Amazon.com
In a luminous debut novel that Toni Morrison declared "truly extraordinary," A.J. Verdelle tells the story of young Denise Palms, transplanted from her grandmother's rural Virginia home to the chaos of big-city Detroit in 1963 to help care for the baby her mother and stepfather are expecting. PEN/Faulkner Award Finalist.
Book Description
A brilliant, eye-opening, and critically acclaimed debut novel that follows a young black girl's coming of age as she comes to question the legacies of her family and culture and begins to determine her course for the future.
Customer Reviews:
Sow's Ear to Silk Purse.......2005-01-06
A.J. Verdelle tells the compelling story of a young girl who is destined to become a working class drudge just like her mother until the intervention of an uncompromising educator who recognizes her brilliance. Miss Pearson inspires Denise to shrug off her country ways and don the mantle of the educated, but the task is not completed before an addition to the family threatens Denise's further education.
The Good Negress is an earthy coming of age story whose realism took me back to some of my grandmother's favorite sayings and doings. The only disappointment was the disjointed flashbacks which make the story choppy at times. Still, the language is lyrical and the characters amazingly drawn.
Disappointed.......2003-05-11
This book made no sense. One gets the idea, but then it is lost over and over with the way the author bounced from the time periods then back again so much so that one is pertually confused. The ending, well it is no ending, just another beginning that never got concluded as many other beginnings through the entire book. If this is the style and calibar of the authors writing, I will not be reading anymore books by her.
Coming of age story.......2002-07-05
This is the coming of age story of Denise Palms. Denise has to move back in with her mom,stepfather, and brothers to help with her mother's incoming baby. Denise had been staying with her grandmother in Virginia, Denise mother had left here there when she was five, which hurt Denise a lot. Denise has to get used to the city life of Detroit, and also having to stay after the school so the teacher can teacher her better grammer, instead of her country talking. The story is a good read the young girls can relate too. The storyline is hard to follow at times.
Thought Provoking and Poignant!.......2001-11-09
The Good Negress was a thought provoking and poignant novel from first-time novelist AJ Verdell. It's a coming-of-age story regarding young Denise Palmer who's uprooted from the grandmother who raised her to go and live with her mom and stepfather in Detroit, MI. Denise has lived in the South with her grandmother for most of her childhood, but when she is 12 years old...old enough to baby-sit, clean house and cook dinner her mother demands that she moves to Detroit to live with her, her stepfather and her other siblings. Life in Detroit isn't easy for Denise as her mother is overbearing and never seems to let up. In spite of it all, Denise manages to do well in school and is able to attend college on a scholarship. The Good Negress is a story that makes you think and deal with a gamut of emotions. It was a very good read and I think it could have been a stellar read if the transition between past and present and South vs. North geography were more smooth and fluid. The Good Negress is a sad and disturbing story at times but in the end determination, independence and wisdom conquer the day. A great read for a bookclub discussion.
A "Good" Book; Could Have Been Better........2000-06-12
THE GOOD NEGRESS would have gotten a higher rating from me if it didn't shift so much in time frames. First she's in the country, then she's in the city, then she thinks about the time that something happened in the country that was relevent to the present, and the story takes us back there, then stays. Then, we are back in the present, without so much as an acknowledgment of the transition. WHEW! Still, this coming of age story was pretty good. It felt like more of a filler during my downtime, but had enough to keep me interested.
Book Description
As High Prince and Princess, Rohan and Sioned must keep both the peace and the secret of the dragons. But the legacy of their evil predecessor remains-and as their son Pol grows up, the kingdom splits in what may become a bloody battle for the crown.
To make things worse, a long-vanquished foe vows to destroy the Prince. The only hope of defeating their dark sorcery lies in reclaiming the knowledge so carefully concealed in the long-lost Star Scroll.
Customer Reviews:
Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03
The nice prince in the previous book is now the boss type of princes himself, and is happily married to the witchy wife woman. They have a kid who is going to get the double whammy of rulership and witchiness when he grows up.
In the meantime they have to solve the problem of being nice to dragons and stopping evil sorcerer guys.
A good novel.......2006-08-22
I wanted to give it three stars because for a couple hundred pages in the middle it is extremely slow. However I've read it more than once and my cover is bent. That means I genuinely liked the novel.
Rohan and Sioned have to deal with the challenges of ruling together, and the intrigue and drama grips you and won't let you go.
For me this was the Dragon Prince's 'happily ever after' explored as being the continuing challenges of life. Rawn weaves a rich world with great characterization and political intrigue. If you liked volume one of the Dragon Prince, buy volume two. You won't go wrong.
