4 comments about Not Nice on Ice (Nancy Drew Notebooks #10.

1. I really liked the book .It is now my favorite book. I think this book teaches you not to cheat.I have read other books about Nancy Drew and I really like them. Also Iwant to congratulate the author for a great book.



2. I THINK THAT THIS BOOK IS AMAZINGLY WRITEN BY CARYOLN KEENE AND THERE NOT NICE ON THAT ICE BUT AT THE END ITS NICE ON ICE!!



3. All the girls in River Heights sure would love to be part of the big ice show! It's a chance for even a third-grade student to get her name on the list of flower girls! You can skate out on the ice and pick up all the flowers that fans throw to the champions!
   
   But somebody has no sense of sportsmanship, erasing Nancy Drew's name from the list of girls to participate. Who can the cheater be?
   
   It's only a matter of time, and logical investigation for America's favorite spunky girl detective to pull out her trusty blue notebook and find out who is Not Nice on Ice!
   
   Carolyn Keene has produced yet another tantalizing mystery for young readers, with a fun and exciting setting that girls will all love!
   
   Recommended!



4. I think that book was very interesting and I think we should get the second one. I really really enjoyed it and I think it was very fun and I think the part that was interesting was when Nancy caught the other girl from erasing her name and putting another name. In the end, the other girl was nice to Nancy.

5 comments about Hans Brinker, the Silver Skates (Classics for Young Readers).

1. I remembers Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates as one of my favorite childhood books and wanted to try it again. It was as delightful in my middle age as when I was seven years old. The forward about Mary Mapes Dodge, when she lived and how she came to write, was an added pleasure. The facts about Holland blended with the touching story of Hans and his family make it a nearly perfect read. My 70-something mother-in-law finished the book in a day and liked it as well. To read it is to feel like you are flying down the ice yourself.



2. When I was in grade school, I read a biography of Mary Mapes Dodge. which described her personal life while she was writing Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates.The book became the #1 item on my Christmas wish list and that wish was granted. I read the book numerous times during my lifetime and quite unexpectedly as a corporate wife, I had the quite lovely experience of living in the Netherlands in an extraordinary year when the canals froze and when they had actual ice skate racing and kettle sweeping on the canals. I felt I was living in the story which I had read so many times. I hope today's children read it with all the excitement I did and then get the wonderful opportunity to speak the language and live with the wonderful people there.



3. Hans is great, he's a good boy. The Dutch are great, they work with integrity. All is great about the Dutch- but the plot. Those Dutch children are not a riotous bunch. After reading about ice canal for the umpteenth time...I fell asleep.
   
   Ice is lovely, but not for 20 pages.



4. Hans Brinker is an interesting book on many levels. As an adult I enjoyed the historic look at where "Hollanders" originated and why some of their traditions are as they are. I also enjoyed the moral aspects of honesty, hard work, integrity and care for family. These are all strong positives for the book.
   
   Unfortunately, the plot and story telling left me a bit disappointed. At one point the story shifts dramatically from the Brinker family to an adventure (almost travel narrative with tour guide notes) with other teens who took a skating trip to see other parts of Holland. This just did not fit well together with the main story. The main story is about Hans and his sister Gretel and their parents. The father has had a severe head injury while working on protecting the dikes.
   
   I think kids might find the reading tedious and difficult to follow.



5. Set in Holland during the wintry 1860's this children's classic has proven a literary staple for generations. American author Mary Mapes
   Dodge revels in introducing English-speaking readers to the charm of
   the Netherlands--while displaying her knowledge of its art, customs and proud history. In this land of tulips, storks and windmills the people wage a relentless war and exercise constant vigilance against the encroachment of the sea, which is above the level of the land. Despite quaint customs and folksy costumes the characters remain alive almost a century and a half later, thanks to human attributes which are universally recognized: family values, responsibility, love, friendship, dedication to a common cause, patriotism, generosity, honesty, compassion for those less fortunate.
   
