Editorial Review

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Reviews (59)

Major Disagreements
While I realize that many readers enjoy approaching a topic through the author's personal experiences, people like myself will find much of this book self indulgent.
Great informative book with heart and facts about adopting in China.
This book is very easy to read if you are thinking of adopting or are adopting from China.It is full of information on chinese culture, the adoption process, and what may happen after you get back home.Some parts brought tears to my eyes, but I am a bit sappy.I would recommend this book to people adopting, thinking of adopting from China, or those who have already adopted.It really gives a lot of information on Chinese history and why so many little baby girls are abandoned shortly after birth.My heart goes out to all the lost daughters and I hope they are all given the chance to find a forever family.

ten thousand stars
This is one of those rare books that I can't praise highly enough.I won't summarize it because others have done so.
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Subjects:  1. Abandoned children    2. Adoption    3. Asia - China    4. Children's Studies    5. China    6. Chinese    7. Family & Relationships    8. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    9. Family/Marriage    10. Minority Studies - General    11. Orphanages    12. Sociology    13. United States    14. Women's Studies - General    15. Biography: general    16. Family & Relationships / Adoption    17. Women's studies   

Reviews (14)

Good Stories and Good Message
I bought this book after I'd read The Circuit because I needed to find out what happened to the family.I was intrigued by both books, found them fairly easy reading, and believe that they open up opportunities for discussion with teens.Thought provoking, well-written, very descriptive, somewhat depressing although I found the characters' spirit amazing and inspiring, and all together a very good read.Great for young adults as well as adults...highly recommended.

What's Happening?
Francisco's family gets sent to Mexico, because they were in California illegally. When they get to come back legally the family gets a little split up, due to work and such. Roberto has to return to their barrack because of his janitor job. Papa can not work because of his back so the rest of the family goes to visit family and get Papa's back checked. Will Papa get better? Roberto gets replaced on his janitor job. Will Roberto get a job? What can the family do without the little money they must earn in long hard hours? That would be something to think about.
breaking through
I recommend this novel Breaking Through because it is a good novel.It has excellent word choice.The characters in the novel are believable the setting are believable.The setting is good it is not great because the setting is a little foggy because the people are move a little fast.The novel has a good starting and ending.
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Subjects:  1. Agricultural laborers    2. Biography & Autobiography - General    3. California    4. Children's 12-Up - Literature - Classics    5. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    6. Classics    7. Fiction    8. Juvenile Nonfiction    9. Juvenile fiction    10. Mexican Americans    11. People & Places - United States - Hispanic/Latino    12. Juvenile Fiction / Ethnic / Hispanic & Latino   

Editorial Review

Picking up the thread where her debut memoir-in-comics concluded, Read more

Reviews (35)

Awesome!
This book was great! I found myself laughing sometimes as well as intrigued. This is a kind of book that once you start reading it, you can't put it back down. If you read and liked Persepolis 1, you'll like this one.

More scenes from one woman's life
This time, the scenes are drawn from her teen years through young adulthoood. Some of the moments should be familiar to anyone - like that pre-adult growth spurt where all the parts seem to be in the wrong places. Other themes will sound familiar, though not in such literal ways. For example, Satrapi describes living in peaceful Europe, herself a daughter of war; at the same time, she describes holding western views about freedom in a country where a pair of red socks is grounds for adminstrative discipline. That sense of being an alien everywhere will ring true for many readers, whether or not their reasons are as overwhelming as hers.
Surprisingly interesting
It causes wonder with its sensitive and prudent style and, ultimately, by its incredibly smart, honest and thoughtful result. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1969-    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography And Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Comic books, strips, etc    7. Ethnic Cultures - General    8. Fine Arts    9. Literary    10. Middle East - General    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Satrapi, Marjane,    13. Women    14. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Reviews (91)

RAIN OF GOLD IS GOLD
One of the best non-fiction reads ever! I met the author a few months ago and am sorry I did not read this book years ago. It is a classic true story of his two grandmothers and their families plights in coming to America from Mexico. Get it!

