Gerry Souter

There are many reasons that I think this is an effective book. Primarily, the language was very descriptive, while still remaining age appropriate. When explaining John Adams’ perseverance the author writes, “Adams once swore he would die while serving his country. This promise came true. On February 21, 1848, the 80-year old Adams gasped and slumped in his seat at the capitol. He had suffered a stroke.” The author’s use of descriptive language is very important here because it adds show more a dramatic effect, and intrigues the reader. The author manages to do this all while keeping the language at an appropriate age level. Another thing that made this book a great instructional tool is the way in which the information is presented. Each page has a fascinating fact about John Adams that will draw the reader in to want to know more. One fact reads, “During his terms in the House of Representatives, Adams was firmly against slavery. He once sent 350 petitions to the house in a single day.” Even I found this fact to be captivating! It shows Adams’ determination in a stimulating way. Also, all throughout the book lies words in bold that are likely to be unknown by the reader. In the back of the book is a glossary, with easy to understand definitions. The author’s point of view is authentic, and both John’s strengths and weaknesses are presented. The purpose of this book is to inform the reader about the life of our sixth president, John Quincy Adams, and that objective was definitely met. show less

A narrative about the use of deception in WW2 by the British and US forces. It is rather limited in scope but does have a nice sampling of activities throughout the war. The latter part of the book focuses on the US Army's 23rd Headquarters, Special Troops, a bogus designation for an 1100 man unit who was tasked with various acts of deception, such as simulating the existence of a real unit in one location while the real unit moved to another location or actually pretending to be a show more completely non-existent unit. The activities of the 23rd are covered in more complete detail and could be considered the main subject of the book. show less

As a former owner of a greatly missed American Flyer train set, this book brought back many fond memories. Anyone who loves model trains should buy this book, but American Flyer fans will be thrilled. I never understood why Lionel (which seemed to me an inferior imitation with its 3-rail tracks) prospered and American Flyer failed.

This book gives a great history to our 31st president. Herbert Hoover was an engineer, a world traveler, a humanitarian, and ended up becoming a troubled presidency. Herbert Hoover was seperated from his family at a young age after the death of his mother. Even though this happened to him he overcame the adversity and got himself into Stanford University.