   The Brinker family barely survives on the fringe of society ion a
   humble hut--known locally as the idiot's cottage. Ten years earlier, Raff, the father, fell off a dike, suffering severe brain damage. A danger both to himself and to others he has caused no end of heartache and despair to his harassed wife, who struggles to raise two young children in poverty. As the story opens 15-year-old Hans, now the substitute man of the house, is a remarkable and honest teenager, trying to pursue studies on his own. His 12-year-old sister, Gretel, has never known her father in his right mind, though she bravely tries to help her mother and not fear the man too much. Scorned by Broek snobs as a mere goose girl, Gretel trembles in the face of recurring domestic disaster; she feels guilty about her private, conflicting emotions toward her father.
   
   Two mysteries haunt the Brinker cottage, keeping readers in suspense until their separate denouements: the location of the
   missing family fortune of 10,000 Guilders and the identity of the owner of
   a fine watch bearing the initials L. J. B. If only the invalid could answer all their questions, for these objects changed location the very night of the dike disaster. Throughout the 332 pages the young folks along the canals are excited at the prospect of a Great race in late December, for which the winners in each category will receive a special pair of silver skates. What a prize! But how could poor riffraff like the Brinker siblings afford decent skates even to compete?
   
   Stylistically the pacing is uneven; after introducing mysteries and juvenile antics the author seems to get bogged down for many long chapters when the boys take an extended trip to various Dutch cities--leaving readers wondering about the latest crisis in the Brinker home.
   Thanks to Ben, an English cousin of one of the boy's in Peter's gang,
   We see Holland through foreign eyes--for nationalistic contrast. Despite its dated style, this book is a pleasant read with mild hints for social reform and moral promotion for human compassion, with a very tidy ending.

5 comments about A Skating Life: My Story.

1. Have you ever wondered what it takes to become an Olympic champion? What is the toll this feat exacts from a person? And after the big gold medal win, then what? Sports memoirs are usually interesting because the subjects possess a skill or talent that most of us don't, and we are fascinated to read what it was like to hit that winning home run or participate in that agonizing marathon. When picking up a memoir by Dorothy Hamill, who launched the careers of thousands of would-be skaters as well as creating a hairstyle craze, readers want to know what it was like to win the gold medal in figure skating in 1976, as well as all the hard work that led up to and followed it.
   
   Hamill candidly talks about the sacrifices her family made to enable her to skate at the highest level. She also details openly the ups and downs and the often icy relationship she shared with both parents, especially her mother, who wasn't in the arena in Innsbruck, Austria, that day in February 1976. Her mother remained back at the hotel, an absence that Dorothy never could understand but took as rejection. After the performance, when she told her mother she had won, Hamill was stunned when her mother responded with a laconic, "That's nice, Dorothy."
   
   We're accustomed to seeing an athlete's meteoric rise. But what happens after the competitions and medal ceremonies? Without their rigorous and regimented training schedules, how can these seasoned athletes acclimate to real life again? One of the most interesting aspects of this memoir is Hamill's assessment of just that: "I should have been on top of the world, but I was ill-equipped to handle these new pressures. All I knew how to do was to get up every morning at 4 a.m. to go to the rink and practice. My day had always been planned around structured activity toward a specific goal I cared about. Suddenly, that was gone, and my present life was so hectic and without meaning."
   
   Apart from her skating career, Hamill also talks about her two difficult marriages. The first was to actor/aviator Dean Paul Martin, son of singer Dean Martin, who would die in a plane crash a few years after their divorce. Her second marriage produced a child, her daughter Alex, but was fraught with deceit, placing her in dire financial straits that ultimately had her declaring bankruptcy. She also talks frankly about her lifelong struggle with depression (a family affliction) and, more recently, osteoarthritis --- the bane of every aging athlete's existence. The love of her child and the desire to make a better home for her enabled Hamill to weather the hard times. Apart from her young daughter, her one abiding love was skating. Whenever she felt down or out, she could always count on a little ice time to relieve whatever pain she was feeling.
   
   Despite all the ups and downs and the years that go by, Hamill still remains the little girl in the red skating dress, with that signature haircut that captured the world's attention and hearts. The book also serves as a good primer for the life of a young skater, the physical and emotional involvement, and what the family of an ambitious skater can expect. Both the athletic and the personal sides add up to a pleasing and enlightening read.
   
   --- Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller



2. This is a revealing look into Dorothy Hamill's life from her first moments on the ice at 8 years old, to training to become a Gold Medal winner at the '76 Olympics through her life today. Dorothy Hamill details the sacrifices her family made, the challenges with coaches and training to become an Olympic athlete and how her passion for skating got her through some of the most difficult times in her life.
   