This book is worthless trash, except is you want to exhalt .....
Senior Villasenor's criminal family background. This is the type of book that gets awards from liberal hispanics and the politically correct establishment.
Wonderful tale of passion and family
Once you got into the heart of this book you start to feel like you know the characters and you start to believe as if they are family.A lot of the stories and tales are similar to what have been passed down and shared in my family.I couldn't stop reading the book and finished it within a week.If you enjoyed this book you will enjoy learning more about Villasenor's family in some of his other great books. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. California    6. Ethnic Cultures - General    7. Family    8. Latin America - Mexico    9. Literary    10. Mexican Americans    11. Minority Studies - General    12. Villaseänor family    13. Villaseänor, Victor    14. History / Mexico   

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Encyclopedias    3. Ethnic Studies - Hispanic American Studies    4. Hispanic American women    5. Reference    6. Sociology    7. Women's Studies - History    8. American studies    9. Latin America    10. Social & cultural anthropology    11. USA   

Reviews (3)

Deeply Moving Memoir
In this poignant,intensely personal and informative memoir Nahid Rachlin traces her life from her childhood under the Shah, through the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which she witnessed from America, where she was living at that point, to a bittersweet reunion with a family both shattered and healed by the tragedies that have befallen them. The way her life goes in a different direction from that of her beloved sister, as she remains in Iran and she comes to the U.S., offers great insights into the dynamics of the culture they lived in and how it affected each. It is a story of painful separations, heartbreaking losses, and hard-won freedoms. It has the same mesmerizing power as her novels, lingering in the mind after we have finished reading the book.
A Powerful Memoir
This book kept me up all night. Among other things it gave me a glimpse into the inner workings of Iranian family life and the author's creative development. As a fan of Nahid Rachlin's fiction, I wanted to know more about her own life; Persian Girls has given me an insight into that life and its emotional conflict. It reveals the suffering that many women, among them her sister, and the aunt who raised her as a child, endure in many Islamic cultures--the limitations imposed on them by the legal system and their families, especially the husbands who rule over them with tyrannical power. The oppressiveness and the pain of separation the author endured when her father took her away from her aunt the only mother she knew as a child (and forced her to live with him and her biological mother and siblings) are deeply conveyed. And so is the strength the author found within herself that allowed her to break away from these restrictions and create another life in America.

A Riviting Story of Oppresion and Hope.
During my careful read of this extraordinarily meaningful and important book written by respected author Nahid Rachlin, a deep forboding feeling of gloom and heavy weights continued to cover my spirit. So powerful is the tale of the two Iranian sisters Rachlin writes about: one who is able to essentially flee Iran to America to persue the freedom of her artistic desires, while the other sister is tragically confined to a similiar fate of many oppressed women post-Shah: pre-determined marriage, mental and physical abuse by an arrogant husband suitor, divorce, seperation from children, and the downward spiral of loss of self dignity and hope for a better tomorrow.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Ethnic Cultures - General    7. Iran    8. Iran - History    9. Iranian American authors    10. Iranian American women    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Social conditions    13. Women    14. Women In Islam    15. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Reviews (30)

Churchill was begging....
After the fall of France in June 1940, Winston Churchill was begging USA President Roosevelt for military aid (in fact, all sorts of support was then needed) as no one knew what would the 'fate' of the French fleet was going to be.
absolutely a delight to read
I was adrift when I finished this volume.
solitary courage
No better profile of Churchill 1932-40 exists. Whetted with acrimony and disdain, Churchill is ultimately proved right (and his real task commences).
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Subjects:  1. 1874-1965    2. 20th century    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Churchill, Winston,    7. Foreign relations    8. Great Britain    9. Great Britain - History - 20th Century    10. Historical - British    11. Political    12. Politics and government    13. Sir,    14. Biography & Autobiography / Political    15. British & Irish history: c 1700 to c 1900    16. United Kingdom, Great Britain   

Reviews (7)

