without getting preachy. Whether you're an athlete or not, girl or not, you'll find something to enjoy in this moving yet fun novel.
Henry and Eva are Jersey girls, best friends, and hardcore athletes. Henry is New Jersey's junior tennis champion, and Eva is on her way to becoming a world-renown ballet dancer. Their friendship has sustained them through disappointments and demanding parents, but when they separate to go off to different summer adventures--Henry to a nationally ranked tennis academy, Eva to the ultra-competitive New York School of Dance--can their friendship last through their different experiences and some shocking changes?
Padian's straightforward narration makes it very easy to relate to these Henry and Eva's situations. Few of us may be on Henry and Eva's level in terms of athletics, but it was still eye-opening to read about all the pressure they faced, the difficult choices they had to make. I thought that the girls' relationships with their parents was a pretty shockingly true portrayal of some overinvolved, living-out-their-dreams-through-their-children parents. The parents were realistically overwhelming: I didn't consider them exaggerations of the type, and instead could totally see this happening.
I am envious of Henry and Eva's friendship. These two, equal in pretty much everything, such as skill, looks, and wit, still displayed normal feelings of envy or inferiority at times. It was clear that the girls cared for each other very much, and yet their lives were clearly not wrapped up in the other's: they both have separate interests and dreams, after all.
Eva's heartbreaking eating disorder will resonate with anyone who has felt insecure in their bodies, often for all the wrong reasons. The voice in her head that yells at her felt a little extreme to me at times, but I am not one to judge for the voice's "accuracy;" I just recognize that this is something that definitely happens to people. Henry's romance at tennis camp also felt slightly contrived at times. Again, however, it may be that that was the point: their relationship was inseparable from their budding fame as star tennis players. And finally, as a Jersey girl myself, I thought it felt a little weird and unrealistic whenever Henry and Eva "acted Joisey": do people really do that? But hey, maybe they do.
These points didn't detract from my engagement with the story as a whole, however. JERSEY TOMATOES ARE THE BEST is a solid contemporary read, one that I would highly recommend to people looking for a good book involving female athletes.

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What Is Your Self-Worth?: A Woman's Guide to Validation Review

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(More customer reviews)What is your self worth, by Cheryl Saban is A MUST READ! I have read most motivational books that have been published throughout the years -but this one is truly the real deal. It inspires everyone in a honest and authentic way to search within and find our own inner strength and self love. I guarantee that you will want to run out and get this book for everyone you know!

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Psychologist, philanthropist, and family advocate Cheryl Saban, Ph.D., is on a mission! What Is Your Self-Worth? is a call to action for women around the world to take a look at how society perceives them, how they perceive themselves, and how women can adopt a personal mind-set (choosing happiness). You can form new habits! You can find your voice! Unlearn a perceived lack of control over your life. Uncover, rediscover, and express the worth that is innately yours, regardless of what others may say or do to make you doubt it. Your core authentic self is your truth . . . what you believe in and care about, where you come from, who you are. With a strong sense of self, you are able to view outside influences objectively . . . as merely outside influences.
With interactive tasks and quizzes for self-assessment and growth that uniquely personalize the book for you, Cheryl helps you proactively express and own your sense of validity. She reveals the simple yet powerful truth about a womans self-worth through relevant research and by divulging her own personal life challenges and triumphs, including the horror of rape; the marginalization of divorce; the difficulty of single-parenthood; and ultimately a fulfilling 20-year marriage and a dynamic, successful life.
Once you have rediscovered yourself, you will be eager to pass this knowledge forward to your daughters and sons.
One hundred percent of the authors proceeds from this book will benefit womens funds. Free Self Worth, 50-page Workbook, $9.95 Value with Proof of Purchase Code!

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You Are Mine and If Only I Had a Green Nose (2 Books in 1) (Wemmicks Collection) Review

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(More customer reviews)I love how the book teaches you that you're special because of the way God made you, as an individual - my 3 year old loves this book and we enjoy the main character Punchinello very much - because he's not perfect but he learns something with each story! Excellent book.

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Bigger, better, and more is how theworld determines who is special and who is not. It's a message kidshear every day. But it's not God's message.

Just like Punchinello, we all want to fit in-to be accepted bythe crowd. But at times that may mean either looking and actinglike others or risking being rejected.

God's truth is simple and unchanging, reminding us that it's notwhat we have that counts, but whose we are. This is a truth thelovable Wemmick, Punchinello, hears again at the knee of Eli, hiscreator.

Punchinello's hard-learned lessons show us how important it isto be who we were created to be, and why that matters. Let the twowonderful tales You Are Mine and If Only I Had a GreenNose-as 2 Books in 1-help you remember these important things:you were made the way you are for a reason, and there is Someonewho will always help you be you-wonderfully you.

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Stand Straight, Ella Kate Review

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(More customer reviews)Don't we all love giants? Female ones, at that !
For anyone who thinks Fiona (Shrek's companion and confidante) is THE coolest female giant around, you HAVE GOT to read about Ella Kate !!
Stand Straight is totally inspiring and accessible. Wonderful for kids of any age.
This book is magical. God bless the Klise sisters. If this is your very-first Klise book, you are a little behind the curve. Not to worry, there are plenty of opportunities to catch up. Check out their Regarding the... series (e.g., Fountain, Bathroom, Bees, Trees and Sink), and their AWESOME (and slightly spooky) 43 Cemetery Road series !
Somebody needs to nominate these sisters for a Caldecott, a Newberry.. or heck, a Pulitzer !

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