   Dorothy Hamill was my hero growing up. I had the Dorothy haircut, the Dorothy glasses, and spent many afternoons on the skating rink at my grade school trying to teach myself spins and jumps. After reading A SKATING LIFE: MY STORY, she remains my hero.
   
   I never realized what went into becoming serious in a sport like ice skating. The expense of traveling to train with the right coach, traveling to get enough time on the ice to practice, the cost of equipment and trying to get an education while competing in shows around the world was only a part of it. It was inspiring to learn the sacrifices made by Dorothy's family and Dorothy herself, although she never writes much of her own personal sacrifices. I learned so much about the beautiful and challenging sport.
   
   Dorothy's story doesn't end with winning the gold medal in the '76 Olympics. It was only the beginning. She met the love of her life, Dean Paul Martin only to have it end in heartbreak and tragedy. My heart broke right along with her. I so wanted her to live happily ever after and the love that she still feels for her first husband, Dean Paul radiates from the pages. This was when her struggle with depression truly came to the surface, even though she battled with panic disorder and depression all through childhood. The honesty that comes from this book is truly a gift. The painful family issues and frank discussion of depression were courageous.
   
   That being said, I hoped for a bit more about her struggle with depression. There was a lot of publicity about this book and America's Sweetheart suffering from depression for years, but little description of her struggle. It was written in a very matter of fact style without a lot of adjectives. Perhaps that's where we glimpse the real Dorothy. Instead of waxing poetic or dwelling in the difficult, she soldiers on telling her story with respectability and straightforwardness.
   
   She survived another marriage that ended in painful divorce and leaving her a bankrupt single mother. I was so sad and angry for what she endured. And yet she never wrote a bitter word about anyone. I don't know of many of us who could have endured what she did, and remain so humble and without animosity or hostility.
   
   While this wasn't the best written book I have ever reviewed, I had to give it a higher rating for its pure heart and openness.
   
   I think that Dorothy found closure with some of the issues plaguing her. The one issue that will probably always haunt her is the death of her first husband. I have a feeling Dean Paul will continue to be a shadow, watching over her and waiting for her.



3. If her Mother ever realized and/or finally got access to the enormous amount of money Dorothy was sending for her independence? If Dr. Forsythe's first wife told Dorothy about her life with him and how she was treated, or more to the point mistreated by him...I can't believe how blindly Dorothy allowed him to take, and take and take from her, one cannot buy love or devotion. I would have liked to know how Dorothy is doing financially; not exact figures of course, but has she recouped to a degree of financial independence, and with all the money she sent her parents over 7 years, didn't they have the decency to provide her some of her own capital to start fresh and help her young daughter? If they didn't, she needs to shut them out of her life too. Parents are to give to their children willingly, not with strings. Had some of these things been discussed in greater detail, the book would have been infinitely more enjoyable overall.
   
   She was quick to mention Vioxx (which has been recalled), and SHOCKINGLY goes to the very man who betrayed her for medical advice and medication? How foolish. Surely she could afford a "real" doctor who is working for a living and up on the latest advances in osteoarthritis. Someone without an ulterior motive for helping her. There was always a sense of her needing to go back to these men for some sense of self, it is really upsetting and very sad. Dorothy will have to keep her vulnerability in check if she is to escape such mistakes in the future.
   
   She is a lovely skater, a national treasure, but has paid way to high a price for that medal.
   
   Best of luck!



4. I love biographies, but this one left me looking forward to getting to the end. It seemed written through the eyes of an adolecent girl. There was nothing juicy or even interesting. It seemed Dorothy was dealing with the guilt she felt, about treating her mother badly, by writing this book. The binding fell apart half way through. It was a bust in every way possible for me!



5. Dorothy writes in almost too much detail, with a balance between revealing and keeping reserved ; what is written bewteen the lines is enough to fill in the blanks anyone might feel exist. It is curious that although Dorothy has the generosity and presence to reveal to the public a large dimension of her private suffering , benefitting so many who have suffered from depression or lived with a demanding or mentally ill family member , there is still a small faction of readers that want MORE, and this is the bane of her sweet sparkling gifted life. Someone is always asking for MORE! Her parents her husbands the coaches and now readers who feel like she must cut open a vein and bleed on to the pages or describe her bedroom details. Yikes.Dorothy is a giver, a woker who gave 110 percent to the world and the sport and the vultures still circle to pick her bones. One reader noted that she has no bitterness or anger, I think she should get some , and fast. Thank you Dorothy for the book and everything you've given in life...Now make part two of your life for you.