Disappointing
The story of the blind hatred and inhumanity whipped up by the Nazis needs to be told - and told often.But it deserves a more nuanced telling than this single-dimensional presentation.This account is all bright colors (first quarter) and darkness (remainder), with little in between.
Decadence and Poverty of Wartime Shanghai
I thoroughly enjoyed "Ten Green Bottles".Unlike other books on Shanghai of that period, I particularly relished the intimate glimpse of the extreme wealth and decadence that was ongoing alongside the abject poverty of the immigrants that fled Europe.Much is written here of how people of many nations with unimaginable wealth made Shanghai their "sumptuous playground" between the stench and filth of the city.
A story that should not be forgotten
This story about the experiences of a Viennese Jewish family in Shanghai perfectly fulfills two raison d'etre of books - on the one hand it allows the reader to enter a time-warp machine and be transplanted to another time and another place and vicariously live through the emotional upheavals, the smells, sights, sounds and most importantly the feelings of fear, frustration, Angst and yes, fortunately also joy, of the main characters.Vivian Kaplan is a master of setting the scene and allowing the reader to slip into the protagonist's skin.I have lived and worked in Vienna and also in Northern China (albeit at a much later time) and Vivian's writing rings true.The chapters in the book are like 3-D images conjured up for the reader (and would make a very gripping screenplay).The other raison d'etre of books is to preserve and hand down important happenings and narrate them in a gripping and thought-provoking manner.The manner in which the Jews in Austria and elsewhere were treated by an Austrian madman who managed to come to power in Germany should never be forgotten. More importantly, we all need to be vigilant that such events happen less and less frequently in the history of humankind.Although familiar with the story of displaced Jews from German-speaking countries as I (like the author) am offspring, I was unable to put down the book.What Nini Karpel's mother had to experience in one short lifetime is more than most people should have to live through.The book also helped me understand the initial inertia of many Jews in Vienna to the anti-Semitic flare-up in the 1920s and 30s."Oh, we've seen this many times, let's just lie low and wait for it to blow over". Writing in the present tense made the story more immediate.However, despite the fact that the book had its share of gruesome scenes, overall the manner in which Nini viewed the world seemed overly rosy-colored and syrupy sweet.The naive tone that permeates the book distracts from the serious situation in which these refugees find themselves.Even a five-year old would know better than to state 'we are awed by the changes in the babywithin his first year.Every day he seems to learn some new word...'p.5.Should the book get reprinted, I suggest a German-speaking editor correct some of the German words.The great Ferris wheel in Vienna is no 'Reisenrad' p.77 and the 'Fuhrer' should be spelled 'Fuehrer'.But overall we are better off for having another story capture the senseless suffering human beings will inflict upon one another. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Austria    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. China    7. Ethnic Cultures - General    8. Historical - General    9. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    10. Jewish - General    11. Jews, Austrian    12. Karpel, Nini    13. Refugees, Jewish    14. Shanghai    15. The Holocaust   

Editorial Review

Order this book ... and please don't be put off by its pallid subtitle, Read more

Reviews (558)

One Man's Identity Crisis
"The Color of Water" is a very good piece of reading material written by Mr. James McBride, a noted journalist, composer, and musician. McBride is a very successful man and, in his mind, he has his mother to thank for it. He wrote this book as a tribute to the mother that raised him and his other eleven siblings, showing the positive impact that her life lessons had on him and the other members of the family.
A Stunning Read
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to his White Mother by James McBride is a powerful, stunning book.It is both a biography and an autobiography, for it tells the life story of the author's mother intertwined skillfully in the author's own.
Never mind the woman and who she is, but hurray for Mommy, right?
Yeah, I know I'll get shot down for the low rating, but I don't really care. The book gets glowing reviews for the most part, because most people find it touching and beautiful, and people like reading something that makes them feel all warm inside. I appreciate the feeling as much as the next person, but, really, I need more to like a book!
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Discrimination & Racism    5. Mothers    6. Mothers and sons    7. Mulattoes    8. New York    9. New York (State)    10. People of Color    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Social Science    13. Sociology    14. Biography & Autobiography    15. Black studies    16. Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations   

Reviews (25)

A touching story
A Tale of Love and Darkness is a hilarious though serious book about the life of the author in the historical setting of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Being the great storyteller he is, Amos Oz made the true events so easy to relate to, and as such this book is remarkable.Also liked Usurper and Other Stories, which I have included in my collection.