Wonderful followup to Dragon Prince.......2005-10-20
High Prince Roelstra is dead, but Prince Rohan's world faces new threats from within and without as sorcerers, with powers identical and perhaps surpassing the Sunrunners, make their bid for power. A new generation rises to maturity as the children of Dragon Prince take their place in the world, and old characters meet their various fates.... A can't miss for fans of Dragon Prince and fantasy lovers.
This is fantasy.......2004-11-24
This book is a very good read, full of adventure, romance, intrigue, magic, and suspense. While first book in this series was a bit slow, this book takes you back to what got you hooked on fantasy novels.
The characters are developed down to the smallest detail. They almost become personal friends. You feel all the excitement, fear, anger, and happiness that they feel.
The story is a typical adventure story, but Ms. Rawn has developed a way of throwing you of the predictable path with many different twists and curves to her plot. Some of which are so far off you want to start over to see if you missed something that could have predicted this event.
The only real issue with this book is that it takes time to develop. Some may think this book is to long, but a strong story with good character development takes many things and time is one of them.
Overall, this is an excellent book. I loved it and have read it many times.
Decent book but too long.......2003-09-04
From what I have read of Melanie Rawn's books is that she is good at developing characters and provides good plots, but takes a little too much time describing how perfect and beautiful everyone is. Not everyone can be beautiful and perfect. The last 300 pages offer a really good story, but the first 400 is pretty annoying.
Book Description
The first and only book to explore the concept of the Messiah in light of the radical new evidence just discovered in the recently released Dead Sea Scrolls. Recent figures in the news, such as the self-proclaimed messiah David Koresh of the Branch Davidians, and the prophetic Orthodox Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, are confounding reminders of the forceful vitality of messianism in the modern world. They are also sobering indicators that contemporary society needs to take seriously and understand the messianic mind set. In The Scepter And The Star, biblical scholar John J. Collins unearths the seeds of messianic thought in the Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and other ancient literature.Many of Collins's conclusions hinge on his recent discovery of profoundly important material in the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 1991, nearly fifty years after they were originally folind, the entire collection of the Dead Sea Scrolls was finally released to the public. Collins was one of the first scholars to examine the scrolls and realized that they contained enormously significant messianic texts. The Scepter And The Star Will be the first scholarly work to explore fully the impact this new evidence has on our understanding of Jewish apocalypticism and messianism. In addition, Collins examines the crucial links and similarities between Jewish and Christian models of the messiah. How did Jewish communities, living in the turbulent century before the birth of Christ, envision the end of time? Did Jewish messianic figures influence the development of the Christian Messiah? Here, in careful detail and cogerit, accessible analysis, Collins explains the birth of messianic thought and its repercussions for Jews and Christians alike in ancient--as well as modern-times.
Customer Reviews:
Second Temple Messianism.......2005-06-12
This is a well researched, scholarly book that examines the messianic movements of the second temple period. It basically examines the various phrases (e.g. son of man) associated with the messiah(s) that were expected throughout this period. It certainly was written from a research standpoint to be used for research and not intented as a casual reading.
This book gives a fair review of the various expectations such as a warrior type messiah, a suffering servant, as well as some lesser known movements such as the two messiah movement and even the Christianized returning messiah dogma.
For the most part, the author is not identifying the messiah as any particular individual, but is trying to provide a broad scope look at the many movements and possible reasons as to how they developed and evolved from one type to another.
Drawing heavily upon the Dead Sea Scrolls, the author examines the various Bible texts that imply messianism and attempts to place these messiahs in their proper context. I believe that any serious student of this period would do well to have a copy of this book handy as it should prove to be a well used and well cited text as the research and debate about messianism thrives and grows.
an in-depth study of a complex problem.......2000-12-29
The Scepter and the Star by John Joseph Collins is an in-depth study of the complex problem of messianism and the varied messianic expectation(s) and speculation(s) during the time of Second Temple Judaism. The subtitle of the book, "The Messiahs of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature" is important because Collins does not restrict his study to the Dead Sea Scrolls. He goes through the Pseudepigrapha (a large, open-ended collection of biblically-related and biblically-dependant literature that is not a part of the Bible), the Apocrypha, the Hebrew Bible/Tanak/Old Testament and the messianic ideas contained within those works. Collins also deals with Jesus and the New Testament in this work, although it is on the side that these discussions take place.
Collins' knowledge of the Hebrew Bible is extensive on both theological and historical levels. His knowledge is also useful because in the Hebrew Bible are the roots of the problems with messianic interpretation - the scriptures themselves. Once Collins places particular scriptures in their historical context, he then goes on to show their influence(s) and interpretation(s) in various post- and extra-biblical works of literature. We find a pre-existent, heavenly messiah, a priestly messiah, a kingly messiah, and a militant messiah in the works Collins analyzes. At least one messiah was expected and possibly and two, depending on who wrote the work. Collins also deals with the history of the word "messiah" and its various uses in the Hebrew Bible.