5 comments about Laura Stamm's Power Skating.

1. I was searching for a book or video that would teach me all I needed to know about skating so I could get into inline hockey. This book delivered beyond my expectations! Not only has it allowed me to get all of the basics quickly, it taught me the all important lesson of what to focus on when I'm practicing these skills. I will be using this book for many years to help me continually refine my technique. Although there are some differences between ice and inline skating, all of the techniques covered in this book relate directly.
   
   This book is priceless!!!!!



2. great book but more for beginners. great drills to help build edge control



3. This book has helped me out tremendously! I have an instructor, when he shows me something, and i still don't understand it, i flip this book open, it gives you step by step what you should do and it usually works..
   
   Even on things my instructor does not go over because it's for more advanced than i am currently, this book helps you understand how to at least attempt to do it, and usually it works if you do what the book says..
   
   I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is just start to play ice hockey.. it has helped me out a lot!



4. You must buy it if you found Laura's DVD is the best skating instructional DVD.



5. At the time of this review, I am 31 years old and preparing for my first season of adult hockey. I had almost zero skating experience (aside from maybe three public skating sessions when I was 12 or so years old) when I decided I wanted to play hockey. Before I started taking skating seriously, I would just go out an mess around on the ice for a half hour at a time. All that did was breed bad habits and frustration. Then, I purchased this book: I can't stress to you just how much the descriptions in this book helped form good skating habits while avoiding/undoing the bad ones. Remember, I am a self-taught skater and by no means perfect, but this book solidifed the fundamentals and spelled out the execution necessary to maximize my power. In just three months of practice patterned after the excercises in this book, I feel like a totally different individual than the unbalanced, directionless clown I was when I started out. Consider this book a must-read if you're looking to get into hockey.

5 comments about Young Cam Jansen and the Ice Skate Mystery (Young Cam Jansen).

1. This is a great book for your first grader to step up to the next level with. This book is perfect for catching your young scolars intrest in reading.



2. ...We have most of the Young Cam Jansen paperbacks and recommend them unreservedly for other read-along parents, especially parents of young girls. Less-than-ideal personalities, personal conflicts and misunderstandings are all presented, WITH good resolutions, character modeling, and handling of sticky situations.
   
   The main character is a self-confident, intelligent thinker and investigator, with a boy as her best friend. Not exactly typical, and not for ultraconservative parents who think that only boys should use their minds and have adventures.
   
   One particularly nice aspect is that most of the stories take place outside of a public-school setting, recognizing that most discovery and meaningful social interactions take place outside of that institution -- a point not lost on homeschooling-minded parents. The one public-school setting (see the "Lost Tooth" mystery) is in the Art class, where creativity and fun are the dominant theme.
   
   Get and read the Young Cam Jansen series!....



3. While my daughter, age 3 1/2, is younger than the targeted readers of this series, she has loved Cam Jansen since she was 2. These stories are wonderfully written and illustrated and they encourage children to think. My daughter has red hair and brown eyes just like Cam, and now she wants to have long hair like Cam. I highly recommend all of the Cam Jansen books.



4. You have to love Cam Jansen. When you're a kid, you read all of these stories about magic powers, mystery, and adventure. But everyone tells you magic can't exist. Cam Jansen manages to solve every case without the use of magic... she's a real girl. That's what makes her special and what makes you want to red more and more. Cam Jansen is a real kid superhero, and the thought that a person like her could actually exist... makes her the best kid detective ever! The Ice-Skate Mystery is one of the best in the Young Cam series.



5. I home school my son, he's a struggling reader. The Young Cam Jansen series has proven to be wonderful for the transition to books with smaller type face and more words per page. He's feeling successful and loves to help solve the mystery as he reads them.
   The series has good pictures that relate well to the written text. And the text is well done in short sentences. There are some challenging words here and there, but my son is so engrossed is the story he tries his darndest to sound the word out. As they say nothing suceeds like success.