Lyrical memories
A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS is a deeply poignant, lyrical tapestry of memories that will be much loved by admirers of Oz's work. The prose is finely crafted, as we'd expect from a writer of Oz's stature. This book is not a memoir, as such--its narrative is not linear, but waxes and wanes through various themes. Arching over the narrative is the shadow of Oz's loss of his mother. My one reservation about the book is that I feel Oz withholds from us--it's never really adequately explained why he changed his name to Oz or what train of thoughts led him to do this. Was he attempting to erase the trauma of his profound loss? Regardless, this work will linger with you after you finish its final pages.

Brilliant piece of storytelling but, alas, not a memoir
Amos Oz likes to say "the first thing you should know about [his] autobiography is that it's not an autobiography. It's an imposition forced on [him] by the Library of Congress." An interesting confession considering "A Tale" was publishedunder the genre "memoir" and went on to reap much acclaim - and quite a bit of money -- as a memoir, including The Koret Jewish Book Award for Autobiography. Asked by befuddled interviewers to clarify himself, Mr. Oz will say only that having asked the dead into his home, "they told him the stories he never heard". This is a writerly response, with much truth and sense, but it doesn't excuse Mr. Oz for allowing his publisher to tout the work as a memoir or to blame the Library of Congress. Actually, a good old-fashioned name already exists: a semi-biographical novel. Or, if that's not hip enough, call it a post-modernist novel, then, a nod and a wink to the reader to figure out what is real and what isn't. As it stands,the many fans of Mr. Oz ---until now I've considered myself one --- believe they're hearing true stories, not stories conjured by the artist if he listens hard. This year we've been brutal on American writers who've played on the popular taste for truth; we've held them to standards and shouted "foul" when they haven't lived up to them. It saddens me that a great fiction writer like Mr. Oz hasn't held himself to a higher standard. "Oz" in Hebrew, we're reminded again and again, means "strength." As a "moral conscience of the modern world", as we're also reminded
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Childhood Memoir    5. Historical - General    6. Jewish    7. Literary    8. Personal Memoirs    9. History / Jewish   

Reviews (9)

A guy we can all relate to
This book is warm and generous, just like its author.He's a guy just like the rest of us with fears, joys, sorrows, disappointments, peeves, and some great accomplishments.I loved sharing his life with him, and thank him for being so open.

Disappointing--shallower than anticipated

Presidential Aspirant for 2008?
In my opinion, politicians write an autobiography for one of three reasons:to salvage his or her reputation(i.e. Richard M. Nixon), to promote his or her legacy (i.e. Ronald Reagan), or to start the journey to claim the prize that he or she wants (i.e. Stewardship of the White House as President of the United States).
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Subjects:  1. 1947 Nov. 15-    2. 1951-    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Governors    8. Hispanic Americans In The U.S.    9. New Mexico    10. New Mexico - State Government    11. People of Color    12. Personal Memoirs    13. Political    14. Politics and government    15. Politics/International Relations    16. Richardson, Bill,    17. Biography & Autobiography / Political   

Editorial Review

Founded in the late 18th century by expatriate German Jews, the London-based House of Rothschild was within decades the largest banking enterprise in the world. Its principals controlled a vast portion of the industrial world's wealth--more so, Oxford historianNiall Ferguson writes, than any family has since--and as a result enjoyed tremendous political influence in the major capitals of Europe, counting as allies such important figures as Metternich and Wellington. That influence would provoke countless anti-Semitic tracts fulminating against Jewish usury and against the power of "Eastern potentates" in the empires of England and France. Although the Rothschilds were well aware of their power and not reluctant to use it, they operated fairly, Ferguson notes. For example, whereas lending rates in the textile industry, in which the Rothschilds got their start, were often 20 percent, the fledgling house charged 5 to 9 percent. Through shrewd, complex negotiations they helped promote peace and the beginnings of economic union throughout Europe.Read more

Reviews (15)