In reading the book, the reader will gain some insights as to how and why the writers of the New Testament understood Jesus the way that they did, but the goal of the book is not to connect these works to Jesus. The book is, in many ways, a survey of the messianic thought during and before Jesus' time.
This book is not an introduction by any means. It is an in-depth study; some previous knowledge of the Scrolls, the Pseudepigrapha, and Second Temple history will be useful to the reader. A glossary would have been nice and helpful and would have opened the doors for less knowledgeable readers to read and understand the book. Overall, this is an excellect read. However, previous knowledge will enable - and perhaps even be necessary - for reader to grasp the many insights in Collins' work.
Excellent Book!!!.......2000-08-21
The Scepter and the Star is an excellent and indepth study of the controversy between Judaism and Christianity. In this book we find substantial support for the reasons that many Jews did not accept Jesus as their Messiah. The Jews were looking for two Messiahs- not one. There is scriptural support, which is well documented by John Collins that points to two Messiah figures of the Apocalypse. Collins also references Dead Sea Scroll material that specifically points out two figures- a Davidic and a Priestly Messiah . This book explains how two diverse religions came and stayed- Judaism and Christianity- over these differences. It shows how the Bible was more than a religious book, but a history book as well. This is an excellent, well written book that should get people to look again at the Bible and perhaps read it with insight instead of letting others TELL you what it says!!
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Reach for the Stars: A Little Torah's Journey
Sylvia A. Rouss , and
Joachim Joseph
Manufacturer: Simcha Media Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 People of Color | Biographies | People & Places | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Judaism | Religions | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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The Littlest Tree
ASIN: 1930143826 |
Book Description
The true story of the miniature Torah that was taken by Israeli Astronaut, Ilan Ramon, on the Columbia Space Shuttle. This unique Torah survived the Holocaust, along with its guardian, Joachim Joseph. Years later, Ramon became close friends with Joachim who asked him to take the Torah aboard the shuttle where he displayed it proudly for all the world to see.
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Animal stars of the circus (A Scroll Press animal book for children)
Marcelle Verite
Manufacturer: Scroll Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: B0006DY7JQ |
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The Dead Sea scrolls: The riddle debated
Leonie Star
Manufacturer: Published by ABC Enterprises for the Australian Broadcasting Corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General | Judaism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0733301312 |
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The Star Scroll
Melanie Rawn
Manufacturer: Penguin Group Australia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HJQ6CK |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Theological Studies, published by Theological Studies, Inc. on June 1, 1996. The length of the article is 901 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Scepter and the Star: The Messiahs of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature.
Author: Joseph A. Fitzmyer
Publication:
Theological Studies (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 1996
Publisher: Theological Studies, Inc.
Volume: v57
Issue: n2
Page: p339(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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The Star Scroll
Melanie Rawn
Manufacturer: Daw
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000CSZQ36 |
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Women of Wonder, the Contemporary Years: Science Fiction by Women from the 1970s to the 1990s
Pamela Sargent
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel
ASIN: 0156000334 |
Amazon.com
In an exciting collection, Pamela Sargent presents some of the most vibrant women science fiction writers. From Angela Carter to Connie Willis,
Women of Wonder diplays a dazzling array of stories that reflect the variety of different literary paths women have taken in writing science fiction and the wealth of imaginary worlds they've created.
Book Description
A companion volume to The Classic Years showcasing recent science fiction by women. Here are Octavia E. Butler, Pat Cadigan, Angela Carter, Nancy Kress, and Connie Willis, among others. Introduction and Bibliography by the Editor.
Customer Reviews:
#2 is great!.......2000-05-16
The second collection of women's science fiction gives us insight into what has and hasn't changed. Here are some talents the common science fiction fan has heard along with a couple I didn't recongnize. What I found most interesting is that women still tend to focus on women as the main characters even after the reported "equality of the sexes". Reflection of innate views or sign of some progress left to make?
Book Description
In your parish, the Church may be graying at the temples, but elsewhere — across America and around the world — young Catholics are ushering in a new springtime of faith and vitality for the Church you and I love.
Here veteran Catholic journalist Tim Drake introduces you to some of the surprising ways in which the Holy Spirit is working in the hearts of these Catholic young people today.
You'll meet teen groups dedicated to Christian service, to prayerful devotion, and to living a life of chastity. There are twentysomethings working together to deepen their knowledge of the Faith, to spread the gospel here and overseas, and to promote the Church's teachings on marriage and the family.