2 comments about Bravo, Mia! (American Girl).

1. My daughter and I both enjoyed this book. It was great to have further development of Mia's story. No one engages a child's interest like the American Girl!



2. Bravo Mia! was a great book. I think i almost enjoyed it better then the first one. The begininng is really funny when shes Zuzu!!! The pictures our really good and add to the story very well. I thought Laurence Yep did a very good job on the stories, both of them.

3 comments about Conditioning for Skating : Off-Ice Techniques for On-Ice Performance.

1. This is a wonderful book that provides both in-depth analysis of why off ice training is critical to a successful skater and step by step off ice strength and conditioning manual. It totally changed my view of ice skating. It helps my daughter to train smarter. Highly recommend.



2. I highly recommend this book. It details off-ice conditioning programs for singles, pairs, or dance and skaters of all ages and skill levels. Strength training, effective warm-up and cool down, plyometric, and other off-ice conditioning programs are detailed, as well as effectively improving your muscular and cardiovascular conditioning on ice. The only negative to this book is the photos and text explaining some of the moves - they could be a bit more descriptive.
   A great book from a very qualified author. These programs will yield great results on the ice if you put the time and effort in to conditioning.



3. A wealth of information that is hard to find elsewhere. After reading from cover to cover, I handed it over to my daughters coach and together we developed an off ice training regimen that suits her skill level and reflects her goals. Definite improvement in sucessful jumps completed noticed right away.
   
   I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is serious about ice skating.

4 comments about Mia (American Girl).

1. This is a great book for girls of all ages. I have read almost every american girl book ever made and this is definatley a winner! Mia really comes alive in her first book and unlike most books these days her character grows and learns. I would definately recomend this book!



2. I loved this book. I am personally a figure skater myself so I could relate to the book. This book is about a young girl named Mia who is trying to do her best at her sport. This is a good book for girls.



3. Great story about a modern girl who loves hockey and figure-skating. A++ read for 3 generations in our family!



4. I thought this was the best girl of the year american girl books i have ever read!!! Its about a girl named Mia St.Clair who was born in a hockey playing family, but Mia's big dream is to become a skater. When shes asked to perform at the winter show, shes got a lot of practice and learning to do. This is a wonderful book and i recomand it.

5 comments about Undercover (Laura Geringer Books).

1. As a secondary level instructor, I am always seeking well written novels for my students to read. Undercover, by Beth Kephart, is written in a beautifully descriptive tone throughout. She never misses a beat. Elisa, the heroine, is a girl whom most students can easily admire and desire to emulate. This novel helped my students understand why it's necessary to work on their language skills in order to have the power to communicate their feelings, hopes and desires.



2. The Cantors were once a happy family, but now they are drifting apart. The mother and older daughter, Jilly, match, with their gleaming smiles and shiny blond hair. The father is often out of town on business, sending her postcards from other cities. The youngest daughter, Elisa, would rather be alone with her thoughts than gossiping with her classmates.
   
   Elisa has a talent for writing and poetry. At school, she secretly writes love notes for boys to give to the girls they like - the kind of girl she will never be - the kind of girl she has no desire to be. After taking her mother's old skates down to a frozen pond, she discovers a new talent: ice skating. She tries to keep these talents hidden and stay undercover, but, bit by bit, a classmate, a teacher, and her family discover them - discover her.
   
   Written in lyrical, descriptive prose with occasional poems and quotes from Cyrano de Bergerac, Undercover is like Elisa: quietly beautiful, artistic, and hopeful.



3. I love this book so much! It has such imagination and passion, and it is about a teenager who finds herself in the same spot at Cyrano de Bergerac! A lovely book with no swearing, violence, or sex. Perfect read for pretty much anyone!



4. Undercover by Beth Kephart is a book that may impact the way we all look at the world....an old abandoned pond that found a new friend in a young girl looking for her special place. Poems written for the loves of others. A friend in Theo....a true friend. A teacher that sees beyond and reaches far into the words of a young student. Thank you Beth Kephart for writing this most inspirational novel.