Great book by Ferguson on monied surrupticious Euro family...
[Also see: Fritz Springmeier's Bloodlines of the
A little too detailed
I have to start out by saying overall I enjoyed the book but I would only rate it as an average book. It is a little too detailed and didn't keep my interest from one chapter to the next. It would have been better if it left out 150 pages or so. I found myself doing a lot of skiming over what I would say was boring filler in the book. You can learn a lot about the type of business that that Rothschilds were in but not a lot of how they went about doing it.
Much more than a family saga
Those who already know Niall Ferguson do not need any praise for the books he writes: a few years ago I chanced to read his excellent "The Cash Nexus" and this led me to "The Pity of War" and finally to "The House of Rothschild".
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Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. Bankers    3. Banks and banking    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Europe    8. Europe - General    9. History    10. History - General History    11. Jews    12. Rich & Famous    13. Banking    14. Biography & Autobiography / Rich & Famous    15. Biography: general    16. c 1700 to c 1800    17. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (11)

great book
I had shunned the chicken soup series a few years ago. As inspirational as they were they were not representative of the diversity in the western world and too eurocentric. When I heard about this book I thought I'd give it a try and it's nice to read something different yet very inspirational at the same time. It helped me understand a culture different from mine yet similar at the same time. I hope a chicken soup for the south asian's soul will be next, profiling stories of those who trace their origins to the indian subcontinent and relating to their religions, cultural values and so forth in the north american context.

The Best Stories About African Americans with a positive taste.
I am still reading the my book, but so far have enjoyed it immensely. The book is the best I've read from the Chicken soup for the Soul writers. I've enjoyed all the materials they written. I've shared them with lots of my friends. But this one is Special. I've told my friends that they need to purchase this book. Most excellent educational reading stories.
Your Soul will be uplifted!
I have read many in the chicken Soup for the Soul series and like me many of you might only buy the ones that seem to call to you like if your a mother you get the mother one and if your a sister you get that one etc... But I tell you this sometimes you learn your best lessons or gain more from books that are not in your normal realm of reading or that has a cultural background that is not the same as yours. I mention this because I am Caucasian/American Indian and I learned more and received more from this book in the series than any other one I have read. The stories made me laugh, cry and rejoice! Here are some of my favorites in the order in which I was moved by their stories... Confessions of an Ex-Con By Dennis Mitchell, Something Unbelievable (Mary Spio) , Ripples in the pond (Tyrone Dawkins) The Opening of a New World (Malcom X) Black Children DO read (Wade Hudson) Remembering Eric (Tracy-Clausell- Alexander) In Sickness and in Health ( Dorothy C. Randle) It Runs in the Family (Jarralynne Agee), Life After Death ( Ivonne Pointer).
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Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Anecdotes    3. Biography    4. Blacks In The U.S.    5. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    6. History    7. Inspirational    8. Inspirational - General    9. Motivational & Inspirational    10. Personal Growth - General    11. Personal Growth - Happiness    12. Self-Help    13. Social conditions    14. Spiritual Healing    15. Self-Help / Personal Growth / General   

Reviews (4)

An exceptional novel-
After reading this book I completely agree with the crowd. La travesia de Enrique is an interesting read especially if you are interested in knowing the details about what children and adults experience in their journey to the USA from Central America in hopes for a better life and future. The author is a journalist and experienced the journey first hand herself, a daring experience that she wanted to endure in order to make writing the book very accurate.
Worth every penny!
La Travesia de Enrique es unos de los mejores libros que he leido en mi vida. Sonia Nazario habla de una manera tan viva que es como estar mirando una pelicula. La historia en si llega al corazon de cualquier persona y al mismo tiempo nos abre los ojos ante la dificil situacion que afrentan muchisimas familias hoy en dia.

Muy buen libro para reflexionar.
Hace poco adquiri este libro y tengo que ser honesta desde que lo empeze a leer no queria parar, me llama tanto la atencion de todo lo que pasan estas personas con tal de conseguir un sueno.
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Case studies    3. Emigration & Immigration    4. Emigration And Immigration    5. Ethnic Cultures - General    6. Honduras    7. Immigration and emigration    8. Social Science