Drake brings news of vibrant religious orders burgeoning with young members on fire for the Faith. He takes you into cyberspace, where web-savvy Catholics are using the Internet to evangelize secular culture. He reports from the epicenter of the Catholic youth movement — World Youth Day — where hundreds of thousands of young people gather to pray together and to show their love for the Pope and their devotion to Christ.
The evidence is clear: we are living in a time of vigorous spiritual renewal, and young Catholics are leading the way. Do not be afraid! Young and Catholic demonstrates that for the Church, the future is bright. These young people are one of the many reasons that's so.
Customer Reviews:
Young and Cathollic.......2005-08-04
I was able to get into this book really fast. It is very fast moving and got me hooked in the first few pages. There were several things the author said that I thought were great and agree with. Then there were some I hope come true that were revealed at the end of this book. We should keep that a secret so maybe it will come true.
I was impressed that there is so much going on with the young Catholic adults in this country and the world. It's great. I'm very encouraged by it. I have shared a great deal of the book with others. I have a list of people to lend my book to and have also encouraged others to purchase their own copy. It's been a real positive eye opener. I'm sure there is activities going on in my state/diocese but not enough to make it into this book. I do know others who belong to certain Orders or attend some of the schools mentioned. If the young continue the things they are in to then the CatholicChurch is really alive and well-and growing. Just wish I had these opportunities available when I was young.
Thank you, Tim Drake
A brightly optimistic look at the future of a global faith.......2005-02-04
Veteran Catholic journalist Tim Drake presents Young and Catholic: The Face of Tomorrow's Church, is a positive-minded and heartwarming glimpse into the lives of up-and-coming young Catholic people striving to spread good works, prayer, and the message of their faith. From web-savvy Catholics seeking to evangelize secular culture through the Internet, to the celebration of World Youth Day when thousands of young people gather and pray to show their love for the Pope and Jesus Christ, to teen groups dedicating themselves to Christian service, chastity, and promoting the Church's teachings, Young and Catholic observes the next generation of the passionately faithful taking root and flowering. A brightly optimistic look at the future of a global faith.
Hope for the New Springtime.......2005-01-21
Author Tim Drake gives readers reason for great optimism with his latest, Young and Catholic: The Face of Tomorrow's Church (Sophia Institute Press, September 2004, paperback). Serving as writer for countless Catholic periodicals has given this convert to the faith an excellent vantage point from which to seek out instances of devotion in today's younger generation. This wonderful book provides an up close look at how younger Catholics are responding the Holy Father, John Paul II's call to be "the Hope of the Church".
Drake shares numerous instances of young men and women leading lives of profound service and dedication to the Church. An increase in vocations, new and creative means of evangelization, and use of the Internet to deepen and spread the faith are just a few of the examples Drake cites.
Readers will be encouraged by these first person accounts and inspired by the role models they meet in the pages of the book. Perhaps most importantly, they will likely be prompted by Drake's positive, infectious enthusiasm and by promptings of the Holy Spirit to join these young, future leaders in embracing and truly living the teachings of Jesus Christ.
If you feel depressed about the Church's future..........2004-12-07
...then this is the book you need to pick up. As others have noted, in researching this book Tim interviewed over three-hundred young orthodox Catholics. All of these young people bring a renewed vibrancy to their Catholic milieu. There are many great stories of young vocations, new religious communities, evangelizing by means of the internet and new technology, and basically stories of young people congregating to pray and discuss their Catholic faith. Definitely a book that every bishop, pastor, diocesan and parish youth director, and vocations' director should read.
litttle ray of sunshine.......2004-11-29
For many Catholics these last few years have been painful. I can't even remember the amount of nasty jokes and insults I've seen and heard in this year alone. There's a priest shortage, the news out of a number of parishes around the country is either disgusting or depressing and sometimes it all seems too much.
Cheer up! The news isn't all bad.
The kids are alright. That's the message of this book. It's a peep at todays young Catholics and guess what? It shows some remarkable, determined and hopeful people. These young adults are the future and reading about them was a little ray of sunshine. Buy this book for your gloom and doom friends and get a copy for yourself.
Books:
- The Half-Empty Heart: A Supportive Guide to Breaking Free from Chronic Discontent
- The Hill of the Ravens
- The Ice Curtain
- The Jezebel Letters: Religion And Politics In Ninth-century Israel
- The Man Who Laughs
- The Ordinary Seaman
- The Point of Return: a novel
- The Rebellion of the Hanged
- The Rise and Fall of Project Camelot - Revised Edition: Studies in the Relationship between Social Science and Practical Politics
- The Salt Roads
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Drown