5. The book Undercover by Beth Kephart is a moving, lyrical story. It centers on Elisa, a teen girl who writes love poems for the boys at her school to give to other girls. Elisa is truly undercover at her school, having no friends or social connections. This all changes when she writes a poem for Theo Moses. Over time, Theo becomes her confidante and true friend. Elisa falls in love with him but Theo is dating Lila, the resident mean girl. In the midst of the love triangle, the reader gets to know Elisa through her poems, her skating, and her family. The most important thing about the book is not if Elisa will finally get Theo, it's if Elisa will finally break out of her shell, show her true self. In the end, Elisa gloriously breaks free of her constraints and finds the happiness she deserves.
   
   This book reads like a song or poem. Kephart uses all five senses and then some to describe Elisa's world. You simply do not read this book, you fall into it. As I read the pages, I could actually hear Elisa's blades on the ice and the sounds of the forest. The story is very simple, yet Kephart's use of descriptions makes it complex and definitely a stand-out in the world of teen fiction. I highly recommend this book!

4 comments about The Tonya Tapes.

1. In full disclosure, I am the publisher. But I am speaking from the heart when I say you will love this book, written by Lynda Prouse, an award-winning Canadian author. It is perfect summer reading. The format is exciting and engaging, and the editing of Dr. Kyle Torke and myself create a lucid, amazing story of a strong, independent woman. Not only that, but this story tells us much about America, and how we deal with our sports figures, and that is very revealing in itself as sociological study. I keep going back to it to re-read! The formatting of Matthew Ward, the pictures, everything is perfect. This book is great!



2. Geraldo said it best in an interview May 23 2008 on Fox News (right before Tonya appeared the same day), "She (Tonya) is white trailer trash". Nuff said. But really, it's a shame that this type of story dominates our media news cycle, I guess the train wreck is always alluring to read about for most; OJ, the fat chick who died of an overdose a couple of years ago, Britney, whatever... it goes on and on. Success is boring, only the tragic sells, it's a viscous cycle. My advice, just try to tune it out or at least balance it with a good bio like a Jesse Owens or Kareem A Jabbar, Fran Tarkington, Nancy Khwan, Jim Brown, something else other then this trash. Then the publisher self promotes it on Amazon, thats the nail in the coffin for anyone who is actually thinking with a level head. I mean we all know she is one of the ultimate train wrecks, she represented us in the Olympics and did that shoe lace thing is too tight in the middle of the performance, that may have be the last time I actually watched Olympic skating! So there you go, she did a whole lot of bad things to everyone she stood for. She's just a piece of trailer trash, as Geraldo had the guts to say. If you want to buy this go ahead, and you'll see her some more on the airwaves taking up valuable airspace that an uplifting story could replace.



3. Great read. Couldn't put it down.
   
   This book will give you a better, more informed perspective of the life of a severely abused, neglected and disadvantaged athlete who became a victim of abusive circumstances.
   
   I am very impressed with the honesty of this book. I must admit I used to think Tonya Harding was a bad person because of what the media wrote and reported. Not any more - I think Harding was a victim of an abusively violent relationship, and, hence was a good person who was poorly betrayed by the media looking to cash in on bold headlines!
   
   I feel foolish for believing media reports. Based on her statements, to police and in her book, I believe she was not responsible for her psychotic ex's attack on Kerrigan.
   
   How sad that another abusive husband ruins the life of another person because of control issues. He admitted in a past THS interview that he and his partner were solely responsible for hurting Kerrigan. This is almost another OJ Simpson story - the story of a woman's life ruined by a psychotic ex - minus, thankfully, the tragic, heinous murder.
   
   Note - if, in 1994, Tonya had the image consultants that stars have today, she would have been tarnished, as badly, by the 1994 media.
   
   Great read! Five stars.



4. My husband Greg and I have known Tonya for almost 14 years, and have been with her through many trials in her life. Author Lynda Prouse, captures the depth of personal truma as well as triumph in Tonya's life. If you have had an opinion one way or the other about her, this book will either confirm or change that opinion. In all the years that we have been close to her, she has NEVER wavered from the facts, which you will read. This book is an inspiraton for anyone who has ever suffered abuse at the hands of another, and wants to give up. Tonya has gone through so much, yet through her Faith, has gone on, as she beleives there is a better life. Tonya should be cheered, not jeered. I recommend you read this book, as it will inspire you in so many ways.
   Linda Lewis